It was a very ordinary evening.
Eulalia sat on the living room couch practicing calligraphy, while Grey sat on the living room floor playing a small game on his phone.
It was already 10 o'clock, the time when the man and the wolf were about to head to their rooms.
Suddenly, Eulalia slammed the table and stood up. "I've decided!!"
The tall, lean young man sitting on the floor immediately became alert, quickly standing up. Eulalia barely had time to react before Grey was standing in front of her.
Beneath the short sharp hair, those gray eyes of Grey locked onto her: "What's the matter?"
"Ah?" Eulalia was startled, her eyes wide in shock. "Y-You... what's wrong?"
A flicker of confusion passed through Grey's gray eyes. He glanced around the room—it was quiet and safe as usual, and there was no sense of danger.
After a brief pause, he muttered, "Nothing."
This woman, always so loud and jumpy, had him thinking something had happened to her in that instant...
"Grey, do you think something's going on with me?" Eulalia snapped back to her senses, her tone playful. "Come on, what could possibly happen in my house?"
"However, I have a big announcement!" She furrowed her brows, her usually cute round face now looking serious.
Grey pursed his lips and stared at her, looking like he was ready to listen seriously.
Eulalia took a deep breath and declared, "I've made up my mind. I'm waking up early tomorrow to run on an empty stomach. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to lose weight!!"
"..."
Grey: "This is the big announcement?"
"In our peaceful lives, this is definitely a big deal!"
Grey paused in silence, looked at her for a moment, then asked, "Why lose weight?"
"You knew the answer!" Eulalia pulled at her chubby cheeks, her tone somewhat vague. "Look... at this big round face."
After listening, Grey looked down and stared at her for a moment before glancing away:"So?"
He thought the face was rather cute...
"Because my face is big! What else is there to explain?" Eulalia looked at her growing thighs and belly, then sighed. "Grey, you're so thin. How about I give you twenty pounds of meat?"
Grey frowned and firmly refused, "I don't eat purely human meat."
And certainly not yours, he thought... he would rather starve than eat hers.
Eulalia:...
Her silence was deafening.
She sighed deeply. "Grey, we really have a generation gap."
"Are you free tomorrow? Come run with me, let's leave at six in the morning! I feel a bit awkward running alone outside, haha, maybe I've just been indoors too long..." She gave a dry laugh, but when she saw Grey silently staring at her, she couldn't continue laughing. Clearing her throat, she wiped away her smile. "Anyway, just accompany me."
Grey seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't, only responding with a grunt.
"Thanks, Grey."
"Go to bed soon, you need to wake up early tomorrow." Eulalia said this and slowly returned to her room.
The next day.
At six in the morning.
As the first light of dawn broke, Grey appeared in the living room, clad in a black-and-white sports outfit.
As expected, the woman who had promised to go for a run at six o'clock the day before was still asleep.
He stood there in silence for a while, then went to the balcony to water the plants, breathing in the fresh air.
There was still no sign of movement...
At six-thirty.
Eulalia came rushing out of her room, exclaiming, "Ah! I overslept, I overslept!!"
Grey was sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, silently watching her.
"How long have you been up? Sorry, sorry, I set eight alarms..." Eulalia rushed to tie her hair up. She wore a loose pink sports outfit, which made her skin look even more fair.
"Wow, you look pretty cool in that outfit, Grey." She gave him a compliment before heading for the door. "Let's go, let's go."
Grey silently rose from the ground and followed her. It must be said, with his tall frame, long legs, and the spiky hair, dressed in sportswear, he looked strikingly more handsome, his posture standing tall and proud.
The two of them left together.
At six-thirty, the streets were starting to get lively.
In front of the complex was a park built along the river, and Eulalia was headed there to run.
"On the first day, let's start with a half-hour run." Eulalia stretched her body and bent down to stretch her legs. "Don't be fooled by how I look. I've still got some athletic genes in me."
Eulalia would often shout about dieting every year, and there was always a period when she'd exercise regularly. So, she believed her physical endurance wasn't too bad.
Grey stood by, silently listening.
He had no intention of stretching.
Eulalia stretched her arms and glanced at him. "You should stretch too. It helps with the flexibility and elasticity of your muscles and tendons. It's beneficial."
Grey fell silent for a moment, contemplating whether he should... really need to do this.
It was just a thirty-minute run, at Eulalia's pace. It would be no different than walking with him.
But seeing the look of urgency in her eyes, he said nothing and went along with it.
"Alright, we can start running now!" Eulalia began to pick up her pace. After stretching, she felt much more awake and alert.
Grey also tried to run slowly, matching her speed. It took him a while to adjust, finally reducing his pace to the slowest to match hers.
However, after a while, he heard Eulalia breathing heavily, a hint of pride in her voice: "Well? Looks like I can still keep up with you, huh?"
Grey's lips parted slightly. His expression clearly paused for a moment. In the end, he simply nodded, a soft hum escaping him.
Thirteen minutes later...
Eulalia was actually exhausted. Grey, with his tall frame and long legs, standing at 6.2 feet, and she at only 5.3 feet—one could imagine the disparity. Moreover, she hadn't exercised in a while, and she was running on an empty stomach.
She struggled to keep up with Grey's pace, challenging herself. Her face grew redder, her breath becoming more rapid, "Huff... huff..."
Grey silently turned his gaze toward her. His breathing didn't change, but he felt as though this woman might collapse at any moment.
"Do you... want to rest for a moment?"
Was she really that tired? At this pace...
He didn't quite understand.
But Eulalia gritted her teeth after hearing him and replied, "It's not like I need to rest, it's no big deal."
Grey pressed his lips together. "I see."
Eulalia unzipped her tracksuit, wiped her sweat, and casually said, "I'm just a little hot, that's all."
Her fair face was already flushed crimson, the strands of hair at her forehead damp with sweat, and her ponytail swayed with each step.
Grey glanced at her, paused, and then looked away.
After a while, he turned to look at her again, this time, the area behind his ears was faintly flushed.
His attention gradually shifted to the ponytail she had tied. Perhaps because she had woken up late, Eulalia's hurriedly done hairstyle wasn't tightly fastened. Beneath the smooth, straight hair, the black hair tie was slowly slipping down.
Eulalia hadn't noticed. She was still running, out of breath.
"It..." Grey parted his lips.
"It's going to fall off..."
"What?" Eulalia turned her head to look at him, and with the movement, her hair tie finally slipped off.
Instinctively, Grey reached out his hand, pulling Eulalia toward him to catch the hair tie.
After catching the hair tie, he froze for a moment. Slowly, he lowered his gaze. In his arms, Eulalia, her smooth straight hair spilling down, was panting, her head tilted back, staring at him in astonishment.
The morning sun slanted across her face, and on her pale, rosy complexion, even the fine fuzz on her skin was visible in the light.
"You little rascal! What are you doing running like that?!" Eulalia didn't seem to mind at all, giving him a hard slap on his chest and stepping back. "You scared me to death."
Grey wasn't tired at all, but now his heart was racing. He slowly opened his clenched fist, revealing the black hair tie. "Because... it was going to fall."
"So, you were 'saving' my hair tie just now?"
Grey didn't know either.
Eulalia didn't mind.
She took the hair tie and laughed. "Hahaha, you're really strange. I'll thank you on its behalf."
She flicked her long hair and tried to fan herself. "Wow! I'm going to die from the heat."
Grey glanced at her, his gray eyes softening slightly, then lowered his head, taking a step forward. His voice sounded a little muffled, "Let's keep running."
The sunlight shone on the flushed area behind his ears.
His heart was pounding intensely, and he thought, maybe... he was tired too.
Yeah.
It was like that.
