Under the Umbrella

Chapter 11

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The streets were busier than the normal day. Shops were filled as their products began to disappear at the hands of their consumers. Crowds filled the streets and restaurants in the city, cars drove around causing multiple traffic jams. The weekend has finally come.

Mikey lay motionless on his bed, his blackout curtains blocking the morning sun. His arm lay on top of his eyes, trying to get some sleep. A groan escaped his lips as he heard his phone notification from under his pillow. He was expecting one of the top Bonten members, instead, his eyes widened when he received a text from [Name].

It was still 9:30 AM and she was already awake. It seems as though she needed someone to accompany her to go Christmas shopping for her co-workers at the office. Her generosity never ceases to make him feel warm inside. How could he ever refuse?

The two agreed to meet after lunch in a nearby mall, hopefully, they wouldn't run into some mishaps along the way. It was crowded after all.

The feeling of content made the latter smile, her hair was styled into a high bun as she continued to cook herself breakfast. Making a mental note to get groceries afterward, maybe sometime soon. A small ding came from behind her, signaling that it was time for the cookies to be taken out of the oven.

She has always been an early bird, it was just somewhat difficult to figure out what to do in that amount of spare time she had nowadays. Since Kaito has been purposely reducing the workload she wanted to give herself. Besides, living alone gave her many skills to put to use during times such as this.

"It smells good," she muttered, grabbing the pan of cookies with her gloves to avoid getting burnt. She laid them out to cool down before deciding to decorate them. That was until a burnt smell came to her nose. [Name] was, indeed, independent. Yet still manages to forget things from time to time. To err is human, after all.

Mikey checked the time in his watch once again, muttering out curses under his breath. The Christmas jam wasn't doing his mood any justice and he was oddly happier today than most. Time moves fast, and now it was almost their agreed meeting time.

"Now, now, the boss is getting agitated back here~," the strawberry blonde said in a singsong voice. He ever so loved teasing, what he likes to call, pawns whenever their boss is mad. Whoever knows what he could do when he is.

It was highly odd that Mikey allowed Sanzu and Ran to tag along as they had other business to do around that area. Be that as it may, he still tried to keep Bonten's work out of the innocent girl's life. He couldn't care less about the hundreds of others that lost theirs at the hands of his men or his, but a part of him didn't want to lose [Name].

It had already been 30 minutes stuck in traffic when they finally arrived at their destination. [Name] waited patiently near the entrance, making way for people who needed to pass. She wore casual semi-formal clothes that kept her warm, along with her sling bag. She patiently waited for a bit, until a loud car honk caught her attention. She couldn't help but look up from her phone.

"Mikey..?" she whispered out when she saw a familiar figure exit the car, along with other two people she had yet to meet. Her eyes widened with excitement once she confirmed her guess was correct, she then walked over to him.

"Mikey-san!" she yelled out to him. Even though the place was crowded, his ears tend to filter out any other sound to focus on her soft voice when she calls his name. He turned his head to the direction the girl was walking from, his heart sped up the moment he saw her.

Ran and Sanzu's smirk grew wider when they saw the girl up close. They would admit, she was indeed eye-catching. However, one wouldn't be too much of a fool to play with whatever Mikey has set his eyes upon. They knew what he was capable of, yet how would another distinguish it?

"Oh? I wasn't aware you'd bring friends," she paused, eyeing the other two figures next to him. She then smiled gently, bowing her head in a respectful manner. "I'm [Surname] [Name]. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Ran, this here is Sanzu. The pleasure is ours, darling." Ran gave off a smile that sent the wrong signals towards the girl, however, she was not fazed by the nickname he decided to give her. Mikey, on the other hand, glared at him from the corner of his eye.

This was, indeed, an odd encounter. One couldn't help but feel anxious for the girl as she does not know what she has gotten herself into. Three of the top members of Bonten, one being the head. Who knows what tragedies she would encounter once she finds out the truth?