Haru

I frowned. As usual, that blood brother of mine was making fun of me.

When he grandly appeared at the door, I gave him a good glare and said, "I've only ever burnt our meal once, Reo, and that was two years ago. I'm better at cooking now, thanks to Aiden."

"Is that so?" Reo said, clearly showing signs of doubting my statement. He flicked his gaze to Jess then and gave her a smile. "Hey, Jess."

"Hi, Reo," Jess replied, still blushing.

Reo came over and tousled my hair as he asked, "How's the exam?" He turned to Jess and patted her head, too, which made her flush even redder in the face.

Jess said, "It…it was easy."

I, on the other hand, didn't comment, knowing he'd lecture me if I were to tell him I wasn't confident in my results. Instead, I rushed to the door and before disappearing, I said, "I'll just put my bag away. By the way, Jess is staying for dinner."

Mason said, "Good. Let's celebrate now that everyone has finished their exams for this semester."

In my closet-sized bedroom, I left my bag on the floor. I was just unzipping my jacket when my cell phone buzzed. Quickly retrieving it from my jeans pocket, I saw that it was Aiden's name on the screen.

"Hey," I said to the man I had been in love with since middle school and had been dating for the last six months.

"Haru?" Aiden's deep voice came through. "How did it go?"

I sighed. Everyone just had to ask about my exam, didn't they? I guessed it couldn't be helped. I had been stressing out about it, after all, and they were worried.

"I don't know how well I did, but it's over and done with now," I said as I fell back on the bed.

"It's good to hear you sounding relieved," Aiden said.

He could tell I was relieved by the sound of my voice? As expected of Aiden.

"I'm glad. Even if you failed, you can always repeat. There's no need to rush."

I guessed he was right. There was no need for me to rush. There was no need for me to kill myself stressing out about not passing exams. If I couldn't do it the first time, there was always a second chance. Worst case scenario would be for me to change courses.

"I'll be home in half an hour. I'm just leaving the office now."

This was Aiden's habit, since we started dating. He always either phoned or texted to tell me when he'd be home.

"Okay," I said. "See you soon."

"Yeah," he said. "See you soon. Love you."

"I…I love you, too," I stammered.

I heard him chuckling, probably amused, and I quickly ended the call. I headed back into the kitchen to see Reo preparing the chickens while Mason put the vegetables onto the baking tray and Jess cleaned the benchtop. I rolled up my sleeves and pitched in as well, helping Jess with the cleaning.

It wasn't long when Isaac, followed by Noah and Aiden, arrived home. As usual, Isaac made a lot of noise, this time chatting nonstop about his latest exam, which he had just finished. Noah, on the other hand, loosened his tie before he got himself a beer from the fridge and then went to sit on a chair behind the dining table. He looked worn out. Working at a gaming company must be tough, especially if you were a member of the marketing team.

Aiden came to me the moment he walked in through the door, and before I knew it, he planted a solid kiss on my lips, which took me by surprise.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jess watching us, a big grin plastered on her face.

I also happened to see Noah looking pissed as hell as he slammed the can of beer down on the table, while Mason looked rather gloomy. Eh?

When Aiden moved back, I asked, "How was work?"

"It was fine." He chuckled. "Finally, I'm getting a decent vacation."

"Your last day at work before the vacation?" Jess asked.

Aiden nodded. "How was the exam, Jess?"

She chuckled. "Piece of cake."

Aiden tousled Jess's hair. "As expected of you."