Janu visits the staff room, only to find it cordoned off like a crime scene. Wendy confronts him, teasingly insinuating that he stole the staff’s communal coffee maker. During their back-and-forth, Janu notes that Wendy appears physically and mentally exhausted, struggling with daily tasks, which she dismisses as fatigue rather than emotional distress.
Wendy pressures Janu into coming to her apartment to help her grade papers, eventually revealing she is distressed and needs his company. Janu reluctantly agrees on the condition that she provides snacks. At her home, Janu discovers the stolen coffee machine, complete with a security chain. Wendy attempts to buy his silence through a flirtatious, impulsive gesture, which Janu firmly declines, clarifying that he finds her attractive but refuses to engage in transactional intimacy.
While they order takeout, the mood shifts when Janu asks Wendy about her feelings toward her students and her career. Wendy speaks candidly about her desire to impact students' lives, though she admits her current class has been a struggle. The conversation takes a somber turn when Janu asks about her marital status, accidentally triggering a traumatic flashback. Wendy enters a catatonic state, during which the narration reveals the dark truth: Wendy is grieving a deceased husband and coping with profound emotional "shrapnel" by pouring her remaining love into her many cats. The scene concludes with Janu leaving her apartment in silence, deeply unsettled by the revelation of her mental instability and hidden trauma.