The sound of soft breathing made me open my eyes. Judging by the soft cushion beneath me, it seemed like I was lying on a bed after losing consciousness.
Wait, soft breathing?
I turned my head to my side, and Ilyas' face was right in front of me. No wonder I could hear his breathing, I was sleeping on his bed.
A sense of déjà vu washed over me.
'We have experienced this before, haven't we?'
With how cramped this bed was, and Ilyas holding my arm tight, moving my body might wake him up, so I decided to stay still while gathering my thoughts.
My choices to live a stable life were either settling here completely or found out the mastermind of my transmigration and asked them to send me back. Both choices were equally unsettling. One made me stay in this world, completely severing my ties to my previous world, while the other made me confront someone powerful enough to send other human's soul to a different world to do their bidding.
"Mm… Ethan?"
Ilyas raised his body and stared at my face with his unfocused eyes.
I greeted him, "Sorry Ilyas, did you bring me here after I collapsed?"
Ilyas' face turned angry, "Yeah, grandma told me to move you to my room. Seeing you lying on the floor worried me to death."
"Haha, sorry, I must be heavy."
"Don't laugh, it's true that you always give me a heart attack."
Ilyas pinched my cheek. He then got up from the bed and asked.
"Are you hungry? It's already late but I could make you something if you want. It's nothing too fancy though, so I don't know if it suits your taste."
Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, it was already late at night. Fortunately, I only passed out for a few hours this time. But my stomach was growling in hunger since I didn't eat dinner before coming here.
"Do you have instant noodles? I'm craving some."
Ilyas stared at me for a second before saying, "You eat instant noodles too?"
Hm?
I was confused for a second before realizing what he meant.
Judging by my clothes, car and my title as third generation young master, I guess Ilyas' perception of me was one of those fancy rich kids that only ate expensive food. But I wasn't fancy nor was I rich since birth, so of course instant noodles and junk foods were part of my childhood.
I chuckled at his words, "Of course I do, it's one of my favorite foods of all time."
"Is that so?" Ilyas mumbled.
GROWL-
The sound of Ilyas' stomach rumbling was loud to my ears. Ilyas flushed in embarrassment before mumbling again while glancing at me. "I also skipped dinner earlier, maybe I should eat too."
Rising from the bed, I offered, "Let's cook it together, shall we?"
.
.
Stepping inside the kitchen, we rummaged through the cabinets for noodles in the middle of the night. Grandma Zaza had already fallen asleep, so we tried to be as quiet as we could.
Boiling the water was easy, with Ilyas placing down the bowls, my job was to prepare the seasoning packages and the noodles.
"Do you want some side dishes?"
"Sure, what do you have?"
"Some pickled radish and spring onions."
"I'll take the onions."
Ilyas served the side dishes while I cooked the noodles. After years of cooking instant noodles, I already knew when it's done without using any timer.
Placing it on each bowl, I skillfully measure the water and seasoning ratio to create the perfect soup. I was no expert, but I thought I did a good job measuring by eye. With dinner served, we both sat down at a small table beside the kitchen. Slurping the noodle with delight while sprinkling it with the spring onions Ilyas prepared.
He glanced curiously at me.
"So, you're okay now?"
"Yeah, it's okay, there's nothing to worry about."
I nonchalantly said that as I slurped my noodles. He narrowed his eyes, "I can't trust you. The last time you said that you collapsed for two days."
"Hmm, am I that untrustworthy in your eyes now?"
"Definitely 100% guilty, I won't tolerate this kind of behavior in the future."
He pouted, which made me chuckle, so I decided to tease him back, "Then please tell me my lord, what shall this humble peasant do to appease your heart?"
Hearing my words, Ilyas put down his bowl. Then he inched closer and stared at me with his emerald eyes. He clasped his hand on mine.
"Then stay with me until morning."
I blinked my eyes, my teasing immediately backfired. I should have realized when Cedric teased him in the restaurant, but Ilyas definitely knew how to counter something like this in the most effective way.
"You won't tell me your problem anyway, so tell me more about yourself. I want to know you better."
Seeing my stunned expression, he backed up and flashed me a grin, "Try making me trust you as much as you can before the sun rises, my dear peasant."
I laughed at his cheeky behavior, so now our youngest pup could tease others too. Since when had he picked up this behavior? The adorable, innocent Ilyas was no longer there, it was now replaced by the smug, devilish version of him.
"Sure my lord, in exchange, I want to get to know you better too."
"Deal, I won't let you fall asleep until I'm satisfied questioning you."
I chuckled at his provocation, "You're challenging an insomniac to not fall asleep? You've got some nerves huh?"
"I could stay awake for a full day too, so let's see who will fall asleep first, you or me."
He got closer to me again, silently observing my face as his fingers clasped my hand tighter.
"I want to know every side of you, so don't hold back, okay?"