Chapter 50 - What's wrong?

"Zeri, how about you hop on my back? I'll carry you," Kira's voice became gentler this time as he coaxed her.

The girl quietly stared at him for a moment. "But I can walk… oh, can you bring me there?" she pointed her finger towards the floor to ceiling window overlooking the breathtaking blue harbor. "I want to swim."

". . ."

Kira closed his eyes. Seriously… you want to swim? And in that harbor at night? Sigh…

"Okay, I'll bring you there. But on one condition, hop on my back and behave." He sternly negotiated, and the girl didn't hesitate to nod.

Kira was surprised that she agreed on this quickly, so he immediately bent forward in front of her.

Zeri didn't waste a moment and climbed up onto the young man's back and hugged his neck with both hands.

Kira carried her out of the building. Upon spotting the car Rei was driving in the entrance, Kira headed towards it. However, as he opened the car door, the girl on his back started to protest.

"No, I don't want to ride a car. There, there, I want to go there." She kept on pointing in the harbor's direction, like a stubborn little kid.

Kira sighed. He can't possibly bring her. What would he do if she really jumps into the water? "You want to go there and yet you don't want to enter the car?"

She nodded.

"Are you seeing me as a horse now?! Do you know how heavy you are?"

Kira shook his head. But in the end, he walked towards the sidewalk and signaled Rei to follow. She wasn't really heavy at all, even though she ate a lot, so Kira just listened to her request. This was actually better, who knows what kind of trouble she'd cause if he didn't give in to her?

Under the dark sky, Kira quietly carried her in his back. The lights on the road were beautiful, and the moon was big that night.

Kira would never have thought that one day, he'd end up carrying a girl on his back while walking on the sidewalk, cars passing them by. He had never even thought about this. What surprised him the most was that this wasn't actually that bad at all. He would've never thought that one day, he would think walking on the sidewalk like this felt a lot better than driving in a luxurious car. He didn't know that simple thing like this wasn't actually that bad.

"Look, the moon is big," she said. Her voice was now a bit weaker. He looked up, and she was right.

"You still look at the sky even when you're drunk, huh?" He smiled, and for some reason, the moon and the sky seemed a lot prettier tonight.

They stood still and looked up for a long while. And then, he felt her little head nodding on his back. He didn't move and waited for her body to go limp. He knew she was dozing off.

He carefully approached the car that was following them.

When they were finally inside the car, Rei was smiling mischievously at him. But Kira just ignored his friend. He was resting his chin on his palm as his gaze was focused outside the window, while Zeri's head was on his lap.

They stayed like that until they were back to the hotel because their helicopter was standing by at the hotel's helipad.

Zeri didn't wake up during the whole flight.

Kira was about to carry her out of the helicopter, but the girl opened her eyes. She was finally awake. Wasn't she supposed to be a sleeping log?

"We're here," Kira said, and the girl blinks before she nodded. She seemed to be a little sober now but still obviously dazed.

Kira followed closely behind her as they entered the elevator since the helicopter landed at his grandfather's company this time.

The girl didn't seem to have any problem at all. However, when the elevator opened and a few businessmen entered, Zeri suddenly moved behind Kira, acting like a terrified puppy as she tried to hide.

Kira's brows creased.

He turned towards her and asked, "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're nauseated!"

But then, the girl didn't respond at all. She just stood frozen, silently hiding in fear as her eyes stared blankly at the floor.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked again as he cupped her face to make her look at him. And to his surprise, the girl looked terrified. He thought that she was drunk, but what was this? This had happened once before. He remembered that time when they both encountered a group of gays, that night and she also acted like this.

"Zeri, look at me, what's going on with you?" Kira was starting to feel uneasy. He didn't like seeing her like this. Seeing her so terrified like this without any reason made it impossible for him to calm down even if he knew that he should.

"Zeri, I'm asking y –" before Kira could even complete his sentence, Zeri suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him.

Kira was dumbstruck. He froze right there letting her squeeze him. He didn't move, and he didn't even notice that the men inside the elevator were all gone.

He only snapped back to reality when the elevator finally reached the first floor.

"Zeri, we're here," Kira said, but the girl didn't budge. He couldn't even bend down to pick her up, because she wasn't budging at all, almost like a stone glued onto him. Without a choice, he held her waist and lifted her up and moved her out of the elevator.

Once they were out, Kira tried to push her away so he could see her face, but the girl was immovable. She stubbornly refused to let go, without even loosening up her grip on him. Her arms around him became even tighter when he tried to push her away. He could feel her clutching his shirt hard as if she was planning to rip it.