Unexpected Guest

After Jaxon left, Ayan quickly freed his hands and legs, the ropes slipping off easily after a few tries. Looking back to what had just happened, he found the whole situation rather bizarre.

'How did Jaxon manage to follow my speed and pinpoint my location so accurately?' Ayan wondered.

He hadn't even brought up the earlier incident, even though he clearly knew Ayan was one of the culprits. It all felt off—almost like Jaxon was more interested in sharing more about the organization than trying to capture him.

'Why knock me out and tie me up if he wasn't planning to turn me in?' Ayan thought, puzzled. 'I thought he was exposing me to get punished for the incident or something, but he didn't even ask too many questions—just talked about that organization as if he's trying to recruit me.'

Annoyed, he muttered to himself, "Damn, Jaxon. Did you really knock me out and tie me up just to intimidate me? Can't we have a normal conversation?"

He sighed. "There must be a lot of restrictions in being under the contract of such a secretive organization. I need to figure out more about them before jumping into this contract or the exam."

Ayan looked at the still-burning fire, and he grumbled, "He didn't even bother to put out the fire. Seriously, he could've easily caused a forest fire!"

As he went to extinguish the fire, something caught his eye—an unopened can of instant noodles left beside the fire. "He's at least sensible enough to leave some food for me," Ayan said, stroking his belly.

He opened it to find a plastic spoon, some seasonings, and dry noodles inside. He decided to cook the noodle but he realized he didn't have water. He went to a nearby river, filled the can with enough water, added the seasonings, and heated it using the flames. Once the noodles were cooked, he enjoyed his meals and started heading home afterward.

Rumble

After walking for some minutes, Ayan felt a sudden churn in his stomach, followed by a large borborygmus. Realizing the situation, he quickly ducked near the bushes to relieve himself.

But the relief was short-lived. As he continued his journey, the irritation in his stomach returned, forcing him to stop again and again to relieve it.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath. "That old bloke. It's definitely his work. What the hell did he put in the noodles? That also without opening the can?"

He trudged onwards, despite the frustration, his pace slowing as he dealt with his stomach's rebellion.

-----

Ayan finally arrived home in the late afternoon, exhausted and relieved.

As he entered his house, he noticed an extra pair of unfamiliar shoes outside. Curious, he went inside to see who the new visitor was. He noticed a woman wearing a yellow-colored jacket and jeans pants sitting on a chair in the dining room with a cup of tea in her hand, eating a millet flatbread. As he got closer, he was shocked to find that she was Sonia, the blonde woman that he saved from drowning.

She turned around and, seeing his shocked expression, chuckled softly. "Hello there," she greeted, her voice warm but with a strange accent that made her words sound foreign to him.

Though her accent was unfamiliar to him, he understood her words. But, instead of replying, he went to the kitchen.

Aunt Tsering, busy turning a flatbread, noticed him and shot him a sarcastic glance, "Well, look who finally decided to come home. What were you doing all day since the morning?"

Ayan scratched his head, offering a sheepish grin, "I went around the forest searching for a place with a better network signal... got too carried away and went a bit too far so it took a long time to return."

Displeased, Aunt Tsering sternly asked, "How can you get carried away so easily? And you went deep into the forest all alone again, right? (Sigh). And I suppose you haven't eaten anything since this morning?"

"I ate some wild berries on the way," he mumbled.

She sighed, shaking her head, "The food from the morning's already cold. I'll prepare some fried rice from it and heat the vegetables for you."

Ayan nodded before asking "By the way, who's that lady in our house?"

She replied, "Oh, she's one of the foreign visitors in the village. We met at the local market, had a nice chat, and I invited her over for tea. She must be bored sitting there alone. Keep her company while I finish here."

"But you told me to avoid the foreigners, right?" Ayan questioned.

Aunt Tsering handed him a cup of tea, looked at him, and said in a low voice, "When did I ever tell you to avoid them? I only told you not to show your abilities. It's rude to avoid guests so go greet her and have some talk."

With a sigh, Ayan returned to the dining room, tea in hand. He placed it on the table, sat opposite Sonia, and greeted, "Hello, Aunty."

Hearing his greetings, Sonia's mouth twitched almost choking on the tea. "Don't call me Aunty. I'm just a few years older than you. Call me sister Sonia, ok?"

Ayan smiled awkwardly, "Alright, sister Sonia."

"That's much better," she replied with a grin. She opened her bag and took out a few chocolates and a packet of cookies. "Here, these are for you."

Seeing the packaged foods, Ayan's expression became strange as he remembered his morning ordeal.

Looking at his expression, Sonia asked, "What's wrong? You don't like them."

Before Ayan could respond, Aunt Tsering came in placed a plate of flatbread in front of him, and said, "Why are you so lacking in manner today? You should accept the gifts when a guest offers it."

Seeing Aunt Tsering's stern gaze, he hurriedly stood and accepted the gift, "Thank you, sister Sonia," he said. Then, suddenly…

Blrrrrrrrrrrrrrt

The sound of a loud fart sounded. Feeling the familiar sensation in his stomach, Ayan hurried to the restroom. Both Sonia and Aunt Tsering exchanged a look, their mouths twitching due to the unpleasant smell.

Aunt Tsering hurriedly apologized as she opened all the windows, "I'm so sorry! He didn't eat properly this morning, he must've eaten some rotten fruits in the forest disturbing his stomach."

'Damn, brat. That's very nasty of you.' Sonia grumbled internally but politely responded with a forced smile, "It's okay…. I'm sure he didn't do it intentionally."

A few minutes later, Ayan came out and directly went to his uncle's room, taking an OTC medicine for diarrhea, and slipped an ORS packet into his pocket.

Returning to the dining table, Ayan apologized to Sonia avoiding her gaze, "I'm sorry about earlier. I'm… not feeling well today."

Sonia gave him a sympathetic nod, "No worries. Just take care of yourself."

The room fell into an awkward silence, as both of them focused on eating their flatbread and the tea. After a few minutes, Sonia leaned forward and spoke softly, her tone more serious than before. "Do you want to go somewhere private to talk, Mr. Savior?"

Ayan's heart skipped a beat. It was clear now—she knew who he was. And her visit to his house was no coincidence after all.

Sonia loudly spoke, her voice cheerful, "Why don't you show me around your house?"

Aunt Tsering chimed in, "You should show her the art collection that you're so proud of."

Ayan nodded, gesturing for her to follow. "Alright. Please come this way, sister Sonia."

His room was simple—just a bed, a table, a chair, and a closet. But what stood out were the walls, decorated with hanging, hand-drawn, realistic paintings. Sonia scanned these high-quality drawings, clearly impressed. The drawings depicted a tiger hunting in a forest, a group of orangutans fighting, beautiful flowers, a tree with strangely shaped fruits, and a partially drawn portrait of a beautiful woman with striking blue eyes.

As she admired the artworks, Ayan hurriedly closed all the doors and windows. Sonia was amused watching his actions.

"So," Ayan asked seriously, "What do you want to talk about?"

Sonia smirked, "Oh, now you want me to talk? Weren't you the one who practically pounced on me like a ghost in the middle of rock climbing?"

Ayan sighed, his face clouded with guilt, "I wanted to apologize to you… about the incident in private."

Sonia rolled her eyes playfully. "Really? who in their right mind would suddenly appears out of nowhere on a hill aclove just to apologize?"

She suddenly sat on his bed, crossed her legs, and stared into his eyes.

"I know what you did before too. Your friend Dawa came by this morning. He apologized for the incident with the bridge, claiming that all of this was his own doing. He said you were only dragged into this because he forced you," Sonia continued while giving him a sarcastic glance.

Ayan's heart sank. He understood that she believed he forced Dawa to apologize to her and take the blame. He cursed internally, wondering what Dawa had said to her.

Sighing, Ayan lowered his head and apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you… this morning and… also that day. I should've taken more safer approach."

Sonia took a deep breath, her expression softening. "Look, at the end of the day, everything's alright. Anyways, you had saved me from drowning as well as healed my hand. I won't expose you both for your actions but you'd better stop doing these harmful pranks."

Ayan looked up, surprised. "Does that mean you forgive us?"

"For now," she replied, "But that doesn't mean you can mess with others even if you have superhuman-like powers."

She leaned back, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "Honestly, I still can't believe it. A guy like you with such incredible abilities, yet still unknown to the world. You should go to the city areas where you can get a lot of opportunities because of your special abilities."

Ayan stayed silent, lost in thoughts.

Sonia stood up, her demeanor back to casual, "Now if you don't have anything else to talk about, can I go out?"

Snapping out of his reverie, Ayan hurriedly opened the door and replied, "Sure."

As they were leaving, Sonia glanced at the paintings again. "By the way, your drawings are superb. Did you really make all of those?"

Ayan eyes brightened, "Yeah! I mostly used basic pencils and available normal colors, but I try to make them as realistic as possible."

Sonia was intrigued, "Did someone teach you?"

Ayan responded in a proud manner, "No. I learned watching video tutorials and reading articles online, practicing by myself to get to this point."

Sonia spoke with a tinge of jealousy, "With these skills, you can easily become a renowned artist if you get a better platform and connections. You can easily make hundreds of dollars just from one of these paintings. These can especially go viral if you get the right viewers on social media or at an art fair or exhibition."

She paused, staring at him as she thought, 'If only you were a few years older. Ah! What am I thinking!'

"If you don't mind me asking, who was that lady in that unfinished painting?" she teasingly asked.

Ayan hesitated before responding, "I have drawn a lot more but the ones hanging on the walls are those that I drew based on my dreams."

Sonia's playful grin widened. "Oh! So, she's your lady from the dreams. Then, why didn't you complete it?"

Ayan's gaze turned distant. "My dreams… they come in bits and pieces, sometimes repetitive. In the morning, I can remember the story but only a few things are vivid enough to draw. I don't know where I saw her in the dream or the story associated with it. I only vividly remember her blue eyes."

Sonia tilted her head, intrigued. "A mysterious girl, is it? Don't tell me you want to search for her in the real world?"

Ayan suddenly looked into her eyes intensely and then stayed silent. Noticing his reaction, Sonia felt like she had unintentionally spoken his thoughts but decided to stay silent.

Sonia picked up her bag and bade farewell to Aunt Tsering. "Thank you so much for the hospitality," she conveyed warmly. She was going to say parting words to Ayan when he suddenly clutched his stomach and ran to the restroom, leaving both the ladies to burst into laughter.