"I will just say I cooked extra again…"
Rai stared at the dinner he had made, obviously way too much for one person. He sighed, took off his apron, and sat down to have his portion of dinner, then walked back to his room and locked it.
That day, around 9 PM, early, Zade came back, and Rai stayed inside in his room silently as he listened to Zade's footsteps, guessing what he was doing.
When Zade went to take a shower, Rai came out and settled on the sofa with his files, planning to inform Zade about dinner and then disappear into his room after.
But then, after some time, he suddenly had a thought.
'It's late… maybe he already ate? Fuck! Am I just embarrassing myself?'
Rai changed his mind and decided to go back to his room, but while he was collecting his things, Zade was already back.
And, Rai didn't notice it, so obviously he didn't notice that absolute maniac grin either.
Rai was clueless, and he yelped, dropping the books in his hand as he froze when suddenly a cold pair of hands touched the back of his neck, startling him as the coldness made Rai shrug and shiver for a moment.
"What the-!"
Rai quickly swatted Zade's hands away and turned to stare at him, but he gulped back the rest of his reaction as his eyes got glued onto Zade, who was now just in a towel which didn't even reach his knees while water dripped from the ends of his hair down his body…
Completely wet.
Rai got back his senses and stood up, but made sure to keep his eyes away from Zade because, well, Zade was an asshole, but his body was basically like sculpted and… it made Rai want to stare, which he didn't want to do and give Zade the pleasure.
Zade's skin was so smooth though...
And, Rai remembered it was those same abs he faced when he met with this guy first here... but today though..eveything is way too exposed, like they want Rai to look...
But the owner of that body was still an asshole, so Rai couldn't find it within himself to look.
"Have you had dinner?"
Zade asked casually, as if nothing had happened, still with that smug grin.
"Yeah," Rai replied.
"Maybe you cooked extra this time too?" Zade's tone was full of teasing, but he wasn't looking at Rai with any playfulness.
Rai stared at him silently for a minute before answering because his eyes kept darting to unnecessary places and he needed to gather himself.
"Yeah," Rai answered.
"Then… will it be enough for me?"
"Yeah."
"Then can I have it?"
"…Yeah."
Rai answered the last few questions quickly and was about to run to his room, but Zade wasn't done yet.
"Surprisingly, you cook well. But I didn't expect that from someone who likes salsa-flavored chips. Don't they taste like grass when they've been in the package too long? Are you a cow? Do you like grass?"
"...Me liking them is none of your business. So shut up and mind your business."
Rai muttered absentmindedly, eyes strongly fixed on Zade's face because Rai couldn't stop himself from following the water droplets slowly gliding through Zade's chest, to his stomach, then disappearing under the towel.
Rai wished to God Zade seriously hadn't noticed him one time actually following a water droplet and then feeling his breath hitch.
Rai really wanted to bury himself right now.
"Okay."
Rai watched as Zade immediately obeyed and left for his room, which was odd. But whatever, because Rai was not in a good mood right now. His mind was drawing images of the bastard's body, and envy filled him as Rai felt his fingertips tremble.
Everything was weird.
And Rai was feeling kind of sick… of himself too.
What the fuck was wrong with him?!
Rai took a few deep breaths and was about to leave to his room finally, but before he could, he stumbled into Zade especially very close to that goddamn wet chest…
This motherfucker was still walking around wet! Disgusting prick!
"Accidentally bought the wrong flavor. Since you like grass, keep it."
Rai stared at him, back to his senses out of the bastard's wet body, feeling displeased with who knows what, with himself or Zade as he continued to silently stare at Zade with a frown.
But Zade didn't wait around and pushed the bag into his arms and quickly stormed back into his room, the sound of the door slamming making Rai jump.
'What the fuck is wrong with him?!'
Rai complained, though in reality, no...the door wasn't so loud.
Someone was just dazed...
Rai looked down at the bag in his arms and grabbed his other things too before he left his room, curiously opening the tied grocery bag, that then put Rai into a speechless and confused minute.
'Chips…'
Rai examined the chip packet, surprise, maybe shock, covering his face as he obviously recognized the exact one.
It was basically his favorite snack.
Even the only one.
He had fished around stores near the town for these since the day he came to the village, but no store had these.
So where did Zade get these from?
And him being generous was suspicious…
Or… maybe it was indeed because the taste was like grass to that dog…
But there were three.
'Is this idiot really wasting money? Why would he buy a flavor he doesn't like?'
Rai complained while he held one packet in his hand, holding back the urge to have one right away.
But since he had already eaten dinner, he kept them safe in his closet for tomorrow, imagining the familiar taste of his favorite snack.
'Since he at least thought to give them to me, maybe I'll cook extra again tomorrow morning…'
Rai couldn't help it, but he broke into a smile, lay on his bed, then scrolled on his phone randomly, and soon fell asleep, excited like a child who was going to get a reward…
Well, nobody is too old to feel excited about snacks.
'Just for today… less scary nightmares for the bastard…'
And Rai was also feeling a little generous today.
So...may less scary nightmares show up for Zade tonight.
…
"So, did you give the chips to your girlfriend?"
Zade read the group texts, all teasing him, and chuckled before replying sarcastically.
"No… I gave them to the dog."
The group kept teasing him, and he messed with them more before everyone said their goodnights and left too.
Zade then put his phone aside and silently walked to the kitchen, getting himself food, slowly eating, washing everything, and cleaning the kitchen, the routine already printed in his head.
'He made bitter melon… but it's not bitter… what sorcery is he practicing?'
Zade scoffed, but still impressed, as he finished his cleaning routine with the last wipe on the counter before going back to his room.
It seemed Rai was already asleep because Zade didn't see any shadow of light under the door, which meant the lights were off. And possibly meant Rai was asleep too, right?
'Asleep this early? Of course. Boring motherfucker.'
Zade felt he was being ungrateful, cursing the chef who cooked all the great food he enjoyed. But well… he couldn't help it. An asshole is an asshole, and maybe he wasn't so grateful after all.
He had never been a good person anyway… unlike Rai.
'He is Mr. Perfect after all. I guess being the head prefect at school made him even more perfect.'
And it annoyed Zade to the core. How was he so perfect?
The beginning of the wildfire between the two of them was actually because of those little things about each other they couldn't tolerate.
Rai had control over everything in his life, and nobody could influence him. Rai had such a strong personality, and it made Zade stay away from Rai because he knew Rai is exactly the type of person he would not be able to tolerate.
But then Rai got way too involved in his life, went on to bother him with that rule, this rule and Zade accidently got to see how Rai's perfect persona often cracked under Zade's protests to being under Rai's control.
It became fun.
Fun to see him break down after being all high and mighty.
Especially because Rai doesn't act. He is perfect. He isn't acting or trying to be perfect.
So breaking his perfection was basically ruining the biggest thing Rai was proud of, himself.
And that's what Zade wanted.
Break Rai. Ruin him. Get back his own peace...
Zade had such strong intent toward Rai and Rai was also no different because they both had cost each other a lot of important things and had done unforgivable things in the process already...
There's no way to go back. They had gone too far in this rivalry, obsessively and very loyally.
So, they must continue.
Yeah,
Must continue...
He must.