7.2 Friendship

"Don't ever do that again!" she hissed in a broken voice.

She turned to face him, meeting his gaze despite her tears. Yomo pursed his lips, nodding gently.

"I promise, we won't do it again," he said in a strangled voice. "We won't leave you out, Neti."

Seeing his friend in this state had made him emotional too and his throat tightened. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a pack of tissues and handed it to his friend. Taking a tissue, she began to dry her eyes while sniffing.

"Nils is at home with Jin, resting for now," he explained slowly. "He was attacked by Inja's men a few days ago. We reported it to the police, but in the meantime, Jin will stay with him."

He waited for the young woman to regain control of her emotions before resuming.

"Nils is much tougher than he looks, believe me! And if Jin is by his side, he has the best support in the world!"

She nodded, handing him back his pack of tissues. Not knowing what to say to each other, and exhausted by the overflow of emotions they had suddenly let go, they finished their drinks in silence.

"If you don't have any more questions, I'll go..."

He was interrupted by the sudden clatter of his friend's hand on the table, causing him to recoil at once. When she finally lifted it, he saw a paper with a room number and a schedule on it.

"I have a tutoring session in fifteen minutes," Neti said. "If you have an ounce of guilt towards me, do me this favor and go instead."

With her eyebrows furrowed over her eyes plunged straight into the student's, she left him no possible escape.

"I can't go anyway in this state, and I can't cancel it since it's in less than 15 minutes," she said with an exaggerated air of exhaustion.

Yomo sighed. He had no choice but to give up his boxing session and do this tutoring session for his friend. His sense of duty as a friend forbade him to shirk.

"Okay, count on me," he finally gave up.

"Don't be late," she said, standing up with a triumphant smile.

Yomo nodded, forced to do so. They went to pay the bill and then stood at the bar entrance.

"Thank you for talking to me, Yomo. I really appreciate the fact that you made the effort to confront me. Jin and Nils have been ignoring my messages and calls since yesterday..."

Laying a sympathetic hand on the young woman's shoulder, Yomo reassured her one last time before leaving.

"They have a lot on their minds right now, so don't be too upset. They'll open up to you when they feel ready."

Neti gave him one last grateful smile.

"Go quickly, you'll be late!" she pushed him in the direction of the university.

Yomo walked away with a limp, waving to his friend as she left for the metro. He entered the building, his head still full of the discussion they had just had. He took his mobile phone and quickly opened his conversation with Jin and Nils.

"Guys, we need to talk. Net knows everything."

He quickly put his phone away and headed for the room that was indicated on the piece of paper Neti had given him. He walked up the stairs without enthusiasm and finally arrived at the door of the room in question. He took a deep breath and opened it. He entered the room with a professional smile on his face.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting, I was with Neti earlier and..."

He stopped when he reached the student who was already sitting at one of the tables in the empty room with her head buried in a textbook. He immediately lost his smile when he recognised her.

"You tricked me, Neti," he thought with a touch of disappointment.

"No problem, Yomo, she just told me that she couldn't come today and that you'd be filling in for her," she replied, looking up from her book with a big, knowing smile on her face.

She completely seemed to expect that Neti would not be coming today.

"What are you doing here, Ange?" Yomo asked in a closed tone.

The first year gave him an innocently surprised look.

"I'm here for the tutoring session, I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play dumb with me!" interrupted Yomo, who had already worn out his patient for the day. "You know very well what I mean! You planned all this with Neti, didn't you?

"Really Yomo, I assure you that I was just supposed to have a tutoring session with Neti and she canceled at the last moment saying that you would replace her exceptionally! I promise you there is nothing more to it!"

Seeing her interlocutor shaking his head in despair, she continued, insisting.

"Why do you always assume that I'm planning something behind everything I do? Can't you give me some credit?"

Yomo, who had started to head for the exit, turned and stood behind the desk, facing the first year, towering over her, furious.