Syndedeménos (Connected)

CHAPTER 23

Aquila has been watching the robot sweeping the floor on the edge of the sofa she was sitting on for several minutes. From the beginning he sat up straight, then leaned against the back of the sofa, until finally she lay down on the sofa by raising his legs and propping his head on her right hand. The girl tried to find the most comfortable position for her when she wanted to talk to the non-living thing in front of her.

"Hey… Bobo… why do you think your master is so stubborn?"

Just because a robot was approaching its position, Aquila who was bored in thought tried to initiate a one-way conversation. With the affectionate nickname "Bobo" from her, Aquila made a robot as an outlet for his previously unspoken thoughts. Aquila's conversation seemed to position the robot she was talking to as having a higher caste than it should be. Aquila refused to remember that Bobo was just an ordinary cleaning robot, not a robot to interact with.

"Nevertheless, I know Rex isn't that cruel… Hey, Bobo. Don't leave me. I'm talking to you!"

Instead of staying in one position, Bobo chose to leave the sofa and leave Aquila alone. It was as if the robot didn't even want to hear her speak. Aquila lowered her hand from her head and saw a three-quarter tile flat electronic device running to the dark living room. Her lips were pursed and her brow furrowed. The treatment of a robot made Aquila show an annoyed face.

Aquila moved the head from the side to the top. Her two eyes narrowed when she saw the beautiful glass chandelier on the ceiling of the family room. Then her eyes opened fully again as her gaze was perpendicular to her lying position. Aquila looked up at the ceiling still with a frown on her face. This time it wasn't Bobo that annoyed her but she still couldn't forget the conversation she had with Rex a few hours ago. Even though her body was relaxing at the moment, her mind didn't want to let her stop working so she spent her time talking to herself.

"Even Bobo doesn't want to be spoken to. Bobo must know that it's weird for me to say that Rex isn't cruel… there isn't a single person who isn't cruel in our squad."

From her careless words, Aquila's mind was exploring the memories of her past scenes. About how easily she could threaten someone and then actually pull the trigger on the g*n she was holding. When Aquila had c****d the g*n and had aimed it at Keenan last night, he had time to think about actually shooting Keenan's left hand. It was very common for Aquila to do this before. Actually, even shooting someone dead seems to be something Aquila used to do now, so there was no panic when doing it. But something else stopped her from acting.

Just as Aquila closed her eyes due to the drowsiness in her mind that began to become uncontrollable, she suddenly heard the sound of the door opening. Aquila immediately woke up and opened her eyes again. But she chose not to move from her lying position.

While Aquila was imagining that someone was getting closer to the living room, her mouth twitched and said two things that only sounded in her mind. Get up. No. Get up. No. Get up. No. One of the two things must be chosen by Aquila immediately before the people who will come see her. If Aquila chooses "get up" then that person will see Aquila sitting on the sofa.

In the end Aquila chose "no". She kept her eyes closed and breathed using stomach breaths as if she was asleep. Not long after, the scene that Aquila thought about while closing her eyes became a reality. Someone carried Aquila's body with both of the person's hands on the neck and elbows in Aquila's knees. When she felt that she had been lifted from the sofa, Aquila leaned her head against the chest of the person who lifted her. Every move Aquila made was calculated so that it looked like she was really fast asleep.

Aquila felt her body being held tighter as she climbed the stairs. A little attention so that the person being carried didn't fall, made Aquila smile happily. Aquila's face was deliberately buried in the shirt beside her so that the change in her expression wouldn't be seen and she could still pretend to be asleep.

The room that Aquila used to use was closest to the stairs. Aquila could feel that she was in front of her bedroom door because the person who brought her only walked a few steps after passing the last stair and stopped walking. And Aquila's journey to her room ended when her body was laid on a king size bed and her head was placed on the pillow.

Even though her journey was over, Aquila still hoped for one other thing. One thing the person sitting next to her always did. Aquila's eyes really wanted to be opened at that time because the person beside her just stood still for a few moments. Neither move nor do anything else.

"Is Rex watching me sleep? Geez… just imagining it makes my heart beat fast. Ah… he could be looking at his cell phone. Yeah… that's right, today we fought again…."

Aquila's words that were talking continuously in her heart suddenly stopped when she felt something press her lips. Something that had a chewy texture like her lips but felt cold. Even though she was shocked because she came into contact with something of a lower temperature, Aquila didn't want to let go of that touch.

At this time Aquila was not curious to open her eyes because she was sure that what touched her lips was Rex's lips. During the kiss, Aquila's heart beat faster. She had known that Rex would definitely kiss her and that's why she always planned to pretend to be asleep on the first floor. But Aquila never got used to kissing from Rex because she always felt that every kiss she received was special. What Aquila only felt for a few seconds was enough to make the day better than before.

Rex turned his face away from Aquila after kissing that girl for a few seconds. Then the man got out of bed and made the sound of the door closing. Slowly Aquila opened one eye and then the other. She firstly made sure that Rex was out and didn't catch her pretending to be asleep.

There was no one other than Aquila herself in the room so Aquila could do what she had been holding back from kissing until now. Both sides of Aquila's lips immediately pulled to the side and made a delightful smile. She also kneaded the blanket that Rex was putting on her body. Aquila's expression couldn't be held anymore because she was feeling an unstoppable euphoria.