THE BIOHAZARD AND THE BUTTERFLY
The silence in the cottage was broken only by the rhythmic hum of the air conditioner. After the high-stakes performance at breakfast, Fay felt like a hollow shell. She slumped onto the edge of the bed, her fingers mindlessly scrolling through her phone to distract herself from the heat of Kei's presence just a few feet away.
Then, she saw it.
It was a video. It looked like it was filmed on an old smartphone, the quality slightly grainy but the audio crystal clear.
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.
In the video, a younger Kei was wrapped in a thick gray blanket, her nose red and her eyes glassy from a fever. She looked small, vulnerable and most shockingly to Fay completely relaxed.
.
.
"I'm not eating that, Sofia,"
Kei's voice came through the speakers, laugh and teasing.
"_"
A hand manicured and steady held a spoon full of gray, lumpy porridge toward Kei's face.
"Eat it, you drama queen. I give my best in making this. It's a Vance family recipe."
Kei let out a weak, genuine laugh that Fay hadn't heard in a decade.
"Sofia, this isn't a recipe. It's a biohazard. Are you trying to kill me?".
"Just shut up and swallow,"
Sofia's voice laughed back from behind the camera.
Kei took a small bite, made a hilarious face of disgust and then looked directly into the lens with a smile so warm it made Fay's chest ache.
"If I die, tell the world the future CEO of Vance is a biological terrorist."
.
.
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The video ended, but the image of Kei's genuine, happy laughter stayed burned into Fay's retinas. The post had no caption, but it didn't need one. It told the world that Sofia Vance was there during the nights when Kei was at her weakest.
Fay felt a hot, sharp spike of jealousy slice through her.
"Biohazard?"
Fay whispered, her voice trembling.
Kei, who was standing by the window, turned around.
"Fay? What's wrong?"
Fay stood up, her face flushed with a mix of anger and hurt. She shoved the phone toward Kei.
"Is this why you're so close to her? Because she fed you 'biohazard' porridge while I was crying myself to sleep".
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Kei looked at the video. A small, painful smile flickered on her lips for a second before she caught herself.
"_"
"Sofia… she's my best friend".
"Best friends?"
Fay laughed bitterly, her eyes stinging.
"You look at her in this video like she's your entire world. You never laughed like that with me after you came back. You're not like this, you're professional, you're 'CEO Kei.' But with her, you're just… you."
"Fay, I don't talk about that time,"
Kei said, her voice dropping into that familiar, guarded tone.
"It was fifteen years ago. It's the past."
"The past is currently trending on every social media platform, Kei!"
Fay shouted, her jealousy boiling over.
"The whole world is watching us pretend to be a couple, while this woman of your past is posting videos of you in your pajamas! Who is she really? Was she your lover? Is she the reason you never came back for me?"
"She is my friend!"
Kei snapped back, her own frustration finally leaking out.
"She saved my life when I had nothing! Why can't you just accept that she's my best friend?"
"Because I should have been the one making you porridge!"
Fay's voice broke.
"But you didn't let me! You gave that role to her!"
.
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Fay turned her back on Kei, her heart heavy with the realization that even in this beautiful paradise, she was competing with a ghost from a decade she wasn't allowed to know about.
...
Kei reached out, her hand hovering inches from Fay's shaking shoulder, but she pulled it back. The secret of her "servant" days and the debt she owed Sofia was a weight she wasn't ready to share not even with the woman she loved.