Lia woke up nervously as if she had found herself sleeping again by a strange man who forced her to go back to sleep on the bed. Her eyes that always looked fragile now began to squint when she found a very spacious room with a quite luxurious design. A comfortable bed was now beneath her, the nightlight glimmering dimly, covering some of the modern European-style décors.
"What happened? Where am I? I…. Who brought me to this room?" Lia removed the blanket that covered her tiny body. As her eyes sank, she breathed a sigh of relief to find all her clothes still completed, and perhaps still untouched.
Beside Lia, on the wooden table, she saw her bag. When she checked it, she found that everything was completed, including her cell phone. When she opened the phone, Lia's eyes widened again, wider than before, and also with a more pounding heart than before. It was as if she had found death just by looking at the time printed on her cell phone.
"It's four in the morning? My God, how could this happen?" Lia crawled and got off the bed. She grabbed her bag and rushed out of the room. Perhaps she would have had worse prejudices and decided to call the police if only the bedroom door had been locked. However, Lia breathed a sigh of relief because the room was not locked.
There was only dimness in front of her, with various corridors that seemed long and awful. It wouldn't be easy to find a way out, especially if she never knew from which direction she was brought in. So Lia could only stand with her back slightly bent as if she was cold even though she was anxious and scared.
"Hello?" Lia's voice seemed to echo very loudly, even though she lowered her voice very quiet. The sound of her breathing could be heard very clearly in her ears. Lia waited, if only someone heard her, but still no answer at all.
Lia walked with weak and trembling legs. This made her had to walk down the hall by holding on to the hallway wall so her body wouldn't fall. Her stomach started to feel uncomfortable, and her whole body became cold and hot at the same time.
Her feet went too far, but she found no end. Several times Lia found a closed room, with a door made of expensive wood. But she didn't dare knock on the doors, thinking about her safety being the top priority.
Not long after, Lia arrived at the end of the corridor, under dim yellow light. The wooden floor below seemed to form a pool of light that reflected from above. When she was about to take a turn at the end of the corridor someone suddenly appeared in front of her.
"You're awake?" reprimanded the person, who was a middle-aged man whose hair was covered in gray hair. Lia didn't have time to pay attention to his suit, because his wrinkled face looked awful under the dim light above him.
No doubt Lia screamed, very loudly, she also jumped back and held her chest which seemed to be sliced. Lia's response surprised him.
"Oh, you don't have to be afraid. I am…." The old man had not yet resumed his words when another man appeared from behind Lia's body.
"Oh, you're awake?" the man asked, surprising Lia for the second time, or maybe the third time since her surprise when she saw a strange room in front of her eyes.
Lia immediately turned around in a hurry, her sweaty forehead looked very pitiful. She thought about a lot of bad things that would happen to her, including who was kidnapping her right now. When she found the two men who had ambushed her, the only possibility that popped into Lia's head was that she had been kidnapped.
So Lia built her defense by clenching her fists and ready to attack if the two men did something bad to her.
Unexpectedly, the man behind Lia burst out laughing. "Gosh, what are you doing? Did you forget? This is me." He then stood closer to the range of light that had briefly touched him. Now his face became more visible: his good looks, his smile, and his friendliness.
This made Lia's eyes suddenly lit up. "You…" Lia's fists weakened drastically.
The man nodded. His plush pajamas gently wrapped around his body perfectly, accentuating the fairly stout lines of muscle that bulged under his skin. "Yeah, it's me. We once met in front of the local convenience store…. one month ago if I'm not mistaken. I accidentally bumped into you until you fell to the ground."
Lia didn't respond, because she was still fascinated. Her fear and anxiety just lifted. The twinkle in her eyes seemed to flicker, bringing out bright and sweet trinkets in her eyes. For her, a man who beat her heart deeply had now transformed into someone more important than that, that was, he had become Lia's hero. Lia's knees became weak and she almost melted if she could.
"You…. ah, hi…" Lia even forgot where she was, what time it was, and how she got to that house. What he had now was simply fascinated, endlessly.
The man smiled back. His usually gently sweeping eyes now looked slightly puffy, it seemed he was still sleepy.
"I… why am I here? And how did you find me? Oh, my name is Lia." Lie stretched out her hand a little awkwardly, but she couldn't help but do it. Lia wanted to take it a step further because maybe this was the only chance she had.
Since she met with that man, Lia had always waited at the same time, and in the same place when they collided. Lia hoped that their meeting could happen again, and Lia could get to know him better. However, during the last month, she did not get a single result. He never appeared in front of the convenience store again, at the same time.
Lia's hopes of meeting him had started to fade. But who could have thought that it was fate that brought them together again? Lia secretly thought that he was her soul mate, and she was cruel to forget Prince Aerus.
The man said kindly. His voice sounded so comfortable in Lia's ears, it made Lia want to go back to sleep. "I found you asleep at the bus stop. At first, I wanted to leave you but because your body fell right on my lap, and it was too quiet and dangerous there I brought you to my house. Don't get me wrong! I've tried to wake you up but you didn't wake up. I also tried to call one of your family, but I couldn't unlock your phone because of the password you put in it.
"So, yeah. Sorry if I surprised you. My name is Neil Wu. Just call me Neil. Do you want to go back to sleep, or do you want to go home soon? I understand your fear, and I will offer to take you home."
Lia was speechless. All this time she was just gaping, observing the facial features of Neil, who was so gentle and so friendly. Neil was also able to give Lia a sense of serenity, comfort, and a feeling of being protected.
Lia forgot her need to go home. She wanted to stay a little longer at Neil's house. So she said somewhat shyly, "I think… I think I still want to go back to sleep. I did want to go home because I was too afraid of where I was and who brought me here. But when I know everything, now I'm not worried. Thank you for taking care of me, and I'm sorry if I troubled you."
Lia smiled sweetly, a hint of embarrassment at the corners of her lips. And Neil answered Lia's smile sincerely. Both seemed to be drifting in each other's comfort.
Meanwhile, in Lia's old flat, Prince Aerus was exploding because he couldn't find Lia there, during his Mirah energy that kept urging him to sleep with Lia.
***