5~ |Indoor Hurricane|

Sean's shadow cast shorter on the pavement when he walked to his workplace, for the sun was up relatively higher than usual. Even before he left home, he knew he was going to be late. However, he didn't want to remind himself of the reason why. If he were to think back, he would lose not only his mood but also his mind.

Despite having a giant figure who might have consumed half the space of his shoe-box apartment, it looked no different to him that he was dealing with a three-year-old who knew nothing better to do than ask questions.

Seriously, did he live in the cave back then? Did he just come out from a thousand-year meditation? Sean thought to himself.

Like his feet sprinting, his brain was also busy dealing with the nonstop questions that kept popping up inside his head. Heading through the alley towards the blue door, he turned the knob and let himself inside through the employee passageway only to meet his boss coming out from the room's corner.

"Morning, Sean." James, a middle-aged man in dark hair, oblong face-shaped, thin lips, and narrow eyes set, greeted him with a smile.

"Good morning, boss," he replied with a slight head bow. It is a symbol of respect. He headed to the employee's room and got changed before returning to begin his usual duties that involved cleaning and setting up the tables. His hands were fast, for he had been doing this job for years. His muscles seemed to move on their own even without him commanding it. It was like his body remembered all the movement perfectly well. However, when he was on the seventh table, his action faltered as he was deep in thoughts.

The subject that occupied his thinking was none other than the elf king, Oswin Alvingham.

Losing himself in the royalty presence within his head, he failed to notice his boss approaching until a voice echoed next to him.

"Hey, Sean. Are you okay?" asked James, his eyes emitting a worried air. 

"Oh, boss." He snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at James. "I'm okay. Sorry. I'll get the job done quickly. Don't worry. There were only two more tables left."

"Nah, I'm not asking you to hurry. Take your time. We're still a few hours away till the opening time," James smiled weakly to reassure his diligent employee, but it quickly disappeared when he asked another question similar to the one from before. "But are you feeling alright?"

"Of course, I am. I'm perfectly fine. But why are you asking?" He furrowed his brows as he looked at his boss questioningly.

"I can clearly see black circles on your eyes. Did you not sleep well last night?"

"Oh, about that…" he trailed off as a fresh memory from last night flashed before his eyes.

What do you expect, boss? I couldn't even have a peaceful sleep last night because some elf king came to my house and claimed my bed. I had to sleep on the small sofa even when it was MY OWN house. If that wasn't unfortunate enough, he even woke me up early to make breakfast for him. When I made him fried rice and gave him water, he interrogated me as if those two were aliens to him. Even before I left for work, he kept asking questions that even a kid could answer!

Although these words were processing inside Sean's head, he knew better than to say them aloud. James would think he was crazy. After all, no one had ever seen an elf nowadays. Never even mind the king. Besides, it'd be a long story to explain. He was way too exhausted to sit down and narrate everything.

"I'm fine, boss. Nothing to worry about. I just didn't sleep well last night. But I'm totally fine." He plastered his usual cheerful smile upon his face as he replied, hoping it would convince his boss to drop the subject.

"Are you sure?" asked James skeptically. His face depicted genuine care for the younger man, for he had always considered Sean as his own kin ever since the first year the boy worked for him.

"Yes. Everything is alright," he maintained his smile as he answered.

"Okay. If you say so." Though unconvinced, James decided to stop digging in case it would make Sean uncomfortable. "But remember, you can always come to me anytime if you have any problem." He stepped closer and patted the young guy on the shoulder.

"Thank you, boss," he said, bowing his head with the utmost respect.

James smiled before returning to the kitchen to resume his duty. Sean's eyes followed his boss's back and watched until the kitchen wall completely hid the middle-aged man from him before he murmured to himself.

"Everything is alright, right?" he murmured to himself.

*******

Meanwhile, at Sean's house, a tall figure with long, blonde hair was found holding and staring at a slim, eight-inches rectangular object.

"What is this strange thing? Why doesn't the whole Aldous Kingdom have it? Not even my castle." Oswin turned the remote control in his palms and looked at it in bewilderment. Suddenly, his finger pressed the 'on' button unknowingly, making a black tv screen filled with moving pictures.

It was a movie with an ancient theme where ministers were having a meeting with their king.

"Finally, something I'm familiar with," he murmured as he stared at the screen.

For the entire morning, he found not a single object he could recognize. He blamed himself for not visiting human territory even once. At least if he did, he wouldn't find himself at a total loss like this.

Now that the movie's setting was the interior of an ancient castle, he finally found himself at home somehow. The design was similar to his residence in Aldous, although it was smaller. The room was rectangular, adorned by dark violet tapestry and human-height large windows of no less than six; each had the purple curtains drawn to let sunlight in. The ceiling was not that extravagant, given it was just made with simple, bare wood with no carving made. Even the size of the room was two times smaller than that of Aldous's great hall.

The castle on TV was pale in comparison with the one that he resided in. However, he had no time to criticize its design or its size, for he was engaged in the heated discussion between the ministers and the kings. He didn't even wonder why he saw people and heard voices from the small box that was glowing light, a kind of thing that Aldous didn't have.

In a jiffy, a scene from the tv switched from peace to chaos. The once neat rows formed by ministers standing were messed up as they argued and began shouting at one another, causing the uproar to arise.

"You incompetent king, you deserve to die! I'll be the one to put an end to the misery of this kingdom," echoed a man's voice from the movie.

"What?!" he watched in horror as the sword pierced the king's heart, soaking the golden robe with crimson hue.

Not only did the uproar happen on the television at the king's assassination, but it also happened offscreen. "How dare you rebels assassinate the king in my presence? I'll teach you a lesson myself," he growled, heading towards the screen with his brows furrowed in exasperation.

No one had to guess what happened next, for the sound of smashing and glass shattering reverberated throughout the entire house.

After he took care of the noisy tv, the house dropped dead silent. However, it didn't take more than ten minutes before another voice cut off the soundlessness.

"The rice is cooked! The rice is cooked!" a soft, cute voice resembled that of an anime female protagonist's dubbing echoed from a rice cooker.

"There's an intruder?" he looked sideways in alarm. "Where are you? Show yourself!" He cautiously walked around the house in search of the source of the voice.

"The rice is cooked. The ri—,"

"Found you." He picked up the rice cooker from the counter and threw it to the floor, silencing the cute voice from making any more announcements. "Now, is there any more intruder?" he muttered to himself as he roamed off from one room to another as if searching for a lurking enemy.

During the twelve-hour wait for Sean to come back from work, Oswin found himself bustling within the small house.

*******

When Sean returned home from work, he almost couldn't believe his eyes when he opened the door and saw the state of his house differed completely from what he remembered this morning.

"Dear angels and all good deeds in this world, please give me the strength to continue my kindness. Or else I'll kick this so-called elf king out in the street to starve," he recited as he stomped off in a rage, carefully stepping over the scattered and broken things on the floor in search of the one responsible for it. "Oswin Alvingham!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs and stormed from one room to another simultaneously until he came across Oswin, who emerged from the bedroom.

"How dare you call the king by his name? You—,"

"Oh yeah, I DO DARE!" He cut Oswin off as he lifted his hand and pointed his finger at the tall figure. "And not just addressing you by the name, I even dare to hit you right now." He jumped on Oswin with the urge to strangle the elf king until he begged for forgiveness.

<TO BE CONTINUED>