The Alchemists

L was left speechless, hearing London's words just now.

Wasn't she talking about how London should save his money considering how poor he was and how he only had three sets of shirts? Why was he instead getting upset because she washed their clothes?

What a weirdo, L thought, pouting.

Seeing L pout like that made London freeze in place. This girl had tiny natural pink lips that looked extremely adorable when she pouted or sulked.

Maybe this was L's charm. As far as London had seen, the girl rarely smiled if she weren't photographed. But because she was a very professional artist, L could change poses and smiled twenty times a minute during a photoshoot.

But in her daily life, as long as London could remember, L almost never smiled. Her expression was usually either flat or cold. Many considered her elegant and a little prideful, but L never cared about their opinions.

Unconsciously, London stared at her pouting little lips and became stunned. For some reason, the images of that night's events reappeared in his mind. He remembered the tiny lips m.o.a.ning and whimpering very s.e.xily when they made love under the influence of aphrodisiac.

His hand on L's relaxed when he swallowed and looked away. Ugh... he almost kissed those cute pouting lips.

"The point is that you don't have to work at home to clean up or do the laundry. I've hired someone to do it thrice a week. Just focus on your practice and your health."

He finished his dinner early and rushed to his room to rest.

London knew that living with L for the next five months would be hard because he had to hold back more than usual with her around him. He couldn't deny his feeling of love for L, and together with his feeling of love was s.e.x.u.a.l attraction towards the girl.

As a visual person, he often imagined how L's body would look without any garments on. Her petite body had the perfect curves in all the right places. Even her stomach, which was now protruding, made her even more attractive in London's eyes, considering that the woman was pregnant with his child.

When he went to bed last night, he even had to take some pills to help him fall asleep. His mind kept wandering to the girl sleeping in the room next to his and imagining L laying in his arms and sleeping with him. He imagined how they were in each other's embrace, closing their eyes while feeling the sound of their heartbeats flowing in rhythm.

Ugh... He scolded himself for not being able to hold back his feelings for L. That girl wasn't the right woman for him. L was too materialistic and too selfish.

London felt a dilemma in his current position. He had to fight his feelings when he was living with L, but he also didn't want to leave L alone without him during her pregnancy. He wanted to protect L and his child in her w.o.m.b. He wanted to make sure the child was developing perfectly and without problems until its birth into this world.

Seeing London finish his dinner and go to his room, L could only sigh. Her gaze was on the flowers in the vase and on the delicious food on the table.

In her heart, she felt touched because she was treated so well by this man. They had known each other for four months, and the longer they were together, the more L could see how well London was treating her. She had never met a man as good as he was.

L wasn't a prudish or naive young woman who couldn't see how the man looked at her with a pair of affectionate eyes laced with l.u.s.t every time they were together. She knew London really loved her, and this made her feel uneasy.

If the situation was different, L might've run away far away from this man so her feelings for him wouldn't go deeper. But the problem was that she was pregnant and she had no choice but to stay here and let London take care of her.

If living with L became a certain kind of torture for London, it was the same for L.

***

The next morning, London woke up again to the sound of singing from the living room. For some reason, he never got tired of hearing L's voice even though she repeatedly sang the same song.

She would sing three songs for the festival. One was a very famous song from Billie Yves, which was also Finland's favorite song. His mother was Billie Yves' biggest fan. The other two song were L's own songs from her new album.

When London left his bedroom to prepare their breakfast, he was surprised to see that there was already warm food on the table.

"I warmed up the leftovers last night in the microwave. You only ate a little last night," L commented. She folded the yoga mat she had just used and put it in her room before joining London at the dining table. "I have to practice with the band and background dancers today. Can you take me to the studio?"

"At what time?" London asked while making tea in a pot for both of them.

"One in the afternoon."

One in the afternoon… London remembered that he had a meeting with lunch with the directors of the investment division at that hour.

"Alright," he simply replied. Jan could represent him at the meeting. He could meet those directors anytime he wanted, but the opportunity to take L to work didn't come often.

"Thank you."

L received a cup of tea from London and took a sip. They then ate breakfast in silence.

At nine in the morning, London said goodbye before he left for work and promised to return at 12 noon for lunch together before driving L to the studio. It was a nice day for both of them.

***