REBIRTH : Chasing The Limelight-Chapter 79: Hatred.

Lioren took a deep breath as he lay on the bench and lifted the barbell above him. He pushed the weight up before lowering it again.

After a while, he stopped and sat up, reaching for the bottle on the table beside him. He took a long gulp, dropped it back in place, and stood up before walking toward the door. His upper body bare.

He paused in front of the glass door and looked at his reflection, flexing his arm. His eyes moved down to his waist, and he pinched it. He frowned at the small bit of extra fat there.

After a second, he pushed the glass door aside and opened it. Fresh air rushed into the gym and brushed against his face. He took a deep breath and stepped out onto the balcony.

From there, he looked down at the wide view of the oceanfront district of Starfall City.

He had barely leaned properly when his phone started ringing. He turned back into the gym, picked it up from the table, then returned to the balcony and leaned against the railing before answering it.

The moment he picked up, loud music blasted from the other end. "Lio, you haven’t changed your mind, right? Why do you love staying at home? Are you a monk?"

Lioren let out a small snort.

"I swear there are a lot of hot girls here. I don’t think I’m coming back tonight, so don’t expect me."

The call ended almost immediately.

Lioren stared at his phone for a second, then lowered it and looked back out at the city again.

"Not everyone is like you," he muttered with a small smile.

Another notification came through his phone. He glanced down at the screen and saw the name.

Mom.

He paused, his lips pressing together slightly before he opened the message.

Ren, you haven’t sent the money.

His gaze stayed on the screen for a long moment, his expression slowly turning cold. After a while, he looked away, reached into his pocket, and took out a cigarette and a lighter. He lit it and brought it to his lips, taking a slow breath in.

As he stood there with his eyes closed, the sound of a voice drifted up faintly from the city below, carried by the night air.

At times even the strongest hands forget what they were built to hold. And when the one who never breaks finally sits somewhere quiet, that is when they learn what breaking sounds like.

Lioren’s eyes opened immediately. He recognized the line at once. It was from Elara’s song. He had listened to it so many times that he almost knew it by heart.

But hearing it like this, from somewhere in the city, made something in him soften.

He raised his phone and tapped on the screen for a moment, staring at it for a while before finally pressing the call button. The call did not ring for long before it was answered.

"Elara," he said.

There was a short pause before her voice came through.

"Lioren."

Her voice sounded quite rough like she had just woken up, but he knew that was not possible.

It’s not yet sleeping hours, so she would possibly still be at the restaurant right now.

Lioren did not know what to say at first.

When he finally opened his mouth, what he said was. "I heard your song coming from the city,"

The other end went quiet for a second before she replied, "Oh. That’s good."

Lioren bit his lip, remembering how she had said his name when she picked up. A small smile appeared on his face without him noticing.

He was about to ask where she was when she spoke again. "Thanks. Thanks very much."

He paused, confused.

"The hospital. I heard about it." she said.

Lioren understood immediately.

She must have heard that he visited her when she was in a coma. Ziva might have told her.

"It’s nothing," he said.

Silence followed again, and he guessed she might be feeling a little uncomfortable. He let out a small breath and smiled. "Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight," she replied.

He stayed on the line for a moment, waiting for her to end the call, and when she did, he lowered his phone slowly.

His gaze returned to the city once more, and as the faint sound of her song drifted up again from below, he found himself humming along quietly.

–

"Good night," Elara said.

After a short pause, she tapped the end call button and lowered her phone slowly. She sat there for a moment, her fingers still round the phone.

She did not feel anything special for Lioren, not in that way, but she trusted him and saw him as a good friend. A very good one.

When she thought about everything he had done for her, pulling her out of the water, coming to see her in the hospital, and even helping her grandfather without saying a word. She felt a quiet kind of gratitude that she did not know how to express properly.

She wondered again how he even found out about her grandfather in the first place.

She lifted her eyes and looked out through the window, watching the trees in the orchard move gently in the night breeze. She raised the drink in her hand and took another sip without really tasting it. Her mind had already drifted somewhere else. And as much as she did not want it to, Adrian’s words came back again, like they had been waiting for the moment she became quiet.

She frowned, her grip tightening a little around the glass.

She wondered if that was truly how he saw her all along. If that was the image he had built of her in his mind, and if that was the reason he acted the way he did that night. As if it did not matter, as if she was someone who would not be affected by it.

The more she thought about it, the more it refused to leave no matter how much she tried to push it away.

After she left his office earlier today, she did not go back to the restaurant. She had taken a leave and returned straight to her room because she knew she would not be able to act normal. And she did not want to stand in front of customers with a face she could not control.

She had never really hated anyone before, not even the people who had made things hard for her. Not Livienne, not the others.

She had always seen them as problems to face and move past. Things on the road that she had to deal with and then leave behind.

But now, as Adrian’s face appeared again in her mind. She realized that this feeling was different.

And for the first time, she understood what it meant to truly dislike someone. Not just because of what they did, but because of how deeply it stayed with you even after they were gone..