Chapter 12. Red Bean Rice
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The doorbell rang and fell silent.
The guest waiting outside tapped her toes in impatience.
Tap—tap—tap.
Her hard little leather shoes struck the flagstones in a crisp chain of sounds.
"That guy Xander sleeping in on the weekend is understandable, but why is Seele lazing in with him too?"
Bronya glanced at her chat app, saw no replies, and frowned.
With work finally at a stopping point, Bronya recalled the scolding Xander had given her at the café last time and wondered if she should invite Seele out shopping for the first time in a while today.
Of course, if that guy insisted on tagging along, that wouldn't be impossible.
But the results weren't great.
No one answered her messages in the morning, and after she finished getting ready and came over at almost ten, she knocked for a long time and still got no response.
After thinking it over, Bronya opened the small sling bag at her side and fished out a ring of keys.
Finding the matching key, she slid it straight into the keyhole.
Click.
The door opened.
Don't ask how she got the keys.
All credit goes to a certain two-faced little spy.
She pulled a pair of women's slippers—clearly a size larger than Seele's—out of the shoe cabinet by the entry, slipped them on, and headed upstairs from memory.
Both Seele's and Xander's rooms had nameplates.
Bronya went first to Seele's door, raised her hand, and knocked lightly.
Seeing no response for a while, she tried the knob.
Click.
The door opened.
"Does this girl not realize she's living with a hot-blooded teenage boy?"
"So little sense of precaution... no, maybe she's doing it on purpose..."
Thinking of Seele's usual behavior, Bronya found it hard to imagine her guarding herself against Xander.
She was practically delivering herself to his door.
Guard herself?
Opening the door, Bronya went in and walked straight to the bed.
"Seele, time to get up..."
She lifted the quilt.
It was empty.
She reached out and felt it—cool, without the slightest residual warmth.
Not here?
How could she not be here?
Seele had clearly gone home with her after school yesterday.
That night, Bronya had seen Seele's room light on.
...
No one in the room plus oversleeping, and a bold idea rose in her mind.
She didn't stop to think it through.
She immediately strode toward Xander's room.
The door was ajar.
She didn't knock and pushed it open with a gentle nudge.
The scene inside made her hold her breath at once.
First into view were two familiar figures on the bed, wrapped in each other's arms.
The thin summer quilt traced the outline of their entwined bodies.
Seele was curled in Xander's embrace.
Both wore pajamas and were still fast asleep.
They were both in pajamas, so it probably wasn't what she thought...
Unfortunately, when she got closer and saw Seele's slightly reddened eyes—clearly the look of someone who had cried for a long time—it shattered her last sliver of wishful thinking.
"...No way."
Though she had long expected this day, Bronya still felt the corner of her eye twitch.
They had clearly agreed before...
It was probably Seele constantly drifting around in front of Xander without the slightest guard, until he finally couldn't help himself.
And Seele wouldn't refuse.
Forget it.
She would just go downstairs and cook a bowl of red bean rice for Seele.
With a long sigh, Bronya backed out of the room, face reddening, and pulled the door to.
As for going out to have fun?
Fun, my ass!
It wasn't until the sun was high at noon that the two in the room slowly woke up.
It had been a long time since she had stayed up this late.
Just awake, Seele still felt a little drowsy.
She opened her hazy eyes.
With muddled memories and a blurry world, she couldn't tell reality from dream for a moment.
Only when she saw the Brother beside her did she understand.
Ah, so Seele was dreaming.
She had actually dreamed of getting up together with Brother.
Nice!
As Xander was jostled awake by Seele, he saw a cute little face lean in and—mua~—plant a kiss on his cheek.
Whoa, waking up came with benefits like this?
Just as Xander was about to marvel at that, he suddenly realized something was off.
After one kiss, Seele didn't seem ready to stop.
Giggling, she quickly left a string of kisses across his face.
When Seele started tugging at his clothes, Xander finally panicked, hurriedly grabbing her little hands to stop her.
"I'm telling you, it's broad daylight!"
A sudden voice froze them both in place at once.
At the doorway, Bronya's face was stormy, and her cold gaze fixed straight on their rumpled pajamas.
...
Thud.
In the dining room on the first floor, Seele and Xander sat properly while Bronya set a bowl of red bean rice and a bowl of red bean soup in front of Seele with a heavy thump.
"Bronya-sis, Seele actually..."
"Shut it.
Eat!"
"Oh."
Seele had wanted to explain, but seeing Bronya's displeased face, she immediately cowered and bowed her head over the bowl.
Not gonna lie, it was fragrant and sweet and tasted great.
Seele just happened to be hungry and dug in with relish.
Watching from the side, Xander swallowed.
He glanced cautiously at Bronya and asked weakly, "Um, what about my share..."
"You go hungry!"
"Oh."
Xander obediently lowered his head.
Eyes watch the nose, the nose watches the mouth, the mouth watches the heart.
It wasn't that he was chickening out but a tactical retreat.
With Bronya in a temper, this clearly wasn't the time to ruffle her feathers.
Better to endure for now.
Once she left, wouldn't little Seele be at his mercy?
At that point, he could eat whatever he wanted.
Just as someone was channeling the spirit of Ah Q, he noticed Seele stand up.
She pattered over to Bronya's side and, seizing a split-second blind spot in Bronya's line of sight, slid her half-finished red bean rice over to him.
"Bronya-sis, how come you had time to come see Seele today~"
Across from him, Seele hugged Bronya's arm and cooed sweetly, while behind her back one hand flashed signs only the two of them could understand.
"Brother, don't be afraid.
Seele's covering here.
Hurry and eat."
A warm current surged through Xander's heart at once, almost moving him to tears.
As expected of Brother's good little sister—he hadn't doted on her for nothing.
With Bronya's attention diverted, Xander didn't stand on ceremony.
He picked up the bowl and started eating.
Just one bite made his eyes light up.
It really was delicious, and no wonder Seele had been eating so heartily just now.
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