For a moment, Philip’s smile faltered. He nodded toward the pizza and said, “Eat more. You’ve lost weight recently.”


    “Alright,” I said, then turned my attention back to the pizza.


    Philip kept watching me, and only when I couldn’t eat anymore did I finally stop. I took another sip of soup.


    “Alvin still cares about you,” Philip said suddenly, “He had my mom make the soup for you.”


    I forced a smile, “Late affection is cheap.”


    The sore in my mouth was still affecting my appetite. I cleaned up my leftover pizza and soup, then said, “Philip, thanks foring all the way here. Please tell Peter and Michelle I’ll visit them once I’m done with work.”


    I gestured toward the amusement park. “There’s less than a month left until the deadline. The lighting still isn’t properly adjusted. I’m really busy right now.”


    “I heard Alvin mention it,” Philip said. “But don’t forget to take care of yourself.”


    “I know,” I replied, pointing to where Josh was working nearby. “I need to get back to it.”


    “Take care,” Philip reminded me again.


    Josh didn’t have lunch that day, and the whole afternoon, he barely spoke to me. It felt like he was angry, but I couldn’t figure out what I had done to upset him.


    For the next few days, Josh grew even colder and quieter than usual. He just worked.


    I didn’t mind-if that was how he wanted to be, I’d do my best to keep up. Now we had set times for breaks, and I couldn’t tell if he was doing it for himself or for me.


    A week passed, and our progress was right on track, but the rest of the project was still uncertain.


    The workload was brutal. Myra was so drained that she couldn’t even finish her favorite show before falling asleep.


    But I couldn’t afford to sleep early. Every night, I had to review the adjustments I made during the day, usually staying up until midnight orter.


    I was exhausted. On nights when I could barely keep my eyes open, I’d ssh cold water on my face or soak my feet in cold water until I felt fully awake.


    One night, after I’d finished washing my face and soaking my feet, Josh sent me a message. [Are you asleep? If not,e over to my side. There are a few issues in tomorrow’s test zone that I need to discuss with you.] <ul><li></li></ul>


    If it had only been the first three words, I would’ve ignored it. But since he mentioned work, I replied right away. [Okay.]


    Fortunately, I was awake enough by now, so I grabbed my notebook and went to knock on his door.


    Josh was wearing a green T-shirt and ck cotton pajama pants. Somehow, he looked even taller than usual, and I felt almost a head shorter than him.


    He looked at my face, his eyes narrowing slightly, but he didn’t say anything. He simply stepped aside and let me in.


    I set myptop down and was about to open it when he turned hisputer toward me. “Take a look at these areas I’ve marked. Do they match the drawings?”


    He had a hand-drawn schematic beside him, and the digital version on hisputer matched mine. I was surprised he was asking me about this. I looked it over carefully, and to my surprise, I found a discrepancy.


    Myra and I had reviewed it several times, and we hadn’t noticed it. It was a good thing Josh caught it now, or we would’ve wasted timeter during the test.


    “I’ll make the adjustments now. I’ll send you the other areas so you can keep checking,” I said.


    Josh ced a ss of water next to me and got back to his work.


    I focused onparing the drawings, but my eyelids were getting heavier. I had to pinch myself several times to stay awake, while Josh seemed full of energy, like he didn’t even need sleep.


    When I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and was about to ask if we could leave the rest for tomorrow, Josh grabbed his phone and headed to the balcony. I could hear him speaking on the phone.


    His voice was deep and soothing, and it made my eyelids feel even heavier…


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