Chapter 31 - A Smile

"Hosh, hosh."

Mia stared in frustration at the destroyed furniture around her. Without caring that her feet had stepped on several sharp-edged fragments, Mia continued to walk quickly to get out of her room. A trail of blood formed along her steps as the kitchen became her next destination at this time.

BANG!

CRASH!

Mia unconsciously smashed the kitchen tools as her hands moved wildly in search of something. Her body trembled violently as her breathing continued to shorten with time. Her pale lips continued to tremble as Mia vaguely muttered something.

"Where are they? Victor should have kept them, right? He said he would make me feel better. He must have hidden them somewhere."

With panicked movements, Mia began to drop several more items. Annoyed that she still couldn't find the item she was looking for, Mia loudly slammed anything nearby. Her lips curved down as her feet began to walk to go to the next destination.

Mia was just about to go to Victor's office when the girl met Victor, who had just come from outside with Enzo's trusted doctor.

"What are you doing here? Your leg... what happened, Mia?"

Seeing Mia, Victor quickly ran to support Mia when the man saw Mia looked messed up. Victor had only gone out to meet his subordinates when he had made sure that Mia had fallen asleep earlier. He had only gone out for a moment, but who would have thought that Mia would wake up in that short time and instead create chaos until the girl injured herself?

"Victor... The drug... please give it to me. I can't take it anymore."

With eyes streaming with tears and hands gripping Victor's black shirt tightly, Mia began to beg the man. Her face was pale as the girl continued to try to endure the pain that was hitting her whole body, while her increasingly short breaths made Mia's vision increasingly blurry over time.

"Sob, my whole body is getting sore as time goes by, Victor. I feel suffocated... Sob, that medicine always made me feel better before. Just a little, let me take a little sniff, Victor..."

Having lost her mind due to the effects of not consuming opium for some time, Mia started rambling again. Unfortunately, Victor was not in the mood to listen to her pleas. The man carried her body, carrying her half running back to Mia's room, which had been destroyed even though Victor only left for a short time.

"Doc, please help me tidy up Mia's bed again."

Having been following Victor since earlier, the doctor swiftly helped Victor tidy up the mess Mia made on the big bed that Victor had provided for the girl. After her condition was a little better, Victor finally laid Mia on the comfortable bed. Mia was just about to struggle to get up again when Victor held her body gently and kissed Mia's smooth forehead to make the girl lie down obediently.

"Just lie down, Mia. The doctor will bandage your wounds. If you feel any pain, you can squeeze my hand as hard as you can. You can't give up here. People are waiting for your recovery, right?"

Mia trembled when she heard Victor's persuasion. Tears dripped from her eyes as her hands reached for Victor's hands to squeeze as a form of release from her pain. Her breath was getting shorter until the doctor had no other choice but to help Mia's breathing with the oxygen tube that Victor had prepared in his home.

"It's okay, Mia... The pain will go away soon. Do you want me to hug you like usual? You usually sleep if I do, right? I'm here. The pain will go away soon without you realizing it."

Victor's heart seemed to be squeezed tightly when his lips told that sweet lie. Victor carefully climbed onto Mia's bed while the doctor continued his work to heal the new wounds that had formed on Mia's body. Victor's large hands gently pulled Mia to stick to him, which was immediately answered by a small groan of pain from the sweet girl.

"It's okay. I'm here now. You'll be fine."

If you pay close attention, you can realize that Victor was shaking a little when he talked to calm Mia down. The man feels very frustrated, not being able to do much for Mia, who is in pain in her treatment. The image of his lover covered in blood with a body that was getting colder suddenly crossed Victor's mind until the man unconsciously moved his body closer to Mia's body, who couldn't stop shaking in his arms.

"You will be fine. I promise you, Mia." Victor murmured.

***

Victor slowly got up when Mia was finally able to sleep soundly. The man took a deep breath as his eyes stared at Mia's face, which looked very pale in her rest. Eye bags were starting to appear under Mia's round eyes because the girl often had trouble sleeping at certain times.

"Even though you used to always smile," Victor whispered to Mia, who was sleeping. His fingers gently stroked Mia's hair, which was wet with sweat. The girl looked very tired, even in her dream.

At their first meeting, Victor wondered why a girl like Mia could be liked by so many people, to the point that Leon, who was usually not interested in the entertainment world, could also like her. However, when they met in another situation, he realized that Mia had a magical side that could charm people to be happy just because they saw her smile. 

When Victor first met Mia in person, she kept reminding Victor of the innocence of his lover, whom he could no longer meet in this world. But the longer Victor got to know Mia, the man began to realize that he could no longer see Mia as his lover. Mia gave him the feeling that the girl preferred her to be quiet and make other people happy rather than being free and making the people around her sad.

Mia had become the sun for the people who knew her. The girl had used her light to illuminate the lives of people who needed her light.

So when Mia began to dim, the lives of those closest to Mia also unknowingly began to change. Enzo looked very tired every time he came to visit Mia. A member of his group named Lily also seemed to feel the same way. Even the doctor, who was responsible for Mia, always wore a gloomy expression when he checked on the girl.

Not only Enzo but even Leon and Victor unconsciously softened whenever they were with Mia. Whatever Mia's wish was, if Victor wasn't the one who granted it, then Leon, who usually didn't care much about other people, would immediately try to make it happen. Both of them unconsciously care too much about the girl, especially when Enzo leaves Mia in Victor's private house.

Victor hated other people coming to his house. However, Victor was even willing for his room to be messy because Mia often didn't realize what she was doing when her body started to react again. Victor also decided to stay home lately just to keep an eye on Mia, even though his work was piling up like Enzo's. 

Luckily, Leon was willing to take on some of his duties, so Victor didn't have too much trouble even though he had to take care of Mia while working from home.

They, who were just strangers a few months ago, had unknowingly become closer in the past few months. Victor even began to pray diligently for Mia's recovery now, something he had not done since his lover died, and he blamed fate for it.

Initially, Victor approached Mia because he still needed her to dispel his nightmares. But the more he got to know the girl, Victor began to doubt the reason he was doing all this now.

Victor just wanted to see Mia's smile again. A smile that the people who loved the girl tried to maintain before drugs took away all her happiness.