"I... I'm sorry..." Thame murmured. That voice was unrecognizable. Dylan had come there that day ready to fight until he could claim a decisive victory, certain that Thame would have fought as strenuously as he would. At first everything seemed to be going according to his plan, but then seeing Thame devastated by the events, Dylan's desire for revenge shattered in a instant.

After that, Thame whispered a few more words, but his sobs made them almost impossible to understand. Dylan didn't know how to react. He looked at Po, who finally decided to take the mattera into his own hands. The assistant picked up the phone from the floor, closed the article and put it back on the desk.

"Could you wait in the living room, please?" Po asked politely. He sat on the edge of the bed, resisting the urge to hug Thame, wanting only to let endure that sorrow with someone by his side.

"I'll prepare something to calm you down, alright? You need to rest a bit. Everything will be alright soon" Po whispered in his soothing voice. But that wasn't enough. Thame didn't know him well enough to trust him, so what he said only sounded like the empty words the company used to tell him during difficult periods.

Po went to the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with something to drink. He didn't say anything, he just left the cup on the bedside table. He was almost about to close the bedroom door when he heard Thame whisper a timid "thank you". For a moment, a sad smile appeared on Po's face. He was happy to be useful, but if that was the cost, he wasn't willing for others to pay it.

"I..." Dylan opened his mouth, but the rest of his sentence simply died in his throat. Po sat on the armchair and sighed heavily.

"You're sorry, I know. Don't worry, I'm sure he will feel better soon" what a terrible liar he was.

"I... I don't think so..." Dylan added, looking down. He hadn't seen his friend in a long time, and instead of hugging him after a month of separation, the first thing he did was look for the words that could hurt him the most.

"Everyone says something they later regret. He will just need some time to recover..." was Po saying this to convince Dylan or himself?

"You don't understand... I've never seen him like that. He's always been kind of... cold. I mean... like he always seemed to be doing okay. That's why I thought he didn't care about Mars at all. I really didn't expect him to react this way..."

Po remained silent for a moment, rubbing his eyes before he finally spoke again.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think this breakdown is entirely your fault. Thame was already debilitated when he was in Korea, that's why they sent him back home. I suppose he would have had such a reaction sooner or later... you only gave him a little push"