The Scandal (12)

Iris tried her best to focus on the movie, but it just wasn't meant to be. Her eyes kept on returning to the figure before her.

Kyro's expression had relaxed upon falling asleep. The tension left his muscles, but it somehow didn't change the fact that he looked tired. There were barely noticeable shadows under his eyes from what had to be lack of good rest.

Had he not been sleeping well lately? But he was always so adamant about it.

Iris' fingers brushed through his hair, light as feathers. She didn't want to wake him up, but she couldn't resist not touching him when he was so close to her. This was such a cute, romantic gesture on his part, to rest his head on her knees, but she had a feeling that in truth it had a simpler explanation - he simply couldn't be bothered to stand up and go to sleep in his room.

Whatever it was, she didn't mind it. There was so much trouble surrounding him, it was amazing he even took the time to return home. She didn't plan to add to his burdens by questioning his every action.

Only those that robbed her of something.

Once ten o'clock came, Iris' legs were numb to the point she could barely feel them. Kyro was still asleep, but she didn't plan to sit like this all night long. It wouldn't be good for either one of them.

"Hey, wake up," she said in a soft voice, shaking him. As always, it had zero effect. Whether it was a long night's sleep or an evening nap, he wasn't one to wake up on call.

After a moment's thought, she raised his head and stood up, letting it bump against the sofa. This woke Kyro up some, and he opened his eyes a tiny fraction. There was little intelligence in them, so Iris shook him a bit more until his mind raised itself as well.

"Go to your room, I want to sleep as well," she told him in a serious manner, and he nodded, still mostly asleep. Like a zombie, he got to his room and closed his door shut out of habit.

The next morning, Kyro looked a lot more human. The shadows from under his eyes were gone, and there was a liveliness to his step. He drank his coffee in a few gulps and left the house with a rushed goodbye, saying that the he had a lot of work today.

Iris was happy for him, but she didn't know what she should do with herself now. Watch dramas again? But it was getting boring already. Research how to get back home? But she had spent all yesterday on it with little to show for her efforts.

As if having heard her troubles, the doorbell rang, and she opened to see a delivery man with two large packages. In them were the clothes she had ordered yesterday afternoon. After thanking the deliverer, she returned inside to check out her new wardrobe.

A few things were too large, but most of them fit, so she was quite happy with her purchases. Feeling somewhat excited, she called Lucifer and asked him if he wanted to go outside for a bit.

The cat was indifferent, so she picked him up and carried him over to the elevator. Once they got close to the park, a thought struck Iris. She quickly took out her phone and snapped a photo of herself and Lucy. [We decided to get some fresh air.]

With that message, she sent it to Kyro. Her stomach twisted as she waited for a reply, filled with both worry and giddiness. They were dating now, so it was fine to message him without a real purpose. Probably?

When there was no answer for a few minutes, her excitement deflated, while her embarrassment rose. Was she acting too presumptuous? No, maybe he was just in a meeting. He was a CEO after all, it wasn't good to bother him during working hours.

That decided, Iris pushed the dark thoughts away. She put Lucy on the ground and watched as he began exploring his surroundings. In no time, he realized where he was and found a tree that he could climb. Iris stood below it, wondering how she was going to get him down from there.

Her phone buzzed then. She pulled it out with lightning speed and checked the message. [Was driving. Your new clothes arrived? You look pretty.]

Iris clenched the phone, a smile from ear to ear on her face. He called her pretty! She'd heard it before, when she was a fox, but that didn't count.

[If Lucy climbs a tree, just leave him and go by yourself. He'll come after you once he notices you're really not coming back for him.]

[You know him too well!] she wrote back with a crying and laughing emoji, then snapped a photo of Lucy lying on a branch, his tail and right back leg hanging off.

For a moment, there were no more replies, and Iris thought the conversation was over, but then Kyro sent her a photo as well. It was identical to the one she'd sent him, just that it was in late evening and the tree was bare of leaves.

[Let's just say he's done that before.]

Iris laughed at it, then turned around to leave. She exchanged a few more inconsequential messages with Kyro, but soon he had to leave. The person he had come to meet had showed up.

As Kyro had said, once Iris disappeared behind a bend, Lucy soon showed up. He looked at her with annoyance, strolling through the grass to her right.

When they reached the other end of the park, Iris told him to wait, which he didn't really care for but still agreed. She wasn't certain he understood her, but he didn't follow her once she left the park to get to the supermarket. There, she bought some frozen foodstuff and left.

At home, she ate, organized her wardrobe, then watched a few episodes, and the evening came before she even noticed it. Upon hearing Kyro's footsteps, she stood up to go and welcome him.

The moment he opened the door, she saw a small bouquet of bright-colored daisies in his hand. He closed the door behind himself and extended the flowers to her. "I really am sorry about how I went about it yesterday. It was… not right by you."

Iris took the flowers, feeling her cheeks heat up. She couldn't believe he had taken time out of his busy schedule just to get her flowers. "I-I was just kidding yesterday," she murmured, her gaze falling on the bright blooms. They were orange and yellow as well as red.

"But I'm not." Kyro stepped closer, and she saw something flash in his hands. It was silver in color.

His hands moved to encircle her neck, and her breath hitched a little. He was way too close. She wasn't used to it yet!

The necklace felt warm against her skin. She lifted it up a bit and saw that it was an artistic rendition of a fox, just its head and tail. A smile tugged at her lips, and she saw a matching one on Kyro's face.

"I thought you might like it."

"I do." Then, with a daring that she didn't know she possessed, she rose on her tiptoes. Her lips brushed against Kyro's for just a second before she pulled away. "Thanks!"