I said to him, "And I guess you're not going to tell me what that unfinished work is, right?"
He simply nodded.
I smiled. "Alright then. It's good that you've pulled yourself together and are ready to work now."
But a their was a silent sadness inside me.
After that, Rayan left before I did.
When I got back, he was already there.
In a teasing tone, I said, "Looks like it's time to eat something tasty—unlike breakfast. Let me cook dinner this time."
Rayan laughed. "You know, breakfast turned out like that because it was my first time cooking. Once I get the hang of it, I bet I can cook better than you."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "But who's going to teach you how to cook?"
"You," he replied instantly.
"What? No way!" I said, shaking my head.
But he pleaded, "Why not? Please?"—his face turning into an innocent, adorable puppy look.
Obviously, I couldn't win against that.
In the end, he won. Every evening, I started teaching him how to cook—but it was far from easy.
On the very first day, I had to hold his hands to teach him how to chop vegetables properly.
He looked at me.
I looked down at our hands.
And suddenly, the room was filled with a quiet, awkward silence.
After that, our routine stayed the same.
We would leave together each day. He'd usually reach before me, and then I'd teach him how to cook.
But one day.
I was in the market, running—after stealing something.
This time, I was dangerously close to getting caught.
I had unknowingly stolen from a man who was part of a gang.
I looked back—and saw angry faces that wouldn't hesitate to kill me.
That sight alone made me run even faster.
This is it for me, I thought, my heart pounding as I kept running.
Suddenly, a hand shot out from behind a wall and yanked me inside.
The gang chasing me ran right past without noticing.
Breathing heavily, I looked up—and saw…
Rayan?
"Rayan? You're here?" I asked, shocked.
He hesitated before replying, then said,
"Yeah… I happened to have some work around here. But I'm wearing the clothes you gave me—how did you recognize me?"
That made me pause. The same question popped into my mind too.
Was it because we've been living together for nearly half a month? Or because I just… know those eyes?
Or maybe it's simply because I've seen him in these clothes so many times?
Yeah, that must be it.
I said, "Well, I've seen you in this outfit plenty of times. Of course I'd recognize you easily. And you probably recognized me for the same reason, right?"
He hesitated for a moment, then said softly,
"…Yeah… right."
After we stopped talking, I realized we were quite literally sandwiched between two walls—
and we were so close to each other.
I could feel his breath... and even hear his heartbeat.
My head rested on his chest.
In that moment, a part of me wished we could stay like this just a little longer.
But I finally broke the silence.
"We should probably leave now," I said quietly.
Rayan, however, gently held me back and spoke in a soft voice,
"I think we should stay like this until we're sure the danger's gone."
I rolled my eyes upward—only to catch the small smile tugging at his lips.
But this time, I understood exactly what that smile meant.
And I couldn't help but smile too.
After a while, he finally let go of me.
I said, "Okay, so… I guess you'll leave now. Let's meet later?"
He smiled. "Well, I think my work is nearly done for today."
With a hint of hope, I asked, "Oh? So what are you up to next?"
He looked at me and said, "Let's see... how about we do whatever you were doing before you ran into me?"
I blinked in confusion. "What?"
Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and grinned.
"RUN."
And just like that, we were running—hand in hand—
as if we were escaping from the entire world and slipping into our own.
But then, just behind us, I heard a voice call out faintly:
"Sir, where are you going? Come back!"