A PROMISE(3)

At the mall, inside one of the luxurious high-end stores specializing in jewelry and elegant noble clothing, the exterior of the store was painted in a deep black hue, adorned with golden lines to attract attention and exude an aura of wealth.

Inside the store, a man in his thirties was working as the cashier and caretaker in the absence of the manager. He wore a formal black suit with a shiny black blazer and tight black jeans. His aura commanded respect and experience. On the other hand, a beautiful, elegant girl stood nearby. She had silky red hair that lightly cascaded past her shoulders and dazzling crimson eyes that gleamed like gemstones. However, her face bore expressions of irritation and anger, as if she were about to explode, making the already nervous cashier sweat profusely.

"I can't believe I forgot my main credit card at the university! Damn it, that brat Livia must have hidden it! Damn you!" Luo Yan thought to herself, annoyed. She let out a small growl, which only made the poor, trembling cashier more frightened as he calculated the total cost of her purchases. Moments later, the final price appeared on the screen.

"M-Miss, t-the total cost will be... $372,000," the cashier stammered, shaking with fear at Luo Yan's potential reaction.

"Hah?! $372,000?! What do you think I am, a millionaire?!" Luo Yan exclaimed in frustration. It was obvious that paying such an enormous amount was absurd.

"B-but, Miss, y-you're practically buying half of our women's collection!" the cashier pleaded, hiding behind the counter for protection from Luo Yan's potential fury.

Luo Yan sighed, calming down a bit, then pulled out a card and handed it to the cashier.

"Send everything to this address. I'll pay for it all there," she said.

The cashier took the card and examined it, reading the details. When he noticed the address, his face paled in shock.

"N-Nova University?!" the man thought, gripping his head in disbelief.

Just then, Luo Yan heard some noise coming from outside. Curious, she turned to look through the glass storefront and saw a crowd gathering, staring at something. She stepped out to investigate and soon picked up on scattered whispers among the people.

"Oh my God, he's so hot!" a girl murmured, pressing a finger to her lips.

"He's so tall! Do you think he's dating someone?" another girl said dreamily, her voice filled with admiration and excitement.

"Handsome guys like him are just trash. He's probably dated countless girls only to break their hearts later," a boy muttered, his voice dripping with jealousy.

"You're just jealous because he's hot while you look like a lump of meat that just crawled out of a swamp," a girl retorted mockingly.

"The girl beside him is also incredibly beautiful—she looks like a doll!" another girl said with a mix of envy and admiration.

Luo Yan grew curious and pushed closer to the crowd. As she got near enough, she finally saw the scene that had everyone enchanted—a stunningly handsome young man stood there. He was tall, with slightly messy black hair, brilliant black eyes, and flawless pale skin. Beside him sat a beautiful girl with long, pink hair flowing down her back and innocent pink eyes brimming with light and purity. The two were seated by a fountain, where the cascading water sparkled under the sunlight, creating a breathtakingly magical scene that could make any girl swoon.

"H-he's so handsome! Who is he?!" Luo Yan thought, feeling a wave of embarrassment as her cheeks flushed red. She stared at him harder, sensing a strange familiarity, and then realization struck—this boy was Noah.

"N-NOAH?!" Luo Yan's mind reeled in shock. Since when was Noah this handsome? How had she never noticed before? She slapped herself to shake off her ridiculous thoughts, her face burning red.

"What was I just thinking?! Ugh, anyway, what is he doing here?... Wait a minute, who is that girl? She looks really young... D-does that mean Noah is... a criminal?!" Luo Yan's thoughts spiraled wildly, filling her with discomfort, fear, and anxiety.

"No, no, no, Noah wouldn't do something like that… right?" she thought, sweating nervously. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she walked around the fountain and approached Noah from behind.

"People have been staring at us for a while now," Yana muttered, annoyed. She glanced at Noah from the corner of her eyes, unable to ignore the fact that it wasn't really their fault—Noah was just ridiculously attractive. Still, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.

"Why are you so good-looking? This is unfair to some people!" Yana grumbled, making Noah scratch his head in confusion.

Just then, Noah felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to see a woman wearing a large white sun hat, sunglasses, and a face mask.

"S-sunglasses?" Noah thought, baffled by the ridiculousness of the person in front of him.

The woman pulled down her mask, revealing herself to be Luo Yan.

"L-Luo Yan?" Noah muttered, surprised to see her. However, he was still bewildered by her strange fashion choices.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Luo Yan asked, confused and irritated, trying to bait Noah into talking about Yana without directly asking.

"I'm on a date. Why do you ask?" Noah replied, still puzzled.

Luo Yan froze in shock, slipping her hand into her pocket, ready to grab her phone and call the police at any moment.

"W-what did you just say?! A date?!" she blurted out, trying to conceal her immense shock.

"Um, yeah? Is there a problem?" Noah asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Luo Yan stood there as if struck by lightning. Her crimson eyes darkened as she stared at Noah with absolute disgust.

"Who is this woman? Does Noah know her?" Yana wondered as she eyed Luo Yan in confusion.

"Maybe… maybe she's one of those anime characters who look young but are actually in their fifties," Luo Yan thought to herself, her mind wandering in absurd directions.

She then turned to Yana, squatted down to her level, and gave her a sweet yet obviously fake smile.

"And how old is this lovely young lady?" Luo Yan asked with a sugary tone.

"Me? I'm 12," Yana answered, tilting her head in confusion.

At that moment, Luo Yan pulled out her phone and quickly dialed the emergency number for the nearest police station.

"I can't believe I invited a person like you to Nova University, people like you deserve to go to prison, you child predator," Luo Yan said with disgust as she waited for a response while the phone rang. Noah was shocked by Luo Yan's reaction and his eyes widened. He didn't understand what was happening, but thanks to Yana's quick thinking, she understood there was a misunderstanding and tried to resolve the issue quickly.

"W-Wait, I'm his sister!" Yana said nervously, panicking.

Luo Yan stood still in silence, and after a few seconds, someone on the other end picked up the phone.

"Hello, this is service—" the voice on the other side talked, but Luo Yan hung up and put the phone back in her pocket, feeling anxious and her heart racing.

After a few minutes, Noah, Yana, and Luo Yan were sitting together after the misunderstanding had been cleared up.

"So, she's your sister? I-I jumped to conclusions too quickly, haha," Luo Yan said, laughing nervously and trying to ease the situation.

"How could you misunderstand it like that? You went too far," Noah said, annoyed and confused by Luo Yan's stupidity and her hasty conclusion.

"But your answers sounded so suspicious, anyone would have misunderstood!" Luo Yan said, trying to defend herself, though she knew the fault was hers.

Noah recalled her responses in his memory and realized they did seem very suspicious, so he couldn't fully blame Luo Yan.

"Okay, you're right, I was wrong to some extent too," Noah admitted, acknowledging his mistake even though he knew he was completely innocent of any wrongdoing.

"Well, it was totally my fault for jumping to conclusions. Anyway, nothing bad happened, you weren't arrested, and the misunderstanding has been cleared up," Luo Yan said, trying to ease the situation a little.

Noah noticed many looks directed at him, some full of admiration and love, others with desire, and some with suspicion.

"Anyway, why are you here? I thought you said you had something important to do today?" Noah asked, trying to change the subject to avoid another misunderstanding that might get him into real trouble.

"Oh, yes, it's shopping," Luo Yan said, looking at Noah with a serious expression.

"Shopping? Are you serious?" Noah asked, doubting Luo Yan's seriousness.

"You're not a girl, so you wouldn't understand, the joy of shopping and the feeling you get when you choose between many clothes and other unique items, it's like being in another world or dimension entirely. Shopping is a woman's escape from daily annoyances-" Luo Yan said, sounding deeply in love with shopping.

"Okay, okay, stop rambling about shopping before I lose my mind," Noah interrupted, annoyed by the amount of nonsense he'd heard from her today.

Noah and Luo Yan continued talking, with Luo Yan trying to defend her hobby while Noah was fed up with all the nonsense she had been saying. Meanwhile, Yana sat quietly, lost in her thoughts.

"Who is this girl? The moment she arrived, Noah completely forgot about me. She seems very close to him... this isn't fair. Just because I'm his sister, just because I haven't matured yet..." Yana thought to herself, her sense of loneliness growing. She remembered the moment she had corrected the misunderstanding and told Luo Yan that she was Noah's sister, which made her feel a little guilty even though it was necessary.

"I'm just his sister. It's my fault from the beginning that I raised my hopes too high. From the start, Noah never looked at me the way I looked at him. He never looked at me that way, and he never even thought of it... Noah isn't mine. He's free, I can't possess him and keep him to myself... not yet, it's not time yet. I refuse to give up more of my precious possessions. Not anymore. He's mine, he's mine, he's mine. Noah belongs to me alone. No one will touch my possessions anymore!" Yana thought to herself, smiling slightly as she grabbed Noah's hand and clung to it for a little while. Noah noticed Yana's movement and looked at her in confusion. Yana's eyes glinted with something like blood as she smiled gently.

"Noah, let's continue our date," Yana said. Noah felt tense for some reason and couldn't pull his hand away from Yana's grip. They both stood up before Noah said goodbye to Luo Yan.

"Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow," Noah said nervously as Yana dragged him along, Luo Yan waved at them as they left.

Yana took a turn where no one was around, and of course, Noah was being dragged behind her by her strength.

"Y-Yana, is something wrong?" Noah asked, feeling confused and tense.

Yana stopped walking, released Noah's hand, and turned to face him. Noah felt anxious and nervous as a frightening presence emanated from Yana.

"Noah... I didn't like how you were talking to that girl, and how you forgot about me," Yana said while looking down.

"I-I didn't forget about you, I was just trying to clarify the misunderstanding..." Noah said, sweating from the tension, but Yana cut him off.

"Noah, never ignore me again! Never talk to any other girl but me today, do you understand?" Yana said in a tone that sounded more like an order than a request.

"O-ok," Noah said, feeling pressured by Yana's tone, so he had no choice but to agree.

"And one more thing..." Yana said, beginning to walk towards Noah, her eyes still looking down. Noah started backing up with each step she took toward him, but he reached a dead end with a wall behind him. Yana stood just a few centimeters from Noah, and she grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Noah... as you can see, I... love you," Yana finally confessed her feelings to Noah.

"Huh?!" Noah was shocked by Yana's sudden confession.

"I've loved you from the beginning, more than anyone else. I know everything about you—what you like, what you hate, when you feel lonely, when you hide in your room and cry silently because you're weak. I know what you fear, and I know what makes you happy. I love you in a way you can't imagine, Noah..." Yana said, lifting his hand to her cheek, blushing as she smiled.

Noah stood frozen in fear and tension, unable to respond. His body tensed, and he felt something invisible like a hand squeezing his heart, making his pulse race to a frantic pace.

"T-This is wrong. W-We're siblings..." Noah said, unable to think of anything except this to kindly reject Yana's feelings without breaking her heart.

"I don't care. Also, I won't take 'no' for an answer... Even if you reject me, I'll make sure no one else will be able to have you. I'll get rid of anyone who tries to harm you and get close to you. I'll free you from this life, and we'll go together to the afterlife. There, you will love me... If you want to avoid this, then say it. Say you love me!" Yana said with a slight smile, which seemed terrifying, her cheeks flushed with the embarrassment she felt.

"B-But you're still a minor..." Noah said, trying to retreat as much as possible, his back pressed completely against the wall, with no way to escape the situation. Yana laughed slightly, then stopped.

"That's fine, I won't take you now. When I turn 18, I won't wait for your answer. I'll take you for myself and get rid of anyone who opposes it, even if it's you. Do you understand, darling? That's a promise," Yana said with a chilling, commanding tone.

Noah's fear increased as he felt like an easy prey in the jaws of a predator. He couldn't say anything except nod in agreement, hoping Yana would forget about this promise once she turned 18. Yana stepped back, her expression changing quickly as she smiled brightly and innocently.

"Let's continue our date then," Yana said with an excited tone.

Noah and Yana continued their date. Nothing significant happened, and all Noah could think about was the conversation that had occurred between him and Yana. His fear grew with each passing second, and each time he thought about it. Eventually, the date ended As night falls, and they both went home. Noah entered his room and lay down on his bed, trying to relax.

"...That was scary as fuck" Noah thought to himself in silence.

In Yana's room, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled a light, terrifying smile, then remembered something.

"I forgot to buy what I wanted!" Yana said.