The Incubus System Chapter 203. Attention Seeker (Patreon)

The Incubus System Chapter 203. Attention Seeker

We walked down the street in silence accompanied by the gloomy morning sun.
"Um ... Ethan, am I ... That bad in your eyes?" Ruby's doubtful voice broke the silence between us.

To be frankly, yeah. Who wouldn't get mad at the person who was stalking him, tried to take a chance to be alone with him, took a photo of his d*ck and nearly stole his underwear? Although ... I took a glance at her. I admitted she was kinda cute and sweet.

Since she looked so sorry, I decided to point out what the problem was. I shifted my gaze to the front.
"It's not that bad. I just don't like an attention seeker," I said bluntly but in a calm tone. After several meetings with her and caught her overly flirtatious attitude especially to me, I realized she had an attention seeker disorder, although this was just my guess. That disorder's pattern was including inappropriate seduction and excessive desire for approval. People diagnosed with the disorder were said to be lively, dramatic, vivacious, enthusiastic, and flirtatious. It was fit to how she had been acting lately since logically no woman would do that to her new crush.

She stopped her steps and frowned in objection.
"I'm not an attention seeker," she denied in displeasure.

I also stopped my steps and turned to her.

"I already apologized and you said you have forgiven me. Why did you say such mean things to me?" she said again in disappointment.

"Ruby, I didn't mean to say mean things to you. But even if it's bitter, you have to realize it to become a better person. You have to realize, you need help, not attention." I knew it wouldn't be easy, but at least I wanted her to be aware of her own condition.

"Help? What do you mean? I'm fine. I don't need any help." Her eyes moved side to side in confusion, it seemed like she was trying to find out what was wrong with her.

Since she didn't notice or maybe unconsciously deny it, I decided to point it one more time.
"Now, I'll ask you. Why are you looking for attention? Do you want love? Compliments? Are you happy with that? Are you sure what they gave you was genuine? Aren't you tired of that?" I said in the same calm tone.

"Of course, it is genuine. What they said makes me happy," she replied with the same displeasure tone.

"Really? Are you sure they have no other intention behind those compliments?" I asked again.

She fell silent. Although not everyone was like that, from the incident at the cafe, I knew a lot of people who praised her because they had other intentions, one of them was the man who wanted to make her his personal maid. On the other hand, I guessed that was what made her attracted to me since I acted opposite from her. She wanted attention, while I avoided it. Of course, that made her interested in me, especially since she found out I could use a similar skill to Mrs Clea's, yet I hid it.

I approached, put my hands on her shoulders and rubbed it gently. A gesture that showed I wasn't angry with her, but at her actions. I didn't hate her, but just annoyed by her rudeness to me.
"If you are lonely, you have to look for a friend or someone who can appreciate you. Not fake attention." I didn't know much about Ruby, but to my knowledge, this disorder was mostly due to loneliness or maybe acknowledgement that she didn't get in the past.

Her anger faded and from the look on her face, I was pretty sure she was starting to understand it. I gave her a smile and a gentle gaze.
"I know you are tired of chasing something empty like this. Please live as yourself. Then the person who loves the true you will come to you. I believe it will fill the gap in your heart with something far more meaningful than just empty attention. "

She didn't answer me but just looked at me with trembling eyes.

After a short awkward silence, at least for me, since she didn't say anything, I took my hands off her.
"I'm sorry. I know this is not the best place to discuss this. Nor I had the right to say this since we just met recently. But, I think I should say it to you."

She shook her head from side to side and smiled at me.
"Thank you for telling me, Ethan. I really appreciate your honesty."

"It was the least I could do," I said with a smile.

"But, since you said you have forgiven me, we are still good, right?" she made sure.

"Of course."

She gave me a nervous smile.
"So, if --- Someday ... I need a friend to talk to or accompany me. Can I --- contact you?" she said in hesitation.
"I mean --- Just in case. But I'm not going to your house for no reason like yesterday or today. I just want to have a nice chat with you at the cafe or something like that," she added quickly.

"Sure." If it was only a small chat, what could go wrong with it? And since it was in a public area, so I was pretty sure she wouldn't do anything weird. Besides, I knew she meant it from her emotion status since I hadn't closed her status box yet.

"Thank you for giving me another chance." Her smile bloomed.
"Shall we go now?" she said again. After I answered her with a nod, we moved our feet again.
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Ruby's PoV

Ruby's eyes stole a glance at the man who was walking beside her and smiled in secret as she held her beating heart. Actually, Mrs Clea had ordered her to stay away from Ethan since the demon's attack got worse and she didn't want Ethan to get involved with this. Especially since that great demon was most likely watching Ruby and Mrs Clea. So she thought this was her last meeting with Ethan. Moreover, she just pissed him off yesterday.

But Ethan's words made her undo her intention. He had shown her something she had not been aware of, why she craved attention and also noticed her loneliness despite the crowd that surrounded her. Indeed, she always thought with her attitude that attracted the others' attention, as long as she could get the others' approval and compliments, she would be happy, but she was wrong. Like Ethan told her it was all empty and it couldn't fill her loneliness or make up for what she lost from her childhood. Moreover, she was tired ...

In order to get attention, she had to act nice all day long and covered up all her emotions since anger would tarnish her sweet image. And since she found many men like the flirtatious type of girl, she decided to change her image to that type. She couldn't deny it boosted the attention but also caused a lot of trouble.

Her mind returned to reality and her gaze shifted to Ethan's hand. Somehow she wanted to hold it since she felt comfortable with him, especially after Ethan realized her condition. But, she knew it might make Ethan stay away from her so she undid her intention.

Without realizing it, they had arrived in front of the station.
"See ya later, Ruby," he said politely.

"See ya later," replied Ruby as she waved her hand and smiled at him.

Her eyes stared at Ethan who was walking past the gates and her smile faded as her beloved prince disappeared into the crowd. There was a strong desire in her to get more information about Ethan, she even held back from following him to his College.

'Who are his friends? How's he doing in college? Does he have a crush yet?' Those thoughts kept bugging her. But of course, she held it since she wanted to fix her image.

"Thank you, Ethan. Next time, I promise I will show my true self and treat you better. Not like this ..." she muttered. Then she remembered her early dinner with Larry today and smiled again. Since, from what she found from Mrs Clea's notes last night, Larry attended the same college as Ethan's.
'I heard Ethan is a model student. Maybe Larry knows a few things about him. I guess I will ask him for some information as my payment after the dinner. ' And she turned around to walk to the cafe.