He is Enchanted

Siren Hymn For The Sea

Ethan was surprised to find Liana chitchatting with his mother at their dining table. Actually, it wasn't because Liana had arrived earlier than they had decided earlier when lunchtime. 

But what surprised Ethan was how she could survive talking to his mother and not even looking tired or exhausted afterward. 

Liana didn't need to do that, really, she could tell Ethan if she wanted to take 

What surprised Ethan was she brought a cake for Ethan. A chocolate brownie with a small red cherry on top.

Ethan took the cake cheerfully. "There's no need to bring anything for me."

"No problem," said Liana with a smile.

Judging from that smile, Ethan could conclude that Liana seemed to be feeling much better than the day before. He hopes his conclusion is correct.

"But sorry I came early. You don't want to do something first, do you?"

Ethan shook his head, opening the door to his room, allowing Liana to come in and sit on his bed.

While Ethan closed his door, then pulled his chair and sat across from Liana, he placed the cake Liana gave him on his thigh.

Ethan smiled. "So, is there anything I can help you with? Or do you need something?"

Liana turned her gaze to whatever things behind Ethan. He didn't know what she was seeing because behind him was only a boring wall and a clock hanging above his head. 

"My mom left. She said she wanted to go on a vacation with her friends."

Ethan couldn't hide his surprise and curiosity at what Liana was saying. "We can witness her when she's having an affair. Do you know where she's going, Liana?"

Liana sighed. "She said Paris, but the problem is, do you still believe her words?"

"s**t, you're right."

"Moreover, Mr. Seamus is also taking his time off."

His fingers touched parted lips as his eyes widened. "How did you know that, Liana?"

"Dad said he wanted to go on vacation with her, all because Mr. Seamus is taking his day off, so Dad wanted to go on a vacation too."

"So that old man went on vacation too?"

Liana shook her head. "Mom didn't allow it, she said she would be going to party all night long, and dad won't be able to keep up with them."

Ethan flopped back in his chair. "I think he insisted on going with her."

Liana shook her head. "My mom left the house this morning, she took a night flight, but she wants to go to her friend's house first because they want to prepare something."

"When is Mrs. Pearson back?"

"Next Wednesday, but Mr. Seamus should be able to return to work on Monday."

Ethan turned his gaze upwards while playing with his hair. "So, Mr. Seamus go home first, huh?"

"If we conclude that the two of them went together, the answer would be yes, Mr. Seamus went home first. Maybe he can't ask for more days because dad would be in great trouble if Mr. Seamus goes for too long."

After that, both Liana and Ethan were lost in their own thoughts.

So if Mr. Seamus takes his day off. It means Ethan could take this opportunity to visit Roman in his office, right?

Ethan didn't realize that he was smiling when he imagined he was planning to visit Roman on lunch break to have lunch together, and don't forget to take the vegetables out of his lunchbox before heading to Roman's office.

Liana surprised Ethan by waving her hand right in front of Ethan's face. Ethan sobered up and smiled awkwardly at Liana.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's okay, but I'm curious about your offer to witness my mother. What plans do you have, Ethan?"

This was the moment Ethan had been waiting for and probably everyone too.

"I plan to take a photo of it and give it to Mr. Pearson."

Liana was hushed for a moment, then blinked her eyes several times. "Hmm?"

Ethan confidently nodded his head. "I want to give evidence to Mr. Pearson if she cheated on him."

"Why do you want to do it?"

What kind of answer can Ethan give so that Liana doesn't doubt him?

Did he just say that he didn't want to see Liana stay in despair because she noticed that her parents no longer loved each other?

"Why would I want to do that, huh?"

Of course, because Ethan loved him, and he didn't want to see Roman in his cluelessness, staying in a relationship that only hurt him.

But who wants to see the person they love hurt?

Although he wished he could stay with Roman, Ethan wasn't trying to replace Mrs. Pearson. It sounded weird, but Ethan admitted that his relationship with Roman couldn't go any further than this.

Their paths would soon be as separate as before, and when this happened, Ethan had to be prepared to see him walk away from his sight. 

And they won't be able to see each other again, not even just to text each other, no matter how he miss him or how bad they want to meet each other, exactly like the time before they knew each other. 

Although it was tough, as he had desired, he wanted to appreciate everything while they were still together.

"Right. Why tho?"

His heart tickled, the sirens' song for the sea from behind the coral reefs could be heard.

"I just wanted help."

"Really?"

In the end, Liana knew it. Are the sirens singing too loud? Or their fishy smell that made Liana sober?

Ethan smiled awkwardly, then lowered his head while the smile was still on her face. Didn't that fact surprise her?

"You've never even peeked at me, have you?"

Ethan widened his eyes and impatiently shook his head. He even stood up and moved to Liana's side, making her laugh.

"No, Liana, I didn't want all of this to end up like that. You are a lu-"

Liana shook her head with a smile on her lips and patted Ethan's thigh lightly. "I know you're always glancing to another way. I followed your gaze, which always ended up on my father. While he was watching you from the corner of his eye."

His mouth fell open, then he took Liana's hand and shook it. "Wait, Liana, it's crazy. Can you listen to me fi-"

"I wanted to say thank you because you brought his old self back but in a better version."

Ethan gasped, then he slowly raised his eyebrows, while Liana smiled while nodding her head.

Ethan let go of Liana's hand, his eyes glossing over. "Is that true? What was he like back then?"

Liana clapped her hands, then she brought her hand to her chin. "He makes fun of us, especially to Miles and Niall. Sometimes Niall cries, and I have to calm Niall down. That sucks, isn't it?"

Only a fool would oppose Liana. 

"He also spends more time talking at the dinner table with us than locking himself in his room," Liana said, turning her gaze to Ethan. "You know, his painting has changed too. He's now drawing more with bright colors. He painted the sky, the sea, the forest. You would not believe that he was recently interested in fantasy animals, such as a winged deer, a moving tree, a human-like reptile. Even yesterday, he just started painting a petit dragon, more like a puppy, in my opinion."

It's a lizard, to be more precise.

"Besides all that, he's always making plans for how we're going to spend the weekend. We've even planned to go to a water park and a theme park."

"Is that true?"

"Of course it is."

They both stared at each other before finally laughing.

"But Liana, are you okay if I like your father?"

Liana tilted her head. "Of course not. I was not okay at first, but I finally understood after seeing how he smiled at you. After seeing his happier, I ended up being happy too."

"He's the kind of person who doesn't talk when he doesn't need to, but sometimes it's effortless to guess his feelings because he only shows what he truly feels."

"You don't find it weird, Liana?"

Liana frowned with a smile. "The only weird thing is hearing Odette call you mommy as a joke."

"Odette?!" he said with a rise in vocal pitch.

"Odette initially made fun of you, she initially said that it seems like dad is interested in you, so I have to take you before he snatches you."

Ethan gave her an incredulous stare. "Odette know? Who told her about that?"

Liana rolled her eyes. "The look in your eyes tells it."

Ethan frowned, pushing Liana gently. "I'm serious."

"Me too. But you know, Odette was surprised yesterday when she found out that dad invited you into his room."

"What are you talking about? You guys weren't at home around that time, right? How did you know?"

"Miles and Niall told us about it. I almost forgot that I, Odette, Miles, and Niall are curious about one thing. Is that mountain painting yours? Because honestly, no matter how lazy dad is, his painting wouldn't be that horrible."

Let's think positively that Ethan's painting is actually not as bad as Liana said. It's just that Roman's skills make Ethan's painting look bad. 

So Ethan nodded his head.

"As expected, I'm worried that he gets dementia and will forget how to paint nicely."

Let's think positively for one more time. 

"But everything makes sense now, especially the cake," said Liana, pointing to the cake that was now lying on Ethan's chair.

"That cake?"

Her eyes went up. "Odette almost had a heart attack when she heard Miles and Niall randomly calling your name this afternoon."

His eyebrows squish together. "What do you mean?"

"So this afternoon, Miles and Niall were looking at the painting that dad had just finished, then Odette heard Miles and Niall calling your name. They said, 'It's him, It's Ethan!' Then Odette, who is afraid there's some entity is trying to do bad things to the twins, goes to dad's room and finds a cake and Niall holding a paper."

Liana rolled her eyes, looking at the cake. Ethan hurriedly took the cake and opened it. There was folded paper and a cake. 

It's a sketch of his face, which also explains why Miles and Niall said, 'It's him, It's Ethan!' because it was indeed Ethan, and just below the sketch was Roman's signature and a short memo.

Because seeing you wanted to be sketch so severely, don't frown ever again. -Roman Pearson.

Ethan closed his eyes tightly before he finally went back to reading the note.

BECAUSE SEEING YOU WANTED TO BE SKETCH SO SEVERELY, DON'T FROWN EVER AGAIN. - ROMAN PEARSON.

"Because of that, I know why dad, who doesn't like to eat sweets, has a cake on his desk, so Odette and I decided to give the cake to the real owner."

"You know, he's such a cranky old man, and I really hate him."