The silence in the fourth week really tormented Laura's mind. Every time he tried to close his eyes at night, his guilt always came to transform into a specific memory. The memory of his biggest sin in the first week Alcel lived in this house.

That night, Laura hugged her bolster tightly, staring at the dark ceiling of the room. His memory replayed the embarrassing incident very clearly.

At that time, Alcel had only lived with them for a few days. Laura, who feels her position as an only child is threatened, is filled with blinding jealousy. He wanted to prove that his adopted son was a troublemaker.

That afternoon, Laura stood near the table in the corner of the living room. On the table, a ceramic vase was perched containing a bouquet of her mother's favorite roses. Laura glanced down the hall; He knew Alcel was walking towards the living room. As soon as Alcel's shadow appeared in the doorway, Laura deliberately nudged the table with her hip.

Prang!

The ceramic vase fell apart and hit the marble floor. Water and broken glass were scattered around.

Laura immediately threw herself to the floor, covered her face with both hands, and started producing loud fake cries.

Hearing the deafening sound of shattering, his mother rushed from the kitchen with a panicked face. "Oh my! What is this?!"

The mother approached Laura who was squatting near the broken glass. However, instead of being angry at seeing her beloved vase destroyed, her mother immediately knelt down and examined her daughter's arm with great affection. "You're not hurt, are you, Laura? Did you have glass on your skin?"

While sobbing with crocodile tears, Laura pointed at Alcel who was standing silently in the doorway. "It was Alcel's older brother who hit the table, Mom! He was so careless that your vase broke!"

Laura squeezed the hem of her mother's shirt, waiting with eager anticipation. He imagined his mother would stand up, look at Alcel in disappointment, then scold him severely. He waited for Alcel to stutter to defend himself, or even scold him back so that a big fight broke out.

However, none of Laura's expectations came true.

Alcel stood there with a relaxed posture and a completely straight face. His eyes looked at the broken vase on the floor, then turned to Laura who was crying, and finally looked at his mother. His brain quickly processed the variables of events: the vase broke, Laura lied, Mom was sad.

For Alcel, defending himself from Laura's slander is an action that wastes energy and does not solve the main problem, namely the broken vase and his mother's feelings.

Without saying a word of defense, Alcel turned towards the back room. A second later, he returned with a broom and dustpan. With efficient movements, Alcel cleaned the ceramic shards and puddles of water until nothing remained.

After the floor was safe again, Alcel reached into his backpack which was lying on the chair. He took out a fresh red rose that he had been keeping for some time—probably left over from his lesson on macro photography this afternoon.

Alcel walked over to his mother who was still hugging Laura. He held out the rose stem in front of his mother.

"We apologize, ma'am, for not being careful," said Alcel in a very calm and functional tone. "Next, I will ask Laura to be more careful."

The sentence just slipped out. Alcel took responsibility collectively, quelling the conflict without aggressively cornering Laura, and at the same time, provided an instant solution in the form of replacement flowers to soothe the mother's feelings. He understands very well that the essence of "apologizing" is not to find out who the real perpetrator is, but rather to make the victim feel better.

The mother looked at the rose in Alcel's hand. She is an intelligent woman; of course he knew that Alcel was innocent. He really understands that his biological daughter is just looking for attention.

A gentle smile slowly spread across the mother's face. He received the rose from Alcel's hand. "Okay. Be careful next time," said his mother in a tone full of explanation. The mother then tightened her embrace on Laura again, giving her daughter all the affection and attention she needed.

In her mother's arms, Laura's face turned bright red. Instead of feeling victorious, he actually felt very small and annoyed. He turned his face away, glaring at Alcel with hatred. But Alcel didn't return his gaze at all. The teenage boy just put the broom back in its place, then walked towards his room as if nothing significant had just happened.

Now, lying in bed in her fourth silent week, Laura pounded the mattress in frustration. The memory of the flower vase is the clearest proof of how bad Laura's character is, and how tactical Alcel is in protecting the peace of the house.

"I'm so stupid..." Laura cursed in the darkness of her room, tears of regret starting to well up in her eyes. He realized that the longer he delayed his apology, the greater the shame that would build up in his chest.

***

The remaining days of the fourth week were slow and suffocating for Laura. The silence that enveloped the house now felt far more intimidating than any argument.

Laura no longer hides Alcel's shoes under the shelf. He no longer deliberately turned the television volume up loud when Alcel was reading a book in the living room. He even stopped throwing cynical glances when they passed each other. All that childish aggression evaporated without a trace, leaving a confusing emptiness.

For Alcel, Laura's cessation of interference was simply a change in environmental variables that he accepted objectively. He didn't question why Laura suddenly became quiet, nor did he celebrate. Alcel continued to carry out his routine with absolute precision; wake up early, tidy up his room, calibrate his camera lens, eat without saying much, and go back to his room.

Alcel's too normal attitude actually further eroded Laura's sanity.

One night, after eight o'clock, Laura stood frozen in the hallway of the house. Right in front of him was Alcel's tightly closed door. From the gap under the door, a line of incandescent light glowed. Faintly, Laura could hear the sound of the lens turning and the *click* of the *shutter* button—Alcel was definitely cleaning or testing the camera.

Laura's heart was beating wildly. His palms were covered in cold sweat. He had been standing at the same spot for fifteen minutes.

*Just tap,* ordered Laura's brain for the umpteenth time. *Just tap, enter, and say 'I'm sorry'. Done.*

Laura slowly raised her right hand. His knuckles were less than two centimeters from the surface of the wooden door. However, suddenly his breath hitched. An incredibly strong sense of inferiority gripped him without mercy.

The image of him pretending to cry in front of a broken flower vase flashed again. The thought of how he was always hostile to Alcel, who never even once raised his voice at him, made Laura feel very dirty. He felt like a stupid and evil child, standing at the door of someone whose level of maturity was far beyond his reach.

*If I apologize now, what will Big Brother Alcel think?* Laura thought frantically. *What if he looks at me with that flat face? What if he thinks I'm weird for suddenly being nice?*

A sense of pride mixed with fear of rejection made Laura's hands tremble slightly. Slowly, his knuckles pulled back. His hands fell to his sides again.

"I'm not ready," he whispered almost silently.

Laura turned around and walked unsteadily back to her own room. That night, he failed again.

The sad routine kept repeating itself. The next night, Laura was standing in front of Alcel's door again. He grabbed the doorknob, but failed to turn it. The following night, he even brought a small box of chocolate as a way of saying sorry, but in the end the chocolate just melted in his grasp because he stood still in the hallway for too long until he gave up and went back to his room.

Every night, Laura blames her own ego. He tortured his mind with delay after delay. He doesn't know that chance is not always kind enough to provide tomorrow.

***

The last night of the fourth week was colder than usual. The night wind blew softly, brushing the curtains on Laura's slightly open window.

Laura sat cross-legged on her bed. In his lap was a small notebook whose pages were full of scribbles. For the past hour, he had been trying to write a draft of an apology sentence. Starting from the most dramatic, to the shortest. Everything ended up being crossed out thickly in black ink because it felt too awkward.

He took a deep breath, threw his pen on the bed. His head rested on the headboard of the bed.

His heart felt very tired. Tired of maintaining prestige, tired of avoiding, and tired of living awkwardly in his own home. Every time she remembered the admiring looks of the little children in the park towards Alcel, Laura's ego was eroded even further. His older brother never asked for recognition from anyone, but his actions always had a real impact. Meanwhile Laura? He's just a spoiled kid who broke his own mother's flower vase for validation.

"Enough," Laura whispered into the silence of her room. "This prestige is really useless."

He glanced at the wall clock. Half past ten in the evening. The lights in the hallway had been turned off, and the atmosphere was very quiet. The mother was already asleep, and most likely Alcel was already resting in his room.

Laura squeezed the blanket, feeling a surge of courage that finally overcame her feelings of inferiority. He wouldn't stand still in front of Alcel's bedroom door again tonight. He wasn't going to let his fear hold back the words he should have said weeks ago.

"Tomorrow morning," Laura muttered, chanting the promise like a holy mantra. "Tomorrow morning at the dining table. Before Alcel's older brother leaves for school. I will immediately sit in front of him and say... Big bro, I'm sorry."

Just imagining that scenario made his heart race, but strangely, there was an immense amount of relief that accompanied the pounding. The large rock that had been pressing on his chest for a month slowly lifted. He finally accepted Alcel's presence, not as a rival or threat, but as an older brother who had a unique way of loving his world.

Smiling faintly, Laura crawled into her blanket. He pulled the blanket up to his chest. That night, for the first time since Alcel set foot in this house, Laura was able to close her eyes and feel truly at peace. He slept very soundly, waiting for the arrival of tomorrow with complete hope.

In her childish dream that night, Laura saw herself smiling with Alcel and her mother in the living room, starting a new chapter as a complete family.

He really didn't know that for Alcel Meyer, the thirty days he lived on was just static data that had reached its expiration date. And while Laura was asleep dreaming of future improvements, the variables of life in the house had shifted, leaving Laura far behind without having the chance to say a single word.