Chapter 577: Concern

"It felt the same," Gabi said when she finished 20 laps that Aden asked her to run. She grabbed the towel from his hand and wiped the huge beads of sweat on her face.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. My body feels light. I can go on for another twenty."

Aden nodded as he busily wrote something on his tablet. "Then…. Can you run until you feel out of breath or if there is something different in your body?"

Gabi smiled. She gave the towel back and started running. Earlier, Aden asked her if she was willing to test it out and she agreed. So he took her to another floor where a training base was located. This space is equipped with a large running space to a shooting ground; Gabi couldn't help but be surprised.

However, before she could even ask why they have something like this, Aden said that this is where they trained their people. He said it was normal for all their bases. He said it in a really calm and nonchalant tone, like this information is nothing to him. As if on cue, Aden looked at her and told her it wouldn't matter if she was a spy. If someone would attack this base, he could just kill them.

The confidence in his tone and ruthlessness in his eyes made Gabi realized he wasn't joking. He was really confident that this base would be able to fight back against enemies. Of course, she wasn't really planning to tell anyone about this. She was planning to take this secret to her grave.

After that, he gave her a new set of clothing so she could start running. He said that the clothing is going to monitor her body and send him a signal if something was wrong with her heart. Aden told her that one lap is one kilometer. After that, Gabi started running.

At first, she thought she would last at least until the fifteenth lap, seventeen if she really pushed herself. After that, she wouldn't be able to survive anymore. She was confident that she would faint. But this didn't happen. Instead, she could run twenty laps as if it was nothing. Now she is running for another five laps before checking if something is weird in her body.

However, to someone like Gabi who just started training her body, a few months back, twenty-five kilometers is already an achievement. In fact, this would be something that she would be very proud of.

"Twenty-five. Do you feel anything?" Aden asked again after the twenty-fifth lap. "Nothing yet?" he asked when she shook her head.

"Nothing."

"Lightheadedness?"

She shook her head.

"Nausea?"

She shook her head.

He nodded in response. "Since this is your first time, you should take a cold shower first, then relax your muscles. I know you could run more laps, but your body won't be able to handle the pressure. We don't want that."

Gabi excitedly nodded. This is just miraculous! She immediately went to one of the private rooms. It was a small room with a single bed, a shower, a closet, and a table. Aden said it was for the people training or visiting the base.

After a few minutes, she went out with a new set of clothes that Aden gave her.

"How do you feel?" Aden was leaning at the door opposite the private room that she chose earlier.

"Did you wait for me?"

He nodded in response. "I wanted to make sure that you would only take a quick shower and… that you were safe after running like that."

"I have been running, so it's nothing new to me," she said. She could run up to fifteen kilometers thanks to Glen's training. Gabi was confident that this was one of the reasons why she didn't really feel that tired today. Even her body didn't ache as much.

Aden looked at her from head to toe before he nodded. "You look well."

"I am taking that as a compliment."

He nodded. "White looks good on you."

"Hm?" Did he just compliment her? Right now, she was wearing a white dress. Aden said that the laboratory had various dresses for everyone—a lame excuse. She knew that he prepared it for her, but she couldn't understand why he didn't want her to know that he would go that far just for this experiment. Isn't that because he didn't want her to complain and back out?

"I said," he took a step towards her. His icy fingers took her chin, lifting it up as he leaned closer. She could smell lemon and wood around him. Surprisingly, she liked it. "You look beautiful."

Gabi's eyes immediately widened. She blanked out.

"Without make-up." He added before he casually took a step back and turned his back on her. "Follow me."

She didn't move. Without make-up? That's right. She only brought lipstick, so after taking a bath, she wasn't able to put anything on her face aside from her lipstick. She touched her face when she felt it turned hot.

"Why are you still there? Let's go."

"…" This man… was he mocking her? He just told her that she was beautiful without make-up! Who would believe that? She pouted and followed him towards the elevator. This time, he took her back to his own lab and gave her some… cake. It was a chocolate cake.

"My favorite. Try it."

Seeing the food in front of her, Gabi swallowed her saliva. She didn't even realize that she was too hungry until she saw the food. This time, she didn't hesitate. She immediately started eating.

"Do you want to eat my favorite candy as well?"

She paused and tilted her head at him. Why does he sound like Luca? Even his expression was just like how Luca when the child would ask her if she wanted to have his candy. At that time, Gabi knew that her son loved those candies too much, so she pretended she wasn't hungry. This time, however, "Yes… please… if you don't mind." She smiled.

"Didn't know that a candy would make you this happy."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Aden said as he sat opposite her and started eating his own cake. "I have a sweet tooth. How about you?"

"I—I don't think I do."

"Oh. Then what's your favorite food?"

"Huh?" she awkwardly stared at him. "Oh… nothing in particular. But I love strawberries."

"Then I will ask the chef to make you something with strawberry next time."

"Thank you," Gabi lowered her gaze. This… is really awkward.

She didn't know what happened, but for some reason, she could feel his gaze towards her. It was sharp, scrutinizing. And she didn't like it. However, she thought that it was only because he was observing her after the treatment. So, she ignored him and focused on the cake instead.

"Next week… you come here again," Aden said. "I will give you something else."

She nodded. For some reason, being with him like this is making her conscious. Until now, she couldn't forget his words about her being beautiful without make-up. And damn… it is making her conscious. She didn't want the light to hit her face and emphasize her pores.

Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time she had facials. She should really get one. And maybe some wax?

Jesus… what was she thinking?

All of a sudden, her brain is becoming active… it's weird. Her imagination has never been like this before.

"Are you uncomfortable somewhere?"

"No,'' she answered almost immediately.

"From now on… I will call you every day to check on you. If you feel anything that is making you uncomfortable, you should tell me."

"I wasn't expecting that you would treat your patient like this." Gabi laughed. "Don't worry, I won't die."

"I know," he said. "Just standard protocol. Of course, if you don't like it then…"

"No. No… it's not a problem. I would answer your call." Seeing that he wasn't smiling, she added, "If you want, I would even come here every day just to check."

"Alright."

"Huh?"

"You said you would see me every day. I said, alright."

But she only said that to make him feel that she wasn't ungrateful!

"You don't want to?" he asked.

Why does it feel like she just fell into a trap? "Of course, I want to," she beamed. "I would love to."

"Good. Then it's settled. I will visit you every night to check on you."

"Wait… "Every night? She didn't say that!

"You have objections? You just said you love to see me every day."

Uhhh… what is going on? "Every night? You will visit me? Isn't that… too much? What about your work? What about Archy?"

"So you don't want to see me every day?"

"It's not like that. I was just concern. If you travel every day, then… what about your other work?" This man is weird with his words.

"Ah. So you didn't want me to waste my time traveling to your house?"

She nodded.

"Then… how about I stay in your house instead?"

"…." Gabi was speechless. How did it become like this?