Rhea felt so lost for the first time in her life.
She couldn't continue to watch him anymore. She quietly stood up and went back to the cabin. She started to wonder if she had really angered Ryan very much.
Time passed by. Rhea was lost in her thoughts. She didn't know it was already dark outside. When Ryan entered the cabin, Rhea was still lost in her thoughts. Once she saw him, she stood up and greeted him.
He calmly walked inside, without a reply, opened the refrigerator door, and grabbed a water bottle.
"Mr. Ryan...", Rhea really wanted to apologize, but suddenly her phone rang.
She closed her eyes once with a sigh, in reluctance.
She picked up the call. It was Bryce.
"Rhea, I've won!", his words were too simple, as usual directly diving into the subject.
This was enough to bring back Rhea's liveliness.
"Really?"
"....."
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you"
"So finally your dream came true!"
"........"
Rhea didn't know what to say after this. So she kept quiet. Rhea looked up at the other person in the room, to check if he was still there.
He was still holding the bottle, quietly, looking at the fridge, slowly playing with the bottle cap.
Suddenly Rhea felt the warmth in her heart once again. Maybe he is waiting for her! There is no maybe. He was clearly waiting for her since she had called him before attending the call.
"Then, Bryce, I'll end the call", she spoke looking at Ryan. It may be Rhea's delusion but she felt as if Ryan's face was darkening at that moment.
"...You can tell me the time when you want to learn about those spy cameras"
"Time? Oh, sure. I'll text you!"
Bryce cut the call. Rhea hurriedly looked at Ryan once again. He was still closing the lid, with a darker face. Once he finished, he put the bottle back inside the fridge.
Then started to walk towards his own table.
Ryan may appear cold, but Rhea understood him better. He was really so kind and caring. Rhea was a nobody but still, he cared for her, respected her, and protected her. She could feel his warmth all this time. If Ryan was someone else, Rhea would have been fired already. She had always been rebellious towards him.
Back in Alaska, she had never behaved like a fan. Now, she is not behaving like an assistant.
Still...
Still, Ryan keeps her with him, just because he had promised her.
Her contract... Actually, it was nothing. Still, he respects it.
Rhea felt like something inside her heart growing stronger. Rhea could see that Ryan had always treated her well. She could clearly see.
When she was drenched in rain, he was the first to give her a wet i=tissue, when she was working, he had even treated her with canned strawberry juice, he never asked her to work overtime, only gave her little tasks, never questioned her about her works, always looked after her from afar when she was in the shooting location, never told her to do this, to do that and never ever hurt her! In the shooting place, Rhea was treated like the princess of the country. She had all along known that it was all because of his warnings.
But...
But... By her actions, she really made him upset. Now, she didn't know if he still cared for her. After all, she had been a bad assistant.
Rhea felt like her greed made him lose the precious things he gave her. She had finally lost his attention!
Rhea really didn't want to lose such a man. Even the slightest amount of attention would be enough.
Ryan was indeed a precious man!
She suddenly felt the urge to guard him from Ying Yue. Once she thought, that if he really loved her, then... then she may let him be. But now... now she didn't want to.
She wanted to see him, at least with a better woman. It doesn't have to be Rhea. It can be anyone who really cares, but it can never be Ying Yue.
What can she possibly do?
She needs to confirm that he still loves Ying Yue first. Without this confirmation, she can't proceed.
So what can she possibly do about this?
Rhea suddenly remembered, that her contract had a third clause.
Rhea didn't know from where she got the courage, but suddenly she murmured!
"Truth or dare?"
Ryan wasn't sure so he turned, slightly leaned on the table behind him.
"Did you say something?"
"Truth or dare?"
"......", he was speechless at first, scrutinizing her.
She seemed nervous and scared. So Ryan really wanted to see what she is nervous about and scared of. What is she planning to do!
"Truth!", he said.
"Mr. Ryan..... by any chance.....", she trembled at first looking at the ground, finally looked up straight into his eyes and asked, "do you still love her?"
A question she wanted to ask him. This was a question that bothered her for a long time. Do you still love her even after you have gone through all that? Even after she abandoned you ruthlessly?
"Who?", now he replied with a question.
He can be annoying at times and can get on her nerves with just one word. 'This idiot', Rhea cursed him inside her head, bit her lip to control her anger.
"You know who!".
He looked annoyed. It's not appropriate for her to ask about his private life. But she had no better option than asking him directly. If she has no rights, she was in a position to take the right.
He was thinking. Rhea thought about his possible replies.
Case one, he loves her, which means he is an idiot.
When she thought this, she could feel some amount of remorse. Wasn't she an idiot too?
Case two, he doesn't, which means he is smart.
Other than these two, Rhea believed there was nothing that could come out of his mouth. There is no chance, someone like Ryan would say 'It's a complicated love-hate relationship'.
Whatever it is...
He must overcome Ying Yue so that Rhea can take care of him, love him, and cherish him for the rest of her life.
'No no no. It doesn't have to be me. It can be anyone. Yes. Anyone', she reminded herself. She had to definitely stop herself from having fancy dreams.
After a few minutes, Ryan came up with an unexpected reply.
"I'll go with the dare!", he replied.
Now it was her turn to get annoyed.
He dares not to answer which makes the answer more obvious. He still loves Ying Yue. It must be that case, case number one. He is an idiot.
She was angry, but when she continued to look at that handsome face of that idiot standing before her, she just wanted to drag him out of all the darkness covering him. He is too precious to be devoured by that darkness. He should be woken up from this dark dream. When she thought so, she remembered the story of sleeping beauty which she used to love a lot when she was a little girl. By the way, a kiss made that sleeping beauty wake up right?
"Let me kiss you!" Rhea blurted out. She didn't think much before saying this. She was desperate. But more than her desperation she was depressed to see him desperately in love with another woman who doesn't even care about him.
"What?" his voice very clearly explained his uncertainty. "You want me to do what?"
When he asked this, Rhea was totally dumbstruck. She didn't expect herself to be so dumb to give him such a dare. She really to worry how she is going to face him after this. But she wasn't willing to accept defeat either. Since she had stepped in already, she decided to go all the way.
Additionally, Rhea could see a slight uncertainty, confusion, and something similar to fear in Ryan's face.
His uncertainty somehow made Rhea strong. She looked him in his eyes, with confidence, she said, "I didn't ask you to do anything. Just stay still and let me kiss you." With a pause, she continued, "That's your dare!".
There was silence. That large room was silent for about two, three minutes. Then Ryan started to talk again with raised eyebrows, "Why are you giving me this dare?"
"I want revenge!", Rhea didn't think twice before she spoke. To hide one lie, she ended up creating brand new lies, one after another. What a pity?
Ryan was seriously shocked by her being so forward. But his brows still frowned. Maybe what he expected, was not listed in her words.
"Revenge?"
"Yes. Since you kissed me before..." seeing his frown she stopped speaking.
"For revenge, you can kiss someone you don't even like?"
Now, Rhea really wanted to counterattack him. The logic in his words was really missing. He too kissed her, whom he never liked!
"I like you. I believe I told this the first day we met. But more than that, I'm obsessed with you. I need to be with you. I have told you this the second day we met here."
Ryan was really shocked. What she said almost sounded like a confession. He only grabbed that 'I like you' explanation.
"If I'm not wrong, that 'I like you' you said before had a different meaning."
"Obsession, just consider that. I'm asking this out of my obsession with you"
Rhea clumsily defended her every lies. She was already exhausted.
"What if I deny?"
"I've saved you, you signed the contract, so truth or dare!".
He kept looking at her for about five minutes. She waited. She grew nervous as time passed. He stared at her with his icy eyes. It was like piercing her cell by cell.
"If you are that reluctant to let me kiss, why don't you just say the truth?"
Everything started with that damn question, so why is he still not answering. Rhea believed he will answer since he won't let her kiss him. She was thinking, looking around the room, and looking at her feet, his feet, pouting and biting her lip with a nervous expression for that five minutes.
Of course, Ryan could have lied as well. But now he really didn't want to answer that question and was only thinking about the dare!
He finally said something. "Come here" he pointed to space before him. She obediently went there. She was a little scared. Who knows she may sometimes get a slap on her face. Finally standing before him she looked up at his face. He was not staring at her. His gaze was fixed on the painting before his eyes. Since she was almost one foot shorter than him, his gaze wasn't disturbed by her standing in the middle.
"Go ahead!"
What did he just say?
Is he asking me to kiss him?
Rhea almost fell dizzy hearing those words.
"You mean the kiss?" she asked while opening her eyes wide, she wasn't still sure if he was asking her to kiss him. It's better to make sure.
Now he brought his gaze and looked her in her eyes and opened his eyes wide as if to imitate her, and replied "Yes!".
When Rhea's heart started to pound like crazy he turned his gaze again to the painting. Rhea had never kissed a man before. He is the one she loves with all her heart but to kiss him, she was not confident. 'I asked him, he let me, now I can't go back off in this dare. It's a dare for me as well' she gathered some courage.
Now there was some other serious problem. His height!
The giraffe before her stood there without any movement. Stern and straight.
'Should I hire a parachute to reach his face?' she couldn't help but blame him silently.
Rhea had always ended up doing mischievous acts out of annoyance.
Ryan Jin being there like wood without any feelings annoyed her. She lifted her left hand and grabbed his collar, softly pulled him closer. He was shocked and now looked at her like what is it?
"You are too tall!"
Ryan Jin suddenly averted his gaze. He looked nervous and tense.
It was nice to see him tensed. There had been so many instances where he teased her and she panicked. Now she could really take revenge! It felt really good in the midst of the absurdity.
Rhea didn't hurry. She was also nervous. She kept looking at him and then tiptoed and finally reached near his chin. Rhea was seriously embarrassed when she still had to tiptoe to reach his chin, even after she had pulled his neck down!
"Ryan Jin, I'm going to kiss, are you sure? Won't you regret it?"
She believed that somehow he will push her away in the final moment so she herself gave him a chance to escape.
"........My neck hurts"
It was his reply. She was holding him near, by pulling down his collar. It'll hurt after some time.
But his words clearly meant that he wanted her to hurry and kiss him quickly. Even though the reason behind this was that he simply wanted it to end sooner, Rhea was happy that he wanted her to kiss him as quickly as possible!
She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his left cheek.
She got away from him. She didn't dare to look at him. She was staring at the ground.
"..........."
"..........."
None of them spoke. There was complete silence.
Rhea finally gathered some courage, said 'bye', and walked out of the room as fast as she could.
She clearly understood that after this day, they both can never be the same again!