I IMMEDIATELY LET GO OF THE BOXER SHORTS AND TURNED THE OTHER WAY.

Gosh, it was so embarrassing. Now, I have no other reason to hide from him. In the first place, I think he already had an idea of how I feel towards him.

It's already developing, you know. I mean, he's totally attractive. No doubt about that. He's kind, thoughtful, and most of all, he's reassuring me that he's got me.

For some reason, I don't feel that I am in danger. Yet, sometimes, I feel like I wanna be in a peril in which he would save me. That would be really fun, right?

"Fei!" I yelled.

He just giggled. "What are you looking at down there?"

"Nothing!" I lie down on the bed and faced the other way. I'm really ashamed of what I did!

"Really?" I felt that he moved closer to me. "Is it this?"

[Oh, my gosh.] His penis is poking my behind!

I turned to him and I looked at him in the eyes. "You wanna do it now?"

Fei replied. "Isn't it yet the fourth day we're together?"

I grinned. "You're good. Thank you for that."

Fei clicked his fingers. "I knew it was a test!"

I laughed. "It wasn't. I mean… Now that it's clear to me how I wanted to have the powers so bad…"

"Why?"

"I wanna protect those people who are dear to me. Imagine if I have any power, I can save Mama Oleander and my siblings. I can protect Ellis from Sinead. And… I can cure you. When you were terribly wounded by Sorcha, I was really infuriated. I wanna hit her. I wanna punish her. I wanna make her pay. But on top of it all, I wanna help you cure yourself faster. It's hard to see you aching like that," I said.

"Aww," Fei moved closer to me and kissed me on the cheek. "That's really thoughtful of you, sweetie. I appreciate that. And you know what, that's a good thing. You know the purpose of your power. Unlike Gramms when she was younger, I would say Rakisha's words speak of truth."

"Mrs. Xing wants to be the most powerful?"

"Because of revenge to the Huang clan. Yet she changed over the years when she saw her children grew up and become like her. Dad and Aunt, they're the scariest children, like ever. When they were studying, they weren't just studious enough to pass. They wanted to attain perfection. A grade of A- is unforgiveable to them. Well, that's what they believe because Gramms was like that. She was a terror back then. Gramps was busy in our textile business and he was just about to penetrate the European market, so Gramms raised Dad and Aunt that way. When Gramps returned, he was disappointed at Gramms. He almost left her. But then, Gramms realized that it wasn't perfection or power that matters most in her family, but love and care for her children. Gradually, she nurtured Dad and Aunt and they changed for the better. I could tell they did, since they weren't that hard on us. Plus Mom, of course, she's the epitome of a very gentle woman," Fei explained.

"And right now, I couldn't seem to imagine how of a terror Mrs. Xing is. I mean, your grandma. How stupid I am, I've been saying Mrs. Xing the entire time, when your mom is also Mrs. Xing," I knocked my head three times, and I bet it didn't make a difference.

Fei chuckled. "Call her Gramms. She would want that."

"I'm not yet a Xing…" Then, I caught myself. That was too presumptuous. "I mean… I'm not a Xing…"

Fei just shook his head. "I'm just waiting here. I told you, you don't need to decide right away. We could have sex. You could have my powers. However, it doesn't mean we're like boyfriends or something. Also, lovers. Or you're my husband, no. It's still your decision. I just wanna let you know that I am here waiting. And I won't let any other guys fall in love with you."

Well, that made me giggle. "Hey. Just a what if, though. Say… Tiberion?"

"What about him?" Here he is again with his straight face. "What if he falls in love with you? No. You're only mine," he stated with full conviction.

"You said it was my decision. What if I choose him over you?" I teased.

"I'm gonna kill him before you do," Fei threatened.

That line was like coffee. It made me full awake. "Hey!"

"I mean, in a Pertasurm. At least, it's fair that way," Fei said.

"I don't want guys to fight over me. That's so insane. You'd really kill for me?" I asked him.

"I would kill for you, die for you, live for you. I told you. I'm choosing you," Fei uttered.

Who wouldn't fall in love with this guy? He's gonna do all that for me? Aint' that sweet?

"And…" Fei stood up and pulled a drawer in his closet. He took something and returned to the bed. "I want you to wear this."

It's a pendant of a very expensive kind. "Fei…"

"Yeah, I wanna give this to you. It's a platinum pendant made of pink diamonds and lapis lazuli. I designed this when I was three," Fei was speaking as he wears the pendant around my neck.

I held the pendant and looked at the design. "It's pink and blue. Then, there's a heart in the middle, a crescent moon, and a sun, a star, and… Is that a snake eating its tail?"

"The ouroboros, yes," Fei said.

Ouro-what? "Wow. What does it mean?"

"It means cycle. Like, death and reincarnation. That I wasn't aware of, back then. It just appeared in my mind, so I drew it. My mom had it custom-made. I was just sketching on a piece of paper back then, and she thought it was a great design, so she asked her friends from the jewelry industry to make one for me, Jia, and Haru. Of course, Jia and Haru had different designs. My mom said that I should give this to the person who I believe my one true love," Fei dropped again another bomb of wonder.

I was startled. "Are you sure that I'm your one true love? What if we break up?"

Fei giggled. "We're not even Facebook-official, though."

"Good point," I nodded. "Therefore, I can't wear this."

"How about this…" He held both of my hand and looked straight into my eyes. "Wear it and if your heart tells you that you are in love with me, it will demonstrate a rainbow luster. If you don't love me, it will turn black and white. When the right time comes, it will shine."

"Oh… I guess we'll find out after a thousand years," I joked.

"How about tomorrow when we do it?" Fei winked.

Oh, gosh. I didn't know what to say. "You're crazy."

"No pressure. Just wear it. It looks really good on you. Don't think of anything else, okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you so much. I really like it." Then, I thought of something. "How about Jia and Haru? Have they given theirs?"

"I think Jia is planning to give it to Dakarai, her Egyptian boyfriend, in a few weeks from now. He's actually serious to Jia, and we can tell," Fei said.

"And Haru… I guess, he still has his pendant. Why is Haru just fooling around? Does he not plan of being serious and settling one day?" I asked.

"Lie down," Fei commanded. We both lie down in the bed and stared at the blank ceiling. Then, he waved his hand and showed me again a movie-like scene. "When we were eighteen, Haru gave his pendant to his first girlfriend, Fenna van der Linden, a Dutch scholar who studied Biochemistry in NYU for a time. Fenna was a witch whose expertise is potions. Because of her intellect, Haru fell in love right away and gave her the pendant. We asked him why and he replied, 'I did it for love.' So, we did not contest that. He's of right age and he knows what to do. Unfortunately, Fenna rejected his offer, because she devoted herself to studying and she didn't like to waste her time on love. That was Haru's first heartbreak, and since then, he just fooled around."

I rose from the bed. "Oh, gosh. That's why he reacted that way when Ellis was about to enter the grand hall."

"Yeah. Haru is a handsome guy. No girl would reject him, but Ellis… I admire his gameplay, actually. Haru is already hooked, I'd say," Fei said, which reminds me…

"Ellis, yeah, can we go to his room? I wanna see him. I wanna see how he's doing. Can we, please?" I requested.

"Sure, but can we walk in the hallway while holding hands? I wanna share more time with you," Fei said, and he pulled me out of his bed.

Surprisingly, when we walked out of his room, we were already tidied up. Like, I'm already wearing nice clothes, which is something I never expected I would wear. It must be from XYZ Boutique. It's too fancy for me.

"Looking handsomer than ever, Trick. I love it," Fei praised me.

I'm wearing an oversized tie-dyed shirt, loose pants, and white rubber shoes. He's wearing the same thing, but in different colors than mine. We're like a cute pair.

He then held my hand and we walked and talked the entire ten minutes we passed down the hallways. It was fun because we were thinking of other clothes to wear next time. I joked about wearing the same clothes as the twins in The Shining. He was excited to do it! Come on, really? Me in a dress?

Then… We arrived at Ellis's room. Haru was beside him, reading a book. I asked him right away. "Haru, how's Ellis doing now?"

"He's okay," Haru replied, pointing at Ellis who is sleeping soundly. As I moved closer to him, I noticed something sparkling on his chest…

[Oh, gosh! Oh, gosh! I know that!]