* * *
It was the day before my third exhibition with Everett, and there I was, shopping for clothes with Connie. Last night, I’d tried to pick out something to wear, only to end up feeling completely defeated.
I didn’t usually wear fancy clothes to work, so my wardrobe was rather lacking.
‘But I can’t wear the same outfit again, can I?’
As soon as morning came, I dragged Connie out and scoured the boutique district, practically blurring out the price tags as I filled my arms with clothes.
‘There are only two exhibitions left, so why on earth did I buy ten outfits?’
After leaving the boutique, I briefly regretted my spree, but it was already too late. I headed with Connie to a nearby restaurant to treat her to dinner as promised.
“Shall we get the couple’s set?” Connie teased, wiggling her nose as she pointed to the couple’s meal on the menu.
Couple sets like that should honestly be banned from the capital.
“Order something else,” I said, taking the menu from her and ordering the ‘dish of the day.’
“I don’t like fish,” she grumbled briefly, but when the food arrived, she had no trouble finishing it.
“Didn’t you say you don’t like fish?”
“Well, they know how to cook it well here,” she said, scooping up the flaky cod with her fork, praising the chef.
“Wipe that sauce off your lips,” I said.
Once we had eaten enough, the worries that had been taking over my mind recently started growing again. I poked at the garnish on my plate a few times before finally voicing what was bothering me.
“Listen, this is a story about my friend,” I started cautiously.
Connie, wiping her mouth, asked innocently, “You have a friend I don’t know about?”
‘Of course not.’
“Actually, it’s about me,” I admitted shamelessly, causing her to snicker.
“Alright, so what’s going on with you?” she asked, leaning forward, ready to listen.
But when it came time to actually say it, I found myself hesitating again, almost whispering as I began.
“Well, I think Lord Rojas might be interested in me.”
I went on to explain what had happened during our second exhibition.
* * *
On the day of our second exhibition, Everett seemed to be making up for being late the last time because he had arrived well before the meeting time and was waiting for me. His face showed clear signs of irritation and boredom as the crowd moved around him, but the moment our eyes met, his expression brightened instantly.
He strode toward me with his long legs, quickly closing the distance between us, and offered me his hand.
I placed mine on his out of habit. Everett paused, as if unsure, before his face turned slightly red. His golden eyes flickered towards me, looking for permission. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he intertwined his fingers with mine.
For the first time in my life, I could feel every single nerve between my fingers come alive.
The sudden tension made me avert my gaze, and sensing my discomfort, Everett bit his lip and started to let go.
‘I didn’t mean you shouldn’t hold my hand.’
I squeezed his hand, stopping him from letting go. His face lit up noticeably.
Trying to hide my flushed face, I looked away, pretending to focus on something else. We continued walking through the exhibition, hand in hand. Even though we were physically closer when he escorted me, the touch of our hands now felt much more intimate.
Our hands were slightly damp with nervousness.
‘Ugh, I can’t focus on any of the exhibits.’
At some point, I was merely pretending to admire the displays as we walked around. This second exhibition was the one I had been looking forward to the most, yet I found myself barely paying attention.
I mechanically stopped at each exhibit, spending just enough time to seem interested before moving on.
Still, it gave my heart, which had been racing, a chance to slow down and adjust. I finally worked up the courage to glance at Everett from the corner of my eye.
I was curious if this thick, charged air between us was something only I was feeling.
Unfortunately, Everett happened to be looking at me at the exact same moment, and our eyes met.
It was as if we had been frozen in place by some kind of spell. I couldn’t breathe, my gaze locked with his. The heat that had been fading from my ears flared up again.
I quickly turned away.
But it was pointless.
Our reflections in the glass display cases allowed us to continue watching each other even as we pretended to look at the artifacts.
Everett’s golden eyes found mine through the glass, clear and focused.
Our bodies were turned toward the relics, but our attention was entirely on each other.
A tingling sensation spread from my fingertips as if I had been shocked by a mild current.
In the end, it was I who broke the gaze, feigning enthusiasm as I exaggeratedly commented on one of the exhibits to break the tension.
“Lord Rojas, this is said to be a bellows used by dwarves.”
I slipped my hand from his clammy grasp and moved closer to the exhibit. At last, the air that had felt so thin rushed into my lungs, filling them.
Admiring the now seemingly mundane piece of equipment, I wiped my palms against my carefully chosen outfit.
Everett, having been released from the frozen moment a little later than me, smirked as if amused by my actions.
“It’s fascinating,” he said, his tone flat as though reading from a textbook. He cleared his throat and continued, speaking into the air.
“The dwarves, a mysterious race that no longer shows themselves, were master blacksmiths. Their bellows could heat metal to temperatures unattainable by humans.”
His words were stiff—an exact repetition of the exhibition catalog.
‘Did he seriously memorize the whole catalog?’
It seemed like he was worried I’d had too much fun alone at the first exhibition.
‘But I don’t mind.’
I smiled quietly to myself and teased him a little with my next question.
“Dwarves were also the only ones capable of working with mithril, the legendary metal, right?”
He repeated the next line from the catalog.
“Yes. If they hadn’t disappeared due to the empire’s exclusion policies, human civilization would have progressed much further.”
‘He really memorized it.’
His adorable sincerity filled my chest with warmth, and I couldn’t stop the giggles from escaping.
Feeling more playful, I dragged Everett through the exhibition, asking him about each artifact. Sure enough, the explanations flowed effortlessly, as if he had memorized the entire guidebook.
‘He’s like a tour guide with a really good voice.’
I laughed quietly to myself, careful not to let him notice.
When we finally completed the tour, Everett let out a sigh of relief, proud of himself for getting through it.
‘Why do I find this so cute?’
I secretly found the man, eight years my senior, absolutely adorable.
As Everett walked me home later that evening, I whispered to him like I was sharing a secret.
“You know, you don’t have to memorize the catalog for the next exhibition.”
“That’s…”
Embarrassed, he tried to deny it, but after making eye contact with me, he sighed and confessed.
“Yeah, I memorized it.”
This time, the blush that usually only colored his earlobes spread all the way to the back of his neck.
To hide his embarrassment, Everett lowered his head and awkwardly kicked at the ground with the tip of his shoe.
“I just… I wanted to be able to enjoy it with you since you like this kind of stuff.”
Everett Rojas, at thirty years old, was undeniably a very cute man.
* * *
As I finished telling Connie the story of the second exhibition, she tapped her fork on her plate excitedly.
“There it is! He’s totally into you.”
‘I already figured that out.’
She had been ready to tease me mercilessly, but when she saw my troubled expression, she hesitated.
“If he’s that interested, what’s the problem?”
Connie asked, clearly confused.
“There are only two exhibitions left.”
What I meant was, I only had two more opportunities to see Everett.
“So just set up another date after that,” she said, not understanding why I was making it complicated.
“You can’t just meet up for no reason. You have to have some sort of relationship to keep seeing each other.”
I sighed heavily.
In short, I knew we were flirting, but I had no idea how to take the next step.
‘The two remaining exhibitions feel like a deadline.’
“Oh.”
Connie tousled her reddish hair, clearly struggling to come up with an answer.
If my dating experience was in the negative, then hers was zero.
Situations like this were not her forte, and her already curly hair became even more of a mess as she ruffled it in thought. Finally, she squeezed out an idea.
“Why don’t you be a little more proactive?”
“Me?”
It sounded like a decent plan.
This is a copy of Chapter 26
the chapter had been updated! Enjoy reading!