Chapter 56 - Vol. 3: Noah To Haru - 56

Haru

We ended up having steaks and fries for lunch in a fancy restaurant. I guess now that most of us had handsome allowances from Uncle Jin, we didn’t have to scrimp on eating out, or grocery shopping for that matter.

It was damn nice of Uncle Jin to not only give me and Reo monthly allowances for our living expenses and leisure pursuits, but Mason and Isaac, too, since they were still in the university. Uncle Jin even made us young ones quit our part-time jobs so we could concentrate on our studies, which Isaac and I had gladly obliged, and Reo and Mason reluctantly accepted.

Though Mason hadn’t been keen on walking away from his position at the bar, he eventually enjoyed staying at home and spending time with everyone. He took up more of the cooking, too, which helped Reo out a lot.

“I’m thinking of doing a housewarming party next weekend,” Aiden said out of the blue. “What do you guys think?”

After taking a sip of his soft drink, Isaac said, “I think that it’d be awesome, bro. Yeah, a housewarming party.”

“Everyone can invite their friends,” Aiden said. “It’ll be lively and fun.”

I said, “Jess has been nagging me to come over to the apartment since last week, and we haven’t even moved in yet.” I laughed.

Isaac said, “Then I’m going to invite all my friends. Oh, and they can have a sleepover, too. My room is massive so there’s no problem with space.”

Noah said, “Looks like we’ll be buying a boatload of groceries if your friends are staying over.”

Aiden chuckled. “Yeah.”

Isaac said, “I know you said we could go puppy hunting next weekend, but can we do it today instead? I mean next weekend we have the party and stuff. I’m free today.” He turned to me. “Are you free, Haru?”

I nodded. “I don’t have much to do until our furniture arrives on Monday.”

“Unfortunately, I still have a ton to do,” Aiden said. “Reo and I need to go grocery shopping for the week, too.”

“Yes,” Reo said.

“I’m catching up with my friends this afternoon,” Mason said. “I’m not free.”

“Just you and me then, Haru,” Isaac said.

“Hmm,” I responded. “Should be fun.”

Noah said, “Like we’re going to let you two rascals loose around a new neighborhood.”

Reo chuckled. “We know how that’ll turn out.”

I frowned. “We’re not kids, Reo. We won’t get lost, that’s for sure.”

Isaac nodded in agreement. “Not kids.”

Noah said, “That’s not what we’re worried about, airhead.” He was looking at me, which meant that airhead was me. “You looking the way you are will only incite trouble. Men are just going to stalk you, like usual, and none of us have any time to deal with that shit.”

Noah just loved to call me names, didn’t he? Little brat and now airhead. And once again, he brought up the subject of men stalking me.

Fuck, I had thought going into a relationship with Aiden and having him as my boyfriend would change all that, since it clearly showed I was taken. That part of my life, however, hadn’t changed one bit. If anything, it seemed to have gotten worse. At least one of the brothers had to be with me when I was out, and most of the time, it’d be either Reo or Isaac.

With Reo, it was fine. Those stalkers interested in me tended to stay clear of Reo’s fierce glare, but with Isaac, it was like double the trouble, and we almost always ended up calling either Mason or Reo to come rescue us. We couldn’t call on Aiden because he was always busy with work, and we dared not call Noah because he’d chew our heads off. We had learned that the hard way two months back and vowed to never do it again. Noah didn’t stop lecturing us during that hour-long drive home.

Aiden said, “So you’re offering to go with them, Noah? Sounds good.”

I saw Noah darken his expression, his eyes on me. He said, “It can’t be helped.”

He made it sound like I was a chore to him, which pissed me off. I said, “If you don’t want to come along, you don’t have to. It’s not like we need you to babysit us.”

He flicked his gaze to me again. Fuck, it grew even more fierce this time, and I swallowed hard. He even gritted his teeth like he’d like to strangle me or something, which was freaking me out.

Isaac said, “But it’ll be nice if Noah comes along, since we’d need to get dog food and stuff, and he can help us carry those. He has big muscles.”

Noah finally shifted his gaze from me and then got up from his seat. “I need to use the restroom.”

I sighed in relief and relaxed back in my seat. Aiden turned to me and said, “Have fun.”

I gave him a weak smile. “Yeah.”

After lunch, we went our separate ways, with Aiden and Reo heading back to the apartment and then grocery shopping, Mason to meet his friends, and Noah, Isaac, and I heading down the busy, people-infested streets to the pet shop a couple of blocks away.

Noah was quiet as we walked, and his mere presence was damn hard for me to deal with. He was just there, looming close to me like an enormous, intimidating shadow that just wouldn’t leave. Thank God for Isaac. He was, like usual, chatty and a ball of energy.

When we arrived at the pet shop, I felt more relaxed, mostly because my attention was caught by a room full of cuteness. Puppies, kittens, rabbits, hamsters, birds, and more. I chuckled, my eyes bright as I looked around.

“Haru, over there,” Isaac said. “The puppies are over there.”

Both of us took off, and within moments, we were in the puppy area and surrounded by balls of fluff. I enjoyed my time there, stroking and picking any puppies that came my way, and so did Isaac. It was only around an hour later when I gasped, just remembering that Noah was with us.

I searched around and found him not too far away, watching me. Oddly enough, I felt myself blushing from his intense stare.

Fuck, I was blushing because Noah was watching me. What the hell?

I said to him, feeling the need to include him, “Which one should we pick?”

He came forward and stood inches away from the area of fluff and then said, “It’s going to be yours and Isaac’s puppy, so it’s your two’s choice.”

“This one then!” Isaac picked up a little golden one and raised it in the air like Rafiki raised the cub Simba to show everyone in Pride Rock in The Lion King.

One of the store clerks came over to us then. “You men getting a puppy?”

Isaac said, “Yep. Our first. We want a small and cute one to go with our cute bro Haru over here.”

The woman turned to look at me and chuckled. “Oh my, you are very...cute.”

Ugh! Why the heck did Isaac have to go and say that?

Turning back to Isaac, the store clerk said, “I suggest a toy dog then, like a terrier.”

A little one trotted over to me, and the moment I saw it, I fell in love with it. I picked it up in my arms, and it greeted me with an enthusiastic bark, followed by it sticking its tongue out at me.

“This one. It’s a Havanese,” I said.

The woman chuckled. “Yes, that’s a Havanese. It’s spirited and friendly.”

“Awesome,” Isaac said. “That’s what we need, a spirited and friendly pup.” He reached out and ruffled the cute little thing, causing it to bark out in excitement.

“Then we’ll take that one,” Noah said.

Half an hour later, we finally finished our pet shopping and walked out of the store; Isaac was holding our new member of the family in his arms, and I was carrying a box containing dog bowl, and Noah hugged a bag of dog food. When we arrived at the apartment, Aiden and Reo came to meet our new pup, and it took a liking to both men immediately.

“Have you got a name for it yet?” Aiden asked, looking at me.

I shook my head.

“Japanese or English?” Reo asked.

I said quickly, “Japanese.” I tilted my head to one side. “What about Aki? It means bright or autumn, and the puppy is a male.”

Aiden said, “Aki, I like it. His fur is that light-brown color, kind of like autumn leaves.”

I nodded.

“Yeah! Aki! I like it,” Isaac said, picking up the pup. “From now on, you are Aki.”

Isaac and I showed the dog around the apartment, not that it’d understand anything, but we thought it was logical to show a new member of the family where everything was, like the bathroom and where its dining place was going to be, which was in the kitchen.

When Mason returned just before dinner, he took to Aki immediately and said that the pup was so cute, like me, which kind of annoyed me.. It appeared I was continued being likened to a dog by Mason.