Even before the door opens fully, Ryan knows instinctively who is coming. The sound of footsteps grows louder and louder with each step taken inside…
Ryan has already left the couch at this point. Tearing straight toward the kitchen, he immediately sweeps the tea cup from the counter, then places it in the kettle to warm it up again. He trembles from the adrenaline, movements frantic.
Then, after a moment, Sylvia stops at the kitchen entrance. Her gaze almost piercing as she glances over the kitchen once, then finally addresses him.
"This house… reeks of bad behavior today."
Ryan stiffens, but holds his chin high, "Hmph! Better than the strays at least, who wanders around the streets and call it a… date."
"Hoh…?" She teases and strolls inside. Stopping just in front of him, she reaches out, sliding her palm along his chest, and stops over his jaw, her finger taps against his cheek slowly before she meets his gaze. "Someone getting brave today, hm?"
Ryan's bravado crashes down immediately, his expression makes a fragile attempt to restore his confidence but fails miserably, "I…"
Finally, she steps back with a low, satisfied hum, already moving toward the kettle to pour the tea in her cup, "Don't let this tea burn, though… you made this for me with so much care after all, right?"
He finally regains his footing again, and takes a step ahead toward her, "I made it for me! Not for you!", however he makes no attempt to take the cup from her when she takes the first sip.
Sylvia observes him silently while taking sip after sip, and then she speaks, "Date… was good, though. Marian has good choices in restaurant or café."
"Marian…" He murmurs quietly, and thinks, Hm, as expected. She went with her. I had heard her talking with Marian on the call several days ago… "I guess it must be good. Why are you telling me, though?"
"Oh, you don't care about it?", Sylvia asks with a knowing smile. Ryan just turns his head away with a huff, "Whatever".
The uncomfortable energy from earlier, when Ryan was alone, vanishes slowly. They don't exchange any more words after that, but they do look at peace now.
…
Peace?
Somewhere away from their home… the peace was different.
Huff… Huff… Huff…
A man who appears to be in his twenties can be seen sprinting down the hallway. His breathing is ragged, but even then, he doesn't slow down.
"Stop there!" A voice calls from behind. The figure who gave the order just now suddenly shifts sideways, grabbing a lamp which was hanging on the wall. A moment later, the glowing lamp comes flying toward the running man, "Now, you will stop."
CRACK!
The lamp hits him hard in the back of the head. His body falls forward from the loss of balance, his hands plant on the floor to save his face from getting slam into the floor. Then, a groan comes. His hand clutches his head tightly, blood trickling down his neck. "Ugh…"
The figure catches up to him a moment later and looks down at him, "Told you to stop already." There is no guilt or remorse in the voice, just cold certainty.
"You will get scolded later for hitting me!" The young man yells out, his eyes burning with rage at the figure. In the response, the figure just scoffs and nudges his foot against the young man, "There is no scolding for hitting if I have a reason to hit. Now, get up and follow me. At the very least, you will just get a hundred whiplashes for your mistake earlier, but if you delay any further…"
The young man grits his teeth, but stands up slowly anyway, "It's wrong… definitely wrong." Even while saying that, he is already walking behind the figure, head high but still defeated.
Behind the near pillar in the hallway, two distinct voices whisper to each other.
"What kind of mistake did he make to get a hundred whiplashes?"
The other voice whispers back, "Heh… I heard he refused to answer some questions in the disciplinary hall."
The former voice exclaims quietly, "What? Just that…? Huh… makes me remember to not take that hall lightly."
"Well… hear me out," The second voice hisses and chuckles, "Disciplinary Hall is also waiting for that… girl to receive her punishment. And, it's going to be far worse than a mere hundred whiplashes…"
The voices grow even quieter as they continue their gossip.
…
Ryan's house…
Sylvia lets out a sigh, "God… go harder, idiot!" Her breathing is shaky, sweat glistens on her face as she tries to put more force.
Ryan lets out an annoyed huff and said back, "It's not my fault if this place is so tight! Bear with it!" He shifts his body once and finally pushes harder.
…
The bed finally slips through the doorway, both of them sigh in relief. With some more adjustments, they finally settle the bed in its place, with one side of bed pressed against the front wall.
"Better. Finally, my room is ready to use!" Sylvia throws her hand up with a smile and immediately sits at the edge of bed.
Ryan looks even more exhausted than her. He just lies back on the bed and closes his eyes, "It was heavy… that's why, I was delaying this for a month now. This room needed too much work before it was ready for use."
She nods while glancing at the room once, "Well, at least, I don't have to hear your snoring anymore."
"I don't snore."
"No, you do." Sylvia says confidently while shooting him a stare. He immediately closes his eyes again.
After that, they spend the rest of their evening, in the cleaning of Sylvia's new room. At the time of night, her room was finally prepared. At one side sit a desk and chair for her work, and on the front is a single bed. Rest of the room is also filled with the small things that she has collected over the last month.
Right now, both of them sit on their chairs near the dining table, eating the food that they ordered online around an hour ago.
"I am going to sleep after this, no more work for me." Ryan says between the bites. His eyelids almost close before he snaps them open to focus on his portion of food.
Sylvia rolls her eyes at that, "Just go, who's stopping you?" Despite saying that, she still passes the salt to him without him even mentioning it once.
When they finally leave the kitchen after completing their night chores, Ryan's patience and stamina finally reach their limit. He drags his body to his room, and throws himself on the bed quickly. Though, just as sleep claims him, his eyes linger on the floor beside the bed for a moment longer before he finally closes his eyes completely.
Sylvia, meanwhile, stays awake for a few minutes longer than him, in her new room. Her fingers fly over the keyboard of her laptop quickly while she mutters under her breath, "Backup… completed. Hm. Ready for tomorrow's work…" After a moment, she closes her laptop.
For the next few minutes, there is only the sound of her clothes rustling as she undresses. Then, a long skirt lands on the desk. She stands there silently for a moment, then walks toward the wardrobe…
After changing into her nightgown, she climbs on the bed, crawls to the center and finally lands flat on the mattress. A couple of minutes later, her breathing has completely evened out, just her lips shift for one final time to whisper.
"Mm… bed, comfy."