Energy Booster

Two days before the start of Military Admission Test, Zach and Torin came back to the City.

They both lived in the same building at the City.

Zach bought a condo there because of Torin's convincing power, anyway, he liked the place too so, in the end, he decided to get one.

"Let's go grab lunch outside. There's a new restaurant at the hotel, just a walking distance from ours, and I've heard it's quite good. Let's try it." Torin suggested while they were waiting for the elevator from the car park.

Zach agreed, so Torin pressed the ground floor area of their building instead.

"Bro… from the long years of our friendship, have I ever asked you about something? Nothing ever, right?" Torin suddenly said while they were walking out of their building.

"Why? Have I ever asked you about something either?" Zach asked in return, teasing his friend.

Torin scratched his head and it made Zach laugh. He just added, "Alright, fire away, what do you want, Torin?"

Torin smiled widely and said excitedly, "You are now a part of the panel, I mean high-rank officers who would choose and recruit new students. Can you let one, beautiful applicant pass?"

Zach did not know whether he should laugh or hit his friend because of his serious tone and face, which made him stop walking.

"Do you want to judge that selection instead, Torin?" He asked with an arched eyebrow, then continued walking with a grin and added, "I will make sure to let all the masculine women who are fit and capable pass and that's for sure. Women who are better than men. Why would I let a distraction pass inside the base?"

Torin's mouth twitched. Last year's admission was utter chaos for him since there's no one among the ones who had passed that caught his attention at all.

"Hey, what distraction are you talking about? Bro, don't you know how nice and inspiring it is to work with a beautiful flower before your eyes? It's even better than an energy booster! Geez, Zach… can you at least be considerate and grant me this one wish? Just one applicant will do..." Torin complained, which made Zach laugh and shook his head.

The bantering continued as they entered the hotel and paused at the elevator, which was exclusive for the restaurant. However, it was under repair and those who couldn't wait was advised to use the main stairs in the lobby, designed directly to the said restaurant of the hotel. It was grand stairway with a catchy design, which made most of the guests use the stairs, instead of the exclusive elevator, which was mostly used by seniors or disabled citizens.

So, he and Torin walked towards the stairway.

"You go first, Bro…" Torin said when he received a call on his mobile phone and picked it up.

Zach just nodded.

Then, his forehead crumpled as he stared at the woman who was walking within about four meters distance ahead of him.

"Who the hell will wear such stilettos and use the staircase. She should have waited for the elevator to work instead." Zach muttered irritably as he saw her bare skin from down below stairs.

'Her dress is too short,' he thought.

He shook his head as he took large steps on the stairs, to close the gap between him and the woman, making sure that he was blocking others from behind well enough, to cover her bare skin as much as possible, because he doubted she even used a mini short under that dress.

If he was only wearing a jacket, he could have covered her from behind.

The stairs had no enough space because the left side was used by people going down and Zach thanked that situation since no one dared overtake from behind, so he didn't need to approach the woman and inform her that her skirt was revealing too much from behind.

He tried his best to cover her with his body but then, just as he thought, the woman lost her balance with one wrong step and was not able to grab the stairs handrail.

So with one swift movement, he caught her with his arm, making sure she wouldn't fall.

...…

Keira was too mesmerized with those lips and was about to trace them with her fingers, but a strong hand stopped her as it tightly held her wrist.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Zach asked with a creased forehead.

When she felt the pain in her wrist, she came back to her senses and realized that everything was real and she wasn't dreaming at all.

Her face turned red because of embarrassment, but she immediately smiled the sweetest smile she could give and said, "Thank you."

Zach flinched because of the most beautiful smile he had ever seen his whole life. He remembered the woman. She was the one whom he met at the ceremony and he couldn't easily forget her face and so the moment of their brief encounter… Because that encounter was one of a hell kind of brief one, he had in his whole life.

Keira's friends quickly ran to her. "Keira, are you alright? I told you to grab onto me!" Drey scolded her with a pale and worried face. He had offered his hand to Keira before going up the stairs, but the latter just refused and stubbornly insisted on walking alone. She stated that she could do simple things like walking up the stairs with her heels and even insisted on letting them go first and don't wait upon her.

But Keira just ignored Drey, who was beside her and instead stared at Zach.

With a blank expression, Zach helped her down on her feet and said, "Please, continue with your steps and go with your boyfriend who should still assist you even if you have refused! A few more steps and you'll almost be there."

"Boyfriend? You mean Drey and me?" Keira repeated in horror.

But Zach seemed to not notice her reaction as he turned his head to Drey and said, "Please, take care of your woman and go up quickly. Not only her heels are distracting, but her short skirt is also catching too much attention, so you better cover her with that jacket of yours. I'll take my leave first."

Before Keira could react and say a thing, Zach quickly left them. She was about to follow and speak, but Drey stopped her.

"Looking at that billion dollar expression of yours, I presume that's Zach, but sis… try to calm yourself first! You will soon get the chance once we are inside the base. But right now we have to move because we are already causing a traffic jam." Drey whispered to her while he followed Zach's advice and covered Keira's legs with his jacket as he pushed Keira to make her start walking.

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