A/N: This is a oneshot request written for ParallelWill. Enjoy! Big thanks to Taee for the edits, commentary, AND the cover photo! Please support her stories and art! I'm not taking any other requests at the moment and will be focusing on writing more Our Inner Demons. So look forward to that :3
2-7-1-2.
She wasn't the type to think up some arbitrary door code. The fact that they shared the same birthday made it all the more easy for him to remember.
A whirring sound could be heard as the electronic deadbolt unlatched itself, sounding off a loud series of chimes that echoed in the empty apartment complex hallway. Despite this, the redhead slipped into the apartment as quiet as a mouse, in hopes that she didn't hear him.
It was a modest apartment; one befitting the average university student living in Busan. One step through the door and he already found himself in a tiny kitchen/laundry room. To the redhead's right stood a refrigerator, a countertop stove with a washing machine under it, and a small kitchen sink with a single unwashed purple cup. To his left was a little shoe rack for two. A pair of rainboots and sneakers filled two of the compartments labeled "Aisha". The young man slipped off his shoes and stuck them in one of the two open spots labeled under "Elsword", all while taking extra care not to tip over the large box he carried under his arm.
She was home earlier than usual, today, meaning Elsword had to time his arrival perfectly. Opening the sliding door that led to the main room of the studio apartment, he could just barely make out the sound of running water from the bathroom to his right. Meaning he was right on time. Hopefully she didn't hear-
"Els?" Aisha called from the bathroom, "is that you?"
"Y-yeah. It's me," Elsword stammered, his cover broken. It was a bit wishful of him to assume she wasn't aware someone was entering her apartment.
"What's up? Sorry, I didn't know you were dropping by, today." The sound of running water cut off and he could hear her rustling around beyond the door, "Make yourself at home."
"Yep!" the redhead said, taking a seat on the sofa and pushing aside her books and laptop on the glass coffee table. He set the box he was carrying down, adjusting the ribbon on top. "And if you're wondering why I'm here, I just wanted to see you."
"Aw, that's sweet of you," Aisha said.
"...And I have an issue to discuss."
"Oh?"
"Well… remember how I said my apartment doesn't allow pets?"
"Yeah…? My apartment doesn't allow pets either. Why?" The door to the bathroom opened, a wave of hot steam followed as his girlfriend entered the main room in nothing but her towel wrapped around her body. Her eyes immediately fell on the box sitting on the coffee table. Confusion appeared in her face for the briefest of moments before she connected the dots.
"Can you keep a secret?" Elsword asked innocently.
"Elsword…" she sighed as her boyfriend smiled at her. He reached over to pull the lid of the box off only for her to pad over to the box, pushing the lid back down. "Elsword, no. I don't… I don't want to see it."
"Aww, but it's so cute! Just one look," Elsword begged, giving her puppy dog eyes that couldn't help but cause her to feel a little curious.
"I don't want to get in trouble."
"He's quiet. I know. I've kept him at my place for a week."
"You what…?!" Aisha shook her head, "Els, we can't keep a pet at my place. I don't want it. You can't convince me."
"You're going to make him sad…" Els pouted, pulling the lid back when she had her guard down, "See…? Look how sad he looks!"
Aisha quickly turned her head away, daring not to lay eyes on whatever it was.
She heard purring as Elsword held the small ball of kitten near her face. "Look~" he teased, "I think he likes you."
"Well… I don't like him," Aisha stated, though her clear curiosity stated otherwise. He could see her eyes slowly drift towards the creature in his hands: a cat, mostly black with white chest fluff and paws. Its eyes were almost as big as Elsword's as the two stared at the girl.
"Please…?" Elsword asked.
The cat mirrored him, mewling at the girl, asking for a forever-home.
Elsword glanced at his watch as he waited just outside of the subway entrance. There was a massive amount of foot traffic as usual on a Friday evening, but it still wasn't like Aisha to be an hour late for their date.
To top it off, Korean summers were ungodly warm and humid, even at night, and the redhead was beginning to sweat up a storm in his semi-formal greyish-blue button up and slacks. He was tempted to just dress in his favorite old soccer jersey but wanted to look like he at least tried to dress up. This was a huge mistake, especially after standing out in the humid air for so long.
Fearing the worst, he finally decided to pull out his phone and give her a call.
The phone rang twice before she finally picked up.
"Hello? Elsword! Sorry!" Aisha answered, immediately apologizing for her tardiness.
"Where are you?" he asked, noting the muffled sound of her voice.
"I'm taking a taxi. I lost track of time!"
Lost track of time? Odd, seeing as they've both been looking forward to spending time together for a while, now. "On a Friday…?"
"I panicked! I'm almost there! I thought… I thought the taxi would be faster but traffic-"
"Aisha…"
"I'm sorry, Elsword… Please don't be mad..." she pleaded.
Elsword sighed, shaking his head. She was a dunce when it came to thinking on her feet but that was one of the many reasons why he fell for her. "I'm not mad. I was just worried. I thought you might've gotten hurt or worse-"
"Nope! Everything's fine! I see you, too!" she said excitedly before speaking to the driver, "Yeogiseo sewo juseyo!"
A taxi cab came to a stop at the curb next to the redhead. The purplette sitting at the passenger seat fished out her bank card and paid her fare before stepping out onto the sidewalk. She thanked and waved at the cab driver as they drove off and she turned to her boyfriend, smiling sheepishly for being late.
Dressed in short jean shorts and a white, almost-see-through short-sleeve button-up with a white blouse under, she looked as cute as ever… minus the large bamboo-colored bag she toted under her arm.
His sister, Elesis, had impulsively bought her that bag as a Christmas/birthday gift when she realized Aisha and Elsword shared the same birthday. Not the most feminine of girls, Elesis's understanding of what Aisha liked clearly showed in the recipient's face when she received it.
"I thought you didn't like that bag," Elsword pointed out.
"It… grew on me, I suppose. Heh," Aisha said, giving a noticeably stiff shrug and an equally apprehensive smile.
"Well, it doesn't match your attire."
Aisha punched him in the arm. "Your sweaty pits don't go well with your ensemble, either," she growled.
"If it bothers you that much you're free to help me out of my clothes," Elsword winked, getting a disgusted roll of the eyes in response.
"Gross…" she scoffed, walking ahead of him towards the fish market all while giving him the elevator eyes, "Not until after you shower."
"Oh, so you want me to shower first… then put the clothes back on so you can take it off?" Elsword joked, hurrying after her.
She looked at him and Elsword gave her his best 'male idol' face, getting yet another roll of her eyes.
"You're so stupid," the purplette sighed.
"But you're not saying no~"
They spent the first half of the evening perusing the multiple stalls of freshly caught fish, looking for the perfect size and arguing whether their selection would be cooked or turned into sashimi. Unlike her boyfriend, Aisha was very particular about how each of the fish looked and how they were served. This time around, however, she seemed incredibly picky, even for Elsword's standards, and they ended up circling the entire market twice before she settled on a particular stall's fish. With one turned into sashimi and another bagged, the two made their way to the second floor restaurant area.
"... And now Angkor just keeps punching the tv screen whenever Apeach appears on screen or whenever you send me an Apeach emoji."
"So you let him read our texts to each other?" Elsword said, feigning a look of embarrassment, "Even those kinds of messages?"
"He can't read Hangul, you dope," Aisha rolled her eyes.
"How can you be so sure?"
Aisha couldn't answer. Elsword loved making his girlfriend second guess herself, and the way she seemed to actually consider what he was suggesting made it all the more entertaining in his eyes.
He pressed further, "What if he's absolutely disgusted by the amount of aegyo we give each other? What if I've texted you and it was him that replied? What if he's done that already?!"
"Stop," Aisha grumbled, pushing him away as her boyfriend laughed at his own joke.
"But really, I'm glad you and Angkor are getting along. It seems like all you talk about is the cat, nowadays. Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little jealous."
"You think so," Aisha laughed. Nervously, Elsword noted. He might've made her a lot more self-conscious about it than he had anticipated.
"Don't worry. I'm just joking. I'm happy you've grown to like him. As long as I get to spend some quality one-on-one time with you, I'm satisfied."
"... Yeah."
"I've never eaten at this restaurant, before," Aisha said as they both stowed away their shoes at the entrance.
"It got a lot of good reviews. I wanted to check it out with you," Elsword smiled. He handed their purchased fish over to the waitress who took it to the kitchen area right behind the front desk. The surrounding walls were an off-white, homely color. Pictures of mountains and bamboo forests centered the many dividing walls that separated each seating area with a medium-sized bonsai tree taking up the cut-out section at the far wall.
"Eh…? That's surprising: Elsword doing a little research," Aisha commented as they were led to their table.
"What do you mean by that?" he scoffed.
"Don't pretend our little day trip to that castle never happened," Aisha said, turning her head away from him with a soft huff.
"I didn't expect snow to be that heavy in the rural town… nor did I expect the castle to be closed because of heavy snow… I made it up to you, though!"
She turned back to him with a soft, forgiving smile. She gently bumped her hip against his and nodded. "Yeah… you did."
They stopped at the far end of the restaurant and the waitress opened a sliding door for them. Elsword relished the look of surprise across Aisha's face. Yes, it cost him a bit to have an entire room to themselves, but her reaction was worth it.
"Thank you, whoever invented air conditioning," Elsword flopped back on the wooden floor and welcomed the cool gust of air blowing over him.
Aisha sat quietly looking out of the glass wall that separated the restaurant from the marketplace.
"You really didn't have to reserve a place here if it was so expensive," Aisha said.
Elsword shrugged, "Wanted to do something special for us. It's not often that we both get a Friday AND a Saturday free."
Surrounded by warm beige walls, a sliding door, and a window overlooking the large, indoor marketplace, it was one of the more expensive restaurants that Elsword could afford. The single floor table came fitted with a grill and was large enough to seat four.
It'd been two weeks since he had last seen her. Even though they lived in the same city, work, college, and other obligations often made it difficult for them to see each other. Elsword didn't mind. Aisha was born into a family of doctors, after all. The strict focus on academics and a "no-boyfriend-until-you're-married" outlook on life was standard for her family type. If they wanted to be together, they had to make a few compromises.
It's a miracle Aisha managed to keep Elsword a secret for over a year.
Setbacks aside, Elsword was happy with the relationship. Their limited availability made their time together all the more meaningful and it definitely pushed him to make the most out of their "secret couple time", as Aisha called it.
He hoped Aisha felt the same way.
Today, she seemed… distant. Even now, watching her sit quietly to herself, Aisha looked distracted. Granted, she looked quite beautiful staring out the window with that pretty, deep-in-thought gaze, but she was the same during their laps around the market. Aisha was clearly trying to keep her distance.
Did he do something wrong?
Still laying on his back, Elsword slid silently over to her.
"Jagi," he whispered, poking her hip and causing her to jump lightly, "What's on your mind? You seem distracted."
"W-what? Oh. Nothing! I'm just… thinking about how nice it is to spend time with you, is all," she laughed.
Aisha was a terrible liar; one of the many things that Elsword both loved and hated about her. On one hand, it was adorable the way she would skirt around the truth when the issue wasn't serious. On the other, however, when the problem was more significant…
"You sure you're okay?"
"M-mhm! Just… waiting on the food! I'm starving-"
A knock was heard and the waiter opened the door. Their kimchi seafood soup was placed at the center of the table as well as their sashimi. Elsword and Aisha shuffled over to the table just as the waiter finished setting the side dishes.
"Enjoy your meal," the waiter said with a bow and shut the door for them.
Elsword poured a glass of chilled tea for the both of them and, for a moment, as he took in the sights and smells of the food laid out in front of him, he forgot what he was so concerned about.
The two ate silently, and it was after his first bowl of soup that he suddenly remembered what he was worried about a few minutes earlier.
"So… how's things been going?"
"Good, good," Aisha answered.
"How's college been?"
"Stressful, as always."
"And Angkor?"
"Oh, him? He's fine."
"'Oh, him?' huh? I thought you liked the cat."
"I… don't."
"Says the one that named him."
"He's fine!" Aisha asserted, wanting to change the subject, which was odd considering how many pictures she's been sending him of the cat the past few days. She crossed her arms and shifted her attention back out the window.
"I see, I see," Elsword leaned on his elbows, eyeing her and hoping he'd catch her attention from whatever she was looking at outside. It wasn't working. In fact… she seemed very intent on keeping her attention locked outside. He may be a bit thick-skulled but his girlfriend was just as equally easy to read. It was the only way their relationship got off the ground in the first place. But at the same time, Elsword couldn't help but worry when he saw her like this. There was something bothering her, and he wanted to get to the bottom of this. "Aisha… what's going on?"
"Oh, I was just… Looking at the people over there," she pointed out the window. She was clearly trying to distract him. But knowing her, he knew he wasn't going to get any direct answers so he might as well play along.
And then he saw the reflection on the window.
As he stared at the glass, he saw Aisha's reflection subtly, grab a slice of sashimi from the table... and feed it to her bag.
She fed her bag fish. Or rather, she was feeding something in her bag with fish.
Elsword turned his head towards her only to catch her playing it off as she clumsily leaned over the table in a piss poor attempt to look innocent.
"Aisha."
"Y-yes, jagi?" she stammered.
Elsword didn't need to say anything as he simply stared at the black and white paw pushing up on Aisha's boob, asking for more from under the table.
The purplette innocently pushed the paw back under the table. "It's not what it looks like."
"Whatcha think is gonna happen in the next one?" Aisha asked as their show's credits began to roll on her laptop. She leaned forward, prompting Elsword to raise his head off her lap to let her off the couch. With a few strained grunts, she reached over to hit the 'next episode' button on her laptop sitting on the coffee table before settling back on the sofa.
"Mmm… I think he's going to die," Elsword replied.
"That's what you said about the last five characters," Aisha sighed.
Elsword had actually planned another night of fancy dining and shopping with Aisha for their two days together. But binge watching an entire show for the whole day was a nice change of pace after last night's 'incident' involving a certain someone sneaking a cat into a fish restaurant.
"And I was right about every single one," the redhead pointed out.
She couldn't argue against that and looked down at him laying on her lap. Aisha noted the sleepy look in her boyfriend's eyes and shook her head. "You're falling asleep, again, aren't you?"
Elsword groaned, rolling to his side. He buried his face against her belly, guiltily, "You caught me. Your lap's the best pillow ever."
"Els- That tickles!" Aisha giggled, squirming in her seat as he held on to her waist to keep her from pulling away.
"I know it does. That's why I'm doing it!" he mumbled into her stomach. He pushed her shirt up, exposing her bare belly and blew into it, causing her to nearly shriek in laughter as she tried to break free.
The struggle that followed featured Aisha as she threaded the line between not wanting to hurt Elsword and absolutely wanting to kill him as he blew again and again on her belly. After nearly an entire minute of wrestling with her boyfriend, Aisha managed to free her legs, pushing Elsword lower and away from her stomach and ending his torture. The two collapsed, panting and exhausted on the sofa, with Elsword finding himself in a rather risque position. Aisha, just glad that the tickling had ended, had yet to process this.
"You're a jerk, you know that?" Aisha said between breaths as she gripped Elsword by his hair, "I'm never letting you lay on my lap again!"
"Not even if I do this?" he turned his head and lightly kissed Aisha's inner thigh, earning him an apprehensive flinch as the purplette's grip on his hair tightened. He looked up, locking eyes with hers as he ever so slightly moved further up her inner thigh and planted yet another soft kiss on her bare skin.
She gave a short, uncertain, gasp as her grip on his head simultaneously loosened.
Sense came back to her, however and Aisha turned her head away in a huff, "It's going to take a lot more than a few kisses and puppy dog eyes to get lap privileges back."
"What more do you want me to do, then?"
She was about to speak but was cut short when her boyfriend gave her another kiss noticeably further up her leg.
"Els! St-" Another sharper, yet restrained gasp escaped Aisha's lips as Elsword's kisses continued, teasing her and causing her entire body to shiver.
And when he drew dangerously close, he teased her by pulling away and repeating the slow trail of kisses up her other thigh. He gently pushed the leg of her summer shorts up, exposing more for his lips to kiss a path along.
His girlfriend didn't answer his question. He didn't need one, however. The quiver in her breath and the goosebumps on her skin was more than enough.
Eventually, he could push her shorts up no further and he stopped there, giving her a small love bite where her skin met her panty lining. By then, he could see the uneven rise and fall of Aisha's chest and the way she was sheepishly trying to hide the fact that she had no intention of stopping him. In fact, at the pause, she was already lifting her hips and was wordlessly tugging off her summer shorts.
Elsword sat up and helped her out of the article of clothing. He took in her slender form. It wasn't long ago when she was once too shy to even be in the same room with him in her pajamas - yet there she lay in nothing but her shirt and underwear, ready to help him get undressed as well-
Or she would have… if Angkor hadn't started bopping her on the side of her head with his paw.
Awakened from his cat nap and curious about the commotion the two had made, the black and white cat had hopped onto the armrest next to Aisha's head and began lightly pushing his paw against Aisha's cheek to see if she was okay.
"Angkor…" Aisha giggled, turning her head away and blowing off the bit of fur caught on her lip. Yet the cat continued to bop her, meowing for good measure. "Angkor, stop it, you silly cat!"
Elsword reached over, plucking the cat off the sofa and carrying him over to the separated kitchen area.
"Wait, where are you taking him?" Aisha asked, propping herself up on her elbows.
"Just sticking him in the kitchen for now," Elsword said, sliding the door aside.
"Aww, don't do that!"
"What? Why not?"
"He's going to be lonely!"
Elsword looked at the cat then at his barely dressed girlfriend. "It'll just be for a little bit."
"I don't want poor Angkor to be sad."
"He'll be fine."
"Elsword…"
Elsword found it only slightly unfair that the puppy-dog eyes only worked when she did it to him and not vice versa. Maybe he needed to work on it. Regardless, the redhead sighed and set the cat down on the floor. Free from the evil boyfriend's clutches, the cat hopped back onto the armrest next to Aisha's head and meowed at Elsword defensively.
Elsword sighed, taking a seat on the couch as his girlfriend lay expectantly, in nothing but her top and panties, next to him.
She wanted to continue… but the cat was just sitting there.
Watching them.
That was weird. Even more so seeing as Aisha didn't seem to mind the idea of her pet cat watching them do something like that. Maybe he was the one being weird.
He ran a hand up and down her thigh before patting her, giving her an apologetic smile.
"Wanna watch another episode?"
Aisha tilted her head at him, confused. "O… kay. Sure?"
As Elsword tapped the play button on the waiting video, he could feel Aisha's disappointed gaze lay solely on him. Maybe he really was the one being weird.
"So, everything is working out between you and Eve?" Elsword asked Chung as they both sat on the lounge chairs across from their partners.
Elsword leaned forward, swirling his bottle of beer around by its neck between his fingers. Both of the boys watched the two girls as Aisha excitedly swiped from photo to photo for Eve to look at. Eve looked… engaged but not particularly interested. Then again, Elsword had always found it difficult to gauge what the daughter of Altera Inc was feeling. It was a concept that was completely lost to him. And yet, Chung was able to read Eve like a book.
"You watch the news, right?" Chung shrugged, leaning back on his chair and sipping on his beer, "Apparently, according to the media, we're 'going through a rough patch' in our relationship."
"So you are?"
Chung shook his head, laughing, "Nah. You know how the news is. They like to exacerbate the mundane."
"Exa- what?"
"Hype up otherwise uninteresting events. But that's far from the truth. We still go out and spend time together. But we've gotten better at hiding from the spotlight. Do it enough and it's natural that the media would jump to conclusions after going a week without an update on the 'Son of Hamel and Daughter of Altera's secret love life'."
The two of them chuckled and simultaneously sipped on their drinks before exhaling in a unified "ahh."
"It's a shame her father still hates me," Chung said after a moment.
"Even after a whole year had passed… Is he still upset about what you did to that foreigner?"
"At Altera Inc.'s doorstep in front of all those rolling cameras? All the while stealing away his daughter and resulting in a month long media uproar of 'eloping lovers'? Yeah. Honestly, I don't see why anyone would ever hate someone for that," Chung added, sarcastically.
"Alright, alright, fair enough," Elsword nodded, taking another swig from his bottle, "At least things are going fine between you two, though."
"And what about you?" Chung asked, already waiting for his friend's rant, seeing as he seemed particularly distant from Aisha during their entire hangout.
"It's the cat."
Chung stopped mid-sip, "The one you got her? What? She doesn't like it?"
"Worse," Elsword turned to Chung, pulling out his phone to show him exactly what Aisha was showing Eve. He scrolled through an album containing hundreds of photos of the black and white feline, "She absolutely loves it."
"Mmm," Chung nodded, taking a big gulp before setting it aside and taking Elsword's phone off his hands to scroll through the many photos of the cat, passing one or two pictures with Aisha, Elsword, and Angkor together.
"He's pretty handsome," Chung commented, getting an exhausted groan from Elsword. "Let me guess… someone's jealous?"
Elsword looked at him, giving a single, enthusiastic grunt.
Chung handed back his friend's phone, whipping out his phone to send a message. "I'll see what we can do."
"You don't understand, Chung. You and Eve actually get to see each other on an almost daily basis 'cus of work. But I live on the other side of the city from her and my work schedule is completely different from her class schedule. I barely get to see her as it is, and with the cat in the picture-in all of her pictures, really-I just can't seem to find the time to-"
"Done," Chung blurted out, hitting the send button on his phone before setting it aside. It was a really short message. Only a few words but Elsword couldn't read what it said before Chung put the phone away.
Sitting across from them, amidst Aisha swiping past perhaps the hundredth photo, Eve quietly peeked at her phone screen. She eyed her boyfriend, tilting her head perplexedly and Chung motioned towards Elsword. Eve nodded silently before returning her attention back towards the purplette.
"She'll handle it on her end," Chung reassured Elsword.
"Wh… what?" Elsword looked from Eve to Chung. Even though they sat a great deal apart and not a word was exchanged between the two, he felt as if he had missed an entire conversation.
"In the meantime," Chung continued, "Have you ever tried… just telling her?"
"Tell her what? Get rid of the cat? I can't do that to her."
"No, nothing that extreme. I mean… just telling her how you feel about Angkor."
Elsword shrugged. "Would that even accomplish anything?"
"Elsword," Chung sighed, "If there's anything I've learned about being in a relationship with someone: it's that transparency is what keeps people together. The excitement of the unknown is all fun for the initial chase, but you can't keep secrets from the person you're truly in love with. After all, you're the person she confides to and understands on a level no one else does, right?"
"Yeah…"
"If she trusts you that much with her own feelings, why can't you do the same?"
Elsword didn't know how to answer that. Honestly, Chung was right.
"And at the very least, Aisha will be aware of how it's affecting you. She loves you, after all. She'll do what she can."
Elsword sighed, leaning back on the lounge chair and staring up at the ceiling.
"It's strange," Elsword muttered.
"What is?"
The redhead looked over at his friend, "Never, in my whole life, did I ever expect to get relationship advice from you."
Chung chuckled, "I'll take that as a compliment.
Elsword carefully screwed in the last bolt to the plastic battery panel and set the toy upright on the ground.
It was a cat toy. With a large blue base and a white, upright, cone in the middle with a rotating gear at the top. It held a wand and a bright blue feather that hung limp at its powered off state. It took a bit to piece together, but it wasn't all that complicated after he saw what it actually looked like fully set up.
"Okay, try to flip it on with the phone app?" Elsword said to Aisha who was sitting on the couch with Angkor resting on her lap.
After fiddling with her phone for a moment, the electronic device powered on, to both Aisha and Elsword's surprise. A little green light appeared near the device's camera at the center of the cone.
"I can see your feet!" Aisha giggled.
"Wow… there's a camera here, too?" Elsword said, leaning over to get a better look.
"It says on the manual that it helps to see if your cat's still around even while you're at work!"
"That's neat. I bet you're going to be using this in class, huh?"
"Maybe a little," Aisha mumbled innocently, poking at the phone app. The feather wand whipped from left to right as Aisha played with the controls.
Angkor, who had been idly watching Elsword set up the strange device, finally leapt off of Aisha's lap to investigate, displaying particular interest in the blue feather that flicked about.
"Angkor seems to like it," Elsword said, as the cat tried to catch the floating feather.
"It comes with an auto-play feature and a manual control. This is really fancy. I'm glad Eve recommended this to me."
"Eve suggested this for you? Interesting."
"Yeah. You know she has two pets of her own? A bunny and a rhino beetle."
"A rhino beetle…?"
"Weird, huh? She named them Remy and Moby, respectively. But she goes to the pet store every now and then and saw one of these on sale not too long ago."
"I see. Where do you want me to put this, then?"
"Eve said it'd probably be best to set it up on the kitchen floor since there's a decent amount of free space, there," Aisha replied, her focus completely on the phone app as she watched Angkor pounce from left to right in an attempt to catch the feather.
"Ah…" Elsword muttered, faintly remembering the conversation he had with Chung last week. This must have been what Chung meant when he said Eve would handle things on her side.
He powered the toy off and took apart the cone and the base before he hefted the object over past the sliding kitchen door with Angkor tailing him.
The redhead kicked aside his work boots and began setting up the toy there.
"Thanks for doing this for me," Aisha said, leaning on the door frame as Angkor purred, rubbing himself against the new device, "I know it's not usual for you to visit the following week, but I really wanted to get this set up."
Elsword dismissed it with a wave over his shoulder, "Don't worry about it. I've been meaning to talk to you about something anyways."
"Yeah… Eve told me," Aisha said, her voice carrying a bit of anxiousness as she spoke.
"Oh…?" Elsword, still sitting on the ground, turned to her, "What'd she say?"
Aisha hesitated as she chose her words carefully, "It's uh… why don't you go first. You wanted to… to talk to me, you said, so…"
She already knew. Aisha was a terrible liar, after all.
"It's about Angkor," Elsword said.
"Y-yeah," Aisha nodded, guiltily.
She looked as if she was mentally steeling herself for a verbal lashing. But Elsword would never do that. She should know he wouldn't. And seeing her so afraid of what he was going to say made it all the more difficult to outright say it.
No. He had to. Transparency. No secrets between the two of them. They were past that phase in their relationship.
"I've just… been feeling a little jealous, is all. I gave you Angkor as a gift because I love you, but for the past month I feel like I have to compete for your attention because of him. We can't see each other much and the fact that he's always around… the fact that you brought him to a restaurant of all places when it was just supposed to be you and me… I feel like I'll never have an opportunity to really spend some one on one time with you, anymore."
"Yeah… yeah, I know. I'm sorry," Aisha said, looking as if she were about to cry.
"I like Angkor, Aisha. I really do. And I'm happy knowing you've grown to like him, as well. But, would it be okay if I steal some of your time for just you and me? No Angkor?"
Aisha nodded, eyes teary, "Yeah. I can do that. I'm sorry, Elsword, I should've realized-"
"Don't be," Elsword said, standing up and hugging her, "I'm just relieved you listened. I was… afraid it'd result in us arguing or something… especially after the last time you told me not to put him in the kitchen."
Aisha tried to laugh, shaking her head, "Oh Elsword. I… I think he'll be fine now if we leave him with his new toy."
He stood back, looking at his girlfriend and wiping a tear from her eye, "You're okay with him being alone in the kitchen?"
Aisha nodded, pressing a button that enabled the auto-play on the device. Immediately Angkor began to chase the feather as it whipped about erratically. She wiped her other eye and pulled Elsword into the main room and shut the kitchen door behind him.
Standing on her tip-toes, she gave her boyfriend a long, sensual, kiss. "Only if you don't mind being alone with me, tonight."