Luca was not destined to have a peaceful sleep. He had lain awake for the past few hours, staring at the ceiling, then turning to stare at Ren, and then turning back again facing the wall. Somehow, all his twisting and turning didn’t disturb Ren, who was already peacefully asleep. Luca poked his cheek, finding it funny how unguarded he looked, blissfully oblivious to the world around him. He almost felt envious, because his thoughts were anything but happy.
He gave a soft sigh. Ren has asked him why he had bothered to protect him. As much as Luca disliked the McAllisters, he could still live the rest of his life ignoring them. And yet he took an initiative to interact with Alan, all to protect the little one.
He had always done as he pleased, but this felt strange to him. Strange, but right.
Engrossed in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice when he drifted off to sleep.
Luca had the same nightmare, but the events were a bit different from before. Ren, or at least the man Luca assumed was Ren, was standing closer to him. He could see his figure more clearly. The fire still burned around them. Luca’s eyes stung from the smoke, but he mustered his strength to keep them open. Ren was saying something, but Luca couldn’t make out the words. Luca tried to move, but his body was frozen, as if he were a statue. He lay helpless letting the flames consume him.
Luca jerked awake from the dream, coughing. It really felt like he had inhaled smoke filled air. However, he wasn’t the only one that had woken up. Next to him, Ren was also sitting straight up, but he didn’t seem aware of his surroundings. Did this little one have a habit of sleepwalking?
But Ren was still. Luca turned to get a clear look at his face, and saw Ren’s eyes had the same amber flecks of light he saw previously at the hotel. This shouldn’t- or rather, couldn’t be possible. But he couldn’t be having the same hallucination twice either.
He wasn’t going crazy, was he?
Luca slapped his cheek, and grimaced in pain. No, definitely not a dream or illusion. But there was no way that glowing eyes were normal . . . at least not for a human.
Luca glanced at Ren again, only to find him sound asleep next to Luca like before.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Luca frowned. This time he was definitely sure of what he had seen. Could it be that Ren wasn’t human? Ren smelled like a human, but his senses weren’t reliable these days, so perhaps he had been mistaken. Even so, Ren didn’t look or do anything out of the ordinary, not counting the situation at hand. Ren never mentioned anything about it either.
‘Ktfc jujlc,’ Oemj gfjilhfv yfijafvis. ‘Lf tjv cfnfg rjlv tf kjr j tewjc flatfg.’
Efc kjr frrfcaljiis j ragjcufg ab tlw, fnfc atbeut Oemj mbeivc’a atlcx bo tlw jr bcf. Efc qgbyjyis kjcafv ab xffq tlr lvfcalas j rfmgfa. Ccv qfgtjqr . . . yfmjerf bo ktja tf kjr, atf ZmCiilrafgr kfgf mtjrlcu tlw vbkc.
The only question was, what was Ren? Luca pondered on this thought, but eventually gave up. Whatever Ren was, it wasn’t really his business, even if he was curious. Perhaps one day Ren would trust him enough to tell him. Luca was surprised by that sudden thought.
To actually want to be close to someone again, enough to earn their trust . . . Even feeling disappointed when they would soon leave . . . Trying to convince them to stay longer . . .
Luca smiled ruefully. Who could have thought?
This little one really had grown on him. More than he had expected. He gazed at Ren, who was peacefully sleeping beside him, with a complicated expression.
The next morning was awkward. Ren felt there was some tension between himself and Luca. At first, Ren thought it might be due to last night, but Luca didn’t look upset. Instead he looked like he was studying Ren, looking for something.
His gaze made Ren uncomfortable. It reminded him of the faces that used to watch him with that very same gaze. However, he brushed it off, and started to get ready. He combed his hair. Ren felt a bit unused to having short hair, but found it a lot less of a hassle to take care of.
He went downstairs to join Luca for breakfast, only to find him gone. Wyatt must have picked him up while Ren was upstairs.
‘He must have left early today. Could he really be mad at me?’ Ren thought, worriedly.
Ren didn’t have much time to think about it, as he had to run too. He quickly ate his breakfast and got a cab to the location. The ride there was fairly long, but to Ren it seemed to pass in a blink of an eye.
He arrived at the cafe an hour before it opened. He stood outside the door, peering through the glass. The inside of the cafe wasn’t clear from the outside, and he couldn’t make out if anyone was inside. He moved to open the door, and to his surprise it was unlocked.
He hesitated, unsure if he should just walk in. He didn’t want to be mistaken as a thief, but he also didn’t want to stand outside the door like an idiot. After a moment, he finally made up his mind, and walked inside.
The inside was dim.The cafe looked so empty and spacious, completely different from the lively and crowded atmosphere that was present when Ren had visited the cafe before. The chairs were all neatly stacked up in piles, and the tables were empty. Even the shutters were closed, preventing any light from coming inside. Ren still couldn’t see anyone inside, feeling more and more like an intruder each passing second.
It took a short while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. However, the adjustment was unnecessary, as someone opened the shutters, letting the sunlight sweep in. Ren’s eyes slightly widened, as he saw a woman smile at him. She had black hair and sharp blue eyes, and stranger, she was wearing a staff uniform. He didn’t remember seeing her when he visited the cafe last time, but he wasn’t really paying attention that time either.
She regarded Ren with some interest.
“So you’re the new hire? I hadn’t expected someone so young.” Her voice was smooth, layered with a hint of amusement.
Her appearance was sudden, but after what happened in the past few weeks, he felt nothing could surprise him much anymore.
The woman smiled.
“Well, I did know the big boss hired a new employee to work here today, but I didn’t expect you to show up so early.”
“Early? I can wait-”
The woman laughed, interrupting Ren.
“No need. It was a compliment. We love all our employees to be punctual.” Then her eyes scanned him.
“You look a bit familiar . . . Oh, yes, you’re the person who visited our cafe that other day. I see you cut your hair. It suits you very much.” She observed.
“You still remember me? From that long ago?” Ren asked, surprised. Though it had been only a few days back, the place was rather busy, and it felt impossible to remember everyone, much less him.
“Don’t be so modest, you were quite eye-catching. Besides, I remember everyone who comes to our shop.” The woman said. Then she suddenly realized something.
“Silly me, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I’m Mai, your senior and stand-in boss. Our actual boss is away on some business, not that I would know what, because he never tells me anything.”
Her introduction slowly turned into a complaint.
“I’m Ren.” He said, ignoring the dig against her- no, their boss.
She smiled, shaking his hand, “It’s going to be a pleasure working with you, Ren.”
Thanks for the chapter~
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️
thanks for the chapter <3