"Good morning, Dr Cullman. Welcome to 'K World Sports Center'. Will you be using our coaching services today?"
The interruption made the corner of Alex's mouth twitch. A smooth and calm male voice came in reply from behind him:
"Good morning to you too, Kyle. And thanks, but no, I will not be needing any coaching services today."
Alex didn't turn around to the newcomer. He threw a dispassionate sidelong glance to the side, and flatly remarked:
"Oh, Kyle, you were here too."
The male receptionist beside Stephany suppressed a helpless and bitter smile, and replied with a respectful nod and a polite smile:
"Yes, Mr Lenner. I have always been here."
"Ah, no wonder!"
Alex did not voice the realization that dawned on him. Only his insincere exclamation was left to echo in the lobby, and it was already enough to draw an even deeper helplessness out of the poor male receptionist. A humorless smile grew at the corner of Alex's lips, before he opened his mouth, only to pause when a hand came to rest on his shoulder, and the smooth and calm voice from earlier came again:
"Alright, Alex, don't make things difficult for him. We didn't agree to meet here for this."
As he spoke, the man moved out from behind Alex to come stand beside him. He was like a ray of sunlight, his hair was such a bright blond that he seemed to be reflecting the sunshine, and it was complemented by green eyes that were neither deep nor pale but just right, set above his straight nose in the middle of his fair face, with his lips a little on the thinner side.
His face was not sharp, but calm, just as his voice had suggested, like a final touch to the temperament he was carrying. Alex moved his sidelong glance to him, but seeing his calm expression remain undisturbed, he faced him squarely and dismissed the accusation with a serious tone:
"Gawain Cullman, tell me, how am I making things difficult for him? His interruption just now came too promptly. It was too timely. How can I not suspect that he is having a crush on our Stephany right here? I just think that his behavior has been too defensive. If you think otherwise, then we will not be friends anymore."
As the receptionists fought to keep their composure, the calm on the handsome face under the mass of sunny hair finally broke. The lips below the straight nose welcomed a helpless downward curve at its left corner. Taking a light breath, Gawain Cullman defended:
"It was not an interruption, it was a greeting. Kyle was just doing his job welcoming me."
Three pairs of eyes made even the blond doctor feel the lack of conviction in his otherwise calm voice. He paused for a moment, his lips twitching, then decided to fall back on the best strategy in the face of a losing battle. He dropped the subject, and pulled Alex by the arm:
"Enough, I won't argue with you. Let's go!"
Alex smiled triumphantly but didn't resist. He threw a hard look at the helpless male receptionist, winked at the bewildered brown-haired beauty beside him, before he pulled his arm free, dashingly slid his sunglasses back on, and stepped into the corridor that led deeper inside the sports center.
Dr Gawain Cullman shook his head helplessly, then looked at Alex when he caught up with him:
"Do you really have to flirt with every woman you see?"
Alex replied without missing a beat:
"Only with the most beautiful ones."
"Is it really that interesting to always focus on the opposite sex?"
Alex smiled:
"Not always, but yes."
Glancing sideways at his friend, he continued:
"Not everyone is a monk like you, dear Gawain. Moreover, aren't you a doctor? Don't you know the instinct of all living beings to reproduce?"
Alex's smile deepened as he raised his eyebrows at the end. Gawain looked at him, then retorted with a shake of his head:
"And despite how proactive you are, I have yet to see you with a son or a daughter, or both. Are you sure you are doing it for reproduction?"
Alex rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses:
"It is because I am too young for that. I have to enjoy my life to the fullest first. Moreover, I am only the third child of the family. The great undertaking of giving our mother grandchildren to play with could be all taken care of by the two oldest. And they are already doing a good job as it stands."
Alex's unapologetic self-righteousness didn't leave Gawain speechless. He only looked at the young Lenner from the corner of his eyes with mild but unmasked disdain, and pointedly asked:
"Who said you need women to enjoy life to the fullest?"
Alex wasn't fazed. He replied with a light smile:
"Yes, yes, we all know that Dr Cullman is a serious man and his heart cannot be moved. He only needs his job to be happy. Women will only slow down the speed of his brain, and lower the dexterity of his fingers, so he has decided to remain single for a lifetime."
The blond choked, then rolled his eyes and turned away:
"So what if I remain single all my life?"
Alex simply smiled:
"Right. But don't you forget that everything and everyone has its or his bane. You just have yet to meet yours, and you might just do so at the next corner."
Gawain turned to give Alex a curious look:
"I thought you didn't believe in love, at least not after what happened."
Alex raised an eyebrow, and replied casually:
"Oh, I still do. I still believe in love, I can assure you that. I just disdain it."
Gawain couldn't help but take another look at his friend. The light smile he saw him still sporting rose at the end of his words, empty, but more impactful than if it had been dark and sharp.
Thinking about what Alex said earlier about possibly meeting his bane right around the corner, he let out a light smile and joked:
"Maybe you might not disdain it for much longer either."
Alex tilted his head, and as if he had thought of something, replied with an amused smile:
"Maybe."
The two men stepped out of the dozen-meters-long passageway, and into a hall that carried heat from vigorous exercising, along with enthusiasm and determination, or just plain tension. They turned to the left as they swept their eyes over the gym full of state of the art equipment, about to continue on their way when Alex stopped, and looked at the frozen Gawain with raised eyebrows.
When he saw the look in the light green eyes, Alex's lips twitched. For a second, he wondered whether he had some prophetic genes inside as he turned to follow his friend's frozen gaze with only one thought in his mind which he let out in a disbelieving whisper:
"No way! This aromantic can't really have met his bane right after my words, can he?"