8. What are You Doing?

"Na, this is Doctor Sven. Going forward, we will be meeting him more often." The brown-haired woman smiled as she introduced the man standing before her in a white suit. The man smiled and bowed, extending his hand to gently pat the head of the little girl who had been staring at him.

"Hello, sweetie, nice to meet you," he said. But before Sven could touch the child, she suddenly screamed hysterically and walked backward, eventually falling to the floor.

"No, don't... don't come closer. I beg you—don't come closer. Let me go... I want to get out of here." The child cried out loudly, causing her mother, who witnessed this, to panic immediately and try to console her. The woman who was her mother knelt beside her.

"Please don't hurt me... I want to go home..." she pleaded.

"Na, hey! Sweetie, calm down. Sweetie, listen, this is mommy. Wake up. This is Doctor Sven, not 'him.' You don't need to be afraid; Doctor Sven won't hurt you. He will help you heal." The woman hugged her daughter with teary eyes. She couldn't stand seeing her daughter scream hysterically every time she saw an adult man in front of her. Her small body trembled intensely, and tears wetted her cheeks. She kept screaming in fear, and the woman held her even tighter in an attempt to soothe her. However, her actions didn't seem to work. Eventually, the woman asked Sven to take off his white suit jacket to try to calm her daughter a bit.

The man complied and removed his jacket, revealing the black shirt he was wearing. This time, the woman succeeded in calming her daughter a bit.

"That's right. Relax, because Doctor Sven won't hurt you. The woman helped her regulate her breathing to calm down, and her efforts worked. The little girl no longer screamed as hysterically as before. However, she still hesitated to approach Sven, and she clung tightly to her mother's clothes.

"I'm sorry, doctor, but my daughter always reacts this way whenever she sees adult men. Especially if they are wearing white suits like the one you have."

"That's alright. In that case, I'll take off my jacket every time we do an examination."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Based on what I've seen, it seems that what's causing your daughter to react like this has something to do with adult men in white suits? If I may ask, what happened? Did she experience abduction or... assault?"

"What's causing it is even worse than that, doctor."

"What?"

Elina opened her eyes. The first thing she felt was the pain in her head that still lingered, and the first person she saw when she regained consciousness was a handsome blonde man sitting there, looking at her with a worried expression. The man instantly got up upon seeing her regain consciousness.

"I'm glad you woke up. Are you okay?" the man asked. Elina remained silent for a moment while she observed him. She felt like she had seen him before, and after some recollection, the man in front of her was the same one she had seen talking with Barbara earlier in the day. It was Dariel.

"I'm fine. But, what happened? Why am I here?"

"I happened to see you almost falling in the hallway earlier. When I helped you, you immediately passed out. So, I asked a doctor to examine you, and I've been waiting here until you woke up to make sure you're okay."

"Thank you for helping me—arghh!" Elina winced in pain. Her head was hurting again.

"What's wrong? Is your head hurting? Let me call a doctor to check your condition." Dariel was about to leave to find a doctor, but Elina stopped him, holding him back.

"No need. I'm fine."

"But you seem to be in so much pain."

"It's just a little pain. I'm okay, so you don't need to call a doctor."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Besides, I don't have the time. I have to go."

"Did you come here to meet someone? I see you're carrying a bag of food."

"I came because my friend is being treated here, and it seems I have to go. He's probably been waiting for me since earlier." Elina edged off the bed. Dariel, who was still concerned, hurried to assist her.

"Let me escort you to your friend's ward. Seeing you like this, I'm afraid you might fall if you walk alone."

"Okay, I'm sorry if I'm causing you any trouble."

"I don't feel troubled at all. Let me help you now." Dariel helped Elina get off the bed, and the two of them left the room together.

*

"So, your friend is being treated here?" Dariel smiled, somewhat surprised. He just didn't expect that it would turn out that the ward where Elina's friend was being treated was right next to Lila's ward.

"Yes, this is the place."

"It's quite a coincidence that my friend's ward is right next door."

"Oh..." Elina simply nodded in response to his statement. In truth, Elina knew that the ward Dariel was heading to was right next to Alvin's ward, which is why she didn't refuse when Dariel intended to escort her to Alvin's ward.

"Alright, since you're here, I'll be going."

"Thanks again."

"I told you it's not a problem." Dariel just smiled at her. For some reason, Elina felt that Dariel's smile reminded her of a boy she had seen before. But she couldn't remember exactly what the boy's face looked like, only that they had remarkably similar smiles.

After saying their goodbyes, Elina walked inside. During their journey, they chatted about light topics and introduced themselves. When she was with Dariel, Elina felt a strange feeling she had never experienced before. She felt safe and comfortable talking to him, a feeling she had never felt with any other unfamiliar man.

"Who is he?" The question came out of Alvin's mouth as soon as the woman entered his ward. Alvin had seen Elina come with another man, and they had talked briefly at the door before parting ways. Seeing Elina with another man, for some reason, made him unhappy.

"It's none of your business," Elina replied bluntly. She then approached the sofa in the room and began to place all her belongings there, busy unpacking everything from her bag.

"He's not your boyfriend, is he?" Alvin looked at her suspiciously.

"Even if he were my boyfriend, what's it to you? It's none of your business either, is it?"

"What?"

"Enough already. Stop meddling in my affairs. Right now, it's better if you eat. I've prepared dinner for you." Elina took a small table that was available and placed all the food on it. She also adjusted the position of Alvin's bed to a half-sitting position. Once everything was ready, she immediately handed him his utensils.

"Are you asking me to eat with my own hands?" Alvin asked, looking at her.

"Of course. Is there something wrong with that?"

"You promised to take care of me, didn't you? Is this how you take care of me?"

"I don't understand what you're saying. I brought you to the hospital, covered all the expenses, brought you clothes, and I've even prepared dinner for you. Is that not enough?"

"Yup!"

"So now what do you want from me? Feeding you? Do you think—"

"Exactly!" Alvin interrupted before Elina could finish her sentence.

"W-what?"

"Is my request not clear enough? I want you to feed me."

"Well, you're more annoying than I thought. Both your hands are perfectly fine. Why should I feed you?"

"Because it's your responsibility. Now, feed me quickly." Alvin opened his mouth. Elina remained silent for a moment, looking annoyed, but Alvin continued to whine, leaving Elina with no choice but to comply with his request. She began to feed Alvin as he wanted.

"You're quite a good cook, aren't you? I didn't make a mistake in choosing a wife." Alvin smiled, showing his innocent face.

"I am not your wife!" Elina retorted angrily.

"From now on, I want you to prepare my meals while I'm sick. Three times a day."

"Why are you so demanding all of a sudden? You're really annoying!"

"You should be following all my requests because I ended up in the hospital because of you!"

"This isn't even worth what you did to me!" Elina grumbled with an increasingly irritated expression. She continued to feed Alvin the food she had prepared.

Maybe you're doing all this reluctantly now, but someday I'll make you do it willingly. Alvin grinned, victorious.

After finishing the meal, Elina quickly cleaned up and placed the dirty dishes back where she had prepared them. Alvin then asked Elina to help him change his clothes. While changing, Alvin always found ways to tease her, and Elina could only express her anger at Alvin's lewd behavior.

After helping him change clothes, Elina guided Alvin to lie down on his bed. She pulled the blanket up to his chest. "Now, go to sleep."

Elina was about to leave, but Alvin immediately grabbed her arm, causing her to pause. "Why are you talking as if you're going to leave me alone?"

"I am going home after this."

"No, I won't allow you to leave. You have to stay here and keep me company. Besides, what if I need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night?"

"Are you kidding me? I can't stay with you. I have to work tomorrow, and do you expect me to sleep on the sofa? Do you want my body to ache from sleeping on the sofa, huh?"

"Who asked you to sleep on the sofa? You can sleep here with me." Alvin shifted slightly, smiling as he patted the bed he was lying on. "We can share the bed and the blanket like last night."

"Y-you're crazy! I don't want to," Elina retorted with a flushed face. She didn't expect to fall into Alvin's trap again. He always found a way to tease her.

"Then, how about you sleep on top of me? I'd be more than happy to hold you tight, so you don't get cold."

"Stop talking like that!" Elina got irritated. Instead of stopping, Alvin continued to tease her, whining for Elina to stay with him there. Once again, albeit reluctantly, Elina acquiesced to Alvin's request to spend the night.

Not wanting to follow his crazy idea of sharing a bed, Elina decided to borrow a pillow and blanket from the nurse. She intended to sleep on the sofa, and as long as she couldn't sleep, Elina kept herself busy by texting Ivana, her friend. They discussed their respective issues.

While Elina was engrossed in texting, Alvin had been chattering and trying to engage Elina in conversation, but she responded lazily. Unbeknownst to her, the night grew later, and Alvin suddenly fell silent without a sound. Elina only realized it after Ivana bid her goodnight to sleep early, as she had to wake up early for work the next day.

Elina placed her phone on the table and shifted her gaze to Alvin, who was now peacefully asleep.

"No wonder he's quiet; he's already asleep," Elina muttered. She then got up from the sofa to turn off the room's light. Elina approached Alvin and adjusted the position of his head when she noticed he was sleeping in an uncomfortable position. "Sleeping like this can give you a sore neck."

After adjusting Alvin's head, Elina fell silent, gazing at his face. Alvin appeared so peaceful when he was asleep like this, and upon reflection, this was the first time Elina had seen Alvin's face in a sleeping state.

"I can't lie to myself, you do have a handsome face, even more so when you're this peaceful, Al. Unfortunately, your lewd behavior and perverted nature are your biggest drawbacks," Elina whispered.

*

"I-I'm tired..." The little girl's voice faltered due to her irregular breathing.

"Just a little more, hang on!" said the boy who was holding her hand. He appeared equally tired from running since earlier. However, not long after, the boy once again pulled the little girl to run with him from behind. The girl was dragged a bit because the boy was running too fast.

"W-where are we going?"

"We're going to a faraway place where he won't be able to catch you." After running as hard as they could, they finally managed to escape from the narrow alley they had been passing through. While running, they occasionally looked back to make sure the pursuer was no longer visible, and it seemed they were now safe because the figure chasing them was no longer in sight.

"I-it looks like he's gone..."

"That's good." Both of them stopped at the side of the road, at the end of the alley. The place was quite crowded, and they felt a bit safer because the person chasing them wouldn't dare to do anything in the midst of the crowd. With heavy breathing, they rested and tried to regain their strength, which had been drained from running since earlier.

"Thank you for helping me. But where are we going now?"

"I'm going to take you to the police station. You said you missed your mom and dad, right? Let's go to the police station. There will be adults there who can help and take you back home."

"Really?" The little girl's face lit up when she heard his words. The boy simply nodded and led her away. He intended to escort the girl he had just helped to the nearest police station, and they were lucky to find that the police station they were looking for was only a few blocks away from where they had exited.

"All right, it's time for us to part ways. I can only take you this far because it's too far, and I've been away from where my parents are for too long. I can't take you all the way there because my parents will be worried about me."

"Can't we go home together? We can play together after we meet our parents." The little girl looked dejected upon hearing his words. The boy had helped her this far, and now he wanted them to part ways.

"We can't." The boy shook his head softly.

"Okay. But, can we meet again someday?"

"I'm not sure if we'll ever meet again."

"Can you promise me something? If we meet again someday, I want you to promise that we'll spend time together and have fun." The little girl raised her pinkie finger, asking the boy in front of her to promise. The boy sighed softly.

"I can't promise you because we may not meet again. My dad says that if I make a promise, I have to keep it, and if we never meet again, it means I can't keep my promise to you."

"Who said we might not meet again? Do you know what fate holds in the future?"

"I don't know, but—"

"If fate doesn't bring us together again in the future, then I'll find you. I'll search for you!"

"How can you find me?"

"I'll find you easily no matter what, because you're bound to me. So promise." The little girl reached out and held his hand. Although he didn't fully understand what the little girl meant, for some reason, he felt unable to refuse her request.

"Okay, I promise." The boy linked his pinkie finger with hers as a sign of their promise.

Alvin opened his eyes when his instincts were disturbed by the two pairs of eyes that had been watching him. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Elina, who was now gazing at him from a very close distance. Elina was taken aback when Alvin opened his eyes and caught her staring at his handsome face.

As she attempted to pull her face back, Alvin restrained her and immediately pulled Elina's body until she almost fell into his embrace, nearly bumping their heads. Elina froze. Her body stiffened with their faces so close to each other, so close that their noses almost touched. Elina became even more flustered when Alvin gazed at her so intensely.

"What are you doing?"

***