[Music Recommendation: "Interweave" by Chewie Melodies (Genshin Impact OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Extremely scared, my trembling body slowly turned around.

"Senara?" a familiar voice called me.

It was Kaiden.

"H-haaaahh…" I breathed heavily in relief. Tears started falling from my eyes.

"What are you doing—"

"Kaideeeen! Waaaaaaa!" I wailed like a kid.

Next thing I knew, I was running towards him. And I didn't know what got into me—probably because of my fear, but I… I shamelessly embraced him, burying my face on his chest.

"Wahu-hu-hu-hu…sniff… sniff…" I cried like a little kid. I guess I really was too scared.

"What happened?" Kaiden asked, perplexed.

I tried to explain but my words just jumbled up.

One of the things I hated in life were ghosts and I thought he was a ghost! My heart almost jumped out of my chest in my nervousness. But good thing he wasn't a ghost or I wouldn't know what to do. I'd probably freeze up, unable to move or say anything.

Kaiden did his best to calm me down, patting my back. But my tears just wouldn't stop, and my body kept trembling. Even I didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't think straight. I tried inhaling and exhaling deeply but it was no use.

Then, Kaiden ushered me inside his room. Seeing I couldn't make a single step, he lifted me up in a princess carry and walked towards a huge couch where he sat me down. The way he carried me nonchalantly as if I was as light as a feather was supposed to be heart-pounding, but even that… didn't snap me out of my scary thoughts.

It's weird that I never believed in fantasy but I got so easily scared by ghosts or even just their stories. It was one of my weaknesses. That's why I never even tried watching a horror movie, or any gore, or anything that had blood in it.

There was a moment during my childhood that I accidentally watched a single clip of a horror film. The night after, I had nightmares. What's worse, my photographic memory made me remember it for weeks, making it play over and over in my mind. There was blood in that movie I saw which was probably why I detested the sight of blood ever since.

Kaiden offered me a glass of water. I drank it in one go but my body continued to tremble.

'Ugh. Come on, Senara. Calm down. It was just Kaiden. There was nothing there.'

"If you're still scared…" Kaiden said. Then, he opened his arms as if telling me to hug him some more.

[Music Recommendation: "Scenery" by Kim Taehyung (BTS - V)]

My eyes cried out more when he did that. And of course, I took the kind offer. I buried my head again on his chest and cried my heart out. Perhaps that would help me calm down since my body wasn't listening.

And so, I cried and cried for I didn't know how long. Kaiden kindly patted my back and kept on saying "It's alright. I'm here." I was reminded of that time with the car accident. He also embraced me and told me everything's alright.

As he gently whispered to me, I didn't notice that I fell asleep. His sweet scent and warm embrace… I never knew it had become such a refuge for me. How very calming and comfortable it was.

When I woke up, it was already dark. The lights were still closed and the only thing that illuminated the darkness were the fairy lights outside. The couch where we sat was near a large balcony, and the garden outside could be seen from it.

'What a beautiful sight.'

I scooched in and rubbed my cheeks on Kaiden's chest, still half-awake. I wanted to get some more sleep. When I closed my eyes again, I suddenly realized…

"Oh my goodness!" I blurted out in my surprise.

I immediately got up and separated myself from Kaiden's arms.

A sudden rush of memories from earlier came flooding in my mind.

"Waaaaaa," I screamed silently and reprimanded myself, "Senara, what are you thinking?! How dare you take advantage of Kaiden's kindness? You even… you… you… Waaaaah! You shamelessly hugged him! For HOURS!" I covered my face in embarrassment. "You big, scaredy cat! Oh no… what will I do?"

I glanced at Kaiden who was peacefully sleeping at that time.

"That position… must have been uncomfortable for him," I murmured to myself.

Yes. His head was bowed down without anything supporting it. He could have used the arms of the couch as a pillow but I was leaning on him and fell asleep! He probably didn't want to wake me up so he didn't move.

Standing up, I looked around and searched for a pillow. There were lots on his monochrome bed so I went there and took one. On my way back to him, I couldn't help but spin my head around, gawking at the beauty of his room.

I expected Kaiden's room to be very masculine in a way, but despite the neutral colors, it looked rather comfortable. And it had his gentle scent—probably his perfume? What's weird though was how I'm not sneezing. Hmm… Was it because the scent was gentle on the nose? Like it was barely there?

When I reached Kaiden, I leaned over him and placed the pillow beside his head. I was going to touch his head, to guide it to lay on the pillow but I hesitated.

'Is it okay to touch his head? He said he's fine if there's clothes—not the skin itself. But in that case… where does the hair fall? It's not skin, and it's not clothes either.'

"Hmm… Should I or should I not?" I asked myself, still leaning over him.

To my surprise, Kaiden chuckled.

"Should what?" he asked as he opened his eyes.

His lips curved into a handsome smile.

'Stop it, Senara. I told you many times. There's no handsome or unhandsome way of doing things.'

Getting back to my senses, my eyes widened and blinked a few times.

"H-have you been awake all this time?"

He inched closed and leaned nearer to my face, smirking.

"What do you think?"