Third POV

“I hope you like the tea. It’s a family recipe.” She kept the tray in front of us, placing our respective cups out of it. “Also, thanks for saving Liam’s ass.”

“Ah, it wasn’t much.” I could feel the heat rising more to my cheeks as I felt her staring at me. “Thank you for the tea, Miss Momo.”

“Ah, don’t be so formal. Just call me Grandma Momo.” She smiled, taking a sip of her tea. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

I felt my lips drying up. “I hope this wouldn’t cause an inconvenience to you, especially since they all are currently staying with you.”

“Hm, come straight to the point, will you?”

“Can I stay at your house for the duration of the summer vacation?”

Her gaze moved down to her cup. “Hm.”

“If you want me to pay for my stay, I’ll happily do so. Just name the price.”

I swallowed my saliva down, feeling little as Grandma Momo continued to stare at me, a mystery written all over her face. Suddenly, she burst into laughter.

“Ha! Should have seen your face!” I felt the blood suddenly rushing to my brain, calming my senses down. “No need to tense up. You could sleep in Oliver’s room. It’s about time she learned how to live with others.”

“Thank you for letting me stay.” I bowed my head down in appreciation.

“Ah, no worries.” She smiled, raising her cup as she motioned me to do the same. “To your stay, cheers.”

“Cheers.”

Liam

“Am I dreaming or is that Haya’s soul entering the house to haunt Yuna?” Oliver questioned, eyeing Haya as she dragged her trolley behind her. “I should stop drinking too much soda.”

“Nope, she’s staying with us.” I said, remembering Grandma Momo’s words as she enthusiastically told me the same a few minutes ago. “Her parents are currently on a business trip so she wasn’t able to go with them.”

“If only Sho could have joined us.”

“Then you might as well turn this house into a hotel.” Both of us looked to our side as Yuna’s figure walked into the hallways. His head was messed up, clearly indicating that he had just woken up.

“Aw, look who's awake? The sleeping beauty—”

“One more word and I might throw you into the pond.” He snapped at her.

Oliver scoffed. “More like grumpy beauty.”

“Hey—” Haya stood in front of us, gaining Yuna’s attention instantly. “You’re here.” His tone shifted.

“Yeah. Disappointed to see me?”

“Accurately summing up my emotions, Haya. You’re finally using that brain of yours.” He forced a smile at her, his words having no effect on her, unlike the last time I had seen their interaction.

“Too bad you won’t see me running off crying.” I could hear Oliver whispering ‘oh damn’ as she watched them with amusement.

“Let’s see how long that lasts.” He turned his back on her, entering our room as he closed the door shut.

“Always the ending fairy.” Oliver sighed and turned towards Haya. “Come on, I’ll show you our room.” She held onto Haya’s hand, dragging her inside her room with her luggage. She looked at me, flashing a bright smile.

“Night, peanut.”

“Night, Liam.”

“Oh, please, Rocky’s handsomeness is something you can only dream of having.” Oliver took a big bite of her sandwich, getting some of the cheese on her lips.

“No messy eating in my house.” Grandma Momo warned her, placing a new batch of sandwiches as she went back to the kitchen.

“But it’s true.” I wiped the cheese off her lips with tissue paper as I put some sandwiches on my plate. “Even Haya agrees with me.”

Haya chuckled as she finished her sandwich. “I’d have to agree, he is pretty sexy. Too bad he is married.”

“Oh, did you know he is going to have his first kid in a few months?” Oliver squealed with happiness. “You should have seen him in his announcement video. He was smiling so much I bet his cheeks were paining.”

“Just shut up.” Yuna groaned, scratching his head as he turned on the television.

A news reporter came on the screen, narrating the usual headlines. “Good morning, news. Today’s weather is bright and sunny as predicted. A perfect day to take your family out.”

“Perfect for hiking.” I said, gaining a confused expression from Haya. “Oh, right. We were actually planning to hike near the forest area. It won’t be for that long. You coming?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Grandma Momo walked to the table, carrying the empty basket. “Just be careful while hiking. While there might be no dangerous animals, still take precautions.” She looked over at me. “Especially you, Liam.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there for him.” Oliver grabbed my arm, smiling at me.

She’ll one day melt me with her cuteness.

“And if something happens to the pig, I’ll carry them both to the house alive.” Yuna continued eating his last sandwich.

He’ll end up killing me with his kindness.

“So, what’s the route?” Grandma Momo joined us at the table.

“We were thinking of taking a quick route to the stream. Just past the old tree.” Yuna said, getting up from the table as he took his empty plate to the kitchen.

“Nice.” Grandma Momo nodded her head and looked at Haya. “If these three cause some trouble, let me know, will you?”

“Um, sure.” She awkwardly laughed, receiving a pat on the back from her.

“Well, then.” Yuna stood near the door. “What are we waiting for?”

All eyes turned towards Oliver, two sandwiches still present on her plate. Her cheeks turned red upon meeting our gazes.

“Ah, cut me some slack now!”

All of us stood at the boundary of the house, a small path leading right into the tall forest area. It was around eight in the morning so the sun wasn’t a problem right now. Everyone was carrying a bag filled with essentials like water bottles, insect repellents, lunch, etc.

“I can’t wait to see the stream.” Oliver was dressed in a plain pink top with jeans shorts and a pair of black shoes. She had her hair tied up in a bun. “I bet Yuna will drink his bottle before we even reach the tree.”

“Just can’t hide your animal, huh?” Yuna stretched his arms, sporting a black T-shirt with cargo shorts and white sneakers. He looked to his side, Haya holding his shoulder as she wore her sandals.

“Thanks for the shoulder.” She tucked the stray hairs behind her ears.

“No problem.” He shrugged, giving her a cold shoulder.

After prepping ourselves with some stretches, all of us waved goodbye to Grandma Momo as we began our so-called hike.

The path into the forest wasn’t so dense since Grandma Momo took the liberty of cleaning them every week. We had asked her once why she did so, she said that it was to prevent forest fires. So, that was one of many facts that Grandma Momo gave us as children.

Many familiar trees passed by us, with Oliver occasionally collecting leaves of them.

“What are you going to do with those?” I asked, pulling out another leaf for her. She looked up, smiling as she took the leaf.

“Think of these as a weird way of collecting memories.” She looked at me, closing her book shut as she followed behind Yuna. “YAH! DON’T THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME!”

Yuna looked behind, a smug look on his face before he ran off. Anger radiated from Oliver as she ran off behind him. As if on cue, both me and Haya ran behind them.

“They both are monsters.” Haya gasped, wiping the sweat on her face.

“Well, they are them.” I laughed, barely having any breath left in my lungs.

I’ll have a cramp tomorrow for sure.

After running for a while, both Haya and I stopped and collapsed on the ground. Drenched in sweat and lack of oxygen, both of us mutually decided it was better to take a break from running and just walk.

“Sorry if the hike you so-called imagined isn’t happening.” I apologised, earning a blush from Haya as she shook her head.

“Ah, don’t say that. I’m having a great time with you guys.” She smiled, wiping the sweat on her neck with a handkerchief. “I rarely hang out with my parents.” The cool winds of the forest calmed down our bodies.

“I’m sure they think of wanting to hang out with you.”

She chuckled, shaking her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Finally! What took you so long to come here?”

The waterfall glimmered behind her, like drops of sunlight being dropped from a height. It was situated at quite a height, giving enough momentum to cause a splash in the little pond formed at its foot. We had found this place accidentally after Oliver had gotten lost during one of our secret adventures. Luckily, Grandma Momo had been secretly following us so were we able to find her. Ever since then, our secret ventures stopped.

“Maybe next time consider the fact that you and Yuna are not alone.” I scolded her, earning a pout from her.

“Ah, sorry.” She took both of our bags, placing them on the cloth they had laid out. “Upon reaching, I thought it would be better for us to sort of camp here and then go down to the stream.”

“You came up with the idea?” Yuna scoffed, opening his bottle as he drank.

“Okay fine, it was his.”

“So, what’s down the stream?” Haya sat down beside Yuna, gesturing to his bottle.

“Now that’s the fun part. We’ll be hunting for fish. Liam and I will be going first.” Yuna offered his bottle to her and stared at us.

“What?” Oliver questioned as she picked up a couple of sticks.

“Try not to come back alive.”

“But you said you’d take both me and Liam back alive.”

“For Liam, I might. For you, not sure.”

“Yeah, somehow, I’m always the bad guy for you.” Oliver said nonchalantly.

“That’s pretty true.”

Haya nudged him. “That’s mean.”

“Oh, I am sorry, do my words hurt you?” He said sarcastically, getting up as he looked down at her. “Maybe try a butter knife next time.”

“Yuna, stop it.” Oliver warned, walking closer to him as she glared. “This is not funny. What snapped your mood?”

“Why is the attention-seeker unhappy?” He stood even closer. “Maybe it’s because of your uncontrollable temper.”

“You—” Oliver pushed him, tripping his leg as he held her hand. Both of them fell off the cliff with a huge splash.

This was unexpected.

Haya

“Achoo!” Yuna sneezed for the nth time, his face burning red. “G-Go away . . .” His voice was hoarse.

“Should have thought about it before you decided to mess with Oliver.” I squeezed the water out of the cloth before placing it on his head. “You know that you get cold very easily, right?”

“Don’t think we’re close now.”

“Wouldn’t even dream about it.” I made sure he was covered properly. “At least Oliver isn’t as bad as you. Grandma Momo said that she would get better by tomorrow.”

He groaned in pain, covering himself with the blanket. “Wait—the blanket.” I pulled it down to his neck. I took the cloth and dripped it in the water. “Have some medicine at least before sleeping.”

“N-No . . .” He muttered, making me sigh.

“Let someone take care of you.”

Eek!

I sat rooted in my place.

“Whose there?”

The door swung open; the sound of heavy footsteps coming closer and closer.

“Did I spook you?” Grandma Momo sat on the bed, looking at a now sleepy Yuna. She caressed his forehead. “How is he doing?”

“A bit better.” My eyes wandered to the medicine she held in her hand. She noticed my gaze on the medicine.

“This is for him. He’ll be fine in a few days.” I took the medicine from her, observing it as I kept it beside the bed.

“Do you have any servants, Grandma Momo?” I looked up at her.

“Maybe.”