After settling down, finishing the pastries and exchanging the clothes. I finally felt ready to talk to Kai.
"So, let me get this straight. You can't leave."
" Not until I have a home."
" Yeah that, and how long will that take?"
" I...don't know."
" So you'll be staying here till then, I suppose?"
" Yes. If you let me."
" What if I tell you to leave?"
" I'll leave."
"..."
'I'm pretty sure he'll either beg me or try some other way to stay here.'
"Really! You don't have to take care of me! I just need a roof over my head for a while. I'll also look for a job as soon as I can and pay you back. I promise."
'Hm, I suppose there's no harm. But if he does something suspicious then he's getting kicked out. No questions.'
With that I finally allowed him to live here and discussed the chores.
"Any other questions?"
"Hm... So I'll clean the house when you're not here and look after this place temporarily. I also have to get a job so I can pay you back and I have to pay rent to you each month."
" Yes, now any other doubts ?"
" Yeah, just one thing... Is it legal?"
"..?"
" I mean, you're renting an already rented place. I don't think it's legal... Landlord will be furious if they found out."
" I mean! It's not like— uhh... Hm, I didn't think that far. Whatever! I'm just paying for this place, you just need to pay me back, and if she comes and asks who you are, just say you're my friend or something. It'll work. "
" You sure?"
" Trust me. She's a sucker for pretty boys. Hell, she might give you your own room which will be near her room, I'm pretty sure, and lower your rent. "
He looked a bit stunned.
" How do you— are you completely sure? I mean, leaving you alone sounds nice but I don't wanna stay near the landlord, especially since I don't know her..."
"Fair enough, she can be a bit too much. And as for your question, I'm pretty sure she'll do something like I said. She asked me too, but I refused 'cause she was too nosy."
"... alright."
A few days passed by like that and we soon fell into a rhythm. In the morning I'd make breakfast and we both went looking for jobs later. And after a few back and forths, we finally got a job in a bakery. So, we'd spend our afternoon there and later return to the house in the evening. We were allowed to get the last bakery food items that would go bad if kept overnight, which meant that I didn't have to make any dinner.
A month later, Kai fell sick. I thought it was a passing fever, but when a week went by with no signs of improvement, i finally took (forced) him to go to a doctor. The doctor prescribed him a few medicines and we went home but he had to take a medical leave for a few weeks because of it and didn't go to work.
Or so I thought. But why is he not at the house?! He should be resting!
I looked everywhere for him. I called at the bakery to ask about his whereabouts —Hell, I even asked the landlord about him who only questioned me in return about him, but he's nowhere to be found!
"Haa... Just great."
Defeated, I went back to my room to find that mysterious door in my room again and opened.
' What, I thought he had removed the door... Why is it here? And why is it open??'
Before I could get closer to inspect it, I spotted a dirty stuffed toy sitting in the corner of the room.
The stuffed toy seemed to be of a teddy bear. It was covered in dirt as if someone had just picked it up from the mud and set it there for washing. It had one golden right eye and was missing the other. The arms were barely hanging by a thread and there was a small box in its lap.
I carefully picked up the small box and opened it. Inside there was a small simple golden ring, it was shining a little. I looked at it for a few more seconds before keeping it in the box and returning it to the bear.
'Kai must've picked it up... Whatever, it's not my business but he better clean the bear up, it's too dirty.'
I stood infront of the door and slowly opened it. There was a strange long hallway with a white walls on both sides. The walls had strange graffiti on them and there was something glowing at the end of the hall.
"..."
'Haah, whatever. He'll come back eventually.'
I closed the door and picked up the bear and took it to wash. After that I looked for a needle and thread and started sewing its arms back and added a small yellow button for its left eye.
Now that the bear was cleaned, I could see that it had a very soft caramel color with a little darker shade of brown at the end of its arms and feet.
I smiled and patted it's head.
'Cute.'
I placed it on a table and kept the ring box in its lap and left.
The Bear's eyes seemed to glow slowly till they shined bright enough to fill the whole room with light and popped into golden sparkles.
The bakery was undergoing renovations so the employees were given a few weeks break which meant that I could finally binge watch movies and chill. Kai wasn't here yet and it had already been a few days. I also didn't know when he would be coming back, so I left a little portion of breakfast in the fridge for him and went into my room to go to the toilet while deciding on what movie to watch.
When I reached the room, I saw a figure standing there. It was a man who was tall, very tall, around 7ft probably. I had to crane my neck up to try and see his face but all I saw was a black oni mask which covered his whole face.
*Slam!*
I tumbled backwards and fell on my butt. There was a deep scratch on the floor from the huge axe. It was just shy of cutting through the floor.
The man pointed at me and in a very scratchy voice said,
"You. Name."
I was too stunned to speak or move. I just watched him slowly move towards me and stop right infront of my foot. It felt like a tower was standing infront of me instead of a man.
"I said: Name. Yours. Now."
I quickly gathered myself and as calmly as I could tried to stand up, trying to make myself seem less provocative.
"..I—"
Before I could think of a reply he slammed the axe near my face, barely missing my head as I had stepped aside and tried to think of an escape but he caught me as I tried to run away and grabbed my throat. He dangled me above the ground as he clenched firmly.
"Kahk-"
I struggled to breathe and scratched his hand but he just held me tighter.
I could see my vision blurring. My heart picking up speed as it tried to send air to my lungs but the ringing in my ears made it difficult to form any cohorent thoughts. As I could feel myself starting to faint the man's grip suddenly went slack and he tumbled backwards, grabbing his head.
I fell on the floor. My body was shaking and I felt someone grab my hand and pull me up. I was too disoriented to make out the person or what they were saying but they shoved something in my arms and placed my arm on their shoulders and dragged me somewhere.
By the time I could finally see clearly, I noticed weird graffitis which looked like some foreign words and soon realized we were in the strange hallway inside the door. I looked sideways and saw Kai breathing heavily as he struggled to hold my weight and drag me further into the hallway.
"Wha— khoff-!"
My throat felt too scratchy and parched. I gulped down my saliva and tried to calm down. I balanced myself and took my weight off him.
"What the fuck!?"
"I—I'm so sorry! I didn't think he'd come for you! I— it's my fault, because of me i put your life in danger. I'm sorry!"
I glared at him when I felt something in my arms and saw the Bear with the ring box.
" Why do I have the Bear?! And who was that guy?! What is even happening right now! I told you to close the door didn't I ?!"
" You did... It's just that, I uhh, I needed to go there for a while because of ..stuff... But i was pretty sure I had closed the door when I left!"
" Well you didn't and I nearly died. Good job."
We soon reached the end and the light there was blinding enough to shine through my closed eyelids.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a lobby with people moving here and there. There were many doors which formed a circle with a desk at the center where a woman was working there. There were people wearing armor and carrying all sorts of weapons near every 3rd door.
I felt Kai grab my arm and pull me away from the door before shutting it close. Before i could ask him about this, he grabbed my arm—again, and led me through the lobby and out an arched door.
Outside, the scene was magnificent. There were glass roads which reflected everything, very tall trees which seemed to touch the clouds, silver fountains spraying sparkling water and gardens surrounding the paths. Overall, the place seemed huge.
-------- 𝐸𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 --------
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