Eujae can't believe what he's seeing as soon as he comes back from the restroom of the coffee shop that he often frequents during their break time. At the table next to his, Poll is dining with a woman who is presumably his classmate. Eujae recognizes the woman as the same one he'd seen with Poll in their college building last week.

That time, when Eujae saw them talking happily with each other, he thought they were really close. Now seeing them together again, Eujae wonders if there is something more to them than being good friends. It seems like they are here on a date.

"Eh, choosing the most expensive cake they have here, you didn't really hold back, huh, Poll?"

"Hey, you were the one who promised to treat me to anything if I helped you carry your art materials. It's too late for you to regret it now."

Or maybe not, Eujae muses, sighing inwardly. Anyway, it's not any of his business if they are just friends or more than that.

"What are you even planning to do with those paints and that huge canvas?"

The woman's reply is lost on Eujae as he is more focused on returning to his seat without being noticed by the pair of art students. Luckily, there is a tall plant divider in between their tables that perfectly hides him from the two when he sits down. Be that as it may, it does nothing to muffle the voices of the people on the opposite side.

Eujae tries to go back to the book that he was reading earlier, but he finds it hard because his attention keeps on straying to the conversation at a certain table near him.

"Anyway, why did you give my full name to the attendant when you ordered for me? It was really embarrassing when he called it out loud earlier."

"I don't see anything embarrassing about it. I mean, your real name sounds nice. Why do you hate it? Also, I've always thought it suits someone with a bright personality like you. You're a ray of sunshine, Poll."

Upon hearing the remark, Eujae scoffs. The name suits him alright, but not because of his bright personality. As far as Eujae is concerned, the name is perfect for him because he is hot-tempered. Rather than a ray of sunshine, Apollo Helios is a ball of fire.

"Are you trying to hit on me, Ivy?"

"Nah, as I told you before, Poll, you're cute but you're not exactly my type."

No more pretending to read the book, Eujae picks up his iced coffee cup from the table and drinks from it.

"Yeah, yeah, because that Eujae is more of your type, right?"

Eujae chokes on his coffee and then fakes a cough to cover it up when the old woman on the table in front of him looks over her shoulder to check what is going on. As a response to her curious gaze, Eujae smiles at her sheepishly.

The old woman raises a brow and then shrugs, before turning back to her table.

Eujae sighs. What the hell is he even doing, eavesdropping on others' conversations? Deciding that he's heard enough, he stands up and starts to gather his stuff.

"Well, whatever. Let's just get back to the original topic. I don't wanna talk about that crush of yours, Ivy. I don't even understand what you saw on that guy for you to like him."

I can hear you, idiot.

"Back to the original topic then. So I asked you earlier why do hate your real name?"

"Why, it's weird. I don't know what was running through my parents' heads when they named me that. If they wanted to make it unique, they should have chosen other gods of sun to name me after, instead of those Greek gods."

"Other gods of sun like?"

"I don't know, maybe like Tento. They're also a sun god."

Eujae's hand freezes on the top rail of the chair just as he is about to push it back in place. His head jerks in the direction of Poll's voice, brow creasing in sudden confusion, but all he can see is the plant divider blocking the view of the guy.

What did he say?

"Ehhh, that name sounds even weirder though. I like Apollo Helios better. But why Tento?"

"Well, it's a Japanese name which also means the sun. And I always think Japanese names are cooler so I prefer it."

Eujae stays still as he listens to the conversation. Something about what Poll said has rung a bell. And it begins to make him feel odd. His gut feeling is telling him that it's something that he shouldn't ignore.

Much as he wants to ponder on it more, the vibration of his phone in his pocket draws him away from the thought. Eujae fishes out his phone to see the text on his messenger.

From: Risa

Mister Eujaeeee Nigel Castillooo, where you at???? Please come back, I need to copy your notes on MGT.

Shaking his head, Eujae replies, 'On the way, Ma'am.'

With a frown, he gives one last glance at where the pair are, before stepping out of the coffee shop, the certain word from Poll still bugging him.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The first thing that Eujae does as he comes home at night is to flop on his bed and send a message to his online friend to confirm something.

Gaele: Ten-Ten, do you still remember the first time I called you that name?

This has been bothering him since he left the coffee shop this afternoon. He's considered the possibility that maybe he's just overthinking, but unless he makes sure that his suspicion is groundless, he will not be able to rest easy at all.

Ten2: dude, how can i forget? i kept telling you that time that my username is pronounced as tento but you just insisted on calling me ten-ten saying even if you read 2 as it is, it would be ten-two and if i was gonna use numbers in my name anyway I should have just used 10-2. you said ten2 is read as ten-ten because the no.2 means to repeat the word or syllable. you were quite the smartass even before. you never listened to me in the end so i just let you have your own way. at some point even i got used to it and started to believe that my username really is ten-ten. I just never stood a chance against your logic

Despite Ten-Ten's obvious grumbling about the past and his own restlessness at the present, Eujae can't help but look at his friend's reply with endearment as he reminisces that certain time when they talked about each other's usernames.

That's right. Ten-Ten's name was originally not Ten-Ten. It was Eujae who gave him the name just because he thought it sounds cute. Eujae has always been proud of it because he feels like a big brother giving his younger sibling an important gift. That's why the name Ten-Ten will always be special to him. That's why he loves calling the nickname at every chance he gets.

In the same way, Ten-Ten had also given something to Gaele, though the former might not have realized it. That time, Ten-Ten asked how to pronounce Gaele, but Eujae wasn't sure how to clearly explain it in the text so he referred to something he was familiar with—books and movies.

'It's like Gale from The Hunger Games, but with an extra e. Different spellings but the same pronunciation,' Eujae told Ten-Ten, but the latter replied, confessing he'd never seen the film and then adding, 'but I think I kinda get it. It sounds like the gail from Abigail, right?'

Since then, Eujae has also used the same phrase every time he has to correct others about Gaele's pronunciation.

They never talked about Tento again, that's why when he heard Poll mention the same name earlier, saying he wants it, Eujae's instinct suddenly got triggered. He never asked why Ten-Ten chose that handle but something is telling him that it's necessary to know now.

Gaele: Heh, but I told you this before and I am telling you again, Ten-Ten is a lot cuter than Tento, that's why I called you that. It suits you way better because you're adorable, no? Anyway, I just remembered it randomly and now I am curious about why you seemed so determined to correct me that time. I never asked you about the meaning of the name, did I? I hope I am not overstepping, but I want to know... Is there a special meaning behind that username? Why Tento?

Eujae feels apprehensive as he waits for Ten-Ten to get back to him, uncertain of what kind of answer he wants to receive.

Let his hunch be wrong. Let Ten-Ten say that the name was just something he'd picked randomly.

Yet, when he reads the reply that has arrived after a few minutes, he feels his heart miss a beat.

Ten2: nah, it's fine. you're not overstepping, you worry too much. and it was nothing special really. did i already mention that i like anime? oh i think i told you before that i draw them sometimes. i just think japanese animes are cool and i kinda wanna have a japanese name so i chose tento. it means the sun. tento is also a japanese sun god.

No way.

It is like every single word of Poll echoes in Eujae's head as he sees Ten-Ten's whole message. Anxious, he shifts his phone to his left hand when he feels the jitters on his right hand.

No, it's just a coincidence, Eujae tells himself and tries to relax. Poll can't be the real person behind the username Ten2. Those two people are like night and day. They are too different from each other.

Eujae pauses to reflect upon the words to describe Poll and Ten-Ten. Night and day. Different. Total opposites. But are they really?

He never noticed it before because his relationships with those two are a far cry from each other. Poll has always been the bane of his existence while Ten-Ten is a source of comfort. He never considered the possibility of them being alike, but thinking about it now, don't those two have a lot of similarities?

Poll is an art student. Ten-Ten mentioned that he paints and draws.

Poll loves sweets. So does Ten-Ten.

Obviously, both of them are fans of anime.

However, those are not enough to assume that they are the same person. After all, those traits are not out of the ordinary. Even within their small circle of friends, Eujae can find someone who has those characteristics.

Lia and Nick are good at arts too.

His cousin also has a sweet tooth. Even Cloud is fine with lots of sugar in his food.

As for anime, Nick and Risa also watch them.

But just how many of those anime fans want to have a Japanese name? More specifically, a Japanese name Tento which means the sun? Eujae frowns as a part of his mind starts to make arguments.

Desperate to find an explanation for all the questions, Eujae runs the search engine on his phone. Perhaps, Tento is a common Japanese name. Perhaps, Poll and Ten-Ten just both happened to look for a name that means "the sun" and Tento came up as the top result. That must be it. And it is not unusual for people to want to have a celestial name. Poll and Ten-Ten must have picked the first thing that caught their attention in their searches.

But as he types 'sun' on his translator to know its Japanese equivalent, Eujae doesn't get the result that he expected. Tento doesn't come up on the top result.

Eujae shakes his head in denial and tries for different searches. There must be something that makes the word popular. Otherwise, why would both Poll and Ten-Ten come up with the same name? He refuses to believe that it's because they are the same person.

He searches for 'Japanese names related to the sun.' A lot of suggestions pop up but none of it is Tento.

Eujae remains resolute. Scowling, he hits the backspace and types 'Japanese god of sun' on his phone browser. Again, the name he's looking for doesn't appear on the most popular result. It is only when he decides to narrow his search to 'Tento, Japanese god of sun' that he finally gets the result that he wants to see.

Tento. The sun, providence, god. The sun god in Japan.

Conflicted, Eujae runs a hand on his hair. He doesn't know if he's supposed to be relieved to know that the name with the specific meaning does exist on the web which means Poll and Ten-Ten are not the only people who know about it. Still, experiencing first-hand how difficult it is to find even on the internet, Eujae feels uneasy. What are the odds that two people who have a lot in common will wind up choosing the same name that's hard to search?

Feeling drained, Eujae puts his phone down and closes his eyes. He is aware of what he's been doing since earlier. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he's known from the start that it was futile to look for something that would separate Ten-Ten from Poll. It's just that he couldn't—and still can't—accept the idea that the online friend whom he adores so much is the same person who always gets on his nerves. How did that even happen?

Eujae didn't want to yield to the truth that was why he desperately looked for an excuse, something that would confirm that everything was just a coincidence, anything that would point out that Poll and Ten-Ten were not related in any way. It was because he was totally in denial that Eujae pointedly ignored the voice in his head that has been screaming at him, telling him about the most obvious connections between those two.

Significant details. Major similarities that leave no room for doubt.

Poll and Ten-Ten play the same game. Eujae knows because the time Nick insisted that he should be playing the game where he met Ten-Ten, their friend also mentioned that Poll was playing it. Or it was more like Nick was whining about how the male Torres twin didn't want to play with him, didn't even want to give his account's name, just because Nick was not as good as Poll in the game. That was why he tried to get Eujae, who was not even a gamer, to play too. At first, Eujae showed no interest in it, but curiosity got the best of him in the end. He signed up, played a little, and then met Ten-Ten. He never told Nick about it.

The strong resemblance between Poll and Ten-Ten doesn't end in the kind of game they play. If anything, it's just the beginning.

Eujae can see everything clearly now, everything that he failed to realize before.

Ten-Ten has someone he detests. Poll has Eujae. And in both cases, enemies belong to the same circle of friends.

And then, there is this one important date, the deciding factor for Eujae to give up looking away from reality.

Third day of December. The first personal information that Ten-Ten had shared with Gaele. It is Ten-Ten's birthday.

Eujae never asked about Poll's birthday but he knows when it is because of Tem. The Torres twins were born on December 3. The same month and year as Eujae's birthday. The same exact date as Ten-Ten's.

There's no use denying it anymore. The more he seeks for proofs that Poll and Ten-Ten are two different individuals, the more he finds clues that confirm the opposite thing.

This is crazy. Eujae can't fathom how this whole thing became possible. Of all the people that Ten-Ten could have turned out to be, why does it have to be the one person who has nothing but hate for Eujae? It is like fate is playing a terrible joke on him, on them.

His phone vibrates again, making him realize that he's left Ten-Ten on read.

He picks up his phone, smiling wryly, when he sees that Ten-Ten has sent him another text. For the first time since they started chatting with each other, he doesn't feel thrilled reading his friend's message.

Ten-Ten's follow-up text is just another puzzle piece falling into the right place.

Ten2: i dont think you'd care to know but the truth is my real name is associated with the sun. i am named after some solar deities.

Eujae lets out a weary sigh, unsure what to feel about the whole discovery. He doesn't plan to change the way he treats Ten-Ten; that would be too suspicious. But how can he keep at it, knowing that the one behind his virtual friend is the last person who'd want to be friends with him in real life?

Nonplussed, he covers his eyes with a hand and mutters, "What am I supposed to do with you now, Apollo?"