"Yes... he went in, unfortunately!" James replied while returning to that sofa.
"To be honest, you look beautiful when you're angry!" Madeline approached James, who was sprawled on the sofa, holding Sticky in her hands.
"So what?" James replied coldly.
"Heh! Jamesy, cheer up!" Madeline tried to lighten James's mood.
James looked at Madeline's beautiful face... before covering his eyes with his elbow and giving her a smile.
"Yes! This is the Jamesy I know!" Madeline immediately brightened upon seeing James smile.
"Hold Sticky for a bit, I'll go get some clothes for Mr. Xiao Ping!" Madeline placed Sticky on James's stomach as she moved towards James's room.
But before she reached the door, she heard James's voice say: "Don't call him 'Mr. Xiao Ping' again, you can just call him 'Ping' or 'Xiao' without any formalities!" His voice carried respect for Xiao Ping, but not to the extent of making his lover call him 'Mr.'!
'What? Is he jealous of Mr. Xiao Ping? That's cute! Well, if he wants this, I won't oppose him.' Madeline thought before replying: "Alright, as you wish!"
"Good!" James replied coldly.
Meanwhile, Madeline entered James's room and went straight to the large wardrobe. When she opened it, she found many clothes, as well as many shoes, ties, and hats.
Madeline sighed and said: "I don't know why James buys so many clothes, but he rarely wears them." She moved her hands among the clothes and said: "Let's forget this matter! Now, what should I choose for Ping to wear? What color or style would look good on him?" Madeline was analyzing Xiao Ping's personality and found that the clothes he was wearing suited him very well, but they were worn out. So she chose similar clothes, but with a red tie.
"Yes, this will look good on him!" Madeline spoke before leaving James's room and closing the door behind her. Since they were at home... she hung the coat and hat beside James's hanging clothes, and left the shoes in front of the hall entrance door beside their shoes. Also, there were Xiao Ping's worn-out shoes that she had thrown in the trash earlier when she entered, because she couldn't stand the smell.
She carried the remaining clothes and headed towards James again... threw the clothes over him, took Sticky from him and said: "Go give him these clothes, or do you expect me to give them to him?" Her tone was angry for no reason.
'Ah, Madeline! Why do you make things difficult for me like this?' James grumbled to himself before taking the clothes and going to the bathroom door!
He knocked gently and said: "Partner, here are the clothes!" He spoke gently as if he'd forgotten that he was chasing his partner and wanted to hit him.
"Ah! Yes, I'll open now!" His tone was very disappointed.
But James realized why his tone was disappointed! He wanted Madeline to give him the clothes. James felt a little angry and said: "Oh! Hehe, don't be sad, I'll get you a maid from the Rosted Archipelago soon!" Saying that, he stood in front of the door until Xiao Ping opened it for him.
Xiao Ping stuck out his wet head, looking at James with his green eyes that emitted a faint coldness behind that apparent radiance, like the bottom of a well. Xiao Ping looked indifferently at James before extending his hand to ask for the clothes. His wet hair covered his right eye... so he was only looking with his left eye. But this truly showed his beauty... especially those strange golden streaks at the front of his hair!
'Whaaaaaat? Was he always this beautiful? Why didn't I notice this before? He really looked like a homeless person, but now... compared to him, I might be in the middle class and he in the noble class!' James thought in his mind. No no... this isn't really important, what matters is that we've become partners, so I shouldn't compare myself to anyone, especially my partner!
"What are you doing standing frozen? Hurry up and give me the clothes!" Seeing James lost in thought, Xiao Ping spoke... to snap him out of it.
"Wait... wait, why am I apologizing to him? Take these!" James handed the clothes to Xiao Ping and turned to sprawl on the sofa, but Madeline told him to quickly head to the kitchen... to prepare the ingredients, so he went quickly.
While Madeline sat on the sofa, gently and quietly stroking Sticky's fur... afraid of waking him.
"Where's the towel?" Xiao Ping asked as he prepared to put on the clothes.
He remembered there was a towel on the door hook, so he first hung the clothes before taking the towel and drying himself.
He looked in the mirror and saw that his body, although a bit thin, had abdominal divisions indicating six-pack muscles... Xiao Ping looked deeply at his new body and did some bodybuilding poses to show off a little, but he didn't forget that this body was weak, even if his own power had changed his body and revealed some muscles.
His stamina... was very weak, so he decided to create a regular, healthy schedule for daily exercise, to strengthen this body and be able to withstand the power of his sequence without losing control, because he didn't want to die yet since he hadn't explored this world!
After drying himself from the water... he took the clothes from the door in front of him, but he... took the items from his old pants and put them in the new pants. There were notes he wrote yesterday, a gold-colored watch, also a lighter with cigarettes, and most importantly the white ID card. He didn't know what was written on it? But he realized it was a legal ID card very important in this city, he had taken it out earlier for that knight guarding the city gate, just to let him pass!
'Thinking about this! It was good to have tools to cover my face at that time, when I made him lose balance while running causing him to fall on his sword... a truly horrific scene, but not more gruesome than what I did to that merchant, literally... I smashed his face in his cart! Hahaha, I was a fool and let anger control me, which would have caused a disaster! If not for those tools being present!' Xiao Ping thought about the consequences of his actions when he entered the city!
After arranging things well in the new pants, Xiao Ping put them on and felt great comfort... he got rid of those pitiful clothes.
Then he put on the white shirt that resembled his old shirt, but the cotton material was much better.
He looked in the mirror before saying: "Look, how handsome I am in this body! I hated seeing my reflection since coming to this world, but who would have thought I'd accept it now!" Xiao Ping realized he had put on all the clothes, except for the red tie.
"Damn it, man! This tie has been chasing me from my previous world until now!" Xiao Ping cursed while trying to tie the tie, but he couldn't tie it well no matter what he did.
"No no... I need to calm down." Xiao Ping took a deep breath in front of the mirror before trying again, but he failed, so he tied it in a messy way.
Xiao Ping gave up and went out, and the living room shape appeared in his eyes. But he put on bathroom slippers before drying his feet on the rug in front of the bathroom entrance. The tie was still tied around his neck in a messy way!
He didn't care anymore, and stepped towards the sofa where Madeline was sitting playing with Sticky's fur.
When Madeline noticed him, she whispered: "How beautiful! You look so great, Ping, in these clothes." Honestly... she didn't expect him to be so handsome, so maybe even if he gambled, she couldn't hate him anymore.
'She doesn't seem to be acting. But why did she stop calling me 'Mr.'? Does she see me as just a teenager so she doesn't call me Mr.?.. No no, even she is a teenage girl, so I don't think that's the reason, because she called me Mr. earlier! Is this because of James? Does he seem like he's trying to play the jealous boy in front of me? Tsk tsk.. How pitiful, I don't care about this girl at all, so there's no use telling me to stay away from her in a smart way like this.' Xiao Ping thought while approaching that table in front of the sofa.
Madeline saw the messy tie around his neck, so she put Sticky on the sofa before getting up, walking around the table, and standing in front of Xiao Ping.
"Do you want help?" she said with a beautiful smile.
What? Do you want to help me? No no, I should refuse, I should keep distance between us! Xiao Ping thought about refusing, but Madeline had already grabbed the tie and pulled Xiao Ping towards her.
"Miss Madeline, you don't have to do this!" Xiao Ping tried to tell her to stay away, because he found it inappropriate to get close to someone else's woman.
"Don't be shy, Ping! I'm just going to help you tie it properly!" Madeline replied with unexpected great gentleness.