Between Two Worlds

A folded newspaper was held up, and a brown-haired researcher took a sip of his coffee before sighing, "...Do you think Superman can really lift an aircraft carrier?"

Soren who is sitting behind him, smiled slightly and turned around, pretending to be casual as he said, "What are you talking about? Is Superman in the news again? I haven't seen today's Daily Planet yet. Let me have a look."

He took the newspaper from his colleague, unfolded it, and saw a photo of Clark lifting a golden Earth sculpture with a diameter of 50 feet.

"Wow, he's really strong," Soren feigned surprise, "Just a few days ago, didn't he catch a runaway rocket for NASA? I guess lifting an aircraft carrier shouldn't be too hard for him."

His colleague raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you a Superman fan, Hargreaves?"

"No way!" Soren quickly distanced himself from Superman, "I'm clearly a fan of Angemon. Look, this pen is a limited edition Angemon one!"

His colleague didn't say much and shrugged, "You know, there are more and more people with superpowers these days. Lots of people idolize them just like celebrities."

Soren pulled his neck in and pretended to focus on his computer data, "Isn't that a good thing? With superheroes around, we have less to worry about. Didn't you hear that crime rates in Metropolis are almost at zero now…"

His colleague was about to respond when Soren's off-duty phone alarm started ringing.

"Time to clock out!"

As soon as he heard the alarm, Soren cheerfully picked up his phone, grabbed his shoulder bag, and left without continuing the conversation.

—Every office worker at quitting time is like a wild horse escaping, eager to run as fast as they can.

Soren took the elevator down with everyone.

The floor that was damaged in the recent accident at the S.T.A.R Labs had been repaired and was back in use.

His phone lit up with a new message from Clark.

[ Done with work? I'm coming to pick you up for dinner. I bought your favorite cheese potato cakes. ]

Soren hesitated.

He frowned at the message, took a deep breath, and replied, "I have some work to finish up. Sorry, Clark. Can we have dinner together this weekend instead?"

After sending the message, he didn't check Clark's reply.

He resolutely turned off his phone screen and put it back in his pocket.

Soren sighed as he squeezed through the crowd.

Ever since Pete misunderstood his relationship with Clark, Soren realized that his bond with Clark had indeed crossed some boundaries.

So he was scared.

He couldn't… he at least shouldn't, be so close to Clark.

He had already taken away Clark's past like a thief—why should he take up more of Clark's future?

He started avoiding Clark, going to Clark's apartment less and less, and avoiding meeting Clark unless absolutely necessary.

Every time he turned Clark down, he felt a pang of sadness.

But he always told himself it was only temporary.

Once some time had passed, things would get better.

Clark would date his coworker, Luis Lane, and then Clark wouldn't come to see him so often…

But every time he thought about this, his chest felt tight.

The elevator dinged open, and Soren rubbed his face as he followed his colleague out of the lab building, scanning his card to leave.

Just as he reached the edge of the plaza, a silver Koenigsegg screeched to a stop right in front of him.

The car door slowly lifted up, revealing the handsome face of New York's richest man, aka Iron Man.

With thick brown hair gleaming in the sunlight and captivating eyes behind dark sunglasses, his face was the kind that could charm many hearts.

He waved his fingers at Soren and said with a confident grin, "Hop in, kid."

"Tony? What are you doing here?" Soren asked in surprise.

Tony Stark adjusted his sunglasses and peered at Soren from above the frames, winking at him, "Your parents asked me to bring you back to New York for a Thanksgiving dinner. They're having a small party at home."

Soren immediately cheered, tossing his backpack into the passenger seat before climbing into the car,"They're back from Kansas? Why didn't they tell me?"

Tony smiled lightly and started the car once Soren had buckled up, "They wanted to surprise you. Are you happy?"

Soren beamed, "I'm thrilled! I haven't seen them in months!"

Tony grinned and said, "Hold on tight. Let's head to New York."

As the Koenigsegg sped off, Soren quickly forgot about his one-sided cold war with Tony.

He excitedly started chatting about the latest legendary hero in Metropolis.

"…and then he put that rocket right next to the launch pad! An entire rocket! All in one piece!" he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

He was like a puppy proudly showing off its cozy new bed.

Tony smirked and said with a hint of sarcasm, "I didn't see you this excited when I beat Mandarin."

Soren scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Oh, no, no! You were amazing back then too! I saw the news on TV, I almost jumped up with excitement!"

— But the real reason was that he was actually there at the scene...

Soren: Oops, I was there. I was the Angemon standing right beside you.

Tony soon brought him to his home in Manhattan.

Mr. and Mrs. Hargreaves had dinner all set up.

Soren happily hugged his parents and playfully snuggled with Renee, making her laugh and kiss his cheek affectionately.

They had invited only a few close friends for the dinner.

The roast turkey smelled wonderful, and everyone enjoyed the meal with a cheerful atmosphere.

Just before Tony was about to leave, Soren suddenly remembered something.

He hurriedly pulled out a hard drive from his bag and quietly grabbed Tony's arm.

"Tony, could you help me crack the password on this file?" Soren asked in a low voice.

Tony raised an eyebrow and looked at him curiously, "What kind of files do you need to crack?"