Heart-to-Heart - [Gavin]

Figuring out someone’s thoughts is as difficult as disclosing your own thoughts to others. Even so, it isn’t necessarily wise to keep silent and leave the matter be. Having just started going steady with one another, how would MC and Gavin deal with such a situation?

Word Count: 2279 words

Whenever one requests for another person’s opinion on a matter, they usually do so because they couldn’t come to a final decision on their own. So, they required a second opinion in order to either narrow down their numerous options or to get a basis for forming their own opinion.

Unfortunately, not many would openly share their opinions when requested, whether it was due to hesitation in bearing part of the responsibility that came with being involved in the decision making, the fear of having their opinion shunned or they merely didn’t wish for others to be pressured into accepting their opinion.

Therefore, even for a question as trivial as what to have for lunch among work colleagues, the most common answer that one would get would be “Anything is fine”. While such an answer may seem considerate and polite at first sight, it was actually inconvenient to the questioner as the latter was left to make the decision on their own without any additional hints.

This was especially problematic when it involved choosing a gift for someone.

For a straightforward man like Gavin, who had no idea at all when it came to the things that women would like as gifts, the countless choices of bags, cosmetics, accessories and clothes that were available in the mall were enough to make his head spin. Despite there being so many choices available, none of the things that he saw during his window-shopping trip had given him the feeling of being a suitable gift for the girl.

Then again, what would she like to receive as a gift?

Not one to beat around the bush, Gavin had tried asking the girl directly about it in the middle of a conversation about their upcoming plans for celebrating the girl’s birthday.

“Anything is fine.”

As expected, the girl had answered him in a cheerful voice that she was fine with anything and that she also wouldn’t mind if he didn’t get her anything because she was well-aware that he had been preoccupied with work recently.

That’s the kind of person she is, always so caring and considerate. Even during those times when he had missed out on their dates due to his work, she hadn’t uttered a single word of complaint. Instead, she had always cheered him on and requested that he take care not to get hurt during work.

For his devoted girl, how could he bear to show up empty-handed on her birthday?

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Ever since the producer met Gavin again, she got to know him a little better, a little different from the impression of a violent delinquent that had been painted of him during high school. If anything, the current Gavin fitted her initial impression of a socially-awkward but kind senior, who on a particularly rainy day, had given her his jacket to shield her from the heavy rain and had run away before she could thank him.

Perhaps, Gavin had always been kind.

This belated realization had made her wonder for a moment, of a time if she hadn’t been influenced by the rumors surrounding Gavin, if she had ignored those rumors and mustered the courage to approach him. How different would things have turned out then? Instead of being disconnected with each other for years, would they have been friends…or perhaps something more?

Since time could never be rewound, that possibility would be something that she would never know for sure.

Still, she was grateful to have resolved the misunderstanding between Gavin and herself now concerning the bloodstained letter that she didn’t read. It was after resolving this matter that their relationship, which had been stuck on a standstill since high school, had truly moved forward once again.

Since then, she had witnessed the different sides of the senior who used to be unapproachable to her during high school. No, he was no longer her senior. It would be more apt to say that Gavin had progressed from his status as her high school senior to her protector, someone who she could entrust with her life. Even before they had started going steady, Gavin had been her stout protector, who kept her safe and rescued her from dangers countless times.

Initially, she couldn’t understand why Gavin would go so far to keep her safe when they weren’t even any close to each other during high school. Unable to come up with a plausible reason, she chalked it up to his sense of responsibility as an STF agent in ensuring a citizen’s safety.

Even though she did have a slight suspicion that Gavin might have had feelings for her at that time, she had instantly brushed off that possibility, believing that she had been presumptuous for even having that kind of thought. After all, why would Gavin have feelings for her?

As far as she could remember, she had always been a quiet girl that didn’t really stand out during high school. Aside from that, she rarely meets or exchanges words with Gavin at school, let alone doing anything significant for him. Thus, to her, it would be unlikely for Gavin to have liked her out of the blue since then, much less now, after years of being apart without any contact between them.

Nonetheless, it did warm her heart when she noticed how Gavin gradually opened up to her now as time passed, with him speaking less stiffly to her and how he wore his heart on his sleeve before her through his simple gestures and vivid facial expressions.

That was not all, though.

Whenever she couldn’t contact Gavin because he was away on a mission, she would be so worried about him that she hadn’t been able to sleep well for days. Whenever she learnt that he had been injured after missions, she would be so anxious and upset that she would be having a hard time holding back her tears, as though she was the one who was hurt.

Eventually, she realized that the reason for these turbulent feelings were because she had fallen in love with Gavin. Having lost the opportunity to know Gavin during high school, she didn’t hesitate to confess her feelings to him at the right opportunity. And now, here they are, a few months later, discussing their plans for celebrating her birthday during a phone call.

Even though this would be their first-time celebrating her birthday as a couple, she was intending to spend the day together at home instead of going outside since she was tired from the continuous days of working overtime and would rather not mingle with the crowds, which would be unavoidable on a weekend.

Of course, instead of deciding everything by herself, she had asked for Gavin’s opinion on the matter, that if he was fine with them spending the day at her place.

“As you like.”

It was an answer that she had expected, but she was a little disappointed by it. This was because it wasn’t the first time that she had received such an answer when asking for Gavin’s opinion.

Based on the few months of them being together as a couple, she had noticed that Gavin would always leave it to her to make the decisions by stating that he was fine with anything as long as she was happy. While she did feel flattered that Gavin would prioritize her over himself, this had also made her feel bad as she can’t help but to suspect that Gavin might have been forcing himself to accommodate her wishes.

Just like how Gavin wanted her to be happy, she also wanted the same for Gavin. She would never want to be the one being accommodated one-sidedly in their relationship.

But, how exactly should she broach this matter to him?

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For the umpteenth time, Gavin gave the small box within his jean pocket a slight squeeze, as if to confirm that it was still within his possession. After browsing through shop after shop, he finally came upon the gift that he considered perfect for the girl. Fearing that he might lose it, Gavin had been constantly checking up on the box in his pocket at every available opportunity until the moment he reached the girl’s place.

“Gavin.”

Upon hearing his name, Gavin snapped out of his thoughts and naturally looked towards the girl who was sitting right next to him on the couch with her head leaning on his shoulder.

“Can I be honest with you about something?”

“Of course,” he answered immediately without looking away from the girl.

Unlike Gavin, the girl was quite hesitant to speak. Instead, she pulled away from him and sat up straight on the couch. Although he was feeling a little anxious with the girl’s gestures and hesitance, Gavin didn’t prod her to speak. He chose to wait for her to speak up at her own pace, which he didn’t have to wait long.

“Gavin, you have always let me decide on things as I like ever since we got together and I do appreciate that,” she said before looking directly at him with a sad smile, “However, I wish for you to decide on things as you like too. Do you get what I mean?”

The young man didn’t say anything and merely fixed his sight on the girl. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what she meant. He was just …surprised. He didn’t expect that he had unwittingly made her sad and the worst part was, he wouldn’t have realized the problem if she hadn’t spoken up about it now. Even though it was with much difficulty that his feelings for her were finally reciprocated and they had been dating as a couple for months, he was still so oblivious of her feelings and thoughts at times, which made him furious at himself.

Mistaking his silence as bewilderment, the girl said, “Instead of being accommodated one-sidedly, I wish for us to come to a mutual decision together when it comes to making decisions.”

To be honest, Gavin had neither forced himself nor had he kept his opinions to himself in order to accommodate her. If anything…

“Actually… I am clueless when it comes to the things that you asked for my opinions, which is why I leave it to you to make the decisions,” confessed Gavin while looking down and scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “I thought that since you know better than me, the choices that you made would certainly be better than if it’s from me, who didn’t know anything.”

Scoffing at his own misconception, Gavin then returned his gaze back at the girl. “I am sorry,” he said earnestly while meeting the girl’s eyes, “I didn’t realize that I had made you upset by doing so.”

The girl’s expression had softened, long before Gavin had apologized.

“It’s nothing to apologize for, Gavin. I brought this up because I didn’t want any misunderstandings to remain unspoken and eventually fester between us. Now that we have talked about this, we get to understand each other’s thoughts better, am I right?”

Gavin nodded.

“So, I would also be honest with you. I would prefer that you share your opinions with me, Gavin, even if you think it is silly or when you have no idea at all. Can you promise me this?”

“Mm, I promise.”

Having received his word, the girl clapped her hands together and smiled brightly.

Seeing the girl’s bright smile, Gavin thought that there was no better time than now for him to reveal the gift that he had bought for her birthday. So, he slowly took out the small box from his pocket and presented it on the palm of his left hand to the girl, who had gasped in surprise at the sight of it.

“Gavin, this…”

A knowing smile crossed the young man’s face.

“Whether it was back then or now, the only person on my mind, who had kept me going no matter the obstacles, have been you and only you, no one else.”

Having said that, Gavin then lifted open the cover of the box with his right hand to reveal a pair of identical silver rings with a gold-plated gingko leaf pattern in the center. It was a pair of custom-made promise rings, which signified an unmarried couple’s commitment to their relationship.

“Even though we had only been dating for a few months, I wish for us to stay together, now and always, and never be apart. Would you accept this?”

The girl, who had been covering her mouth with both hands all this time, had giggled with glistening brown eyes.

“Of course! Of course, I accept!”

Beaming with joy, Gavin then proceeded to put on the smaller promise ring on the girl’s fourth finger of her left hand. Once he was done, the girl had already reached towards the other pair of the rings in the box that had been placed between them. Without saying a word, she reached out for Gavin’s left hand and carefully put the ring on his fourth finger in the same manner as hers.

Engrossed in admiring the sight of the promise ring on his ring finger, Gavin was surprised when the girl had lunged forward to hug him without warning. Even though she didn’t say anything and merely buried her face deeper onto his chest while hugging him, the slight feeling of dampness on his chest was all Gavin needed to understand her current feelings. So, he returned the girl’s embrace with a contented smile and spoke out the rest of the words that he had wanted to told her on that day.

“Happy birthday, my girl.”

• The Lost Whisper of the Wind
• Shadow of Doubt
• Nyctophobia
• Heart-to-Heart

MC hadn’t heard from Gavin for quite a while. Unable to focus on work, she ended up working overtime in office, which led to an unexpected incident.

POV:MC (Third POV)

Words: 1969 words

It had been a week since the last time she met Gavin.

Even though there had been times when she had lost contact with Gavin for much longer than that, she couldn’t help but to be anxious this time due to a disconcerting dream that she had been having recently. Within the dream, she was wandering alone in complete darkness. Just when she heard Gavin’s concerned voice calling out to her in the dark, she lost her footing and fell from a great height… which then prompted her to wake up from the dream with a racing heart.

While it could have been just a random dream without any significance, she couldn’t shrug off the possibility of it being a sign of the future to come that was shown to her by her precognition Evol. Ever since she realized she could glimpse a little part of the future through her dreams, she hadn’t been able to treat any of her dreams as a random figment of her subconscious.

Since Gavin had been a part of her latest dream, it made her wonder if it meant that something was going to happen to him or if he was going to be in danger because of her again. Consequently, this also caused her to remember that past incident with Josie, where Gavin had come to her rescue when she fell into the trap that was intended for the former while trying to alter the vision of Gavin being in danger that was shown by her Evol.

As a STF agent that deals with Evol-related incidents on a daily basis, she knew very well that Gavin constantly faces dangerous situations and there had been countless times when he had to place his life on the line to ensure everyone’s safety. Thus, it was unavoidable for him to be wounded from his missions. But still, even if she wasn’t strong enough to protect Gavin from harm, she had hoped that just like how Gavin had looked out for everyone else, she could be the one to look out for Gavin.

After giving one last look at the last unanswered text message that she had sent to Gavin an hour ago, she kept her phone in her tote bag and proceeded to pack up her things from her office desk in preparation to go home. Since she can’t help but to check on the unanswered texts that she had left Gavin at every opportunity of a break, she hadn’t been able to get much work done today.

In fact, she hadn’t realized that her action was so conspicuous until Kiki and Willow had teased her about it, which she had then responded to by pretending to be offended in order to hide her embarrassment. She wasn’t sure if she had convinced them with her feigned anger, but at least they hadn’t pursued further on the subject.

Having finished packing her things, she picked up her bag and walked out of her office. As she waited for the elevator to arrive, she stared at the constantly rising number that was shown on the electronic panel between the two elevators. Just when the next number was going to be her floor level, there was a dull ‘thuk’ sound and everything went dark without warning.

Startled, she grabbed her bag instinctively before reaching a hand into it. After fumbling around for a while, her hand eventually settled on the familiar shape of her smartphone, which made her lips lifted upwards one-sidedly. Once she took out her phone, the light of her active touchscreen had seemed like a beacon in the seemingly ominous, pitch-black sea of darkness around her.

Ever since she was young, she always had this instinctive fear of the dark. However, she hadn’t been as fearful of the dark once she became an adult. So, she couldn’t explain her currently racing heartbeat and the evident trembling of her hands that were holding her smartphone before her face. She could only blame it all on her current situation being a reminiscence of the dream of darkness that she had been having recently.

Don’t panic. Don’t think too much. Just turn on the flashlight.

As she mentally consoled herself, she configured through the settings on her phone’s touchscreen to turn on the flashlight app. She sighed in relief when the front of her phone had given out a bright light to illuminate the path ahead of her.

Feeling less nervous, she came to a realization that usually the building’s backup power generator should have started up immediately following the power blackout, which in turn, would activate the emergency lights to prevent the whole building from being immersed in total darkness. However, it had already been well past a few minutes after the power blackout, but her phone’s flashlight was still the only source of illumination around her. Something must have gone wrong with the backup power generator.

Since it was already very late at night, she couldn’t possibly rely on the possibility of someone coming over to repair the power generator or to wait in the office until who-knows-when for the power to be restored on its own. Needless to say, she definitely didn’t want to stay overnight by herself in the office.

With those thoughts in mind, she turned to look towards the direction of the door to the emergency staircase. With her currently being on the seventh floor, it shouldn’t be that difficult for her to descend all the way down to the ground floor through the emergency stairs.

Besides, going down the stairs uses less stamina than climbing up the stairs.

Having pumped herself up with that idea, she headed towards the door that led towards the emergency staircase. With the light from her phone guiding her way, she had made quick progress in descending to the next floor. Soon, she was only four floors away from reaching the ground floor… when her phone had died off suddenly, leaving her in total darkness.

“What?!”

She cried out in panic as she frantically tapped on the touchscreen of her phone with the thumb of her right hand while holding the railing tightly with her other hand. Unfortunately, her phone still remained unresponsive. Thinking back, she hadn’t really taken note of the battery level of her phone today, let alone charging it. Thus, it wouldn’t be surprising for it to run out of power and shut down by itself.

It’s okay. It’s okay.

Even though she was on the verge of a panic attack, she continued to console herself with her eyes closed. She can’t possibly break down crying now and expected someone to come to her rescue. Just like everyone else, there would be unexpected occasions where she will have to stand alone. If she couldn’t even overcome the current situation on her own, how can she expect to be dependable to others?

With trembling hands, she placed her phone into her bag before holding on tightly to the railing of the staircase with both hands. Blinded by the darkness, she slowly lowered her foot to the next step on the stairs, making sure that her foot was standing firmly on the step before proceeding to do the same for her other foot. She then repeated this process again for going down to the next step of the staircase. By doing so, she was making a much slower but safe progress down the staircase.

She wasn’t aware of how much time had passed, but judging from the steps that she had taken after losing her only source of light, she estimated that she was probably around three-and-a-half floors away from reaching the ground floor. If she kept it up at this pace, she should be able to reach the ground floor before morning comes, she thought jokingly to herself.

It was at this moment that she suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out her name from far below the stairs. She thought she might have imagined it out of anxiety since it couldn’t have been such a coincidence for her to hear that voice that she was yearning for the most in her current situation.

“Ga…Gavin?”

Her voice had trembled when she called out nervously towards the darkness. Perhaps, her voice was too soft to be heard for there wasn’t any other response from down below the staircase…Or maybe, she had imagined that voice after all.

Even though she was prepared for that possibility, she still couldn’t stop the feeling of disappointment from welling up within her chest. Feeling the side of her eyes growing slightly damp by the seconds, she lowered her head and raised one of her hands to rub her eyes.

Just when she was about to continue taking her next tentative step down the stairs, she heard that voice again. This time, it was followed by the urgent sound of footsteps approaching her from below the staircase. Just when the sound of footsteps was just around the corner from her, she turned towards the source of the sound and was momentarily blinded by a flash of bright light, which quickly shifted away from her face.

“Are you alright?”

The concern in the familiar voice was evident, much like his expression. Even amidst the dimly-lit surroundings, she could notice the light sheen of sweat on Gavin’s forehead and the sight of his brows knitted together, followed by the faint sound of his panting breaths.

Although she was utterly pleased to know that she was the reason he had run up all those three levels of stairs in a hurry, she couldn’t stop her eyes from brimming with tears, to the point that they started to trickle down the side of her face.

Perhaps, she was just too relieved to see him appearing safe and sound before her after not seeing him for a week … or maybe it was because he had appeared before her when she was most in need of support.

Nevertheless, this vulnerable state of hers was the last thing she ever wanted to show Gavin. Panicking, she quickly lowered her head and rubbed her eyes with both hands as she tried to explain her sudden outburst.

“No, this isn’t…I mean I didn’t intend to…”

While she was fumbling for words and kept rubbing the tears away from her eyes, she felt a strong pair of arms circling around her form in a manner that is not suffocating and yet, not too distant.

“I am sorry,” she heard Gavin’s voice above her head and felt his hand patting her back awkwardly, as if he was uncertain if it was okay to touch her at the moment and also to assure her that he was truly with her, right then and there. “I am sorry that I am late. It must have been scary for you to be alone in the dark.”

For some reasons, hearing his words and feeling his warmth had made her feel both vulnerable and safe at the same time. Even though she thought that if she couldn’t be strong enough to protect him, at least she wanted to be able to stand on her own, so that he could have one less thing to worry about. However, in the end, she still ended up seeking him for reassurance.

She is totally hopeless, isn’t she?

“Don’t be afraid. I am here.”

She couldn’t help but to sniffle at those words of his. When he appeared to save her in a sea of fire during that incident with Josie, he had spoken those same words to her.

Be it then or now, Gavin had always assured her that she will not be alone.

How she wished that the day would come, when she would be strong enough to be the one to return those words to him.

A random fanfic with reference to the end of Chapter 6-19 of the game’s plot, which was also known as the confrontation between a “protective” Lucien and a “hostile” Gavin. 

Words:1019 words

Keeping her safe has always been Gavin’s goal.

It was also his reason for seeking greater power.

After all, she was special.

Gavin had known that she was special ever since that day, the day when the ginkgo leaves were billowing in the wind, when his EVOL first awakened. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising to him that she would be targeted by many people with ill intentions. In order to protect her from those dangers, Gavin resolved to get stronger … even if it required him to be away from her. Nonetheless, he vowed to return as soon as possible to her side to protect her.

However, when they did meet each other again, it had already been six years and the girl could barely remember him. Gavin was disappointed, but he reassured himself that they could just take this chance to start getting reacquainted with each other again. After a few rounds of awkward interactions, Gavin noticed that the girl seemed to hold a mistaken perception of him that stemmed from his ill reputation during high school.

While it would have been natural to clear the misunderstanding between them by directly confronting her about it, he was well-aware of how stiff and awkward she was whenever he tried to approach or talk to her. So, he didn’t want to pressure or scare her any more than that. Besides, he firmly believed that the truth will eventually reveal itself, even without him doing anything.

Nevertheless, Gavin didn’t have much time to worry about this as the peace of Loveland City was threatened by those who were actively making their moves in the shadows. EVOL-related cases were popping up one after another, which kept him preoccupied and rarely having the chance to be with her. In fact, the most recent encounter that Gavin had with the girl was in front of the abandoned orphanage, where Gavin had arrived earlier, after following the trail of an ongoing investigation.

At that time, Gavin was surprised to meet her there. However, his surprise had instantly turned into suspicion towards the man that was accompanying her, a certain special consultant for the girl’s company, who was also a world-renowned neuroscientist, “Professor Lucien Xu”. After all, it was unlikely for the girl to have suddenly come to the orphanage at night of her own volition.

Even so, Gavin started to doubt his judgement when Lucien had pulled the girl behind him and used his EVOL to create a barrier to ward against Gavin’s EVOL that was fluctuating unstably. It was at this moment that Gavin thought that perhaps, the man before him was not an enemy, that there could be another threat hidden within the shadows around them.

It was thanks to this quick thinking and fast reaction of his that Gavin managed to counter the sniping bullet that was aimed towards the girl. If he had hesitated and spent a little longer doubting Lucien…

Without saying much, he had then asked Lucien to escort the girl to safety while he went after the hidden sniper. Although Gavin still didn’t fully trust Lucien, if this well-known man was willing to expose something as secretive as his identity as an Evolver to Gavin in order to protect the girl, then Gavin trusted that he wouldn’t allow the girl to be harmed at least.

After wrapping up the entire incident by reporting to Commander Leto, the first thing that Gavin thought of doing was to check up on the girl. Aided by the darkness of the moonless night, he had flown through the clouds and hovered outside the windows of her apartment unit. He unknowingly sighed in relief the moment he saw her sleeping peacefully on her bed through the partially-covered windows. After ensuring that there were no hidden threats around the vicinity, he gave her one last glance before silently leaving the scene.

When Gavin finally had time for himself, he thoroughly went through all the information that he had collected regarding the incident. The main perpetrator of the sniping incident was discovered to be a secret organization known as “Black Swan”, which had suddenly become active two years ago. While the actual aim of the organization was still unclear, it was evident from their repeated attempts and threats on the girl’s peaceful life that she was their main target.

Moreover, since the ballistic report had proven that the sniper’s bullet wasn’t actually meant to take the girl’s life, then this would mean that Black Swan had deliberately created that life-threatening situation for some kind of purpose… To forcefully awaken her EVOL? If that was the case, then the one who could most likely lead the girl to that location to trigger the situation would be … Lucien.

Then, could Lucien be a part of Black Swan?

Gavin’s eyes had widened in surprise at his own deductions.

If that was true, didn’t that mean that Gavin had just entrusted the girl to the enemy’s hands on that day?

Gavin unconsciously tightened his hand into a fist at that appalling thought.

Still, the fact remained that Lucien had protected the girl and even sent the girl home safely on that day. Even now, a week after the incident, Lucien hadn’t made any suspicious moves. Instead, it would seem as though nothing had changed at all since that day. Unless Lucien was very confident in hiding his tracks, it would be rather brazen of him to remain as usual without any hint of worry. Perhaps, he really didn’t have anything to do with the incident.

Moreover, Lucien’s possible affiliation with Black Swan was merely Gavin’s deduction and suspicion. So far, even after doing a background check on the young professor through STF’s resources, he hadn’t found a definite proof that linked him to Black Swan and Gavin knew full well that any deductions without solid proof would be nothing but groundless accusations in the face of the law.

Even so, Gavin still couldn’t shake off this wariness that he had towards this person known as “Lucien Xu”, especially with how the man was always found around the girl recently.