Finally, Tia managed to convince Arthviu that Sean is not dangerous. It was so hard to explain that she had to lie for him to not know the whole truth. She looked at Sean who’s still sitting on the bed. He was still not himself. She sat on his side and held his hand to try comforting him. She did not expect that this would be the outcome of him meeting his other self in this world. What could have happened if she carelessly let them meet?
She did not speak as she did not know what to say. She has no idea why Sean is acting like this and Arthviu as well. She sat there holding his hand for a long time until Sean finally spoke after thirty minutes of silence.
“…Will he be okay?”
Tia got startled upon hearing his voice. It clearly has a crack like he tried speaking when he should just stay quiet. Sean finally turned his head to look at her eyes.
“What if… he gets hurt?”
Tia got worried about Sean’s strange questions. It is confusing. What does he mean? Why is he so worried about Arthviu, like something bad is going to happen?
Tia’s eyes widened upon realizing something.
Is this… about the law of the parallel world or the law of alternative life that Sean mentioned before? She panicked.
“Tell me, Sean. Why do you… sound like Arthviu is going to be in danger? Don’t tell me this is the reason why you don’t want to meet….” The volume of her voice lowered down as she can see that Sean is trying to speak again.
“He will… He will…”
Tia clasped her hand to his as she could feel the trembling of his arms. She pushed him to her, to wrap her arms around him. She is also starting to tremble as she thought a lot of things because of the ambiguity of Sean’s words.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” She started tapping his back to calm him down.
“Everything will be alright.”
She chose to think positive because she could not do anything with this little knowledge of hers. She needs to figure out something before everything goes wrong.
That night, they did not eat dinner. They went to bed earlier than usual. Tia made Sean rest as she stayed by his side. She held his hand all night long until the morning came and Sean finally closed his eyes. She knows that he did not sleep well but looking at him sleeping, she does not want to wake him up until he does.
She went out of bed carefully to not wake Sean up. She then stretched out her body before walking to the door. She was planning on going to the kitchen to drink a glass of lukewarm water but she stopped midways after seeing Arthviu sitting on the sofa.
“Cyn?”
Arthviu immediately stood up after seeing her. He walked to her direction to hold her upper arms.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes?” She managed a smile but she knew that she could not lie towards Arthviu.
“Did that man do anything to you?”
“No?”
“I have a bad feeling about that man. You should stay away from him as much as possible. I will look for a new place for you to stay.”
“I’m alright.”
Arthviu stopped asking and just stared at her dark circles under her eyes. He released her.
“Is that man really your boyfriend?”
“Yes. You don’t need to worry about him. He is a good man. He treats me well.” She smiled as a façade and walked to the kitchen as he followed her.
“I’m worried. He doesn’t feel right.”
Tia put warm water in the glass she took. Judging by how Arthviu reacts towards his meeting with Sean, he seems to be wary of him, like he sees Sean as an enemy. And as for Sean… he was terrified. This only means that… the self from the alternative world and the self from the parallel world could be naturally enemies. Sean might have not been suspicious of Arthviu because he knows the law of the two worlds but Arthviu is acting as expected.
“Why didn’t you go to school?”
After drinking the glass of water, Tia faced him and asked a different question to avert the subject.
“I am worried.”
Seeing Arthviu acting more open to her, she is happy.
“You should go to school.” She smiled and tapped his head. “Look at you. You are wearing your school uniform. Since you’re wearing that, you should just go.”
“I’ll just stay here since there’s a creep that keeps on—” Arthviu suddenly stopped talking after remembering something.
“Creep? Do you have a stalker?”
He stared at Tia and thought about telling her about it or not. It’s been two days since that man started waiting for him after school. And last day, that man was waiting in his school’s gate in the morning.
****
The first day that man appeared was when the school was back after the school’s festival. He was going home when a stranger suddenly approached him at the gate.
“Excuse me, are you… Cyn, the one in the music club?”
Frowning, Arthviu stopped to look at the stranger. Is this an agent again?
“I already signed a contract with Ceri Entertainment. Please do not approach me anymore.” He started walking away, not planning on entertaining the stranger.
“Do you know Tia?”
He stopped right away after hearing his teacher’s name. He has never heard anyone call his teacher’s nickname. Who is this guy to call his teacher’s name casually?
“I apologize for the inconvenience. Firstly, I am not an agent of any entertainment company. I am here to ask about a person that you might know personally.”
Arthviu remained standing as he thought about what to do. Is this man perhaps looking for Tia? Do they know each other? Is he a stalker of his teacher? His teacher is popular so he might be an obsessed fan?
Arthviu purposely made an intimidating look before turning his back to look at the man properly. Looking at that stranger, he was wearing a formal black suit like a high ranking person in a big company. And his accent seemed to be a bit off like he had lived overseas for a long time. He looked like a fellow citizen but lived in another place. An ‘X’ immediately appeared in the stranger’s face as soon as Arthviu found his face good-looking. No, this man might seduce his teacher with his face!
“Let me introduce myself first. I am Troy Fourth.” The stranger took something behind his coat and gave him a business card.
Arthviu looked at it and he confirmed that the stranger was an engineer of a big company overseas.
“I have watched all of your performances during the school’s festival. From those videos, one of the club members mentioned a teacher but you don’t show her to the camera. I would like to ask if your teacher is named or nicknamed as Tia? She got viral once and is still popular until now. I was her friend during high school but we lost connection when I studied abroad. Could you tell me her whereabouts?”
“I’m sorry but our teacher is not the person you are looking for.” Arthviu brought back the business card as he turned his back and walked fast to avoid more questions.
Who is this man and what is his connection to his teacher? Why does he look so desperate to meet Tia?
So then, the following day, that man named Troy Fourth was waiting for him after school again. He ignored him once again. And then the next day, he was waiting for him in front of his school’s gate before school. It’s getting irritating so he decided to talk to that man after school and told him that he will tell Tia about him.
****
Tia was staring at the business card in her hand. She has already convinced Arthviu to go to school after he told her about that stranger who is said to be looking for her.
It was not a lie. It was really Troy, her best friend that she never got a chance to speak before they parted ways. She sat on the sofa while thinking about the past. She could not believe that she could actually meet him now. What should she say? Should they even meet? How is he doing now? Why did he look for her?
She groaned as she leaned her back to the sofa to look at the ceiling above her. She was then surrounded with silence until she found herself muttering.
“I miss him…” She sighed.
Sean got sick that day and Tia nursed him all day and night. She was so worried that she forgot about anything that is related to Troy a while ago. Sean was having a bad fever and was sweating so much. Mrs. Alteran called for a doctor to help them and it was announced that it was due to stress and overworking. Since the doctor was a colleague of Sean, he told them that Sean had been doing his best to save patients from the recent accident. He also told them that Sean even had no time to eat because of his desperation to save everyone.
That night, Tia cried while she was holding Sean’s hand. She apologized and blamed herself for making him worry too much. She blamed herself that she had made him feel bad about the accident which has pushed him to give everything for the sake of everyone. It was her fault.
The next day, Tia woke up on the bed. She was confused about how she was on the bed when she clearly fell asleep while holding Sean’s hand. She instantly remembered Sean so she raised her head and cupped the space beside her only to feel the blanket and the pillow. She immediately got up to look around and no one was in the room. She immediately ran towards the door to check on Sean if he went to work or not. But then, she stopped after seeing Sean sitting on the sofa. And there was a black haired man sitting across from him. She doesn't know who that man was as she could only see his back.
Sean stood up after seeing her. He immediately walked towards her. He kissed her head.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. How are you feeling?” She looked up to see his complexion.
He smiled. “I made you worried last night. I apologize.”
She touched his forehead to check on his fever. “It’s not hot anymore. Are you really feeling better?”
“Yes. Thank you.” He beamed, blushing, and trying to not get shy about telling her what he wants to say.
Someone cleared his throat, making the two of them look at the black-haired man who’s sitting in the living room. The man stood up and his height was emphasized. He turned back to face the two of them as his long pure black hair waved to the air. His unusual grey eyes connected to her eyes and his godly aura emitted in the surroundings.
Tia’s eyes widened as she realized who is this man looking at her. It’s like she is seeing the older version of the Deuvil. How can she not recognize those godly beautiful features? But why does he look familiar?
“Hello.” The man’s lips curved as he waved his hand to her.
So then an image of the same man appeared in her memory.
“You were...”
“It’s been a little while.” The man greeted her.
Tia was right! He saw this man before! That day after the music club received the award for winning the best performance of the year. While starting to leave the school, a long black-haired man was standing in the middle of the pathway. He was looking towards them. He had a very striking appearance and he gave off a different vibe from anyone else. But why was he ignored by the people?
Tia got confused that the man seemed to be looking at her. She decided to ignore the man and they passed him like no one has ever seen him.
“We will meet again.”
She stopped walking after hearing the man’s voice like he was talking to her. She looked back to the man but he was not there anymore. Was that hallucination?
“That wasn't a hallucination?” Tia asked, inevitably confused.
“That was basically a hallucination but it’s true that I was there.”
Tia looked up to Sean before looking at the man.
“Are you… the Hugheles?”
The man’s lips crept up. “I am Hugheles Malcolmn El Vagramoth, the guardian of this world.”
Tia’s heart started beating fast as she could only think about the questions that had been living in her head. She is so excited to know the whole truth so she can now make a decision that will not hurt anyone. She is so happy to meet the Hugheles that her tears started forming in her eyes. Because of this, Hugheles panicked.
“Oh, please don’t cry.” He stuttered as he saw the sharp gaze from Sean’s eyes. “Please don’t cry. My son will kill me and my twiny will destroy my world!”
Tia hiccupped after seeing his desperation. He even clasped his hand, begging her while his eyes were watery.
“Do you have a son?!” Tia was literally surprised to hear him mention ‘son’ as she had no idea that a guardian can actually reproduce.
“Y-Yes. But n-not biologically.” Hugheles’ smile twitched because he saw the glare in Sean’s eyes again.
“Oh.” Tia stopped crying and she wiped her tears. “Are you capable of reproducing?”
Hugheles could only give Sean a confusing glance as he can feel that the topic is going too far from what he expected to talk about. He looked back at Tia. “Yes? But not like the process of what humans do?”
Just why the hell are they talking about reproducing first in the morning?
“Does that mean Danchi can reproduce?”
And now, who is Danchi?
“D-Danchi…?”
“Danchi, my cute little Deuvil in the parallel world.”
He flinched. His eyes were wide as he could not believe that his scary twin has actually let a human name him.
“Now that we talk about him, I miss his cute little cheeks. I wonder if he grew up into a teen-ager. Looking at you, I think I know how Danchi looks. Hihi.”
Hugheles got speechless as he watched the genuine smile on her lips. He looked at Sean before looking back at Tia again. When this girl talks about Danchi, it felt like she really cares for him, that she is so happy to take care of him. Now, he has a rough conclusion to why she is his twin’s favorite.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Would you like to have a coffee?” Tia smiled and asked him politely, making Hugheles slightly confused yet happy that he got actually invited to Sean’s house.
A wide smile formed in his lips, looking proud that Sean cannot kick him out because of Tia.
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
“Please wait for a moment.”
When Tia left to go to the kitchen, Hugheles could only chuckle after seeing the grimace on Sean’s face. He knows very well that Sean does not like him to stay close to his lover for a long time. The reason? It’s because…
Hugheles caressed his chin while proudly complimenting himself.
‘Am I so handsome that my son feels cautious that his lover might fall in love with me?’
He clicked his fingers and a mirror appeared in front of him. He then looked at his beautiful features that will remain uniquely entrancing.
“You’re not even that handsome.”
Hugheles’ mirror broke and it is as if his body had been broken too after hearing what Sean said.
“What?” He looked at Sean, feeling shattered.
“Tia will not fall in love with that common face.”
“W-What? Did you say ‘c-common’?”
Sean rolled his eyes and went to follow Tia to the kitchen, leaving Hugheles in a devastated state.