In the afternoon, we can find young people and adults leaving their jobs or schools. Normal people are wishing to get home so they can have dinner, take a shower, and read, play, or binge-watch series.

  On the other hand, there are weird people who go out with their groups of friends to socialize somewhere. I don’t know where they go—maybe a bar, a restaurant, a park, a bar, an ice cream shop, a bar, where else could they go?... A bar.

  There are other crazies who go in groups to a shopping mall, look around the stores, and leave with nothing more than a simple bottle of water.

  And among those crazies, we find one particular lunatic, staring at the entrance of a shopping mall while hiding in a very… visible way behind a tree. Floating near his shoulder, there is a living, cybernetic, mythical sphere.

  “Master, why are you hiding—well, that can’t really be called hiding. Why are you acting like this?”

  “I don’t trust.”

  “Who don’t you trust?”

  “Alejandra, of course. Why do you think she asked me to come here? Obviously, she got angry about what I said at the university—if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read the previous episode—and she set a trap for me, so I would show up here and then the police could arrest me.”

  “Master, don’t be paranoid… and what episode are you talking about?”

  Jeff ignored both things Esfer said. Instead, he kept his eyes on the entrance of the shopping mall, scanning the area for Alejandra and also for possibly undercover police officers. But he couldn’t find her.

  “Where could she be? Did she call me here just for a joke?”

  “A joke, you say?” A voice was heard behind Jeff, making him turn around in fright. He managed to see a figure wearing a long gray trench coat, a wide-brimmed hat, pink glasses with dark lenses, and a white face mask.

  “But who the hell are...Aleja–" Before Jeff could finish his sentence, a hand covered his mouth, preventing him from speaking.

  “Be quiet. Do you want my identity to be revealed?”

  Jeff grabbed Alejandra’s hand and pulled it away from his mouth.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you think you’re some kind of heroine?” Jeff asked, irritated by Alejandra’s action.

  “Ha, no. I feel like a celebrity—and I am one. And as such, I have to hide my appearance.”

  “From paparazzi?”

  “No. From my friends. I don’t want them to find me with you.”

  “Ha ha ha, very funny,” Jeff said sarcastically.

  “Well, let’s stop this unnecessary chatter and get this over with.”

  With those words, Alejandra started walking straight toward the mall.

  “Hey, but you still haven’t told me what we’re going to—hey, wait for me.”

  .

  .

  .

  “Mmm, since your hair is a mess, you’ll need to use this shampoo, and this mousse will help you make some curls at the tips,” Alejandra commented as she handed the bottles to Jeff.

  He took both and placed them in a basket on the floor, which also had skin creams inside.

  “When you said a change of look, I thought it was just a change of clothes.”

  Alejandra looked at him and laughed. “Haha, as if a change of clothes would improve your whole image. No, no—you need a complete change of look so you can be my fake boyfriend.”

  Jeff wanted to complain, irritated by that, but if he did, she would threaten not to help him with the stalker, so he decided to stay quiet.

  “Are we done already?” Jeff asked, exhausted.

  “Oh, stop being so annoying, we’re already do—”

  Alejandra stopped mid-sentence when she noticed a small box on a shelf, her eyes lighting up.

  “Wow, this dye is from a good brand. I’ll take it.”

  With that, she grabbed the box and handed it to Jeff. When he took it, he realized it was orange hair dye.

  “…Hey, I’ve been wondering… why are you doing a complete makeover? And pretending this is your real lo—”

  Jeff stopped when he noticed Alejandra staring at him irritably.

  “What are you talking about? This is my real look.”

  With that, she started walking away from the store, leaving Jeff behind with a basket full of products.

  “Wait a second! I have to pay for all this?!”

  .

  .

  .

  On a small bench inside the mall sat Alejandra, complaining loudly, causing the people around her to quickly move away.

  “That Jeff is so insensitive. To tell me, of all people, that my appearance is fake—ha. This is… my real appearance… right?” Alejandra questioned herself at the end.

  If she changed her hair, her skin, her eyes—everything she disliked about her body—would it still be her real appearance?

  She didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t have the answer.

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  Then Jeff came to her mind, along with their conversation at the university.

  “My own approval…” she reflected on those words, trying to find a way to grasp their meaning.

  “Does approving my appearance mean accepting my imperfections and living with them?”

  Alejandra’s mind had only reached that conclusion, though she doubted it, since she didn’t like it.

  Her thoughts were so absorbed that she didn’t notice someone approaching her from behind. The shadow of that individual fell over Alejandra’s figure, and then…

  “Hey.”

  That person touched Alejandra’s shoulder to get her attention. Alejandra jumped quickly, moving a bit away and turning around fast, only to find Jeff holding a bag in his hand.

  “What’s wrong with you?! Why did you scare me?!”

  “Hey! First of all, I called you earlier, but you didn’t answer, so I had to touch your shoulder.”

  Jeff said, sounding a bit annoyed.

  “Why were you so spaced out? ”

  “That… doesn’t matter. Did you bring the things?”

  “Here they are.” Jeff extended the bag toward her, and she took it.

  When she looked at the bag, Alejandra realized everything was there, but there was something else.

  “This is a cheek tint. Why did you buy it? I didn’t ask you to.”

  “That is a small compensation.”

  “Compensation?”

  “Yes, well, it was because I asked you something… that is important to you without taking it into account. It’s also a way to thank you for cooperating with this plan.”

  “…Okay… thanks. And how did you choose it? Do you know about makeup?”

  “No, I just asked the receptionist about some product to make the cheeks look pink.”

  “I see… did she also tell you that the cheek tint she gave you is harmful for sensitive skin?”

  “What?! Is that serious?” Jeff asked, surprised and scared.

  “That’s right. This brand isn’t the best. At least they sold it to you cheap—”

  Alejandra stopped mid-sentence when she saw Jeff’s face, which said the complete opposite.

  A small silence formed before being interrupted.

  “Hahaha, you got scammed with a cheap tint.” Alejandra laughed and teased Jeff, smiling.

  “Hey, don’t make fun of me. I don’t know anything about makeup, tints, or that kind of stuff. Let’s go buy what’s left.” With that, Jeff started walking.

  “Haha, hey, wait, haha, sorry, but—haha.” Alejandra followed Jeff, holding her stomach from laughing.

  .

  .

  .

  “Come out, let’s see it.”

  “I don’t want to, this doesn’t look good on me.”

  “I said come out!” The sound of curtains moving was heard.

  When she moved them, Jeff appeared wearing dark blue jeans and a white shirt with black crisscross stripes.

  “…I’ll look for another outfit for you in a moment,” Alejandra commented while searching through more clothes on a chair beside her.

  “Hey, I know I said it didn’t suit me, but that doesn’t mean you have to ignore me."

  .

  .

  .

  “Ugh, we finally finished,” Jeff commented tiredly, carrying several bags with clothes, makeup, creams, and other things.

  “Are you really tired?” Alejandra asked. “I do this every week.”

  “Every week?!”

  Jeff’s exaggerated expression gave her a small laugh and a sense of pride.

  “That’s right. I have to restock several things during the week, and also research which products give me more natural results—”

  Alejandra stopped talking when she looked to her side and saw that Jeff was looking toward the other side of the street.

  There was a child with his mother, and near them there was a tree, and stuck in its branches was a balloon.

  Alejandra was about to ask what he was staring at so much, but Jeff spoke first. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said, handing her the bags and going to the other side of the street, first looking both ways before crossing… even though it was a one-way street.

  Alejandra simply watched as Jeff approached the child and the mother. He exchanged a few words with them and then turned to look at the tree.

  He began trying to climb it, but it looked more like he was hugging the tree. With visible effort, he managed to reach a branch and tried to climb higher, eventually reaching the balloon. He climbed back down, handed the balloon to the child, and received thanks from both the child and the mother.

  Once his mission was finished, he crossed the street again until he reached Alejandra, thanking her for waiting. Then he took the bags, and they resumed their walk.

  Alejandra followed beside him.

  “Wow, I didn’t know you were a kind person.”

  “Huh? Oh, about that, it’s nothing—” Jeff stopped speaking when he saw a cat run past them, followed by a dog, and farther behind an adult shouting, “Firu, stop chasing the cat.”

  And before Alejandra realized it, her hands were full of bags again, and then she watched as Jeff ran in the direction the dog and the cat had gone.

  Alejandra lost sight of him when he turned the corner, wondering what to do—whether to follow him or wait for him. She decided to do the latter.

  After a few minutes, Jeff came back disheveled and tired, offering a small apology to Alejandra and taking the bags she was carrying.

  Alejandra found Jeff’s behavior strange, but she simply ignored it, thinking that Jeff seemed to be a very kind person.

  That idea would have remained if it weren’t for the fact that later another person appeared asking for directions, then an elderly person was trying to cross the street, and later a car broken down on the road. And on all of those occasions, he helped them.

  To the first person, he gave directions and even walked with them for a bit so they wouldn’t get lost; he helped the elderly person cross the street, even though they were going in a different direction; and he helped push the car so it wouldn’t block the road.

  Alejandra initially thought he was just kind, but now she thought he was some kind of charitable soul from the church. Even so, she couldn’t imagine him that way given his attitude.

  So she didn’t keep wondering, “Hey, are you a religious person by any chance?”

  “Huh? I’m not. I’ve never really been very religious, and right now I don’t want to immerse myself in that either… why do you ask?”

  “Well, you’ve helped everyone we’ve come across, so I thought you did it for religious reasons. But if that’s not it, then why do you do it?”

  Jeff felt nervous. No one had ever directly asked him the reason behind his good deeds.

  “Well… like I said, I do it by following a kind of ideology.”

  “What kind of ideology?”

  “Uh… it’s not really an ideology per se. It’s more like my own… personal philosophy.”

  “Oh yeah? And what is it like?”

  “It’s, uh… how can I put it… have you ever heard the a Mexican phrase that goes, haz el bien, um"

  “Haz el bien sin mirar a quien?

  “That’s it. Well, my ideology is about helping everyone I come across on my path.”

  “Really? That sounds like a nice ideology.”

  “Thanks,” Jeff commented shyly, looking away, only to notice Esfer’s smiling face.

  *What are you staring at?* Jeff asked, slightly irritated.

  “Nothing. I just like how this situation is turning out.”

  Jeff was about to say something else to Esfer, but Alejandra spoke up first.

  “And why do you do it?”

  “Huh?” Jeff turned his gaze toward Alejandra.

  “I said, why do you do it?”

  “Why… do I do it?” Jeff looked at Alejandra, then stared ahead.

  And with a single blink, his vision changed.

  The shadow of a tree fell over his head. In front of him was a playground, and there were children playing there as well, though he could only see them as shadows.

  Then, a sharp voice reached him from his side. When he looked that way, he saw another shadow close to him, staring at him.

  “Why are you standing off by yourself?” the shadow asked.

  “…because I don’t have anyone to play with.”

  “Huh? What are you talking about?”

  The shadow changed, and so did the surroundings around him. The scene returned to the street, and the place where the shadow had been was now occupied by Alejandra.

  “What happened? You were just standing there,” Alejandra asked, sounding slightly worried. “Did I… touch on a sensitive to—?”

  Before she could continue, Jeff interrupted her.

  “No, no, it was nothing. I was just remembering something. Let’s keep walking, we still have a long way to go before we reach the apartments.”

  “Yeah… that’s true.”

  And with that, Jeff and Alejandra resumed their walk home, the atmosphere growing somewhat heavy.

  *That’s bad, the master ruined the mood* Esfer thought to themselves, disappointed. *I hope I can improve it along the way.*