Chapter 8 The Boundary
Liam POV
The room was full of tension. I was pacing back and forth. My heart was beating fast against my chest. I could not stop thinking about what had just happened. I looked at Elena with anger. She stood in the corner. She looked curious and innocent. She did not seem to care that she had just ruined my privacy.
"I did not see anything in detail," she said, her voice infuriatingly steady.
"Not… in detail?" I repeated, my voice cracking under the weight of my frustration. "Elena, what do you mean not in detail?!"
She pouted, her brow furrowing in genuine annoyance. "You did not tell me there were things I was not supposed to see. That is not fair."
"Not fair?" I felt like I was losing my mind, pointing at myself, incredulous. "If I were to walk into the bathroom while you were bathing, would that be considered 'fair'?"
"Yes," she replied instantly.
"You’re a pervert!" I shouted, the sound echoing off the bare walls.
She didn’t flinch. Instead, her eyes tracked down to my chest. I realized what she was doing and instinctively crossed my arms, shielding myself. "Hey! What are you looking at?!"
"You have it too," she said, her tone matter-of-fact. "The six-pack. The one I saw in the dramas." She looked at me, her eyes widening with a sudden, whimsical thought. "I want to see it again."
That was the breaking point. I grabbed the towel from my shoulder, blinded by sheer frustration, and whipped it toward her—
Smack.
The wet towel hit something much softer than a wall.
Grandma stood in the doorway, the towel draped over her face. She peeled it off, her eyes wide with shock, and delivered a stinging hit to my arm. "What is wrong with you?!"
"Grandma, it’s not my fault!" I pointed an accusing finger at Elena. "She walked into the bathroom while I was bathing!"
Grandma gasped, looking at Elena with a mix of scolding and pity. "Oh, child… you must not look at where people are bathing!"
Elena sighed, looking back at me with a bored expression. "Fine. I will not look at his body again."
"Again?!" I sputtered. "You are the most annoying person I have ever met."
I ran a hand through my damp hair, trying to regain some shred of dignity. The heat of the argument cooled, replaced by the crushing reality of what had led to this day. “I’m getting transferred tomorrow,” I said, my voice dropping.
Grandma blinked, her expression softening. “No, no, you don’t need to do that. I will go and beg that student's mother myself.”
“Don’t,” I said, cutting her off before she could start. “i am already done with the transfer process there is nothing again to beg her for.”
"Liam," Grandma said, her voice dropping to a serious, low tone. "I came in here to tell you to take Elena to the boutique in the city center. Get her some modern clothes that actually suit her. These old things I gave her, they just don't do her any justice."
I opened my mouth to argue, but the look in Grandma's eyes silenced me.
"Go," she commanded. "Now."
I opened my mouth to argue, but the look in Grandma's eyes silenced me. She was right. The sight of Elena in those rags was a constant, gnawing reminder that she didn't fit, and it made every interaction feel like a ticking time bomb of questions I couldn't answer.
The bell above the boutique door chimed as I pulled Elena inside. I didn't care about style; I just want her to have some clothes apart from the only one she came with. I needed her to look like any other girl, someone so unremarkable that she would slide past people's notice without a second glance. I began grabbing items, jeans, sweaters, blouses, thrusting them into her arms, trying to find anything that would make her look like a normal, contemporary human being.
"Try this," I said, handing her a sleek, navy blue dress.
She held it up like an alien relic. "It is too short. It will expose my legs to the wind. I do not like it."
"It's not about what you like," I snapped, my patience thinning to a razor's edge. "It's about not standing out."
The next hour was a complete disaster. I began grabbing items jeans, sweaters, blouses, thrusting them into her arms, trying to find anything that would make her look like a normal rather than that clothes she came with
I grabbed my own pre-selected sclhool uniform and stomped into the dressing room, leaving her to her own devices.
I stepped out a few minutes later, adjusted the collar of my new uniform, and checked my reflection. It was clean, sharp, the "model student" look I needed to keep the school board off my back.
"It looks... okay," I muttered to the mirror.
"It looks perfect," a voice whispered right behind me.
I spun around. Elena was there, her eyes wide, her hands already reaching out to trace the fabric across my chest and shoulders. She didn't have the typical human sense of personal space; she touched the lapels, the buttons, and the tie, her expression full of genuine wonder.
"You look like a guardian," she said, her smile soft. "The fabric makes you look stronger."
"Get off me!" I pushed her hands away, my face heating up again. I glanced at the shop assistant, who was watching us with a knowing smirk.
"Your girlfriend is very cute," the woman commented.
"She is not my girlfriend!" I barked, pushing Elena away from my side as if she were made of fire. "Stop touching me!"
Elena didn't seem offended; she just wandered off, her eyes catching on a display in the back. She pointed at a simple, elegant white dress with a soft ribbon detail. "I like that one. Can I have that?"
"No," I said instantly, checking the price tag. "It’s too expensive. Pick something else."
She pouted, her lower lip trembling just slightly. She looked at me, then at the dress, and then back at me with those wide, angelic eyes. "Please? I will not complain about your clothes anymore."
I groaned. I knew I was losing the battle.
"Fine. Just go. Go try it on."
She disappeared into the changing room. I leaned against the wall, checking my watch, ready to complain about how long this was taking. Then, the curtain pulled back.
I froze.
The air in the store seemed to vanish. She looked different,not just because of the clothes, but because she finally looked like she belonged in this world. The white dress hugged her frame perfectly, making her look elegant, fragile, and absolutely stunning.
My tongue went heavy. I couldn't find a single word to say. I just stared, completely and utterly speechless.
"Is it... not fair?" she asked, tilting her head.
I couldn't even look at the shop assistant. I just grabbed my wallet and walked toward the counter, my heart beating twice as fast as it had before.