As soon as she entered the room, her gaze landed upon a pair of wide purple eyes.
Then everything else began to enter her senses.
The faint scent of soap. Black hair dripping with moisture. White skin that stood out even more as the dark wet hair stuck to it. The smooth neckline and collarbones exposed below a delicate jawline. And…
Ash, barely wearing his pants.
“S-sorry!”
Elaine stared at him blankly, then suddenly came to her senses. She hurriedly apologized and took a step back. Then her foot slipped when she stepped on a puddle of water that had accumulated on the floor. Normally, she would have been able to correct her balance without difficulty, but right now, she was extremely embarrassed and not in the right state of mind. Elaine’s body stumbled backwards and began to fall.
Ash, who had also been frozen in surprise when he saw Elaine enter the room, moved reflexively. Soon his strong arms were wrapped around her waist. The scent of his skin hit her and wet hair brushed her cheeks.
“Are you okay?”
Ash, who had reflexively grabbed her, slightly widened his eyes.
“I’m…”
Elaine who was about to answer that she was okay, trailed off. Her hand had reached out as she lost her balance and accidentally landed on his chest. His well-toned muscles and smooth bare skin could be felt on her palm. The sensation made her lose her train of thought.
The two stared at each other for several seconds, even forgetting to breathe.
“Ah.”
Ash made a small sound belatedly. The sound brought her back to her senses. The two people were startled at the same time and backed away. They both looked embarrassed. Elaine started to blurt out words randomly, unable to make eye contact.
“Well, uh, you were late and… I was worried…”
Elaine, sounding like a broken record, turned around quickly.
“I’ll leave first!”
Then, she left as if she were running away. As soon as she was out of the room, she ran down the hallway and headed to his office. It was only after she had closed the door and leaned back against the wall that she was finally able to breathe again.
‘Wow, that startled me…’
Her heart was pounding rapidly in shock. The embarrassment that had not disappeared was lingering around her, like a cloud.
She had never thought she would see such a scene so suddenly. It appears that he had just gotten out of the shower. Elaine’s face was heating up. She had rushed in, thinking there had been another attack, like last night.
After some time, she began to calm down, however the scene she had witnessed earlier was still vivid in her mind. A bare body, completely exposed above the waist, and an arm wrapped around her waist. Strong muscles and wide shoulders. She had never imagined she would see Ash like this.
He’s grown into a man.
It was a natural realization. She hadn’t noticed it when he was fully dressed, but when she had seen his bare body with her own eyes, she realized the reality. Although she was aware of the fact Ash had grown up, she still hadn’t thought of him as a man. But he was. He was a 23-year-old adult. He was old enough to date the opposite sex and get married.
Marriage. The day would come when he would share his life with the one he loved. The day when he would become someone’s husband, the father of a child, starting a family.
He was already at that age now.
When he was young, she had thought it was just something in the distant future. Now, it was the near future.
Who would he fall in love with? No, maybe he already had someone like that. What is that person like? Is it a good person, did they also like him, what was their personality like, were they older or younger?
It would be nice if it was someone who would care for him more than anyone else. Even if everyone else criticizes him, that person would be on his side. Someone who could make him happy.
She would support anyone, as long as they could make him happy.
Then, the door opened and Ash came in, neatly dressed.
“…”
There was an embarrassing and awkward silence for a moment. She glanced at him and spoke.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I barged into the room without knocking…”
There was still a slight amount of moisture in his hair. He ran his fingers through it and sighed.
“Of course, I was surprised, but… you didn’t mean anything by it, so its fine.”
He walked over and sat down behind his desk, opening a drawer.
“I’m guessing you came here to get the keys? Here they are.”
Elaine quickly walked over and took them from Ash. He blurted out as she took them.
“I overslept.”
“Okay?”
“The reason I was late today, you seemed curious.”
Elaine opened her mouth slightly. Was it that obvious? She unconsciously touched the corner of her mouth. He overslept. She hadn’t thought of that possibility because he had always done everything flawlessly up to this moment.
“Is it so surprising that I overslept?”
“A bit…”
Ash laughed at her reaction.
Her eyes widened. Was this a dream? She pinched her cheek. Not a dream. It was her first time since arriving she had seen him smile. Even if it wasn’t a proper smile, still…
He closed the drawer and opened a document on his desk, continuing.
“I had a dream and woke up late.”
He flipped the paper over, continuing his words while moving his quill.
“Because of the dream, I had sweated a lot and so I took a shower which made me even later. That’s when you showed up.”
