*BEEP BEEP* Both of Elio’s seniors walk toward him and one of them, who was driving it before, throws the key to Elio. “All yours, little cub. Nice work out there.” He says and walks past him. While the other one walks toward him slowly with a smile on her face. “At the beginning, I never doubted how smart you are.” She says generously and gently gives pats on Elio’s shoulder “Keep up the great work” Aquamarine leaves the room and it is just the two of them in the garage. “I won’t let you down, cap.” Elio replies with a teasing voice, can’t handle how much happiness he got from today’s mission. Sapphire pulls her hand off from him and nudges his elbow slightly. “Don’t you want to try it?” She asks as her eyes are looking at his new car “We still have time to drive around.” she adds in. Before answering it, Elio hums and looks at his watch on his left wrist, acting like he doesn’t want to go, but it is only for teasing her again. “Maybe later? You seem tired.” She says worriedly and looks at Elio with concerned eyes. “We still have time, you said, right?” Elio faces forward with a smirk on his face only to find Sapphire with sparkling eyes. “Yaayyy! Let’s go.” She replies excitedly and wraps her arm around Elio’s right arm which catches him by surprise. Since this is not his first time and it happened plenty of times already, Elio starts to get used to it and calms down quicker than before. While they are off to their own ‘small date’ again, Aquamarine goes straight back to their shared room and only to find Spec who is working out with his arms only. “Oh.” Spec says as their eyes meet with each other “You guys are back already.” he puts down the dumbbells on his knees. “Wow.. you’re such a hardworking person, huh?” Aquamarine replies as he puts his coat on the sofa and lays down there. “Well.. I have to-” He replies and holds the dumbbells at his sides “Keep my pace!” continuing his exercise’s reps. At first, he thought to get some rest when he arrived but looking at Spec’s hardwork in his current condition, changed Aquamarine's plan. “Want to visit the practice area?” Aquamarine says as an invitation to practice together with him. Spec stops his reps and puts his dumbbells down on his knees again so he can turn his face toward him. He looks at him with a confused face then changes it when he remembers about what Sapphire had explained a few days ago, he almost forgot. “Uhh.. should I invite her too?” Spec replies, referring to Howl who is in her room. Before Aquamarine answers it, he actually thinks what he meant is Sapphire but then Spec points his eyes to Howl’s room. “Mhm.” He nods his head “You can ask her that. I’m going to change in a minute.” he adds before entering his own room. “Okay.” Spec simply replies and lets out a sigh of relief. YES! his inner soul shouts loudly and happily inside himself. Thankfully, Spec has a really fast recovery system in which he is already recovered from his wounds. He brings his dumbbells back into his room first before going to knock on Howl’s room to invite her out. Actually the real reason why he gets back to his room is that he wants to change his clothes and apply perfume on him. Obviously he doesn’t want to have a bad smell around her, right? Done preparing himself, his mental as well, now he is on his way to ask her to join them. Two knocks on her door’s room, Spec can feel his chest become tighter and heart beats rapidly. Ten seconds.. twenty.. half a minute.. until it’s one, there is no response from the other side of the room. Maybe she’s asleep? His first thought that goes through inside his head, the positive way since he doesn’t want to assume something that he doesn’t exactly know. When his leg is just about to turn around, the sound of someone unlocking the door from the other side can be heard. Quickly Spec backs to his position and tries not looking too awkward in front of her. The door slowly opens and someone that Spec has been waiting for appears. “Hi.” Spec greets her normally without a crack at all. “Hey, need something?” She replies and steps out of her room as closing the door behind her. “Umm.. actually Aquamarine just invited me to go to the practice area. Do you wanna come with us?” Straight to the point because he knows there is no need to have an unnecessary chit chat here. He also recognizes that Howl is a person who dislikes those kinds of things. “Uhh..” seems like she is checking on something because she looks at her phone, probably checking the time. It's just five seconds but for Spec it feels like eternity already, probably because of his nervousness. “Sure. I’ll be ready in a minute.” Howl answers and looks up to meet Spec’s eyes who is waiting for her patiently. In that short amount of time, Spec loses his mind of what he just heard from her. Fortunately, he regains all of his senses in a click and tries to reply as normal as he can. “Oh, great!” That’s a bit overreacting. “I’ll uhh..” he starts to stutter “Sorry, I mean we wi-will uhh.. wait in the..'' he doesn't let himself finish his sentence, instead he just points out their living room with his left thumb. Howl just looks at him weirdly but shakes her head lightly. “Alright then.” She says and chuckles before closing the door when she goes back in. Messed up.. A lot worse than before.. At this moment, Spec just wants to find or dig his own hole to hide there forever, never wanting to see her anymore. He slaps his face a few times before taking a deep breath and walking to the living room, where he is going to wait for her with Aquamarine. Aquamarine is already there with his new clothes and preparing to wear his sports shoes. Thankfully, he doesn’t see or hear anything from his previous conversation with Howl before, it would be a death place for him now. The time Spec walks in the living room, Aquamarine notices and calls him. “How is it?” He asks without looking at him because he is still tying his shoes. “She is coming.” Spec simply replies and takes his sports shoes out from his racks. “Nice then we are going to get your identity checks as well. It’s been three days you guys are here but never wanting to leave our room.” Aquamarine replies and tries to make a topic to talk about. “Well.. I’m completely recovered today but I don’t know about Howl.” He answers and now it’s his turn to wear his socks and tie his shoes. “Hmm..” Aquamarine hums, already done tying his shoes, as looks up at where Spec is sitting right now “Maybe she just cares about you?” he says before standing up and going to the kitchen. That question catches Spec by surprise and it makes him stop doing anything for a while before coming back to realization. Asking and considering himself if it’s actually true or not. But that’s sound impossible for him though because Howl barely knows or even talks with him. Hence she also doesn’t know him as much as he knows about her, probably doesn’t recognize him at the first place. “You think so?” Spec manages to reply even though that is not his plan though, it just slips out from his mouth. “Mhm.” Aquamarine replies immediately as he is preparing his energy drink “Isn’t that obvious? You guys have been co-workers for months, right?” He adds in. Ahh.. right.. co-workers.. Spec chuckles bitterly and silently so no one would notice it. “Yeah, right. Probably.” he replies stiffly and walks to the kitchen, joining Aquamarine to make his own drink. “You guys will get along together, trust me.” Aquamarine talks to him again even though Spec already thought that the conversation will end. No reply from Spec. “At the beginning, I’m not that close with my co-workers too even to Sapphire.” He continues without hearing any response from Spec who is right behind him now. “It might take a while but you know. I’ve been in your place before so we are the same.” he adds and that final sentence finally draws Spec’s attention. Not because of their distance or anything, it is because they are totally different, kind of offending Spec’s position. “We are not the same.” Spec replies coldly without looking back at him. “Hm? Before getting to Sapphire Tiger, I’m also a member of Onyx Wolf, you know? What's so different about it?” Aquamarine says confusedly and turns around only to find Spec’s back facing him. He knows, he knows that there is no need to get angry or irritated at him because Aquamarine doesn’t know anything about them. Since he knows about that, it makes him more irritated to himself rather than to Aquamarine because he feels offended by what he got told. Another death response from Spec who decides to not say anything in return. The atmosphere suddenly becomes tense and Aquamarine notices it. The feeling of guilt starts to build up but his head is telling him where did he get it wrong by saying that? To lift the pressure inside of him, Aquamarine thinks that he needs to apologize for whatever that reason is. But just when he is going to say something, suddenly Howl shows up beside him and looks at them without saying anything. “Oh, you are here.” Aquamarine says as for greeting Howl who just comes at them. His greeting draws Spec’s attention and makes him turn around to face the two others. “What are you guys making?” Howl asks while looking at both of them. For a reason, a ridiculous one, he can’t answer that simple question or say anything in return. All of his body systems stop because of the view that greets him. High ponytailed, crop sleeveless tops, and long sport pants, those are just simply amazing for Spec, more like a blessing that happened for the first time in those years. Meanwhile it doesn’t affect Aquamarine that much so he can answer her right away. “Energy drinks for later. You want one?” He answers and gives an offer to her. “No, thanks. Mineral water is enough for me.” Howl replies and goes to reach one of the kitchen cabinets. Before Howl showed up, Aquamarine wanted to apologize to Spec but now it changes his plan to do it later after they are done exercising. The three of them now are ready to go out and in the elevator, Aquamarine tells them that they are going to assign their identity check on the first floor. They arrive at the first floor and this is their first time to get here. “Totally different, right?” Aquamarine speaks up and the two of them just nod their heads. Even though that is just a small reaction, it makes him chuckle because he probably can relate to what they feel at the moment. The identity signing is done quickly because they just need to check their thumbs’ fingerprints and face. Now they are on their way to where they had planned at the first place which is the practice area. Just like Elio before, the two little cubs are amazed by the view of this place. “Welcome and feel free to look around hehe.” Aquamarine says and chuckles at the end, can’t help it because of their shining eyes looking around the area. The shooting area is at the right side and the first thing that greets them when they get inside the area. In front of it is where all of the weapons are placed while the left side is where they have two other rooms with different sizes The smaller room has signs as lockers, probably used for them to change or to put their belongings, while the bigger room has signs as the gym. “Come.” Aquamarine simply invites them to get inside the locker room. At first, they thought it only had lockers just for them but it is actually very well organized for just a room that only has 10 big lockers inside and two doors connected with the gym and shower area. Since the other two are busy looking around the locker room, Aquamarine can’t help it to let out a chuckle and breaks the silence once again. “For this one, I can assign it to you guys.” he says and it takes their attention immediately “This one only needs your fingerprint.” He goes to the lockers that the lights are off and checks his identity before accessing the new sign in member. “Alright, who goes first?” He asks two of them and Spec moves away immediately, signing Howl to get her locker first. With that, the two of them are done with their identification sign in for the locker and it is placed right next to each other. “I’m going first, okay? I will be in the shooting area.”Aquamarine says and leaves them there. Spec feels a bit awkward tension for him while Howl just stretches herself there. He takes a deep breath and encourages himself to say something before he leaves. “I’m going to the gym.” He finally manages to say it. Right before he reaches the door’s handle, Howl suddenly speaks up to him. “Have you stretched first?” She asks him which stops him from opening the gym’s door. He actually remembered and planned to do it in the gym room but right now he wants to take this chance, from his selfishness, to stay with her a bit longer. “Oh, yeah right. I forgot.” He replies, pretending that he forgot about it. “Careful. You just recovered, you know?” She replies and chuckles. Although he doesn’t expect much from her later, he can clearly hear her chuckles. Fluttery heart and those butterflies are fighting with himself to listen to her request and he totally gets defeated by that as he is immediately doing what he just told. Both of them are done with their stretches and go to the gym area. **Back to Elio** After wandering around with his new car, it feels a lot more refreshing for Elio that he doesn’t notice how smiley he is while taking Sapphire together with him. Is it because of the new car? Or the freedom that he finally got after all that hard work? Or is it because he spends his time with her? None of these are matters right now, only for now, because he feels like all of his weights are lifted and this is his first time in a while again to laugh this freely. Sapphire, who is watching him quietly, relates how he is feeling right now and smiles happily at him. They finally decide to stop to grab a coffee again at their first coffee shop where Elio actually finds it is the only comfortable place for him. Just like before, Sapphire is the one who orders their drinks while Elio goes to sit at their best place, ready to enjoy the sunset together again. This time, Sapphire doesn’t say anything to him when she reaches their table, instead she just puts down his cup on the table and sits at the empty seat beside it. None of them say anything, they just sit there and enjoy the view for a while until Sapphire finally decides to say something to him. But before she can say a word, suddenly Elio is the one who starts to speak up. “Thank you.” He simply says without looking at her, eyes still locked at the river’s view, and that is enough to catch her by surprise. She met him around 5 days ago, she is the one who always starts a conversation with him, the one who asks him first. It’s never been him, never the one who starts a conversation with anyone, the one who always stays at the side and watches them, only saying words if needed, that is why this simple action from him really surprised her. Even though this might not be a good way to start a conversation, it is enough for her to feel appreciated. That small start makes her heart feel warm. “For what?” she replies and chuckles softly Before answering that, he takes his eyes away from the view and looks at his feet. He shakes his head lightly, without noticing there is a smile on his face, and takes his cup on the table. Thinking of how to answer that, now it’s his turn to chuckle while looking at his cup. “Nothing.” He puts the cup close to his mouth “Just wanted to say it.” He continues before taking a sip from it. At this moment and for the first time, Sapphire can’t say anything back at him. She just sits there, holding her cup on her lap, staring at him with her surprised face, thankfully Elio doesn’t get the nerve to look back at her. He knows that there is a pair of eyes on him but he chooses not to look into those eyes because his mind is telling him not to. That moment only lasts for almost a minute until Sapphire finally backs to reality and takes her eyes away from him and back to the river’s view where the sun will set. In addition, both of them don’t notice that the smiles on their faces are not fading away even just a little bit, it’s still as wide as when they are wandering around the city together. With that bit by bit, none of them say anything until the sun is fully set in front of their eyes and they just enjoy those moments in silence. Sapphire takes a deep breath and lets it out while stretching her hands upwards. “Alright!” she says and stands up from her chair “Time to get back.” She continues and looks at Elio who is still watching the river. “Right.” Elio replies and takes the last sip of his coffee before standing up from his seat. With that, their second small date comes to an end and while on their way back, it’s never been this lively as before. They talk all the way from the coffee shop until they finally get into their shared room and only to find all of the lights are off. “Where is everyone?” Sapphire asks confusedly and walks inside to turn on the lights. “No idea.” Elio replies behind her, done taking off his shoes. Sapphire turns around and gets surprised by their close distance, probably because Elio stands a bit too close to her. But she puts that away quickly and just chuckles at him. “Well.. you can go take a shower now. I need to prepare dinner.” She says to Elio and Elio replies with a nod. Both of them go to their room to put their belongings there. When Elio passes by the mirror in his room, he looks like seeing someone that he hasn't met in a long time. Someone who looks more lively, brighter face, dressed neatly, no more alcohol smells, fresher than ever, totally different person. He chuckles by the view from the mirror and shakes his head lightly. “What am I doing?” he says, ends with a chuckle, and opens his room’s door to go for a shower.
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