As the evening glow faded, the city's neon lights began to brighten. Duncan and I sat in an elegant restaurant, enjoying a fine dinner. The restaurant was filled with a faint fragrance, and soft music echoed in our ears as if the whole world had fallen silent. Duncan was unusually not in formal attire, showing me an extremely private casual side of himself.

"You've been staring at me," Duncan said without looking at me, focusing on cutting his steak. "If it's to apologize, that's ...