𝕄𝕪 𝔾𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕝𝕗

Chapter 4: The Language Barrier

William sat at the edge of his couch, watching Lin carefully as she nibbled on the last of her ramen. Days had passed since their initial encounter, and in that time, she had opened up only marginally. He had learned her name and a few scattered pieces of information, but the bigger questions—the ones that haunted him—remained unanswered.

“Lin,” William said softly, leaning forward. She looked up, her wide, glowing eyes meeting his. “I want to help you, but... I don’t understand everything yet. We need to work on your English, I mean Common tongue.”

Lin’s head tilted slightly, as if she was struggling to process his words. William sighed. It was a slow process—teaching her, trying to bridge the gap between their worlds. Still, he wasn’t giving up. Not when so much was at stake.

“Here,” William said, reaching for a notepad and pen from his cluttered desk. “I’ll teach you some words. You can tell me more later, okay?”

Lin blinked and nodded, though her expression remained guarded. She was hesitant, and William could sense that whatever she was hiding, it weighed heavily on her. He set the notepad down on the table and wrote a simple word: *hello.*

“This,” he said, pointing to the word, “is how we say hello.”

Lin stared at the word, then at William. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.

“Hel-lo,” William repeated, enunciating each syllable clearly.

Lin tried, but the sound was garbled and awkward, her thick accent distorting the word.

“That’s okay,” William said, smiling warmly. “It’ll take time.”

And it did. For hours, they went through basic phrases—*hello, goodbye, thank you, hungry, tired*—as William patiently repeated each one until Lin could mimic them without stumbling. They worked tirelessly into the evening, Lin’s eyes focused and determined. Every now and then, William caught glimpses of frustration, but she never gave up. She was a quick learner, and by the end of the night, her pronunciation was much clearer.

By the second day, Lin’s speech had improved drastically. She still struggled with longer sentences, but she could hold simple conversations. William was impressed by how fast she was catching on, though there was still an emotional distance between them.

“Where... you from?” William asked again, gently pushing the question he had been avoiding for the past two days. They were sitting together at the table, a fresh pot of ramen in front of them, but Lin’s eyes darted away, her shoulders tensing.

She had been avoiding this topic since the start, and William could feel her shutting down again. He sighed, leaning back in his chair, trying to think of a way to ease the tension.

“Okay, we don’t have to talk about it,” William said softly. “Let’s keep working on English for now.”

Lin visibly relaxed at that, nodding in appreciation.

For the whole day, they focused on language. William taught her new words, phrases, and even slang, helping her feel more at ease in his world. They spent hours talking, or at least trying to, and with every word she learned, the gap between them seemed to narrow. But no matter how much progress they made, William couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still deeply wrong. She was still hiding something.

On the second night, they sat in the dim light of the apartment, a stack of empty ramen bowls between them. Lin, now more confident in her speech, glanced up at William, her large eyes flickering with uncertainty.

“I... tell you now,” she whispered, her voice shaky.

William leaned in, his heart pounding. He had been waiting for this.

“I come from... different place. Different... world,” Lin said slowly, choosing each word carefully. “It’s not here.”

William blinked, his mind reeling. “A... different world?”

Lin nodded, her silver hair shimmering under the light. “I... exploring. In caves. My home far from here... found a light.” She paused, frowning as if the memory pained her. “Touch it. Then... I was here.”

William felt a chill run down his spine. “A light? Like... a portal?”

Lin looked confused at the word, her brow furrowing. “Por-tal?”

“A door... to another place,” William explained, his voice soft. “You touched it, and it brought you here?”

Lin nodded again, her gaze falling to her lap. “Yes.”

William sat back, stunned. She wasn’t just from a different city or country—she was from another dimension. His mind whirled with questions. How could this be possible? Why did the portal bring her here, to him, of all people?

Before William could ask more, there was a knock at the door. His heart leapt into his throat.

“Wait here,” William whispered, standing quickly.

He opened the door to find the same middle-aged woman from his building, smiling kindly at him.

“William, dear,” she began, “I just wanted to check on your sister again. I saw her earlier—such a shy and cute thing, isn’t she? Is she adjusting well?”

William's mind raced. He needed to protect Lin, and while the woman’s intentions were harmless, he couldn’t risk her prying any further. He forced a smile. “Yeah, she’s really shy. It’s been a bit tough, but she’s doing better now.”

The woman peered past William into the apartment, her eyes scanning the room. Lin, still sitting on the couch, gave a small wave, her expression tight and nervous.

“Oh, poor thing,” the woman said, softening. “Well, if she needs anything—anything at all—you just let me know, alright?”

William nodded quickly. “Will do, thanks.”

Once the door closed, William turned back to Lin, who looked visibly shaken. He could tell that brief interaction had rattled her. Without a word, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a simple beanie.

“Here,” he said, handing it to her. “This will help hide your identity when we’re outside.”

Lin took the beanie, staring at it for a moment before pulling it over her head, her pointed ears disappearing under the fabric. She looked up at him, her glowing eyes filled with a mixture of gratitude and uncertainty.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

William smiled. “It’s nothing. We’ll figure this out, okay? Together.”

The weekend passed in a blur of conversations and shared meals. William learned more about Lin’s world—a place of magic and mystery, where elves like her lived hidden away from danger. Though she still kept much of her past secret, William could tell she was starting to trust him. And that trust was all he needed to keep moving forward.

For now, they had to focus on survival