The next morning, Nina got up from bed early. She walks around her house to check if the things they bought yesterday are installed correctly.
When going out of the bedrooms' corridor, the first that would be seen is the living room where she saw the TV installed. She feels that her living room finally has the homey feeling she's expecting it to have. She can already see herself sitting on the three seater sofa watching the TV while holding her baby and leaning on Hades chest… Wait? Where did the leaning action come from? Erase, erase, erase! It's too early for that idea!
Nina just walked towards the kitchen. This is the place she is most excited to see. When she entered it, she thought that her little house was finally complete. The fridge, stove and oven are already installed. The plates and utensils are already arranged on the cupboard. The kitchen utensils are properly arranged.
The groceries they bought are already on the wall cabinet and fridge. When she saw the ingredients on the fridge she remembered the reason why she wanted to rush up and complete her kitchen,that is, to cook her own food!
The crops that she planted in her space are perfect ingredients for chowmien. Nina took out broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and capsicum from her space then the rest of the ingredients that she hadn't planted in her space yet were taken from the groceries they bought yesterday.
She started preparing the ingredients for chowmien. She first soaked the tofu noodles in the water before cutting her vegetables.
After preparing her ingredients, Nina started the heat then put her wok on the stove. She put her sesame oil then added the cabbage, celery, broccoli, and carrots mixed them together until they wilted before she added the garlic.
Next, she put the soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce and water and waited for it to boil before adding the noodles and bean sprout then tossed it until it's cooked.
The whole process made Nina remember the days when she was alone in a foreign country where the food is way different from the food she used to eat that's why she started to learn how to cook and she thinks that the food she cooks are pretty decent, although it was only her who tasted the food she cooked. She tried cooking for her ex-husband before but he never went home so the food she cooked for him will be sent directly to the trash bin.
Nina forced her self to stop her dangerous thoughts and continue on what she's doing.
Due to Nina's engrossement to cooking, she wasn't able to notice a pair of eyes who are also engrossed on watching her.
Hades woke up a little bit late today because he needed to review some files that Jerry gave him last night before signing on it. Before leaving his company, Hades tried to finish all his paperworks but due to his parents' sudden betrayal by hiding Nina from him, he wasn't able to do it all, so he has no choice but to read the papers at night when Nina is asleep so he can accompany Nina all day.
Watching Nina cook happily made Hades think that he made the right decision of throwing his company's management to Tom first to follow where Nina is.
The sudden sadness on Nina's eyes didn't escape from Hades. What made her feel sad and lost at that moment? Hades can't stand seeing Nina's eyes like that, like she was somewhere far away that he can't follow.
Hades walked towards Nina and hugged her from her back. Hades is really scared of the idea of Nina going to some place he doesn't know. Hades has this crazy thought, so crazy that it drove him almost mad when he was trying to look for her.
Hades thought that he already has everything until he held Nina on his arms that night. He felt that a missing part of him, which he doesn't know was missing, came back to him and made him whole, but her sudden disappearance made him think that maybe she was someone not from this world who just suddenly appeared to his life. Maybe gods saw how high he thought of himself so they sent him Nina and then took her away, for him to know he was not as perfect as he thinks he was.
"What do you think you are doing?" Nina asked because she was startled with the sudden action of Hades. Nina is really not used to any physical contact, but she really doesn't have any idea why she feels greedy to Hades' touch, that's the reason why she can't really be firm with her decision to not be too close to Hades.
"I just wanted to confirm that you are here. I saw your eyes, it feels so far from me that's why I wanted you to know that you are here and I will always be with you"
Nina was stunned with what Hades said. Why does this man need to appear everytime she feels being drowned in the dark hole of her soul? And why can he tell words that she didn't know she wanted to hear? "Do you know that you have a sweet mouth?" Nina asked rhetorically
"I don't know, you are the first one who tasted it other than me so I really don't know until you told it to me today" Hades shamelessly said, Nina didn't get it at first but then she remembered that night when she was clinging to him and even bit his lips, when they became one, due to pain.
"shameless!" Nina indignantly said, and pushed him away from her "I'll tell aunt Karen to discipline you!" Nina feels that she really welcomed a big bad wolf into her house! How did this wolf hypnotize her into agreeing to him staying at her house?
Hades can no longer see the sadness that appeared on Nina's lovely face, all he can see are the red cheeks and ears of hers which seem to drip blood any moment if he doesn't stop. Hades didn't really mean to bring out the memories from that night as he still thinks that that night was his greatest mistake but he really can't bring himself to regret that night that brought him to Nina.
They don't have many memories together to make her drift her mind away from her sadness so he has no choice but to bring that memory out, the memory of his sweetest mistake.
"you do not need my mom to discipline me, you can do it yourself. I'm willing to receive any of your punishments" Hades said while he is still hugging Nina who is now struggling to free herself.
Nina stopped struggling when she heard that he is willing to be punished, huh, you asked for this,
"Okay, let's eat first," Nina said while smiling evilly, making her feel embarrassed? Let's see how great you are.
Hades saw Nina's naughty face, he can't help thinking what punishment he will be receiving later, he even feels that he is a death row inmate who will be given good food first before his sentence.
Hades helped Nina to arrange the food on the table. When Hades tasted the food, he understood why Nina was so dead set to complete her kitchen right away. The food she cooked does not have the meticulous taste of 5-star restaurants but it has a delicious home taste. The food was simple but it was really good and he can also feel the same feeling he felt yesterday when he ate the strawberries that Nina gave him. The fatigue from last night's late sleep feels to dissipate slowly.
Hades stopped eating then looked at Nina, was the feeling of the disappearance of fatigue due to psychological thought that the food was given by Nina so his body momentarily forgot that he was tired mentally last night or it has something to do with Nina herself?
Nina felt that the man in front of her stopped eating so she looked at him, does he not like the taste?
"You don't like it?"
"No, I like it very much, I just stopped because I felt it's too good that it made my body feel lighter" In the end, he didn't ask. He promised her that all he needs is to be by her side, he will not ask if there are any secrets about her. He will wait until she is ready to open up to him if there are any. Right now, he would just think that any food she gave him can make him regain strength due to his psychological reaction.
Nina bowed her head to her food. Was the food she cooked gave too much energy that it was too obvious? She really can't feel it, maybe because she was already used to her space's aura that she thought the food she is eating right now is normal! Is Hades suspicious of her right now?
Even though Nina bowed her head, Hades still has an idea of what she is thinking. This girl can't really hide her thoughts, this side of hers can only be seen by him or else other people can use it against her.
Too much transparency of emotion can make others manipulate her. They can use several approaches such as agitation to make her follow the path they gave her. How did he know about this? Because he is a manipulator himself.
Being in the business at a very young age made him see the dark side of people. Betrayal is the most common thing he saw. There was a time when two college friends who started a company together went to him to propose a project. The two of them were ambitious to be successful and Hades can also see that they have the rights to be ambitious because he saw that the project they made, if it will be done properly, can worth multi-million profits but, Hades saw that one of the two wanted to swallow the project to himself while the other one is too naive to see that. His face shows his full trust to his friend and Hades just waited for the two to clash. The day he was waiting finally arrived, the man who wanted everything to himself took all the project's documents and rights to Hades and Hades bought it with no mercy for the other party. The naive man found out about his friend's betrayal so he went to Hades and asked him to bring back the rights to him. Hades just laughed and told the guy that his naivety and his so easy to read expression was the main reason why his friend betrayed him. Hades agitated the man to the point that the man screamed to kill him but Hades' guards are not just for accessory. They dragged the man out of his office then the last he heard about them was they started fighting against each other in the court. This was the scene he prepared for them. A scene where he took their everything but they don't even know. He really doesn't think that what he did was wrong. He doesn't like to work with them because the first one was a snake, and the other one is stupid.
This is just one of his reasons why he can't let other people see this naive but cute side of Nina. If he needs to follow her all day just to make sure that nobody will take advantage of her, he will do so, just to make sure that Nina will not be the one to pay for the consequences of the bad ways he used to deal with other people.
"Nina, I told you, I will never ask. If one day you feel that you can trust me enough to share your secrets and burdens to me, I will just be by your side, waiting for you to open up" Hades said as he raised Nina's chin to see her eyes.
Nina just blinked her eyes, it's over. She fell for a man in just two days!