Chapter 327: Simple thing

"I found her."

Penny held her breath as she met Zoren’s intense gaze — his eyes so deep and piercing that it felt as if they were slowly, carefully, and meticulously unraveling the fabric of her soul. The longer she stared, the louder the echoes of her heartbeat became. Even her swallow seemed amplified in her ears as she struggled to comprehend her feelings under such an intense gaze.

Gradually, the corner of his lips curled up as his eyes softened. "However, my friendship with her will not interfere with what I’m trying to build with my wife," he added, leaning back. "So, you do not have to worry about that, Miss Penelope."

"Pen..." she trailed off for a moment before a subtle smile appeared on her face. "We’re not at work, so Penelope is fine."

"Do you have a shorter name, Penelope?"

"I do."

"May I call you with it?"

"Maybe... next time." Penny nodded slightly. "After all, we’re still on our first date."

"Fair enough." He nodded in understanding. "Then I’ll wait until the time is right."

She pressed her lips together and hummed. "Mhm."

After that, a silence slowly settled between them. However, it was not the kind of silence one would want to break — it was a silence that one could enjoy.

Penny’s eyes slid to the side, observing his profile. ’For a second, I thought he knew.’

For some reason, she wasn’t sure if she felt relieved or slightly bitter.

Life would have been less complicated if their lives were as simple as everyone else’s. However, Penny, Zoren, and their families were entangled in some troublesome issues and with difficult people. As she had said before, she preferred to stay safe rather than indulge in temporary bliss.

Even so, it didn’t mean this didn’t frustrate her.

’Why must life be so complicated?’ she wondered as she slowly shifted her gaze from him to the scenery passing by outside the window. ’I worked hard from a young age and even sacrificed my youth to avoid so many complications. But despite all my efforts, things are still too complicated for me.’

Starting with the problems Charles had hidden from his family — even from his wife — to this unexpected marriage, they were a real headache. On top of that, Zoren’s family dynamics were too vast and complex, which often put his position at risk.

With Dean’s possible involvement in some — or perhaps all — of these matters, Penny constantly reminded herself to tread carefully. After all, Dean was at the top of the star section for a reason, and he excelled as an adult. Penny had to acknowledge that Dean was a very smart person. If he was the person behind Patricia, then Penny wanted to get to the bottom of it first before passing judgment.

’For my sake and...’ her thoughts trailed off as she glanced at Zoren again. ’... for his sake. Maybe for Blacky and Old Mrs. Pierson’s sake as well.’

Keeping her gaze on his profile, she thought, ’Renren, once this is all dealt with... let’s go back to that place again. I’ll tell you everything about my life over the past twelve years, and I would love to hear your stories from these twelve years. Let’s also take Blacky and Chunchun out. I’m sure they missed each other too. Just like the good old simple times in the past.’

Her lips curled up peacefully before she slowly looked away from him. As she did, Zoren slowly glanced at her, only to see her still gazing out the window.

A small smile appeared on his face as he watched her before he, too, looked away.

***

[FLASHBACK]

"Renren, look!" Little Penny squatted on the playground, pointing at the ground while Renren furrowed his brows. "It’s a worm."

Renren slowly gave her a doubtful look. "Penny, don’t tell me you’re going to make it your pet?"

"No! Why would I do that?" she quickly defended herself. "I’m just saying it looks very cute!"

"Cute?" He looked at the worm again and squatted beside her. "Which part of it is cute?"

"Can’t you see? It’s wiggling so much."

"Maybe because it’s trapped. It’s wiggling to survive," he said, watching the worm wriggle its way out of the dry ground. "I think Mouse would eat it if you took it as a pet."

"Renren, why are you like that about Mouse? Mouse isn’t like that."

"It eats everything," he said, keeping the rest of his thoughts to himself. ’I even want to bring some things just to see if Mouse will munch on them.’

"Should we help it?" she pondered seriously, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the worm intently.

Renren, on the other hand, just stared at her serious face as she considered her options. If someone didn’t know what she was thinking, they might assume she was contemplating a life-or-death situation. Although, to the worm, it probably was.

’Just how big of an animal kingdom does she want to build?’ he wondered, slowly shifting his gaze to the worm. ’A worm for a pet... her taste is starting to scare me.’

"Haven’t you decided yet?" he asked after another minute.

Penny cast him a pitiful look and said, "I’m a bit scared of it."

"But you said it’s cute."

"The longer I stare at it, the uglier it gets. It reminds me of my third brother."

"Then, let’s forget about it," he said, but her wide eyes showed reluctance. "You still want to save it?"

She nodded, but she was a bit scared of it. She might be fearless, but there were still some things that frightened her a little.

Looking at her pitiful face, a shallow breath slipped past him. His eyes fell on the worm, and he immediately thought about how disgusting it looked.

"Fine," he said. "I’ll do it. I’ll save it."

"Really?" Her eyes twinkled, and she moved aside while he moved closer.

Renren took a deep breath and mustered his courage to touch the worm. He wanted to close his eyes but was afraid he would miss. Thus, even though it disgusted him and scared him a little, he pinched the worm and quickly pulled it out.

To their surprise, when Renren pulled it out, the worm was longer than they had expected. Both of them stumbled back on their bottoms as Renren tossed the worm away from them. Their eyes were wide with horror, mouths open, as they saw the worm’s body still on the ground, even though he had already pulled it out.

"Penny, this is not a little worm..." he muttered with a shaky breath. "... I think it’s a new type of snake and worm combined."

"It’s a wooooooooorm..."

They both stared at each other at the mention of the snake, ready to flee to safety. However, before they could even get away, Mouse suddenly ran toward the worm, grabbed it, and bit it!

Zoren: "..."

Penny: "..."

After a second, Zoren slowly looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Mouse isn’t like... what?"

That day, Penny’s debating skills were tested to defend her dearest Mouse.

Looking back, life was certainly much simpler when they were children. Hopefully, they will be able to reminisce about these memories together in the future.