Chapter 445: What a tease

Penny woke up in pain.

"Ugh..." she groaned, every part of her body aching. She clasped her shoulder, barely able to stretch her limbs without groaning. Her eyes slowly cracked open, deep lines visible on her forehead, and her lips curved down.

This was why Penny hated drinking more than she could handle. She often woke up with sore muscles.

Slowly, she sat up and squinted, looking around at the bedroom she had woken up in.

"Huh?"

whispered, her brows tightening. She quickly realized this wasn’t her room, but it wasn’t a place she didn’t know either. "How in the world..."

Penny trailed off when her eyes landed on the figure emerging from a door, wearing nothing but a bathrobe. His hand was on his head, drying his hair with a small towel.

Zoren stopped when he noticed her staring at him. As soon as their eyes met, he smiled.

"Good morning," he greeted, only to see her gasp in horror.

Penny instinctively pulled the blanket from her lap to her chest. Looking down with wide eyes, she felt a wave of relief. She was dressed, albeit in clothes that clearly weren’t hers. After all, she didn’t own an oversized shirt like this one.

"Whose...?" she started, freezing as her eyes lifted again to her husband.

For a moment, Penny felt like the world had stopped, only to resume in the snap of a finger. Ignoring her sore muscles, she jumped out of bed and reached Zoren in no time. Standing in front of him, she clasped his shoulders and bobbed her head to examine him.

"Do you... want to see more?" he asked, curious. "I can take off my robe if you’re interested."

Zoren flinched when she raised her head and met his eyes.

"Renren, did I — did I..." Her complexion turned pale as horror filled her mind. "...defile you while I was drunk?"

’Do you defile people when you’re drunk?’ was what he wanted to ask. His mouth opened, then closed again. His hesitation only made her shake him slightly.

"I did?"

"Well." He cleared his throat, thinking carefully about how to answer.

How was he supposed to explain it?

Zoren glanced upward, thinking about what had happened the night before. After their late-night talk, Penny had eventually fallen asleep, and he had thought there was nothing to worry about anymore. After carrying her to the bedroom, she casually snuggled into bed as if it were her own.

Well, everything he had now was also hers — she just didn’t know that yet.

The problem was, Penny had gotten so comfortable that she started undressing herself in her sleep. Although he looked away — even though he didn’t need to — and tried to cover her up, Zoren had ended up being pulled down into the bed with her. She hugged him like a pillow with barely any clothes on.

’I barely slept last night,’ he thought, remembering how lying beside a nearly naked Penny with her limbs wrapped around him had kept him awake. What a tease. "No, you didn’t."

"Are you sure?" she asked hurriedly. "Then why is my body sore? And why am I wearing your clothes?"

"Ah." Zoren rocked his head and smiled. "Probably a bad sleeping position. And that shirt? I put it on you because your clothes last night were a little dirty. Don’t worry. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t have seen anything."

Penny puffed her cheeks and let him go, clicking her tongue. She crossed her arms under her chest.

"So last night... I didn’t do anything silly to you?"

There was something.

"No."

Penny nodded, a little calmer now. "Renren, how did I end up at your place?"

"What’s the last thing you remember?" he asked, curious. Zoren had his suspicions about her alter ego, but confirming it wouldn’t hurt.

"The last thing I remember?" She lifted a finger to her chin, her eyes gazing upward. "Well, my motorbike arrived last night, so the family decided to eat dinner at Mama’s restaurant. While they were fighting over who was going to pay the unreasonable, double-charged bill, Aunt Jessa gave me half a glass of wine."

"Half a glass?" Zoren furrowed his brows. "Just half a glass of wine?"

Penny nodded, frowning. "Don’t judge me. I don’t drink. That’s probably the only thing I didn’t train for."

"I’m not judging you," he replied. "I’m just... surprised."

So, the sober Penny could get drunk on just half a glass of wine, but the drunken Penny could drink an entire cellar and still ask for more? These two sides of her seemed to have their own lives, even their tolerance levels were visibly different.

"So, how did I get here?" her curious voice snapped him back to the present.

Zoren smiled and simply said, "You snuck out and came here."

"What?"

"Renny helped you in."

"..." She scrunched her nose but didn’t question it. Zoren wouldn’t lie to her, would he? Well, not that he was lying per se. He had just made it sound less complicated and less eventful. "That’s all?"

"You surprised me, but after that brief surprise, you slept."

"Oh." Her lips formed an "o" shape as she rocked her head. "I can’t remember, though."

"It’s okay." He smiled at her. "It’s not that important."

Penny frowned. "How is it not important? I surprised you! I want to remember the face you made."

"You can always do that," he quipped. "Surprise me. I won’t mind."

"It’s different the first time," she wanted to say but refrained, being mindful of his current state. Clearing her throat loudly, she said, "Never mind that. Renren, you should change now. You might catch a cold."

"Okay." Zoren offered her a smile as he turned on his heel, walking away. However, he stopped upon reaching the door. "Right, Penny."

"Yes?"

He looked back at her and smiled. "Last night, you asked for a mind-blowing honeymoon, but in your drunken state, we postponed it to today. So, should I really need to change or just take everything off to save us the hassle?"

"..." Penny stared at him, taking a few seconds to process his words. When the meaning sank in, her expression died. "Please tell me you’re joking."

Zoren shrugged as he shook his head.

Penny: "!!!!"