Marcel looked flatly at his brothers-in-law.
"I don't think this is a good time to torture our brother-in-law," Ronnie commented. "Mum and Dad said that if Marcel doesn't want to eat, we shouldn't force him."Ciko snorted."Gosh, that's what mum used to say to us." She commented. "We don't need to tell mum ....""Huft, boring!" Alvon chided, he was Marcel's brother-in-law who was neutral - never defending Marcel, but also never trying to prevent the abuse from happening in front of his eyes."Ron, today, I'll just tell Marcel to clean up all the leftovers." Shirley intervened. "No more fuss, remember, he almost killed himself yesterday because of you."Marcel wondered why Shirley was defending him this time, though of course that only sparked laughter from the mouths of Ronnie and Ciko."That's just because your husband is mentally weak!" scoffed Ciko. "A real man wouldn't be as weak as him!"Marcel resisted the urge to answer his brother-in-law's insults."Even his life refuses to leave his body, ha ha!" Ronnie laughed.Marcel clenched his fists."That's it, brother! That's it!" interrupted Shirley as she beckoned Marcel to come closer to her. "Let me tell my husband to eat ....""Well, well, she's starting to recognize her husband!" laughed Ciko, teasing his sister.Alvon, who was reluctant to get involved again, immediately left the kitchen, even though he sometimes joined in the fun with his other siblings. Whether it was just watching or holding Marcel if he was in the mood."Well, you got lucky this time." Ronnie looked at Marcel. "As long as you actually finish our leftovers, or else we'll force you again."Marcel sighed and pretended to be the usual helpless brother-in-law."Yes, I'll try to finish it ..." said Marcel in order to make all his brothers-in-law satisfied."Tell him to eat," Ciko said while glancing at Shirley. "All that food was bought with money, so tell your husband to be a little grateful.""Yes, yes, Ciko!" said Shirley as she rolled her eyes, until Ronnie and the others left the kitchen.Then she turned to Marcel and said, "Did you hear what my brothers told you?"Marcel did not answer, so Shirley took a clean plate and poured all the leftovers together on it."This way it can be one serving," Shirley commented with satisfaction. "Another saving."Marcel looked at the remnants of rice, coconut milk, fish bones that were still intact with their heads, and chicken pieces that were no longer intact.In the past, Marcel had been willing to eat the food because he had no other choice, but now just looking at it made him feel nauseous and disgusted all in one."What about you?" asked Marcel as he looked at Shirley."What do you mean?" asked Shirley with a frown."You can't swallow those leftovers?" Marcel asked back. "If you can, I'll pay you."After hearing Marcel's words, Shirley suddenly smiled dismissively."You've become so lopsided since the poisoning?" taunted Shirley with a shrug of her shoulders."I'm serious, I'll pay you if you can finish the leftovers yourself," Marcel repeated as he put his hands in his pockets. "Able, no?"Shirley immediately glared."How dare you make me eat such a disgusting dish!" Shirley snapped angrily.Marcel smiled slightly."You're disgusted yourself, right?" he commented calmly. "I'd rather not have you feed me if you can only afford leftovers."Shirley looked at Marcel with sharp eyes."You're not being a jerk, are you?" she snapped, feeling insulted. "Don't act like you have money! You're already poor!"Marcel exhaled loudly."If you don't want to," he said calmly. "You can't swallow these leftovers yourself, can you?"Shirley looked over at the plate of leftovers she had gathered together with a look of disgust."My brothers will torture you," Shirley threatened again. "Don't you know that they've already intervened?"Marcel didn't answer and only showed a flat expression.An annoyed Shirley left the kitchen with stomping feet, Marcel didn't care one bit about his wife's threats. He grabbed the plate and immediately threw it into a plastic bag to bury it in the backyard.***Venya tidied up some of the empty food wrappers because she didn't want to leave any trace that she lived here. It was still fresh in her memory when the Delvino family kicked her and her father out after their attempt failed for the umpteenth time.Marcel's mother and father had given Venya and his father some money to live on once they decided to leave. But, of course, along the way, the money ran out as he had nothing to hold on to, let alone a job."... research is highly valuable, more than just money ...."Venya turned to Meru who was suddenly talking to herself."... the formula experiment didn't fail, it just hasn't worked yet ...."Venya sighed, at least her father wasn't showing any signs of danger.When Marcel arrived late in the evening, Venya gasped as the man came in carrying a bundle of money, which he handed over."This is for our research expenses," Marcel said firmly. "I'll leave it up to you, since I don't know anything about chemical reactions and such."Venya nodded."I'll put it to good use," the young woman said. "Where did you get it, by the way? I mean ... don't you not have a penny? Or did you ...?"Marcel nodded."You're right, I used the funds on the card I found." He explained. "At least, we don't have to think about funds anymore."To Marcel's surprise, Venya seemed to be thinking hard."Where's your enthusiasm from yesterday?" Marcel asked with a furrowed brow. "Here, I've got the funding for our research.""That's exactly it," Venya said, looking at Marcel. "What if Mr Herman finds out about the money you have?"Marcel considered."I won't tell him," he said. "My in-laws know I don't have any money and should be looking for sponsors out there.""Great, then we can start!" said Venya excitedly, as she put the money Marcel gave her into a small black box and put it away in the cupboard."Where should we start?" asked a clueless Marcel. "I'm blind when it comes to chemistry.""I'll guide you," Venya replied with a smile. "You just need to be careful, but also diligent ... Because not always the experiments we do will work right away."Marcel just nodded, Venya then organized the activities they had to do tomorrow."So your husband wants to use the lab again?" Ronnie asked Shirley over dinner."Really, I've always been curious about the contents of that lab!" said Ciko. "How about we go there after this?"To Be Continued-Alvon glanced at one of his brothers."I'm not interested, except for their research on astronomy." He emphasized."Who invited you?" said Ciko, reaching for a tissue to wipe his lips. "How is it, brother?"He turned to Ronnie, who was still enjoying his cup of warm milk."This late at night?" responded Ronnie thoughtfully."It's not night yet, after all, Marcel only has free time right now." Ciko explained. "During the day, he has to be a maid."Ronnie chuckled, while Shirley remained silent. She still held a grudge because Marcel had asked her to eat her siblings' leftovers.In the lab, Marcel watched Venya work."We have to clean up first," Venya said as she checked the supply of vials in the cupboard. "We have to sort out which ones can still be used."Marcel nodded and said, "Which part should I clean? There are still tubes that contain chemicals, and one of them I drank once ....""What?" Venya looked at Marcel with a furrowed brow. "Which one did you drink?"Marcel was silent a
"Here's to that sassy mouth of yours!" exclaimed Ronnie as he smashed Marcel's jaw with his fist. "Argh, bastard!"He cursed as his hand hit something hard."What's wrong, brother?""What's wrong?"Coki and Alvon turned their attention towards Ronnie who was rubbing his knuckles.Marcel himself was confused when suddenly his brother-in-law shouted while he gave no resistance."What did Marcel do to you?" asked Coki in a probing tone. "Why are you in so much pain?"Ronnie didn't answer immediately, especially since he still didn't know exactly what had caused his hand to hit a piece of iron.He was sure that he had hit Marcel's jaw, but why was his brother-in-law standing still?"Answer me, brother! What did you do to Marcel?" asked Ciko urgently."Never mind, let's not talk about it!" replied Ronnie firmly. "Let's leave this place, let them continue their failed research ... and we should prepare to celebrate their failure."Ciko and Alvon looked at each other briefly at their eldest
"Can't you tell me what the characteristics of the liquid you drank were?" asked Venya as she searched among the glass cabinets."I don't remember," Marcel replied immediately. "I was in a frenzy, so I just grabbed the chemicals and downed them."Venya then faced Marcel and looked at him seriously."Do you still remember which tube you took?" She asked again."No, I told you that I just grabbed it." Marcel explained. "Is it important for us to know what liquid I drank? All that matters is that I'm okay in the end."Venya sighed."Of course it's important, because to my knowledge, none of the formula stock here is safe for consumption." She explained. "But never mind ... we'll have a hard time finding a trace of it, since there are no remains of the liquid you drank."Marcel nodded, he did not remember anything about what happened after he drank the liquid and fell into a coma."Then what do we do now?" Marcel asked curiously. "I don't understand at all, so I'll just handle the funding
As soon as Shirley stepped away and was out of sight, Marcel took his wife's dirty clothes to the laundry, putting almost everything in the washing machine except for two sheer, low-cut dresses to be washed separately.As a normal man, Marcel certainly had the desire to have intercourse with Shirley. However, that was before he was kicked out the night after they were officially married."Get as far away from my room as you can! Don't you ever sleep in the same room with me, look in the mirror first!"From that moment on, Marcel abandoned his male instincts and assumed that he was never married."Mr Marcelino, breakfast!" Nana looked over to the laundry, where Marcel was sitting in front of a bucket and washing Shirley's dress using both hands. "Where did I throw the leftovers ...?"Marcel turned to Nana and said, "I'll take care of it, Nana. Don't forget to tell your children to eat.""Yes, Sir." Nana nodded again and left Marcel to his work. It wasn't that he didn't want to help, bu
"Are you serious?" Venya put on a mask and approached Marcel who was lying on the cleaned practice table. "I can't guarantee what the reaction will be ... Why don't we use mice or something?"Marcel looked up at the ceiling above him thoughtfully.A while ago, he had indeed offered himself to Venya to be a guinea pig in their trials."Good idea," Marcel said. "Every formula we come up with should be tested on humans and animals, only then will we know the difference."Venya nodded and quickly took a tube of bright green liquid and put a few drops into Marcel's mouth."How does it taste?" Venya asked carefully after Marcel swallowed the green liquid. "What do you feel, nausea? Feeling like vomiting ... or what?"Marcel tasted the liquid, he felt a bitter sensation for a few seconds. Afterward he tasted nothing but bland water with no mixture at all."No reaction yet," Marcel replied. "It was bitter at first, but suddenly the taste just disappeared and turned into plain water.""Oh yeah
"Mum and Dad are going out of town for a week!""Oh yeah? How exciting!""My life is free, call Brother Ronnie! Ask him to come home soon ....""We can have a party for three days and nights!"The kitchen was abuzz when Marcel appeared to help Nana prepare the food."Are you on holiday with mum or what?" Alvon asked curiously."I don't know, who cares anyway? The important thing is that we can do whatever we want at home!" replied Ciko immediately. "It'll be fun if we have a party ....""Don't be absurd, I actually want to use this quiet moment to watch a science fiction film." Alvon interrupted. "Parties make the house noisy, and I don't really like that.""You can stay in your room, lock the door and watch all you want." Ciko suggested. "I guarantee no one will bother you!"While her siblings argued, Shirley preferred to play with her mobile phone and not participate in the conversation."Marcel, where's the food!" shouted Ciko impatiently. "You're so slow!""Yeah, slow!" chirped Al
"I can't be sure," the woman shook her head. "But what is certain is that you are not like me, my father, and other humans ... Your blood seems to be created with complicated elements that I don't really understand ... Maybe that's why, you have different reactions when you should feel the pain of being scalded, or your energy is quickly replenished even though you only eat a little bread ...."Marcel was silent for a long time, listening to Venya's explanation about the irregularities."Could it be because I ... drank that liquid?" said Marcel while thinking hard. "Unfortunately I don't know what kind of liquid I drank, maybe you can research it if you have some left over ...."Venya shook her head, she remembered very well what the atmosphere was like when she first smuggled into the lab with her father."When my father and I arrived, there were mop marks on the floor that were full of dust." Venya described."Do you see any other marks? Maybe the bottle I drank from ... or some lef
That night the atmosphere at the Delvino family residence was so frenetic with the sound of music, the stomping of people dancing, accompanied by flickering lights that made my eyes hurt.Marcel had been going back and forth delivering drinks to the center of the party with the help of Eli and Nana. None of them recognized Marcel as the son-in-law of the house."Drink here, hey!""Hurry up, where's the food!""Marcel, don't be slow!""Shirley, take care of that one waitress!"Marcel, who was still busy clearing up the empty glasses on the table, felt his arm being pulled roughly.He turned around and came face to face with his own wife."What have you been doing all this time?" scolded Shirley as she roughly threw Marcel's arm away. "How's that dish? They're starving because of you!""I was cleaning up, didn't you see?" retorted Marcel amidst the deafening noise of the music. "Tell your friends to wait a minute!"Shirley pursed her lips when she heard Marcel dare to argue."Drink, hey