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Charlize Theron, of course, hadn't forgotten that she was still sharing an apartment with two roommates and had her own room there. She didn't spend every night at Henry's place, even though she loved the time they were together.
Disciplined about her lifestyle, she would go out for a morning run whenever her schedule allowed. It was the simplest way to maintain and improve her physical fitness.
She would even drag Henry along for those morning runs—after all, this lazy bum loved basking in the sun but hated exercising.
That is, until one day Henry had a sudden inspiration and brought Katie along on a morning run. The result was pure chaos. After that, Charlize completely abandoned the idea.
You couldn't pull off that kind of thing in the city. But if they went out to the suburbs, Charlize—who considered her stamina pretty decent—would lose sight of them within minutes.
So the idea of training together gradually faded. Charlize couldn't turn him into her running buddy, which counted as one tiny flaw among Henry's many virtues.
Henry wasn't clingy at all. He was very much like a cat: if he liked you, you could get close and pet him as much as you wanted. But if he didn't, you could take two steps toward him and he'd retreat four. You'd never catch him.
This perfectly balanced sense of distance allowed Charlize Theron to devote most of her time to work, without worrying whether her boyfriend felt lonely—or whether he might go looking for other women.
Since J.J. Harris had become her agent, Charlize's schedule had grown much busier, and naturally, the time she spent with her boyfriend decreased.
Most of the auditions led nowhere. But opportunities only emerged from repeated attempts—if you didn't go, you had no chance at all.
That didn't just affect whether Charlize could stay over at Henry's place. Sometimes it even meant their evening acting training couldn't happen.
There usually weren't auditions at night, but occasionally there were low-threshold social events. J.J. Harris would take Charlize to see the world, meet some producers or directors.
It wasn't about offering herself up—but wanting more connections and more opportunities made such occasions unavoidable.
If a particular party had someone especially troublesome, J.J. Harris might even have Henry come along.
With a film company CEO acting as her escort, those men who couldn't control themselves would restrain their behavior a little—even if they secretly looked down on Henry Brown.
Even if the title of CEO of Stark Pictures hadn't yet earned respect within the industry, it was still a position that made it very easy to cause trouble. Just cutting off equipment rentals alone would be enough to make life miserable for anyone not working on a project backed by the Big Eight studios.
Aside from such events, another part of Charlize Theron's evening schedule was occasionally filling in at her part-time job.
Until her acting income could fully support her, part-time work was unavoidable. Most of her shifts were during the day, but sometimes she had to cover evening shifts.
Even though Henry could easily support her—and had subtly suggested she move in, eat his food, and live with him—this stubborn girl insisted on maintaining her independence, refusing to rely entirely on someone else, especially a man.
Though Charlize never spoke about it, based on Henry's memories from before his transmigration, this future superstar had an abusive father. Her mother had even killed him with a gun to protect herself and her daughter—such an ugly past.
Henry didn't know whether the same events had occurred in this world, and he would never ask.
But from experience, some people's life stories aligned closely with what he remembered, differing only in details.
He himself was the variable—but even he could only change the future, and only depending on how much he intervened. The past, once happened, could never be altered.
Even Superman could only turn back time by a single day to save his beloved. To truly mess with the timeline, you needed the Flash.
And whenever the Flash touched the timeline, it meant disaster was coming. Things never stayed small, and the ending was never happy—until Barry sacrificed himself…
Thank heaven this Marvel universe didn't have a Flash.
Henry had never intended to treat Charlize Theron like an accessory, tying her to his waist and forbidding her from going anywhere. So he had to suppress the urge to constantly hold that soft, fragrant body, and instead live life at a normal pace.
For example—rented videotapes had return deadlines.
Early that morning, Henry woke up to see BB—having just barely escaped the jaws of death—rolling up in front of him, emitting a mechanical alert:
"The rented videotape is due today. If overdue, late fees will be charged. Please take note."
Just as BB finished its garbled announcement, Katie swatted it aside with a tiger paw. Before it slammed into the wall, the spherical robot spun and blasted compressed air toward the impact point, reducing the force of the collision.
This core robot—now on who-knew-which iteration—was the product of a long, bloody history of wits and survival against Katie.
Henry could coat BB with his homemade tiger-repellent, but since the little thing moved everywhere, that would just spread the repellent all over the house.
If it ended with Katie not daring to move at all—or worse, adapting and ignoring the repellent entirely—neither outcome would be good.
So Henry abandoned the idea of protecting BB with repellent, continuing instead to improve its mobility to survive the tiger's pursuit.
The reason Katie only swatted BB away wasn't because she'd gotten bored. It was almost feeding time, and she was staring at the Kryptonian two-legged creature, waiting for breakfast.
After rubbing the tiger's head, Henry went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash up. The butcher's delivery hadn't arrived yet, so no amount of impatience would help.
He also stuck out a leg to push Katie—who tried to follow him—back outside, then shut the door.
Do you know the most troublesome part of keeping a large pet?
Stopping it from drinking out of the toilet.
Even though animals instinctively seek clean, flowing water, Henry couldn't help worrying. What if this tiger—raised from cubhood by a Kryptonian—wasn't very bright?
Rather than teaching her, it was easier to form the habit of closing the door. The bathroom thus became one of the few peaceful zones in the house where Katie wasn't allowed.
When Henry came out, the doorbell rang.
Pulling a few bills from his wallet, Henry dodged the "tabby cat" trying to slip between his legs and opened the door.
The butcher's delivery boy held a plastic bag of warm, freshly cut meat. He even waved and greeted,
"Hello, Katie."
Henry stuck out a leg and shoved the "tabby cat" back. She'd tried more than once to pounce on the delivery boy.
Whether it was excitement over the food—or excitement over him—neither was good. So Henry kept her at a distance where she couldn't even reach him with her claws.
Handing over the cash and taking the bag, Henry said,
"Thanks, Little John. Sorry to trouble you again today."
Yes—another John.
Henry was starting to wonder whether collecting seven people named John would summon a Great John to grant his wishes.
"Mr. Brown, can I pet Katie? Or feed her?" Little John asked eagerly.
Henry gave the younger man a strange look.
"How likely do you think it is that you'd lose your entire hand if you tried feeding this little one meat?"
Naturally, he ignored the request and refused outright.
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