In the apartment next door, where steel met the wooden chopping block, with fine hacks and chops slicing pieces of vegetables smoothly one by one, playful calm hums echo in the kitchen as the fan ran, drawing the moisture out, but the sweet aroma from the pot still lingered and spread.

 “Mmhmmhmm~, I'm done with the prep, and the stock smells nice!” Noel said to himself as he dried his hands.

 He tapped his earbuds and briefly glanced out the window. It was still grey, and the sun was starting to shine through—the storm had passed, but light drops drizzled down still. In the corner of his sight, he saw nostalgic pictures of him and Miu.

*Chuckles*

 “I wonder what happened to the shy girl from the past,” he commented with a soft smile. “When she first approached me, telling me she had a boy she was sort of interested in, man…I was surprised,” he chuckled. “And it was Alum of all people too…” his words softly trailed off.

 He remembered his father’s words regarding Alum and took an interest in him even then, but when Miu told him about a boy whom she met on the school tour, he became intrigued—and when he learned it was the same boy his father so much praised, he wanted to befriend the guy. Even though Alum’s walls were high, Noel was glad that he managed to climb over the self-sufficient monochrome garden wall.

 “I hope I was a splash of colour at the very least, but I wonder if Miu can help him understand the colours he couldn’t see.” Noel stretched, his attention turning to the clock. “11.30, huh? Time sure moves slowly sometimes.”

 With those words, he went back to cooking, but now and then, he’d wonder, “Did I make it too awkward between the two?” before he laughed it off. “Well, knowing them, they’d probably not move things so fast.”

 While he was distracted and immersed in watching the pot, his phone buzzed. When he checked the text message, it was from another friend who asked if he wanted to tag along to a party. But Noel sighed instead.

—[Man, I was almost dragged away by a girl last time, no thanks]

—[Asshole! What a nice problem to have, Mister Popular!] the friend replied.

—[Its not really my thing.]

—[C’mon man! Some pretty girls would come if you were there!]

—[Hell no! It’s scary how aggressive they are!] Noel retorted.

—[Wuss, what’s wrong with playing around a little? Even they know.]

—[I don’t like that sort of thing, and I’m not looking for hookups.]

—[Ait, I respect that. I’ll tell them. But that’s why you’re still a virgin, haha!]

—[I don’t really care.]

—[Well, some girls might actually get put off by that, y’know?]

—[and that girl wouldn’t be someone for me] he promptly replied. 

—[You’re such a weirdo sometimes, but yeah, see ya in class]

—[See ya]

 Noel sighed and turned over his phone.

 “Geez…what’s the fun of all that…? Welp, I’m glad Miu is like her traditional Mom, while Alum is a bit naive and doesn’t care for stuff like that.” But he heaved yet another sigh as he remembered the last message. “But he’s not wrong…”

 …

  …..

 …

 Meanwhile, in Miu’s apartment, Alum had just gotten a phone call from Emely. He thought he’d be scolded, but she seemed more relieved that he was okay.

 “—use the door next time, dammit!” she exclaimed through the speakers so that even Miu heard.

 ‘You jumped out of the window?’ Miu teased with a grin. ‘You really wanted to meet me?’ she whispered so that the microphone wouldn’t pick it up.

 But before she could say anything else, she heard something shocking. “—gosh, you really gave me a heart attack jumping from the 5th floor…”

 “…..”

 Miu blankly stared at Alum wordlessly while Alum averted his gaze as if he didn’t want her to know.

 “Anyways, can you give the phone to Miu?” Emely requested.

 “Sure,” Alum replied and handed the phone over to Miu.

 “Umm… Hi Professor…” Miu shyly greeted.

 “Oh, Miu! Thank you for letting him come over! Could you do me a favour and please keep an eye on this reckless boy from now?”

 “Y-Yes…I will,” Miu cast a concerned gaze toward Alum, who quickly turned his head away.

 “Anyways, congratulations! I heard you two are dating now! He’s so lucky to have a girl like you as his girlfriend! Oh, I know things are a little different here, but I hope things don’t move too quickly; you’re both students still, so I hope you can understand the worries of a guardian.”

 “Eh!? Y-Yes! No worries there! My heart isn’t prepared yet either!” Miu nervously exclaimed.

 “Hmm? Is that so? I’m sorry for asking something like that, but if Al is being forceful, you can always call me, okay? Well, he probably wouldn’t do something like that,” she chuckled.

 Miu nodded even though Emely couldn’t see her, “Y-Yes…Al-ichi is very gentle…so…I trust him.”

 “Al-ichi? That’s a very cute nickname! Aww, I never realised someone as pretty as you had such a huge crush on Al. Well, take good care of him! He might be a bit tad naive and reckless, but I do think he’s a good catch!”

 “H-Huge crush!? W-Well…I can’t deny that… careless, is he? I always thought he was sophisticated and could do anything…”

 “Ahh…I’m sorry, Miu! I might’ve disillusioned him for you now!” Emely apologised frantically.

 “Ah…no, don’t worry, I…find it cute in fact…”

 “Oh? Then I’m glad… he’s pretty useless at taking care of himself.”

 Miu giggled at the comment as she remembered how he first looked when he entered her apartment.

 “I think I know what you mean,” she replied.

 “Huh!? Did he do something?”

 “Oh… no, nothing like that, but his hair was a little wet when he arrived, so I assumed he probably didn’t care if he was drenched or something. But to think he was just bad at taking care of himself was sort of cute.”

 “I see, I see,” Emely sighed. “But if he ever causes problems, just tell me!”

 “Unlikely, but I’ll keep it in mind,” Miu teased as she glanced over at the boy with slightly red ears.

 Miu then handed over the phone to Alum.

 “Did you hear all that, Al? Anyway, don’t cause too much trouble or give her a heart attack like you did me, okay?” Emely rebuked.

 “…I’ll try.”

 “Let’s do that aga—”

 “Okay, I will,” Alum said firmly.

 “Good! Have fun!” she said before hanging up.

 As the call ended, it became quiet again. Miu sat across the table as she sipped her cacao with a gaze still glued on Alum. On the other hand, Alum somewhat awkwardly averted his eyes as if not wanting her to ask.

 “So…you live on the 5th floor?” she teased.

 “…I do.”

 But her face suddenly darkened, but there was a glint of concern in her eyes. “You know…I’m happy you came to see me. But…I don’t really know how to feel now.”

 “Don’t worry about it. Emy tends to blow things out of proportion,” Alum calmly replied.

 “Why’d you avoid me regarding the matter then?”

 “…well, it might’ve been a little dangerous for a normal person; I just jumped onto the balcony the floor under; it’s not as bad as Emy makes it out to be,” he shrugged.

 “…” Miu sighed. “Well…as long as you’re safe,” she puffed her cheeks.

 Seeing her genuinely sulk for the first time, Alum sensed a strange worry in his chest. It stung a little, and he didn’t know what to do—he saw a chessboard and turned to Miu.

 “Hey…did you and Noel play Chess?”

 Miu tilted her head and followed Alum’s gaze. “We didn’t, but… Do you wanna play?” Miu grinned. “I’m pretty good, you know?”

 Alum sighed, and the worry in his chest seemed to have eased. He placed the mug down and, with a still inexpressive yet smug look, said, “We’ll see about that.”

 …

  …..

 …

 As time passed, they heard Miu’s doorbell ring. Miu went to open the door and found Noel with a pot in his hands.

 “Yo, sorry it took some time.”

 Miu shook her head. “No, don’t worry, we should thank you for making us food,” she replied.

 As they entered the small kitchen, Noel noticed the chessboard and the positions of the pieces. He chuckled softly, stating, “Well, seems like someone’s getting destroyed pretty hard…”

 As if pierced by an arrow, Miu grasped her chest, her expression pained. “I was overconfident, and my pride…my pride is…” she sobbed a little with teary eyes.

 Noel’s brow twitched a little as he regretted ever stating so. “O…oh… Well, your opponent was Alum, so… I don’t know what you expected.

 “B-But he said he’d only played a few times before!”

 Noel turned to Alum as he put down the pot. Alum was comforting Miu awkwardly by holding her shoulder, but Noel could only roll his eyes, gesturing him to kiss her on the cheek as he pointed repeatedly at his own.

 Following his advice, Alum did just that. “Sorry…I didn’t think you were that bad at Chess…” he voiced.

 Noel looked baffled as he planted his face in his palms. “Alum, you idiot…” he muttered.

 Miu, on the other hand, playfully hit him on the chest, repeating, “Al-Ichi no baka! Baka-chi! Baka!”

 “…What did I do, Noel? …she’s calling me an idiot in different ways…I think.”

 “I called you one as well,” Noel sighed. Still, he looked at the affectionate scene and softly laughed. “You guys are perfect for each other,” he said suddenly.

 Miu turned beet red and stopped hitting Alum as she hugged him instead. “I’m sorry for calling you an idiot…”

 Finding it endearing, Alum gently squeezed her back. “Me too…I’m sorry, I should’ve gone easier on you…”

 “Why you!” Miu exclaimed as she headbutted Alum’s chest.

 Noel watched the sweet scene with a troubled look. “Great, the food is going to be extra sweet…” he lightheartedly laughed.

 

The End

 

A/N

Fun fact: if you know something about Swedish culture, we don't really use Mister/Miss, etc... and the reason why the students call Emely: Professor Emely was because she seemed depressed when she first started working as a teacher—until one student(not native) called her professor; which got her into a good mood and the other students took note of it as they too begin calling her that as well. That's also why Alum teasingly called her "Professor Emely" when he teased her in Chapter 1.

Dunno. I kinda included it in case you're confused, haha...