Independence

It had gotten dark outside pretty early since it was wintertime.

Before 7:00 pm, the street lamps lining either oldes of the road lit up. The lights gave people a sense of warmth on this cold night.

Walking from the subway station to Bedford College, one would pass by a street of shops and vendors selling a variety of items.

When Miranda and Paul passed by the area, the former heard the sound of someone hollering that they had baked potatoes on sale.

She blinked a few times, her eyes felt a little prickly because of the chylly wind. She glanced at Paul and said, “Wait here for a bit.”

Paul stood there for a while. Two minutes later, he saw her coming back with two hot, baked potatoes in her hands.

“Here” Hot steam rose from the potato when Miranda separated hers in half. The potato was soft but a little too hot

Miranda blew on the potato to cool it off. When she tried taking another small bite, she could taste how soft it was. Her face broke into a smile.

She looked at Paul. “Is yours soft?”

He nodded. It was the first time he’d had such a delicious and soft

baked potato in his life.

Miranda felt somewhat proud of herself. “Right? I’ve always had pretty good luck. I can always find the soft ones in the bunch without fail.”

Her smile was infectious and made Paul’s lips curl slightly. Even his eyes looked like they were smiling.

It was already 7:00 pm by the time they reached the apartment building.

When Miranda opened the door, the warm temperature maintained by

the underfloor heating warmed up her body instantly. Then, she carried her books and stationery into the study

Several open books lay messily on the desk. She started picking them up and arranging them on the shelf. Eventually, she found a reference book that Paul had lent her last week

She took the book out and knocked on Paul’s door

Paul had the habit of taking a shower first after coming back home after being out

His hair was still wet as he’d just gotten out of the bathroom. Still, he went to check who it was when he heard someone knocking on the front door.

“You tent me the original edition in Aurenese last week. I almost forgot to return it to you.”

For some unknown reason, Miranda felt a little nervous when she caught a whiff of the fresh, minty scent coming from him.

Paul took the book from her and spotted a sticky note still stuck to it.

He could recognize Miranda’s writing She’d drawn a tiny, cute person with a determined expression wearing a headband on the bottom left comer of the sticky note.

Miranda noticed the smile on Paul’s face and the sticky note she’d been using as a bookmark. She hurriedly took it off.

She coughed awkwardly, saying “I just doodled that because I was bored.”

She could see Paul’s smile widen. She quickly changed the topic. “By the way, will you be free soon? After the exam is over, I want to treat you to a meal to thank you for all your help.”

Paul had helped her with preparing for the

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also come to her rescue during the incident at the mansion. All this time, she hadn’t had the opportunity to thank him properly.

Paul could see the earnest look in Miranda’s eyes. He didn’t turn down her offer.

Instead, he suggested, “Why don’t we just have a meal at home? I prefer your cooking anyway.”

Miranda beamed. “Why don’t I cook for you tomorrow? I’ll get the ingredients after the exam finishes in the afternoon. By the time you come back from the lab, dinner will be ready.”

“Okay.”

It didn’t rain the next day. When Miranda finished her exam and came outside, she could see rays of light shining from behind the gray clouds in the sky.

She went to the supermarket to purchase the ingredients. Then, she took a cab home. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

At 6:00 pm, someone knocked on her front door.

After Miranda let Paul in, he changed into a pair of men’s slippers she’d prepared for him. Then, he made his way into the kitchen to help her prepare dinner.

Miranda passed all the vegetables that needed washing to him naturally. “Here. You know the drill, so I’ll leave that to you.”

She turned around and focused on cutting other ingredients right away.

As Paul looked at Miranda’s back, he smiled faintly. “Sure.”

Suddenly, a realization dawned on him. Although this was his first time experiencing a life like this, he nonetheless found it rather fun and

interesting.