In the end, he had made a decision back there, and now, he would make another one.
He had her permission anyway; in fact, it was Eva herself who had pointed things out. So he should respond in kind and not shy away from making more moves toward her.
Christian pulled her toward himself by their clasped hands, and, slipping his other hand to the back of her neck, he leaned in and kissed her inviting lips once more.
He wanted to make his intentions even clearer, more unmistakable, right in front of someone from her household.
Anyway, maybe because it was his first time kissing today.
But, Christian realized he couldn't go back to the person he was before, someone who didn't know this taste.
He was already ruined beyond saving by those soft, irresistible lips.
As just pressing his lips against Eva's for a few moments felt utterly fatal.
If he ever took things further, like trying those French kisses he had only read about or seen, what then?
It was definitely a serious matter worth pondering, but that could wait until later, definitely not now.
Perhaps it was because Christian was already caught up in so many thoughts, or maybe it was just his unfamiliarity with this new sensation, but with his eyes closed, he didn't notice Eva's reaction.
She had panicked a little, realizing they were outside where anyone could see them, and while looking at Christian's face so close to hers, with his eyes closed, Eva's gaze drifted past him, scanning the surrounding area.
It was a brief glance, a brief scan of the surroundings.
And nothing came of it, just as she had thought.
With her ordinary eyes, what could she possibly see anyway?
Eva, who had acted reflexively up until now as soon as Christian closed the distance between them, took only a few seconds for this.
In the end, she sighed helplessly, a little anticipation building inside her, and closed her eyes as well.
'Christian, you were the one who started this; I'm merely responding back.'
'And what was supposed to come, got accelerated, nothing more!'
'So, you can't blame me, okay?'
'You're the one declaring me as yours with those possessive eyes and actions, and I'm just responding back gently.'
'By giving you the initiative to do what you want, like I said.'
While Eva's expression finally returned to normal, perhaps with an even more beautiful seductive smile, Christian, having finally distanced himself and let go of her hand, just smiled at her as he watched her turn back and enter her car.
Maybe due to the embarrassment and the novelty of what they had just done, she didn't say anything, merely looked at him without offering a goodbye. Christian did the same, feeling that his action had already expressed everything he needed to say.
Then there was her maid, who simply stood there without doing anything or even changing her expression, as after they separated, she simply opened the door for Eva and then moved to the driver's seat, and Christian decided to be content with this much for now.
As the car started moving, Eva looked at Christian, who was still standing there, through the window, and she couldn't help but feel that today could be considered the most adventurous day of her life.
She is constantly thinking, even doing things unlike herself, so, isn't that right?
It started with her trying to provoke him at the beginning of their conversation in the cinema, which she had already realized was not just to agitate him. It was probably also for her own sake, as she wanted to release what had been kept in her heart to someone else.
Even if she couldn't say everything, as she had some reservations. Maybe because the person listening this time was someone she deemed capable of helping her, someone she had started to have feelings for, she still wanted to say something in the end.
Things had developed past the point of no return for her now, after all, and she knew it as well.
Has this conversation taken place some time before, she could have at least consulted him with some information, to try and tackle the situation together.
But, as she told him, things had changed. She wanted him to fall deeper for her now, and not just emotionally, but also into her circumstances, so he wouldn't think of stepping back, because by then, it would be too late.
She feared that he could somehow distance himself from all of this, unscathed, and in the process, things would naturally come to an end between them.
This kind of outcome was no longer acceptable to her.
If he were to break everything between them, what would he do then? Eva thought he would simply find another woman and seek to have her.
She came to feel that he was someone who, while appearing to refuse becoming closer to anyone, actually still wanted the company of someone, someone to be involved in his life, especially if it was a woman who had given him all of her heart, someone other than his sister.
Again, everything was just her hypothesis, and she knew that there was actually a higher chance that nothing would change, even if she told him everything. But she couldn't leave anything to chance, could she?
She just hoped that their meeting had happened at the right place and time, that her decision to choose him out of all the people possible was the right one, and that he was truly able to bear everything. Because for her, there was really no turning back anymore.
Christian, seeing that the car was no longer visible to him, finally turned around and started walking. He had come in his own car and was now heading toward it.
While things could be considered to be going in a strange way, in the end, he didn't care.
But if there was something he thought about aside from everything that had been said, it was actually about communication skills.
He felt like his communication skills might need some improvement, as Eva had mentioned them twice already. The first time was about socializing, and today it was about joking, both of which could be linked to communication skills.
It made him realize that they might be a little inadequate, and he couldn't help but wonder if he should put communication skills in the Practicing Idle slot later.
But as the idea came to him, he started questioning how his Idle System would raise his communication skills.
He arrived at two key points in the end: conversation topics and dealing with the other person you're conversing with, such as the experience of leading the conversation, responding appropriately, and understanding the flow.
Of course, communication skills couldn't just be restricted to these two points, but they were the first things that came to his mind now.
Then, if he were to put communication skills in an Idle slot, how would it be raised?
As this question was replayed in his mind, Christian thought that it could possibly be improved by learning some new conversing topics and through the simulation of conversing with someone.
And upon arriving at this conclusion, he felt uncomfortable.
Something that should be experienced, something that should be gained with time, he was now trying to acquire through his Idle System, and unlike the other skills he currently possessed, which were based on pure knowledge, this one was different, as he felt it touches deeper aspects of himself.
Christian felt uncomfortable with the idea of changing, even if these changes were very small. Even though, in the grand scheme of things, they might go unnoticed and amount to nothing, the thought still bothered him.
He felt that while he had experienced the ups and downs of many other feelings through conversations and other things, he could only take very slow steps with this one.
And despite what Eva had said, he actually didn't think his communication skills were that terrible after all.
Or more like, even if he was somewhat lacking in some regard, he preferred that the people he considered important would still accept him as he was.
In the end, it was actually just Eva and his sister, and neither of them seemed to mind his communication skills.
Most importantly, he no longer had anyone he felt the need to impress.
Even in Eva's case, it was something special, as it was the first time he found himself so strongly interested in a woman, and the first time was always different.
Christian didn't think he would ever find himself in a situation again, where he would try to win the interest of a woman.
Okay, actually, it's not certain.
But just for this, was there really a need to go out of his way to raise the level of his communication skills, even while feeling uncomfortable?
Christian didn't think so.
That it was not necessary for now was an important reason for him to go against the idea.
In the end, by the time he finally arrived at his decision, he was already parking the car, having reached home.