Chapter 1587: It’s impossible

The next morning in the lab...

Penny and Zoren idled outside their home, her hand resting on his chest while her other arm was around his shoulder. Zoren lowered his head, his hand on her back, and planted a short, soft kiss on her lips.

When he drew his head back, his eyes softened. Her lips curled into a smile as she quietly said,

"See you later?"

A soft hum slipped past his closed lips as he nodded. "I’ll pick you up later."

The two of them smiled at each other before he stole another soft peck from her lips.

All the bodyguards present wore bitter expressions, their backs turned to the couple. It was so early in the morning, and yet, these two were already feeding them diabetes.

"I think it’s the coffee that spoiled my stomach," Angel muttered, looking everywhere except the front door.

The bodyguard next to him in Zoren’s car nodded, his eyes also averted from the couple’s display of affection. "It’s definitely the coffee — or maybe, the sugar."

Though they weren’t sure if sugar could spoil — they had never seen that before — they all just blamed it on the poor, innocent coffee.

Normally, this discomfort would be shared only by Mark or Angel and the driver with them. After all, Penny and Zoren often went to the office together. But whenever Zoren didn’t drop her off, it was always like this.

They should’ve been numb to it by now, but for some reason, they weren’t.

After what felt like an eternity, the couple finally parted ways. As usual, Zoren walked Penny to her car and opened the backseat door for her.

"Are you heading to the laboratory tonight?" he asked, holding the door open for her.

Penny smacked her lips, thinking it over. "Well, I should, since there’s still work I need to focus on."

"I’ll see you there, then."

"Mhm."

With that, Penny jumped into the backseat while Zoren carefully closed the door behind her. He waved at her one last time before heading to the other car, which he would use to travel to his early meeting.

As their cars drove away from the driveway, their day started like usual.

---

Meanwhile, in the lab...

Professor Singh quietly entered the laboratory to pick something up. Since his team was working in a different department, he wasn’t expecting anyone in the lab. However, the moment he walked in, he saw a figure at one of the counters.

Deep lines appeared between his brows as he studied the person’s back. The figure was seated on a stool, wearing just his inner dress shirt, while his blazer was draped across the counter.

Curious, Professor Singh almost tiptoed until he could finally see the person’s side profile.

"Dean?" he called, but Dean remained focused, checking something under the microscope.

As someone who had trained Dean for years, Professor Singh was familiar with Dean’s quirks. Whenever Dean was focused on something, no one could disturb him. Professor Singh could be yelling right now, and Dean wouldn’t even notice. Or rather, Dean would just deliberately ignore him.

"..." Professor Singh sighed faintly, his brows twitching as he noticed scattered notes on the counter behind him.

The lines on his forehead deepened as he saw books and notes occupying most of the space. He then shifted his gaze to the three whiteboards at the end. All three were covered in equations.

Each number, even each character, had little space between them. It was messy, but also a bit coherent for someone who could understand what was written. Beside the whiteboards was a small trash can, where a few empty, crushed coffee cups had piled up.

Professor Singh looked back at Dean.

How long had he been here? He wondered, worry spiking in his gut. Did he... spend the night solving the lethal drug?

But then again, from the equations he had seen, it didn’t seem like Dean was just studying the lethal drug. Professor Singh knew — even though Penny had hidden the fact — that she was trying to make an antidote. He hadn’t pointed it out, considering his students were really bad at lying.

"Dean," he called again, taking a step closer. "Dean Pierson."

Professor Singh paused as Dean suddenly raised a hand, his eyes still glued to the microscope. He frowned at the gesture but wasn’t offended, understanding this young genius well.

After a second, Dean slowly drew his head back.

A deep huff escaped Dean as he turned his head, meeting Professor Singh’s face. The professor sighed, looking back at him with a tired expression.

---

Professor Singh handed Dean a carton of juice as he sat down on the bench nearby.

"Thank you, Professor," Dean said as he accepted the carton, but he didn’t drink it. Instead, he held it between his hands, his arms resting on his legs.

The professor studied his side profile for a moment before speaking gently. "Penny called me not long ago. She said you weren’t going to help her and that you asked her to beg you on her knees before you would."

Dean scoffed faintly but didn’t answer. "She probably also told you I ruined a few of her experiments and that I called her ugly."

She did.

Professor Singh chuckled, amused at how well Dean knew Penny. He had always known that Dean and Penny didn’t get along, but at the same time, it was clear they worked well together when needed. It was a strange relationship: always fighting, yet making a great team when necessary.

"The two of you... You’re both very stubborn." He leaned back, smiling faintly. "Penny won’t admit she needs your help, and you... just won’t admit you want to help her."

"I didn’t want to help her," Dean murmured, eyes cast down. "I just didn’t want to go home, and that problem she’s solving is a good distraction from something else."

And that just proved Professor Singh’s point.

"How is the antidote?" he asked, not pressing the matter. Besides, he didn’t need to hide from Dean that he knew what Penny was trying to do. Dean, after all, unlike Penny, knew she wouldn’t fool him.

Dean let out a bitter laugh and shrugged weakly. "It’s impossible," he whispered, turning his head to meet Professor Singh’s gaze. "I tried everything, Professor, but it’s all futile. The only solution is to slow down and lessen its effects, but there’s no antidote for that drug."