The door opened, and Madam Yu appeared behind. I smiled as she greeted me, "Ms. Nova, come in."
I expressed my thanks and followed her inside Thyme's home. As always, Thyme's home was spotless and pristine. The floors reflected my feet as I walked and a few employees smiling at us as we walked by. After Ren's text, I headed my way over. I didn't know what to expect, but whenever the group planned to meet, unprecedented, I always anticipated the worst. Madam Yu pointed to the living area, "Would you like something to drink?"
I shook my head, "No thank you, Madam," she nods and walks away. Anticipation built inside of me as I walked through the threshold of the seating area. Expect the unexpected is what they always say, and the first thing I saw was Gorya sitting on the couch, wearing a uniform.
"What?", is the only thing I could say. I looked at Thyme, who avoided my gaze as MJ shook his head. I looked at Ren and gave him a flabbergasted look as he nodded to Thyme, "You should explain to her what happened."
Thyme glanced at Gorya as he began, "Well–"
Gorya interrupted, "No, I will. You might say something wrong, again." Thyme closed his mouth and motioned for Gorya to continue.
Ren patted a spot next to him on the couch, and I sat next to him as I said, "Please explain."
Gorya sighed, "P'Thyme...," she paused to look at me, "abducted me–"
"You abducted her?!", I exclaimed.
Thyme defended, "That wasn't my intention! My men just misinterpreted my directions, I told them to take her here, to my house, and...that happened."
Gorya sighed, "Besides that," she paused, clearly uncomfortable, "we got into a fight because of another misinterpretation," she narrowed her eyes on him.
Thyme said, "I basically said I was excited to–"
Gorya exclaimed, "Don't say it, P'Thyme. Please, I've already had enough embarrassment right now." I looked at Ren, and he simply shrugged, not knowing what that was about as I asked, "What happened? Why are you wearing this outfit?"
Thyme and Gorya shared a look as she said, "When we fought, I tackled him...I was on top," she shot a glare at me as I covered my lips, "–trying to smash his face into the floor, and somehow broke a vase. A really expensive vase."
I chuckled and broke into a laugh, enough to make me lean back on the couch. I clutched my stomach. Gorya whined at me, "Nova! Please be serious."
I stopped and took a breath, my hand clutching my chest, "Sorry, but that is so funny to visualize in my mind,"
I looked at Thyme, "What did you say? It was probably really bad for her to do that," I said as I wiped a tear.
I looked up and saw MJ receptive to my laughing, Ren was just stoic as he always is, and Thyme and Gorya frowned at me. I cleared my throat, "Do you care enough about the vase that you had to hire Gorya to make it up to you?", I asked.
"No, I could care less about that vase," he shrugged, "Madam Yu caught us," Thyme said.
"And...", Ren prodded.
Thyme sighed, "And Lita saw us."
I gasped as Gorya looked guilty and ashamed, more than the fiance.
Thyme adjusted himself to sit at the edge of the couch, "It's my fault. I want to apologize and break it off but, you guys tell me not to."
Ren says, "It's not that we won't let you...I think you should plan a way to break it off. It's not like a regular breakup," he leaned back and put his arm over my shoulders, "You're breaking a girl's heart and an agreement made between two influential corporations."
I raised an eyebrow at him, "You care about P'Lita, huh?"
Ren chuckled at my prodding question and squeezed my shoulder, "What? No, Nova, I am just looking out for the consequences if Thyme was stupid about this."
I pouted my lip in jest as I turned to face away from him, and Ren rubbed my back, to appease my immature jealousy. MJ whistled to change the subject, "Ok, we should just wait for Kavin..see what he says."
I looked at Thyme and MJ, "Where is he anyway?"
Gorya answered, tucking her bangs off her face, "He's at the flower shop...he said he wanted to help Kaning out since I can't."
I smiled, "He's helping Kaning? We should see if Kaning hasn't fainted by now."
Thyme lifted his chin at me, "What do you mean?"
I tilted my head and scrunched my brows, "You haven't noticed?"
"Noticed what?"
Madam Yu walked into the room and set a tray of glasses of water and juice. We all softly said our "thanks" as Madam Yu signaled for Gorya to come with her. Gorya sighed and got up from her seat, fluffing up the accent pillow and placing it on the couch, "I'll talk to you guys later."
She walked out with Madam Yu, leaving us. I glanced at Thyme who watched her walk away, clearly entranced by her. But I decided to throw my pillow at him. He jolted from the impact and shot arrows from his eyes my way as I asked, "How long are you going to make her stay here?"
"Long enough," Thyme said, setting the pillow on his lap.
I sighed, "You need to make a move P'Thyme. You're playing with two girls right now."
Thyme interjected, "It's not intentional. I like Gorya, you know this...I will talk to Lita. I promise I just..." I decided to stop giving him a hard time, and sighed as MJ sadly comforted his friend, holding his shoulder as Thyme went into deep thought.
I left the boys after a while and walked to find Gorya ironing clothes outside in the backyard. I scoffed at the various shaped bushes Thyme had in his yard, seeing various people attending to the plants. No wonder he had so much staff.
Gorya placed the iron on the table and heard my footsteps, turning to greet me, "Hey."
"Hey," I replied. I went to her side and took some of the load, hanging them on the rack. Gorya said, "You don't have to do that."
"I want to," I said as I continued. She let me help her, thankfully, and as we did the task, I asked, "Do your parents know?"
She chuckled, placing a white shirt on the metal bar, "Of course not. They would have issues if they knew I was working under P'Thyme. It'll just cause a lot of confusion and unnecessary attention."
"What will happen if his mom shows up though?"
Gorya shrugged, "I'll leave by then, I'm only here for a month. P'Thyme wouldn't let me stay if his mom came home. She's in Singapore, so I should be fine."
I stopped and turned to her, "Are you okay though, are you fine?"
She stops and looks at me, pausing for more than a few mere seconds before answering, "I like it here."
I was surprised, that was the last thing I would've thought she'd say, "You do?"
She nods and continues ironing the clothes, "I'm not alone, I have things to preoccupy myself with, and the people here are nice to me. They feed me, treat me well.."
I smiled, "That's nice. And..." I wiggled my eyebrows teasingly, "You live with P'Thyme, which I don't know why that'd be enjoyable."
She shook her head and her smile became a little wider, "He's not so bad, Nova."
"I know, I've been giving him a little grace lately," I playfully pushed her hip with mine, "Look at you defending him."
"I'm just saying what I think," Gorya says as she takes a few clothes from a pile to hang.
"I do want to know, why did you guys meet here at his house?"
Gorya stops and turns to me, looking around us to see no one is in earshot. She walks towards me and whispers in my ear, "He wanted to give me something."
My eyes widened as I asked, "Why do you have to whisper?"
Gorya narrowed her eyes at me and softly said, "He gave me a meteor necklace and asked me to...," her cheeks turned red as she spoke.
"To...", I prodded her to continue. She looked around again and closed her eyes as she said, "He asked me to be with him." I covered my mouth and squealed as Gorya placed her finger against her lips, "Shh, Nova."
I bit my lip as I smiled and held her hands, "Finally! What did you say?"
Gorya said, "I know...I know but, I sort of rejected him."
My smile turned into a slight frown, "What do you mean?"
Gorya sighed, "He's still engaged."
I gasped, "Oh, right.."
She nods slowly, "Right. I just felt wrong about the whole thing. I wanted to say yes...but, it's just this whole situation is complicated."
I pouted and hugged her, Gorya leaning on me a little as I patted her back, "It'll be alright...let's hope everything goes smoothly."
...
Ren and I decided to eat before we went home, and we picked a Japanese restaurant. We ate as I picked at my food, my thoughts clouded with my birthday coming up in a week and Gorya's unfortunate situation.
"Hey, you okay?" Ren softly touches my hand, holding my chopsticks, "You're not eating..do you want something else?"
I met his gaze and smiled, shaking my head, "No, I'm okay," I finally picked up a roll and ate for the first time since we came here. Ren watched me as I ate with concern, and I set my chopsticks down, "I just got distracted."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I bit the inside of my cheek and adjusted my posture, resting my arms on the table. I looked at Ren and said, "Mom and I can't ever agree on things it seems, she wants to go against everything I ask her. Then Gorya, I just feel bad for her. I'm worried about her."
"Is this about your birthday?"
"Mhm," you hummed, eating another piece of sushi. Ren sat up a little and said, "We can always go somewhere before your birthday..something small for you with Gorya and Kaning."
"Wouldn't that be too much of a hassle?"
Ren shook his head and smiled, "It wouldn't be. We care about you, and you should be happy about your birthday. I'll make it happen..leave it to your fantastic fiance."
I scrunched my nose and shook my head, "That was corny."
Ren smiled, "You're making my heart break here," he said as he clutched his chest. He takes his chopsticks and looks at me, "There's that smile I love so much."
I looked away, my smile grew, and my cheeks warming, as we continued eating. Ren put some of his food on my plate, and I shook my head to have him stop. I hear footsteps come our way, making me look towards the person. My eyes widened as I finished chewing and said, "Hi P'Magnus! Are you eating here too?"
Ren slowly put the roll he planned to feed me as I stood and greeted him. Magnus smiled at me, and I offered my arm for a side hug, and he said, "I'm sweaty, I just came from a run."
I shook my head and hugged him anyway for a brief moment. I let go of him and sat in my seat, placing my chopsticks down. Magnus was dressed in shorts and a sweatshirt with a black cap on, his height towered over us as I looked up at him.
"I just came after my run, and I was craving sushi," he said, and he turned to Ren, offering his hand out, "Hi, Mr. Aira, forgive me, I didn't see you," Ren smirked and shook his hand. I watched as he said, "Call me Ren."
Magnus took his hand out of his hold and nodded, "Ren, you could call me Magnus too, much more friendlier that way," Magnus said as he smiled at me. Ren nodded curtly as I said, "Well, how are you?"
Magnus says, "I've been good. I'm fully moved in, but still learning how to work in the company as the CEO now."
Ren sipped some water, "The stock market has been doing good."
"We got some more shareholders, investors..some came back after my grandpa's passing, so we're getting back to our baseline."
I smiled, "That's good. I'm glad things are working out for you."
Magnus nods, "Thank you, I'm still adjusting but, I feel better," he asks me, "By the way, I heard your birthday is coming up."
I nodded, "I will send you an invitation, I hope you'll be able to come?"
Magnus smiled, "I wouldn't miss it for the world." I grinned, "I can't wait for your present," I pointed at him, "it better be good."
He shook his head, "Ren, I think I'll need your help for that," Ren sighed, "I can't give you any of my secrets, I'm very competitive." I raised my eyebrow at him and nudged his leg under the table. Magnus looked at me then Ren, chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind. I'll leave you two alone, you guys have a good lunch."
"You too P'Magnus," I quickly said. Magnus smiled at me before he walked away. Ren continued eating as if that awkwardness didn't happen, as I kept a watchful eye. I watched him as he ate in silence, and I asked, "Are you ok? What was that?"
Ren chewed as he wiped his hands, "I didn't know you two were close."
"We aren't necessarily "close" but we are friends," I said.
Ren smirked, "So, close. Cuz if you hug a man I don't know about, you two are...close."
I sighed and drank water, "That hug? It was a friendly gesture," I looked at him straight and said, "You do know him..."
Ren interjected, "Not about your friendship. He seemed eager to talk to you."
"Ren, we only speak when we see each other, but that was not nice what you did earlier."
He leans back in his chair, his hand planted against the table as he asks me, "What did I do? I was fine."
I kept eye contact with him, his gaze stoic and unmoving, but his eyes spoke a different tune. I shook my head, "Never mind. Let's finish eating."
Ren shook his head, and raised his hand at a waiter, signaling for the bill. I watched him in confusion, and he said, "We can pack this up. I'll go to the restroom," he tossed the napkin and walked away.
I scoffed and leaned back in my chair as the waiter came with the bill, "Which card, madam?" I took Ren's wallet he left with me and took out his black card, giving it to the waiter, "Take as much tip as you want. Max it out."
The waiter nervously chuckled as he took the card and went back to the register. A few waiters came and bagged our food for us as I waited for Ren to return. I can't believe he was jealous...completely unreasonable.
He walked out of the restroom and came to the table. I gave him his wallet back, and the waiter came with the card and the packed food, "Thank you, have a good day." I smiled as Ren gave me the bag, "Take it home with you, you barely ate."
I frowned as I took the bag, and he walked ahead of me. He held the door open for me but, he didn't even make eye contact. I went ahead and stopped to wait for him but, he walked ahead of me–adamant in separating himself from my presence.
We walked to the parking lot, and I yelled, "Ren!"
Ren stopped in front of his car as I jogged up to him, I touched his hand, "Are we really fighting right now?"
He huffed and took his hand out, "Where's your keys?" I blinked as I took my keys from my bag and gave it to him. He took my hand in his and led me to my car. I watched as he unlocked it and went to open my door, he looked at me, and I said, "I don't want to leave without talking about whatever is going through your mind."
Ren said, "I don't think I can talk right now."
I scoffed and looked at him, "Are you serious?"
He looked down at the ground as I said, "Fine," and sat in my car, placing the food on the ground on the passenger side. Ren sighed as he stooped down to put on my seatbelt, I looked at him, agitated, as he looked at me. "Drive safe," he said and kissed my forehead before closing my door. I touched my forehead, the area where his lips kissed me. Still warm, still scorching my insides. He tapped on my hood and walked to his car as I sat in my seat, if he doesn't want to talk, then, I won't. I turned on the ignition and drove away with a growing migraine, and an upset stomach.
...
Note:
OMG guys!!!! Hit 100K reads!! WTF?
Thank you so much for following this story. 'Unrequited' is the first fictional story/fanfiction I've ever written. I know it's not perfect. But the fact you guys are so intuned with the story I made up in my amateur brain–makes me feel so much gratitude and motivates me to keep coming back. This is crazy, I never would've guessed this could hike up to those numbers. I can't believe it.
I'm planting the seeds...so, be prepared ;)
I will try to update once every month. I am busy with college so I could only post once right now. Slow progression I know, but I will try my best to keep up with the updates every month.
P.S. #RENOVA is the ship name LOL (so clever, I love it), I hope you guys like it!