Chapter 369 – MIND BLOWING

“Catherine, what do you think of dating me?”

Sebastian’s words were quick and abrupt. It was so unexpected that Catherine stared at him dumbly.

“What?”

“What if we date with marriage in mind?” Sebastian asked in one breath. “You don’t have to worry about my comfort. Just… be with me.”

At that moment, his head was blank, his ears were buzzing. If the earth split apart, he wouldn’t know. His focus was only toward Catherine, and her alone.

“What… what are you saying…?” Catherine stammer. Her legs were immobile, betraying her wish.

Noticing that she wasn’t moving closer, Sebastian stepped forward. 

“I know you have a man in your life but I want to tell you that when you are with me, you can be who you are. You can have your secrets. I won’t pester you for that. As long as you are with me, you won’t be pressed to do anything you don’t want. Just be yourself.”

“…I need to… organize the papers…” Catherine breathlessly told him before walking past him. 

She didn’t know how she reached Ovior’s room. She dropped the papers on the table. Her head was a mess.

The sound of the dropping papers was loud in the silent room. Ovior raised his head and observed her.

Her unusual behavior piqued his interest. “Are you all right? Your face is red. Don’t tell me you have a fever.”

Catherine unnecessarily wiped her face. “I… I’m fine. Just a bit distracted.”

“I don’t care if you are distracted or what. Just finish today’s papers. We will have another pile tomorrow.” After giving her instructions, Ovior paid attention to his work.

“Yes, I will.”

Catherine was checking numbers and suddenly realized that she was working on one paper for two hours. She just kept making mistakes. She wasn’t able to come up with the answer she was seeking.

She covered her face, trying to eliminate all kinds of thoughts that were distracting her.

However, her mind only betrayed her. Her mind kept repeating those last few words of Sebastian, “…you won’t be pressed to do anything you don’t want. Just be yourself.”

‘No, no, Cathy. You already have Vincent. You cannot think about another man now. You have to focus. Focus!’

No matter what she told her mind or slapped her face, her mind stubbornly decided to become a traitor.

In the end, she couldn’t stand it anymore and went to the dining hall.

It was dinner time. Veronica went there after a hard training session. She spotted her best friend sitting in the corner playing with her food.

“Hey, it’s not good to play with people. People out there starve to death,” she reminded her.

Catherine looked at her and let out a sigh. “I want to eat but it’s not going inside my throat.”

“It will if you put the food in your mouth, chew it, and then gulp it down. Food doesn’t have legs to move according to your wish.” Veronica sat across the table and asked, “What happened? You look like you have lots of thoughts in your mind.”

“You can tell? Sigh! Ovior was saying that too. I wasn’t able to finish my work on time thanks to the distraction.” Catherine’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Her words stimulated Veronica’s curiosity. “Distraction? What kind of distraction?”

“It’s just… Sebastian…” Catherine hesitated but she knew that sharing the incident would help her clear her mind. She continued, “I don’t know what’s wrong with this dude… but he confessed to me. He said he wanted to date me with marriage in mind!”

Veronica’s jaw dropped. “No way! Is that true?!”

In her mind, she cheered. ‘Congratulations, Sebastian! I knew you could do it. You just needed a bit of push. That’s all.’

“As if I can dream of that.” Catherine rolled her eyes. “I never thought that Sebastian thought of me in that way. I mean, whenever we were together, we often argued. If it wasn’t for today’s incident, I could have never imagined that he would propose to me. Just when I think about it, I can’t breathe more.”

She paused there and took a deep breath. She wasn’t lying. Whenever she thought about him proposing to her, she would become so nervous that she could barely breathe.

“Just how much his words got you that you are having a hard time breathing? Wait, don’t try to talk, just breathe.” Veronica prevented her friend from talking.

Catherine shook her head. She calmed down and then said, “I don’t know. I don’t understand why it’s getting on my nerves and mind. I want to focus on my work but my mind is flying like a butterfly. What is wrong with me?”

“Are you sure you don’t feel anything for him?” Veronica directly asked.

“…What? No!” Catherine exclaimed.

“You know your reply was a bit late,” Veronica pointed out.

“That’s not the problem here.”

“That exactly could be the problem here,” Veronica commented. “Look, I know everything is confusing now. You are dating Vincent and Sebastian suddenly proposed to you. but I want you to know what you feel about both guys.

“They are both remarkable in their own ways and you cannot compare them. It’ll be so unfair. That’s why you can only compare how and what you feel around them. Who makes you feel more relaxed and more you? Where can you be freer? Where is the place where you don’t have to think what the other party has to think or say?

“Who makes you feel more loved? Who understands you more? Who makes you feel at ease? Who saves you every time you are in danger? Who do you think of first when you are in danger?

“Try thinking about all that and then choose the person you want to be with for the rest of your life.”

Catherine took a mouthful of soup and then licked her lips. “Umm… I don’t think I can answer them all. But, there is no way I cannot think about Sebastian when I’m in danger. He was protecting me for a while, and I instinctively think of him when I’m in danger. That doesn’t count.”

“Fine, then who understands you more?”

Catherine explained, “Look, they are more understanding. It’s just that Sebastian is more annoying than Vincent. Vincent understands me well. However, I didn’t tell him about my job specifically. Thus, he has a hard time understanding my work and values.

“As for Sebastian, he knows almost everything about me. We live under the same roof. Therefore, no matter how you want me to judge, he gets the advantage.”

“So, in that sense, you are more comfortable with him because you have nothing to hide from him,” Veronica concluded.

“Exactly,” Catherine confirmed. “And more than that,” she added, “Vincent also proposed to me the other day. I have yet to answer him.”

“!” Veronica was dumbfounded. “Vincent proposed to you and you say it now?!”

‘This is more complicated than I thought. Why did Vincent have to propose to her so quickly? They just met and started to know each other. He didn’t need to get married so soon. Why so hurry?’ she pondered hard, rubbing her forehead.

“I know, I’m sorry but then Sebastian got injured and we were all in a hurry. I couldn’t even get the time to answer him. I had to focus on helping Sebastian recover first.”

“Vincent proposed to you, Sebastian got injured, you didn’t reply to Vincent’s proposal rather took care of Sebastian – is that what you are trying to say?”

“…Yes… that’s how things went in the resort. And after we departed, I didn’t send Vincent any letter.”

“So, you chose Sebastian over Vincent.” Veronica’s eyes sparkled in delight.

“What? No!” Catherine firmly denied. “What makes you think I chose him? He was just injured. I’d do it for any person.”

‘That’s true,’ Veronica thought. She couldn’t say anything in return.

She said, “Fine, you were busy helping Sebastian but then I healed him. You had plenty of opportunities to talk to Vincent but you avoided him.”

“It’s not that I wanted to avoid him. He got busy with new customers. It couldn’t be helped.” Catherine sounded depressed.

Veronica stayed quiet for a long time before speaking her mind, “Honestly, it’s really hard to pick up between them. You are easily shaken when something happens to Sebastian. You are close to him and feel comfortable around him. You have nothing to hide from him.

“But with Vincent, everything is different. He can’t even protect you if you are in grave danger. You might need to hide your workplace secret for the rest of your life. Even then there is a problem. If you use teleportation after marriage to come to work, Vincent and his family will become suspicious. Things will get complicated.

“Or maybe, they will accept you for who you are. You can just be yourself and do whatever you want.”

Catherine listened to her and mumbled, “Accept me for who I am… can a married woman think of that?”