Maya turned her head away in frustration.
It was impossible to reason with him.
Morgan watched her cautiously and said, “You said no touching and no thinking about it.
Why does he get to…”
Maya understood what he meant—she had set the rules, so why didn’t other men have to follow them?
Her voice softened, but she spoke with grave seriousness.
“Listen carefully.
From now on, you are not allowed to hit anyone without my permission.
If you do, you’ll be locked up in a psychiatric hospital, and you’ll never see me again.
You don’t want that, do you?”
Panic flashed in Morgan’s eyes, and he shook his head quickly.
“I can’t be locked up!
I want to see you every day!”
Maya said, “Then listen to me.
No fighting.
I can handle these things myself.”
Morgan nodded reluctantly.
Seeing how wronged he felt, Maya felt a pang of guilt and said with a smile, “But I was very touched and happy that you were trying to protect me.”
Morgan broke into a silly grin again.
In just a few days, everyone in the neighborhood knew that Maya had a simple-minded husband.
She could tell everyone was secretly laughing at her.
After all, she was a beautiful woman, as lovely as a flower.
Why on earth would she choose a simpleton for a husband?
What could she possibly be after?
She didn’t explain herself.
Those people weren’t important to her in the slightest, so there was no need to care about what they thought.
As they spent more time together, Maya discovered that Morgan was far more clever than she had imagined.
Many things he could replicate after watching her do them just once, or even after seeing them on TV.
He could do them quite well, too, making him a capable little helper.
However, the shop’s customers were all women.
Sometimes, for a full-body massage, the client would be topless, so having Morgan around was always an inconvenience.
Maya thought that since Morgan was now capable of taking care of himself, perhaps it was best to just let him stay at home.
Morgan didn’t want to be separated from her, but he didn’t dare disobey.
On their first day apart, Maya felt a little uneasy, worried that Morgan might have an accident at home.
Around noon, during a lull in customers, she was about to close the shop to go check on him when, to her surprise, Morgan appeared at the entrance holding a bowl.
Maya looked at him, astonished.
“What are you carrying?”
When Morgan saw her, his eyes lit up with joy.
“Bringing you lunch!”
He removed the bag covering the bowl, revealing it was full of rice and other dishes!
Maya, who was already starving, was so surprised she was at a loss for words.
“You made this?”
Morgan nodded as if seeking praise.
“There were vegetables in the fridge.
I made it!”
Eating the home-cooked meal, Maya felt a prickle in her nose.
‘It felt so good to be taken care of.’
She spoke as she ate.
“Don’t do this again.
It’s not safe for you to use the electricity and the stove.
You might burn the house down.”
Morgan said earnestly, “I’ll be very careful.
You taught me, remember?”
A gratified smile touched Maya’s lips.
“You’re amazing, Morgan.”
Then her gaze fell on the back of his hand, which was red, and her expression froze.
She grabbed his hand.
“How did this happen?!”
Morgan tried to pull his hand back and hide it.
“I asked you a question.
You have to answer!”
Whenever Maya got stern, Morgan would become obedient.
“It’s a burn.
It doesn’t hurt at all.”
Maya muttered, “You silly fool,” and gently touched it with the pad of her finger.
Morgan couldn’t help but cry out, “Ah!”
Maya looked up.
“And you said it didn’t hurt?”
She stood up.
“Sit here and don’t move!”
A few minutes later, she returned with a tube of ointment.
She unscrewed the cap, squeezed out a small dollop, and pulled Morgan’s hand onto her lap, carefully spreading the ointment over the red skin.
Morgan watched her lowered, focused expression, and an indescribable emotion swelled in his heart.
He couldn’t describe it, but he had one clear feeling: ‘She cares about me.
I want to be with her forever.
I want her to always be this good to me.’
After applying the ointment, Maya glanced at him.
“What are you grinning about?”
Morgan said, “All those other people throw rocks at me and steal my things.
Only you are good to me.”
Maya put the ointment away.
“That’s because you’re good to me, too.
Don’t do this kind of thing again.”
Morgan’s gaze was fixed on her.
“Next time, I’ll be careful not to hurt myself.”
Maya muttered, “So stubborn!”
Just as it got dark that evening, Maya saw Morgan come skipping over again.
“Maya!
I came to pick you up!”
He was so excited, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a very long time.
Maya was worried he might get lost outside at night, but seeing how overjoyed he was, she didn’t have the heart to scold him.
“We can go home as soon as I finish tidying up.”
There were no customers in the shop, so while Maya took inventory, Morgan helped clean up.
Then, the two of them walked home together.
Watching their two shadows walking side-by-side under the streetlights, Maya had the strange impression that they were a couple out for a stroll.
“What made you think to come pick me up?”
Morgan blurted out, “I missed you.”
Maya froze for a second, her voice growing sterner.
“I told you, you’re not allowed to think of me!”
Morgan was silent for a moment, then mumbled, “But I just do.
It’s so hard being alone.”
Maya understood his attachment to her.
Morgan was like a stray dog she had taken in; his world revolved around her, his master.
Of course he would miss her and long for her when she wasn’t around.
When they got home, Maya felt that something about the room was off.
It was clean and tidy, completely different from the mess it had been when she left that morning.
Her eyes crinkled with a smile as she looked up at Morgan.
“Did you clean the house?”
Morgan nodded proudly.
“I know how to sweep and mop!”
He pointed toward the balcony.
“I did the laundry, too.”
Maya’s gaze followed, and her expression changed in an instant.
Flushing with embarrassment, she snapped, “Who told you to wash my clothes?!”
Her large bra and small panties, which she had forgotten in the bathroom after her shower last night, were now dangling from the clothesline, swaying in the breeze!
Maya strode over, snatched her underwear from the line, and threw it into a dresser drawer.
“Don’t touch my clothes!”
Having just been praised, Morgan was now being scolded.
He didn’t understand why and tried to explain, “Your clothes were dirty.
I can wash them clean.”
Maya knew she couldn’t get upset with a man who had the intellect of a child.
He didn’t understand anything; he wouldn’t have any indecent thoughts.
But the thought of a grown man hand-washing her intimate apparel…
just picturing it made her blush furiously.
She looked up and asked, “When you were washing my clothes, did you play with them?
Or…
did you…
smell them?”
She’d often seen news stories about perverts stealing women’s clothing to do disgusting things like that.
Morgan was so attached to her, could he possibly…
Morgan stared with innocent, uncomprehending eyes and shook his head.
“Am I supposed to smell them to see if they’re clean?
I’ll be sure to smell them next time.”
Speechless, Maya slapped her own forehead.
“Next time, you’re not allowed to wash them, and you’re definitely not allowed to smell them!
And no playing with them, either!” she said sternly.
Morgan gave a half-comprehending “Oh.”
Although Maya had ordered Morgan not to do these things, he was staging a small rebellion.
The next day at noon, he showed up again with a lunchbox for her.
This time, Maya didn’t say anything.
“Your cooking is pretty good.
Did you know how to cook before?” Maya even praised him.
At the mention of the past, Morgan’s gaze went vacant.
“I don’t know.
I guess I must have.”
“Maya!” a woman’s voice called out.
Maya immediately put down her bowl and chopsticks and stood up to greet the visitor.
“Ms.
Westwood!”
This “Ms.
Westwood” was the landlord of the shop.
Since it wasn’t time to pay the rent yet, her appearance made Maya a bit anxious.
“Ms.
Westwood, what brings you here today?”
Ms.
Westwood glanced around the shop.
“I’m just giving you a heads-up.
Starting next quarter, the monthly rent is going up by a hundred and fifty dollars.
You should decide soon whether you want to keep renting or move out.”