Surprisingly, Sei didn't wake up just before dawn. It was the first time he had ever slept for that long. He had always been the kind of strange creature who liked competing against the sun as to who would be the first one to rise. And for the first time in forever, the sun finally took its long awaited victory.
As Sei woke up, he lifted his eye mask and his gorgeous brows knitted straight away as he was a bit confused and very surprised the moment he saw the bright sunshine piercing through the glass window.
He was about to rise when he felt a weight on his arm.
Realizing that his wife was still sleeping, he quietly removed his sleeping mask and slowly reached out his hand, grabbing his day mask from the table.
After a moment, he gently lifted her head but to his surprise, the girl suddenly opened her eyes in the process.
"Good morning," she said and after almost three seconds, Sei could only nod. He then let go of her and jumped off the bed right away while the girl was still yawning and stretching like a cute little kitty cat.
…
The moment Sei stepped out of the master's bedroom, a large face abruptly appeared in front of him.
"Heh, what did you two do last night that you actually woke up this late for the first time ever? Wait, wait, wait. Don't tell me… did you guys do it? Did you? Did you?" Zaki's eyes were almost bulging out. His face was too close, almost crashing into Sei's face, causing Sei to suddenly put a palm on his face and mercilessly push him away.
Ignoring the man like thin air, Sei just walked towards his study room as if he didn't hear him at all.
"Hey, don't ignore me! Wait, but… no response means 'yes', right? Whoah, Sei! Should I expect to become an uncle soon---?"
The sound of a door slamming clamped Zaki's mouth shut. However, his mischievous smirk didn't fade even though he could already tell that nothing really happened between the two. Zaki was just enjoying teasing Sei while he was still in his so called human mode. He knew that once the guy changed back to his usual monster mode, he would not be able to tease him like that anymore.
Minutes later…
Sei, dressed majestically like he was about to meet another being as terrifying as him, stepped out of his study room.
Davi who was about to call him for breakfast, couldn't say a word upon seeing him dressed as though he was about to walk onto to the red carpet meant for powerful royals.
She was flustered and silenced by his seemingly magical looks. Thankfully, after more than three seconds, she was finally able to talk. "Breakfast is ready."
Sei was about to answer her when Zaki abruptly spoke from behind Davi. "Ah, young miss… you can go ahead. We'll follow soon."
Upon hearing him, Davi just nodded at him and took one last glance at the masked man before quietly walking away.
Only when the back view of the girl could no longer be seen did Zaki quickly sidle up next to the masked man.
"Are you thinking about leaving without eating breakfast, despite your wife's invitation? Are you going to leave her to eat alone? To sit by herself at that dull huge long dining table of yours? I mean, she's all alone right now. Where's your heart, you frozen l…" Zaki couldn't continue his heartbreaking speech that was meant to force Sei to eat first before leaving because the man already brushed past him, leaving him like he was nothing. As he walked towards the kitchen, Zaki almost skipped with happiness.
Truth was that, upon seeing him already dressed, Zaki knew that he already planned on leaving right away. So he knew he had to try and coax him to at least eat breakfast first.
But of course, more than half of the reason why he was desperately trying to force Sei to eat was because Zaki just saw that Davi was making his favourite dish for breakfast. He fell in love at first taste with Davi's cooking the moment he tasted the hotpot she cooked for Sei yesterday. He and YiJin actually devoured all the leftovers like starved men the moment Sei left, quietly thanking the gods for not bestowing upon Sei, a normal sense of taste.
....
After breakfast…
Sei immediately got up and headed for the door. Noticing his unusual hastiness, Davi walked beside him, mimicking his current pace, as they headed towards the entrance.
"When will you back?" she asked. The masked man answered her with just one word. "Tomorrow."
Somehow, Davi felt really glad that he wasn't leaving for a long time. One reason was that, Davi was afraid that the familiarity she established with him would be hard to maintain if he disappears again. Worse than that, she noticed that whenever he eventually came home, it was as though the thick frozen barrier around him, that she was working so hard to soften, would be back to its original, frosty thickness again. Everytime this happened meant that she would need to start from scratch again.
"Oh--- I see." Davi nodded as she smiled at him pleasantly, as though his single-word response just made her exceptionally happy.
Seeing the girl's unbelievably bright eyes and dazzling face, Sei thought it might be because she had such a good sleep last night. She even seemed to be the reason why he himself slept for so long.
An experience that, for him, only happens once in a blue moon.
Thinking about it, Sei halted and faced her, making Davi look at him with curious eyes.
"About what I said yesterday, I meant it. You can go and do what you want."
Sei's words caused Davi to blink three times. Then another bright smile broke out from her pretty face. "Mm. I'll do my best!" she said in a tone filled with energy and determination.
"Good." Sei put his big hand on Davi's head for a while, before he turned to leave.
The moment Sei's hand left her head, Davi subconsciously raised her hand and played with her hair he just touched. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. It was because every time Sei did that to her, she felt as though Sei was becoming a warm, less frozen person. It was as if, his icy voice, his cold, mysterious aura and the deafening silences, all melted away every time she felt the warmth of his hand.
To her, his warm hand was a powerful ball of energy. She was smiling at that moment and she decided that she should do what needed to be done and chased after him.
Just before Sei stepped out of the entrance, he heard the approach of fast and light footsteps so he turned his head back. To his surprise, the girl suddenly pulled his hand, turning him around, tiptoed, then kissed him near his lips and ran away in a flash without looking back.
Sei stood there for a moment, motionless and puzzled at the same time, as he watched Davi's disappearing silhouette. He was wondering why she always ran away every time after she kisses him.
…
"Hohoho, another flash kiss, huh. How sweet." Zaki's annoying voice reached Sei, the moment he entered the car.
Thinking he could tease him again, Zaki was about to continue talking when Sei dropped a loaded bomb on him.
"We're late," he said. And those two words instantly clamped Zaki's mouth shut for a pleasingly long time as he focused himself on driving as fast as he could.
But some time later, the bomb slowly dissipated and he started to talk again.
"Ugh! I wonder how high the intensity of that old man's anger will be when we arrive."
Zaki already removed his mask a while ago, so at that moment, his pale face showed nothing but wariness. A face which showed that they were about to head into a certain deadly devil's den.
"Intensity 6," answered Sei, while quietly focusing on his laptop.
"Huh? It may look intensity 6 to you but to me, it's intensity 10. You get it? Ah, how about you go alone?" Zaki's voice became louder, as if he was getting more nervous the closer they got to their destination.
However, Sei's lack of answer told Zaki that his request was impossible. Sei ignored him as though this worried persona that Zaki was showing him, wasn't serious at all. And, of course, he was right. Zaki gritting his teeth like scaredy cat was not real and most of his expressions were all an act. He simply enjoyed acting like this.
The car soon went through a huge gate and countless large and small containers surrounded them as far as the eye could see, while numbers of huge cargo ships towered over them, not too far away. As Zaki drove through the huge port, he opened his oh, so talkative mouth again.
"Ah, but isn't this your fault?" he said, even though the man beside him appeared to be ignoring him. But of course, Zaki still continued.
"If only you woke up early as usual, then we wouldn't… But if you did wake up early, I surely would have missed out on that food. Ah, that food was really---,"
"Shut up."