Regret…
It's a strong word.
Most people regret not studying hard enough for their exams or not saying goodbye to their dying loved ones. In fact, there were many times in my life where I'd harboured the exact same emotion…
And this current situation was one of them…
"Eeeekk!!!" A piercing shriek forced me to drop from my pull-up bar.
Every morning, I would exercise for an hour straight. It didn't matter if it rained, snowed, or burned. I would always work out for an hour just to begin my day. After all, I didn't develop my physique by lying down all day. It was a habit that I cultivated since university, and I had been doing it faithfully.
"D-Desir! W-Why are you naked?!"
"... I'm only half-naked."
I dryly coughed as I changed Althea's wording. I didn't want her to think that I spent all morning in my birthday suit.
"S-Still..."
"I'll cover-up, so give me a moment."
I took the towel from the rack and gently cleaned my sweat away. Looks like I would have to end my morning exercise prematurely today. Fortunately, Althea had entered my apartment during the tail end of my workout, so I was almost done anyway.
Althea covered her face as if she was trying to see no evil. But Althea… I don't think it works if you purposely leave gaps in your fingers. What's the point in covering your face if your eyes can still see?
Though, I was in no mood to chastise her, so I let it slide. I was still sweating profusely, and typically, I would take a few minutes to cool down. But with the appearance of a young girl, I went against my principles and wore a shirt to cover my upper torso.
Once I was fully clothed, I turned to the girl with a gentle cough: "So, what are you doing here this early?"
"... why were you naked?"
Althea ignored my question and shot back a mumble of her own. Looking at her, the girl's face was completely red. It felt like all of Althea's blood had rushed to her head, and it would burst at any given moment. Her eyes were sparkling, both in curiosity and expectation.
Was the stimulation of a man's body too much for her young soul? Hah… I'm seriously starting to regret my decision for giving her my password.
It looks like I have to answer her question first before I could get any answers from Althea.
"Whenever I work out at home, I prefer to be shirtless."
"... Why?"
"It's more comfortable that way," I replied with a smile. "Sweat sticks to clothes very easily, and I tend to sweat a lot. So whenever I work out, the shirt will just become more burdensome to wear. Also, since I work out every day, it would be wasteful to stain my shirts only for them to be washed again and again."
Ask any man in the world if they preferred to exercise with or without shirts, and they would say without for sure. Naturally, if I were exercising outside, I would have the common decency to wear a shirt. However, we were in the middle of a pandemic, for goodness sake! I could be forgiven for wanting to exercise butt-naked if I wanted to!
"That sounds… logical..."
Now that I was fully dressed, Althea began to calm down. I could see the wheels churning in her head as she contemplated the benefits of exercising shirtless. Though, she would often blush and shake her head as if to wipe out the memory of my naked body from her mind.
Did it really bother her that much?
"Sorry, if I knew you were coming, I would have worn something."
"N-No… It was my fault for coming over unannounced! I-I'm sorry for bothering your exercise session."
"No, it's no problem but, Althea... What are you doing here so early?"
It was barely eight in the morning. On any other day, Althea would enter my apartment an hour before lunch. Sometimes, she might even reach at ten o'clock to help buy groceries if I need to. Eight, on the other hand, was a completely different ballpark.
Althea knew that I skipped breakfast, so there shouldn't be any reason for her to come this early.
"I-I… wanted to borrow your oven."
"My oven?"
The girl fidgeted in place and lifted up the bag in her hands. "I wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies for you, but my house doesn't have an oven."
"Cookies? For me?"
I raised my brow with a confused cry. I knew full well how 'good' Althea's cooking skills were. The girl had just begun to work the grill, and now she wanted to jump straight into baking? No, has she ever baked before?
"Y-yeah..."
"Why?"
"Well… T-Today is Valentine's Day..."
"Huh?"
"E-Errmmm… Y-You, see! You've been helping me for so long, and I've yet to repay you! S-So, I'd thought that it would be a good idea to bake some cookies for you! Y-You know! As thanks!"
Ahhh, that makes sense. Was today really Valentine's Day? I'd never celebrated it, so it was never on my radar. Also, it's been a while since I've seen Althea stutter this much. Really brings me back to the good old times when she would ignore me and shuffle her feet shyly away.
Those were the days...
"If that's the case, feel free to use my oven. But I won't be able to give you any help today."
"H-Huh?"
"I have an important presentation later so I'll have to prepare for that. If you want, we can wait till night, and I'll help you bake the cookies?"
"There's no need for that!" Althea hurriedly argued.
"I-I want to make this myself! It's supposed to be a gift from me to you anyway! I've watched videos and learnt everything online in preparation for today too! So all you have to do is sit back and relax! I'll give you the best Valentine's cookies!"
This little lass…
I could feel my heart warm up after the girl's ardent statement. It felt nice to be appreciated, especially by a young beauty such as Althea.
"If you feel so strongly about it, I won't stop you," I replied with a bright smile as I headed towards the shower.
While I was worried about Althea's baking abilities, I really had a long day ahead. I couldn't spare extra time mentoring her in the basic task of operating an oven. Besides, baking wasn't all that difficult.
Unlike other cooking methods, as long as you followed the instructions faithfully, nine times out of ten, you would end up with a perfect product. Yes, there were some variations in personal preference or how hot your oven could reach.
But for the most part, baking relied more on precise measurements than feel.
So, there was no way that Althea could mess something like that up, right?
Ah… How naive I was…
"... I see you made the cookies extra chocolatey."
"..."
"... Smells crisp as well."
"..."
"... You know, it might not be too bad? I could use them to throw at our neighbours whenever they sing karaoke after ten?"
"I-I'm sorry!!!"
Unable to handle my witty remarks anymore, Althea bent her waist in a ninety-degree angle and bowed down to me like I was her guardian deity. Smiling, I picked up the black piece of rock and playfully tossed it up in the air.
"You know… You might have a talent, Althea. I've never seen someone turn cookies into charcoal in my life. I'd only thought it existed in cartoons."
"Hic… I didn't think that baking cookies could be this hard..."
The girl's shoulders shook as she turned her head back in shame. Her snow-white complexion completely turned red, and her eyes were glued to the floor. Althea gently moved her feet back as if she were a husky that did something wrong and was begging for its owner's forgiveness.
Hah… What an honest, adorable child…
I guess I've teased her enough.
I placed my palms over her small, silky head and lightly brushed my fingers down her hair. Knowing that I wasn't going to blame her, Althea finally raised her face and interlocked her gaze with mine. Those emerald crystals of hers started to water up slightly as she tilted her head to feel the warmth of my fingers.
… She really behaves like a cat sometimes.
"Ah..."
I pulled my hands away, causing her to utter a soft plea. Were my hands really that comfortable? As random thoughts filled my head, I replied as tenderly as I could: "Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything. Come, I'll teach you how to bake cookies the right way."
"Aren't you busy?"
"Hehe, I just so happen to be on break!" I slapped my chest with a jubilant reply. "Also, baking cookies doesn't take long. Come, I'll teach you how to make charcoal the right way!"
"H-Hey! I didn't mean to do it!"
"And that's a skill in itself."
"Y-You..."
Althea stamped her feet and pouted angrily after I reverted back to my teasing ways. Seriously… How can you behave that adorably? It only makes me want to tease you more!