░9░ Ellie ~ The Bird ~

'It would've been great if you two are just friends, alright?'

'It would've been great if you two are just friends, alright?'

'It would've been great if you two are just friends, alright?'

Words that Selby said earlier kept playing in Iris' mind like a broken record. Those words made her blush and started daydreaming for a second – even after Selby had already left the shop.

Damon, on the other hand, shrugged the thought while laughing inwardly. He’s trying to avoid angering Iris again by controlling his laugh. He had known that she’s somewhat short tempered after all just by knowing him by the day.

He realized with that thought how Iris can make different expressions on Damon’s feelings. Everything she does was unexpected to him. Then to go back on what must be done, Damon hardly patted her back to bring her to reality. After doing so, Iris glared at Damon. She expresses how shocked and mad she was for what he’s done. It only made her back ached for a second. As soon as she touched it, she suddenly felt the pain creating an angry sound

"Ouch! EL!!!" Iris blurted those words. Then Damon’s eyes went wide – thinking he had patted her back hard enough because of his sword training. So he was finding a way to run from her but she’s way faster than him. It only gained Iris a surprise look from him as she grabbed his sleeves – before walking away from her.

"Don't think you could run away from me. Not after doing something absurd earlier, El!" Iris exclaimed making her do the same thing that Damon did earlier. If it weren't for Damon smiling and laughing afterward, the she wouldn’t stopped her tracks

"Relax Iris, I just did that because you seemed pre-occupied. Besides, Selby already left earlier but you still looked like he's in front of you. Note, don't take it into your heart about what he said earlier. Unless you don't like us to be friends," Damon explained - long enough for Iris to let go of her grip from his sleeves

"Fine. You won, I was just surprised, it's not like I don't want us to be friends it's just ------ never mind! Let's just clean for today, I know you'll be officially starting your job as a baker tomorrow. So just help me clean will yah?!" Iris said being embarrassed at what she heard from Damon's mouth. She was about to admit something else but immediately changed the topic

'I was about to say that I like him already at first sight! And I'm sure that'll creep the hell out of him. He will eventually avoid me knowing of that, oh gosh!'

With that thought, she suddenly shrugged her shoulders and walked ahead of Damon. Yet, he was laughing hard for what she said. So she immediately went into the kitchen and clean. Though, she suddenly remembered the wounded bird. There she searched for a box and white cloth to find at a small cabinet on the kitchen ‘baker’s area’

"Poor little bird, let me aid you first," she said while gently taking the bird out of her pocket. Then proceeded to aid the wounded wings it had. After doing so, she suddenly put a gentle blow at the sleeping bird

‘There she’s fully aided’

She placed the little bird in a cool and comfortable place. She placed it in the box with a white cloth for it to sleep. Then she proceeded to display the clothed box at the kitchen’s table

Afterward, she left and went into the cleaning room. She takes the cleaning materials to clean the bakeshop. She had already removed the brown coat that Damon gave her earlier. She had put it beside the little bird as she went into the cleaning room earlier. There, she put on the gloves, and cleaning apron as well as tying a white cloth on her hair. She was covering it enough to hide its magnificent color

After doing so, she walked into their previous place only to see Damon still laughing so hard. His hands were on his stomach as he patted the table near beside him - wiping his tears of joy. That scene made Iris want to come near him and slapped him hard. She wanted to slap him hard enough with the cleaning materials she had but then again she had stop her tracks. She stopped her tracks as she observed how Damon is gorgeous even when laughing

The way he touched his stomach was a handsome gesture for her. Looking at the rays of the sun striking his figure inside the bakeshop, only illuminates his flaming red hair, gorgeous pale skin, and face.

'If it weren't for the clothes that he’s wearing and for the way he talked - as well as the way he showed his skills earlier for making the dough - I would've been probably convinced that he's noble in commoner’s disguise'

With that thought, she sighed having so much patience in one day for the same guy who keeps annoying her. Yet, it only made her curious at the end about his life. After seeing that Damon had calmed down from laughing, she immediately went near him. She handed him the cleaning materials. Damon, in response, just looked at Iris who was looking seriously at him. That made him control his building laugh again - remembering the way she talked and acted earlier

"Be grateful that I have a lot of patience for you today, if not I had already slapped you using these things," Iris said seriously glaring at him making Damon calm himself. Then he was closing his eyes for second breathing calmly. He was fixing his position and posture as he took the materials from Iris. He wore the apron as well as gloves. Then he proceeded to the place they'll be cleaning. Immediately, he went to wipe the tables near him as he stood the map beside the table for cleaning the floor later

Upon seeing the sudden change of Damon's behavior, Iris suddenly smiled. Her imagination of the 'what ifs' for him meeting her family one day and her knowing everything about him made her anticipate the future - beamingly. It makes her more eager and curious to learn more about Damon - not minding that the name 'El' was just his fake identity as a commoner

A few seconds later, the two of them cleaned the bakeshop. No dirty spot was left from their way they clean. Damon was too focused on the task making Iris do the same until they both cleaned all what they were about to clean. Then, afterward they fell to the ground breathing hard being exhausted for the whole afternoon

That gesture made them laugh hard enough. Then they started looking at each other's eyes seeing how dirty their faces and clothes were from cleaning too hard. Later on, Damon first calmed down as he looked up the ceiling while still lying on the floor that they cleaned earlier

'What if I was never born as a noble, to begin with, will I be able to experience such happiness like this one?'

Damon deeply thought while still looking above. Though, suddenly he was making a face on Iris - who was now patting his stomach. Then making him making felt pained all of a sudden

"Don't think too deep enough, El. It's making your ugly face look even uglier," Iris said teasing the guy who was now holding his stomach like earlier - but not because of laughing – it’s because of what Iris did in return for patting her back earlier

Even though Damon wanted to glare at her, he couldn’t. He respected her well enough to just sigh after gently caressing his stomach

"I'm not thinking deep Iris and you're the first one to say I'm ugly, huh. Is this guy right beside you that ugly?" Damon said as he couldn't contain his curiosity about what Iris thought about him

Upon saying those words, he went near to where Iris was lying. A few seconds later, even before she had the time to stand, she was already caught in between his arms. He was cornering her as he goes beyond their spaces

"I-I u-uh" Iris was stuttering at the sudden action of Damon that he portrayed. That action of Damon suddenly made her blushed and constantly stutter. Then seconds later his fingers, after removing his gloves, touched her lips to shut her up. He was smiling creepily while going near to her face that had turned redder than before.

Iris kept struggling about his sudden action but to no avail, he's strong. He’s strong that she can't escape his grip but when she thought that he's about to kiss her, she suddenly closed her eyes. Then she gently backed her head deeper to the floor until she felt something different. She felt how a hard object lightly hit her forehead only to find out it was his forehead. With that, he immediately stood up from his position leaving Iris dumbfounded and pained at what he's done

"It's payback time," Damon said who was now smirking at Iris with her mouth wide open. She glared at him making his smirk grow wider. He knew Iris will hit him again and so he went towards the kitchen to hide only to find a white cloth in a box. Upon looking inside, he found the wounded bird they saved earlier - that was now already treated

'She's thoughtful, kind, boyish but she's truly a gorgeous lady'

With that thought, he didn't expect himself to suddenly smile genuinely. He smiled unconsciously just by thinking of a lady whom he just first met – in addition - introducing with a fake identity. Upon noticing that he suddenly smiled, he immediately shook his head as he gently caressed the sleeping bird

When he was about to hide, Iris saw his gestures and unconsciously smiled making her stop in her tracks on hitting Damon with a broom

'Why is he so gorgeous enough?!'

That thought made Iris want to stare at his face all day wanting to capture that smile. She was willing and wanting that smile to be only at her. Yet, unexpectedly her broom loosened from her hands and fell on the floor making Damon look around only to find Iris seriously looking at him

"What did you say earlier, El? Payback time, huh?" Iris said acting and coming near him. She’s holding the large broom again and was about to hit him when he immediately stopped her act making Iris almost fall on the ground if he didn't catch her on time

The broom already fell on the ground twice but Damon caught Iris. Now, he was holding her tiny waist in his arms as their faces were already near to kissing. They were already feeling each other's warm breathe. They were savoring the moment when the door suddenly opened

"As I thought, I just left the bakeshop earlier and that's already the scenario portrayed in front of me. Are you sure you two were just friends?"