Scaredy-cat

"..." 'I really want to laud you for your imaginative power, brother,' Cyril looked at him, stupefied.

"Ehem, there is no need to be scared unnecessarily. If he really wants to kill us, we will deal with it then. For now, let's go inside," Cyril said, walking towards the entrance.

Even though most of the dens in this ward did not have doors, it doesn't mean the doors were something new either.

This den had a door and Cyril could understand the reason.

The dens here are not houses in the outside world. They don't have any calling bells or other 'fancy' facilities.

Cyril just knocked on the door, "Excuse me. Is anyone inside?"

He heard a few utensils falling to the ground and making loud noises before flurrying footsteps walking towards the door.

Cyril did not expect such a huge reaction from whoever was inside and looked at Rian from the corner of his eyes. He then subconsciously took a step backward from the door to be on the safe side.

"Wh… Who is it?" A scared voice came from the other side of the door.

"..." Cyril realized he was scared for nothing. He coughed in embarrassment before replying, "Umm, hello. My name is Cyril. Can I have a word with you?"

"What do you want to talk about?" The man was scared and doubtful of Cyril's intentions.

Cyril could understand that living inside a prison wasn't the safest environment and understood his fears, "Umm, don't worry. We have nothing against you. We just want to have a chat. If possible, we also want to make a deal with you."

"We?" Cyril said so much and yet the man noticed the word 'We' and was stuck there.

"Huh? Oh? I am sorry. I have my roommate, Rian, with me." Cyril forgot to introduce Rian, and this led the man inside to doubt Cyril's intentions even further. Cyril wanted to slap himself for being dumb, as he had forgotten a basic rule in dealing with a scared man.

The door opened lightly, and an eye peeped through the small gap. Once he confirmed that there were only two guests, and they also looked harmless, he opened the door wider.

"Deal? What deal?" The man stuttered as he asked in a soft voice.

"Can we talk inside?" Cyril asked politely.

The man looked at them doubtfully and hesitated.

Cyril did not push him but continued to speak politely, "I know that you are a cook. I just want to talk something about that."

"How do you know that I am a cook?" The man looked even more doubtful now.

"..." Cyril wanted to punch him in the nose for so many doubts. But he did not lose his patience in his face, "I can smell nice food from your home. So, I can guess. Also, I saw the chimney."

'It can't be more obvious, and yet this stupid man was thinking he was hiding everything so well?' Cyril wanted to roll his eyes.

"Huh? Is it that obvious?" The man seemed to realize that it was obvious only now, and it dumbfounded not just Cyril but Rian as well.

"How did you even think it wasn't obvious?" Rian was the one to ask. Unlike Cyril, he wasn't polite at all and rolled his eyes on his face directly.

Rian knew that he wasn't the smartest in the crowd, but this man was even stupider than him.

"Umm," The man did not know how to react. His face was thin and he blushed in embarrassment.

He finally moved to the side and gestured with his hand, "Please come inside."

Cyril continued to smile politely at him, "Thank you."

Cyril and Rian entered the den as they observed the surroundings. It wasn't bigger than their den. The place looked clean but when they saw a place that looked like a kitchen where the man cooked, it was a huge mess.

A huge bowl was on the floor, and the batter was sprawled everywhere.

Cyril understood that the bowl fell when he knocked on the door, and the sudden sound could've startled this scaredy-cat man.

He gave him an apologetic smile, "Sorry. This happened because of our sudden intrusion, right? Do you want me to help you clean it?"

The man shook his hands in the air frantically, "No, no. No need at all. It wasn't your mistake. I was the one who slipped. You don't have to worry. I will clean everything myself."

Rian jumped a step back at the man's frantic actions. He looked really scared that they would mess with his already messy kitchen, and he couldn't help but scoff.

"If you don't want us to help, we won't. Why do you look so scared? It is not like we will forcefully clean your kitchen, right? Do you think we are so free? Look at that messy place. Can we make it more messy by cleaning it? Hmph." Rian did not hold back his tongue at all and spoke his mind out.

Cyril felt a headache coming from Rian's actions. If he continued doing this in front of all his future business partners, he was scared he wouldn't be able to do any business at all.

Did he bring a 'pig teammate' along with him for an important meeting?

The man felt even more embarrassed and shook his hands and head frantically once again, "No, no. I didn't mean that. I am sorry for offending you."

"No, please don't say that. We should be the ones apologizing. Rian always speaks bluntly without thinking too much. Please don't feel offended by his remarks. I promise he doesn't mean anything bad." After saying that, Cyril turned towards Rian, "Rian, please apologize. We are the ones intruding on his place. We shouldn't be cynical."

Rian understood that he had made a mistake and pouted but apologized sincerely, "I am really sorry. I just didn't like it when you were so guarded against us when we came here with friendly intentions. Please don't take my words to heart. Please forgive me."

Cyril was satisfied. He did not expect him to speak so eloquently all of a sudden.