I spent the night with Aubyn for the first time in what felt like too long and slept like a baby. How I had managed to fall asleep so many nights without him holding me was a miracle. Waking up next to him the next morning felt different than all the other times even though there wasn’t anything extra or special that I could think of except that now, we were a couple.

“Creepy,” Aubyn suddenly mumbled, frightening me.

“What’s creepy?”

“You are staring.”

“I’m watching my boyfriend sleep. It’s not creepy.”

Aubyn smiled, his eyes opening slowly. “Mondai sun, mio nimei.”

My lips curved upward to mirror his smile. “Mondai sun, mio nimei,” I repeated. “No gym this morning?” He was usually coming back from working out by the time I was waking up.

“No. I wanted to lay next to you for longer.”

This man was dangerous and he didn’t even know it. “Do you have work today?”

“Yes, but only for a few hours. I had an interview postponed, so I need to do it today and submit my notes.” Aubyn did a cat-like stretch with his arms above his head. “What will you be up to today?” he asked through a yawn.

“I have work but I’m going in later than usual because Siele has a meeting. Then I have a language class this afternoon.” I watched him, unable to help myself from thinking how cute he was. “I have a test.”

“For your language class?”

“Yeah. We’re done covering the basics of the first section, so it’s just to make sure I’ve got it down. I think I have.”

“You should have told me earlier. I could have helped you study last night.”

“I kind of liked what we were busy doing a lot more.”

We’d mostly spent the evening talking and kissing and talking some more. I tried getting him to tell me what I should expect when meeting his family, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. He’d only say “You will see for yourself when you get there”. Then we’d kiss and talk and kiss some more. Studying for my test was the furthest thing from my mind.

Aubyn tapped my nose. “Are you sure you do not need to study more?”

“I’m sure.”

“I want to know your grade when I get back this evening.”

“I’ll text you as soon as I get it with photo proof of my stellar mark. Watch. I’ll be fluent in Alunai in no time. Once I get more conversational, I’ll start practising speaking Arrean with you and then you’ll be so proud of me.”

“I am already proud of you. I cannot wait to show you off to my family.” Aubyn pressed his lips to my temple in a long kiss. “Let us make breakfast together. Yes?”

“Yes,” I agreed immediately. We’d been meeting in the café whenever we ate breakfast together so cooking and eating together in either of our rooms were things we hadn’t done yet.

I got up and went back to my room. I brushed my teeth and half-readied for the day, bringing my packed bag, uniform shirt and jacket back to Aubyn’s dorm.

I came back in time to watch Aubyn cook. Though the kitchens in our dorm were small, one could easily make a simple meal. I hadn’t tried much cooking and I hadn’t had the opportunity to watch others cook as much unlike when we all stayed in the hotel on Earth. There, Sang and Aubyn took turns teaching me how to cook and I slowly picked up some basic recipes. Since the food was different in Karys though, I was back to basics but I wasn’t completely lost.

The plan was to watch Aubyn cook our breakfast, but I couldn’t focus on the food. It smelled delicious, but I also noticed how Aubyn’s muscles flexed as his arms moved, how his brows creased with concentration every now and then, and how messy his bed hair was that he had scooped up into a bun halfway through cooking.

If he was as much mine as he wanted me to be his, then that meant every little part of him was mine. His birthmark, his tattoo, his hair, his smile, his everything. Was this what pure contentment was like? I was excited, but I also had this feeling of tender warmth just being around Aubyn. I wanted to tell someone that he was mine, just share that something I thought was amazing happened even though it was a mundane occurrence.

Aubyn and I ate in comfortable silence and then got ready to leave the dorms. Sang and Milan weren’t around so we went on to work without their company. I wanted to accompany Aubyn right to his desk, but just as we had entered the building, Siele appeared and I didn’t want to keep her waiting, especially when I had the vacation to speak to her about.

“Mondai sun, Haida- Ah! Zedikai.”

“Mondai sun, Siele-sumeo,” I responded, entering her office a few steps behind her. I went to the space that I’d been working from in the corner.

“I will make sure you have your own work area by the time you are back. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. I want to speak to you about my vacation time. Is there anything I need to submit before I leave?”

“Nope. Ges’sel-soh has already submitted the paperwork for time off.” Siele took her seat and started looking through the folders that she had left on her desk the day before. “Have you made any friends aside from your guardians since starting work?”

“One. Matis Rigal.”

“Ah. Nice one. He’s such a sweetheart,” she said with a smile. “Our team dinner is coming up soon. Would you like to be introduced to the rest of the team? I’m sure you’ll make fast friends with everyone.”

“Uh… sure, I guess.”

“I’m asking because some people don’t like being put on the spot but I’d like to make our team dinner and a welcome dinner for you. If not, I understand. I hate being put in the spotlight too.”

“No, it’s fine. I haven’t met many people since I just hang out with my guardians, so being friendly with everyone else and learning their faces is a good idea.”

“Then it’s settled.” She put about seven folders in a stack and slid them down to my end of the table. “Shred those, please. Those are closed cases.”

I nodded and stood. “Yes, Boss.”

“Ooh, don’t spoil me. I’ll get too used to you calling me that.”

I chuckled on my way out with the stack of folders.

Due to the heaps of sensitive information we had to deal with, all paperwork was kept under lock and key. When the physical form of a case was input into the system, all papers related to the case were shredded. The task of shredding those papers was one that I had.

There was something therapeutic about doing one task over and over again. I didn’t have to think too much about it. All I needed to do was take the papers out of the folder one by one and slide them into the shredder. The folders would be then reused for another case until they were too worn and were recycled.

It hadn’t been very long, but I was already starting to get comfortable in my role assisting Siele. Everyone I’d met seemed nice enough and I was only a few floors away from my favourite person who had just recently become my boyfriend. Just thinking about that got me feeling butterflies.

I was floating on pure happiness the entire day. Aubyn wasn’t around when I was leaving, so I said my goodbyes to Siele and Matis and went home alone. I got great marks on my test and took a picture of the screen to send to Aubyn right away. He didn’t answer immediately, but by the time I got back from grocery shopping, there was a message that said, “Proud of you”. I screenshotted it.

Cooking Othanaian food wasn’t on my list of skills but Aubyn had made a simple breakfast that morning that seemed easy enough to replicate with the basic cooking knowledge I’d gained from Sang. With few ingredients and a short prep time, I managed to remake what I’d had for breakfast for a late lunch.

I went back to studying after my lunch, still using Milan’s laptop since I had yet to get one for myself. I was studying Arrean which I was managing to do by using my Alunai studies as a base. It wasn’t hard. At least not yet. I was poor at writing adul characters, so I studied that, and for every word I wrote, I’d try guessing the Arrean translation if there was one. On top of that, I studied the Arrean alphabets, Kangul and Hanji. Those characters were a tad more difficult to write, especially the Kangul characters.

I studied until I was losing focus, and then started to go through a packing list. I had no clue how long I’d be in Tsuk’ki, but I knew it would be for a few weeks. My trip there with Aubyn would be my second trip ever and since I was trying to be more independent, I wanted to pack for myself without any help. If it got overwhelming, I wanted to figure it out myself. That was the whole point of getting my own space.

The basics of my packing were common sense – hygiene and personal care items. Aubyn had reminded me that Tsuk’ki had a different climate than Karys did and so was hot most of the year. Therefore, I attempted to pack all the clothes I had bought when I went shopping along with all my necessities.

My suitcase was mostly empty even after packing. If I were to spend weeks away, I’d need more clothes to change into. I immediately texted Milan. He liked clothes and shopping, so he’d be best to help me find more clothes on my upcoming day off.

I’d never been happier that I’d saved up so much money before moving to Othanai. I would have had to rely on Aubyn way more than I was comfortable with.

I was so engrossed in thinking about what else I could possibly need to pack that the ringing of my doorbell made me jump. “Coming!” I called, stepping over my open suitcase that was taking up most of the floor. “Mon’nai-”

Aubyn smiled the moment he laid eyes on me. “Mon’nai, nimei.”

So corny. So lame. So cringy. But I liked it. I was his boyfriend. As I leaned forward, he did the same, stepping inside from the corridor. He knew I was going to kiss him. He knew it wasn’t going to be PG. And so the only option he had was to make sure we were out of sight. I gasped when my feet no longer touched the floor and I was suddenly moving backwards being held up effortlessly in Aubyn’s arms.