Chapter 9

Emily changed her mind about allowing Hadrian to bring his manager to her apartment. She just thought of the kidnapping randomly and said, "She might also be under the Curse of Restraint or followed. Let's meet her in a café not far from here."

Emily and Ethan had begun cleaning up the mess on the couch, They watched two more movies that morning, and it was a mess, with crumbs on the couch and on the ground.

Hadrian joined them in cleaning up the mess.

They heard someone knocking on the door.

Emily stood up and said. "Oh, that must be Gerald."

She opens the door, to meet a seven-foot-tall, buff-looking human man with gray hair and a burning skull tattoo on his left arm, and he is holding three bags. "I brought the things you said you needed," he said. His voice was very deep.

Ethan walks to the door, curious, when he hears Gerald's voice. His eyes widened when he saw the buff man, and he froze.

"Who's this?" Gerald asked, looking down at Ethan.

Emily smiled nervously. "This is Ethan," she said, introducing Ethan to Gerald.

"That Ethan?" Gerald asked, in a teasing voice. "He seems small," he said.

Ethan would gasp in disbelief and probably initiate a fight, but he's in a daze.

Hadrian, too, walks to the door. "I'm done cleaning," he said to Emily. He, too, froze when he saw Gerald standing at the door. "Woah," he said.

"And this is Hadrian," Emily said, introducing Hadrian.

"Wow," Ethan said in a daze, and Hadrian nodded.

Gerald raised an eyebrow, looking a bit confused. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"You are so buff," Hadrian said.

"And tall," Ethan said. Ethan is only five feet seven, so he feels very jealous, yet honored to stand next to a tall man.

"The things are for them," Emily said, collecting the bags from Gerald. "Talk to you later," she said, closing the door.

"He's so tall," Ethan said in a daze.

"And buff," Hadrian said.

Emily shoved a bag each into Ethan and Hadrian's arms. "Both of you," she said, pointing at him and Hadrian, "go and take your bath, then take any of the clothes that fit you."

"What?" Hadrian said.

Emily sighed. "The both of you are going to bathe together," she said. "I still pay rent in this dinky apartment, and I don't want my water bills to increase, so you two are going to have to bathe together," she explained.

Ethan was about to argue with her, but she shushed him. "And unless you have money with you right here and now to help me pay rent, please don't say anything."

She was smiling, but her smile was a bit threatening.

"Whatever, we are both guys, so there should be no problem with that..." Ethan murmured, grabbing Hadrian's hand and taking him to Emily's room.

Also, there are some sponges and toothbrushes in there too!" Emily shouts before Ethan closes the door.

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Ethan entered the bathroom first and began brushing his teeth with the new toothbrush Gerald got. It shouldn't matter that he and Hadrian are both guys; they are of the same gender.

Hadrian too stepped into the bathroom with his toothbrush; he stood beside Ethan, and together they brushed their teeth.

Once they were done, Ethan sighed and said, "Let's just get this over with."

They both removed their clothes. But Ethan smelled his own as he removed them, and scrunched his nose in disgust. This was same set of clothes he wore when he battled against Hadrian, and that was nearly five days ago. He stinks. How did he not notice this?

"Disgusting," he mutters, quickly entering the shower.

Hadrian hears Ethan start the shower and figures that he should enter as well. He opens the curtain and sees Ethan standing far away from the water. "It's cold," he said.

Hadrian smiled helplessly and stepped in, closing the curtain behind him. "Don't be such a baby," Hadrian said, standing under the shower of water. It is cold, but it is bearable. "Come on," he said.

Ethan looks at the Hadrian standing under the shower of cold water. "If I have a cold, it's you and Emily's fault," he said, going close to the shower of water.

He tensed as the water touched him. This is the first time Ethan has ever bathed with cold water, at least from what he remembers.

Hadrian noticed a lot of scars on Ethan's back and his left hand. "How did you get your scars?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ethan replies, concentrating on washing every nook and cranny of his body.

Hadrian thought Ethan didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't ask about it anymore. It might be a sensitive topic, but he is worried about how Ethan might have gotten the wounds. Most of them looked like cut and whip marks, but the one on his left hand looked like a very nasty burn. But something else caught his eye. It was a six-sided star tattoo, behind his ear.

Should he ask him about it?

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Ethan felt refreshed once he was done bathing and wearing a fresh set of clothes. He takes a set of clothes in his style—a black turtleneck with blue jeans and a black blazer. They smelled new. Did Emily just buy these? But he doesn't see any tags.

Hadrian wore a blue shirt with a pair of black trousers. They both came out, and Emily gasped. Oh, my gods, I knew I chose right," she said.

"Gerald would cry if he saw you guys," she said. "Hadrian, text your manager to see where she is."

Hadrian nods and turns to Ethan, asking for the phone. Ethan points to the coffee table, and Hadrian goes to take it.

His manager had already texted him, saying that she was on her way to the city about ten minutes ago. "She said she was on her way."

Emily panics. "I haven't taken my bath yet!" she shouts as she runs to her room and locks the door. "There are shoes in the third bag!" she shouts from her room.

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Emily wore a cute light blue t-shirt with three-quarter blue jeans and brown boots, and she brushed her hair a bit to make herself presentable.

She held Ethan and Hadrian's arms as they got out of the house. She was smiling brightly as she walked the streets with a carefree attitude.

Hadrian and Ethan walked behind her like bodyguards, but Ethan's mood was very dim, and this didn't go unnoticed by Hadrian or anyone who looked at them.

"Is there something wrong?" Hadrian asked.

Ethan grunted something, and Emily laughed. "Welcome to the Central Realm, Ethan," she said. "This is the first time Ethan has been outside Silver Field Academy since he arrived there a few years ago," she explained. Also, what he just grunted was, The sun is too bright; it should be dimmed."

Several people watched the trio as they walked together down the street.

They got to the café where they were meant to meet Hadrian's manager and settled down.

Emily and Ethan sitting on the same row, while Hadrian sat opposite them.

Hadrian looked down at the phone and began texting his manager to ask where she was.

There were several high school students in the café hanging out, since they had just returned from school.

Ethan noticed several girls were watching them from behind. When he turns back to see what was going on. The girls turned away, and giggled.

"Is there something wrong?" Emily asked.

Ethan frowned. "Those girls there," he said, referring to the girls he noticed were watching them.

"One of them interests you?" Emily asked, wiggling her eyebrows, earning a blank look from Ethan.

"Don't make jokes," he said. "Is there something wrong with them?" he asked.

Emily looks at Ethan confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"They keep looking at us and giggling like banshees," he said.

"Excuse me," one of the girls that were giggling together said, coming up to Hadrian, causing all of them to look at her.

"Is there something wrong?" Hadrian asked.

The girl plays with her hair shyly, and Ethan looks at her weirdly. "She's acting like you did when you had a crush on me," he whispered to Emily, who laughed angrily and punched him.

"Don't remind me of my embarrassing moments.

"Are you Hadrian Ignia?" she asked. "The famous model?" she said expectantly.

Hadrian nods uncomfortably, and she squeals in excitement. Ethan covers his ears. He was about to give the girl a piece of his mind, but Emily covered his mouth.

"Excuse me, darling," Emily said in a friendly voice.

The girl looked at Emily in surprise when she spoke. It was nice and calm. "Hello," the girl said, shyly. She noticed her covering Ethan's mouth.

"I can see that you are a fan of our good friend Hadrian," Emily said, referring to herself and Ethan. "But we are waiting for someone, and we are planning on having lunch here; we want this to be as quiet and comfortable as possible," she said.

The girl was about to say something, but Emily interrupted her. "If you and your friends are able to wait, you guys can still take pictures with Hadrian; don't worry, we will try not to waste too much time."

All this time. Emily's tone or face didn't change as she was speaking.

The girl nods. "Of course, I understand," she said, and she left.

Hadrian was surprised by how Emily sent the girl away gently.

Emily then turned to Hadrian proudly. "I am good, aren't I?" she said, then she removed her hand from Ethan's mouth. "Thankfully, I covered his mouth. Or else you would probably lose all your fans in a night."

The café bell jingles, and a female butterfly beastman comes in. She had red hair with brown highlights; her eyes were completely black; a pair of antennae on her head; and a pair of large wings.

"Flora!" Hadrian waved at the woman.

The woman turned in their direction when Hadrian called her. She walked to them and paused when she saw Ethan.