*Slam!*

Standing outside the car, the girl slammed the door while cursing at the driver. Fuming, she walked to the dormitory in her high heels, swaying with an unsteady gait, a sign of obvious drunkenness.

Ben observed her as she approached him: tallskimpy black dresslong legs 'Why do I have a terrible feeling of deja vu?'

He felt like there was some memory buried deep down...some tragic event that happened to him recently which he suppressed in his subconscious

'Forget it, the machines must've just changed something...' Ben understood that ignorance was bliss...

He put that aside and looked closer at the girl. 'Why does she look familiar?' Her wavy neck-length dark hair and olive skin reminded him of someone. When she got closer and he saw her beautiful facehe knew why. 'It's her' He recognized the girl.

As she reached the entrance to the dorm, she stopped in place when she saw Ben, recognizing him as well. She greeted him with some unknown words. "Eisai esy"

Ben didn't know what the words meant but he knew what the language wasGreek

She was Penelope, the Greek girl he opened on his first day at university, who he hadn't seen since. With all the women Ben spoke to after, he forgot all about her. Yet, here she was

The last time they spoke, she asked Ben for his number. 'I've changed so much. How'd she even recognize me?' Then Ben realized he was wearing the same shirt as he did that day. Most of his old clothes were trash, but this was his best shirt then, which he wore the first day to make a good impression.

With the mysteries solved, Ben gazed at this beauty waiting in front of him. Realizing this could be a chance, he glanced at her system statuses.

[Target's current attraction level: interested(+2 drunk bonus)]

[Target's current comfort level: familiar(+2 drunk bonus)]

Ben swallowed. 'It's now, but what should I do? When we last met, I was fluent in Greek because of a system item. Now, I can't speak a word Should I try speaking English? Spit some game at her?' He wished his divine line opener wasn't still on cooldown. Even if it didn't make him fluent for a while, it might offer him a line in Greek, but he needed to work with what was available now.

Ben thought for a moment. Then, instead of speaking, he nodded at her. 'If speaking is risky, I'll just keep my mouth shut'

After that response, Penelope scrutinized him for a few seconds...

His heartbeat sped up. Ben wondered if he made the wrong move...

Then, she smirked. Penelope narrowed her eyes as she looked back at the SUV, at the guy sitting in the driver's seat. He was talking on his phone now and laughing with an arrogant smirk as if there was a girl on the other line Penelope snorted and turned back around to Ben. She took a few steps towards him, the looped her arm around his. "Tha itheles na kaneis parea mazi mou?

Ben didn't understand what she said so he responded with a simple nod again.

That's when Penelope pulled Ben to the inside of the dorm as she glared at the guy in the SUV. Having seen this, the driver's face became livid. He exited the car and marched towards them, but they were already inside.

A few moments later, Penelope and Ben showed their ID cards to the guard and walked past the security booth. As they headed inside, they heard a shout from behind.

"Penelope! What the f*ck are you doing?!?"

They glanced back to see the tall driver glaring at them, his hideous expression mismatching his handsome face and short blonde hair. Penelope sneered at him. Then, she turned back around and pulled Ben to the elevator, ignoring the man who couldn't enter due to not being a student.

As they were about to disappear around the corner, Ben smiled and locked eyes with the man. At that moment, time seemed to freeze...

Ben could feel the man understood his thoughts. It was one of those magical situations...a situation where a man didn't need words to express himself...a situation where one of them was about to get cuckolded...

...

A song began to play in both of their heads as they gazed at each other...a remastered version of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence."

"Hello cuckold, my old friend~

...

I've come to f*ck your wife again~

...

Because a weiner softly creeping~

...

Left its seeds while you were sleeping~

...

And the baby that was planted when I was drained~

...

Still remains~

...

So you will raise...and guide it~"

...

It was a song that captured Ben's tender feelings...

All good things come to an end, however. Soon, Penelope dragged Ben into the elevator and he checked his countdown.

00:09:52

He began to sweat. It wasn't enough time. He needed to find a way to make this quick. Otherwise, the next ballad might be the one at his funeral...

Inside the elevator, Penelope pressed the button to her floor and chatted with Ben. The conversation went something like this.

Indistinguishable Greek

Nod.

Indistinguishable Greek.

Nod.

Indistinguishable Greek.

Dramatic pause, then nod.

Although Penelope made some awkward expressions once or twice as if Ben's responses were unusual, Ben knew it was working so far because her levels hadn't dropped. 'Thankfully, she's drunk. If she was sober, she might've busted me by now'

As they approached her floor, Penelope started mixing in English, perhaps sensing Ben didn't "want" to speak Greek.

"We're here" She smiled and grabbed Ben's arm as she led him toward her room. Soon, they entered, and he examined the space. Besides for the unusual scent of rosemary, the room was typical of a freshman dorm. Two desks, two chairs, and two double beds, but her roommate wasn't there.

After Penelope closed the front door, she went to the bathroom. Ben sat down on her bed and tried to think of his next move

00:08:25

00:08:24

00:08:23

As the seconds passed, his calm dwindled grain by grain like the falling sand in an hourglass. 'I can't fail here, but how can I succeed?' He continued to strategize.

Meanwhile, a pizza delivery guy was arguing with the security guard downstairs to let him up, but he failed, leaving with a wasted hot pizza, and a red mark on the company's balance sheet. It was Ben's first strike against the Domino's empire

Ben couldn't worry about that though, because he was in the middle of his own Uber Meats delivery.