Dear Enemy
Chapter 4 - The Meeting

“You who?” ask James, who now meets with Elios. James crouched down, aligned their views. With a curious face, the boy looked at the tool Elios bit while putting his cup on the floor. “What are you eating?”

Elios did not answer. Instead of answering, the boy turned his attention to the cup of milk that James put. Elios opened his mouth until the device fell on the floor. “Goo!”

Elios crawled up to the cup, sniffing it as if he were figuring out what was inside. He also tried licking the muzzle on the lid. While Elios was busy with James's cup, it was different from James who was now picking up the tools Elios brought. “What is this thing? Is this your toy?”

James grasped it and watched the object from a closer distance. But as soon as he realized the tool was wet as it was filled with Elios saliva, his facial expression instantly changed. “Ewh! This thing is full of your saliva.”

James dropped it on the floor and immediately wiped his wet hands with his clothes. The boy turned to focus on Elios who was now busy licking his cup. The boy looked very curious and wanted to try the milk he had just made. “You want milk?”

James lifted the object until Elios turned to follow the movement of his hand. “Goo~!”

“Wait, I have a good idea.” James smiled broadly.

...*...

Ella was silent for a moment while holding the spoon and fork she wanted to put on the table. He spread his gaze around, looking for James who was suddenly nowhere. “James?”

The woman moved out of her place, already a few minutes ago she had not seen James. I don't know where the boy went after he caught him standing behind a chair with a strange gawk. Ella moved out of her place, looking for James.

In a way, James panicked when he heard Ella call him. He who now held the cup of milk Elios was drinking pushed the cup and asked Elios to hasten his drinking. “Faster again! Don't let Ella know about this. Hurry along! Fast!”

James patted the cup until the contents of the milk entered into the mouth of Elios uncontrollably. The boy even choked because James was pushing him too brutally.

“Uhuk! Uhuk!” Elios coughed.

“Oh, jeez! You okay?” James is panicking. But as soon as he saw the cup empty, the boy could breathe a sigh of relief. Elios had drunk all the milk with a strange taste that he had made. Now neither Ella nor her parents would know with the actual incident since she had just removed the trace.

“James, are you okay?” Ella's getting closer. He became anxious, especially when he heard the sound of someone coughing from the corner of the middle room. Once there, he finds James who is now with Elios. “James.”

“Ella?” James got up and turned towards him. Ella was silent as she stared at James and Elios in turn. He was shocked to see James sitting with a stranger who looked so shabby. Ella was just about to ask about Elios, before James thrust out his empty cup. “I just finished drinking milk.”

“Good son. But who is he? Is he your friend?” James was stunned for a moment, he tried to think of the right answer while occasionally glancing at Elios who now had a fierce face as if he was about to attack Ella.

“Hm... yes!”

“So apparently, have you found a friend? Pleasantly. Then play, soon the food will arrive.” Ella got up from there, and just as the woman turned away, Elios jumped up to attack. But his attack was not successful at all because Ella's pace was too fast. Before long, Elios began to bark at Ella while putting on a fierce face. James who noticed it immediately approached him and immediately smothered his mouth.

“James?” Ella turned towards the boy, where she saw James smothering Elios' mouth with his tiny hand. James astounded. “We're playing mimicking the sound of dogs, woof! Guk!”

“Happy.” Ella smiled and went to the kitchen. After all, James could breathe. He looked at Elios with a confused face.

“What are you doing? Why are you barking at him and looking at him with such an annoyed face? Ella is a good person, and she is our friend, you shouldn't be doing that.”

“Goo?” Elios tilted his head as he looked at James.

“Can't you talk yet? How old are you?” ask James. Elios raised his eyebrows, confused. “Goo?”

“Huh? I don't understand.” James scratched his head. Elios could only say one word. “Looks like you can't talk yet, you don't seem to understand what I'm saying either. In that case, how can I talk to you?”

James thought for a moment, he looked at Elios once more. From his appearance, and the size of his body, James could conclude that the child was the same age as him. It's just that he doesn't understand why Elios behaves like a dog. Even now the boy is walking with his feet and hands toward the tools he carries. He bit the object and went back to James, and sat down before him.

Ting-tong!

The sound of the front door bell made Ella's attention switch, she who had just finished putting her cup then walked towards the door still with a spoon and fork in her hand. On the other hand, James saw Elios suddenly acting strangely. “Goo!”

“Huh?” James frowned.

“Goo! Goo!” Elios moved with the device he was carrying and pulled James by the hand, then dragged the boy into another room. James was puzzled by what had happened, he was dragged behind him. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”

Still crawling with one hand pulling James's hand, Elios rolled his gaze around, looking for a way out. Before long, he saw the balcony door open and directly dragged James in that direction.

Ella came to the door and opened it. Instead of looking at the waiter, he saw three security people who were now standing on the doorstep of their room. “There can I help?”

“We were looking for a little boy who came along with a waiter. And we also got information from one of the waiters who said that he had just lost the food he had to deliver, so we came here to check.”

“Little boy?”

“Can we check inside?”

“Sure. But I really don't see a child other than the one I foster,” Ella said as she let the man in. The three security guards immediately spread out and checked the entire room to find Elios they were chasing. Ella who was just about to leave immediately stopped when she saw the waiter who had returned with a trolley containing James' lunch.

...***...