I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 115: Promise? Baka! I promise ahhh!

Si Hon exhaled quietly, his lips parting as he broke the silence.

"Okay... what do you even want...?"

His voice came out low, steady, stripped of the earlier chaos. Not aggressive. Not mocking. Just... direct.

But behind that calm—

(I already know what she wants.) His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her, watching every subtle shift in her expression. (I just need to not make it obvious.)

For a brief second, Aeloria didn’t answer.

Her gaze, which had been locked onto his before, slowly drifted away, sliding to the side as if the weight of eye contact had suddenly become too much to hold. The tension in her shoulders didn’t disappear— but it changed, tightening in a different way.

Then, quietly—

"Martial Arts section." Her voice was softer now. Not weak— just... controlled. Careful.

Si Hon blinked once.

"Huh...?"

The blue haired woman inhaled lightly, her lashes lowering as she gathered her thoughts, the words coming out slower this time, more deliberate— as if she was choosing each one carefully. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Y-you..." she started, then paused, her brows knitting just slightly before continuing. "People said you were climbing the shelves earlier. Randomly. So no one really paid attention..."

Her grip shifted faintly in his hold— not enough to break free, just enough to show she was aware of it.

"And then... you disappeared." She hesitated, then corrected herself under her breath. "Or... maybe not disappeared. Teleported... I don’t know..."

Her gaze dropped further, her voice lowering just a little more.

"But when you came back down... you already had a book in your hand."

A pause.

"They said it was something ridiculous," she added, almost reluctantly. "A book meant for a god."

Si Hon stared at her for a second.

(ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ...) "...A book for a god?" he muttered internally, unimpressed. (That’s a bit much... exaggerate...)

A quiet sigh left him, subtle, almost invisible— but even then, his grip didn’t loosen.

Not yet.

T,B,H,W (Thebluehairedwoman.) seemed to notice.

Of course she did.

"So," she continued, her voice returning to something steadier, though there was a faint edge of discomfort now creeping in, "could you... take your hands off my wrists?"

A small pause.

"This is... getting uncomfortable."

Unfortunately for her—

Si Hon didn’t move.

Not immediately.

Instead, his gaze sharpened just slightly, the calm from earlier shifting into something more deliberate, more cautious.

"Will you promise not to hit your teammates?" he asked.

Simple.

Straight.

A condition.

T,B,H,W stilled.

For a brief moment, she didn’t respond, her expression tightening as if the question had caught her off guard— not because it was complicated, but because of what it implied.

"Yes." Her voice came steady, but not careless. There was a brief pause after, her lips pressing together as if weighing something invisible before she continued, quieter this time, yet firmer in a way that carried more weight than the word itself.

"I promise... on my name."

For a moment, the air seemed to hold still around them.

Then, almost like she was placing something down between them— something that couldn’t be taken back once spoken— "Aeloria Caelthorn."

The name lingered.

Not just as sound, but as presence. Clear. Undisturbed. Something that stood on its own without needing to be explained.

She waited.

Not impatiently. Not nervously.

Just... waiting.

One second passed. Then another. Then a third.

And still— unfortunately Si Hon didn’t move.

Her gaze snapped back to him, brows drawing together as that earlier irritation resurfaced, though it no longer carried the same sharp edge as before. It was lighter now, threaded with something closer to confusion than anger.

"-⁠ᄒ_⁠ᄒ⁠-... Why aren’t you taking your hands off me?" she asked, her voice tightening just slightly, like she couldn’t quite decide whether to be annoyed or cautious.

Si Hon met her eyes without hesitation. "Please."

That was all.

No explanation. No justification. Not even a shift in tone.

Just a single word, dropped into the space between them with quiet certainty.

And somehow—

That made it heavier.

Heavier than the accusation from earlier. Heavier than the tension that had built between them. It didn’t push, didn’t demand— but it stayed, unmoving, like it expected to be understood without needing to be explained.

Aeloria stilled.

It wasn’t obvious. Anyone looking from the outside might’ve missed it completely— but something in her changed.

The tightness in her shoulders eased, just slightly, and her gaze flickered for the briefest moment before slipping away from his.

"Let me go," she said again, softer now. The sharpness was gone. So was the resistance. "Please."

The echo of his word.

A pause followed— quiet, fragile, like the moment itself might fracture if either of them moved too quickly.

And then—

Si Hon released her.

Not abruptly. Not carelessly.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Like he was making sure the space between them didn’t break as it returned.

The pressure vanished. The invisible line that had held them in place dissolved, and with it, the distance between them widened— just enough to remind them that it had been there all along

Aeloria pulled her hands back almost immediately, fingers curling around her wrist as she rubbed lightly over the spot where his grip had been.

There was no injury, no mark— just a lingering awareness, like her body hadn’t quite caught up to the fact that she was free again.

She didn’t look at him right away.

Neither of them spoke.

The air shifted.

Subtle.

But unmistakable.

What had been tight, suffocating, edged with tension... loosened. Not gone— but changed. Softer around the edges. Less volatile. More... aware.

And yet—

Something stayed behind.

Unspoken.

Unresolved.

A thin thread stretched quietly between them, invisible but impossible to ignore, humming softly beneath the surface of everything that had just happened.

Neither of them acknowledged it.

But neither of them let it go either.

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(Authornote: I’m.. kinda blushing writing this ngl, that’s why I made a character for her!?! Yipe omg... man... this is why I wrote my romance novel!)