The first night at the hot springs passed rather uneventfully for me. After soaking in the outdoor hot springs, I chilled out in my room, surfed the internet for a good hour or two and fell dead asleep like a log.

As expected, Althea didn’t return for the night. And given how little she was messaging me, her friends were probably throwing quite the party on their end. I guess that was to be expected for young university students who were in their final year of study.

It was rare that they could take a day off, further exacerbated during the pandemic. Now that they could finally let their hair down, it made sense for them to go nuts.

So, even when I woke up early for breakfast, I didn’t expect to meet any of them at the dining hall. In fact, I deliberately took an extra hour in the hot springs just to enjoy their facilities. Other than the fact that this establishment didn’t have a gym, the rest of its facilities were downright amazing.

Melting my fats off in the Finnish Sauna was the highlight for me. So what if I couldn’t commit to my daily exercise? Ten minutes in the Sauna gave me much more satisfaction than ten minutes running down the lake.

After finishing up my bath, I changed into my loungewear and strolled into the dining hall. It was currently half-past nine, and the girls should be up by now.

As someone who practised intermittent fasting, I wasn’t keen on eating the breakfast buffet that the inn provided. But, I heard that they had the freshest milk in the region carefully delivered every morning. Who could resist a satisfying glass of milk after a long bath session in the hot springs?

“Oh, you’re finally here!”

Noticing my arrival, a silver-haired plump girl waved to get my attention. Following her gaze, the other four girls looked in my general direction and gestured in the same manner. Of course, my girlfriend was looking at me as well, but for some reason, I felt like she wasn’t that enthusiastic about my arrival.

It must be my imagination...

“Sorry to keep you guys waiting,” I apologised as I took the empty chair next to Althea.

“No, Althea told us that you don’t like to eat breakfast. I hope you don’t mind that we started without you.”

“Of course! Please continue enjoying your breakfast!”

It would be criminal of me to expect them to eat on my timing. Fortunately, the other girls were already gouging on their bacon, eggs and muffins without my go-ahead. Well, not all the girls were eating…

Like myself, Althea had opted for a more restrained diet. Rather than stuffing her face with the breakfast buffet, all she had was a glass of water and a simple peeled orange.

“I’m going to get some milk. Do you girls want anything?”

“Yes, get me a refill of this bacon and eggs, please!” Kiera raised her hand with an empty plate.

“A glass of orange juice would be good for me,” Grace added by handing over her empty glass.

“Could you get me another serving of waffles? Take the sachets of maple syrup as well!” Celeste hollered from the other side of the table.

“I want some oranges, please,” Evelyn told her order succinctly.

“Duly noted. What about you, Althea?”

“I-I’m good...”

“Okay...”

Is it just me, or is Althea behaving kind of strangely today? Was it her period? No, that was still a few days off. Maybe she’s just feeling weird with the change of environment. Yeah, that must be it. If that’s the case, there’s nothing that I should be worried about.

I consoled myself in that manner as I acted faithfully as their waiter. It took a while to gather all of their orders, and I placed them all together in a carry-on tray. As I returned to the table, I could see all five of them sneaking glances at me as if they were observing a lion in a zoo. To be honest, it felt weird, but I guess they were sizing me up to see if I’m a worthy boyfriend to Althea.

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If that’s the case, I can’t disappoint!

“Here is your bacon and eggs, madame.” First, I handed over the piping hot plate to Kiera, whose eyes turned round at my playful words. “I notice that they have prepared some Hollandaise sauce, which goes perfectly with the eggs. I’ve prepared some on the side if you wish to try.”

“O-Okay...”

“Here’s your orange juice, my lady. I asked for it to be freshly squeezed.” Next, I handed the chilled glass of orange liquid to Grace.

“T-Thank you...”

“These are the waffles you ordered, your highness. Shall I pour the maple syrup for you?”

“S-Sure...”

“Alright,” I quickly peeled off the plastic sachet. I dripped the maple syrup all over the waffles, making sure that it was equally distributed.

“What about you, princess? Should I peel the oranges?”

“Y-Yeah, that would help...”

Finally, I peeled off the tough peels of the oranges for Evelyn before finally returning to my seat. All five of them were now looking at me funny, especially Althea, who was flabbergasted by my odd temperament.

But I simply gave off a smile.

Like a child who had successfully pulled of his prank, I pulled Althea in and gave her a little kiss on the side of her head. “How was it? Am I boyfriend material?”

“HAHAHA!!! You definitely are!” Kiera was the first to break down in laughter. “You really got me there! I’d almost fell for you on the spot!”

“Hah… So this is what Althea gets to live with every day… I can’t say that I’m not jealous...” Grace pouted with Celeste nodding furiously as if sharing her sentiment. On the other hand, Evelyn was just mumbling something about her boyfriend, but she was too far away and too soft for me to hear.

In the end, all of my attention was focused on the unimpressed girl who was in my arms.

“Hmmm? What’s wrong?”

“... It’s nothing,” Althea frowned and looked away.

Wait, I’d thought that you wanted me to show off in front of your friends? Was I wrong? I tried to peer into Althea’s thoughts, but her mind was oddly shut off. It wasn’t to the extent where she would refuse my touch, but I could tell that she didn’t want to interact with me at this moment.

And while I was trying to figure out what I did wrong, the conversation had already taken a long detour.

“Urgh, we’re going to graduate soon, huh?” Grace had her chin down on the table as she grumbled. “We have to start our job search soon too...”

“AHHHH!!! Don’t talk about that! I don’t even know if I’m going to finish my degree, let alone find a job!” Kiera stomped her feet in defeat as she cried.

“That’s because you club too much...”

“Hey, what kind of university student would you be if you didn’t club every single week?”

“A studious one?”

Evelyn degraded her friend with a scoff. She adjusted her glasses and continued: “We all have to go into the workforce sooner or later. We can’t party all year round...”

“Urgh, words of truth that sting at my heart...” Kiera spat and looked in my direction. Seemingly to distract her friend away from herself, the girl moved the conversation over to me. “What about you, Desir? Was it easy for you to get a job after you graduated?”

“I was scouted by the company I interned in, so no.”

“Wait, I heard from Althea that you worked at Isia. Isn’t that a company that is notoriously hard to get into?”

“Yeap.”

“Just a yeap… Only geniuses can be so lackadaisical.”

Well, I wasn’t a genius, but I was too lazy to correct Kiera’s assumption. It felt like they were going to talk about me if we continued down this road, so I threw the hot potato back at her: “What about you? What kind of job do you want to get in the future?”

“I’m going to be a club owner!” The silver-haired girl raised her hands in enthusiasm as she shouted. “That way, I can club every single day!”

“Hah… Why do I even bother?” Evelyn rubbed her forehead, probably out of frustration with her friend’s constant need to club. Noticing my gaze turn towards her, the girl continued: “I’m going to inherit my family business with my boyfriend. I’m in Business Administration; he’s in Marketing. So both our expertise will propel the business further.”

Ah, that’s right. Evelyn’s family ran a hot spring inn as well. Given her authoritarian personality, I guess it makes sense to inherit her family’s crown jewel.

“Me, me! I’m next!” Celeste joined in with a blazing smile on her face. “It’s going to be tough now that there’s a pandemic, but I’m going to be a professional mountain climber!”

“Oh, that’s cool!”

“That’s right! My dad was one before he injured his knee and got old, so I’m going to pick up from where he left off!”

Yeah, Althea did mention it once. But mountain climbing, huh? That sounds like a fun career path. Not sure how it’s going to pay well, though.

“As for me...” Grace sucked on the straw of her orange juice and said: “I think I want to be in the service industry. I like working with people, and I think that the service industry suits me the best. I don’t know where I would work yet, but I’ll figure it out when the time comes.”

Grace in service? Why does that seem oddly fitting? Her petite frame and pleasant smile that could befriend anyone… Yeah, I would pick her as my waiter or receptionist any single day.

With Grace’s turn over, that was four down and one to go.

But for some strange reason, Althea didn’t seem to be in the mood. Her eyes were plastered on the table, and her face was twitching ever so slightly. However, with everyone’s eyes on her, Althea felt pressured to answer.

“I-I haven’t thought of it yet...”

“Oh, we’re going to graduate soon, though?” Evelyn said that gently. However, within that gentleness, there was a tinge of reproach. She probably didn’t mean it that way, but Evelyn’s words could be misconstrued as: ‘You have yet to make up your mind at this stage?’

And with that tone, Althea’s body shivered slightly. I could tell since I was the one holding her shoulders. Hah… As the good boyfriend that I am, I should come and bail her out.

“It’s fine; there’s still plenty of time till graduation. There’s no need to hurry with all of these life-changing decisions. Besides, I’m sure all of you will be tempted to change your mind once you graduate.”

“Oh? Was that what happened to you?”

“Of course! It’s my first job, you know! I was nervous as heck!”

“Haha, tell us more!”

Success! I have diverted their attention away from Althea! Now, to keep their eyes on me…

Alas, I was so enamoured with saving Althea that I didn’t notice Althea’s current mood. If I had been a little bit more attentive, I might have avoided what happened next...