Understaffed

Sorin and Elara reappeared inside Sorin's apartment. Thinking about the CCTV outside the apartment, Sorin started to think about finding another place with more privacy. But he had yet to voice his concern when Elara suddenly said she had to go.

"You already know how to get stronger?" Sorin asked.

Elara nodded. "The moment I decided to get stronger, I was already stronger. You know how time works."

"I don't," Sorin shook his head. "Honestly, a good part of your Papa's and Mama's explanations flew past my head. I just get the gist of it."

Elara smiled and carefully walked to him. She whispered, "Should I give you more explanation?"

Sorin felt her movement was weird when she touched his waist. He felt two touches on his body, but one of her hands was visibly not touching his body. He flinched and turned around just to see another Elara standing there.

"What the fu—"

Before he finished cursing, the other Elara pulled his neck down and kissed him. He felt four of their hands rubbing and feeling around his body sensually, deliberately raising his body temperature. While one still kissing him, one started opening his belt and stroking his crotch.

But then, suddenly, the first Elara disappeared, and the newly appeared Elara stayed.

Sorin was in a daze after the kiss. But when he could finally clear his mind, he asked her, "Did you just physically go back in time... for two minutes?"

"I did it for five minutes; what are you talking about?" Elara pouted. "I still can't do it longer and maybe will be so much less effective in a serious fight..."

"But... that... you won't trigger... some other time paradoxes?" Sorin asked.

"It seems it doesn't apply to myself," Elara said. "But sadly, I can't send my broken or intact hymen to the past or the future. So don't ask."

Sorin burst out laughing as he said, "I was just messing with you."

Elara pouted again and whispered, "I almost thought you liked me with my hymen intact more... or is it me with the broken hymen?"

Sorin laughed out loud. It seemed that Elara had learned his indecent sense of humor, and he felt slightly bad about it. Elara kissed him on the cheek and then said goodbye. It seemed that she had something in mind for what she was going to do to get stronger.

The man opened his map window to see Elara's icon disappear after she warped away. She had told him that she would contact him later and told him how to use the system to contact her.

Sorin took time to pack his things. Papa said Brother would message him and bring him personally to his destination. He also told him that everything would be prepared for him, so he only needed to pack lightly.

Before the sunset, Sorin heard a notification from his system. He turned and tapped on it to open the message arrived, to see Brother telling him to warp to a certain location.

Sorin brought his suitcase and warped to London. As of now, his nausea wasn't as bad as his previous experiences, but it still bothered him. When he opened his eyes, apparently, the place Brother sent him to was an empty nightclub.

Since Brother sent him the very coordinate, he could safely warp without knocking anything over. But he still bent over forward and took a deep breath to calm his nausea.

"You alright, Brother-in-law?"

Sorin heard a voice. It was familiar, yet it felt like a lifetime had passed since he heard it. He straightened his back and saw Brother walking toward him and patting his back. "You took it better now."

Sorin snorted when suddenly Brother hugged him.

Sorin became a bit rigid for that split second when the man showed him a sudden affection. When Brother let go, he asked, "Been a while for you, huh?"

It felt like Brother knew his perspective better than himself. Could it be that he had experienced something like this?

Sorin couldn't help but laugh and asked back, "I hope you've recovered too."

"What?" Brother didn't know what he was talking about when he touched his own cheek. He hummed, "You still remember how my baby has beaten my face, huh?"

"I don't recover from something like that. I grow," Brother cheesily said. "And even though I got beaten for dating both of my baby's reincarnations, I know she still loves me."

"Crazy bastard..." Sorin whispered, and Brother instantly laughed.

Brother told him to pick a seat. He went to the bar and made him something to drink after asking him what he wanted. When he was left alone, Sorin observed the bar and found some interesting details.

The club was a small two-story building. It seemed that it was a special membership luxurious club that was only attended by a certain group of people. Before he could wander his eyes more, Brother came back with his drink.

He prepared some for himself, too, and they drank a couple of gulps.

"How's she? The one that had cancer," Sorin asked.

"She's... She's in a bad shape. I sold a lot of my paintings to raise money to help with her medication, but nothing works so far," Brother smiled. "I asked my friend's family to hire me here as a part-time manager to raise some money, too."

Sorin widened his eyes. "You..."

"Don't tell the others about this. I tell you this because I know you can't help. You're not secretly rich, right?" Brother grinned.

Sorin helplessly scoffed. "How are you treating this so casually?"

"Because I've seen her versions of incarnations die a lot of times. It's just how human is," Brother answered calmly. "I don't want to say I'm used to it, but I do. Each time, it will be a horrible two or three decades, that's all."

But he would still go and date her reincarnation each time.

Sorin drank his alcohol and poured more for the both of them. He put the bottle on the table with a nice thud. He asked, "And the other one?"

"She'll be fine," Brother smiled.

They talked some more. Both Brother and Sorin didn't rush things, and Sorin knew there must be a reason why Brother brought him here. When the leisure time finally passed, suddenly, they heard someone entering from the kitchen door toward the bar.

A tall, dark brown-haired man emerged into their peripheral vision. He turned to them and asked, "Why did you call me? You want me to help you with your understaffed shift again?"

Brother stood up and turned back to Sorin. "Yeah. The two of you."

Wait. So he brought him here to help him run the club?