"How was it meeting him in person? I heard that a single look from Taker could have anyone dropping their underwear as if it was on fire!"
'Are we talking about the same thug-like bastard that bullied and robbed us? ' Jikad wondered.
"That his smile could make even the coldest of hearts race as fast as wild horses and punch the air out of their lungs leaving them gasping for breaths."
"Out of fear maybe-"
"Is it true? Did your heart strings get tugged by the notorious bad boy?You know we first level blooms don't usually get to meet with regular customers let alone Taker! The ultimate VVIP!!"
"If he's so high class why was he robbing poor-"
"Wooow! I'm so jealous right now. Tell me all about it Jikad and don't leave out any details! What did he say? How did he say it? Did you get weak in the knees??"
"oh I got weak in the knees alright." Jikad scoffed as he remembered being forced to drop to his knees on that dirty rough street.
"That Taker guy is an asshole. He made us kneel and grovel because we didn't have money for him to steal-"
"He spoke to you?!?" Glory's eyes twinkled like stars as he gazed admiringly at Jikad.
"Did you hear the part where I said that he forced us to apologize and then proceeded to traffick us into this-"
Glory was no longer listening to Jikad. His eyes seemed to widen in shocking realization. His jaw hang open as if it had been unhinged. His grip on Jikad's shoulders tightened almost painfully.
"Woah! You were scouted by Taker himself?" That was a strange way to interpret human trafficking.
"Hello? I said we were trafficked! illegally trafficked-" Jikad waved his hands frantically Infront of a dazed Glory.
"I new you guys were on another level but being spotted by Taker himself?! Not even the second level blooms have had the chance to see let alone speak to him." Glory clammed a hand over his mouth in awe.
Jikad had given up on having a conversation with Glory. It seemed like everything Jikad said flew right above his head. At least he'd discovered that the bandit leader - Taker was not the patron.
Glory looked as giddy as a child after drinking coffee for the first time. He looked awestruck and excited at the same time.
"Does this mean that you guys are on the same level as the stars? I mean it makes sense with how gorgeous you both are." Glory was mumbling to himself his thoughts racing wild.
'I didn't give it much thought at first,but are these lookers the really going to be new stars of the lotus cave? But what will happen to the power hireachy of our three stars that has gone undisputed for the last five years? First level blooms becoming stars after immediately entering the lotus cave?! That's unheard-of!! I'm sure the current stars won't just sit back and allow the new bombshells to just swipe away the spot light from them. No they won't allow it! The power and attention they have held on to for such a long time to be stolen from right under their noses? and by newcomers no less?!This might cause a riot an uproar! No this is going to be a full on war! THIS IS GOING TO BE WAR!!-'
"-Huh?"
Glory suddenly froze as he felt a warm liquid trickling down his nose.
"What the heck? you're nosebleeding!" Jikad exclaimed.
"Oh it's fine." Glory flashed them a smile wiping his bloody nose with the back of his hand. He then added in a dismissing tone
"This usually happens when I'm overstimulated hehe" He giggled.
'Just what the hell could you have been thinking about so hard to have a nosebleed?' Jikad wondered incredulously.
He reached for one of the towels on the rack. He tried to hand it to Glory buthe refused.
"No no it's fine" He smiled sheepishly " This happens all the tim-"
*Thud.
Jikad and Garam stared at Glory's collapsed body on the floor. Jikad leaned down lightly shaking him.
"Erm,Glory?"
There was no response.
'Is he dead?' Jikad leaned down towards his face and confirmed that Glory was still breathing.
He sighed in relief and turned to Garam.
"Help me get him out of here."
The bathhouse was humid from the thick steam of the large pools so it was not the ideal place to have a passed out person. To think that someone would have a nosebleed and pass out just from thinking? It was another reminder to Jikad that he had infact not seen all that there was to see in this place.
They laid him on the top stair outside the bathhouse after closing the huge wooden door.
"Haaa!" Jikad groaned in exhaustion.
'He's heavier than he looks'
He thought glancing at the fainted Glory. Sitting at the lower step Garam joined him and together they say there in silence.
'What do we do now ' Jikad wondered staring ahead.This would be a good time to scout the area for potential escape routes but it didn't feel right to abandon a fainted person.
Jikad consoled himself that they would probably have a lot of opportunities to look around. From what he had gathered from Glory, the first level blooms weren't paid as much attention as like the other levels. As long as they lay low for a while they would eventually find a way to leave this place.
He glanced at Garam. His brown eyes were focused at the roof of the underground city.His posture was nothing unusual nor was he having a particular expression on his face. Even without seeing his full face, his side profile alone looked gorgeous.
'Laying low is going to be a problem' Jikad concluded as he looked at the effortlessly beautiful boy next to him. Garam's face would definitely attract a lot of attention. That was not good.
But that was a problem for another time. Jikad was very exhausted.So far he hadn't had a moment of rest ever since he appeared in this strange world. Not to mention he had been walking around the capital with his hands tied up.
His feet hurt from walking over rough cobblestone on thin sandles. His hands hurt from being tied up and the fall he had at Purgatory. His knees and calves hurt from climbing never ending flights of stairs.
His eyes hurt from how much crying he had been doing ever since he got here.His stomach hurt from all the times it had been churning in anxiety and hunger.His head hurt... he wasn't really sure why. Even his but hurt,put simply his entire body was aching.
The air around them was still without a breeze. It made sense since they were underground after all. The lotus cave was so brightly illuminated that one might easily forget that it was a few miles beneath the ground.
Jikad could hardly figure out what time of day it was. According to Garam,he had be passed out for half a day since they left the check tent at the capital entrance. The sun had been at it's apex as they rode the cart to the business district.Assuming that he had been walking around tied up for three hours then it was probably evening then.
At least that's what Jikad thought. He felt a migraine weaving itself from the back of his head making him wince in pain.
" urgh"
Jikad closed his eyes shaking away the thoughts that clouded his mind. He massaged his temple trying to sooth the oncoming headache. If he was in his previous world, a simple pain killer tablet would have done the job.
He sighed and decided to remain like that, with his eyes closed even though he was not asleep.That was probably the most peaceful he had felt ever since he entered this strange world.
"AAAARGH! THIS MEANS WAR!!!"
Glory suddenly sat up shrieking loud enough to permanently damage someone's ear drums.
"HAAAAAGH! JESUS !! WHAT THE FUCK!!" Jikad who had jumped nearly five feet in the air clutched his chest in shock. His heart was beating so loudly as if it would burst through his ribs.
Glory was taking loud and long breaths of air like he'd ran a marathon. His red hair was damp with sweat and his eyes were wide in shock.
"Huh? where am I ?" He asked suddenly taking note of his sorrounding.
"What the fuck was that!" Jikad yelled standing (hiding) behind
Garam who was also on his feet.
"oh my goodness! I guess I fainted again ~tihihi~silly me" Glory giggled scratching his head sheepishly dragging his feet to the bottom stair.
The look on Jikad's face was priceless. He was already aware that everyone in this world was a nut job but it still caught him off guard at times like this.
Finally calming down his thrumming heart Jikad felt a sharp pain sprouting from his feet. He had jumped away instinctively but now that the adrenaline had worn off,the aftermath was catching up to him.
"Urgh!" He winced as he limped towards the stairs again.
"Are you alright?" Glory asked noticing Jikad's pain.
"What do you think? " Jikad retorted.
"oh! Let's go to the dorms so you can rest. I was going to take you two there initially but I forgot."
Glory seemingly oblivious to Jikad's glare swung his arm around Jikad's waist to help support him.
Garam held on to Jikad's other side and together they all headed towards the lotus dorms.
Jikad was surprised to see an array of beds aligned next to each other in a large hall. There were two rows of beds arranged such that each bed was against the wall and a path at the centre.
There were about twenty of them and each bed had a pink cover and a single pillow.
Leading him to the furthest bed in the corner, they helped Jikad sit on it.
They were on the first floor of this building.
"Are all the other floors like this?" Jikad asked glancing around.
"Of course not " Glory said as he sat on the next bed facing Jikad.
"The other floors are divided into rooms." He started counting his fingers.
"Those on the second floor are second level blooms and they each share a room among three people.Third level blooms are on the third floor and each one of them has their own room."
"Well that sounds fair" Jikad remarked sarcastically.
"You haven't even heard about the fourth floor." Glory chuckled.
"Is that where these 'stars' are staying ?" Jikad guessed.
"Yap," Glory's eyes shimmered as he explained," and get this, each one of them even has a bath in their room. Not only that but they get to bathe with perfumed soap too!"
An awkward silence settled in the hall. Glory didn't receive the reaction he'd expected. 'Hmm,maybe they didn't hear me.' Glory thought and decided to repeat.
"I said they bathe in their own rooms with perfumed soaps!"
You could almost hear a cricket sound in the corner.
Glory tilted his head to the side confused by their reaction-or lack of it thereof. Normally anyone who heard that would jump up in shock and would argue that it was impossible. For a commoner to have a bath in their own house was entirely unheard of and to top it all having scented soaps. Perfumed soaps were like a signature for the high and noble.
Suddenly an idea sparked in Glory's head and he gasped in realization.
"Do you guys not know what perfumed soap is? aww you poor things" His eyebrows furrowed in concern.
'They must have come from some serious poverty to not even now what it is. Then I guess it makes sense with how filthy they were.' Glory shook his head looking at their expressions.
Jikad looked severely unimpressed while Garam.....,Garam was just his usual self.
"I know what perfumed soaps are." Jikad said flatly raising an eyebrow," You're the one acting like you've never bathed in one."
Glory's jaw nearly reached the ground.
"You, you-" He stammered. He searched for a sign of jest in Jikad's face but there was none. He seemed to be genuinely wondering if Glory had never bathed in a perfumed soap. After all, where Jikad was from it was actually rarer to find someone who bathed in scentless soap.
"You have bathed in perfumed soap?"
"You haven't?" Jikad asked wondering, 'Just how backward is this place for even a simple scented perfume to be a thing to marvel about.'
Glory gasped before asking
"No way! Do you come from a well off family or some thing?"
'Well off?'Jikad wondered, ' If my father being the fourth richest man in the world counts as 'well off' then I guess you could say that.'