Chapter 7: Peaceful Day
1276 Words
Ayamani looked down at her and calmly changed the subject.
“Ixartxist,” he said.
Tassa looked at him and asked what about Ixartxist.
Ayamani looked down. He didn’t show guilt or any emotion, even though he knew he was betraying Ixartxist by giving Tassa information about his plans regarding her.
He also knew that once Ixartxist found out, he would surely kill him. But that didn’t stop him.
He told her that Ixartxist had created a thousand shadow demons just to find and protect her. Killing her would be impossible for now because those demons were guarding her.
“And when the right time comes,” Ayamani continued, “he will call those demons to bring you to him… and make you his loving bride.”
He had become something horrifying because of his selfish feelings. It was slowly destroying his true personality inside him.
Tassa’s eyes turned sad instead of worried.
“So you mean… he became more evil, and is still becoming worse… because of me?”
“Perhaps,” Ayamani said.
“But why does he like me so much? I don’t even know him. I’ve never even met him in my life.”
“You pulled him… and brought him back to hell.”
“What was that supposed to mean?”
“I can’t say much, Tassa. My lips are sealed about the truth behind him. All I can do is give you keywords. You need to understand them yourself.”
Tassa kept staring at him, still confused by what he meant.
---
Meanwhile, Nia'le came back and said he was ready.
He saw Tassa sitting on the ground, but she stood up, and Ayamani helped her. She thanked him, then glared at Nia'le and asked what took him so long.
Nia'le rolled his eyes again, like he always did during their arguments.
“Why is it always my fault whenever you’re in a bad mood?” he said, folding his arms. “This is why we never have a proper conversation, Taaaassaaa. We just argue.”
Tassa glared at him harder and raised one eyebrow.
“It’s all because of your attitude!” she said.
“What’s wrong with my attitude?” Nia'le replied.
“Oh, nothing. Except being ornery… cattish… what’s that word again?” He looked up, touching his chin. “Oh yeah. Curmudgeon!” he said proudly.
They kept arguing like children in a playground.
Ayamani hated small quarrels, especially immature ones like theirs. He followed behind them, wishing they would just stop talking and have a peaceful walk home. But they didn’t. Every small conversation turned into another argument.
He slapped his forehead with his thin hand and dragged it down his face in frustration.
Then suddenly, Nia'le stopped and raised his arm to stop Tassa.
Because he was taller, his arm accidentally hit her nose.
“Oh—sorry,” Nia'le said quickly.
Tassa looked at him, unimpressed, and asked what he was suddenly so excited about.
Nia'le rolled his eyes again, then smiled as he looked ahead at the fields of dandelions.
He grabbed her hand and ran with her.
But Tassa quickly pulled away.
“I can’t run with you. It’s dangerous for me,” she said.
Nia'le insisted, saying that if they ran through the dandelion fields, all the flowers they passed would fly beautifully into the air.
Tassa didn’t feel excited. Whether they flew or not didn’t matter to her—she couldn’t see it anyway.
Nia'le exhaled, frustrated but still trying.
Then suddenly, without asking, he picked her up.
Tassa was surprised and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck so she wouldn’t fall, even though she knew she was safe in his arms.
“This is amazing, Tassa. It’s so wonderful,” Nia'le said. “I would give both my eyes just so you could see how beautiful this is right now.”
Tassa smiled at him—something she rarely did.
“Just describing it to me is enough, Nia'le,” she said warmly.
Nia'le froze for a moment, staring at her face while still holding her.
He stammered, overwhelmed, as if he was carrying something too precious to believe was real.
Tassa moved her feet and asked Nia'le to put her down, and he did.
She tapped her dress and then asked him to describe everything wonderful he could see right now.
She sat on the ground covered in daisies and dandelions, then leaned back slightly, resting with her arms pressed behind her for support.
Nia'le also sat down in front of her, facing her. He hesitated and said,
“I see… I see, um…”
“C’mon, say it already. What is it, Nia'le? Is it just the fields that are beautiful? Aren’t there other things that make it better? The trees, the sun, the clouds—anything! Just say it,” Tassa said eagerly.
Nia'le noticed how excited she was. He had never seen her this happy before. Because of her innocent smile, he felt like he was starting to truly like her.
He smiled softly at her, even though she couldn’t see it, and brushed his wavy brunette hair back.
“I see a wonderful, beautiful face that I’ve never seen before in my whole life,” he said.
Tassa rested her chin on her knee.
“Of whom?” she asked.
Nia'le raised an eyebrow.
“Of whom… what?”
Tassa pressed her lips together and clarified.
“You said you saw a wonderful, beautiful face. So you’re referring to a person, right? So who is it? Are you holding a picture or something?”
Nia'le laughed awkwardly, covering his face with his hand.
“Where did you get ‘face’ from? I said place. I’ve never seen such a wonderful, beautiful place in my whole life, not face. Besides, there’s only the two of us here. What, are you saying I’m romantically falling for you? Seriously?”
Tassa snorted and folded her arms.
“Well, why not?”
Nia'le stopped laughing.
“Well, I’m a man and you’re a woman. It’s normal to catch feelings. Unless you think I’m gay, Tassa.”
“I’m not gay.”
Tassa smiled slightly over her shoulder, teasing him.
“Are you?”
“I’m a man, Tassa. And I can prove it,” Nia'le said.
Tassa kept teasing him until he became flustered. Slowly, Nia'le leaned closer, as if he was about to kiss her, trying to prove his point.
Ayamani also stepped closer, ready to stop him if he did something reckless.
Just as Nia'le’s face was inches away from hers, Tassa suddenly spoke.
“I’ll be honest with you, Nia'le.”
Both Nia'le and Ayamani froze and listened.
“The truth is… I ship you with Ayamani,” she said happily.
Both Nia'le and Ayamani instantly looked disgusted.
Tassa clapped her hands and smiled sweetly, completely serious.
“You see, Ayamani hates you, Nia'le. He hates your very existence. And you—the awesome bad guy who doesn’t care about him—it sounds kind of romantic, don’t you think?”
Both of them clenched their fists in anger.
“You don’t care, and he doesn’t care. It’s like a BL romance genre. I’m not into BL, of course, it’s against my God’s law. But still, don’t you think it sounds amazing?”
Before she could continue, Nia'le and Ayamani both hit her lightly on the head to stop her.
Tassa immediately got annoyed, and the three of them started arguing again.
Ayamani hated arguments, especially childish ones like this, but he had no choice but to stay and deal with them.
- Writer
