There was an awkward silence. I quickly tried to find stuff to do, reading charts and doing anything really.

I stopped and then turned to Kris, “Why were you on our side that time?”

He looked a bit surprised but then quickly composed himself, “I had research to do. I was looking for someone.”

“I see… How did you become so sick?” I was genuinely curious as to why he would be on our side if his was so beautiful.

He looked down and seemed embarrassed, I got the feeling that he didn’t often feel this way. “I asked the wrong people all the wrong questions,” he said with a slight laugh as he put a hand in front of his face.

“Oh… I see.” I didn’t know how to respond, he still hadn’t give me much to work with.

All of a sudden, he came over and placed his hand on my head and ruffled my hair. “Stop thinking so much, I can feel it all the way over where I was sitting.” He plonked himself down on the chair next to me and looked at me. “You look different from when you are on the screen.”

I stared at him confused. I looked at him, encouraging him to explain further. He shook his head and said in amusement, “Don’t worry about it.”

I looked away while raising eyebrows and widening my eyes in a manner that said that I was not exactly pleased with the answer but that I wasn’t going to fight this battle.

He chuckled and I couldn’t help but be mesmerised by how different he seemed. I couldn’t quite figure him out.

“So, do you have a boyfriend?” he asked casually. He looked down in an uninterested manner. I wager that he was pretending to be preoccupied by other things and didn’t care about my answer.

“No,” I replied shortly. I have no idea where he’s going with this conversation. I was simply here to help Tzuyu, why does he want to know about me?

“Restaurant or picnic or street food?” he asked suddenly.

“Street food or picnic, depending on how I feel,” I answered feeling more confusion work its way into my brain. Not only were his questions weird but I had no idea why I was answering him.

“Hmmmm, I bet that you love home-cooked meals.” His eyes narrowed as if to scrutinize me.

“Even if I do, what’s it to you?” I asked.

“You should know that when I really like something. I spend a lot of time understanding it,” he said with a playful smirk. 

That statement didn’t sit well with me, I wasn’t a ‘something’, I was a human with – I can’t believe that I thought he was talking about me. I shook my head to clear it. I’m just being conceited. Or delusional… Take your pick. By the time, I had gotten back to reality Kris had already left.

Noticing that I was alone in the room with only Tzuyu didn’t sit well with me. I was in a new environment with nobody else and nothing to do.  I took a deep calming breath and placed my hand palm down onto the door handle. I opened the door, poked only my head out and checked one side and then the other. I put one foot out and placed it outside the door. Nothing happened. No alarm bells or people in black suits running towards me.  Okay, so I guess they weren’t that keen to lock me in.  I straightened my back and walked out the room, closing the door behind me.

Now what? I didn’t know where to go. With the lack of adrenalin pumping in my blood, I could feel hunger start to set in. Walking a little along the passage, I was struck with the sudden aroma of warm food. Swallowing, I followed my nose to the kitchen. To my surprise, Kris was cooking. He had an apron on and a wooden spatula in hand. He turned around and gave me a smile.

“I was wondering when you’d pitch,” he said jokingly.

My eyes widened, where had this guy come from? I mean he didn’t speak very formally but the word ‘pitch’ threw me off. I suppose the whole image was wrong to me.

He looked at me and his small smile widened to show teeth, “Speechless? I hear men in aprons are y.”

I giggled and then full-out laughed. “Right, you can keep telling yourself that if you feed me,” I bargained.

“Hmmm… I feel like I’m losing out in this deal,” he said mock-seriously.

“I can help set up the table and clean up if you tell me where stuff is,” I offered.

“Left top cupboard and the drawer here. You can set up through this glass door,” he indicated each place and nodded towards the garden outside.

I hadn’t taken note of it when I first walked but now that I had seen it I couldn’t help but stare. It was a beautifully kept garden with a green lawn and flowers that bloomed with various colours. I smiled lightly and gently opened the door.

I explored for a little while before hurrying back to set up the table. Before Kris brought out the food, he placed candles and a flower arrangement.

I raised my eyebrows at him and he said, “I have been taught that ambience is everything.”

“I believe the food is most important,” I responded.

He laughed and went to bring out the food. It all smelt foreign but amazing and looked rather different to what I was used to seeing.

He saw the confusion on my face and explained, “If I am correct some foods and recipes were lost on your side. Therefore, this will probably be a bit unlike to what you are used to but I assure you that it’ll still taste just as good if not better.”

I blinked at him as he took off his apron and put it on the side. He then proceeded to pull out one of the chairs and indicated that I should sit.

The food tasted just as heavenly as it had smelt. I had started out eating with caution but threw that out the window the more I ate. I heard a laugh and looked up to find that although I was concentrating on the food, Kris was focussed on me. I blushed. I wasn’t a messy eater but anyone would be embarrassed if someone was staring at them that intently while you were eating!

“It’s quite delicious,” I said with as much eloquence as I could muster. Gently dabbing the corners of my lips with a napkin.

Kris laughed at me, “Would like some more?” He half stood up and reached out to take my plate.

“No, no I’m quite alright,” I replied. For some arb reason, I felt that I had to present my side of the border. I couldn’t make it seem like we were starving or had a lack of such flavourful food.

The atmosphere grew awkward after my response. It was as if both of us were reminded about how different our circumstances were. Thoughts raced through my mind as to how to fix this situation. Kris cleared his throat and said, “How does dessert sound to you? I’m told that I make a mean sugar delicacies.”

“That sounds pretty good!” I said with extra enthusiasm. I was a sweet tooth, completely and utterly a fan of sweet things but not too sweet.

He chuckled as both moved to get up. I packed away the leftovers and put the dishes in some strange looking container that supposedly washed dishes; Kris had disappeared as I was putting them back to their rightful places.

With nothing to do, I walked outside and this time I looked up to see the stars. They were the same as when I saw them from my window at home. Home. I missed the familiar surroundings. Everything here was too alien to me, the smell, the things that I saw even the air felt lighter. However, there was something out of place here; there was a sense of suffocation despite the lightness.

I heard footsteps and saw Kris with a plate of pretty looking cakes. He then grabbed my hand and led me deeper into the garden till we got to a tree. The grass was soft and gentle as I sat down. “You see over there?” Kris pointed at a distant light. “That’s the border, we actually live quite close to it.” I nodded to show that I had been listening.

The evening was spent with him telling me stories of the mischief he got up to and the various things that he enjoyed. We laughed amiably and truly relished each other’s presence. The casual mood was broken when a black suited man came up to us. “The lady is awake,” he reported monotonously.