My Long Lost Mate

"Where do you think you are going?" his hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer, "Do you think you can just leave after what you did?" 

"W-why can't I?" I leaned my body backward, trying to add the distance between the two of our bodies, "Is that the wrong way to take responsibility?" 

"It's not wrong," he replied, his eyes brooding over mine. "But it's not enough," a mesmerizing smile appeared on his face as his eyes traveled down to my lips, staring at it as if he wanted to have a taste, "I need more." 

I quickly turned my head sideways, feeling my body getting hotter by the minute, "W-what do you mean it's not enough? I think it's more than—"

He pulled on my hand and placed it on his ċhėst, "Can you feel it? My heart, it's like this because of you." 

Under the hand that rested on his ċhėst, there I could feel a vehement thump. Though his face remained calm, his heart didn't. His heart was beating louder and faster than any normal heart could possibly do, just like the way my heart was right now. 

Was it because it was the first time that I ever made a move on him? He had always remain calm and composed whenever he teased me with his advances, so I was surprised to have him like this. I thought I was the only one whose heartbeats go crazy whenever we were close to each other, but today I realized that the same thing also happened to him. 

Receiving no answer from me, the man placed his fingers on my chin and turned my head to his way. Slowly, he tilted his head and inched closer to me. He didn't say any words, but his eyes stuck on my lips. 

The night fell silent, and only the sound of our heartbeats could be heard. The air that felt cold just a few minutes ago now felt warm on my skin. It was the first time that I ever experienced such a warm winter. 

The two of our bodies grew closer and closer, so close that we could feel each other's breath. Just before the distance between us diminish, the man broke the silence and asked, "Can I kiss you?"

My mind turned into a messy state with his question, feeling confused about my own dėsɨrės. It was the first time for me to be so close and intimate with someone, so I was feeling nervous and scared about it. But then, I knew for a fact that I didn't hate it. I didn't hate being so close with him, nor did I hate the man. 

"Push me if you don't want me to," he whispered the words, leaning in closer for a kiss. 

Though I was given the choice to push him away, my arms remained on my sides, clenching tightly on my dress. As he got closer, my whole body turned tense and rigid, but I have decided to let the man do what he wanted.

He didn't immediately go for the kiss but instead waited for me until I have decided my decision. So when he noticed that I was not going to push him away, a small smile appeared on his face. I closed my eyes shut, readying myself for the upcoming kiss. The man also closed his eyes, his lips going their way to meet mine. 

The distance between the two of us grew smaller and smaller, our lips only an inch apart to greet each other for the first time. Feeling him closer, I swallowed the lump in my throat and shut my eyes tighter—until the door to the balcony was pushed open by a new presence. 

"Ah!" I quickly pushed Luke away from me with all the strength that I had, startled. Luke, not prepared to receive such a big force from me tripped over his own feet and fell on his buŧŧ. After the fall, the man stared at me wide-eyed. 

"Do you not want me to kiss you?" he asked, a wounded expression upon his face. It seemed that he was too focused on my lips that he didn't realize there was a new presence on the balcony, so he made another question, "Do you hate it that much if I kiss you? So much that you pushed me with all your strength?"

Not wanting him to make another mention of our failed kissing attempt, I squatted down to level with him, placing my hands on his mouth to shut him up, "N-no, I'm sorry for pushing you. I-I don't hate it, it's just..." my eyes trembled a little when moving from Luke to the person behind him, "...there is someone else here."

Finally realizing the problem, he turned his body around at the speed of lightning, and a low growl immediately escaped his mouth, "Do you have a death wish?"

Just by the door, there stood the lord, stunned at what he had just witnessed. "Pardon me for interrupting the two of you," he slightly bowed his head, looking genuinely sorry for appearing in the middle of our... um, activity. "I'll just quietly take my leave," he said, pointing his finger to the room behind him. 

Luke pressed his lips into a thin line and stood up with a huff, raking his fingers through his hair harshly, "What is the use of you—Violet! Come back here!" 

So instead of Kiel leaving the balcony, I was the one who left. I took this chance to escape from the embarrassing situation I was in, not being able to stand it any longer. I ran to the empty corridor, not knowing where I was headed to. I was simply trying to go as far away from the man. 

But unfortunately, while I was on the run, one of the heels that I was wearing fell off. I turned around to take it back but saw Luke coming out of the balcony, his eyes immediately spotting me. Not wanting to be caught, I decided to take the other one off and ran with my bȧrė feet.

Due to Luke's ability to run fast, he caught up to me in a few minutes. His hand reached out to mine and stopped me from going further away from him, "Why are you running from me?"

"D-don't look at me!" I used my free hand to hide my face from the man, closing my eyes shut even when they were hidden behind my palm.

"Why?" came the question from him, "Did I do something wrong?" 

"N-no, you didn't," I quickly denied, nibbling on my lower lips before answering, "It's just... if I look at you right now, I'm afraid that my heart would burst out of my ċhėst."

And it was the truth. My heart was beating so fast that it was not normal for a human heart to beat this fast, and he was the exact reason behind this. Strangely, he had this ability to turn me into a crazy mess. I opened my eyes slightly, wanting to have a little peek at the man from between my fingers. 

"Haah," he let out a sigh of relief, squatting down with his hand still on me. "I thought that you hated me after what happened," he chuckled, placing his hand on his forehead, at the same time hiding his eyes, "Although nothing really happened back there," he added, "You scared me for a moment." 

"I don't hate you," I confessed.

"Then, do you like me?" he rested one of his hands on his knee, propping his head while staring up at me with a smile. 

Seeing his smile, I gasped and hurriedly closed my eyes shut again as it was making my heart to thump even more uncontrollably. His smile was the prettiest thing ever and it was very pleasing to the eyes. I found myself wanting to see more of it but decided not to because my heart was not exactly in the right state to see such a beautiful smile from him. I sincerely hoped for the safety of my own heart. 

"Hmm?" he urged after not receiving an answer from me for a whole minute, shaking my hand that was on his hand, "I asked, do you like me?" 

"...I do," I said with a small voice, almost whispering.

"Hmm? I can't hear you," he teased, holding his hand to his ear, "Can you please repeat it one more time?" 

"I said I like you," this time, I said it with a slightly bigger voice, turning my head sideways to avoid his gaze. Feeling the growing warmth on my cheeks, I could know that I was blushing hard.

Hearing my confession, he smiled widely, showing his bright pearly teeth. The man then stood up from his previous position, taking my hand off my face, "While I," he lowered his head so that my eyes would meet his in a straight line, "I love you."