Prolouge

Loud murmurs filled Ezhno's ear as he entered the cafeteria. Men wearing the same orange shirts with a letter "P" printed on its upper right side are looking at him with eyes full of humor. Some are even pointing at him while chuckling, not minding if he would notice their shameless acts. Ezhno doesn't mind though. He is almost even thankful that they are not approaching him. Most of them already formed their own circle of so-called friends even though each one of them have separate cells.

Ezhno went to the table closest to the door to sit and eat alone peacefully when another tray of food was placed infront of him by a woman with long, wavy hair, hazel eyes, a pointy nose, pinkish plump lips, and a curvy body wearing the same shirt as his. He just glanced at her once, then continued eating as if he's still alone

"Hey there. How are you?", she asked. Ezhno stayed silent. The lady has been bugging her for a couple of weeks already but she always gets the same response from him. Silence. So she just smiled with hint of sadness glistening in her eyes and started bringing food to her mouth.

"Tss", Ezhno muttered. Her eyes widened in awe and shrieked.

"Oh my goodness, am I seeing things or did you really muttered something? I'm even starting to think that you're mute because you're not responding no matter what I do."

Little did she know that his reaction came from the pain that he saw on her eyes because for the first time since they met, she expressed a hint of hopelessness. Though he denies it within herself, the lady caught her attention little by little. Whenever he ignores her, the more she is determined to catch his attention. And that little act of surrendering us new to him. She, just smiling despite his silence surprised him. But it only lasted for a short moment because she started blabbering again.

"Hey, can you repeat it? W-well, I mean, do you wanna talk to me already?"

No response.

"Uhm, can you make even just a sound? N-no, I mean, w-well nevermind."

"Hey", she said as she waved her hand in front of him as if that will make him look at her but she's completely wrong. Without even glancing at her, he stood up and brought his tray to the rack which is designated for used dishes and straight out of the door of the cafeteria.

"Oh. I know he's weird but how can he just leave like that?" she said to herself while still looking at the empty seat in front of her, chin resting on one of her hands and the other tapping the table.

"Well, at least I got a response even though it's just a sigh. Progress is still progress", she whispered as she shook her head and chuckled a little, then continued eating.

On the other hand, Ezhno is sitting on his bed, facing the iron bars that serves as a window inside his cell. He feels helpless. Hopeless.

Before being a prisoner, he was a doctor. A good one on that note. And until now, he can't seem to grasp how, in just what feels like a blink of an eye, everything changed. Drastically. He's lost. Lost in what's happening in his life, lost of words, lost of sanity.

Today is his third year in prison and he spent every second of it grieving for himself. But it's surprising that never did he shed a tear. Not even once. He was hurt. Deeply. But no matter how bad it gets, he doesn't cry. He keeps it all inside until he feels nothing. And on that same moment when he became numb, he also realized that pain exists for a reason. Pain is actually meant to protect us. To let us know our limitations. To remind us that we are human. Well, unfortunate for him he learned it the hard way.

"Tss. Too late for the lessons", he uttered as he looked back to all the reasons why he became this way.

"And that girl. In my three years here, she's been bugging me half of it but I'm not even annoyed", he added, shaking his head.

"I actually don't care. Well, I used not to. The thing is, I'm starting to feel mad but I'm gonna be more pissed if she stops and I hate this. I hate her. I have to. No, no. That's wrong. All I need is to not feel anything. Yeah, that's it."

"But why?", answered a voice. Ezhno turned immediately by surprise but still managed to keep the cold, stern look on his face.

"Why? Answer me. Why do you have to supress what you're feeling?" It is Maia. The lady from earlier. Ezhno just turned his back.

"Ezhno! Talk to me? Why are you ignoring me? Why?!" He sighed. It is the first time Maia called her by his name. However, he didn't bulge.