The next day, even thinking about it again made my face flush from the closet incident.
I woke up early, cleaned the sundries shop, and when I returned to the office, I swallowed hard at the strong smell of oil that hit me as soon as I opened the door.
Is someone cooking?
As I entered, salivating, there was Raven grilling sausages to a nice golden brown.
He hadn’t washed up yet, his hair sticking up in all directions, mismatched with his cute pajamas.
It seemed like he had just woken up not too long ago.
I hurried over to Raven and tugged on his clothes.
Living here rent-free meant I couldn’t just laze around, so I intended to help out somehow.
“Oh, what. You want to help?”
“…!”
“Then… set some forks and knives on the table. I’m almost done, so there’s not much you can do.”
Glancing. My head followed where Raven’s gaze went.
There was a toaster in full operation. So breakfast today was sausages and toast, huh.
I was too late to help. Next time, I gotta hurry back.
Understanding the situation, I rushed to set two sets of forks and knives on the table.
All preparations complete, mealtime proceeded in utter silence.
Raven tended to focus while eating, and well, I couldn’t talk anyway.
So the clinking and clattering of knives and forks against plates echoed for a while.
Suddenly, Raven spoke to me while wiping his mouth with a tissue.
“Yuria, I just thought about yesterday’s incident.”
“?!“
“Hey, hey. Drink some water. Are you alright?”
Cough cough!
Because Raven suddenly brought up yesterday’s event, I accidentally choked.
Finally, after gulping down the water he handed me and calming my cough, I couldn’t help but panic.
Why is he bringing this up now? Wasn’t he going to let it slide?
Or perhaps, upon reconsideration, maybe he didn’t think it was something to easily overlook.
With trembling eyes, I waited for his next words, unable to even put down the fork and knife in my hands.
Seeing my reaction, Raven bitterly smiled and lightly placed his hand on my head.
“I’m not scolding you, you know. If you want to enter my room… I just wanted to say you can come in whenever you want.”
“…?”
“Well… you seem too nervous. Just in case.”
Saying that, he ruffled my hair so roughly that my vision blurred.
Aaah! Stop shaking me, I’m getting dizzy!
I tried pushing his hand away with both of mine.
But maybe due to the difference in strength, I ended up being shaken around like a ragdoll.
“That’s enough. After you finish eating, put your plate, fork, and knife in the dishwasher. I’m heading out first.”
“…”
After teasing me for a while, he finally seemed satisfied.
He picked up his empty plate and utensils and stood up.
But with my vision still spinning, all I could do was rest my head on the table groaning.
To humiliate me like this… I’ll definitely get back at you someday!
After the dizziness finally subsided, I chewed on the sausage with vengeance in mind.
Strangely, the anxiety that had been so vivid just moments ago now felt trivial.
*
Afterward, Alice and David came to work, and the day passed without much happening.
As expected of the city, clients of all sorts came by.
Thankfully, perhaps due to the timing, there were no dangerous or precarious requests that involved the entire city.
Hopefully, such events will occur only after I quit my part-time job at the office.
Nestled in Alice’s arms, treating me like some attachment doll, I thought petty thoughts like these.
“Ugh, I don’t want to part with Yuria… But I have to leave work… Mr. Jin, what should I do?”
Alice openly expressed her reluctance to part with me, muttering like that.
But Raven, lounging on the sofa picking his ear, gave her a curt reply.
“What to do? Then don’t leave.”
“That’s a bit… Ah, do you actually want me to stay? No way. We’re family…”
“Pfft.”
“Hey, wait! Don’t laugh! Now I look like an idiot for joking!”
Alice, who tried to tease Raven but ended up being mocked, blushed and got angry.
This was truly a moment only possible between a man and woman who didn’t see each other as romantic interests at all.
Alice was undeniably a beautiful girl who stood out even in the city, and though Raven barely took care of himself, if you looked closely, he was quite handsome.
Perhaps because they harbored no ulterior motives towards each other.
The two had a bond stronger than just boss and employee—they felt more like siblings.
If romantic feelings ever sprouted between them, one might suspect they’d been hypnotized.
‘Still, in my opinion, Alice and Raven suit each other best… Well, they’ll figure it out.’
Watching their bickering with interest as usual, I suddenly caught David’s gaze, who seemed to be observing the scene with a similar amusement.
You find this amusing too, huh? Me too.
Feeling like we understood each other’s thoughts without words, we both chuckled softly.
“Ahh, fine. I’m leaving now! Sheesh, really frustrating.”
“Yeah, yeah, take care. Oh, and throw out the trash on your way.”
“Hmph, that’s something Mr. Jin should do himself. Well then… Yuria, sis is leaving. See you tomorrow!”
“…!”
Smooch!
Alice, releasing me from her embrace, left a big kiss on the cheek of my fox mask.
Compared to her usual subtle pecks on my head or hair, this was an outrageous escalation in affection.
Caught off guard, I couldn’t help but flinch.
Wait, isn’t this person getting more touchy-feely every day?
Who knows what kind of trouble I’ll be in later…
Honestly, it’s kinda nice to be liked so openly, but…
It’s a bit overwhelming to accept so easily. And how to reciprocate is tricky too.
Rubbing the spot where Alice kissed me with bewilderment, I managed to return her farewell. Alice giggled bashfully and left the office. What a troublesome person.
“I’ll be heading out too. Oh, Miss Yuria.”
“…?”
David, who was about to leave after Alice, suddenly remembered something and looked at me.
He then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me.
When I tilted my head, wondering if I should open it now, David nodded, indicating it was fine.
“It’s a note from Sabrina. She wants to meet you at Central Plaza at 10 AM this Saturday… Hmm, is that okay with you? Alright, understood.”
Saturday, 10 AM, Central Plaza.
No reason to refuse. I’m free anyway.
Last I heard, it was an apology meeting.
Might as well get some good food out of it.
Maybe delivering her sister’s message was his purpose.
David quietly left, seemingly having no more business.
And so, once again, only Raven and I remained in this spacious office.
“How about burgers tonight? There’s a new place nearby called Peanut Crunch Burger. How does a peanut burger sound? No allergies, right?”
“…!”
I eagerly nodded at Raven’s suggestion of burgers for dinner.
When he asked me to pick something, I pointed to the super size option.
It said it was enough to fill an adult.
But lately, I’ve been eating a lot. This should be sufficient.
‘Alright, let’s get started.’
Judging from Raven’s patterns, today was the day of an intense dragon racing event.
Most likely, he would crack open a beer can in front of the big TV in the office and shower late into the night.
About 30 minutes until delivery arrived.
Checking the time, I grabbed some clothes to change into and quickly slipped into the shower.
After finishing my shower before the delivery arrived and changing into my cat pajamas,
I retrieved the burger set left by the delivery person and had dinner with Raven.
Showered, ate, brushed my teeth.
Nothing can stop me now!
Having completed all preparations, I bypassed Raven, who was grabbing a cold beer from the fridge, dashed to my room to grab a pillow, and headed to Raven’s room.
Opening the closet, I tossed the pillow onto the bed inside.
Climbing step by step, I reached the topmost level.
‘Closing the closet… Alright, let’s do this!’
I pulled out the Tesseract hidden inside my pajamas.
Then, I brought the Tesseract close to the ceiling near the rift.
Immediately, an ominous purple energy faintly began to be drawn into the Tesseract.
Just like when I brought the fragment close, the dormant Tesseract was absorbing energy from beyond the rift!
‘Hmm, this… is pretty slow.’
Perhaps because the rift was small, the amount and speed of energy absorbed by the Tesseract was excruciatingly slow.
So slow that my arm, which I had raised to hold the Tesseract near the rift, started trembling uncontrollably.
This won’t do. Unable to hold the Tesseract any longer, I used telekinesis to lift it closer to the rift.
‘This isn’t too difficult… But what if Raven suddenly opens the closet door? The picture would be a bit strange?’
If Raven notices this mysterious floating necklace, it’d be troublesome…
Lost in thought, I cautiously held the rift with telekinesis and hugged the Tesseract tightly.
Surprisingly, the faint power seeping from the rift traveled through my telekinesis into the Tesseract.
It was as if my telekinesis had become a conduit.
This is it! A brilliant method to awaken the Tesseract without Raven noticing!
All I had to do was maintain my telekinesis and pass the time.
To think the plan I pondered last night would actually work!
Overjoyed, I couldn’t help but roll around on the blanket.
Swoosh.
“…Is it that comfortable there?”
“…”
…Ah, when did you come in?
Raven’s gaze burned as he watched me making a racket inside the closet.
His warm gaze, as if looking at a cute child, was unbearable.
Don’t look at me with those eyes…!
Overwhelmed with embarrassment, I could only squirm deeper into the blanket.
I wanted to punch the smirking Raven.
[!– Slider main container –]
