The smell of chicken soup wafted up to the bathroom, attracting Lorelei's attention, who was in the middle of her 10-step Korean skincare when the irresistibly smell of chicken broth made her tummy rumble. The sound of her stomach echoed across the bathroom, so she hurriedly tried to finish off the last step of her skincare routine before going out.
Cain, on the other hand, was muttering curses under his breath, as he stirred the pot of chicken soup begrudgingly, trying to get Lorelei's attention through her sense of smell (apparently, the girl seems to be deaf as hell). He had been banging on the bathroom door for minutes on end to get her attention to no avail. And as the quiet apartment room was softly echoing the tick of the clock with every minute along with the gushing of the shower, Cain was increasingly getting more agitated, realizing how much his water bill would go through the roof.
If it wasn't for the off-tune cover of Frozen's Let It Go, he would've assumed she died then and there.
It has barely been a day and his new roommate is already getting on his nerves. Unlike the cool-headed and emotionless Cain, Lorelei was expressive and a tad bit much, and the two clashed like oil and water.
The sound of the bathroom door creaked a few minutes later and out came Lorelei draped in shapeless clothing, dressed up in a big sweater and elementary basketball shorts, which was two sizes big. Her hair was tied up in Cain's towel (the audacity), and she donned a charcoal face mask, trying to match it with the sweater she is wearing. According to her, even at home, or should we say in others home, you should still be color-coordinated.
"Is it dinner time?" She walked towards Cain, tiptoeing to see inside the chicken pot, rehearsing her thank you's in her head.
Aiden shot her a death glare. "This isn't for you."
"I think what you're cooking is good for two. No, even three-"
"You do have quite the audacity to hog MY own bathroom from me, and not only that, you spent a whole hour inside with the shower on nonstop. Did you even think how much the water bill would go up? I have been calling for you, and not only are you deaf, you're extremely off-tune as well." Lorelei blushed in embarrassment. "Go cook yourself. I have some things on the fridge if you like."
Lorelei pouted in response, and as Cain finished off putting the chicken soup inside his bowl and turned his back on her as he walked towards the sofa, she instantly stuck out her tongue towards his direction in a sassy manner. She marched towards where the fridge is to let him know how much pissed off she was and found a half-eaten chocolate bar out of the things she had rummaged inside. Although that doesn't sound like an appetizing dinner, that was the only thing she ever liked in the vast array of delicious moldy food.
She plopped down on the sofa beside Cain, who was boringly finding a good channel to watch. "Thanks for the dinner!" Lorelei smiled sarcastically. "Best dinner I had in a while."
Cain muttered a thanks in response, not even looking at her as he was too busy pressing the remote and eating his hot chicken soup. Even from the smell of it, Lorelei could almost feel herself watering and her saliva dripping as the smell of chicken and potatoes tickled her nostrils. If only she wasn't a Grim Reaper, she could just stab the guy to death and steal his chicken soup...
Unlike him, all she had for dinner was chocolate that was half-eaten. With almonds. And prunes. With the expiry date not visible anymore. She sighed and side-eyed Cain to see his reaction. If the guy has a smidge of kindness to give her a place to stay for the mean time, SURELY he has the kindness to feel a pang of guilt when a beautiful maiden in need of chicken soup is hungry, right?
Wrong.
He sat there motionless, as if the fucker hadn't heard a thing.
She sighed again. This time, a bit louder.
No response.
Yet again, she sighed. This time, near his ears.
Cain rubbed his ears in frustration but did not budge. He had even tried to mess with her by sipping loudly. "Mmm, yummy." He smirked, seeing from his peripheral vision that he had left her agape, in a perpetual state of shock.
Lorelei has had enough. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. For a few seconds, Cain thought he had won. However, not just a second had passed, Lorelei opened her mouth. However, instead of a sigh, she screamed from the top of her lungs.
In shock, his mind shut down for a few moments, before he hurriedly set aside his bowl and covered Lorelei's mouth.
"What the fuck are you doing?" He hissed.
At that moment, she snatched the bowl from the table and stopped screaming. She laughed as she reveled in her victory. "Bow down to me mortal!" She giggled, however her victory was cut short as she looked down on the bowl.
There was nothing left.
"1-0." Cain smirked.
"You asshole! So ungentlemanly!" She threw aside the bowl and started hitting his shoulders in swift motions with her fist.
He rolled his eyes. "Dimwit." He grabbed her fist and she squirmed against his grip, and he leaned closer to her. "You almost broke my bowl, dummy."
She looked at him in shock. "THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT? YOUR BOWL? THAT ALMOST BROKE? INSTEAD OF YOUR ESTEEMED GUEST? I'M FUCKING HUNGRY AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN LEAVE SOME FOR ME! I'M NOT EATING THAT CHOCOLATE, I COULD BREAK OUT FROM THE ALMONDS, YOU KNOW HOW SENSITIVE MY SKIN IS? SHOULDN'T I DESERVE AT LEAST A BOWL? I'M CALLING THE POLICE ON YOU, YOU ASSHOLE, FOR STARVING A POOR, INNOCENT, PRETTY, GORGEOUS GIRL!!! THAT WAS WORTH-"
Cain covered his ears in response and shushed her. "You're being too loud."
"ME? LOUD? I DESERVE NUTRIENTS!"
He smiled slightly and squeezed her cheeks. "Ow! Hey, what the hell are you-"
"Making you shut your mouth." He shoved the half-eaten chocolate in her mouth, and as she was, yet again, about to complain about her injustice, Cain cut her off. "That has prunes, which are fruits. Nuts are healthy as well. So is cocoa."
Just then, there was a knock on the door, which prompted Cain to stand up. He walked towards the door and silently, he squatted until he was eye-level with the peephole. Once he noticed the person outside, he sighed. Lorelei, who was muttering curses, stopped and peered curiously towards the door.
Cain opened the door to a man in his late-sixties with sagging cheeks and a receding hairline. He wore suspenders and a hideous floral-printed collared shirt, and was probably having a sour mood as he looked at Aiden up-and-down and scanned the inside of the apartment where he noticed Lorelei, whom he had also looked at the same way.
"Good evening, sir Villeza. To what do I owe the pleasure of finally being recognized as a tenant in the building?"
Villeza, the landlord, did not take his eyes off of Lorelei and she clutched a pillow near her to ease the awkwardness. "Good evening, sir." She called out sheepishly.
"I see you have found yourself a girlfriend." Lorelei pursed her lips in embarrassment as the landlord heed her no mind.
"Just a visitor for the meantime."
"A visitor, you say? Well, the Peters family a floor below you are complaining of screams and rocking of floors and, uh, I hate to say this, but furniture." Lorelei turned red. Surely they hadn't thought the two of them did something... dirty, did they? "If you two can do it moderately-"
"All for chicken soup." Cain answered.
"Pardon?"
"She was screaming just for chicken soup."
"Ah, I see." Villeza looked at Lorelei and she bowed and did a peace sign, a symbol of her sorry. He looked at her in disgust, to which she was left shocked and almost rushed over to at least punch him to the afterworld, if she hadn't noticed Cain side-eyeing her. "Well, if that's the case, I think Mr. Adela, as a tenant, you should be responsible for introducing your guest to our building's rules. And I believe the girl should know herself how to act like a woman? Especially with a face like that, it'd be a waste. That is all I have to say. Good night."
Cain nodded and closed the front door. He noticed Lorelei's knuckles getting white from the sheer force of her trying to control her temper.
"The hell he means by 'acting like a woman'? Aren't I one?"
"To them you aren't." He snickered. "Loosen your grip will you. You might self-combust if you lose your cool. Despite you lacking in the strength department, one punch to him and you'd personally deliver his soul to the afterlife."
"All I wanted was just chicken soup..."
"Then use your eyes, dummy. There's leftover from the pot. Of course, I know you can't peer over the pot to realize there's worth a bowl there, but jeez did I underestimate how much you do shit without thinking things over."
"There's chicken soup?" She smiled and rushed to the kitchen, where she grabbed a few books to use as a stool and pour herself some delicious dinner. "Ah, real dinner!"
Cain sighed and rolled his eyes. All for chicken soup...