What she didn't notice was Mu Yuhaan's puppy eyes, which had been creating misunderstanding in her head, vanished the moment she averted her gaze from him. It was replaced by a hunter's gaze who had been waiting eagerly for his prey to fall in his trap.
Mian, inversely, took a couple of paces in her mind, thinking hard about all the incidents with Mu Yuhaan till now.
Him sneakily drinking her coffee and hiding in a corner of the terrace...
Then, when she confronted him about it, not only did he frankly admit it but also wanted to come to her place for more.
While ago, just after entering her apartment, he sat on the couch in such a way, as if it was his own place. Then he started checking her closet, whom he had just met that morning; and now he was behaving like a child. None of the scenarios made a lick of sense!
He had been doing all sorts of wacky things, and all these incidents were pointing in one direction.
'Is he mentally unstable?!' Mian pondered, as she shot Mu Yuhaan a weird look.
Mu Yuhaan was slightly taken aback reading Mian's expression with nonplussed eyes. They eyeballed each other for a while. 'Why is she giving me this kind of look? Is it because I behaved like a child?' Mu Yuhaan thought, then looked at Mian smilingly, 'But my investigation says that she loves children. She must have found me cute!"
Mian kicked herself mentally for giving Mu Yuhaan a judgmental frown. 'Don't be quick to judge anyone, Mian! It's a very bad thing! I should keep a weather eye on him first for the time being. With time, things are bound to be clear, and perhaps he might be even willing to open up about his problem later, if he has any.'
However, Mian knew, later that night she would suffer from lack of sleep and toss and turn wide awake thinking about the way Mu Yuhaan had acted and behaved.
'Uff! Being in suspense is like drowning in the ocean and getting deprived of oxygen!'
After a few seconds, Mian's gaze seemed to come to the present, and she decided to let the cupboard matter slip this time. "Why don't you come and have some cookies in the living room?"
A big smile found Mu Yuhaan's lips and put happiness in his eyes; his usual cold and stoic face was uncharacteristically radiating energetic and enthusiastic sparks.
"Let's go." He held out his hand, palm up, looking at Mian. The area around his eyes and mouth was completely laugh-lines free despite the big and irresistibly pleasing smile.
Mian's eyes lingered on Mu Yuhaan face for a moment. 'What? Don't tell me, he wants me to hold his hand!' She gazed at Mu Yuhaan's hand warily, then looked up to his face. She lifted her chin towards him, as if asking, 'What do you want?'
"Can't we hold hands?" Mu Yuhaan asked softly, again with his puppy eyes.
'Nope!'
However, the words Mian brought on her tongue died on her lips when she looked into those puppy eyes. Her resolve began to melt.
Mian suddenly shook her head as she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Mu Yuhaan's puppy eyes got her to go back on her own words! In the end, she ended up holding his hand.
The moment it happened, Mu Yuhaan clasped it tightly, as if Mian would strain to break his grip. He felt her supple hand and was surprised at how natural it felt to hold her hand, never imagining such a little thing could feel so victorious.
The kitchen door was narrow, and it would hardly allow two people walking side by side. With that in mind, Mian stepped forward first. However, Mu Yuhaan quickened his steps as well; which resulted in their frames being stuck in the way.
Startled, Mian looked up at Mu Yuhaan. Nonetheless, he smelled like a type of masculine musk which was unexampled, beyond compare and winded up beguiling her for a while.
The scent was so good, and nothing like the ones that used to please Mian's sense of smell before. For a second, she was allured by a sudden whim to lean forward for another sniff.
Fortunately, before the real embarrassment could push her off the cliff, Mian's rationality knocked on her senses; it held the mirror of reality before her eyes, and showed how she was sandwiched between the door and Mu Yuhaan.
However, just then, another thing of Mu Yuhaan dragged Mian into trance again.
The parts of him, that were directly in touch with Mian, from the well defined chiseled abs and firm broad chest, to his thick biceps, was very hard.
'A stealer? Nah! Just in case, this man is without any real goal in life, he can still earn six figures in a year, just by selling his looks to the magazines!'
Mu Yuhaan examined Mian's gaze and expression, gauging her inner thoughts. His eyes held a hint of satisfaction that reached his lips, only to bloom into another smile. "I don't mind showing you my abs."
Air around Mian stopped with mortification. Mu Yuhaan's each words buzzed in her brain, and activated the sympathetic nervous system generating the flight response, which triggered the wish of disappearing within her.
"Ah..coffee." Mian pushed a smile out of her lips, despite her wariness and the rising color in the cheeks. She tugged at her hands, wanting to free it.
However, Mu Yuhaan held it tight, enjoying the feel of Mian's palm in his. "Coffee." He repeated after her warmly.
"Yea, I have to make the coffee." Mian said, and hurried inside the kitchen awkwardly. She kept a wide berth from Mu Yuhaan, as a preventive measures to avoid bumping into him again.
Surprisingly for Mian, Mu Yuhaan heaped the cookies onto two plates, overlaid with glittering design. His hands reached for the Black and Pink couple mugs, before rinsing them under the streaming tap.
Mian sneakily watched him with what appeared to be pure curiosity, while brewing the coffee.
Mu Yuhaan lifted the coffee mugs into his hands and carried them to the table, gently lowering them to the table, before pulling out a chair for Mian. "Sit down." His voice held a tender note and warmth, and Mian was the first one being granted the privilege to be at the receiving end of it.
"Thank you." Mian sat down on her chair, lifted the mug with both hands, while sneakily observing Mu Yuhaan through the vapour.
If Mian had any clue how Mu Yuhaan was in general, she would be very astonished at his warm words and gentlemanly deed.
Mu Yuhaan looked at the cookies with eagerness. He was wrapped with the desirable subtle floral notes in the aroma, coffee was emitting together with the creamy sheen of milk and a beautiful latte art on top.
He took a bite of a cookie, let his taste buds savor the flavour, before swallowing slowly. In the state of peaceful happiness, he took the second bite, then happened to lift his gaze, resulting in their gazes to collide.