Chapter 35: No. 35: Summer’s Dilemma
Having decided to meet up at a park upon completing the deliveries, as well as after Summer finished her morning shift, Bruce waited for her as he stood at the park’s entrance.
The park, being the same one where they’d spent the night gazing at the stars together, was surrounded by tall, neatly trimmed hedges. It was the ideal spot he’d chosen to meet up with her today, since she wouldn’t be able to stay long.
Soon after he arrived, Bruce didn’t wait much longer before he caught sight of Summer’s striking pink hair with blue undertones, causing a smile to appear on his face as he got to marvel at such beauty for the past few days.
Waving to signal his position to her, Bruce’s smile widened as he did.
Glancing at him before quickly looking away, thinking she’d mistaken him for someone else, Summer took another look at the enthusiastic figure that seemed to be waving at her for some reason.
Recognising his face upon seeing his still chubby cheeks, Summer froze for a bit, her mind failing to process what she was seeing for a few seconds before finally regaining her composure.
Walking faster as she quickly closed the distance between them in what felt like an instant, Summer nearly drowned Bruce in a barrage of questions, speaking faster than his mind could process them all at once.
"Bruce!?" "You’re Bruce, right?" "What happened? Are you hurt? Did someone do this to you? How did you suddenly get like this? Are you in pain? Should I call an ambulance?..."
Noticing that she appeared more worried about his sudden weight loss than the actual reason behind it, Bruce managed to make out a few things from her never-ending questions. Gesturing for her to calm down a bit, he replied once she finally stopped.
"As for your questions...
"Yes, it’s still me. Not really sure what happened exactly. I just found myself like this when I woke up this morning. Though, I might’ve gotten a little carried away at the gym yesterday and done way more than I was supposed to. So, I’m not sure if that’s exactly why this happened."
It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but rather part of the truth.
Given that it was Summer, Bruce decided against making up an excuse entirely, choosing instead to tell her part of the truth while omitting the parts that had to do with the System.
After all, Summer wasn’t an idiot. Should he choose to hide too much from her, she’d eventually start to notice things weren’t adding up and become suspicious of him.
As such, Bruce decided this was the best option, as he couldn’t afford to strain his relationship with her. Doing so was tantamount to limiting his main source of Rebate and speedy growth.
A risk he couldn’t afford to take.
So, he could only hope she believed him, as he was practically telling the truth at this point.
’Part of it, at least.’
Thinking this, he watched as Summer took a while to process everything.
Surprised by Bruce’s explanation, Summer hadn’t expected the cause of his sudden weight loss to be something so ordinary.
His words were absurd, to say the least, as it was hard to believe that just working out for two days could make someone lose so much weight in such a short period of time.
However, Bruce had always been a special case to begin with.
Remaining overweight despite barely eating for days, sometimes even feeling as though he was gaining weight rather than losing it, his condition was practically unheard of throughout the city.
Yet, he was living proof that such a thing could happen.
Not to mention, it was extremely difficult to find a plus-sized person nowadays, much less one who was also an Awakened.
After all, Awakened tended to be fitter and naturally superior to regular people who were unable to Awaken an Ability.
So, it was nearly unheard of for someone to remain overweight even after becoming an Awakened.
As such, it wasn’t completely absurd that exercising was enough for him to suddenly lose weight, at least compared to his previous condition.
Especially since he’d never gone to the gym or exercised consistently before.
However, now that he was pushing himself beyond what his body was physically capable of, it seemed his body’s condition was no longer dormant, finally allowing it to react after remaining in that state for so long.
Though it was still somewhat difficult to believe, so was Bruce’s condition of remaining constantly overweight despite barely eating.
As such, his explanation was somewhat believable.
Deciding to change the topic before her thoughts wandered into dangerous territory, Bruce noticed she’d been lost in thought for a while and extended a hand as he spoke.
"Anyways, best not let that ruin our time together. Had a few things in mind for us today. So why not enjoy every second of it?"
Looking at Bruce’s hand as he held it out to her, Summer realised it didn’t matter whether he’d suddenly lost weight or gained more.
He was still the same Bruce deep down, and that was all that mattered.
Clearing her mind of all the unnecessary thoughts still buzzing around inside it, she decided to simply enjoy the little time they had together today.
’But I’ll still miss my Panda Bruce, though.’
Despite trying to push away the unnecessary thoughts, a part of her was still hesitant to let go of the old Bruce. But she knew this current version was him trying his best to become something more.
As such, she was also glad that his hard work was finally paying off.
Causing a mix of emotions to swirl within her mind as she struggled to decide which version of him she preferred more.
Shaking off the thought, she tried to get rid of it, but it kept coming back.
Noticing the comical sight of Summer shaking her head with a flushed expression, Bruce wondered what exactly could be going on in her mind to cause such a reaction.