“Found it.” she said cheerfully, laughing.
But soon, her smile faded, and she looked at me with concern.
“Wills… is something wrong?” she asked, cautiously, unsure if she should even ask.
I slowly moved my fingers away from the message on the screen, pressing my lips together and staring at her.
Finally, I ran my hand through my hair, turning fully to face her.
“Pack up your things…
and get out of my room.”
“Huh… What did you just say?”
It took her a while to respond, and as her face paled, I could not bear to keep looking at her.
I turned away.
“By the time I get back here, I expect you to be gone.
And I really hope I never see you again.
Ever!”
End Wills’s talk…**
.
Getting kicked out again, huh…
Same as always, I told myself, struggling up the stairs with a heavy limp.
Just when things seemed to be going well, it was like fate kicked me out of heaven.
Poor Wanjan~
It was fine, I told myself.
This was nothing new.
Wills was moody by nature, and this was just part of being around him.
But why would the tears not stop as I clung to the stair rail, dragging myself back to my room?
All I had with me now was a plastic bag of water with two little fish swimming around inside, along with the damp clothes that were in in Wills’s bathroom earlier.
As for the other clothes he had bought for me, I had not dared to take them; they were left just as they were.
I did not have anything else to wear, so I put on the outfit he had lent me earlier but left a thousand baht on the table to cover the costs.
There were countless little things to pay him back for, too many to explain in one go.
I wonder if he would be angry… Anyway, I did not think I would be seeing Wills again.
But something tells me that I would—that I would be seeing Wills for a long, long time.
And next time, there would definitely be tears.
As I was on the verge of falling down the stairs, my phone suddenly rang, halting my tears for a moment and giving my weary eyes a break.
Without checking who was calling, I quickly picked up and put the phone to my ear.
“Yes?” I answered, my voice weary as I exhaled a tired sigh.
I was so exhausted.
(Do you have a death wish?)
The harsh, unfriendly voice made my eyes widen immediately.
I could not be sure, but I was pretty certain it was Wills.
“Um, well…”
(What’s with this thousand baht, huh?
You think I’m some gigolo?)
“Wills!”
God, his words were driving me insane.
What on earth was he talking about?
(I’m not mad about the money—it’s the fact that you think I’m only worth a thousand baht!
Seriously… a thousand?)
“I didn’t mean it that way!” I quickly protested, feeling hurt that he thought I valued him so little.
“It was just, Ah!”
And that was when disaster struck.
I stumbled, tumbling down the stairs.
I managed to hold onto the bag with the goldfish, but my phone smashed completely.
“Wanjan, you’re so…”
“You’re as clumsy and useless as ever, Wanjan,”
Rinrin, my best friend, said with exasperation for what must have been the hundredth time.
Yes, that was right—I fell down the stairs…
And, naturally, this time it was worse than the last.
My already sprained leg hurt even more, now badly swollen.
I had a torn muscle in my upper arm, and bruises all over my body.
Thankfully, a neighbor helped get me to the hospital.
I had intended to quietly rest at my mom’s old place, but somehow trouble always found me.
“Yeah, I know.
Ugh, my head hurts.”
“No surprise—you had to get stitches,” Rinrin teased, handing me a glass of water.
She had rushed over to take care of me just hours after it happened, and I felt a pang of guilt.
If nothing had happened, I probably would not have told her anything about my life.
“Dylan was looking for you like crazy.
Did something happen?”
The mention of Dylan, the source of all my problems, made me sigh.
So many things had happened with that man that I did not even know how I truly felt about him.
But one thing was certain—I hated myself for allowing Wills to had his way with me to easily.
I had thought I would be happy, even feel some satisfaction in all of this, but in the end, it turned out that I had messed everything up on my own, leaving only regret in the aftermath.
“Is that so?” I mumbled, unsure how else to respond to Rinrin.
“What’s going on, it seems like you got into trouble?
My classmate, who works with Dylan, said he’s been acting manic.
No one dares get near him these days.”
As Rinrin explained, I could picture Dylan perfectly, but I did not want to think about what he might be doing right now, or how angry he was.
“He doesn’t know I’m here, right?”
“How could he?
Or do you want me to call him up and let him know that you fell down the stairs and are lying here in the hospital? You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Trust me, he’d come scoop you up right away.
Dylan’s been holding onto the hope that once your parents go back to the U.S., he’ll bring you to live with him.”
“Let’s not talk about Dylan for a while,” I told Rinrin.
Just thinking about Dylan made me feel guilt rather than grief.
And yet, I still hated him all the same.
“Alright, I’ll head to class, then.
I’ll bring you back some notes.
By the way, where are you staying now?
I went by your place, but no one was there.” Rinrin furrowed her brow, looking at me with curiosity.
“I moved out to live on my own.”
“So, are you hoping Dylan doesn’t find out where you are?”
“But in some strange way, I almost feel like letting him know I’m here, injured, so he could come pick me up or something like that.”
I muttered softly, noticing the look on Rinrin’s face, as if she could not believe her own ears.
(Really?
What’d you do to end up in the hospital with a broken leg?)
I could not believe Dylan had managed to find my hospital room number so fast.
He called, his voice dripping with mockery.
I might really need to see a psychiatrist for the momentary lapse where I thought of letting him take me in.
“I’m exhausted, Dylan.
I’m hanging up now.”
(You’ve grown bold, haven’t you, Wanjan?
Not even afraid of me anymore.
Where’d you get all this courage?)
“I really am tired, Dylan.
Goodbye.”
So why were tears streaming down my face?
Maybe it was because, at the first sound of a man’s voice, I had thought of someone else.
And then, realizing it was only Dylan, I felt… disappointed.
(I have a quiz.
I’ll come get you this evening.
I’m hanging up for now.)
“Don’t come.
I don’t want to see you, sob…” I sobbed, unable to hold back the tears any longer.
Wills’ emotionless face as he had told me to leave flashed in my mind, his cold expression like a statue carved from ice that would never melt, freezing me in place, killing from the chill alone…
(So, who exactly do you want to see?)
“So, who exactly do you want to see?”
I blinked, eyes widening as the door to my hospital room swung open abruptly.
There stood a tall figure, as if he had somehow known I had been thinking of him.
And he even repeated the very words Dylan had just said over the phone.
“Wills…”
(Are you trying to get yourself killed, Wanjan?
How dare you say that guy’s name in my presence!)
Dylan raged from the other end of the line, but I was no longer listening.
Every part of me was focused on one person alone—Wills…
(And just so you know, Wanjan, he’ll never like you.
He called me earlier, and we talked…)
I did not hear the rest of what Dylan was saying because Wills had taken my phone.
I was frozen, shocked that he was here, completely clueless about what he wanted with me.
Wills’ expression softened momentarily as he took the call, a hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth.
I could not tell what he was thinking, nor did I know what Dylan was saying on the other end.
But if I had to guess…
it was something meant to drag me through the mud.
Then Wills abruptly slammed the phone down, his sharp, intense gaze fixing on me.
“What is this!”
he demanded, brandishing a banknote in his hand.
“A thousand baht,” I replied, my eyes still wet with fresh tears.
“I know it’s a thousand baht!
But what I want to know is, why did you leave it on the table?” he snapped, making me flinch.
“For… things here and there,” I murmured quietly, hearing him exhale in frustration.
Typical Wills—if he was not angry, that would had been the real surprise.
“You think that covers my services?
A bit low, don’t you think?” he scoffed, slipping the bill into the pocket of my hospital gown.
His touch was ruthless…
so much so that even the briefest brush of his fingers sent a heated shiver through me, dizzying and disorienting all at once.
“You know, I don’t come cheap?” With that, he draped his jacket over me, pulling it up to cover my face.
“A thousand’s not enough.”
He kept going as I bit my lip, overwhelmed with shame, my cheeks burning.
The memories of that night rushed back, colliding in my mind until I was completely lost.
“I… I…”
As I stammered, Wills suddenly lifted me off the bed.
Startled, I pulled the jacket away from my face and looked at him in utter confusion.
What did he really want?
First, he pushed me away, and now he was holding me like this.
I could not keep up with him, and it hurt to be treated like I was something unworthy.
“What do you want, Wills…”
“I want you to pay my fee.
I told you, my services don’t come cheap…”
There was a sly glint in his eyes, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth, so bright it almost blinded me.
It made me feel trapped, like I was falling into the hole he had carefully dug.
I finally broke down in tears. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
“Ah… hic…”
I sobbed as he grabbed a few of my things from the room.
Why was he smiling when I was crying like this?
“Hic…”
I continued to cry, my sobs coming in broken gasps, as he started to actually lead me out of the room.
“What are you crying for now?
Don’t you know that I’m the most expensive host out there?” he said, hand on the door handle, preparing to take me outside.
“So… you’re a gigolo, then?
Hic…”
“Are you asking for trouble?” Wills replied, his voice and expression equally flat.
“Hic.
No, I can’t leave!
Not yet!” I kicked my legs, resisting as he dragged me down the hallway.
“No, take me back to the room now.”
“Shut up.
You’re about to make the whole hospital panic.
If anyone catches us trying to sneak out, you’re dead…”
“‘Sneak out?’” I repeated in disbelief.
“Yeah.
Did you think I was carrying you to an exam room?”
Wills ignored my protests, steering us toward the emergency stairs with ease.
“No, please, let’s go back to the room first,” I pleaded, but as usual, he paid no attention.
“Did you think I’d leave you here to wait for Dylan to come waltzing in and whisk you away?
He said he’d be here right after his test.
You’re probably thrilled, how your lover’s so concerned!”
“No, Wills, I’m warning you—I’ll bite you if you don’t take me back!” I kept struggling, but he was completely unfazed.
“Not a chance.
And stop squirming, Wanjan, unless you want more injuries.
Ah!
Did you seriously just bite me?”
“Goldfish, hic… my goldfish…”
In the end, I sat crying in Wills’s sports car, having been dragged along without any desire to go with him.
Clearly irritated, Wills had left me here, starting the engine and turning on the air conditioning to keep me from passing out.
He then disappeared back into the hospital building.
After about half an hour, he returned with a bag of medication—and my goldfish.
His face hardened the moment he saw me, practically telegraphing his irritation, like he was ready to bite my head off at any moment.
“I told the hospital you wouldn’t be staying and canceled everything.
We’re going back to the apartment now,” he said, shifting the car into gear.
“Huh?”
“Are you deaf?
I say something once, and it just doesn’t register?
Or are you so thick that you can’t understand a simple statement?” he snapped, pulling his jacket up to cover me all the way to my chest.
“I’m in pain all over, with a broken leg.
I want to rest here,” I said, my voice shaky.
But it seemed he would not even look at me.
“Feel free to rest as much as you want—on my bed,” Wills said with a determined look that sent chills through me.
“What do you really want, Wills?
I don’t understand you at all,” I asked, tears streaming down my face.
Wills, who was never fond of tears, immediately wiped mine away with the back of his hand, so roughly that my eyes stung.
“Stop sniffling already.
Don’t you realize how annoying it is!”
“But I’m in pain—all over.
And now you’re making my head hurt even more,” I said, glaring at him in frustration.
What did he see me as, exactly?
When he felt like it, he would push me away, then pull me back when it suited him, until I felt utterly pathetic.
Being with Wills did not feel all that different from being with Dylan.
“Don’t look at me like that, Wanjan.
You know I’m not the perfect guy everyone thinks I am.”
“Hic… you really are…”
.
Wills’s talking…
Am I happy right now…
Sure…
Am I in a good mood?
Yeah…
But what I feel most right now is pain…
It hurt so much to see Wanjan’s pale, delicate skin covered in bruises like this.
And the worst part was that there was nothing I could do about it.
With her half-bare back turned toward me, the only thing I could do was gently wipe her bruised skin with a sponge.
And why the hell would my hand not stop shaking!
“Ah… that hurts”
she winced as the sponge brushed over a bruise.
Good lord, does she even realize the situation she was in?
She was practically naked, and here we are, just the two of us alone in the bathroom!
And that voice of hers…
“Ah, Wills.”
God, would it be a sin to just give in right here in the bathroom?
Because right now, I want to do exactly that.
Damn it…