Little Star

Chapter Four

Elegance Fanboy and Princess Compliments have joined the party.

Aramina's POV

"Thanks, Ishii oppa!"

I grinned up at Ishii oppa as he handed me my schoolbag when we saw my school bus starting to appear in the distance. Ishii oppa was none other than M-21 but a few days after he became a part of the Special Security of Ye Ran and I too felt a bit closer to him than before, I realized that calling him M-21 oppa would sound too weird. So I decided to shorten ishib-il to ishii, add oppa along with that, and then start calling him Ishii oppa.

Fun fact: Ishib-il means 21 in Korean and Ishii is also the nickname that Tao and Takeo give to M-21 in Noblesse S (the light novel based on Noblesse).

Ishii oppa had been a bit shocked at first when I told him what I wanted to call him, but he'd eventually gotten over it and began to respond to me whenever I addressed him as Ishii oppa. Today was the first time both he and Master had walked me to the bus stop because Daddy had had to go to work early. Unlike the last time when Yuna unnie walked me though, I had a feeling that they weren't going to be late for school. At least, looking at how calm they appeared, I didn't think they were scared of being late for school. Master was even sitting on the bench at the stop and I'd been sitting right next to him while Ishii oppa had been standing silently, until we all saw my bus in the distance and I decided it was time for me to get up. Ishii oppa had also, for some reason, taken it on himself to carry my schoolbag all the way to the bus stop even though I didn't need him to. Then again, it wasn't like he'd given me a choice. He'd grabbed my schoolbag and walked out the front door even before Master and me. There was no point arguing with him about it. The way he would stare at you with those cold and expressionless eyes would only make you feel like a hopeless loser in a quarrel against him.

And yet for some reason, these days, when I would see him looking at me in particular, I would detect a tiny sliver of warmth in those cold eyes. A very tiny sliver, but I was sure it was there.

"Good morning, Aramina!"

A voice chirped behind me and I turned around to find that the bus had stopped behind me and the teacher was smiling down at me from the doors.

"Good morning, seonsaengnim!"

I wished back, and then caught her staring ahead of me. The smile had suddenly fallen from her red lips, a red blush now coating her cheeks, and she didn't even tuck her long black hair behind her ear like she always did when the wind blew. Her bright black eyes were focused on something behind me and when I turned around, I realized that she was staring at Ishii oppa and Master.

Huh? But why? Was there something on their faces? I didn't see anything on their faces.

"What does your dad say before putting you on the bus?"

Ishii oppa asked me without paying the slightest bit of attention to my teacher, and I looked up at him.

"Nothing much. He just says stay safe, be wood and bye."

"For god's sake, Aramina, it's good."

"Yeah, yeah."

Then I remembered something else that Daddy did and smiled cheekily.

"He also kwisses me on the cheek before saying bye."

Ishii oppa's eyes widened when he figured out what I said and folded his arms across his chest.

"Let's not forget that I'm actually not your dad so I'm under no compulsion to do that."

"Aw, plwease?! My day won't go wood without this!"