"Rest while you wait for Narumi", Natsume said, leaving the room.

Mikan put on the robe. She craned her neck, massaging her sore muscles. The second session was finally done. She didn't think that posing for hours would be this tiring. Natsume came back with two cans of soda in his hands, closing the door with his foot. He gave the other one to her.

"Uh, thanks."

Mikan quietly sipped hers while Natsume chugged on his drink. They both sighed. He placed his now empty can on the table and began talking.

"Age?"

"Huh?"

"What's your age?"

"21."

"Does your parents know about this?

"They...don't."

"Why did you accept it? You're not even used to this."

"I-I have my reasons", Mikan replied, gripping the can.

"Everybody has."

There was silence before Mikan broke it.

"If you don't mind me asking, did you paint the walls of this room?"

"I did. You liked them?"

She faced him, nodding her head vigorously.

"That one... Why is it blank?", Mikan asked, pointing to the direction of the wall left out.

"I've ran out of paint."

"Oh."

"Kidding. I have my reason."

Mikan stifled a soft laughter, realizing that he mimicked her line. Natsume watched her from the corner of his eye. She looks...

Lovely.

"I kinda envy you", Mikan confessed.

Natsume did not reply, waiting for her to continue.

"Your talent. Your success. While me... I have to go through a lot", Mikan said, her eyes wearing a sad expression as she played with the can on her hand.

"It wasn't easy for me either", he murmured.

Natsume fished out his phone from his pocket. He put one earphone on his right ear and offered the other one to her. Mikan scooted closer to him. She was about to take it when he inserted the earphone in her ear himself, tucking loose strands of her hair in the process.

A song which Mikan recognized played.

"Good choice, huh", Mikan said, grinning.

"You know this song?"

"Of course! Who doesn't know about them? I'm an avid fan!", Mikan proudly stated.

"But aren't girls... Aren't you girls into mellow?"

"Not all girls. I like listening and playing songs by boy bands myself."

"You play?"

"Before."

"Before?"

"I stopped playing guitar... Unfavorable circumstances."

"You should play me some time."

"If we still see each other", Mikan said with a playful smile.

The song ended. The playlist was on shuffle and a new song was playing.

"Don't you get distracted?"

"Distracted in what?"

"You're a nude artist. You draw and paint naked women. Don't you get distracted?"

"I don't..."

He paused then continued.

"You're the first one."

Mikan was in the middle of drinking when he caught her off-guard. She didn't expect that kind of answer from him.

Natsume stared at her, leaning closer until his lip was on the other end of the can Mikan was holding on her lips. Slowly, he snatched it away from her grasp and placed it on the table. They're only a breathe away from each other without the can blocking the distance between them. They held each other's gaze.

"You distract me, Mikan," Natsume said in his husky voice, before capturing her lips.

It was a simple touching of the lips yet its innocence and tenderness seemed to melt all of her worries away. Mikan savored the kiss, closing her eyes. She placed her hands on his chest while Natsume grabbed her by her nape, bringing her to lay flat on her back on the sofa bed. This caused the earphones to be pulled out of their ears, still playing a song. Each second, the kiss turned a bit aggressive and needier with Natsume being the dominant one.

Mikan was too engrossed in their lip-locking that she didn't noticed Natsume's hand working its way on the tie of her robe. It loosened. He caressed her shoulder, partially removing the robe in the process. He broke the kiss as he planted soft, damp kisses on her neck, nuzzling her sweet scent. Mikan let out a soft moan and it was music to his ears. He went further stopping until he reached the valley between her chest which was still covered by the robe. Caught in the heat of the moment, just as he was about to put a hand inside her robe, a loud knock pulled them both out of their reverie.

'Shit', he muttered angrily.

"Wait here, I'll just get the door", Natsume told Mikan, standing up.

Mikan quickly disengaged her body from Natsume and sat up to fix herself. She tied the robe tightly back to her waist which she noticed was loosened just now. When he was away, she took the remaining content of her drink in big gulp to calm her erratic heart.

"Who the hell-", Natsume said with an annoyed expression but was cut off when the door was fully opened.

"So how did it went?", Narumi asked excitedly. In Natsume's mind, he is not sure whether he was referring to the project or their make-out session just a few seconds ago.

"Well, until you came," Natsume muttered, walking past him and raking his hair.

"Mikan!"

"I-I'll just c-change."

Mikan immediately walked to the door and left Narumi in the room by himself.

'Did I missed something?', he thought.

The bathroom was large enough for her to pace around. Mikan was frantically talking to herself, walking back and forth.

"Relax, Mikan. Act like yourself. Forget it. It didn't happened. Nothing happened. Erase! Erase! You didn't kissed him back. You didn't... The robe! It's... Oh, fuck. Okay. This won't happen again. Tomorrow, this will be all done. You'll get the money then you'll never see him again. That's right!"

Mikan changed to her clothes. She was walking toward the living room where Narumi is waiting when she and Natsume bump to each other.

"I-I'll go. Narumi's wai-"

"Nice doing business with you, Mikan Sakura. Can't wait for tomorrow," Natsume whispered sensually on her ear, sending shivers on her body. Mikan stood there frozen on her spot until she heard Narumi's voice.

"Are you done, Mikan?"

"Y-Yes."

"Let's go."

•••

"So what can you say? How was it? Did Natsume guide you?"

"It's...fine, just awkward at first but he did. He guide me."

"Hmm."

"Can I ask a question?"

"Go on."

"Why is he like that to you? I mean he's not calling you uncle."

Narumi chuckled.

"We were never blood-related. His parents were a good friend of mine. They were really kind. I was there when his mother gave birth to him...but I wasn't there when they died in a car accident. Ever since then, I promise to take care of Natsume in their place so I took custody of him. He was never the social type even on his childhood years, always locking himself in his room. Natsume was really traumatized. I consulted a therapist and he advised me to engage him in art therapy. At first, it didn't showed any sign of positive changes. Until one day, I saw him staying up late and doing his very first artwork when he was sixteen. A drawing of a girl. That's the time he started showing fascination in art."

Mikan quietly listened, absorbing the story she just heard until curiosity got into her.

"Who's that girl?"

"I don't know. But I believe that that girl is the one who inspired him. If we ever get the chance to meet, I wanted to thank her. Natsume was able to cope up and even made friends. Art is life for him. That is his passion. His first love. It never bothered me that he's rude to me as long as he's happy. I could never forget when he gave me a painting he did by himself as a birthday present."

"I guess that is his way of saying thank you."

Narumi simply stared at Mikan.

"Did something happened between the two of you?"

"Wh-What made you say that?!"

"I don't know. Just a hunch", Narumi shrugged, putting his eyes back on the road before continuing, "I saw you guys talking before we leave. Didn't know you were that close already."

Heat started to creep on Mikan's face.

"He's just-"

"You were also acting strange when I came back."

Mikan recalled the unexpected events that occurred between her and Natsume, blushing even more.

"N-Nothing happened! We just talked, that's all!"

"I'm just kidding," Narumi said as he flashed her a smile and messed her hair.

'What is this strange feeling?'