[Music Recommendation: "Winter Bear" by Kim Taehyung (BTS - V) available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

[Please note: We're still in Crystal's POV - the moment when Callan took his shirt off ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

That bad boy look, with his chin up, and his eyes looking down on me…

With a bit of sweat trickling down his neck and down to his chest…

And down to his scrumptious abs…

What a perfect physique…

Wait, what?!

'D-Did I just drool over Callan's body? What the—No! I admit he's sexy, and tall, and dashingly handsome that's why it's so easy for him to be a model but no! He's your best buddy and friend, Crystal! It's Verrill you liked. You don't go after friends.'

Then again, it's fine to fangirl over friends, right? Yeah. Let's just say I'm appreciating the amazing physique of my dear and precious brat friend.

Callan smirked and looked down on me so smugly.

"What? Cat got your tongue?"

Tsk. So confident.

I rolled my eyes and tried to play it cool.

"Not at all. Even my brother got the same sexy body. It's nothing special," I replied smugly, too, while crossing my arms and legs.

Callan's smug look suddenly turned horrid and red. What happened to him? Did he eat something wrong?

"Hey, are you ok? What's with that—"

"Y-Y-You!" he barely managed to speak, looking all shy and shocked at the same time. "Put your legs down! And change into some proper clothes! And make sure to wear some lingerie!" And in murmur, "D-Don't just be in a bathrobe without anything—Ugh!"

He turned around after saying his piece and covered his face. But what in the world did he mean? It's not like I'm naked or anything.

Confounded as to why he's suddenly acting so shy, I looked down and checked my whole body.

'Ahhh… so this is why.'

"PFT! HA-HA-HA-HA! You're blushing over this?"

Yup. It's my thigh. It peeked through the gap of my bathrobes when I crossed my legs, exposing my bare thigh to him. Not that I mind though. We used to bathe together as children. He already saw everything in me and vice versa. What's so wrong with him seeing my…

Then, a sudden image of us bathing together flashed my mind—one when we were kids, which was nostalgic; and two, for some reason I imagined us doing the same in our current age.

Alas, it hit me. We're no longer children!

I quickly covered my exposed thigh, stood up, and sprinted towards the bedroom to finally put on some clothes. That was so embarrassing. It seemed that I got so used to being with Callan too much that I've become shameless in front of him. I need to constantly remind myself that we're two grown up people now, and that I'm a woman, and he's a man. Of course he would blush! He realized it sooner than I did!

Badump! Badump! Badump!

My heart thumped loud to the point it was ringing in my ears. I probably looked so red seeing my own hands turned pink. What more of my face and neck?! Shaking my head, I quickly took some clothes to put on and most importantly, underwear! Since it was still early, I just got some comfortable halter neck floral sundress.

By the time I'm done, Callan was back to cooking. I noticed his long hair was getting on his face so I looked for a dark colored scrunchie from my box and went back to him.

"Want me to tie your hair?"

"Ah, yes, please."

He was busy stirring the pot so he just bent his knees so I could tie his hair. Touching it again after a long time felt nostalgic. It's still so smooth and silky, despite him being a man.

"Seriously, Callan. When are you planning on cutting this? Doesn't it irritate you? You haven't cut it since three years ago? If I remembered it right. Good thing your hair grows really slow or else it would have been so long by now."

Callan chuckled. "I have my reasons. It's sentimental so don't even think of pranking me by cutting it without my permission."

"Sentimental, huh? Now I wonder what happened three years ago for you to decide not to cut your hair."

"Not tellin' you."

"Unfair! After I did your hair for you."

"Consider it payment for the food I'm cooking."

"Stingy! Hmf!"

We never kept secrets from each other but that was the one thing he would never tell me. I felt betrayed. Hmf! Whatever.

Later on, he finished cooking and we ate. Uhhhmm… it's delicious as always. Callan was really good with his hands. He's good at cooking, giving massages, crafts, even at painting! Him! Of all people. Just a few more and he'd be like my favoured-by-the-Almighty brother—a jack of all trades.

Haaah… As a friend, I certainly believe that he'd make a great wife in the future—I mean, husband. Ha-ha-ha!

Once done eating, Callan went to the living room and tinkered on the television.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

He didn't answer me and just sat on the couch afterwards, hanging both of his arms on the backrest.

"Sit down," he said, gesturing to the space beside him.

"Aren't you going back to your room?"

"Oh, come on. Don't be stingy. Let's watch a movie. We still have plenty of time till shooting."

"So that's what you were doing," I chuckled and sat down beside him. "What movie though?"

"I got plenty from my drive. Go pick anything you like."

He handed me over the remote so I took it and browsed over the list.

"You don't have any R-18 videos in here, do you?"

"Yes. There are some gore movies, and horror. So don't go there since you hate them."

'Oh my goodness! That's not even what I meant about R-18! Could it be? Callan is a… a huge and innocent virgin baby? Not that I have experienced myself but… seriously? This brawny friend of mine is so… pure?! Purer than my mind?'

Wow! Just WOW!

Curious, I checked everything in his external drive and there really was none! It's his personal drive, too, since it had our pictures from childhood to college.

Oh my goodness. I just discovered something I never would have expected from Callan.

"Callan, my dear, dear buddy, you're such a—I'm so proud of you."

I acted emotional, patting his shoulders and giving him a hug, much to his bewilderment.

"HUH?! What's with you all of a sudden?"

I ended up laughing at him. Then we settled on some hero movie and ate nuts while watching. Thirty minutes after the start of the movie, I felt my butt hurting from all the seating, so I laid down and used Callan's thigh as my pillow. He caressed my hair afterwards and that made me doze off.

Truly, being with Callan was such comfort.

This relationship… I would never exchange it for anything.