The Real World and The Real You (Johan Liebert x Reader x Anna Liebert)

Life Goes On, Always

Johan had to be one of the most handsome men you had ever seen. With blond hair, blue eyes and pale skin, he had all the traits on would consider attractive. It wasn't just on the outside; he was also well-spoken and easy to be around. The air around him was different somehow.

You had hardly spoken to him, and yet he had already left quite an impression on you.

The local life in around München university was still affected by Edmunds Fahren's suicide, but life continued on, whether or not you'd like it to, and eventually the state of things returned to something resembling 'normal'. Schuwald still wouldn't let the students read to him, but slowly, the conversations of Edmund Fahren's suicide began to quiet down. It was as if the world had slowly started to forget him. It was a terrifying change, to think that one could do something like that to themselves, only for their pain and suffering to be forgotten by the rest of the world, but no human can go on relieving their painful memories for their whole life. They would all forget sooner or later. It was the natural process of mourning. Your little group too, no longer spoke of Edmund or his actions.

The group was had actually gotten just a little bigger, with the handsome law student having joined, shortly after having introduced himself to you and Karl. He must have met Lotte at Schuwald's, as they obviously had known each other for a while. Lotte had spoken well of him, he was the only student whom Schuwald had never yelled at. There was no question that this man was on another level, compared to another people his age. But other than that, you had also noticed that your social insecurities rarely flared up around him. Perhaps it was because of the welcoming air around him. Or maybe, it was because his face seemed familiar somehow.

Even though people were slowly forgetting Edmund Fahren, both Karl and Schuwald seemed to be stuck in a ditch. Schuwald would barely touch his due to his loss of his supposed son, and Karl was stuck between telling Schuwald the truth or simply let it remain a secret while Schuwald wasted away.

''Lotte, you can't force him to tell Schuwald the truth. It's his own decision!''

''I know, but Schuwald's health has gotten worse. He barely touches his food these days, and if he keeps it up, he'll be the next one to go.''

The mood did not match the surroundings at all. It was a sunny day, with barely any clouds to be seen, but there was one big, dark imaginary cloud hanging over your heads. Lotte tried to respect Karl's decision, but was obviously failing.

''I just wanted to see what kind of person he is, and I've seen everything I needed to see. Money is everything to that man, he'll never be able to understand how I feel.''

The sidewalk had been rather quiet up till that moment, but it had slowly gotten a bit noisier, as several children came from behind you, flittering around on the sidewalk. But your group was silent. You gave Karl a comforting pat on his arm, ''You have to do what's right for you, Karl. If you don't think he'll understand your feelings, then you shouldn't force yourself, but I must say that if you do not tell him, then you'll never know for sure, but it's your decision.''

Karl remained silent.

Amongst the voices of children, you heard a familiar one; ''I see.'' your trio turned around to face the newcomer, who stood right in the middle of the flock of children, ''If that is the case, then I have an idea.''

The plan would have its consequences if you messed up, but luckily, it had been relatively easy to lock Schuwald's guard in the bathroom, and bring Schuwald out to the car. Schuwald had told Johan, that he had a special place he had visited whenever his life had gone downhill. The plan was to bring him to said place, as a surprise, in order to get him out of his dump.