My Boss Is Secretly A Softie
Chapter 57: Settling in

Chapter 57: Settling in

"I have to live with you guys?" Elara muttered wearily, her gestures showing her full alertness. Surrounding her were the two ladies, one with peach contact lenses and the other with blue eyes, they had been pretty much forced on her.

The two males were a farther distance from them. The brunette calmly observed her while the blonde stared at her with stormy gray eyes filled with relentless emotions.

Everything was exceedingly nerve-wracking.

"Unfortunately, yes," Star responded, her hands reaching out to Elara, who dodged willfully before glaring daggers.

... How cute.

"And my family? I might be an adult, but my mental age is that of a minor, so I still need guidance—"

She was cut off by Terra.

"Your parents are stuck for now, so you can only stay with me. Also, staying in the hospital for so long is a no-go, so you have no choice but to consider us, Elara."

Elara stared at the pair of slender hands with pink-colored nails that grasped hers and stubbornly ripped her hands off.

Her eyes clashed stubbornly with the peach-eyed girl, and she was stunned by the softness that brewed within them.

She averted her gaze. Suddenly, all words of rejection dried up, and somehow, she felt she could trust her. She pouted and, after much pondering, slowly nodded.

"I’ll manage then, but I need to constantly keep in touch with my family. Can I call them now? I’m so worried...."

Star’s lips opened, but her words were brought to an abrupt stop.

"And I want to stay close to you," Elara muttered in a barely audible tone, while pointing at Terra, leaving everyone stunned.

Terrence moved but was stopped by John, and on remembering the lady’s rabid reaction, he listened and remained where he was.

But his gaze stubbornly remained on Elara as if silently persuading her. Their eyes met, and she swiftly looked away; he frowned. He could have sworn she saw her smirk!

Terra blinked.

"... Am I ugly by chance?"

Everyone:.....

A peal of laughter spilled from Elara’s chapped lips, leaving Star slightly worried; she’d have to fix that later. Her laughter died down to a stop, and then she smiled.

"You, I like you. We were friends before, right?"

Star and Terra looked at each other, before facing Elara.

"Yes, of course, your very best friend even."

"Lies. I was also your best friend," Star interjected.

Elara’s beaming gaze only remained on one person, leaving a certain cobalt fellow feeling jealous. She reached out, gently caressing Terra’s soft skin, leaving both women frozen in shock. Then she smiled, her eyes holding a hypnotic charm to them that left Terra rooted to the floor.

"Be my girlfriend. I know age and my sexuality will be an issue, so let’s play pretend lovers instead."

Star:.... What?

***

Terrence’s face was drowned in dissatisfaction as they left. It was safe to say his reaction was not at all subtle.

He shoved aside John’s hold on him and persistently approached the ladies until Elara yelped and clenched onto Terra’s shirt while hiding beside her.

She glared with animosity, gritting his teeth, and like an idiot, he retraced his steps, incapable of defiling her resistance.

He sighed, this day somehow turned out to be simultaneously the best day and worst day of his life.

His lover, who had passed out for two weeks, awakened. He was so excited he packed every food he could to meet her, only to have her revert to a 16-year-old.

Not only that, she now had an innate prejudice towards people with good looks and treated them like something she was allergic to, and when she finally yielded to them on the grounds that only the ladies stayed...

His eyes looked towards the two women entangled with each other. Elara sat down comfortably on doting lady, with her hands about her waist and her head on her chest, curled up unhesitantly in a deep slumber. Her gait was relaxed—a far cry from what it was with him.

... She chose someone else. His hands clenched the wheels of the car but he forcibly calmed himself down.

What a fucking mess.

And worst of all, she insisted he stayed away from her because he ’bothered’ her. It wasn’t even about gender, she was just fine with John!

Could it be she was sneakily punishing him for not being able to stop that horrific incident? Or maybe, subconsciously, she... no that was a thought too far.

It didn’t matter. His Ela was his regardless.

"Erm... Are you really going to stay with us, Terrence?" Star whispered to avoid waking the sleeping teen, "You know we don’t have jobs— mostly because we don’t need them, but you have your business to handle, right? Especially since you put everything on hold to be with Elara..."

Terrence remained silent for a while before responding. "I can manage myself."

His answer was as cold as his look, and Star had no choice but to disembark.

Her eyes scanned the occupants of the car—Terra, the one with an endless libido for both adult matters and recklessness; John, with his cool personality and habit of lingering around silently like a cat; Terrence, the lover who had now been replaced, with an understandable grouchiness seeping through his every action; and then there was herself and Elara, the now 16-year-old adult.

She could tell this rooming would go down in history.

***

An hour later, they had finally arrived.

"Finally~," Terra exclaimed while readjusting the sleeping woman on her back with a light push.

She groaned, then buried her head deeper into her neck, hands, and legs tightly wrapped around Terra’s neck and waist, respectively.

"You might want to go inside with everyone else," Star said lightly to Terrence, who was rooted to the floor, glaring dangerously at the duo who had already wandered in with John.

He nodded. "Right."

Star observed as he entered and couldn’t help letting out a deep groan. "Well, for Ela, I guess."

The building was perfect. It was built beside an ocean shore and near a beautiful forest that not only surrounded it but spanned various inches with an enticement to be explored.

From the outside, it resembled a mini-hotel designated for a few bookings, but inside was the accurate representation of what a pocket dimension would look like. There were many rooms, lots of facilities— needful ones and ones placed for luxury reasons. A chic design striking a perfect balance between being aesthetically pleasing and homely.

Terra momentarily ignored their awe and laid the sleeping Elara on the sofa, which was almost as large as a bed, leaving the sleeping lady humming in satisfaction as her body sunk into its hugging folds.

"Well, this is it. Nice, right? I went for something portable to avoid coming off too strong." She grinned with pride.

"This is amazing," Star validated, observing the room like a satisfied tenant.

"Perfect," John spoke tactfully, but his relaxed look proved the sincerity of his reply.

Star faced the blank-faced Terrence with a smirk.

"Yeah?"

He scoffed. "Good enough."

She burst out laughing till she was speedily stopped by Star who covered her mouth while gesturing to the groaning Elara.

"Sorry," she smiled apologetically.

Her eyes followed Terrence, who sat on the floor beside Elara, and she couldn’t help but ponder just how deep his relationship with Elara was. After all, it wasn’t about labels, but the intricacies of their feelings.

She shrugged. She was quite disappointed that her Ela had chosen someone like him.

She did hold a deep prejudice against him, but maybe this situation would be an opportunity to observe if he was worthy of her.

If he wasn’t, then she would do everything in her might to separate them.

***

Elara stretched before letting out a yawn. She blinked and was left astonished by her position. She was in a large room with a bright light that dazzled her vision. A small, lemon-colored lamb was placed beside her, and she wasn’t sure— but everything here seemed to be hers.

She would have to ask later.

Her mind wandered off to the four who had suddenly delved into her life and swept her off her feet or had always been there, but tragically erased along with her memories.

It all seemed surreal, as mystifying as suddenly traveling to the future to see a completely different scene from what she had envisioned their future would be.

After all, she never envisaged she would have friends in the future. And most definitely not ones that cared enough to do all this for her. It made her wonder just how much her future self changed.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t confident in her charms. Rather, she couldn’t believe she was open enough to trust anyone apart from family. She almost wanted to look through her properties to find any clue that could help her... but she stopped.

After much consideration, she decided she would rather observe before looking through them. If she liked how this future was, she’d leave it be; if she didn’t, she’d destroy it.

She remembered what had happened in the hospital. In truth, her mind had forgotten but her body didn’t. She was comfortable and at peace with the two ladies. The black-haired male was just as fine but with a little hesitation.

But the blonde—she clenched her chest harshly, ruffling up her shirt.

He.... He...

Her face flushed fiercely. She was in love with him.

She groaned heavily, "That’s the main thing to fix. Seriously, of all people you? Elara...."

She stared at the mirror blankly and then burst out laughing like a silly child.

"Something tells me..." she playfully curled and uncurled her hair, "My future self wouldn’t like this. At all."