Jessie

The woman barged in, shoving June aside, who hit his back against the wall, left rattled in a state of utter confusion.

'What the hell…'

The silver-haired woman didn't pay any attention to her actions, instead surveying her surroundings in dismay as she walked further in.

"Where are you?!"

She yelled furiously, placing her hands on her hip and scanning the room thoroughly.

However, no matter where she looked, she wasn't going to find Winston.

"Hey lady…"

June finally spoke up, walking toward her.

But the moment he did, he was shunned, his voice shrinking under hers.

"Lady?! Who? Me?! I'm only thirty years old, how dare you call me a lady?!"

She furiously turned back toward June, stabbing his forehead with her finger repeatedly.

"Alright, alright! Please, enough!"

June begged, trying to swat her hand away from him like it was an annoying bug. 

Unfortunately, she persisted, continuing to stab his forehead with the tip of her finger, disregarding his plea completely.

"Jess! What in the world are you doing?"

Suddenly, Winston's voice sounded from outside where the woman named Jess had come from.

'Thank the gods…' 

Upon hearing Winston's voice, Jess finally ceased her peevish poking, turning toward him in an irritated manner.

"Winston, there you are, you disgusting liar!"

June winced, holding his forehead which had now gone red as he turned his attention toward Winston as well. 

As expected, Winston was visibly baffled, cradling two large boxes as he stood confused.

Jess soon approached, facing Winston.

She was about an inch shorter, but imposing in her own way.

"You have a goddamn kid!? Why didn't you tell me?! How long have you kept this from me?! Huh?!"

She immediately bombarded him with questions, keeping her furious gaze forward while simultaneously pointing toward June, who innocently stood in place behind her.

Her questions were truly out of this world, and if June could, he'd laugh.

Of course, he wouldn't dare to, because Jessie would begin poking her finger at him once more, but that didn't mean he couldn't laugh internally.

Which he did.

"Kid? Who, June? He's not my kid, you lunatic witch, he's an orphan who I've taken in."

Winston calmly replied, shaking his head.

From the looks of it, Jessie wasn't the wisest…

Firstly, June had dark black hair and gray eyes that only accentuated his gloomy expression. 

Meanwhile, Winston had blonde hair and brown eyes, with a very resolute and stoic composure to him.

Sure, they both fell under a few familiar categories when it came to presence… or emotion. But that was where it began and ended.

Both of their features, as well as appearance, had no correlation to each other. There was no striking resemblance, no specific parallel that'd make someone who was adept enough question their association to each other.

In fact, one had to be real dumb to come to that conclusion.

"... Oh."

Jess whispered, her gaze shifting back and forth from Winston to June.

Once her realization and stupidity dawned on her, a lingering silence enveloped the air. 

Winston, Jess, and June stood frozen in place for about a minute.

Eventually, Jess spoke again, saying:

"... I see. An orphan, that makes much more sense now that I think about it."

She softly tapped her chin with her finger, her gaze awkwardly drifting around.

"Yeah, an orphan. He's a breach survivor and even an awakened human now."

Winston's words lifted Jess's brows as she stopped moving for a moment. Looking over her shoulder, she inspected June as if he was some kind of item.

It seemed that she hadn't noticed the shard that was embedded into his wrist… signifying his awakening.

"So he's that orphan. I see, okay, I guess I let my extremely die-hard feelings for you cloud my judgment, Winny."

Jess smiled and reached over with her hand, saying:

"Let me help you with those…"

Her mood shifted drastically, casually casting her previous anger aside as if it had never bothered her in the first place. 

Despite her generous offer, though, Winston shoved her hand aside and walked in without paying her any more attention than he already had. 

June took a step to the side and allowed Winston to do whatever it is he needed to. 

Jess, meanwhile, held her chest as if she was shocked from the pain of Winston's indifference toward her.

To be fair, she had treated June just the same not too long ago, so she had it coming.

Honestly, it was quite pleasant to see her be treated the same. He didn't really know what kind of relationship they had together, but from the looks of it, they were quite close... and quite comfortable with each other.

June heard Winston let out a sigh as he set the two boxes down on the table. Then, he turned back toward Jess, who remained at the front door, before speaking.

"Why are you here Jess, anything you need?"

He asked, loosening the tie on his shirt.

Jess scoffed, replying:

"Need anything? I'm not sure if you're acting this way because you're in a bad mood or this boy's presence has to do with it, but—"

"June, his name is June."

Winston said, cutting her off.

She immediately replied, a bit taken aback:

"June, July, August, September, whatever! His name doesn't matter to me, so—"

Once more, Winston interrupted, this time his voice rose slightly:

"Jess, I'm being serious…"

His tone was tinged with a dramatic pause.

Hearing it, Jess stopped speaking.

Her expression also changed to a more serious one.

"You're under my roof. Now, I respect you just as you respect me. I always have. However, I need you to extend that courtesy of respect to June as well. From now on, I am his guardian… which makes him my family. Any disrespect thrown at him, is inevitably thrown at me."

He finished.

Not only was Jess a bit surprised, but so was June. 

The only reason June had accepted initially was because he expected it to be nothing more than a simple place to stay for a few days. It was always like that when he moved from place to place.

Yet, the way Winston was speaking, he genuinely saw June as a part of his life now, as well as moving forward in the future.

"... He's been through a lot, the least you can do is call him by his name."

With that, he walked away and headed to the kitchen, turning the handle of the sink with a creak before the rush of soft water came trickling out.

As he washed his hands, Jess turned to June, somewhat pouting as she said:

"I'm very sorry for the ignorance, June."