"Click!" Dean came out of the bathroom, dressed and drying his hair with a towel, holding a fresh, folded one. He saw Claire sitting on the sofa, smiling to herself while reading his magazine. Dean went straight to her.
"Do you want to shower before heading back to the hospital?" Dean asked.
"Hmm, really? Can I?" Claire asked, turning and lowering the magazine.
"Sure, why not? Go take a shower, I'll get some food ready," Dean replied.
Then Dean tossed the fresh towel he was carrying to Claire. Of course, Claire caught it and smiled.
"Okay, I'll go shower first. I haven't showered in years, being in that building," Claire said.
"Huh? Didn't the nurses at the emergency room already bathe you at the hospital?" Dean asked.
"That was cleaning, not a shower," Claire replied.
"Alright, well, go on then. We'll eat first before heading back to the hospital," Dean said, sitting down.
"Okay, I'm going to shower, thanks Dean," Claire said cheerfully.
She immediately walked towards the bathroom. Meanwhile, Dean noticed his smartphone on the coffee table. He looked at the kitchen hallway, then back at his phone. He reached for his smartphone, and his eyes widened immediately. He saw 23 missed calls from Angel and 10 messages full of questions about who Claire was and demanding an explanation about Claire saying she was Dean's future wife.
"Huh... what is this? Why is Angel so curious about Claire?" he wondered to himself.
He replied to her messages, explaining that Claire was just his friend and also a co-worker. Three dots appeared below the screen, but then disappeared. Suddenly, "Ring, ring!" Angel called him.
"Hello," Dean greeted.
"Who is she, Big Brother?! Explain it to me! I don't believe she's just a friend!" Angel yelled.
"Why are you so curious? What's really going on?" Dean asked.
"She answered my video call earlier and said she was your future wife, then she hung up and wouldn't answer again!" Angel replied, sounding annoyed.
Dean looked towards the bathroom door. He shook his head and took a long breath, as if he suddenly felt incredibly tired.
"Look, she's just a friend. Maybe she was just messing with you. After we eat, I'm going to take her back. Now, I'm going to cook," Dean said.
"What?! Big Brother is cooking for her?! I knew it... she really is your girlfriend... I won't accept it if you don't tell me you have a girlfriend!" Angel yelled, getting angrier.
"Ugh... that's enough, I'm too tired to talk about this. It's late," Dean replied.
"Grrrr... I'll call you again after school tomorrow!" Angel shouted.
"Click!" The call ended. Dean put his smartphone on the coffee table, then rubbed his face. After that, he stood up, put his towel away, and went to the kitchen to make some food.
*****
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, "Shhhhh," Claire stood under the shower, looking up with her eyes closed and rubbing her hair with both hands.
"Hmmm... this feels so good. I really haven't showered in so long while I was a ghost... now I'm alive again... but I don't know anyone except Dean. My parents is also my older cousin... there's no way I can tell them that I'm Jenna, who died 15 years ago," Claire mumbled to herself.
"Whoosh," a screen appeared in front of Claire's face. She looked at her own status and reread the name of her soul partner written on it, smiling. However, her expression changed when she saw the large amount of debt and the accumulated debt value at the bottom.
"As soon as I'm alive again... I suddenly have huge debt... but I also have a partner... could I be happy in my second life as my niece?" Claire wondered to herself.
Suddenly, a memory flashed in Claire's mind. "Kyoot," she turned off the shower and stepped into the bathtub already filled with warm water. She was stunned, watching Claire's memories after sitting in the bathtub. It turned out that Sarah and Jordan hadn't lived together since Claire was 14 years old. They had separated but hadn't divorced due to some misunderstanding and family issues. Jordan's family apparently didn't like Sarah and Claire without knowing the cause. Jordan's family also didn't approve of Claire using their family name as her last name.
"Hmm... no wonder this girl's name is Claire Anderson... not Claire Brown, like her father's name, Jordan Brown," Claire (who was actually Jenna) mumbled to herself.
Then, Claire's daily life after her parents stopped living together also flashed through her mind. She saw her mother working tirelessly, even though she was still supported by her father, and taking care of her wholeheartedly. Claire was also excellent at school and received a scholarship to enter the faculty of sports at university because of her achievements in the 100-meter dash and hurdles.
She also had many friends, but no close friends she could talk to. All the guys who approached her definitely had other intentions because Claire was beautiful, and the girls who approached her only did so because they wanted something.
"She has trust issues too, just like I did. This girl's life is more or less the same as mine when I was alive as Jenna," Claire said to herself, smiling sadly and hugging herself in the tub.
*****
"Knock, knock," Claire's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the bathroom door. "Claire, food's ready!" Dean called from outside the door.
"Yeah, just a sec!" Claire yelled back.
"Shhhhwish," Claire stood up, then stepped out of the tub. She pulled the plug to drain the water. After that, she walked over and got dressed while drying her hair. Once she was done and about to leave, she paused for a moment, her hand already on the doorknob.
"Alright, everything's different now. Tomorrow, I'll talk to Mom about transferring schools... even though I graduate in six months. This time, I want to be happy, even if I have a lot of debt. We have to be happy, Claire," Claire (who was actually Jenna) said to herself, smiling.
Claire opened the door. She saw Dean already sitting at the dining table in the kitchen hallway, looking at his smartphone. She noticed two plates of pasta with meatballs on the table. Dean, realizing Claire was standing by the bathroom, turned his head.
"Why are you spacing out? Come on, let's eat, then we'll head back to the hospital, and I'll stay there tonight," Dean said.
"Okay," Claire replied cheerfully, looking at Dean and studying his face, then smiling widely as she walked to the dining table and sat down. "I've decided!"
"Huh? Decided what?" Dean asked, confused, picking up his fork and taking a bite.
"I want to transfer to your school, even though we only have six months left until we graduate, and I want to live with you because I already 18. We're already husband and wife, right, hehehe?" Claire answered.
"Clang!" Dean dropped his fork when Claire dropped that bombshell on him. He looked up at Claire's wide smile, staring right back at him.
"What?! Are you serious?!" Dean asked, completely shocked, his face instantly tensing up.