Chapter 12

Jade's eyes began to flutter open to the sight of an unfamiliar sight. His head was heavy from feeling so weak. It had been a week since he had gotten wounded but the wound had caused him to gain a fever and fall ill. There was no way he was willing to take himself to a human hospital to deal with his wound and risk himself being caught. At the moment he was not sure what had happened but he could have sworn he was in the hallway a moment ago simply trying to make it back to his room without collapsing.

That's right.. that bartender was.. He thought to himself as he tried to sort out what happened in his head.

After thinking for a moment he began to force himself to sit up and look around. The place was not his and it had a hint of sweetness to the air almost as if the person who lived there had a thing for sweets. It was inviting yet for Jade it gave him an uncomfortable feeling as it brought up many things to his mind that he did not want to think of from his past life. It gave him a sense to tear the place apart that he had to suppress himself from doing.

"You're awake?" Noel asked as he hesitated on stepping into the room after seeing that Jade had finally awoken from his sleep. The bed that the man was resting on was Noel's and he was cautious about how the man would react upon realizing where he was.

"Yes." Jade simply spat out a one worded answer towards Noel without so much as glancing in his direction. It looked as though something heavy was weighing on his mind at the moment causing a shadow to cast over his face.

"Are you hungry? With a fever like that you should at least eat something proper." Noel carefully asked the question because he was worried about how Jade would react. When he thought about how weak the man was though the idea of him alone scared him just as much because he was not sure if the man even understood how to take care of himself in his condition since he had so easily collapsed in the hallway.

"... Yes." There was a slight pause before Jade responded as if he was weighing the option carefully before responding.

He's strangely.. obedient.. Ah! Don't get involved! Noel scolded himself in his mind for pondering over what could have Jade so carelessly responding. It was not like the man to simply agree to things to easily. After a moment of silence while he thought about it he left for the kitchen to finish up on making something to eat for lunch.

The sound of another cooking for him was something that Jade had not heard in a long time. Even in his past life he lived most of his life alone so he did not hear such a thing that often. Last time that someone cooked for Jade was probably when he was a child on earth and his family was still alive and happily caring for him and his sibling. It was something that he missed dearly after things happened. It was not something he wanted to remember so easily because there was no going back to a warm life like that for him. Neither in his past life nor in his current one would he have something like that again. That was something that he swore to himself in his mind that he would never again have.

Jade slowly forced himself to his feet and stumbled towards the kitchen. Standing there while leaning against the wall he watched as Noel fumbled around the kitchen to set the table with some freshly cooked rice soup. It was obvious that him standing there seemed to make the bartender more nervous in what he was doing. Even when the man burnt his finger trying to deal with the food it seemed like he was scared on how to react in the situation while swearing under his breath.

Watching the scene was intriguing in a way for Jade because it had been so long since he'd seen someone trying to kind towards him. At the same time he knew the bartender was scared of him but the fact that he was forcing himself so casually to be kind made him curious. There was no understanding for Jade why the man was willing to go so far for him when he was afraid of him and barely knew a thing about him other than the fact that he was someone who killed for a living.

As he walked over and sat down at the table he continued to watch the strange bartender carefully while he gathered up the food and placed it in front of him with a cold glass of orange juice. It was not something he would have expected from the man but it was somehow inviting. He could not help but want to savor the moment slightly because he felt there would not be another one like it for a long time. Jade did not get warm moments like this in either life he'd been in before and so it was something he wanted to remember in the moment because he felt in the future it would be another warm memory he would just have to suppress and let go of just like the rest of his warm days as a child.

"Well! Time to dig in!" Noel forced a kind smile to his face as he wondered what was wrong with Jade. The man looked troubled about something and would not stop staring at him. It made him slightly uncomfortable but at the same time curious. There was no way he would ask what was on the man's mind, however, because he knew Jade would refrain from answering regardless if he did or not.

While the two of them ate the warm food at the table their lunch was a quiet one. Noel felt in that moment that Jade was strangely calm as if he was enjoying himself for once. It was something he had never seen before when it came to the man who was always cold and aloof about everything.