21 Favorite Among The Rest

Ryu was exchanging messages with Arya while he was having tea at Mr. Yamato's residence.

Ryu: I wonder if I need to chain you up later at night so I won't get another bruise?

Arya: Huh?

Ryu: Or maybe it would be better to chain you up by my side instead.

Arya: You'll be beaten up more if you do that.

Ryu: That's okay, as long as it's you.

Arya: No comment...

"Oh please, I can no longer take that smile of yours." Mr. Yamato complained, with a jest when he noticed Ryu had been grinning on his own, reading messages on his phone. He was used to his expressionless toad face, and it felt weird seeing him like that.

Ryu laughed and said, "Alright, I will have to go now. Oh right, remember to not tell my family about our deal, okay? No need to see me off, just continue with your tea."

Mr. Yamato just showed him thumbs up. Then he shook his head while looking at Ryu's back, who was walking outside.

Then, he recalled an incident which had happened when he visited their family mansion. Ryu was just sixteen then, and he was surprised to see the boy outside the study room with a book on his two hands while he was in a squatting position for already almost 6 hours, according to their butler. It was the Elder Ken's punishment for him, which the butler did not disclose.

That time he dropped a joke to the butler and said, "Woah, I guess Elder Ken is training his soon to be the successor on a head to head basis."

"Successor my butt. I won't stay in this household for long. It's suffocating." The young Ryu mumbled that time, which made him laugh. From that time on, he was teasing the man and they became quite close like good buddies despite their age gap.

He was aware of how strict the Ken family was and he was not surprised at all when Ryu stood up on his own.

Presently, he had heard that the Ken family was on uproar because of inheritance issues. He was quite sure that sooner or later Ryu would be involved even though he was running away from it because Ryu Ken was Elder Ken's favorite among the rest of his sons and grandchildren.

-----

Arya had her period and the cramps attacked her during rehearsals.

Kay noticed her crumpled face. "What's going on?" He asked when he saw her crouching.

"Oh, it's nothing, just menstrual cramps. It will usually go away after an hour." Arya smiled.

"Do you want a pain reliever?" Kay asked. Arya just shook her head. She was not used to taking medicines especially if the pain was tolerable.

"Go and rest now. I'll take care of it." Kay told her. Arya smiled and thanked her friend. She was really uncomfortable and she needed to stop by at a convenience store.

Arya was already paying the cashier when her phone rang.

It was Ryu, who was at the rehearsal venue and was looking for her.

Arya: Sorry, I was in a hurry.

Ryu: Where are you now? I'll come, just wait for me there.

Ryu picked her up at the store and she told him to directly go to the hotel. Upon their arrival at the hotel, Arya immediately went to her room to clean up and change since her period was quite heavy during the first days and it felt uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Ryu asked in a worried tone.

Arya laughed and said, "Stop exaggerating. It's just menstrual cramps."

She was surprised to see Ryu, with his stuff in his hands, in her room after she was out from the restroom.

"What's with that?" She asked while raising an eyebrow.

Ryu scratched his hair and said, "I decided to check out and stay with you in your room instead."

Arya shook her head: he always decided things on his own.

"Did I agree to that? You're a tycoon, why would you like to stay here when you had a better room?" She asked with a still arched eyebrow.

Ryu just hugged her and said, "Because I want to stay with you. I have to guard and take good care of my girlfriend as well. I asked you to stay with me, but you refused, so I will stay here instead."

"Besides, it's better you have someone with you. What if that's not just simple cramps. Anyways, I have already ordered food to help ease the pain since you don't like medicines. Let's just stay here and don't go out."

Arya: "....?"

Arya didn't know what to feel at that moment, in the end, she just let Ryu do what he wanted.

She was crouching on the bed when she felt Ryu's tight hug from behind.

"Will you still kick me even if you have cramps?" Ryu asked jokingly and Arya laughed.

Then, she asked, "Aren't you angry being kicked? Or what if I do something worse than that, which will hurt you more?"

"Shhh. Stop saying nonsense." He said as he planted gentle kisses on her nape.

"I'm serious, what if I suddenly disappear out of your sight. What will you do? Anyway, you are Ryu Ken, so I am sure, getting any girl to replace me won't be that hard. So, make sure to not invest all your feelings in a relationship, because one thing I've learned by hard was: nothing is permanent except change, so we should learn to love ourselves more above others. So if uncertainty or breakage on a relationship comes, you are still you and won't be broken easily." Arya said expressively.

She didn't know how to tell Ryu about her situation but she wanted to at least tell those words to him.

She felt his hug tighten, while he commented, "Cramps are making you a love adviser now, huh? Stop thinking too much. We're just starting and you are talking about breaking-up so early. If you disappear, I have all the means to find you, okay? Stop bubbling nonsense and just close your eyes and sleep."

Ryu sensed something behind Arya's words but chose not to ponder about it. Instead, he thought that she said it because of the failure she had with her first boyfriend.

He liked Arya very much, he intended to go along with his feelings and see where they would lead him to.

It was the first time he felt something like that, wanting someone desperately, as much as he wanted her.

EDITED BY: Yui

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