Strange, Leona had texted Chunhua and she said she hadn’t seen Alexander around campus today; sometimes, one of the professors from Systemic Works would borrow him for something. Like last week, when Professor Ichiken wanted him to supervise a close combat training class between A1 and C1—”I didn’t watch a bunch of upstart Slayers fight, Leo, I watched a bunch of seals slap each other,” as he had humorously recalled—but if Chunhua hadn’t seen him and he wasn’t answering his texts…

Did he take a sudden absence? Was he sick? No, he could be green in the skin but he’d text her. He was one of the most responsible men she knew, so suddenly going dark was uncharacteristic of him and it made her heart tremble. If there had been a problem... Sure, he was strong enough to take care of himself. Sure, he was smart enough to talk his way out of almost any problem.

Yet Leona had zero information what was going on, and her heart couldn’t take the walk between here in Ordo University and his place.

So once classes were over and after she finished her pressing obligations, she rang up Althea.

It was a little past two-forty-five so she should be free from school.

A few rings later, Althea picked up: “Yo, what's up?”

“I got a quick question, sweetheart,” Leona said, holding the phone between her shoulder and cheek while funneling her belongings into her bag. Her eyes drifted to her classmates, loudly chatting as they filtered out. “Do you know what’s going on your brother today? I didn’t see him in class and neither have our Slayer friends.”

“Huh? He didn’t tell you?” Althea responded, partly surprised. “He musta forgot or something. Sorry, Leo, but he’s having one of those days again.”

“Oh.” Those four words were a euphemism between the three of them, esoterically understood like inside jokes but this was far from comedic. Hangzhou had decided to abruptly rear its head and squat within Alexander’s thoughts. The unwelcome passenger disrupted his equilibrium like a constant migraine refusing to be ignored and in fact got worse if you tried. He couldn’t force himself to proceed with his day normally so he decided to cancel his plans.

This wasn’t the first time Leona encountered ‘one of these days’. It wasn’t the first time with Alexander and certainly wasn’t the first for Althea either; what happened in Hangzhou would stay with them forever, but they knew how to manage their problems. A difficult recovery, as they’d told her, especially when you had an national scandal involving Oasis Guild going on in the background.

Althea continued, “Yeah, sorry. I’m sure he didn’t mean to make you worry—”

“No no, I understand.” Leona zipped her bag and slung it around her shoulders, following the last of the students out the classroom. “As long as he’s okay.” She sighed. “Is he home?”

“Uh…” Althea paused, “...no idea. Knowing him, he’s prolly at the gym beating the hell outta a punching bag and scaring everyone there. So y’know, his main way of venting. What’re you gonna do?”

Leona mumbled vaguely to herself then answered, “Did he eat lunch yet?”

A part of Leona instinctively knew Althea shrugged her shoulders on the other end. “I dunno, not like I was there to force him to eat. Why? You gonna try to drag him out?”

“I’m thinking about it.” Leona stepped out the doorway and out onto campus, setting her destination to the college’s gates.

There was a hesitant breath. “It’s better to leave him alone.”

This wasn’t the first Leona had been told that. Not to say she disagreed. As an outsider—as distant as that term was—leaving Alexander be was the right way of handling this. Most times, ‘one of these days’ would literally last for only a day and the Shens would be back to their normal selves. There was something about this instance that made Leona reconsider.

Nothing ominous; she frankly wanted to see him again.

“I know,” she answered Althea, “but a little visit wouldn’t hurt.”

“As long as you’re smart ‘bout it. If you two get into a fight, I’ll sit there with ‘I told ya so!’ written on my face.” Someone's voice loudly called for Althea in the back. “Oh no, my arch-nemesis is bothering me again. Gotta run. See ya whenever.”

“I’ll see you later, lovely.”

***

The first thing Leona heard were whispers and gunshots. Seeing that no one was barreling out the glass doors, she wasn’t hearing gunshots but instead terrifyingly hard impacts between knuckles and vinyl. They rumbled through the air which smelled of thick sweat and overpowering air fresheners, causing its occupants to flinch with every impact and quietly they were glad. The target wasn't them.

If that was any indication of him being here, then Leona struck gold.

Casually she strode to the back of the gym, passing by some of the regular members and employees she’d seen before during her previous stops here. They would’ve greeted her kindly if it wasn’t for a certain someone tenderizing a punching bag, so in the place of a chipper 'Hello!' was a look of relief.

She deduced the employees had already tried asking him to leave. Luckily she arrived as their unannounced savior.

God, Alex… Leona thought to herself, …a gym is supposed to make people sweat but not by fear. Look at how you’re scaring everyone.

As though Alexander was carrying a deadly plague, no one was present within fifteen meters around him. Without realizing it, he’d formed a small crowd intently observing him where most were trembling in their perspiration but some were, oddly enough, studying him like a prized animal—"Hawks," as Alexander had recounted to Leona once, "who want to gobble me up for pay-per-view." Regardless of who they were, he ignored them as his mind trapped inside that Disaster.

Leona stopped at the crowd’s fringe as blatant as a black dot in a sea of white. She gave a studious glance to the numbers here then on him: the black-haired demon whose fists were smears in the air, consumed in the disruptive rhythm of his pains. The punching bag was beaten, scratched up, pushed back with every blow a considerable distance away. In his silver-white eyes was a transported look. He wasn’t here currently.

Trying to physically nudge him was pretty much suicidal. Leona thought herself tough but not that tough. Thinking on her feet, she pulled out her keychain and saw the small pink plush dangle; it was a mascot character from one of the animes she liked watching—Kaiya recommended it. Snapping it off, she stepped forward and did a baseball-throw.

Instead of hitting Alexander in the back—because he wouldn’t notice it—she instead aimed to hit the bag directly in front of his vision.

Her aim was true. Call her a Slayer. It bounced off the scratches and onto his arm, then taking an adorable tumble to the ground. Alexander visibly cocked his head back in confusion, stared at the plushie for a few seconds then a soft “Huh?” left him. Looks like he realized who that cute little thing belonged to.

Once he picked it up after taking off his gloves, Leona was already a few feet away, having her hands folded in front of her belly. “Hey there.”

A little bit of light blossomed in his pretty eyes and she admired him from top-to-bottom. As inappropriate as it was to ogle Alexander at this moment, her thoughts wandered anyway and she had to bite her lip to stifle a lecherous smile. What an outrageously handsome man. If only he liked showing off his physique more, if only he wore his glasses more, but the attentive, focused look in his eyes were more than enough to make her imagine unsavory fantasies.

Alexander smacked his lips together and squished the plush between his fingers, muttering a word to himself before tossing it over. "Here."

She caught it. “Thanks, sweetheart. Do you feel like going on a date?”

“A date?” Alexander questioned before he finally gave a cursory look at the crowd behind her. It took less than a second for him to put together what'd happened and why she was here (admittedly she didn’t know he was disrupting the peace). “Right, date. Sure. Where we going?”

“For you?” Leona gave a teasing finger towards his way. “The showers. You’re sweaty, Alex. Not even the rattiest bars would take you in.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah okay, shut up. I need to make my apologies while I’m at it.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting in the lobby for you. Take as long of a shower as you need.”

***

It was easy to get Alexander out of the gym but that was due to how conscientious he was. After knowing he was a nuisance, he made sure to apologize to the right people despite going through a tough day.

Leona had succeeded in her mission—quest complete!—but the real problem was still hanging over him. During their walk, he was uncharacteristically quiet. One part of him was ashamed probably, another was keeping his due vigilance, and the rest were fending off Hangzhou's forces in the battlefield of his own heart.

She thought about entertaining a conversation but didn’t follow through; it was never good to force something. If Alexander needed some quiet time, then she wasn't going to seize it.

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So he had twenty minutes to ruminate.

Once they were one street away from their destination Leona picked out, she spoke up as they waited for the traffic light to flash the white pedestrian, “We’re going to Jindo. Are you okay with that?”

"Yeah,” he answered simply. “Isn’t it a bit early to eat dinner?”

“Did you eat lunch?”

Not a single word from him.

“It’s an late lunch, then.”

“Whatever.”

His remark was coincidentally timed with the flashing of the white light; they crossed the intersection and within a couple minutes, they were greeted by an outrageous picture of a white puppy plastered over one of the windows. Auntie Lee’s, who loved her dogs more than she loved her husband—that was why she divorced him as the story went. This was her bar, Jindo, a quaint place that served the best fried chicken.

Leona loved it especially because of the warm and cozy atmosphere.

Giving Alexander a small smile, she entered first and smelled the seasoning in the air; only a few customers were in. This was after the lunch rush. Knowing the bar's popularity, Auntie Lee was preparing for the obscene amount of online orders when dinner struck.

From the kitchen, a plump gray-haired lady peered from her station and scowled, raising her tongs viciously and smacking them together. The lady in question as beautiful as the day she was born. [Gyeong-hui, isn’t it too early to eat dinner?]

Leona replied in Korean, [It’s not an early dinner, Auntie Lee, it’s a late lunch. Classes ran long and I didn’t get a chance to eat.]

[Tch!] Auntie Lee was about to return to her cooking before she did a double-take, seeing Alexander. [At least you didn’t come alone this time! Did you have a big test today? That boy looks tired.]

[He did. I also thought I should treat him.]

[Don’t spoil him too much! Once he realizes he can shoulder off his burdens on you, he'll be a leach!]

Ah, if only she knew it's actually the opposite. [I'll keep him in check.]

Alexander waved at Auntie Lee. “Good afternoon, boss.”

[Uh huh. Make sure you eat a lot, Alex. A man like you need to devour a whole pig.] Auntie Lee told him before turning her head to the back. [Dae-hyun, get some water for Gyeong-hui and her boyfriend!]

She continued to boss her son around as the two of them took the booth at the corner. Leona plucked a menu from the seasoning rack and read over the options, tapping a curious finger on the laminate. If only her finger could taste the options... “Auntie Lee says I’m spoiling you.”

“Heh.” Alexander managed to crack a smile—he was comfortable. “What kind of crap you been telling her? I’m the one who cooks for you most of the time.”

“But I—”

“Sometimes, you even bring your laundry over.”

Leona pouted. “A few times. At least I keep you company. My presence, I think, is valuable.”

Alexander glanced at Auntie Lee’s various posters of her dog plastered over the walls.

“Do not compare me to a dog.”

“I wasn’t.” A comedic pause. “You’re more of a cat anyway.”

“Excuse me? I—“

Someone approached their table: Dae-hyun, Auntie Lee’s son who was attending another university in Ordo. He placed down two tall cups of chilled water. “The usual?” he asked as he took out a notepad.

Leona glowered at her date. “I don't know yet, but get me some beer please.”

***

“—it’s been crazy over there lately. In the past month, a well-known politician was arrested for corruption with one of HJ Armory's affiliates which is now being investigated by the authorities; apparently, the affiliate had been bribing him for better contracts and stuff like that. And do you know who's swooping in to take the media limelight? Mhm, Kim Yena of Sansuyu. I've been seeing her so much lately on the news; a part of me thinks she's the one who's taking down all these companies and corporations."

"Kim Yena..." Alexander drummed one of his scarred knuckles on the table.

"Black hair, pretty green eyes, several articles on her: 'The World's Most Promising Female CEO!' or 'This Young and Gorgeous CEO is making waves!'. You've definitely seen her before. Look, here." Leona quickly searched up a picture of Kim Yena online and showed it to him.

Alexander leaned close, squinting. "...What are they feeding these women? I thought she was a gravure model."

He looked at her.

A vein popped on her forehead. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" He took a big bite out of his drumstick then washed it down with cold beer. At least he sounded happier; after all, who didn't like amazing chicken and beer? This was the best remedy for everything. Maybe except for cancer but still.

"Whatever." Leona laid her phone screen-first against the table. "Remind me to never speak to you about my home country."

"You're born Ordoian."

"Well, I speak fluent Korean and have lived in Seoul for not an insignificant amount of years!" she defended. "Besides, I take constant visits. Not now, but soon. After we graduate, unless you suddenly decide otherwise and leave your sister in my care."

"No no, I'm going. You two would absolutely annihilate Korea; or at the bare minimum, locate and torture any pretty Korean actors or idols for your own devious..." Alexander vaguely gestured, "...perverted ways. Or maybe Hunter and Cheonma if you can find them. I've read some really weird posts online about uh... You know..."

"I know. They have really dedicated fanbases." Leona shuddered remembering some of those posts herself. "Really, though, Korea is a wonderful place to live in. If you ignore all the corruption between corporation and state and all the hierarchal abuse going on."

"Heh, I'd bet..." Alexander's eyes wandered down to her phone.

"No, not all Korean women look like Kim Yena. She's an outlier. An outlier that's really out there."

"I wasn't thinking about her."

"No no, you don't have to deny it. I understand men very well—" ("Do you?") "—yes, I do! Kim Yena has everything: the personality, the intelligence, and especially the body. In another life, she could be the world's most popular idol and there would be a cutthroat competition for second place."

"I'm not interested in that kind of women anyway."

"Okay, eunuch. If you're that picky, then what kind of women are you interested in?"

Silver eyes fastened on her, and she felt her heart lurch. Okay, this wasn't a fair fight. Leona couldn't help but squirm whenever she was in his direct sight. Made her feel special and small, hunted yet cherished. "I don't know," he said while shrugging. "If you shave off a few pounds, maybe you'll be the love of my life."

She was going to murder him. "I'm going to throw our plate of chicken wings at you."

"God, you're eager to make me fall for you."

Leona threateningly waved a dripping drumstick at him like it was a knife. He backed away trying to not let any spill on his clothes, laughing. Eventually she decided to be the better person and stop playing with her food, eating in silence while her 'date' was doing his best to not break out into a full-blown howl. If he was any less handsome, she would've left the table. If his laugh and smile didn't warm her chest, she'd tear his heart out right here. If he didn't genuinely view her with such light in his sparkling eyes, then...

"I really hate you sometimes..." she muttered, chugging the rest of her beer.

"What?" he asked in a half-laugh. "What did you say?"

She pouted. "Oh, nothing. I just said how much I hate you and how I never should've taken you out on a date."

"Because I'm an asshole."

"The biggest."

"Then let me repent." Alexander leaned forward, pressing his chest against the edge of the table. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

There, she had a devious idea. "Well—"

"I'm not paying for our date."

Dammit! "Fifty-fifty—"

Alexander pointed at her. "One-hundred-percent." Then at himself. "Zero."

“Seventy-five-twenty-five—” (“No,”) “—eighty-twenty—” (“One-hundred,”) “—ninety-ten.”

"Just pay the damned bill, you stingy dork. Aren't you the daughter of S-Rankers? I'm not the child of anyone special!" Alexander exclaimed.

Leona raised a finger. "Son of a famous boxer." Then two. "Nephew of a man who was probably apart of a secret military unit."

Alexander was caught with his pants down and was stunned into silence for a few moments. He said, eyes turned to the side, "...Pay the bill."

"Fine fine. Only if you let me stay over tonight," she negotiated with a keen grin.

But her smile wasn't well-received by her partner. "You stay over most days of the week. You stay over without asking, you make me do your laundry, you eat our food—"

"Okay wait, you make it sound like I'm a horrible, ungrateful monster."

Alexander said nothing.

"This is where you tell me, 'You're a wonderful person who shouldn't say that about herself!'"

"No, I think you're pretty spot-on, yeah. But..." He sarcastically clapped. "Plus one for acknowledging your own faults. That's the first step of becoming a 'wonderful person'."

"Hmph. I do my part around the house. I pay for groceries, I clean, I do my fair share."

Alexander sighed. "Living in an apartment you never lived in to begin with. Some days, I walk out of my room and have my pants scared off seeing a squatter crash on my couch."

"If you're that scared, let me sleep with you next time."

"Eh?"

"Eh?" She did not mean to say that out loud. "Uh..."

"That's, huh, awfully bold..." For the first time in a long time, a scarlet blush fiercely colored his cheeks. He partially covered his face with a hand, but his new crimson shade was out there. Normally Leona would take the opportunity to tease him further if it wasn't for the unfortunate fact that she herself was oven-warm. This also served as a reminder that they weren't officially dating yet; they were basically on the border of, but neither made the final push.

So...

She decided to wolf down a flat. "This is really good chicken, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Alexander replied awkwardly, and she didn't know if it was from the previous comment or from her sudden carnivorous activity.

Leona finished the flat within minutes and wiped her fingers clean. "Delicious. Anyway uhm, what were we talking about earlier—?"

Suddenly a loud slam startled them both, scared the daylights out of everyone inside the bar as well. Leona clutched pearls; goodness, she felt the sound vibrations from where she was sitting. Turning to the source, there was a fuming delivery truck right outside the entrance. A couple workers were unloading deliveries on a trolley.

"God." Leona rubbed her eyes. "They couldn't be a tiny bit quieter—? Alex? Are you okay?"

A shadow was creeping over his eyes like a dark veil; his pupils shrunk, and slowly he was sinking into his seat unconsciously. Hangzhou wasn't something that could be cured by chicken and beer; it was a constant struggle. Any little sound at the worst moment could bring him back to those weeks; in a fit of selfishness, Leona decided she wanted him to think about her and only her and did what she thought was best.

She reached over the table, grabbed his hand. Her fingers slipped underneath and felt his calloused palm. Her thumb came over the top, rubbing his scarred knuckles.

Alexander broke free from his short trance and looked at her, looked at the hand, then back at her. His lips pried open a few centimeters to speak but nothing came out—what he felt and wanted to say, he couldn’t put them to words. She knew them: I don't want to be a burden, don't force yourself to do this.

Dummy, don't be too conscientious for your own good. What do you think I'm here for? I'm here for you, always. Above them, the music on the speakers had gotten louder to drone out the delivery truck outside. There was a song playing, one Leona had listened to ever since she was a child. Mom's favorite.

"My mom used to sing this whenever we're at home," she told him, keeping their hands together. "I remember the lyrics. It went something like this..."

She sang for him, and he never once let go.