What would be a greater day than rest day?

    Researchers are too hardworking, but even if not at will, they have to work hard or else they will lose the opportunities to retell the past. Too many things to do, some are even rushed, and the pressure of deadlines is too immense.

    Extension of assignments is rare, but Chance was lucky that he was under the care of Professor Adam. He is strict, but he knows how hard it is for Chance, so he is being nice to him. Although that was the case, Chance did not want to take advantage of his kindness, as it will only make him lazy and dependent.

    It was a trait of him that the Professor likes the most. No one was as diligent as Chance was at researching, considering his age.

    But this time, Professor Adam insisted for him to take a rest. Chance refused immediately, but Adam ignored him.

    So now, it is his day-off.

    ''What am I going to do now?'' he thought as he stared at his ceiling. He had just woken up, and that was his first thought of the day.

    Chance was not used to not do anything, usually; he does not have time to rest. He would be on his desk, in front of his laptop, and a pile of papers.

    He shook his head and tried to distract himself from thinking about work. ''It is my rest day, Professor is right, I should stop working even for just a bit.'' he thought and got up to leave bed.

    The researcher went straight to the bathroom to wash his face, the cold water helped in washing his sleepiness away. He grabbed his toothbrush and put the paste on it and started brushing his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror while moving his hand up and down. His eyes went to his naturally messy hair, brown like an espresso he''d drink in the morning while brainstorming in Milla''s cafe.

    Finishing it with a mouthwash, he left the bathroom. Chance sat in his chair and opened his laptop, holding a pen in his hand. He paused, then remembered he was not going to work. He just said so, yet he already forgot. "Ugh, how will I get used to this." he muttered.

    Most people would love having to get some rest from work, but his body just keep finding its way to papers and pen.

    His eyes caught sight of the time on the lower right of his desktop. It was only past six in the morning. His body was used to waking up early, even on weekends. He could have taken advantage of his free time to just sleep as long as he wanted, but he did not.

    Not knowing what he would do, he just kept scrolling down FateBook, browsing through random posts. He slowed down and saw people, probably teens, posting statuses such as ''Why do we need to study mathematics? Not everything in that can be used in real life, waste of time.''

    [You study and solve those problems to exercise your brain. You probably need that subject cause it seems like yours is not working right no| ]

    Chance stopped typing and pressed backspace until there were no words left. He snorted, as if he could reply like that. He just ignored it and continued scrolling, lots of posts complaining about school, work and other stuffs.

    ''Why do we need to study about something that''s already been done lol''

    [Reply: Yeah, peeps can''t learn to move on because they keep going back to the past lolol]

    He stopped again and stared at the post. After a while, he sighed. Was this how people see history? Chance thought. He has no comment on it, people have the right to have their own opinion. Some may like it, some may hate it, never only one.

    A chat box popped up, and Chance saw Ruther''s name on the screen.

    [Ruther: What are you up to?]

    [Nothing at all.]

    [Ruther: Lies]

    [I''m serious tho. I have nothing to do]

    [...]

    The three dots animation stopped, leaving no reply for Chance. ''Why did he suddenly stop typing?'' he thought.

    After a few seconds, he heard the sound of the notification of new messages. Their group chat was buzzing with new messages, the book two were also awake. Chance cannot help but chuckle, looking at how lively the chat was so early in the morning.

    [You are all awake early in the morning? That''s new.]

    [An: Hehehehehe]

    [Fuse: Well I didn''t sleep LOL]

    [You seriously should sleep how long are you even awake]

    [Fuse: 3 days, Im tryin to see how many days I can go]

    [Weirdo]

    [Fuse: You can probably beat me tho since your work keeps you up all the time]

    [An: Hehehehe]

    [Wth is wrong with An?]

    [Fuse: Who knows, she''s always weird]

    [Ruther: Like you''re not.]

    [Fuse: Shut it, Ruth]

    [An: Ruther said that you are free the whole day~]

    Chance did not reply and his question was answered, ''So that is why he stopped typing his message.'' he thought.

    [Ruther: Unbelievable, never thought there will come a day that Professor Chance Howard is free.]

    Even though it was just in chat, Chance could already imagine his friend laughing at him.

    [Well, I guess you were wrong.]

    [Though I don''t really know how my day will end without working]

    [An: Chat with us then. Spend the day online and free from working thoughts!]

    [Fuse: Right, you barely talk to us because of your work]

    [Fuse: Do you have pending assignments?]

    [No, I am all done with my research.]

    [I was expecting a new assignment from Prof Adam though, but what I got was a day-off.]

    [An: Ain''t that great?! Come spend time with us!]

    [Fuse: So? What do you say?]

    Chance stared at the messages while thinking about what they said. Getting away from research for a day would not hurt. He could use his free time to get together with his three friends. They were right; he was too busy that he could not even chat with his friends.

    His only friends.

    [Ruther: You don''t have to force him, he should just use his free time in sleeping. He badly needs it.]

    [Alright]

    [Ruther: What?]

    [It''s alright, I don''t have much to do]

    They sent a bunch of emojis and gifs of celebrating and partying. Chance laughed, it was as if they experienced a miracle, or one in a lifetime chance. But then, maybe it was. Maybe this is the last break he would ever have. He would drown himself in papers, researches. Although it was hard and tiring, it was something he had always loved.

    [An: You are missing out on all the fun and other stuffs you should see]

    [Fuse: Because the only thing you focus on is work]

    [Ruther: Well, you can''t blame Professor Chance, it''s work.]

    ''Professor'' how nice it was for someone to call him that. But not yet, it will be a long way to go, he still needs to prove himself, work hard to earn the title of an official historian.

    [I''m not yet a Professor]

    [Ruther: But soon you will be]

    ''Soon'' Chance stared at the word, hopeful that he will really become a professor of history in a university. He has always loved knowing what happened way back, before his birth, or even centuries before he was born. Researching is his life. He wants to teach history, retell the past.

    [An: Since our busy man is here, lez get to know more about each other]

    [Ruther: Hm, what topic]

    [An: Have you all ever fallen in love?]

    [Ruther: Ugh, seriously?]

    [Fuse: Love is the topic huh, I fell in love with my gadgets, they are very precious]

    [An: Fuse!!]

    [Fuse: But but- it''s true...]

    They all sent a bunch of emojis of laughing.

    [An: How about you Chance?]

    Chance does not know how to reply, he never really thought much about other things except work.

    [Chance: I do not know how it feels to fall in love.]

    [Fuse: Seriously? How bout crushes?]

    [Chance: I never had a crush]

    Their profiles could be seen under the messaged he sent, meaning that they just ''seen'' it, not yet replying. Chance could already imagine their faces, guessing what they were thinking.

    [I know, I''m boring huh?]

    [I am too focused on work that I didn''t put any attention to anything]

    [So I can''t answer your question]

    [An: Oh no, no! We were just surprised haha]

    [Fuse: Yeah don''t worry about it]

    [Ruther: ...Love isn''t something to worry about. If you still don''t have someone to love, your heart will find one, without you even knowing.]

    Fuse and An reacted with a surprised emoji, then sent messages of laughter, teasing Ruther because of his words.

    [Fuse: Looks like someone is in love hahahahahaha]

    [An: Hahaha, but that is true tho. Don''t worry, Chance.]

    [Chance: Uhm, how do you guys know if you are in love? How does it feel?]

    [Fuse: Uh, hmmm. The feeling can''t be explained whenever we see that person.]

    [An: You want to see that person all the time]

    [Ruther: You can''t get that person out of your mind]

    [An: You miss that person and you can''t wait but to be with him or her again]

    [An: When you see that person again, you feel weird, a gush of sadness and happiness flows into you]

    [Ruther: You will always want to be with that person]

    [An: Always want to be in that person''s arm, in his or her embrace]

    [Fuse: .....]

    [Fuse: Okay....?]

    [Fuse: Y''all so experience in love huh]

    [An: That''s what happen when you fall in love with an ''actual'' person]

    [Fuse: Don''t insult my gadgets, I love them.]

    Chance chuckled at the three of them. The corner of her lips went down as he looked into their answers again. He wondered how it feels to fall in love. How does it feel to find someone to love?

    But he does not have to worry. As Ruther said, the heart will eventually find the one. Someday, he will learn how to love, how love changes or affects a person. It is probably more complex than history for him.

    ''How is it like, to be in someone''s embrace?''

    The question from a year ago, maybe this is the time where he will know the answer. As the front entrance of the palace opened, he felt like the time had stopped.

    His heart dropped as he knew who was on the other side, across from him, once the door is fully opened. He was nervous, anxious about what will happen. How should he react, what should he tell him, what will he do when they walk towards each other? All these questions filled up her head, unsure of what to do.

    The only thing he was sure about was his feelings for Caliber.

    "The Crown Prince of Antares has arrived!" one of the men guarding the door announced.

    "Welcome back, Your Highness, Prince Charles." the maids said in unison, while bowing in respect for the return of the prince.

    Chance took a step inside, with the aides and his knight behind him. He stopped, and his gaze met Caliber''s. The researcher was confused, curious as to what was going on inside the Canopus prince''s head.

    ''What does that look mean, Caliber?'' he asked in his mind.

    They stared at each other; it has been a week since they last met. Different emotions could be seen in Caliber''s eyes. There were too many that it is hard for Chance to know what he was feeling right now as they look at each other.

    "When you see that person again, you feel weird, a gush of sadness and happiness flows in you"

    "You will always want to be with that person"

    "Always want to be in that person''s arm, in his or her embrace"

    ''They are right.'' Chance thought.

    He does not care what Caliber is thinking right now, he does not have to solve it before he could figure out what to do next. He wants to be with him, run in front of him and hug him tight, never to push him away again.

    He wants to be in his arms.

    In Caliber''s embrace.