章 3: Heartfelt
"Give me a real, heartfelt kiss," Ethan said, making Scarlett frown.
She looked at him with a bad premonition in her mind. "Tell me what is going on... now!"
Ethan sighed. "Just say you don't want to kiss me if you don't want to, why be so bitchy about it."
Scarlett blinked, contemplating his request for a second. Only a second later did she understand its implications.
She sighed and rose on her toes and, without any hesitation, planted a kiss on his lips. Their eyes closed naturally.
Her tongue entered his mouth, and just like that, with the night sky as their backdrop and the lights of colossal buildings as their onlookers, their relationship that had been vague and unspoken for more than a decade was cast in iron.
Ethan's hand tightened around her waist; he brought her closer and closer, and their lips silently parted. Their gazes were linked to each other, both flushed in the face. Both of their hearts thumping wildly.
"That was intense!" He exhaled, his face not calm. "Never knew a true kiss from the ugly demoness could be so intense."
"Ugly, your ass. You are ugly!" She replied, her breathing rugged.
"Can I get one more?" he asked, his eyes bright, looking at her cherry lips.
She closed her eyes, and Ethan leaned closer. Once again, they forgot themselves inside a world of their own. Both of them felt as if electricity now coursed under their skin. As if they had finally found the house prepared for their souls.
They parted, but Scarlett leaned up this time; he was taller than her, after all. She would have to rise to the occasion to make sure this actually, completely, and utterly bound him to her.
He had already lost his virginity to some bitch. He had cheated on their unspoken trust. She was furious. She had been seething but fine; with that one time, that was over. She didn't want his heart to ever think of someone again. No more games. He was hers.
They repeatedly kissed for a while till it became clear to both of them that their bond would no longer be so vague and playful.
Scarlett swallowed a wad of saliva; her face was flushed, and she felt hot. He tasted like wine, she wondered what she tasted like.
"I have some conditions…" she said, clearing her throat, her eyes sparkling like clear gems.
"Like?" He caressed her red cheeks with his own.
"I know you..." she asked, suppressing the discomfort at the thought, "lost your virginity to someone else, right?"
Ethan smiled. "Nah, I am still a virgin; that was a joke I made to make you jealous."
A long silence.
"Th… That wasn't funny."
"Sorry," he said, his hand around her waist tight and powerful. His jaw rested on her shoulders.
A long silence stretched between them, and their quickened heartbeat calmed down.
"You are lucky, you bastard. Or I might have gone to kill the woman you lost it to." Scarlett muttered.
He succeeded in making her jealous…
Ethan gulped and decided not to tease her about this, and instead said, "I obviously wouldn't go use it on someone when I have you. But you shouldn't be so hard on me now that we're committed. Damn it, one or two girls more are fine."
She pinched his stomach. "How would you feel if I slept with another man?"
Ethan's hair rose, and he coughed. "No way. I'll kill him and his nine generations!"
"The same!" she looked sideways. She always hated these straightforward flirting. So cringe.
But then, remembering, she asked, "What is up with you anyway? I thought you'd only confess when you wanted to marry me. And that should be years from now if I know you."
"What an egoist, so you knew I loved you and still kept—"
"Don't change the subject." She flicked his jaws with her finger; now that he was not teasing about it, it was a good chance to be as clingy and cringy as she could be. "Why did you become so soft now? What happened? What incited this sudden confession?"
Silence reigned till it grew a bit uncomfortable.
A long sigh left Ethan, and a bad premonition once again rose inside Scarlett, fear gripping her heart. "I am leaving, Scar."
"What leaving?" She asked. Her eyes were strange but a tinge fearful.
Even though he was only a B Ranker, with his overpowered abilities, he could teleport between countries. Even though it would leave him exhausted, coming to visit her, even from, not to mention another country, another continent, shouldn't be too hard, at least once every week.
In fact, she didn't have anyone else; they were both orphans. He was all that she had. She could just follow him. What did he mean?
Where was he going?
Her heart grew cold. Was he going to abandon her after all this…
"I am leaving this world in itself; it is a part of my Teleportation ability, or at least I think so, and I have a feeling that I can't do it if I don't do it in a day or two. This is the only time it would work. So I am leaving..."
Scarlett looked at his face, searching for a trace of teasing.
"Leave this world and go where?" she asked.
"I don't know. I sense... a calling from another place far in the distance, and it is growing fainter and fainter by the day. And the more faint, the more I feel like I am making a big mistake by not accepting that call."
Scarlett took his hand. She was gritting her teeth. Her anger rose, and her nails sunk into the back of his palm. "I would become an unparalleled S Ranker soon enough; I will make a mansion, and I can be your sugar mommy," she asked, voice laced with something intangible, "what can be better than that, aliens?"
A smile growing on his face, Ethan looked at her agitated face.
"I wish you'd come with me, leaving behind that goal and amazing life that is just so close. To an unfamiliar world from which we probably can't return. That's why I confessed, would you come with me?"
The gloom in her heart evaporated like thin ice in a hot desert. She scarcely cared about luxuries. All she ever wanted was a bed, a sofa, some drinks, a few books to read, her Ethan, and preferably snacks. Of course, due to Ethan's influence from their childhood, she did have some ambitions.
Scarlett nodded.
"Yes. But why leave at all when we have such a comfortable life waiting for us?" she asked, her lips frowning to keep a smile away.
Ethan shook his head.
"Because even if we make our Heritages into S Ranks, we are still just mortals. In the end, we will die one day. But in that world, I have a feeling there is some hope there for us to be more than just simple short-living creatures."
"You and your damn feelings," she frowned. She did have to buy some things if they were to go away. "When are we going anyway?"
Ethan grew silent. Smiling, he pushed a strand of hair away from her face. "No wonder I fell in love with you. I feel like we are back in the old days, ready to go steal money from the librarian."
Scarlett coughed gently. "And you left me as the only scapegoat, cheater. That was my first bad name—Scarlett the Thief. I hated you since that very day."
"I just hated attention, don't blame me... I was practically your slave for a year... asking for forgiveness..."
"I forgave you, indeed, but now that I think of it, you were such a toxic person, Ethe, not that you changed much even now..."
Chuckling, Ethan said, "Then I secretly Awakened my ability and started sneaking into your bed. We always cuddled, but you were never able to accept your feelings. That was so cute. Can't call me toxic for that."
She snorted.
"I wasn't the one who couldn't accept it. You were just too unmanly. Who makes their woman make the first move? You had like a hundred chances where I was entirely naked and sleeping beside you, yet you did nothing other than fondling my breast like some loser. Idiot!"
"What? Those were hints?" Ethan was genuinely surprised.
"What else did you think it was?"
"That you were genuinely too exhausted when I sneaked in…"
"Idiot. What woman sleeps naked knowing a man would come in later is she doesn't love him?"
A sweet silence roamed between them; time seemed slower, and the world seemed to fade, but suddenly, Ethan felt that faint feeling grow fainter again, and his expression changed slightly.
With a sigh, he said, "Let's go, Scar. I already stored all the important things we might need for a lifetime in my Dimensional Pocket, like first aid kits, snacks, menstrual pads for you, clothes, and anything we might need. So we need not wait anymore."
"It's a bit scary, all of a sudden…" Her heart thudded. She hugged him tightly.
With a deep look at the world around him, Ethan finally accepted the calling, and an immense spacial power wrapped around them.
They vanished like a mirage.
To another world?
They didn't know yet.
...
An hour later, an old man arrived on the roof and found a wallet lying there. Taking it, he found a note inside: "The hat's good, I'll take it, have the wallet back, and if you can, help the orphan kids I noted below. Sorry for your Daughter's inconvenience due to my wife's games.
"I have the documents for all my properties listed in the coordinates written below; there are also a lot of stolen goods there that you can have. I hope that is a good replacement. Bye!"
"Ps. Your Father."
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