Chapter Thirty-Two
•••

Axel took me to the mall as he mentioned, and I never had regretted anything more in my life than this.

The man was relentless.

"Apollo, come on. We are burning daylight!" Axel groaned, pulling my arm into the direction of another clothing store.

"I rather burn my eyes out. I don't know why I agreed to do this with you."

He smirked. "It's because deep down, you know you needed this. Don't worry, that's why I am your best friend. Now let's go!"

My hands were already carrying four large bags, a mixture of jeans and shirts occupying the space within each. All of this was courtesy of Axel and his inner connections with the stores, as we didn't have to pay a single penny for any of it. However, I made sure to leave a hefty tip as a way to beat the guilt of receiving freebies.

Now he was pulling me into Express, the higher-end clothing store. One major advantage of this store was the fact that I could at least deal with was the music that played, in contrast to the others who played the oddest choices. My ears were able to find relief in that.

"The goal in here is to find you my idea of dressy clothes. That means nice dress shirts and pants, as well as belts and casual shoes to match."

"Yes, boss."

Axel smirked. "This is for you to impress Trinity, so keep that in mind. I know you've seen how she can dress. I'm really surprised she's not a model herself, the girl's style is impeccable!"

The mention of her name brought a small smile to my face and an increased feeling of determination. I nodded firmly. "Right. This is for her."

"Wow, I should mention her name more often. You are so whipped."

I rolled my eyes. "Just like how you are for Scarlet? The feeling is mutual, asshole."

"Andddd....he's back." Axel chuckled.

I watched as he walked around the store, picking up different items for me to try on. He already knew my size, so I wasn't really needed for this specific part. All I knew was that he was the one person I could trust when it came to styling me, even if I was blindfolded and gagged.

"Speaking of Scarlet, I think I'm getting close on winning her over."

I raised an eyebrow. "You two aren't official yet?"

"No, dude. I wanted to wait." He rolled his eyes, holding up two shirts for comparison. "She's been through a lot during her last relationship, so I wanted to earn her trust."

"Wow." I gaped. "This is different. She must really mean something to you, because the old Axel wouldn't even bother on waiting for a girl."

He smiled softly, placing one of the shirts back on the rack. "She's different. Apollo, I wasn't kidding when I said I think those two girls are special people, both of them."

Axel turned to me with his choices, gesturing for me to place the bags in my hand on the floor. Handing them to me, he smirked. "Time to try these on. If it's something you like, we can be done with shopping."

I nodded. "Finally. Let's get this over with."

•••

We left the mall and went to a nearby Korean BBQ restaurant, as I won the rock-paper-scissor contest for the choice of food to eat. My bags were in the trunk of his car, so I no longer had hand restrictions. Plus, I knew the elderly woman who ran the place, and I wanted to see her again.

Sitting at a corner booth, Axel lighted the grill in preparation for our food dishes. "When was the last time we came here?"

"Almost three months ago, I think."

"Wow. Never let us go that long again. I miss this."

I nodded. "Agreed."

Mrs. Choi walked up with a soft smile on her face. "Apollo and Axel, my two favorite sons. You need to visit your second halmeoni more!" She playfully scolded, pinching both of our cheeks.

"We're sorry, halmeoni." Both of said simultaneously.

Satisfied with the response, she let go and sighed. "You two are always welcomed here. So, the usual?"

"Yes please. Can you also join us?" I asked with smile.

"Aish... I'm busy!" She swatted my arm. "Tell you what, once I finish with helping out the other customers, I'm yours. Hmm?"

Axel smiled. "That's fine. Thank you"

"Hush! I'll send your food over shortly."

We both watched as she slowly walked over to the kitchen, shouting to the cooks the specific dishes to make for us. "Be sure to slice the meat correctly or so help me Hananim, I'll slice each of you myself!"

A/N: Hananim is "God" in Korean

I chuckled. "I love that lady. She reminds me of my own grandmother."

"I know. Your grandmother had the same temperament. I definitely remember the first time I met her." Axel shuddered. "She scared me to death."

"Oh yeah! How could I forget? She threatened to cut your dick off if you ever hurt me." I laughed. "The look on your face was priceless."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, ha ha. Laugh it up."

A male waiter named Baek-hyeon brought over our food, which consisted of various slices of meat to be grilled and side dishes, such as rice, kimchi and lettuce leaves for wrapping. "Enjoy." He said before walking away.

We both nodded with excited smiles on our faces, looking over the plated dishes in admiration.

"This looks amazing!" Axel said, taking a picture of the assortment for a later post.

"Let's dig in."

With us quickly thanking for the food, we proceeded to dive into our meals, enjoying the free time together that was a rare occurrence.

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