She took the tray to his room and placed it carefully on the bed. He was still sleeping his arm over his eyes. She sat beside him and shook his arm lightly.

"Xiran...wake up." She whispered.

He removed his arm from his face and slowly opened his eyes and blinked several times before speaking:

"Ummm...what happened? Are you alright?" He was still sleepy and yet concerned about her.

"I am fine, it’s almost noon. Get up and eat something." She reassured him as he sat up.

"Let me make something for you." He said trying to get up from the bed while rubbing his eyes.

"No, I already did." She pointed to the tray on the other side of the bed and his eyes flew open as they followed her finger.

"You made me breakfast?" He couldn’t keep the surprised tone from his voice and his eyes darted back to her.

"Yeah, and I didn’t burn it this time. It’s not much but that’s all I could make. Hopefully, it’s edible." She laughed seeing his dumbfounded expression. She could tell he believed he was still sleeping and this was a nightmare he was experiencing. Having to eat her cooking again.

"Thank you," he whispered and hugged her. There was a sweet smile on his face.

"Let’s eat before it gets all cold." She said as he let her go. She grabbed the tray and placed it in front of him.

"I can’t believe you cooked for me. You didn’t have to." He said while taking the bread and rolling a sausage in it.

"Yes, I know considering the garbage I made for you the last time you made me cook. I can understand your apprehensions."

"That’s not what I meant. I will eat whatever you make. I didn’t want you to go through all this trouble. Your hands are injured." He replied and took a bite from the roll he had made.

"Nah, it’s ok. Besides I was hungry too. I ate the ice cream we brought that day but it didn’t fill my stomach." She gestured with her hand. "And sorry for the shitty food I made you eat that day. I purposely made it that bad." Her face showed silliness she held, she was trying not to laugh.

"It’s ok, I know you did that on purpose." Xiran laughed at her expression.

"You do? How?" She asked with curiosity.

"Because of the mischief your eyes held. You hated me at that time because I punished you." He added still laughing and she observed how his eyes had lit up. She was glad he was not sad anymore. She had made him laugh.

"Yeah, you were so stern and you made me do one thing I hate the most. Cooking..."

"That’s why I said, you don’t have to do it. I will do it for you." He grabbed the bottle she had brought and began to drink.

"Well, you are cooking lunch for sure." She shrugged and picked up the glass of juice and began to drink too. He laughed again.

"Thank you, it was delicious though." He took a small bow.

"Nah, all I did was heat it up and not burn it."

"How are your hands?" He took hold of her left hand and gently rubbed his thumb over it.

"Ok, I guess. I wore gloves while taking bath and cooking. So bandages didn’t get wet or dirty." He observed she wasn’t bothered about her injuries.

"Promise me you won’t do it again. Or I will take you to a psychiatrist because this is not normal behaviour." Her hand stopped midair at his words and she didn’t take the glass to her lips as she had intended. Instead, she turned to look at him.

"Psychiatrist? Why? I don’t wanna go to a psychiatrist." Her face suddenly clouded with sadness and gloom.

"Then don’t cause any self-injury." He reached forward and touched her face. He didn’t want to tell her that she probably had PTSD.

"I won’t, I promise." She placed her hand on her heart, telling him how serious she was.

"You know you can always talk to me about whatever bothers you. I hope I have earned that must trust from you." She only nodded at his words.

"Good girl," he patted her head. "Let me get refreshed and we will do something fun together." She nodded and picked up the tray to take it to the kitchen while Xiran made his way to the washroom. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

After a while, they both sat down in front of the fireplace.

"What you wanna do today?" Xiran asked her.

"Read, read me a book." She handed him a book she had brought from his shelf. It was a fantasy book involving creatures of the dark and how a specialised hunter set out to eradicate them all.

"Ohh! you like fantasy books?" He said as he took the book from her and opened it.

"Yes!!!" she placed her head on his shoulder and he kissed it lightly before he began to read for her. His mesmerising voice soothed her, it had done so from the very beginning.

They read and discussed the book in detail. Aselia was of the viewpoint that everything evil had to be killed while Xiran believed in second chances and that not everything that looked evil was actually evil.

They went on and on for hours, discussing different topics which interested them until it got dark outside and their tummies began to growl from hunger.

"We will continue this discussion, but let me cook first." Xiran made his way to the kitchen while Aselia followed him. She sat down on the shelf again watching him intently as he cooked. Taking mental notes of how he did and what he did.

"I will feed you, today." He declared as they settled down near the fireplace to eat. She didn’t say no, she didn’t even protest when he shifted her onto his lap. He fed her every morsel, with his hands.

They ate in peace by the fireplace. She wanted to hear more about his life and he told her some interesting incidents. While she played with the pendant he had given her and listened, he fed her and talked.

"Once Rivan and I decided to sneak into a high-fi R-18 strip club. We were barely 17 at that time, so we were underage. We had acquired some fake passes. Although the guard was suspicious of us he let us in when we bribed him. Inside was a whole new world, we had never seen so many almost naked women before. Remember that was a time when I was as innocent as you are, maybe more. I had spent a very sheltered life, I never had a girlfriend and wasn’t allowed to indulge in such activities. So that was pretty exciting for us." Aselia blushed while listening to his story, unable to comprehend a shy Xiran.

"Then one of the girls came towards us and sat on my lap, her bouncy hips clad in a thong. She started moving rhythmically and her breasts were so close to my mouth. I was so excited to see a girl so up close but I felt shy as well. I wanted to touch her but couldn’t.

She was turning me on and yet I was frozen and afraid. Soon she became disappointed and left because she was looking for money while I was so enamoured by her that I couldn’t even bring myself to say ’hi’ to her. Rivan made fun of me when she left and told me I should look at my face, I was blushing. That was the first time I discovered how beautiful females are and I wanted to have a lot of them." Aselia shook her head at him in disappointment, while Xiran laughed at the deadly looks she was giving him.

"I thought you were changing your lifestyle, men can never change." Her voice revealed her discontentment.

"Hahaha".... he cackled wholeheartedly at her words.

"I am not going to do that anymore. Just telling you that females are beautiful and how my obsession started with them." He ruffled her hair trying to make her smile. She was still pouting as she said:

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I am hundred per cent sure that if a woman is to throw herself at you right at this moment, you will never say no to her."

"Unless and until that woman is you. It will be a big NO." He smiled warmly at her, hoping she would smile back but she only squinted her eyes at him with a frown on her forehead.

"I don’t throw myself at men." She finally replied.

"I know, that’s what makes you so special. It adds to your charm." He tilted his head at her giving her his special seductive smile.

"Stop doing that." She sighed deeply realizing he will never give up.

"Hehe, ok. Let’s change your bandages." With these words, he went to his room to bring the first aid kit.

Aselia opened her bandages and saw her wounds. They had already begun to scab. Meanwhile, Xiran arrived with the first aid kit.

His face fell looking at her hands. He took her hands in his and kissed her wounds softly.

"Have you done this before?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Yes, when I can’t contain my anger and frustration, I try to take it out on myself." Xiran cleaned her wounds carefully and then wrapped fresh bandages around them.

"Not again, ever." He warned her and she nodded at his words.

"We were supposed to spar." She added sadly.

"Yes, but you decided to harm yourself. Let your hands heal now and we will do it again." He placed the first aid kit at a side and pulled her closer to him and said: "Let me tell you a secret..."