A week has passed since I’ve planned Althea’s perfect birthday party.

Ever since I made that new promise to her, Althea had basically treated my place as her second home. No, since she was basically here twenty-four-seven, my apartment had also become Althea’s. Over a quarter of her wardrobe had been shifted over to my closet, and all of her daily necessities had been transferred over as well.

In a sense, we were already a cohabiting couple just a few months into our relationship.

Other men might feel that we were moving too fast, and if I were to tell Len, I was certain that he would say the same.

But… I knew deep down that this was the right choice.

We were already inseparable, and virtually every waking hour of ours was spent together. Now that we had climbed the final hurdle and had slept together as well, it didn’t make sense for us to spend our nights apart.

In fact, I would even question why we didn’t do this sooner?

Waking up to an angel every morning… Working out with her until our bodies weren’t able to move anymore… Cooking meals for my beloved… Doing work together… Watching dramas and playing games… and finally, hugging each other tightly to sleep…

Days that passed like this…

It was just pure bliss.

Of course, we didn’t flirt all day like newlyweds would. Althea was in her final year of university, and her first semester was pivotal for her graduation chances. It was the start of her final year project, after all.

Most of her time had been split between studying for her courses and finishing her final year project, which had come to a dead end.

Why?

“Lauren… Have you completed the data analytics we assigned to you last week? No? But if we don’t finish it soon, we will be behind schedule!”

Seated formally on the living room table, Althea rubbed her forehead while talking to the opened laptop. She tried to keep her calm, but I could tell that the little lass was slowly losing it.

“Janice? Ah, you finished fifty percent of your part… I know that you’ve been working, so don’t worry about it. As long as you can complete the rest before Friday, we should still be on schedule.”

Althea frowned but didn’t let her true thoughts show. Instead, she concentrated her attention on yet another groupmate.

“What about you, Karen? About the-... Yes, I know that you’ve been busy with your student union. But shouldn’t this project take precedence over that? You do realize that it affects whether we can graduate or not, right?”

“...”

I couldn’t hear Althea’s groupmate's response since she was wearing her earpiece, but I could catch snippets of a young girl raising her voice. There wasn’t any yelling or anything, but there was undoubtedly contempt in it.

“No, I’m not looking down on you. I’m just committed to completing this project.”

“...”

A lengthy exchange followed. It was softer this time, so I wasn’t able to eavesdrop anymore. However, at the end of it all, Althea sighed and said:

“Grace, you’re right. Arguing won’t get us anywhere. Why don’t we take a day to reset and meet again tomorrow? Great, thank you all for your time.”

With that, Althea finally ended the video conferencing call. Unlike most days, she sloppily threw her head back on the sofa and slammed her laptop shut, as if she was trying to vent all of her pent up frustration on it.

Dead tired, Althea closed her eyes and pinched her temples with a groan.

“Urgh...”

“...”

During times like these, I should step up as a boyfriend. Waiting for her to calm down, I swooped in at the right moment with a glass of chilled ice lemon tea.

“Here, have some tea.”

“Thanks, Desir...”

Althea grabbed onto my outreached hand and brought the glass to her tiny, petite mouth. She took one small sip before dropping the cup on the table.

“Are you busy now, Desir?” The girl cautiously asked.

“No,” I replied honestly. “I have some downtime as my code is still compiling.”

It was common for a programmer to have numerous downtimes throughout the day. After all, even if you could try to keep your focus, watching code run would kill brain cells faster than they grew. Also, time was on my side as I’d just run a long dataset which would take hours to compile.

“If that’s the case...”

Althea stretched both of her arms out like a young child who wished for her father’s attention. Her red, ruby lips turned into a humorous pout, and her adorable little eyes sparkled with pure longing. She wanted my warmth, and I didn’t need verbal confirmation to understand that.

“Come here,” I said playfully as Althea leapt into my embrace.

I sat back down on the couch, this time gently placing my koala bear of a girlfriend squarely on my lap. Her arms were tightened around my neck while her body was slinging down against mine. In a sense, it really did seem like I was swaddling a baby.

“Urgh… Sorry, I need to recharge my Desirnium.”

“What the hell is Desirnium?” I laughed in jest.

“Don’t you know? Desirnium is the world’s most desirable product. It brings comfort to my heart and helps me be happier every single day.”

“Oh? If it’s that effective, maybe I should sell it to other women? It seems like I could make a killing if I did that.”

“H-Huh?! N-No, it only works on Althea Kong! If other women inhaled Desirnium, they would explode and die!”

“Explode and die? Haha, I see! Then I shall reserve all of it to this selfish little girl!!!”

Explode and die? Oh, Althea. Could you be any more adorable? Laughing my ass off, I stroked the fidgety creature in my embrace, gently caressing her as we cuddled.

“Damn it, Desir… Why do you always have to tease me?!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” I chuckled in pure folly. Leaning in, I brushed my mouth against Althea’s ears and whispered: “Did I help you relieve your stress?”

“... A little bit.”

“Wow, just a little? This group project must be driving you insane then!”

Althea was a strong person. She would never let her emotions get the better of herself, and so watching her almost blow her top out with her groupmates brought a gasp to my mouth.

“That’s right! I’d never been more irritated by my group ever! In my final year project, nonetheless!!!” The girl knowingly spewed out her discontent. “If not for Grace, I might have given up on this project.”

“Oh? Tell me about it.”

“I have five group members for my final year project. One is daydreaming half the time and rarely completes her part. Another is busy with her part-time job, so she can’t commit a hundred percent to our project. And finally, the last one would rather spend time in her student union even though she’s part of the graduating class!”

Althea roared in frustration. Well, it’s not like I didn’t understand. Back during my university days, I had faced plenty of situations just like hers. It was rare to get a group that synergized perfectly and completed all of their tasks on time.

“Grace and I are basically the only two doing the project. I would say seventy percent of the work has been divided between us and yet! Those three can’t finish the thirty percent I’d given them. It’s really frustrating!”

“That’s annoying...”

“I know, right?! The worst part is, I can’t change my group this deep into the project!”

“Why didn’t you get better teammates then?”

“... I did, but because of Paul, I wasn’t able to go through with them. So I had to team up with Grace and three other random classmates.”

Ah, now I understand what happened. Most likely, Althea had already formed a group with Grace and three other guys. However, since Althea had developed a severe androphobia due to her trauma, she could not trust them, even if they were good teammates. As a consequence, she had to work with the bottom of the pack.

“I wish I could help you,” I sighed while patting her head.

“Haha, no, it’s fine. Our majors are totally different, after all. Besides, you are swamped with work, are you not?”

“Hah...”

Althea’s words struck me deep in the heart. If it had anything to do with programming or computer science, I was confident of getting Althea a distinction in her group project. Alas, the girl was studying business administration. No matter how good I was at programming, I was basically a toddler when it came to another university major.

If I can’t help her with her work, then at the very least… I should help ease her stress.

Later that night…

I sat patiently on the bed, waiting for Althea to finish her nightly shower routine. Speaking of which, Althea usually spent over thirty minutes in the bathroom, which was almost three times as long as my usual showers. When I probed her about her extended time, Althea simply said that a lady had to be more careful with how they present themselves.

They had to tend to their face using an array of skincare products. They had to use a combination of shampoo and conditioners. And to ensure that their foundation was picture perfect, a woman had to wash every nook and cranny of their supple body.

It was a domain that I knew nothing about, so I could only go by her words. Fortunately, her long minutes in the shower gave me some time to refresh my memory about what I’d researched earlier today.

And when it was a few minutes to midnight…

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Desir.”

Althea came out from the master bedroom’s toilet while drying her hair with a towel. She’d likely dried it in the bathroom, but just to make sure it was silky smooth, Althea always gave additional tender care to her long black hair.

Removing the towel from her head, Althea rested her perfect bottom on the inner side of the bed. The natural manner in which she moved made her seem like she was already the matriarch of this household. All of her daily tools were in my room. Her towels, products and even her hairdryer were in my bathroom. The girl had even chosen her side of the bed!

Bit by bit, I felt that my position in this apartment was shrinking, even though my name was the one on the lease!

“Shall we go to bed?” Ignoring my mental conundrum, Althea tapped on the bed and suggested we turn off the lights.

“Hold on,” I replied softly. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Surprise?”

Puzzled, the otherworldly beauty paused and looked right at my face. Since she’d moved into my apartment, Althea had transferred all of her pyjamas and nightwear over. And perhaps it was my imagination, but the majority of her nightgowns were all newly bought with seductive laces and high cuts all over. As a matter of fact, her nightdress was so short that they were barely over her ample bosom and curvy waist.

And since neither of us had a habit of wearing underwear to bed… It was pretty hard for me to avert my eyes at those dangerous zones.

Still, as a man of willpower, I swallowed my desires and adjusted Althea accordingly. She sat right in front of me with crossed legs while I did the same in a lotus position. No, I brought her closer towards my body so that my arms could comfortably sit on her shoulders.

“Yes, just stay still...”

Thinking back on the videos I’d watched, my thumbs began to move in a circular motion. Just like kneading dough, my hands rotated around Althea’s shoulders and neck.

“Desir?!”

“Since I can’t help you with your project, I’d thought that the least I should do is to ease some of your tension.”

“Ah...”

Althea moaned. Although I didn’t know if it was from my massage or from her own outburst of emotions.

“How does it feel?” After a minute of kneading, I cautiously asked the girl who had turned silent.

“Perfect,” Althea gasped as if she were in a stupor. “I never knew that you were this good at massages, Desir.”

“Really? This is actually my first time doing it, so I can’t tell if I’m good or not.”

“Is it? Haha, I’m honoured then.”

Althea laughed in bliss. After ten long minutes, the girl stopped my massage and leaned her back against my chest. She was entrusting her entire body to me, the peak of human vulnerability. It was unthinkable for a girl who had recovered from severe androphobia to show this kind of weakness to a guy this quickly.

And I was once more reminded… Of how much Althea trusted and relied upon me.

“Thank you, Desir… I really needed this.”

“I know. You’ve been under a lot of stress recently. While I can’t help you solve your problems, I can at least provide my body for you to fall back on. Whenever you feel weak, just remember that I’m always right behind you.”

“Don’t worry… I’ll never forget it...”

And with that… That night, just like many nights before, the two of us bonded late into the night.