CHAPTER IX

Steven

"So, she is the one you are talking about?" Mavin asked my older brother.

I nodded quietly.

"I think she really does not have any idea about us," He said. "How gullible she is." he added, even managing to nitpick someone.

Humming to his arrogance, "But with your sudden craziness, you can make her mind change. You are acting as if you are a hungry wolf who wants to devour her," I scolded him. "I will tell Mom you are acting like a wild pig here. So that means she won't let you go out more. Good luck." I added.

"She just smells great. How can I stop myself from smelling her?" he answered back. "Can I compliment her? And it is a compliment. Why take it in a bad way?" he complained.

Yes, we are werewolves—millennial ones. We can live as ordinary people do. We can go outside, act like one of them, and do what we need or want to do. They do not know that they are living with different creatures. We are all living with other creatures. They just do not know about it yet. No one knows, aside from the people like us who are different from them and the real people who can tell who we are.

"Her meat must be yummy." Mavin said, looking from afar.

I think he imagines it already. He imagined how Sunny would taste. I should make this brother of mine see a wolf's bane in his room so that he will know where to position himself.

"Do not touch her or do something that will harm her," I warned him. "I will make sure to ask Dad to make you pop like a bubble." I added.

Dad told us to behave well. To not let people know about us. Then there, my brother, who is doing that already.

"As if I am a bad werewolf," he retorted. "I still want to enjoy my life living here. It is fun here, even though I can't do much. I will definitely go out next time. We really should try to go out sometimes, dude." he added.

After half an hour, Sunny went out of the kitchen and called me. Well, she volunteered to cook for us. We never bothered her inside the kitchen so that she would be able to cook well. Her grandmother's dishes are all good. That is why we should wait patiently for her to finish it.

"You're certainly wealthy, but you can't afford to hire a chef or someone to prepare meals for the two of you?" Sunny asked, wondering about our situation.

"We just can't get one, okay?" I answered, trying to convince her and avoid asking too much.

She has so many questions that I cannot even answer. She is too nosy.

"If you do not get one, how will you solve everything here?" she asked. "It seems you have a hard time with what you should eat daily. It would help if you used your stove. It is cool, you know. So use it. We do not have that kind of stove in our house. It is handy." she added.

"Kitchen work is not for boys, right?" Mavin explained his side.

Sunny, on my side, shook her head, saying that Mavin was wrong about what he said. "We are used to seeing that kind of tradition. That is why you feel like it is only for women. However, it is for any gender, and also, you guys need to do it since you do not plan to get one. You cannot just order online or buy something every day." she said.

She is right. We cannot order everything online or buy our food outside. We really need to do it ourselves. We are now living alone, without the help of our parents.

"Anyway, help me bring these to the table." Sunny said, handing me plates with utensils.

After preparing everything on the table, Mavin came inside the dining room. "I smell something good," Mavin commented as he sat on the chair. "Eat with us, Sunny." he added, inviting her.

"Of course, that is why I prepared for three people," Sunny answered confidently. "Like you guys, I am hungry too. That is why I should eat before returning to what I should finish here." she added, taking a seat in front of Mavin.

Now that she said that, I quickly looked around to count the plates, glasses, and pairs of utensils we had brought. She really did plan to eat here. I won't complain since she made our food today.

"Let's eat," She said. "Tell me if it is good or not. If it is not, you can just order food delivery." she added and started to eat.

We started eating as well. "Wow! It tastes like your grandmother's dish!" Mavin exclaimed. "Would you like to be our chef? Or your grandmother? Ask her to stay here, or she can go home every evening." he added, trying to recruit her or her grandmother as our chef.

"I clearly told you that I would stop my grandma from working here." she answered back.

"No! I don't want that to happen. Who will clean our house now?" Mavin asked, panicking.

"You can find a new one," Sunny answered after a bite. "My grandma is old already. Cleaning this big house will kill her and make her sick. She is cleaning this house all alone," she added. "Just cleaning this floor is already exhausting. She still needs to go up your tall stairs to clean the second floor. That is already a no." she explained.

"But still, we trusted her already. She makes good food as well. She treated us better than anyone. How about paying twice?" Mavin said, trying to negotiate with Sunny.

She stopped eating and looked at him. "I almost said yes." Sunny answered before continuing to eat.

"Triple?"

"Call!" Sunny said, giving Mavin her two thumbs up. "I will help her clean this house!" she added excitedly.

"Our food, too, to be fair. Paying triple the price is enough, right?" I told her.

She nodded excitedly. "No problem! We will work hard." she replied.

Just a while ago, she was calling my older brother a pervert, but looking at her now, it seems like it is not anymore.

"Hey, Steven. I need to go home already since I am done cleaning your house. I made sure you guys could have dinner, re-heat the food," She said as she was wearing her shoes. "I did not start doing our assignment either, so I need to run." she added.

"You are still not done? You should have done it first rather than come here." I told her.

"No way. My grandma will go here then. She was sick, and I couldn't let her work in that state," she reasoned. "My grandma is working because she does not want to be a burden in our house, although she only thinks that way. That is why she is working. I told her that she does not need to work and just stay at home and help us inside the house, but you know, old people want to move around too much, so that is why we let her." she explained.

"Why would she be a burden in your family?" I asked.

A family should not be a burden in any way, right? They are their family in the first place. She is not just someone they know.

"We poor people are short of money. Our family consists of five members, and my parents work for a minimum salary. It is not enough to sustain our needs, especially when I am in college already," She shared. "That is why Grandma wants to help. She also knows that we have a lot of debt. She must be concerned."

It must be hard.

"Do not look at me as I am so poor," she warned. "That is why you need to pay diligently, okay?" she added.

"We are paying you three times the price already, right?" I asked back.

"Yes! I will work diligently!" Sunny replied, bowing at me.

"Stop that." I told her.

Her phone started to make a noise. "Oh, the taxi driver is outside already. I will go now." she said, running towards the gate.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Send me a message on Fazebook when you get home!" I added.

She signed okay while running, not bothering to look back at me. I went back inside and saw Mavin watching television.

"How did you meet her grandmother?" I asked.

He turned his head at me before looking back at what he was watching. "I asked one of the newspaper publishers to put in that we're looking for a housekeeper." he explained.

"Then why did you accept her application? You know already that she is old." I asked again.

"Ah, right," Mavin said, sitting properly. "I called the people who wanted to apply for the said work. Then when I called her grandmother, she said her family needed it. I remembered that her family was in need of help. As a kind-hearted young and handsome man, I decided to hire her. Old people are my weakness." he said, touching his heart as if it was aching.

Dramatic Mavin. She does not look like one, especially when she is in school.

"Why did you ask? Do you get interested after knowing that her granddaughter is Sunny?" Mavin asked, including his teasing tone with eyebrows wriggling.

I rolled my eyes. "She told me about it. That is why I asked you." I answered.

"I thought you liked her. I am dying to tease you into falling in love with a human being." Mavin said, laughing.

"I won't wonder if you end up falling in love instead of me." I mocked back.

"Let's see who will then."

Sunny

"Sunny!"

"Oh, Jake?" I said when I saw my boyfriend standing in our building. "Have you been waiting for so long? Why did you not tell me?" I asked.

"I just want to apologize for what I did," he replied. "Our projects have stressed me out. That is why I unconsciously put all the stress on you." he explained.

I quickly hugged him. "I understand," I told him before letting go of him. "Just contact me after you calm down. I am worried about you. You did not even send me a message for days. Do not worry. I will just send you a message first rather than call you immediately. I just missed you so much at that time. I want to hear your voice for a few minutes." I added.

"I am really sorry about that. I will make sure to recuperate." he said after pinching my cheeks.

"I will look forward to that," I answered. "I hope you won't do that again either. You can just tell me calmly that you are busy. I will understand that." I added.

He nodded. "I will go to our room now. I will call you later." he said.

"Okay, I love you!" I said.

He looked back and smiled. "Love you too!" he yelled back and started to run towards his building.

I went inside our room with a big smile on my face. I'm relieved that Jake and I are now on good terms. It has been a few days since we last talked. I have been sad for days, thinking we are still not talking.

"Good morning!" I greeted my classmates.

"You are in a good mood, huh." One of my classmates said.

"Of course!" I answered back. Who would not feel good after reconciling with their loved ones?

"You are okay with your boyfriend, do you?" Shiela asked.

My eyes widened at her statement. "Can you read my expression this much?" I asked.

She nodded. "Your face says it all," Shiela replied. "So, what did your best boyfriend do?" she asked.

"He said that he was sorry for venting his anger on me. He also said that he would recuperate," I told her. "It makes me happy to see him today and make an effort to wait for me downstairs. I love him."