Chapter 35: Permission To Breathe

Lumi blinked in panic and slowly turned her head, only to find Evan’s face just an inch away from hers.

He was standing behind the sofa, leaning over the backrest so he could see the phone in her hands. His face was unexpectedly close, and Lumi immediately froze, her back pressed against the sofa as she stared at him with wide eyes.

Before she could say anything, the streamer on the screen suddenly shouted excitedly, "Ten thousand! Ten thousand coins! You guys really paid for it! Alright, I’ll do it because you guys paid for it!"

Lumi’s attention remained caught between Evan’s face and the phone.

Evan glanced at the screen, then lowered his eyes toward her again. He leaned slightly closer over the back of the sofa, his voice dropping into a quiet whisper. "Do you know what livestream you’re watching?"

Lumi blinked, "I-I was trying to learn how to Guide," she stammered, her fingers tightening around the phone. "Well, before I properly learn from the Guide you would hire to tutor me..."

Evan stared at her innocent expression for a moment.

Then, almost as though he couldn’t understand how someone could be this genuinely clueless, he murmured, "How can you be this innocent...?"

Lumi’s cheeks immediately warmed. She didn’t know what she had done wrong. "I..."

Evan seemed about to say something else, but before he could, a strange sound suddenly came from the phone.

Lumi’s eyes widened.

The sound continued.

Her expression slowly changed as she turned her gaze toward the screen.

The livestream was no longer showing anything remotely related to the Guiding demonstration she had expected. Instead, the streamer and the Sentinel were engaged in an unmistakably intimate scene.

Lumi’s eyes went completely wide.

"Ah!" She instantly threw the phone onto the other end of the sofa.

Evan froze for a moment before a quiet chuckle escaped him.

Lumi covered her burning face with both hands. "I didn’t know!"

"I know." Evan chuckled again.

"I really didn’t know!"

"I know, Lumi."

Still chuckling under his breath, Evan reached over the sofa and picked up the phone. He closed the livestream, made sure the screen was back to the normal home page, and then handed it back to her.

"Here."

Lumi hesitantly took it, keeping her eyes firmly away from the screen. "I thought it was a Guide livestream..."

"It was." He answered with a blank expression now.

Lumi slowly looked at him, "It was?"

Evan’s lips twitched, "Apparently, that’s what they call it."

Lumi stared at him in confusion, completely unable to understand how what she had just watched could possibly be considered Guiding.

Evan straightened from behind the sofa. "Next time, I’ll find you something more appropriate."

Lumi immediately nodded.

"Okay..." She lowered her head, wishing she could disappear into the sofa.

Evan watched her for another moment before quietly adding, "And if you’re trying to learn how to Guide me, you don’t need to learn from them."

Lumi looked up at him. "Why?"

His gaze settled on her, "Because you already managed to do it twice."

Lumi’s cheeks heated all over again.

’Why does he keep bringing that up?!’

Evan smiled faintly before shaking his head.

"Don’t randomly open that kind of livestream. That’s basically a po... ahem, stream that uses things like that to make money." He paused, clearly choosing his words carefully before looking directly into her eyes. "I might have to ask the authorities to block that kind of livestream. It could ruin such an innocent mind."

Lumi blinked.

She wasn’t sure whether he was seriously considering reporting the streamer or simply teasing her.

Evan straightened himself and glanced around the living room as if he had only just remembered something.

"Did you clean the house?"

Lumi froze.

’Did he notice it? Is he angry that I touched his things?’

Her fingers tightened around the phone as she nervously glanced around the living room. Everything was still neatly arranged, exactly as she had left it.

"I... only cleaned a little," she answered quietly.

Evan raised an eyebrow. "A little?"

Lumi nodded.

"I was bored, so I thought I could help..." She lowered her gaze, already preparing herself for him to tell her that she shouldn’t have touched anything.

Instead, Evan glanced around the spotless room and then back at her.

"You cleaned all this because you were bored?"

Lumi nodded again. "Yes."

He was silent for a moment before the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

"Don’t do it again next time. We have a cleaner who comes every two days. And next time you’re bored, tell me... we’ll go somewhere."

Lumi looked up at him, slightly confused. "Go... somewhere?"

"Mm." He bobbed his head casually.

"But you’re usually busy." Her voice was weak.

"I can make time."

Lumi stared at him for a moment, unsure what to say. She had gotten so used to filling every spare moment with chores that the idea of simply telling someone she was bored and having them take her somewhere felt strangely unfamiliar.

"You don’t have to stay inside the house just because I’m not here," Evan added. "You can go out, visit your college, see the city, or do whatever you want."

Lumi hesitated, "Can I really?"

Evan looked at her as though the question itself was strange. "Why wouldn’t you?"

Lumi lowered her eyes. "No reason..."

She quietly rubbed her thumb against the edge of her phone.

Evan watched her for a moment before understanding that this wasn’t really about the house.

"Lumi."

She looked up.

"This isn’t the Pei residence." His voice was calm, but there was something firm beneath it, "You don’t need permission to breathe here."

Lumi stared at him quietly. Her chest tightened.

For a moment, she remembered how carefully she had always moved around the Pei residence, how even the smallest mistake could become another reason for someone to blame her. She had spent so long thinking that she needed to be useful to deserve a place somewhere that she had forgotten what it felt like to simply be allowed to exist.

She lowered her gaze, her fingers tightening slightly around her phone.

"Thank you..."