7 – Sharing Tasks  

"From today onwards, you stay at home," Troy ordered as he set the food on the dining table.

"Why? Am I bothering you if I go to the restaurant?" Rose asked.

"You'd be exhausted in the restaurant if you just sat and waited for me," Troy replied.

"Then, what should I do while at home alone? I'm not sick anymore. Can I walk around here alone?" the girl asked.

"No," said Troy.

Rose frowned. "Why?"

"What if you get lost in the forest and pass out?" call Troy.

Rose snorted softly. "It will not happen."

Troy looked at Rose, then remembered the people he'd seen on the village border road earlier on the way home. There were at least four people in black suits who he didn't recognize standing on the village border road. Until Troy confirms the men are harmless, Rose must not appear in front of them. In fact, Troy had to hit Rose's head on the dashboard in an attempt to hide Rose.

"Stay home and focus on your health," Troy emphasized. "You have to remember who you are so you can go home. Don't you want to go home?"

Rose turned away.

"Actually, I need you to help me take care of the house," Troy reasoned.

Rose looked back at him. "What do you mean?"

"You know I work from morning to night, but I still have to clean the house. Honestly, it's tiring. So, if you can help me, I think we can share the work. How about it?" bargained Troy.

Rose looked thoughtful. "If that so … it doesn't matter, then. You should be honest if you need my help, why did you bother use the excuse that I'm going to be exhausted?"

Troy cleared his throat. "Sorry. I feel bad just asking patients for help."

Rose glared disapprovingly. "I'm not a patient."

"Now I know that." Troy smiled. "Thank you in advance."

Rose sighed. "Okay. We will share the work."

Troy nodded in relief. "By the way, can you cook?" he asked. "James said that even if you lose your memory, it doesn't affect your ability to carry out daily activities."

"Oh, that … I don't know. I haven't tried cooking since I lost my memory, so I can try first." Rose smiled. With doubt.

Troy hesitated too. "You want to try cooking now? I can help you."

"Oh, of course!" said Rose cheerfully. Too carefree.

Troy was thinking, looks like he just made a mistake. For some reason, he suddenly thought like that.

***

Cook? Ha! Of course Carol could do it. How hard is it to turn on the stove and add spices?

"I've got eggs in the fridge," Troy told her as they went into the kitchen. "Do I need to go shopping?" he asked.

Carol shook her head. "We can make a lot of dishes out of eggs."

Troy nodded. "Looks like you can really cook if you know something like that."

Wrong. Carol remembered that what the cooking teacher she hired told her when she joined the orphanage at a charity event. At the event, they made various kinds of food from eggs. Starting from egg rolls, fried rice wrapped in eggs, to cakes and ice cream.

Carol considered which one was the easiest of the options. She remembered that her hand was injured when slicing the egg roll. That means an easy and safe option is fried rice wrapped in egg. She just needs to fry the rice and arrange it wrapped in egg.

Troy laid some eggs on the kitchen table. "How many eggs do you need?" he asked.

"Everything you have," said Carol.

"All of it?" Troy looked worried.

Carol laughed as she waved her hand. "I'm just kidding. I think two will suffice." The rest is for backup in case it fails later. After all, Carol can get her own in the fridge later.

"Okay." Troy slid two eggs near the stove, then returned the rest to the fridge. His expression was doubtful.

Carol snorted in disbelief. In all his life, no one ever doubted his ability. Well, cooking was a bit of a thing she couldn't do.

"I'll wait here if you need help," Troy said as he sat down on the kitchen chair.

Carol nodded. All right, the thing she had to do now was … turn on the stove. It's not difficult. Carol turned on the stove and nodded in satisfaction. Next … looking for ingredients to cook.

Carol took the rice from the rice cooker and transferred it to a plate. Then, she prepared a frying pan and placed it on the stove. Oil. Carol is looking for oil.

"You'd better take the frying pan off the stove first and turn it off," suggested Troy.

Carol woke up. The order is wrong. Carol grabbed the frying pan reflexively with both hands.

"Careful, it's hot!" cried Troy.

However, too late. Carol's left hand that touched the edge of the frying pan instantly burned. Even so, Carol acted like it was all right and took the napkin. At that moment, Troy grabbed her hand, making the napkin in her hand fall. The man pulled Carol into the sink and splashed her hands with water from the faucet.

"Are you okay?" the man asked.

"I'm fine. Don't exaggerate," Carol said awkwardly.

Troy snorted and looked at Carol. "Can you really cook?"

Carol cleared her throat. "I just… don't really remember," she reasoned.

Troy sighed. "Then forget it. You don't have to cook."

"I am alright. I only …"

"Wait." Troy frowned, then his nose. "You don't smell burnt?"

"Ha?" Carol hasn't even cooked yet. What's burnt?

Troy turned to the stove, Carol turned to look too. Carol's eyes widened when she saw the flames on the stove. The napkin that had fallen on the stove caught fire.

Troy immediately ran to the stove, dropped the burning napkin on the floor, then doused it with a jug of water on the kitchen counter. The man then looked at Carol with an expression of disbelief.

"You ... almost cooked the whole house," he said.

Carol cleared her throat. "It seems so."

Troy just snorted in amusement, which made Carol feel even worse. Thinking back a moment ago, she almost made Troy lose his home.

***

After cooking and accompanying Carol to lunch, Troy returned to the restaurant. However, he couldn't stop thinking about the girl. The girl was more than capable of accidentally setting his house on fire. At least, it ensures one thing; she is no longer a patient. Apart from memory loss, she seems to be fine now.

Before going to the restaurant, Troy stopped at the village border to check. The suspicious men in suits were no longer there. Looks like they're gone. Troy must quickly find out who they are and determine whether they are dangerous or not.

On the way to the restaurant, Troy calls Ricki. When the phone was picked up, Troy heard a scream of pain. However, he knew it wasn't Ricki or Jun's voice.

"You guys beat people up?" demanded Troy. "Who is that poor fellow?"

"Drunkard who like to mess up," Ricki replied. "Yesterday he suddenly intercepted Jun and beat him up, almost stabbing him. So we brought him home to be taught a lesson."

Troy sighed. "Fix it without attracting attention, then come here. There's an assignment for you."

"Was there an attack?" Ricki sounded worried.

"I'll tell you later." Troy then hung up. He looked around, once again checking if the suspicious people were gone, then he left.

***