I tried to wriggle free, but Ziff’s strength was unyielding. His hot breath, laced with alcohol, enveloped me, making me feel dizzy as if I had been drinking myself, despite not drinking even a drop.

    The tip of his nose kept brushing my cheek over and over, and his breath seemed to burn my skin.

    My heartbeat was racing uncontrollably, feeling like it would burst from my chest. And with how close we were, I could even hear his heart pounding too.

    It was fast... just like mine.

    Curious, I looked up at him briefly. His face, usually so pale, was flushed red, and his eyes held a clouded intensity of some kind of emotion I had never seen before.

    “Panya…” he whispered my name again,

    his hand now slipping beneath my shirt.

    “Ziff… sob. Mom, dad, officer.” My whole body was shivering, suddenly so weak, not knowing where all my strength had gone to.

    I lay there, limp, trapped under Ziff. His hot hand, as fiery as his breath, roamed over me until tears started to prick my eyes—I knew I could not hold out much longer. And then, just like that, Ziff stopped all his actions.

    I lay frozen, glancing around, as still as I could manage. Three minutes felt like three years, and I let out a sigh of relief as I heard Ziff’s breathing slow and even out.

    He finally drifting off.

    Thank heavens. I was actually free from him.

    "Whoa!"

    The next morning, I jolted awake on Ziff's couch, curled up like a cat, at the sound of his loud cursing from the bedroom. Still groggy, I rubbed my eyes, disoriented by the noise.

    “What the heck happened here!”

    I coughed a few times, feeling a scratchy throat and that telltale ache of a fever creeping in.

    I had been feeling under the weather for a few days now, and sleeping all night on his couch without a blanket only made it worse.

    Truthfully, I was too scared to go anywhere near Ziff's bedroom last night.

    Who knew what he might have done if he had suddenly woken up?

    “Hey!” Ziff cursed again, so I stumbled unsteadily over to his room.

    There he was, glaring irritably from the bed.

    Yeah, so here was the story: I had tied his hands together with a necktie.

    It had taken every bit of my strength to drag him into the room last night, and just to be safe, I had secured his hands so he would not pull any more crazy stunts.

    “What the heck is this!” He frowned, shaking his bound wrists and looking pretty ticked off.

    “Hey! Don’t tell me you don’t remember?” I groaned, clutching my head as a sharp headache hit me.

    “What happened? Just untie me already—I’m getting annoyed here.” Ziff grumbled, yanking at the tie and shooting me one of his hostile looks.

    “Oh, I don’t want to believe it. Last night you…”

    “What? What did I do?”

    His follow-up question left me at a complete loss for words.

    Goodness. I had been sleeping cautiously with fear last night, while he slept like a rock and could not remember a single thing?

    "Get this thing off me right now," he said, glaring as he held his bound wrists in front of me.

    "By the way, why are your shirt buttons undone?"

    Ziff’s sharp eyes did not miss a thing as he took in my appearance.

    My face heated up, and I had no idea what to say back. I could not even look him in the eye.

    I hated him so much!

    "Wait—hey! How did you end up in my room, anyway?"

    "Ziff, this is too much."

    I finally snapped, grabbing a pillow and smacking him with it repeatedly.

    Last night… Last night…

    Looking at his face, I started hitting him over and over out of sheer frustration. The longer I hit, the harder it was to stop.

    Ziff deflected my blows and finally managed to wriggle free of the tie binding his wrists. He grabbed my wrists to stop my pillow attack.

    "Hey! What’s going on? Can’t we just talk about this!?" he asked, pinning both my wrists down.

    But I did not need my hands alone to get back at him. Without a second thought, I kicked at him furiously.

    "Whoa. That’s way over the line, you plain Jane!"

    Ziff yelped, but I did not care anymore.

    All I wanted was for him to feel some of what I had gone through, lying awake, heart pounding, while he slept soundly, remembering none of it in the morning.

    "I’m getting seriously annoyed, too,"

    he warned, before flipping me under him. I froze mid-swing, shocked.

    The look in his eyes. I still remembered it from last night. It was both intimidating and mesmerizing.

    Yes, it was absurd to think that, but still, here I was, trying my best to gather my wits.

    Ugh! I was so mad.

    "What exactly are you mad about? Unless..." he trailed off, suddenly widening his eyes as he spotted something on the bed.

    He picked it up and held it out for me to see. It was one of my shirt buttons, likely loosened from the force he used last night. I pouted wanted to cry just looking at it.

    "What’s this supposed to mean…?" he asked, but I just started coughing uncontrollably, again and again.

    Finally, I collapsed onto my stomach, gasping, feeling both a sore throat and aching muscles all over. I had zero strength left to move.

    "Wait, do you have a fever, hey!"

    Ziff exclaimed, something I could barely understand as I lay there too exhausted to turn and see what he was doing.

    A moment later, he came back with a damp cloth, carefully wiping my face and neck with a force that could easily break my neck.

    "Your hand…"

    I murmured as Ziff seemed to start slipping his hand under my shirt again,

    moving it higher.

    "Heh~ still conscious, are you?" he chuckled with a straight face, making me glare up at him, annoyed.

    "Want to shower? I’ll help," he said, his eyes glinting playfully.

    Should I smile sweetly and say, ’Sure.’

    Forget it.

    When I did not answer, Ziff seemed to double down on his audacity, planting a light kiss below my collarbone, then brushing one across my chin.

    That was it. I shrieked and began to thrash, as Ziff—the absolute creep—just laughed.

    "Hey…" I tried to protest, but he paid me no mind.

    “Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough.”

    So, I coughed right in his face. It worked...

    He pulled back, staring at me with disgust and moving away.

    "You really know how to ruin a mood," he grumbled, disappearing into the dressing room.

    Soon, he came back with an oversized white shirt and threw it to me before retreating and taking a seat in front of the vanity. Leaning his chin on his hand, he watched me as I struggled to get up from the bed.

    "Change, you’ll feel more comfortable—you’re running a fever, you know..." he drawled, giving me a sweet smile.

    Meanwhile, I paled and was starting to feel unsettled, realizing that Ziff was capable of this kind of behavior. When we first met, he had not been like this at all.

    "Could you just leave, or, better yet, take me back to my apartment?" I tried to sound hopeful, but his only response was a smirk and a slow shake of his head.

    "Ziff…"

    I could feel tears starting to sting my eyes. What had gotten into him?

    "Or I could help you change if you’re too weak."

    "No way! Don’t do this. I’ll change myself—just go outside, please," I said, putting on my pleading face, my hands together as though praying he would have a change of heart.

    "Pretty please…" I added in my most desperate, pleading tone, hoping to appeal to any humanity this demon might have left.

    But he kept up his infuriating, smug smile. I was shedding tears internally, never could I have ever guessed he would turn out like this.

    "Fine. I’ll give you a whole ten seconds."

    "Are you crazy. Ten seconds isn’t nearly enough." I complained, but he seemed beyond listening.

    Ziff turned around and began counting, slowly.

    "One… two… three…"

    "You’re the worst, Ziff!" I shouted, throwing a pillow at his back for good measure.

    Then, I scrambled to change as quickly as possible, terrified that he would swoop in and brazenly do everything for me if I did not. I wondered if anyone had ever told him that he was the scariest perverted in the world.

    "Five… six…"

    "Ziff…" I called, now realizing another problem looming over me like a tornado about to hit.

    "What? Finally changed your mind, and now you want my help?" he asked, turning to find me staring at him, with a troubled face, on the verge of tears.

    "I… I don’t have any spare underwear," I admitted, my cheeks heating up. This year’s flu had to be particularly brutal; I felt so sick.

    "Do you want me to go buy you some again...?" he asked, tilting his head knowingly.

    "I’ve bought it for you last time; what’s one more trip, hah!" He sighed in annoyance, standing up to his full height.

    "Wait, there’s more."

    "Huh, what now? You know you’re really pushing my patience, right!?" He returned to the bed, taking my chin and giving it an exasperated shake like he could not help himself.

    "Um... my period... it’s here. So, would you mind getting some supplies for me?"

    I mumbled, bracing myself for Ziff’s reaction.

    This was bad timing... why did it have to happen now, of all times?

    "Are you serious?" He retorted, his voice sounded tense.

    "You’re not just saying that so I’ll stop messing with you, are you?" He leaned in close to my face.

    S-scary!

    I backed up, shaking my head to show I was completely serious.

    "You’re really the unluckiest charm in my life, you know that?"

    .

    Ziff’s talking…

    I was mortified, wandering the store on the condo’s ground floor with a shopping basket in hand, circling the women’s aisle for what felt like the hundredth time.

    I wanted to smack my forehead as I hesitated in front of the feminine care section, painfully aware of people eyeing me like I was some sort of weirdo.

    No joke—I felt like a criminal who was loitering suspiciously before actually robbing the shop.

    Finally, I grabbed a random package of feminine care goods.

    Why did it had to be this brightly colored, could they not make these things in dark colors, like black?

    And why were so many women staring like I was a creep?

    "Just you wait, Panya. You’ll pay me back for this, with interest." I muttered, making my way to the female underwear section. The same place I had been when I bought her some last time.

    For someone so petite, she was really proportionate. If I had not experienced it myself, I would not believe it.

    Huh, whoa! What am I even thinking right now?

    I slapped my own forehead to snap before continuing on my way to the underwear section. I swallowed.

    The shop employee was doing something in that corner, while also seemingly rearranging the store.

    Why did they decide to rearrange the store now, I really wanted to roar out in frustration, but there was nothing I could do. So, I just brought her pad to check out at the cash register.

    I coughed, avoiding the cashier’s gaze before bolting back up to my apartment after grabbing what I had come here for.

    "Where is it? Hand it over,"

    she stood there, waiting and holding her hand out for the stuff so she could take care of her personal business.

    "Mmm…" I grunted, passing the bag.

    Damn... I could not even meet her gaze right now.

    "Where’s underwear..." she asked, looking up at me with a slightly pitiful expression.

    Did she have any idea how inviting that look of her was? Her usually pale skin flushed all over. Her thin lips were also very red and kissable.

    Even her little upturned nose had this endearing rosy tint.

    "Ziff..."

    "Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked, realizing I had not heard her.

    "Where is my underwear…"

    "Uh… they were out of stock," I said, awkwardly scratching the tip of my nose.

    Why did I suddenly feel shy?

    "Really? Well, what am I supposed to do now?" Her face fell, almost looking like she was about to cry.

    Somehow, that look of helplessness was so cute.

    Especially when she was discouraged and did not know what to do. Whether she was embarrassed, frustrated, or pleading, I found myself enjoying every one of her expressions.

    Normally, I could not stand the tricks other girls pulled, but with her, everything seemed refreshingly different and memorable.

    "I have to wear the same underwear? Cough, cough. What am I going to do? Should I just turn back and forth and wear it like that?"

    "Hey! You ridiculous girl."

    All the sentimental thoughts I had had just a second ago vanished the moment she said that.

    "How can you just say something like that in front of a guy? Are you even a real woman!"

    I had to be completely insane to actually like this girl. Was she really in college? Or did they let some elementary kid skip to university? How could her train of thought be so childish?

    Wait…

    hold on a second

    did I just say I like her...

    My inner revelation was cut short by her voice snapping me back to reality.

    "But it’s true. I don’t have a change of underwear, and now it's stained too, sob!"

    And suddenly, she burst into tears, leaving me to slap a hand to my own head in exasperation.

    What did I ever do to deserve this situation? It was not that I was disgusted by normal girl stuff, but hearing it so graphically was uncomfortable.

    "Oh no, I guess I’ll have to wash it. Ziff, do you have a washing machine in here?" Punya clutched her sanitary supplies against her chest, twisting back and forth as she asked.

    If she were not dealing with her monthly thing, I swear I would have just picked her up and tossed her onto the bed to put an end to this chaos.

    "I already told you, no machine," I said, holding back a smirk as I watched her mull over her next move.

    "Then can I borrow a hairdryer at least? You have one, right?"

    I covered my mouth with my hand. The idea of her sitting alone in the bathroom using the dryer to do something was too funny and embarrassing all at once.

    Then, I had to exclaim in surprise as she stumbled, nearly falling before I instinctively caught her in time.

    "What’s wrong!"

    "I have cramps. Really bad ones. Can't you take me back to my place? I just want to grab a pair of panties and sleep in my own bed, sob."

    Her complaint made me uneasy. I even started picturing her accidentally getting hurt while alone in her apartment.

    With her luck, she could probably hurt herself just reaching for a glass of water.

    "Nope, you’re staying here. If your fever spikes again, who's going to help you?" I scolded her, trying to drag her to bed.

    "But my period just started, and it’s like a burst pipe, sob…"

    What was I going to do next, take a guess...

    Nothing left to do but…

    "Unbelievable! What are you doing, Ziff!" I muttered to myself in disbelief.

    Well, I just…

    sitting in the bathroom, washing Panya’s underwear by hand, that’s all.