Chapter 39: Chapter 21.1

“Uh…”

At that moment, Yernia’s body jerked up angrily, but she fell back.

She closed her eyes for a while and felt someone supporting her.

The instant she opened her eyes, her surroundings changed a lot.

Yernia was still at the tavern, but she had been moved outside, carried on someone’s back.

The cool breeze brought a familiar scent to her nostrils, making her feel safe.

Yernia’s nostrils sniffed the man’s nape who carried her, and his body seemed to quiver in response to the sudden contact.

“Cassian.”

“…….”

“I was dumbfounded earlier, you know.”

Yernia was still intoxicated as she talked about what had happened a while ago.

“I saw a man who looked just like you, but he didn’t treat me well. I don’t want to run into that person again. He got angry when I asked him to lend me money.”

“…….”

“I told him that I’d call you so that you’d teach him a lesson. I don’t remember what happened after that. How did you get here, anyway?” Yernia asked.

She wasn’t aware that her lips would caress deliciously at the back of his neck every time she talked, sending goosebumps all over his body.

Cassian halted, walking briskly, and stared at the heavens.

“Ha!” He exhaled a loud sigh.

“Hey, I was telling the truth. Don’t regard me as if I’m pathetic. I just drank a little too much. The alcohol was lovely tonight.”

“Yernia.”

She misunderstood Cassian’s sigh and shook her head. “Don’t worry about the money you spent.  I swear I’ll pay it back.”

“Please keep your mouth away from my nape. Your breath tickles me.”

If Yernia withdrew her face from the back of his neck, she might fall from the effort.

Cassian’s back was warm, and the scent of sweat and skin wafting through her nose was a calming drug.

“I like the way you smell, Cassian.”

“—You! Don’t say that again. Really. You are giving me a hard time right now. I could barely hold it in.”

“What are you holding in?”

“A girl like you doesn’t have to know about that.”

She thought about the cryptic idea before realizing what it was all about.

Yernia tapped him on the shoulder.

“Put me down. Now. You should have told me earlier if you feel something like that. ”

“Something like that?”

“You should hurry up and look for a bathroom. You might get constipated if you hold it in..”

Cassian laughed out loud.

Perhaps, Yernia had seen through his dilemma correctly that he couldn’t stop.

She slapped his trembling back, bringing his attention back to her.

Yernia asked him to drop her off, but he didn’t.

“You drive me insane, Yernia.”

“Let me down, Cassian! Come on.”

“All right, I’ll do it,” Cassian smirked and continued to walk while he carried her on his back.

Did he think this was funny?

Yena looked over her shoulder to look at her butt.

Cassian paused to lift Yernia a little and adjust her position.

“What are you looking at, Yernia?”

“You’re so childish, Cassian.”  Yernia’s statement sounded sincere, serious, and concerned that it left him speechless for a moment.

Bewildered,  he muttered, “Did you forget that you’re younger than me?”

“Hmph. I practically raised you on my back.”

“Stop talking nonsense. You did not raise me on your back because I grew up on my own.”

“I miss the ‘adorable Cassian’ when he was young. Where did he go? Give him back, you bastard.”

Yernia missed the past Cassian so much.

“—Did you think I was cute back then?”

She didn’t respond.

She noticed that Cassian’s shoulders were shaking, but she simply dismissed it as a sign that he had to answer the call of nature soon.

“Yes. You were cute when we were young, but not anymore. You had let me down many times that I got sick of you.” Yernia hoped that her lie sounded natural.

He dropped Yernia to a nearby bench, and her hood came off when the wind blew.

He caressed her pink hair when the silk strands fluttered in the breeze.

“Does your stomach still ache?”

As Cassian tucked a stray strand behind her ear, his hand slowly brushed against the shell of her ear and the side of her neck.

His gentle caresses tickled and burned where his hand touched.

Cassian’s hands slowly gathered and rearranged her hair, and her neck shrank from the sensation.

“Just a little.”

Feeling strange, Yernia stroked the neck where CCassian’shand had touched.

She felt so weird that she didn’t know how to react.

“Why? Do I make you feel uncomfortable?”

“No. My neck just feels a little itchy. Maybe, because I was feeling a bit drunk, you should hurry up and go to the bathroom, Cassian.”

Cassian bent his knees in front of Yernia, oblivious that he had settled her down on the bench not because he wanted to go to the bathroom but for another purpose.

He had her shoes in his hand, and he wanted to put them on her feet.

At that moment, Yernia finally realized that she had been barefoot.

“ I don’t hurt my ankles ever since I started wearing comfortable shoes.”

“Well, it’s good as long as it doesn’t hurt.”

Cassian grabbed her ankles gently and put the low-heeled shoes on for her.

Yernia stared at the top of her childhood friend’s head.

When he was finished, Cassian glanced up at her.

“It’s fine, I guess.”

The shoes were a perfect fit.

“Always, be careful, Yernia. Remember that your body doesn’t solely belong to you anymore.”

So whose body was it except hers?

Yernia ignored the absurd remarks.

“Cassian. I thought you were going to the bathroom–”

“Stop obsessing about the damned bathroom. It’s not because of that, silly.”

“No? You said you could barely hold it in.”

Cassian flicked Yernia’s alcohol-filled head with his fingers.

“Sit down and wake up.”

“I’m wide awake.”

Cassian didn’t believe that.

He sat next to Yernia.

Of course, it was only accurate by Yernia’s standards.

The night air seemed a bit chill.

Since her cloak was too thin, Yernia’s small frame shivered.

Cassian took his jacket off and settled them on her shoulder.