CHAPTER 234: A DATE TO REMEMBER [PART 2]

As Alex and Noelle walked their way to their destination, strangers they passed by eyed the young lady with admiration.

"Damn, what a lucky guy."

"That is a real babe. I wish my girlfriend were as beautiful as her."

"I don’t think they are a couple. Look, they’re not holding hands."

Alex was already used to this. He had gone out with Noelle multiple times, and there was not a single time she had gone unnoticed.

Nearly everyone would do a double take whenever she walked past them. Frankly speaking, walking beside her made him feel a little proud—even smug. After all, strangers tend to assume she was his girlfriend, often inciting jealousy among men.

But this time, one of the guys was correct.

They weren’t a couple, and the lack of hand-holding as they walked side by side made that clear.

Just as Alex was about to sigh in his heart, he suddenly felt something soft in his right hand.

This made his body stiffen, realizing Noelle had intertwined her hand with his.

Alex may look calm on the surface, but he was doing a fist pump internally.

When they arrived at the karaoke bar they visited once a week, the manager instantly recognized Alex and Noelle.

"Room for two, right?" the manager asked with a smile. He then called out one of his staff members and asked her to bring the young lady and young man to their usual room.

Noelle would always make a reservation in advance before visiting Alex, so there was always room for them every time they went to the karaoke bar.

In fact, she always rented the room for half a day, ensuring no one could interrupt her quality time with the young man whose face was now beet red.

Even the tips of Alex’s ears were red. He was truly flustered—this was the first time Noelle had held his hand.

Obviously, he had no plan to file any complaints.

"Seriously, why is the number of this room 69?" Alex asked the question that had always bugged him. "Also, why is there a heart-shaped bed in this room?"

This time, it was Noelle’s turn to blush. She had the same thought as Alex.

Why would the manager have this kind of room in a karaoke bar? Clearly, the room could host twenty people with no problem, yet they put an out-of-place bed that took up unnecessary space.

"Maybe the bed is for tired customers who want to take a nap after singing?" Alex commented.

"I think you’re right." Noelle nodded.

This was the only explanation that the two of them could think of at the moment.

With that out of the way, the two ordered some snacks and picked their favorite songs.

Singing with Noelle always made Alex forget the worries that crept in whenever he sat alone, wondering what he wanted to do with his life.

He was still young, but there were moments when he couldn’t help imagining what his future might look like at thirty, forty, even fifty years old.

All he knew so far was that, just like everyone else, he wanted to have a family.

A wife and kids who would call him Dad, Daddy, or Papa.

One time, he had jokingly asked Noelle to call him Papa. When she had obliged, she had melted his heart there and then.

An hour later, the two took a break from their singing.

They ate their snacks, drank their drinks, and chatted about random things.

However, it didn’t take long before their topic shifted to ELO.

The two then talked about their next Dungeon Raid, as well as their strategy for fighting the World Boss that would spawn in a few days.

Whenever they talked about the game, Alex and Noelle would always dissect effective strategies for tackling the bosses that they would face.

Getting it clear lowered the risk of failure as well as minimized the wasted resources used by the raid parties.

An hour later, the two went back to singing. However, they paused when more food arrived.

"Guildmas—err, Noelle, did you order champagne?" Alex asked after seeing the champagne bottle that was delivered to them.

"Yes," Noelle answered. "I want to try it just once."

"You’ve never had champagne?" Alex arched an eyebrow.

"Never."

Alex couldn’t help but smile at the thought of sharing one of Noelle’s first times together.

He had drank champagne once during a party, so this wasn’t his first time drinking it.

The two made a toast and drank at the same time.

"This brand is better than the one I drank," Alex commented after he had a good taste of the drink.

"Yes. It’s better than I expected." Noelle nodded.

The two drank and chatted some more.

An hour later, the two finally left the karaoke bar as Noelle was starting to show signs of being drunk.

Considering her state, Alex hailed a taxi to take them back home. When they arrived at his block, he had to help the young lady out of the cab and to his apartment.

He had forgotten that someone could get easily drunk from champagne.

Fortunately, neither he nor Noelle was a scandalous drunk who would lose all inhibitions and assume a new personality once intoxicated.

Alex’s mind was still clear as he helped the young lady lie down on the bed.

He also planned to sleep, but he had the decency to move to the sofa so that he would not disturb his guildmaster’s rest.

But just as he was about to leave, the young lady grabbed his hand.

"Stay with me," Noelle said.

"But Noelle..." Alex gulped as he looked down on the beautiful young lady, whose face was flushed due to intoxication.

"It’s fine," Noelle insisted. "This isn’t the first time we slept together, you know?"

She was right.

This wasn’t the first time that they had slept together.

Nothing had happened between them. They had just slept side by side.

Alex hadn’t been able to sleep right away. After all, it was impossible for a young man to not think of the beautiful lady beside him.

Through sheer willpower, Alex had been able to pull through back then.

But now, he wasn’t sure that his will would remain strong.

After all, he was drunk. All it would take was a single touch or a single kiss, and the dam would break.

Just as Alex was about to say no, his gaze landed on the table right beside his bed.

There, a limited edition Dim Dim plushie seemed to be looking at him with a knowing smile.

Suddenly, realization dawned on him as the memories of his world of Arcana flooded into his mind.

Half a minute later, Alex looked down at the young lady, who was still grasping his hand.

"Noelle," Alex said softly as he raised her hand to his lips.

This act turned Noelle’s face a shade redder. She hadn’t expected that Alex would kiss her hand like a knight who was pledging his loyalty to his princess.

"What’s wrong?" Noelle asked. "Is this a side effect of getting drunk?"

Her playful yet seductive voice reached Alex’s ears, making the latter smile faintly.

"Maybe," Alex replied, a little sadly.

"Is there something wrong?" Noelle could tell that Alex’s mood had suddenly changed.

Alex didn’t reply right away. Instead, he placed Noelle’s hand over his chest, as if wanting to make her feel his wildly beating heart.

"Noelle, I regret it..." Alex said quietly. "I regret not telling you how I felt when I had the chance. I regret not thanking you for everything that you did for me when we were together.

"Don’t you know? I always look forward to the days of your visit. The moments we spent singing, eating, and talking together—they are my most treasured memories."

Alex could feel his eyes moisten. His regret over not being able to say goodbye to her weighed in his heart whenever he was alone and had time to think of the people he had left on Earth.

He had no family and was an orphan.

But there was one person dear to him.

And he was holding the hand of that person right now.

"Many think I only had four Queens in my heart, but in truth, I had five of them," Alex confessed.

Seeing that she might misunderstand, Alex continued quickly, preventing her from saying anything.

"My fifth Queen is not a character in ELO." Alex smiled. "She’s always there for me when things get rough. She would help clean my room when I couldn’t be bothered to do it. She would also cook for me once a week. And she was always there when I just wanted to talk about my problems."

Alex kissed the back of Noelle’s hand a second time before looking straight into her eyes.

"Noelle, I regret not telling you how much I like you," Alex continued. "I’m not sure if this is love because I have never loved before. But if there is one person that I want to spend my life with, it is you."

Alex could feel it.

That the end of this dream was near.

So, he told her everything that he had been holding back in his heart. He wanted to tell her directly how grateful he was to her.

"Alex," Noelle said in a serious tone as she pulled the young man into her embrace and patted his back. "You should have told me that before you disappeared."

"I’m sorry," Alex replied. "It was so sudden... I never expected it to happen."

"Then you have to make it up to me." Noelle cupped the young man’s face and gazed tenderly at him.

"How?" Alex asked. "We can no longer be together."

Since this was a dream, he said whatever he really felt.

"Alex, what does ELO represent?" Noelle probed.

"Endless possibilities," Alex answered in a heartbeat.

Yes.

Endless possibilities.

That was the concept of ELO.

"Right," Noelle nodded. "So, maybe... this isn’t really a dream, you know?"

"Huh?!" Alex looked at the young lady, who was hugging him in surprise.

Seeing his reaction, Noelle couldn’t help but giggle as cracks formed in the room around them.

The walls, the ceilings, the floor... Everything was starting to crack, which meant that it was about time that he woke up.

"Alex, do not forget what you have told me right now," Noelle reminded gently. "I will always be your fifth Queen."

"I won’t," Alex promised firmly. "I won’t forget."

"Good." Noelle smiled faintly before moving closer to the young man.

She then pressed her lips over his neck and sucked on it, making Alex flinch.

Alex had a vague idea of what she was doing, and it made his heart slam itself against his ribcage.

Noelle finally pulled back and looked at the mark she had left on the young man’s neck with some satisfaction.

She then smiled lightly before giving Alex’s lips a quick peck that lasted only a second.

"Bye, Alex. I wish you all the happiness this life has to offer."

As soon as those words were spoken, the world around him finally crumbled, and the sleeping young man in the infirmary finally opened his eyes for the first time after nearly a week.