14 14_

Ji Haishan eyed the dishes in front of him. Bai Yulin had started to dig in and she didn't mind her manners at all. She looked so comfortable and not sexy like those pretentious woman who ate just a bite and then put down their fork.

She continued to eat and sometimes she hummed in approval, praising her own food and giving some criticism to improve the next time. She just commented on and on as if Ji Haishan wasn't there.

Ji Haishan didn't notice how his eyes weren't on the food anymore as he stared at the person in front of him. He saw his own face yet he could see every foreign expression that he could never make in a lifetime.

It made him feel strange..

It was as if what he saw wasn't himself anymore. Everything that this person did wasn't from his own action. It was someone else. It was Bai Yulin.

"Not going to eat? It's delicious I assure you." Bai Yulin put down her chopsticks and looked at the silent man. Her next two sentences garnered him a scowl.

"There's no poison, I promise. If that's what you're afraid of."

"I'm not afraid of that." he denied. He really didn't think of that!

And it surprised him a lot to not think about poisoning, to be exact. Because he was always careful of such thing ever since he went into ER due to his coffee being poisoned once a few years ago.

His heart stopped beating after drinking a few sips and he was barely saved because the doctors took quick action. Ever since then, he never touched food from strangers. He only believed his own cooking and the ones his assistant bought for him in which wasn't that delicious, in his opinion.

"Come eat before it gets cold!" Bai Yulin urged Ji Haishan again as she gave him an assuring laugh.

There was a cream stew with vegetables and also sliced bacon. Bai Yulin also made some pumpkin soup for Ji Haishan's recovery. She loved eating pumpkin soup whenever she was sick on bed so she thought he could try out some. After all, it was her body.

After a few more minutes of scrutinizing, Ji Haishan took the chopsticks and he began eating. His first bite was delicious and he almost wanted to compliment her. He first thought that only his cooking could be acceptable. And even those food from five stars restaurant tasted bland on his tongue.

He expected the same for Bai Yulin's mediocre dishes yet that wasn't the case.

The cream stew was evidently yummy and he secretly wanted to learn how to make it from Bai Yulin. Once he took a spoonful of pumpkin soup and brought it to his mouth, Ji Haishan felt rejuvenated. It was delicious!

It was just simple food yet it managed to make him feel better.

Then, without noticing, his eyes began to water.

Bai Yulin, who was staring at him from a while ago noticed his changes of expression. She was surprised and she asked him what was wrong with the food.

Ji Haishan didn't realize his own expression which showed deep sadness and anguish. He only noticed it when a single streak of tears slowly fell down on his cheek.

He was stunned. Did he just cry..?

He quickly covered his own face and masked his expression.

Oh no.. he accidentally showed his weak side to another person.

This was unacceptable.

It was wrong.

It was a miscalculation.

Ji Haishan immediately got up and he disappeared in a flash after telling her that he lost his appetite. He was no longer seen in a blink of an eye as he stepped into the bedroom and locked himself inside.

Bai Yulin wasn't blind. She saw exactly what happened.

But.. to think that a powerful man like Ji Haishan tearing up at the expense of eating her food.. wasn't that strange?

It wasn't normal.

It shouldn't happen, right?

Bai Yulin finally steered away from her own dazed state as she walked up to the bedroom, knocking on the door.

"Ji Haishan? Hey, are you okay?" she was worried.

"Is there something wrong with the food? Was it too spicy?" Bai Yulin pursed her lips when there was no response from the inside.

She thought back to the image she saw earlier. The sad expression of her own face.. unexpectedly made her heart ache. She instantly knew that that wasn't her. It was really someone else. It was Ji Haishan's feelings leaking out.

But why..?

Why suddenly..?

Bai Yulin became troubled. She knew she wasn't in the position to inquire. She would make him uncomfortable but she was also curious. She was worried.

After a while, she took a few steps away from the door and heaved up a heavy sigh. Why was she so caught up with it anyway? It was his problem, not hers.

She should not give a damn.

Bai Yulin decided to continue eating and she walked back to the dining table. But she couldn't stop herself from taking a glance over the closed door, muttering his name a few more times.

*

Inside the room, a woman's figure was seen sitting on the bed with her hands clutching on her hair. She tugged a few more strands of hair as if frustrated.

"Goddamnit.." Ji Haishan let out a sigh.

He never thought a woman's constitution could be so fragile not only physically but also emotionally.

He let his guard down.

He was so stupid.

He was so caught up because he now lived in a woman's body. A simple dish could make him reminisce about the past.

A past that he so wanted to keep but couldn't.

A past that kept him tormented due to regret and guilt.

And also a past that made him hate a creature called 'woman'.

Ji Haishan sighed again the second time as he looked up to the ceiling. His eyes were dimmed and even though they were now green- they weren't sparkly like usual. Not a trace of the supposed emerald stone inside those painful-colored eyes.