I landed into sothing hard—solid, unmovable—but also unfairly soft at the sa ti, which was honestly confusing enough that my brain decided to lag for a second.
"Wh—"
My vision swam slightly from the sudden pull, and it took a mont to realize exactly what position I had ended up in. And when I did, I froze.
I was sitting on soone’s lap.
’...Excuse ? Why did this bastard—’
The thought didn’t even finish forming because suddenly, I felt a gaze.
It was a full-on, intense, ’I-have-locked-onto-you-and-you-are-now-my-problem’ kind of stare.
I slowly looked up and imdiately regretted it.
Because wow.
His eyes.
His right eye was a clear, striking green, sharp and focused.
But his left...
His left was sothing else entirely. A strange mix of blue and red, like colors that had no business being together but sohow worked in a way that felt illegal, hypnotic, and distracting.
My gaze, traitor that it was, kept going.
Sharp jawline.
Clean features.
Lips that looked like they belonged in a painting.
And overall—
’He’s... he’s so freaking handso—’
I snapped back to reality so hard I almost gave myself whiplash.
’Focus!’
"You know this is rude, right?" I said, imdiately trying to push myself off him because what is personal space and why is it not being respected today?
Except—
his grip tightened.
One arm around my waist, like I had just been declared property of this spot and was no longer allowed to leave.
I frowned.
Deeply.
"...Alright," I said, already done with life, "I’m reporting you for sexual harassnt."
I raised my hand to slap him.
Or punch him.
Or sothing.
Honestly, at this point, I was just scaring him so he could release but before I could even execute my move properly, he caught my wrist mid-air like it was nothing.
"...Wow," I muttered.
Rude.
So I used my other hand at which he also caught it effortlessly. If my hands don’t work then I’ll use my legs instead.
I tried to kick him but he blocked it again. I looked at him, he didn’t even look strained.
anwhile, I was out here throwing a full combo attack like my life depended on it, and he was treating it like mild exercise.
At this point, I was no longer fighting for freedom.
I was fighting for my dignity.
I twisted, struggled, attempted to outmaneuver him using every bit of self-defense I had learned, only for it to end with both my wrists pinned together in one of his hands.
His other arm stayed locked around my waist like a seatbelt I absolutely did not buckle myself into, and at this point I was starting to wonder if I had sohow signed up for this nonsense in a past life.
"What is wrong with you?!" I snapped, twisting in his hold, fully prepared to escalate this into a public scene complete with shouting, accusations, and possibly a dramatic faint for effect.
Instead of answering like a normal person, he pulled closer.
Closer.
As in—sir, there is no more closer, we are already violating several social boundaries and at least two laws.
I had been kidnapped by a silent, strong, ridiculously attractive lunatic.
My life choices were incredible.
"Let go—!"
Nothing.
He only tightened his hold.
"Okay, that’s it!" I declared, because clearly words weren’t working and I had officially run out of patience. So I did what any reasonable, dignified individual would do in this situation.
I bit him.
Hard.
Right on the neck.
No hesitation. No rcy. Just full commitnt.
If I was going down, I was taking a chunk of him with .
I even tasted blood, which, in hindsight, was both disgusting and slightly concerning, but I was too focused on my goal, which was freedom, to dwell on that.
Any sane person would have let go imdiately.
Any sane person would have shoved off, called security, maybe reconsidered their life choices.
This man?
He groaned.
Not in pain.
No, no.
In sothing that made my soul briefly consider leaving my body.
And then, because clearly things were not unhinged enough yet, he buried his face into the crook of my neck and inhaled like he had just found oxygen after years of suffocation.
I froze. "...Excuse ?"
What.
Was.
That??????!!!!
He didn’t answer.
He just stayed there, holding tightly, breathing in like I was so kind of stress relief candle.
My brain officially gave up.
"MISTER!" I finally managed, jolting in his hold like I had just regained control of my own limbs. "LET GO!"
His grip didn’t loosen. If anything, it steadied. Like he was holding onto the last stable thing in the world.
"I’m sorry," he said, voice low and uneven, breath still warm against my skin like he hadn’t just been bitten and was sohow the victim here. "I promise... I won’t do anything else... Just... let hold you for a while..."
I stared at absolutely nothing, trying to process the situation and failing miserably.
He kidnapped behind a curtain.
Pinned like I was a limited-edition collectible.
Got bitten.
Did not react appropriately.
And now he was politely asking for a hug?
I opened my mouth to scream.
With the full intention of ruining his day, his reputation, and possibly his entire bloodline—
"I’ll compensate you," he cut in, breath still uneven, like he had just run a marathon instead of being bitten by a stranger.
"...What?" I stopped, mid-breath.
"50,000," I said imdiately.
No hesitation.
No sha.
Because priorities first. Survival second.
He didn’t even hesitate. "Done."
’Well that was... easy.’
"Include the items I bought from here in your tab," I added, I might as well be financially compensated to the fullest extent.
"Done," he said again, with the sa terrifying level of ease.
I narrowed my eyes.
That was... not normal.
People hesitate over splitting a bill for coffee. This man just agreed to drop a small fortune like he was confirming the weather.
Either he was ridiculously rich or I was about to get scamd so hard I’d end up paying him instead.
"I don’t believe you," I said flatly.
"Can we just... stay like this...?" he murmured, completely ignoring my very valid concern about potential fraud. "Let’s wait for my aide to co... and you can have the money..."
I hesitated because... unfortunately... that sounded reasonable.
And when I actually thought about it, against my will, might I add, the only cri he committed so far was the dramatic kidnapping via curtain and turning into a human body pillow.
He hadn’t actually done anything.
No wandering hands.
No weird movents.
No attempts at anything... else.
Just... holding , keeping still, like I might evaporate if he let go.
I exhaled slowly. "...Fine," I muttered, because again—money.
Because 50,000 was 50,000.
Because my shopping bill was about to be covered.
Because I wasn’t currently being murdered.
Also because struggling clearly wasn’t getting anywhere except further humiliation.
I shifted slightly, adjusting into a less awkward position on his lap. "...You owe extra if I get emotional damage from this," I added.
No response.
Just the sa uneven breathing.
I blinked, staring at the curtain in front of us. "...This is weird," I muttered under my breath.
It felt strangely similar.
He’s just like... Soren.
The way he’d just... grab sotis and treat like a very expensive stuffed toy with attitude problems.
Except this ti, I was getting paid which, objectively, made this the better deal.
I relaxed, just a little, letting him hold as his breathing slowly evened out.
"...You better not be lying about the money," I added lazily.
"...I’m not."
"Good."
"...Also," I continued, because why not commit to this situation, "if your aide takes too long, the price goes up."
A weak, breathy sound escaped him. "...Understood."
I leaned back slightly. "Can we at least hold hands?" I asked, trying to salvage so sense of control in this deeply questionable situation.
"No."
"Then can I sit on the couch instead?"
"No."
"...Then can you at least stop inhaling like I’m an aromatherapy inhaler?"
A pause.
"...Can’t."
My eye twitched. "Then can you at least fix our position so we don’t both wake up feeling like we got folded into a suitcase?" I asked, because if I was going to be held hostage as a glorified comfort item, I refused to also suffer muscle cramps.
He didn’t answer imdiately, which, at this point, I had co to understand was his default setting—mysterious silence with a hint of emotional instability.
But after a second, he shifted. Just slightly. Adjusted his hold to make things a bit comfortable... But at least my spine wasn’t filing a complaint anymore.
Since I was apparently stuck here until his aide arrived with my compensation, I did the only thing left for to do.
I observed him.
Up close.
Which, in hindsight, was a mistake, because now I had ti to notice things.
He had black hair—soft-looking, slightly ssy in a way that felt intentional, like he woke up looking like that and chose violence anyway.
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