Please Be Gentle

Immovable Heart

“Uncle, are you alright? Your expression looks strange,” little Sakura tilted her head, trying to figure out Gabriel’s face.

“Yeah, your face is all red. Are you sick?” little Momo reached out to touch Gabriel’s face, but he gently pushed her hand away.

“I’m fine. Just go back to your room,” Gabriel said, his tone a little more serious than usual. The two girls stuck out their tongues and hurried off.

Trying to calm down, Gabriel still felt restless.

Women. Hadn’t he seen enough of them? He remembered back to when he was in college, teaching physical training. There were plenty of girls in his class, and he’d seen them bare it all without so much as a blink. He was 22, full of youthful energy, but he had managed to stay calm then.

Now, years later, here he was, flustered by a woman who wasn’t even particularly remarkable—at least, not in a way he could easily describe. Grace was charming, yes, but surely not enough to stir him this much. And yet, he had found himself reacting three times in the span of a few hours.

He didn’t like that. He couldn’t afford to feel this way. He should be thinking of someone else, someone important.

He stood up, walked over to the air conditioning unit, and turned it on, cranking the temperature down. But his mind refused to stop.

Meanwhile, Grace was blissfully enjoying a warm shower. As the hot water splashed over her, her mind kept wandering back to that infuriating math problem.

Lost in thought, she reached for her bra but fumbled.

“Oh no!” she gasped as the bra slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, landing on the wet tiles.

The cotton absorbed the water quickly, soaking through completely.

What now? She couldn’t go to bed without one, could she? But Gabriel was still here. She sighed. She didn’t wear a bra when she was home alone anyway, so what was the harm?

But then she remembered—he was still in the house. Even if he wasn’t technically interested in her, she didn’t want to be walking around like that in front of him.

She quickly twisted the bra, wrung out the water, and decided to wear her dress without it. It felt odd, but it was better than being uncomfortable in front of him.

She dressed quickly, cautiously opening the door to see if Gabriel was around. Fortunately, the coast was clear, and she rushed to the kids’ room.

Safe!

She locked the door behind her and leaned against it, letting out a dramatic breath.

“Grace, what’s going on? You look like you’re running from someone. Is there a thief in the house?” Sakura asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“No, no, nothing like that. Go to sleep, I’m exhausted,” Grace replied hurriedly.

“But we want to hear the story about the blind couple and their little girl!” Momo said, looking at her expectantly. The kids always asked for this story whenever she stayed over.

“Alright, just half an hour, then go to sleep,” Grace agreed, sitting on the edge of their bed as they snuggled up to her.

“The winter of that year, the blind couple’s daughter…” she began telling the story as the children slowly drifted off to sleep. Grace tucked them in carefully before climbing into the top bunk.

But as she lay there, tossing and turning, her mind kept circling back to that math problem. It was keeping her awake.

She needed to solve it tomorrow, or at least figure it out before she went back to the kids. Gabriel was probably asleep by now, so she slipped out of bed, careful not to wake anyone.

She quietly stepped into the study, booted up the computer, and began searching for solutions to the problem.

“Ugh, so many possible solutions… Why couldn’t I think of them? Grace, you’re such an i***t…” she muttered under her breath, tapping her head in frustration.

“Only just realizing that now?” a voice mocked from behind her, dripping with sarcasm.

“Ah!” Grace gasped, spinning around, her heart pounding.