"Thank you for helping me back there, Mister," Asmond said as he stood in front of his house and stared at Mykel who has been staring at his house with his hands in his pockets
"No need to mention that, I did it because I want to," Mykel said as he stared at Asmond in the eyes.
"Oh, I can't give much but I can give you these as gratitude for helping me," Asmond said as he offered him instant noodles and instant coffee. Mykel just looked at it and furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you since you look like a person with a lot of money. You must be disgusted because of this cheap stuff," Asmond continued as he put them back in the grocery bag.
Mykel accidentally showed his disgusted expression not because of the thing Asmond offered but because of Asmond's kindness and naivety, and then immediately raised his eyebrows and looked at Asmond with a smile. "Oh, I'm kind of hungry so why don't you make it for me?" he said.
"Really?!" Asmond is surprised. "Then I will make it right away, so please come in!" he continued with a smile on his face and then he hurriedly unlock the front door of his house.
Mykel entered Asmond's house and how messy the room was made him shake his head with disbelief. Asmond just realized how messy his house was and immediately tried to clean some of them so it looked a bit better.
"Please have seat, Mister...?" Asmond said as he looked at Mykel since he didn't know Mykel's name.
"Just call me Mykel," Mykel said as he sat down at the dining table.
"My name is Asmond, you can call me Asmond," Asmond replied as he unpacked the grocery. "I will make the best noodle for you, just wait," he continued as he hurriedly filled the pot with water and put it on the stove.
Mykel didn't reply since he was busy checking the house and the interior of the house.
While Asmond was busy preparing the ingredients, Mykel grabbed his cigarette and lit it up without even asking for Asmond's permission. Asmond turned around since he smelled a cigarette but he didn't care about it since Mykel helped him earlier.
The door was unlocked and the two of them looked at the corner to the front door. "I'm here, what are you cooking, Asmond?" A woman's voice could be heard. "Holy shit, your house is so messy! I told you to clean it up at least twice a week!" the woman continued as she raised her voice to scold Asmond.
Mykel knew who that woman was and so he didn't bother and just kept smoking his cigarette and put the ashes in the glass of water.
"Hey, are you even listening to me?" A short-haired woman with light brown hair said as she walked out of the corner. As soon as she looked to her right, he saw Mykel staring at her with his left hand in front of his mouth with a cigarette in between his finger. "Oh... you have a guest..." The woman continued and immediately felt embarrassed.
"Yeah, he's Mykel, he helped me earlier," Asmond said as he looked at the woman.
The woman hummed as she stared at Mykel and couldn't stop staring at him.
"She's my childhood friend, her name is Jeanne," Asmond said as he looked at Mykel.
"Hello, my name is Jeanne," Jeanne waved at Mykel shyly.
Mykel just smiled and nodded at her.
Jeanne quietly walked past Mykel and then went to the kitchen, she grabbed Asmond's shirt from behind and dragged him to the living room. Mykel just watched them and smirked as he kept smoking his cigarette.
"What the hell happened to your face?!" Jeanne said loudly as she just noticed the bruises on his face.
"Shh!" Asmond put his hand on Jeanne's mouth.
Jeanne Dvar the female lead of the story and one of the companions that fought by Asmond's side until the end of the story. Jeanne was Asmond's lover and they ended up together at the end of the story even though she had been showing her love interest to him ever since the story began.
Jeanne became an Awakener half a year earlier than Asmond, and she achieved a lot of things on her own. After knowing that Asmond became an Awakener, she decided to follow him even though she was one of the Awakeners that could single-handedly defeat a ranked demon.
Mykel opened the command system and checked on Jeanne.
[NAME: Jeanne Dvar]
[LEVEL: 1]
[AFFINITY: GOOD-NATURED]
[BENEFACTOR(S): NONE]
[SKILL(S): MAVERICK (Lv.1)]
[Maverick (Passive): Allow the User to progress rapidly as long as they do everything on their own. (Current skill is 1. Increase EXP gained by 100% and speed up the User's skill progression by 100%. Automatically activated when alone.)]
"The power of the female lead," Mykel said under his breath.
Jeanne peeked her head and saw Mykel staring at the table with a cigarette in his hand. "So, is he an Awakener?" she asked quietly as she turned her head to look at Asmond.
"I don't know, why do you ask?" Asmond replied as he tried to peek at Mykel.
"He looked like an Awakener, a strong one as well," Jeanne said as she kept staring at Mykel.
Asmond hummed with understanding but then he heard water boiling. "Oh shit, my noodles!" he said as he ran back to the kitchen.
Mykel looked at Jeanne and he tilted his head while he raised his eyebrow. "Why are you just standing there? Join me here," he said as he put off the cigarette.
Jeanne smiled and nodded shyly then she sat down in front of Mykel. Mykel could tell that Jeanne was too shy to look at him and it made her feel uncomfortable.
"So, how long have you guys been together?" Mykel jokingly asked.
Both of them immediately looked at Mykel and both of them were denying his words while they were panicking. Mykel chuckled softly as he crossed his arms and then he looks at Jeanne and smirked at her. "I'm just messing with you guys,"
"So, Mykel, are you an Awakener? Jeanne was asking that to me and I'm also curious about that," Asmond said as he put the noodles in the bowl.
"Oh?" Mykel said as he looked at Jeanne. "What do you think? Do I look like an Awakener to you?" he asked as he raised his eyebrow.
Jeanne shyly stared at Mykel. "I think you're an Awakener, and a strong one as well," she answered.
Mykel slightly smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm an Awakener but I'm not sure if I'm a strong one,"
"Wow? Really?" Asmond asked as he brought the bowl of noodles onto the table and gave it to Mykel. "I have been dreaming to become an Awakener myself, but I don't think I can be one knowing how weak I am," he continued as he showed his sour smile to Jeanne.
Mykel ate the noodles as he observed those two and Jeanne suddenly hid her face. The reason why was that Jeanne didn't want to tell Asmond that she just awakened because she didn't want to make him jealous or sad. She hid that for quite a long time and revealed it later in the future after Asmond became an Awakener.
"Nobody knows, Asmond. Everyone could be an Awakener and all you have to do is just keep believing," Mykel said as he ate the noodles.
"Yeah! He's right, Asmond! Don't lose hope! You're still young and we have seen people older than us just awakened," Jeanne said as she tried to cheer him.
Asmond nodded with understanding. "Yeah, I will keep believing and hope one day I awakened," he said with a smile on his face.
"I became an Awakener not that long ago, so don't worry because you might become one someday," Mykel said as he put the chopsticks in the bowl. "Anyway, thank you for the food, I should get going now since I have other business to do," he continued as he stood up.
"Eh? You're leaving already?" Asmond asked and looked at Mykel with disbelief.
"Yes, I'm quite busy so I have to go now," Mykel answered then left.
Jeanne looked at Asmond and raised her eyebrows. "Hey, can you make me one as well? I'm starving," she said.
"Okay, I'm also planning to make another one for myself," Asmond said as he grabbed the empty bowl and put it in the sink.
"I will be right back!" Jeanne said as she stood up and walked to the front door while Asmond just looked at her as he prepared the ingredients.
Jeanne left the house and saw Mykel was still in front of the house as he lit his cigarette. "Hi," she said as she walked down the stairs.
"Yes? Is there anything you need from me, Jeanne?" Mykel asked as he smoked his cigarette.
"Are you going to the other district to fight the demons?" Jeanne asked nervously.
Mykel gently smiled at her. "No, I have something else to do," he answered and Jeanne just nodded her head slowly. "Why didn't you tell him that you have awakened, Jeanne?" he continued as he put his left hand in his pocket.
Jeanne was surprised when Mykel know that she awakened. "How did you know?"
"I could tell by your expression from earlier," Mykel answered. "You didn't want to make him sad, isn't it?" he continued as he smiled at her.
Jeanne smiled and started to blush while she was nodding. "Yeah, I don't know how to tell him," she answered as she hid her face.
"Then don't," Mykel said and that made Jeanne a bit surprised. "If you think that it's not the right thing to do then don't, but that doesn't mean you can't start working your way up since you have awakened and the people need us," he continued as he put the butt of the cigarette on the floor and stepped on it.
Mykel looked at Jeanne who seemed to be a bit in dilemma. "How about this, I will help you progress?" he said. "You don't have to give me the answer now, but if you want, you can contact me. How's that?" he continued as he tilted his head and stared at Jeanne.
"Okay," Jeanne nodded in agreement.
"Here's my contact, and just call me if you're interested," Mykel said as he gave her his phone number.
"I will contact you," Jeanne said as she put her phone in her pocket.
Mykel just nodded and smile at her then he left.
"Everything in this world belongs to me, and that includes her," Mykel said as he lit his cigarette and walked on the sidewalk. "I can't wait to see your expression, Asmond," he continued with a smirk on his face.