The next day, "Honeymoon... honeymoon... yay!" Rose and Ruby, pulling their suitcases, hugged each other and sang as they stepped off the train at Sieria station. They had just finished a one-hour journey on the high-speed rail that ran through tubes, cutting across forests—or more accurately, across ruins of a civilization that had been reclaimed by the wilderness. Rex stood silently behind them, carrying his backpack.
He opened a brochure and started to read, but suddenly, both of his arms were grabbed.
"Come on, honey, let's get to the resort," Rose said enthusiastically.
"Yay... the beach and summer! Come on, babe, don't be so sluggish," Ruby added, just as excited.
"Alright, alright... let's go," Rex replied weakly.
They hopped into a taxi after tossing their luggage in the back. Rex sat in the middle, squeezed between Rose and Ruby, who kept clinging to him. For some reason, he felt completely drained and out of energy.
"Did I not get enough sleep last night? No way, I feel like I slept plenty," Rex muttered in his heart.
Then he glanced at his arms and noticed faint marks on his skin, like he had been tied up by something around his wrists.
"What is this? Is it because they slept on my arms and these are just marks from their clothes?" Rex wondered to himself.
Rex looked stunned, while Rose and Ruby stole glances at the arm he was examining. Without Rex knowing, the two of them had definitely been up to something the night before.
***
The night before they left, after returning from shopping and finishing dinner, Rex was still at his laptop working with his headphones on. Rose and Ruby peeked at him from behind the bedroom door.
"Why is his reaction so normal?" Rose whispered.
"I don't know. He should be happy to be married, right?" Ruby answered.
The two looked at each other and nodded, but just as they were about to step out, Rex turned toward the door and stared at it for a moment. They stayed silent behind the door, covering their mouths. Once Rex went back to his work, Rose muttered, "Huh... he realized he was being watched, didn't he?"
Then Rose looked at Ruby, who was pouring something onto a handkerchief. She grabbed the bottle. "Wait... chloroform? What for?" Rose asked, confused.
"I want him to be fresh tomorrow, so he needs to sleep and stop working so much," Ruby replied.
"Oh... true. But how are you going to sneak up on him?" Rose asked.
"Just wait until he goes to sleep," Ruby answered.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked.
"Watch," Ruby said.
Rose looked out and saw Rex stretching. After that, Rex stood up, turned off his desk lamp, and walked toward the bedroom. Of course, the two girls immediately jumped into bed to pretend they were asleep. After entering the room and seeing them both down, Rex lay on his futon on the floor and fell asleep almost instantly. Seeing Rex was out, Ruby sprang into action and pressed the chloroform to his face.
"Strange... why drug someone who's already sleeping?" Rose asked.
"Hmm... so he sleeps soundly... and... so I'm free to do whatever I want. I do it often, hehe," Ruby said.
"Oh... I see how it is... alright then, who goes first?" Rose said with a smile.
"Huh... obviously me," Ruby replied.
"But I usually use this," Rose said.
Rose reached into her bag and pulled out some rope that seemed to always be there. She tied Rex's wrists and ankles, then tethered him to the bed and the desk.
"Huh... rope? For what? If he wakes up, you'll get caught," Ruby said.
"That's exactly the point... I want him to wake up while I have him tied up so I can do things to him, hehe," Rose replied with a strange look on her face.
"Hmm... do you do this often?" Ruby asked, curious.
"Sometimes... when I just can't help myself, hehe," Rose answered.
"Huh... you're trash," Ruby said.
"You think you aren't? You're trash too. Besides, he's officially our husband now, so anything goes," Rose replied.
"Okay... so who's first?" Ruby asked.
They immediately played rock-paper-scissors, and after that, they took turns having their fun with Rex, who slept soundly until morning and definitely didn't wake up.
***
Back to the present. When they arrived at the resort, they checked in immediately and dropped their bags in the room. Since the resort was connected directly to the beach and it was still late morning, Ruby was ready to go.
"Come on... let's head straight to the beach," Ruby suggested.
"Don't you want to rest first?" Rex asked.
"What for? The trip from our place only took an hour. How could you be tired?" Rose asked.
"For some reason, I feel drained," Rex said.
"Ah... that's just because you rarely leave the house. Come on, get used to it," Rose encouraged.
"Yeah, exactly. Let's go, let's go," Ruby added.
"Fine, whatever," Rex replied, finally giving in.
Without wasting a second, the two girls changed right in front of Rex. They put on their bikinis, layered with oversized white shirts, while Rex wore his swim trunks and his hoodie. They opened the sliding glass door in the room to step out directly onto the sand. As they walked along the shore, Rex looked around; the two girls with him were absolute magnets for attention, making heads turn everywhere they passed.
"I need to start getting used to this... I didn't used to be like this... I guess it's because I've been cooped up for the last two years," Rex thought in his head.
He looked at Rose, who was holding his left arm and looking happy, then turned to Ruby, who was holding his right arm and looking incredibly cheerful. Both of them looked radiant and glowing.
"Wait... they seem different... or is it just my eyes? They look even more refreshed than usual," Rex wondered in his head.
They finally reached a spot with rows of umbrellas. Rex sat down on a wooden beach lounger. He watched as Rose and Ruby took off their oversized shirts, instantly becoming the center of attention for every man nearby.
"They're way too exposed," Rex thought to himself.
Suddenly, he felt a spark in his chest—a feeling he usually never experienced. He stood up and wrapped towels around both of them. Naturally, many of the men nearby immediately looked away.
"What's this for?" Rose asked playfully.
"Yeah... what's up? You don't want a lot of people looking at me?" Ruby teased.
"It's not that. You guys are drawing too much attention," Rex answered, though in reality, he truly didn't want other men staring at them.
Then, he took off his hoodie because of the heat, exposing his face and his muscular build. Suddenly, he felt dozens of eyes fixated on him. He glanced to the left and saw several girls on the beach staring his way; he looked to the right and saw even more girls watching him, some even waving.
Suddenly, a Hawaiian beach shirt was shoved in front of his face. Rex saw Rose handing him a shirt in his size, while Ruby held out a baseball cap.
"Wait... what's this for?" Rex asked, confused.
"Put it on," Rose and Ruby answered in unison.
"Oh... okay," Rex replied, taking the shirt and the hat.
As Rex put them on, he noticed Rose and Ruby were pouting at him.
"What's wrong?" Rex asked.
"Nothing," Rose and Ruby snapped at the same time.
"Alright then," Rex replied.
Rex lay back down on the lounger. Rose and Ruby stood near him, stealing glances at him.
"Bringing him to the beach was a mistake; there are too many flies here who can't keep their eyes off a good thing," they both thought in their heads, completely in sync without even knowing it.