âYouâre awake?â I heard a manâs voice as I lazily woke up from my slumber. Where am I? When did I fall asleep?
The display of muscles close to my face when I opened my eyes brought me quickly back to reality. I am suddenly reminded that I am still lying on top of Ren. I bolted up into a sitting position, as I pushed against his firm chest with the palms of my hand.
âRen! Are you feeling better?â I managed to ask in a panicked voice. That didnât sound right at all.
âIs that the first thing you think of after waking up in this position?â Ren teased me as he laughed merrily. Well, at least someone is feeling much better.
Wait. My position? I looked down and realized that now I was straddling his hips. I felt blood rush to my face as it dawned on me how embarrassing this position is. I hurriedly got off him and off the bed. I was in such a rush that I lost my balance and ended up falling off the bed.
âHahahahaaaâ¦youâre so funny, Lin!â Ren laughed mercilessly as he witnessed my literal downfall.
âStop teasing me! Itâs your fault for not letting me go!â I yelled back at him as I struggled to my feet. I wanted to die from embarrassment.
Ren got out of bed in one smooth motion. His movements seemed normal now, his fever must have broken while he was resting. Thatâs one good thing at least.
âGive me you hand,â Ren said to me with a kind smile while offering me one of his large manly hands.
âThanksâ¦â I said in a small whisper as I placed my hand in his.
His hand was warm and much larger than mine making my hand seem so tiny. I hesitated a little before placing my hand in his. He held my hand firmly as he slowly pulled me up to my feet. Standing side-by-side while he was standing up straight for the first time made me fully aware of the difference in our size. Ren was so tall that I was slightly shorter than his shoulder, I thought as I looked up at his smiling face. I wouldnât say that Iâm the tallest of girls, but I guess my height was average, at least compared to the other girls in my town.
âWhat are you doing today? Are you going into town?â Ren asked enthusiastically.
âUmmâ¦normally, I would collect some herbs in the forests nearby. Do you want to go to town?â I asked a little hesitantly. He just recovered so I was worried about his health. On top of that, I usually donât go into town in broad daylight. However, that might be a little hard to explain to him.
âYeahâ¦if possible, itâll be great if you can take me into town with you. No rush tough,â Ren replied casually.
âWhy donât you eat something first? Youâre still recovering, and I can redress your wound,â I suggested with a small smile. For some reason, having Ren here added so much life to this lonely house.
âThereâs no need to mind meâ¦you should go and collect your herbs like you usually do,â Ren said quite seriously.
âIâll go after Iâve tended to your wound. Ummâ¦What will you do?â I asked hesitantly. For a moment, I felt a little scared that he would leave. I mean, heâs not completely recovered yet soâ¦
âIâll go with you. After youâre done, we can head into town together. I donât mind if its later in the day or in the evening, I just want to drop byâ¦â Ren replied casually.
I guess that works. I started to prepare some basic breakfast for us before tending to his wound.
â¦
I was frankly amazed at Renâs fast recovery as he walked a little behind me on our way to the forest to collect herbs. With his clothes covering the bandages on his arm, he looked fit and in perfect health. No one would believe that he was very sick with a high fever just recently.
âThereâs so many paths around here arenât there?â Ren asked as we walked through one of the secret passages that is not well known even to the locals.
âYesâ¦these old paths have been abandoned for so long. Since people donât usually come out here, some paths have already been forgotten as well,â I replied casually.
Soon we arrived at the forest where I usually collected herbs. I guess I should collect some fresh herbs to sell since I need to take Ren into town later today anyways.
âSoâ¦which herbs are you looking for?â Ren asked as he looked around.
âYou donât need to help meâ¦you should just rest. Maybe you can sit under the tree over there?â I replied worriedly.
âIâm fine. Even with the current condition of my body, I can at least collect some herbs, trust meâ¦â Ren said firmly as he smiled at me.
âOkâ¦thenâ¦â I said hesitantly as I gave in.
I explained to him about the herbs we were supposed to look for. I took out a small notebook from my bag and showed him some pictures for reference. Ren nodded as I explained to him with a look of genuine interest. Soon, we parted a little to look around the area for the herbs.
âYou live alone, right? Why do you live so far from the city? It must be quite dangerous for a young lady like yourself to live out here all aloneâ¦â Ren asked suddenly out of the blue.
I usually didnât like to tell people about myself, and it wasnât often that anyone bothered to ask anyways. However, Ren seemed like he genuinely cared. Perhaps, it would be ok to tell him honestly. After all, Iâm quite certain that we would never meet again after he recovers and leaves.
âWellâ¦I used to live with my father, but he passed away. Letâs just say that Iâm not well liked by the other villagers, so my father and I decide to move out and live far away from the main villageâ¦â I explained briefly.
âThe villagers seemed unreasonableâ¦how could they dislike a kind girl like you?â Ren asked curiously as he looked straight at me. I guess I donât have any choice but to tell him, otherwise he probably wonât let this rest in peace.
--To be continued....