Saving the Villain

Remo only stayed in Luke\'s apartment for three nights, and for those days and nights, he somehow got used to Cosette and Luke\'s usual banter, their routine, and how they do their housework seriously. Maxen and Cosette didn\'t stay over at the apartment after their first night, but they would leave late.

So, Luke and Remo got some little time to bond or talk. It was only casual talk before they sleep, and Remo, somehow, saw Luke in a different light. Luke might be a little childish around Cosette, and overprotective of Maxen because it seemed Luke had viewed Cosette as a witch who was preying upon Maxen.

But whenever Luke was alone, he got this solemn look on his face. He didn\'t look anything silly, or anything immature at all. What surprised Remo the most was once Cosette and Maxen leave, Luke would mostly read stuff until he would fall asleep.

They wouldn\'t even watch the television, even though Luke would turn it on lest Remo was just shy to watch something. Remo wasn\'t into watching anything, but he had nothing to do. Still, while watching, he would constantly peek at Luke, only to see the guys still reading or falling asleep.

When the weekend rolled in, Maxen and Cosette came early. They arrived just when Luke was staring at the nothingness because he had just woken up. Fortunately, Cosette brought a ton of food and side dishes, so they had breakfast together.

That was the first time Remo had joined the three to eat at the dining table. They were sensitive and wanted Remo to rest completely for the past few days; it helped Remo, though. His body was still a bit sore, but Remo could even punch a guy and send him flying. He was that unbelievably strong.

The breakfast was obviously filled with Cosette and Luke\'s chattering; Maxen and Remo were silent. Although Maxen would throw comments here and there. Hence, the breakfast didn\'t feel just as awkward as Remo expected it to be.

"Ahh… I\'m so full — ah!" Luke glared back at Cosette after she kicked his feet while he lazed on the beanbag. "What is wrong with you?"

"Are you going to laze around like that?" Cosette folded her arms under her chest, standing in front of Luke. "Remrem is getting discharged today."

"Wow… did you think this is a hospital?" Luke scoffed. "Of course I know he\'s going home today."

Cosette shook her head. "He will visit the hospital. Maxen and I will go with him. Won\'t you go?"

"Why would I go?"

"Tch!"

"Ah!" Luke winced, hugging his knee as she kicked it again with strength this time. "This girl…!"

"What?" Cosette raised her chin, hands on her hips. "Get up now and take a bath. We don\'t have forever to wait for you."

"Geez!" Luke ruffled his hair in irritation. "Fine!"

When Luke got up to his feet and stood in front of her, he let out a dry scoff. "Cozie, are you a dictator or what? Gosh… why can\'t you cut me some slack — Max, this girl is bullying me again!" he then pointed at her and searched for Maxen, only to see the latter doing the dishes.

Maxen just looked back at them and blinked. "I\'m treating Cozie to lunch. You should go too, Luke. I want to treat you two somewhere."

"Max\'s treating us out?!" Luke gasped, while Cosette scrunched her nose up.

"Don\'t go if you don\'t want to, alright? So it\'ll be a date for just the two of —" her expression instantly died when a strong gust of wind blew past her as Luke hurriedly rushed to the bathroom. "That\'s what I thought…"

Maxen let out a chuckle, seeing her dead expression. He told Cosette about his plan yesterday, and she threw a huge fit when he said he wanted to take Luke with them. Yet, she was still the one who told Luke about it.

"Cozie, come. Help me out here," he called, snapping her back to her senses.

"Okay…" Cosette sighed and skipped her steps to help Maxen with the dishes.

Meanwhile, Remo was still in one of the chairs around the dining table quietly. He had already finished putting his stuff back inside his bag. He didn\'t have many things with him aside from his bag and his uniform, a bit of clothes Maxen bought for him. So, now that Luke was in the shower and Cosette and Maxen were doing the dishes, he didn\'t know what to do.

"Umm…" Remo cleared his throat to get Maxen and Cosette\'s attention. "Do you want me to do anything to help?"

"Just stay there and rest more," said Maxen monotonously.

pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 "That\'s right. You can move now, but that doesn\'t mean you should move around more than necessary. You will still have a proper checkup before you visit your grandpa," Cosette added in a knowing tone. "Just lie down there and rest. Luke is like a girl. His preparation time is longer than mine."

Remo darted his eyes between the two of them, running his tongue across his cheeks. If this were others, he wouldn\'t feel the slightest shame. Doing nothing means the boss, but with them, doing nothing felt shameful and uncomfortable.

"If you want to help, then help us next time. There were still many things to work on this place, but wait until you fully recovered," said Cosette, noticing the discomfort in his eyes. "Don\'t blame us, though. We won\'t spare you — Luke won\'t."

"That\'s fine." Remo shrugged. "I have experience."

"Then wait until then." Cosette smiled at him. "Use this time to rest — you need lots of them. Life was tiring, wasn\'t it?"

She then faced Maxen and let out a short chuckle before she resumed drying the plates. Meanwhile, Maxen and Remo kept their eyes on her. Maxen\'s eyes softened, but he didn\'t say anything. Remo, on the other hand, furrowed his brows while staring at Cosette\'s back.

\'So, she doesn\'t always act like a brat, huh?\' Remo thought, scratching his temple with his index. \'This girl and that guy… are people who were full of surprises, huh?\'