Hawking's voice continued on the TV: "If the universe is truly infinite, we will eventually meet our past selves."
The TV area of the living room was like a sacred temple of science.
But on this side of the couch, Penny and Ethan existed in a completely different parallel world.
Penny hugged a mug, leaning against one end of the sofa.
She noticed Ethan sitting quietly, sunken into the couch, his expression somewhat distant.
"You don't look so great. Kind of tired. Is the clinic that rough?"
Ethan was slightly startled. After two seconds of silence, he spoke. "It's alright. Just ran into a... particularly unusual patient."
"Bad attitude?" Penny's eyes sparkled with gossip. "I've got plenty of experience with that. When a customer pisses me off, I don't blow up—I just sneeze in their food a few times. Or spit in it."
Ethan couldn't help but laugh. "Noted. Next time I'll definitely call you to come sneeze on a patient's wound."
"Haha, I have no idea how that would work at a clinic." Penny laughed and winked. "Maybe... you could leave a towel in them? Or scissors in their stomach?"
"Good idea. I'll consider it," Ethan replied seriously.
Ethan's deadpan response made Penny smile.
The mood that had been dampened by the Jigsaw old man finally loosened a bit. He looked at the four guys in front of the TV and suddenly felt curious.
"Hey, Penny," Ethan suddenly changed his tone, smiling. "Want to see something cool?"
"Sure." Penny rested her chin in her hand. "Though I hope your idea of 'cool' isn't another lecture."
"Don't worry. Way more exciting than that."
Ethan leaned in close and whispered a few words, his breath almost touching her ear.
Penny froze for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
Ethan nodded.
Penny glanced at the four science nerds completely absorbed in the TV, then back at Ethan. "Alright, let's try it."
She cleared her throat. "Hey, doctor, my chest hurts a little. Can you check it out for me?"
Ethan: "Of course, but you'll need to take off your shirt."
"Okay." Penny paused, her voice turning sultry. "Everything? All the way off?"
"Uh—yes."
"Alright then."
The air went quiet for two awkward seconds.
"Penny," Ethan said, "you actually have a mole on your chest. You know, in China, that means you have 'great ambitions in your chest.'"
"Great ambitions in my chest?" She blinked. "What does that mean?"
"It means—you're going to be very successful in the future."
Penny: "Are you complimenting my career drive, or... my chest size?"
"Um." Ethan smiled faintly. "Both."
The two of them glanced at the nerds in front of the TV. They were still completely focused, utterly motionless.
Ethan spread his hands toward Penny.
Penny couldn't help but exclaim: "Unbelievable!"
Both of them laughed.
After a while, Penny suddenly tilted her head and asked, "By the way, Ethan... how did you know I have a mole on my chest?"
"—What?"
"You just said you didn't see anything, right?"
The air instantly froze.
Ethan froze, his whole body stiffening.
Penny crossed her arms, staring at him with a mischievous smile.
"You totally looked, didn't you?"
"I swear, I was just—"
"Observing the patient's symptoms?"
"Yes! Exactly! From a doctor's perspective."
"Hahaha!" Penny finally burst out laughing. "Relax, doc. I'm not suing you."
She winked, her tone teasing. "Actually, I'm kind of glad you looked. At least it proves my body didn't disappoint you."
Ethan coughed. "From a medical standpoint, you're... very well-developed. Very healthy."
Penny: "So does that mean next time I need a breast exam, I get it for free?"
"If it's you," Ethan said seriously, "I'll pay you."
"Hahahaha!" Penny doubled over laughing on the couch. "If you were my boyfriend, we could play doctor and patient."
They both laughed again.
Halfway through her laughter, Penny's gaze involuntarily fell on his profile.
Ethan quickly noticed her stare. He touched his face, looking puzzled. "What? Do I have something on my face?"
Penny blinked. "Leonard said you're all PhDs, but wow—the gap between PhD and PhD is huge."
As she spoke, she jerked her chin toward the four science guys completely absorbed in Hawking's lecture on TV.
"You seem pretty normal. But them—well, you know."
Ethan smiled. "Maybe it's because I studied psychology too. Psychology studies human emotions, thinking, and behavior. Physics and engineering study natural laws."
He paused. "But people don't follow rules, especially..."
Penny immediately jumped in. "Especially women, right?"
Ethan choked on his words and coughed awkwardly twice. "Uh... I was going to say—psychiatric patients."
"Ha, same thing really." Penny rolled her eyes. "So you're saying because you studied people, you know how to interact with them? And they only study nature stuff, so they can only interact with nature or their own kind.
As PhDs, they have to study something in school before they can deal with it—even if that 'something' is people."
"Uh, sure. That works."
Ethan gave up explaining.
After a while, Penny couldn't help but speak again. "Seriously though, you're nothing like them. Why do you even live together? And you seem to get along pretty well?"
"I've known Sheldon since we were kids. He came to New York mainly because of me." Ethan smiled as he explained. "He's always been brilliant. When he was eleven, he tried to build a nuclear reactor to power our city—ended up getting surrounded by the FBI."
Penny's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?!"
"Completely serious! To a lot of people, he does seem like a weirdo. Sometimes Leonard and the others come off that way too. But I get it. They just like things that are niche—not a lot of people in the world understand them."
Ethan continued, "Actually, they're all pretty easy to get along with. As long as you don't mock what they care about, they'll treat you like a friend—even family."
Penny looked into those eyes and suddenly felt a subtle flutter in her chest.
"Oh—you're just so kind," she blurted out.
"Hm?" Ethan was slightly taken aback. "Weren't we talking about Sheldon? Why are you suddenly complimenting me?"
"Because you are that kind of person." Penny said earnestly.
Ethan smiled and shook his head. "Thanks."
After a brief silence, it was Ethan's turn to ask. "What about you? How'd you end up moving here?"
Wait, weren't you supposed to be in California? Why'd you come to New York?
Because Ethan had grown up with Sheldon, this little butterfly effect meant Sheldon didn't end up at Caltech—he came to Columbia University instead.
Ethan thought he'd miss out on meeting the rest of the Big Bang Theory crew, but somehow Howard, Rajesh, and Leonard also ended up at Columbia not long after. Now with Penny's arrival, the final piece had fallen into place, making Ethan marvel at how the world really was just held together with duct tape and wishful thinking.
Penny hesitated, but finally decided to be honest. "I broke up with my live-in ex, so I had to find a new place. Lucky for me, this was the easiest apartment hunt I've ever had—otherwise I'd be homeless."
"Everything happens for a reason." Ethan smiled. "So what's the plan now?"
Penny perked up. "Keep chasing my dream, obviously—to be an actress!"
"I've always wanted to act!" Talking about her dream, Penny immediately got excited. "Right now I've only done one commercial and been an extra in two things, but I'm still looking for opportunities. LA was too competitive, so I figured I'd try my luck here—there's more theater, and independent films."
Ethan frowned. "The indie film scene... not many people in it, even fewer good ones. If anyone treats you badly, call me."
Penny raised an eyebrow, her tone teasing. "Did you even give me your number?"
"Uh—I guess... no."
"Sorry, I forgot." Ethan quickly pulled out his phone for Penny.
A check slipped out of his pocket along with the phone and fluttered to the floor.
"What's this?" Penny bent down and picked up the paper.
She saw the string of numbers—and froze.
"One hundred thousand dollars?!"
Ethan: "Yeah... that's a treatment fee I got at the clinic today."
"Treatment fee?!" Penny nearly choked. "So I just spent all this time comforting you, and you didn't tell me you made a hundred grand in one day?!"
Ethan spread his hands. "It was a fluke. Plus, I didn't think it was the main point."
Penny held the check up to the light, staring at all those zeros. "Oh my God. I make twelve bucks an hour, plus tips from customers who might grab my ass. And you... made what I earn in years in a single day!"
She looked up at him, her mouth twitching. "That's so demoralizing."
Ethan looked awkward. "It sounds ridiculous, but I swear this was a total fluke!"
"What are you gonna do with the money?" Penny leaned closer, her eyes sparkling.
"Pay off the clinic's debt."
"And the rest?"
"The rest... keep paying it off, I guess."
Penny took a second to process. "A hundred grand isn't enough? You have that much debt?!"
"Yeah, probably... about seven hundred thousand more."
Penny nearly stopped breathing. "Seven hundred thousand?!"
"Yep."
"Oh my God, what did you do? Buy an entire hospital?"
Ethan scratched his head. "Pretty much. I bought the building where the clinic is."
Penny's eyes went wide. She sat bolt upright on the couch. "You bought it? You don't rent?"
"Uh, yeah."
"You're a... a doctor with your own clinic?!"
"Uh~"
"I think from now on, you should stop talking about your 'struggles.' Your 'struggles' sound like straight-up bragging."