The second Enzo stepped into the forest, he felt the difference. It was as though an invisible force took hold of him, telling him that this place was more than meets the eye.
The trees here weren’t like anything he had seen before. The ordinariness of the world outside the forest didn’t leave him with any expectations. He’d been on hikes before; trees were trees.
Not these. They looked ancient. Some trees were so wide that Enzo felt completely dwarfed. The sun filtered in through the trees, casting shadows that seemed to dance.
There was something breathtakingly beautiful and wild about it. He had always loved nature, but something about this place made him feel at ease. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and exhaled through his mouth, arms spread wide.
"You look like an idiot," a discordant voice came from his right.
Of course, it was Nova, just waiting to ruin his day.
Enzo looked at him deadpan. "Don’t you have anything better to do?"
Crossing his arms, Nova responded. "Zeli was the one who forced me to stay. Who wants to be near you?"
Enzo looked at him with disgust. "Lies. Think I didn’t see you trailing behind us?"
"Okay, I know you two like each other; no need to hide it. The tribe won’t mind. Some males get together; there’s nothing wrong with two females getting together too." Zeli said, patronizingly.
Nova stomped his foot and glared at Zeli, who snickered and shrugged.
"Done fighting? Good. Let’s go. We need to find food. Let’s go over there. I found some berries over there last time."
The trio walked in the direction Zeli stated.
"Some of them weren’t ripe yet. I think there should be some now," Zeli said as he walked.
"What kind of berry?" Enzo asked.
"Red berries," Zeli replied.
Yeah, thanks; that’s helped a lot, Enzo thought flatly. But he should know better. The protagonist is usually the one who gives the proper names to whatever fruit or berry they see.
Coincidentally, when they arrived, Rin, Sani, and Kris were already there. They were talking among themselves and picking red berries.
Rin was the first to look up. "Zeli, Nova, you’re here too." He looked at Enzo, still trying to place him.
Zeli stopped in his tracks, not expecting Rin to be here. He gave Enzo an awkward smile. Nova lifted a corner of his lip like he was looking forward to a good show.
"Who’s your friend?" Rin asked, stepping forward. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in the tribe before."
"Uhh..." Zeli stammered, unsure what to say.
"I’m Enzo." He knew Zeli wanted to spare him from whatever disagreement they had, but he wasn’t the original, and even if he was, he didn’t remember. There was no reason for him to avoid Rin.
If anyone were going to be embarrassed by past memories, it wouldn’t be him.
Rin looked at him, still not placing the name. He turned to Kris and Sani, who shook their heads.
Nova, not seeing the fight he apparently wanted, said, "It’s You, the one who tried to take your partner from you."
Enzo glared at Nova, who grinned at him.
The atmosphere became the kind of awkward Enzo was trying to avoid. Kris and Sani’s expressions stilled and soured.
Zeli, in a bid to save the situation, spoke. "His name isn’t You anymore; it’s Enzo. He had an accident and doesn’t remember anything. Gato says he has a forgetting disease. He doesn’t remember anything."
Rin curiously sized up Enzo. Enzo allowed him to look. He had nothing to hide. At least, nothing they would notice. He’s forgotten everyone; whatever his personality was now, they had to accept it.
Rin scrutinized Enzo. He went from being fine to wanting Rin to ignore him. The gaze didn’t feel friendly at all. Enzo ignored the sensation. He chalked it up to whatever misunderstanding they had.
"Rin, right? I’m not sure what kind of argument we had before. But rest assured, I’m not interested in your partner."
Seeing him being so honest and aboveboard, Rin’s gaze softened. A soft smile graced his lips. "I don’t blame you. You were, after all, his prospective partner. The person to blame is me. I shouldn’t have gotten close to him in the first place. If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t have rejected you. I know you must have felt bad about being rejected."
Enzo felt the bitterness on his tongue. The words sounded pleasant enough, but listening to them made him feel...attacked. He highlighted rejection yet blamed himself.
Sure enough, Kris chimed in, "Rin, you don’t need to feel bad. The two of them didn’t have a mark yet. There’s no reason you should apologize to him. As a female, not being able to keep a male is his own fault."
Enzo tilted his head, looking inquisitively at Kris. He smiled. "That’s good to know. If you have a partner and they decide they don’t want you anymore, remember those words."
He walked straight up to the red berry bush and started picking berries, not waiting for anyone’s response.
Zeli coughed and walked over to him. "Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?" he asked, under his breath.
"Not at all," Enzo replied. "Would you like it if you had a partner and someone swooped in and took them away from you?" Enzo watched the constipated expression on Zeli’s face and laughed.
"Exactly. You wouldn’t like it, so who would? I might not remember anything, but I know stealing someone’s partner isn’t a good thing. Not to mention, the way he said it...he wasn’t being nice about it."
Zeli didn’t continue to talk. He glanced at Rin and the others before picking berries with Enzo.
Stupid, Enzo thought. You’re stupid, Z. Why are you picking a fight with the protagonist?
Then why is he talking in such a yin-yang way?
Isn’t he supposed to be nice?
Seriously, what was that?
Who was the original’s partner again? Trak?
Trak, the name rang in his mind. He read the book but couldn’t remember anything about Trak having another partner before Rin. His hands worked quickly while his mind went over the novel.
As he thought about it, his hand paused on a berry. He looked over at Rin. He had started picking berries again. Their eyes met, and Rin smiled. It was like their confrontation had never happened.
Trak was Rin’s second husband. He marked with him not long after Rin became an adult. He remembered there was a part of the story when Trak was jealous of Rin taking on another husband.
They had a heart-to-heart and mentioned that Trak had someone before Rin. Trak denied it, saying they hadn’t formed a mark or a bond.
They mentioned that the person died a long time ago.
The more Enzo thought about it, the more he realized that the dead partner might be him. He was Trak’s previous potential partner.
His mood sank lower when he thought about it. In the novel, he thought the only reason Trak ended up with Rin was that his partner died. He had the entire idea that Rin helped him after the loss of his partner.
Turned out it wasn’t like that at all. Enzo chuckled low to himself.
So, in the love story of Rin and his husbands, it turned out that he, Enzo, was a background character. Not even a living one, but a dead one.
He took a deep breath. No, he wouldn’t allow himself to think about it. That person is already dead. He’s the one who’s here now.
Just think of it as getting rid of another scumbag man.