"I'm saying, from now on you'll have to complete missions. The skill I gave you has only benefits, of course, there's going to be demerits somewhere. It depends on how you think about it, if you fail a mission, a talent will be lost HOWEVER if you succeed then you'll gain an item or another skill, it's randomly selected, though."

"Wait, wait, isn’t this a little too sudden? In the first place I didn't even ask for the skill or anything else that came after that, so why do I have to complete missions?!" Faer failed in understanding what was happening.

"For fuck sakes!" Faer shouted, breaking the silence in the room as he sat on the bed. Looking around the newly redecorated room, he sighed as his thoughts drifted to something unpleasant.

Let's go back a couple hours.

Since he was in now living in the city and he didn't have any friends, he had worked up the nerve to visit an old classmate from high school that lived close by.

The address was only three train stops away from his apartment. He was a little nervous since the person he wanted to visit was a little dangerous.

Dangerous in the sense that he made people feel certain things they didn't want to.

When Faer had transferred into a different school after he got emancipated, everyone scorned and bullied him. He never understood why people went out of their way to pick on him, he wasn't a bad person and he tried to keep to himself.

The first month was the worst, he'd always be made to run errands for the wannabe tough guys and the girls in his class would always pin everything on him when something went wrong. There was even that one time where a girl's panties were stolen from her locker and she blamed it on him. He wasn't even at school that day! They called him gross and a pervert. Faer was ostracised even more.

The only person who stood up for him and pointed out the obvious was Aro Lovett. Aro was what you'd call androgynous, with his effeminate features and long black hair. Both girls and guys idolized him. Faer was thankful that someone stood up for him but out of everyone, why did it have to be him?

Because Aro was the one who stood up for him, Faer became even more hated. Going out of his way to avoid him didn't help, because Aro would always find him and try to talk to him. Those little acts of kindness were the highlight of Faer's day. No one could fault him for developing feelings for a person like that, even if said person was a guy.

A couple months after that though, Aro left to live with his mother in China.

It's been over two years since then. His brother had told him recently that Aro had moved back to NYC. Faer didn't even bother asking how he knew that or even how he knew about Aro in the first place. His family had always had an unhealthy interest in his life.

Standing in front of the two-story building, Faer's hesitation turned to astonishment.

There was a sign on the building front.

Dragon Kitchen.

Eh? A Chinese restaurant? EHHHHH?!

Double checking the address, Faer was utterly confused. Isn't this where Aro lives?

'Ah standing out here won't solve anything.'

The restaurant turned out to be an open kitchen. Flower racks were placed haphazardly around the door. Many unknown flowers (to Faer) were placed on shelves and windowsills. It was very disordered but strangely soothing.

The curved tables surrounded the kitchen and there were even a few sinks in strategic places. The high chairs complimented the style of the whole interior. Looking at the entirety of the restaurant, Faer's impression of it was really good.

"Hey, Owner! gimme another bowl of egg fried rice!" A burly man surrounded by other burly men shouted out.

'Owner? Now that you mention it, there seems to be someone cooking.'

They didn't look old, around eighteen and was wearing a t-shirt under an apron. Thin eyebrows, large dark blue eyes, and a straight tall nose. A bundle of hair was covered by a hairnet.

Pretty.

On a closer look, however, this person seemed vaguely familiar.

"Boss Aro, how about switching out with me? You haven't had lunch yet right?"

A young girl with sparkly eyes came out from behind a door on the other side of the room.

'Oh, so that was his name. Boss Aro.' Faer nodded his head absentmindedly.

"Oi oi, did you say Aro?!" Faer senselessly shouted out, attracting everyone's attention.

The one called Boss Aro tilted his pretty neck to the side then a neutral voice was heard.

"Who are you?"