Chapter 119

Chapter 119: The Taste of the Red Fruit

It was the red bag Adan had bought, containing the red fruit.

Upon leaving, Ji Huan noticed that Ajin hadn't taken it with him. After a moment's hesitation, he eventually put it in his pocket and brought it back.

There were two in total – one for Ajin and the other that Ji Huan had obtained himself.

The red bag felt cold to the touch, and upon closer inspection, it seemed hard, likely made of ice. Inside was a three-dimensional, crystal-like ice structure, housing a round, crimson fruit that looked incredibly appealing.

The red bag had started melting on the way, so when Ji Huan returned to the bedroom Ajin had arranged for them and found a small refrigerator, he promptly placed them inside.

Afterwards, he carried them with him whenever he went out.

From the moment he picked up the red bag, he had intended it for Ajin.

The floor was covered in water, quickly soaking through Ji Huan's slippers, leaving his toes numbly cold. A shiver ran down his spine.

Standing in the dark room, Ji Huan felt somewhat at a loss.

He didn't know what to say to Ajin anymore.

But—

With a wriggle of his toes in the sodden slippers, Ji Huan promptly took action: he stripped off his T-shirt and knelt on the floor, starting to wipe the floor with it.

In the dimly lit room, only the sound of his own breathing could be heard. Ajin's figure had already merged into the darkness, making the room seem as if it were occupied by a single person.

However, Ji Huan knew Ajin was there.

He even knew where Ajin was.

Ajin's gaze never left him, following him like a shadow wherever he moved.

It was a piercing stare that would make most people's scalps tingle; Ji Huan lifted his head and saw two crimson dots gleaming in the darkness.

Those were Ajin's eyes, fixed intently upon him.

Lowering his head again, Ji Huan continued wiping away the water stains on the floor.

Ji Huan was quite skilled in cleaning. Despite the lack of proper tools, he managed to scrub the floor diligently. Starting from a distance away from Ajin, he would occasionally step aside to wring out the water stains on his T-shirt before resuming his task.

Not solely focused on the floor, Ji Huan also familiarized himself with the room's layout as he cleaned. He felt a roll of toilet paper, a pair of clean shoes, and even came across a piece of paper on the floor.

Initially unaware of what it was, he instinctively reached for it when the texture didn't feel right. It was then he realized it was a sheet of paper.

The white paper, soaked with water, adhered firmly to the floor. Ji Huan had to carefully feel around its edges to lift it up.

Uncertain if the paper held any significance, he picked it up and attached it to the window glass.

When they were young, Grandpa was in charge of laundry.

Grandpa often threw their clothes into the washing machine without emptying their pockets, resulting in damp papers after each wash.

One time, Ji Huan's perfect-scored exam paper suffered this fate.

It was the first time Ji Huan had aced a test, but before he could show it to Grandpa, it got washed away.

Ji Huan was quite upset, and Grandpa didn't know how to console him.

In the end, it was Little Hei who came up with a solution.

Gently smoothing out the soaked exam paper, he carefully attached it to the glass at home.

The paper adhered smoothly to the glass, and as sunlight softly filtered in, it soon dried. With tiptoes, Little Hei removed the now-dry paper, which remained pristine and even carried a faint scent of laundry detergent.

Ji Huan and Grandpa both laughed together.

With great care, he pulled at the corners of the white sheet, and finally, it obediently adhered to the glass.

A beam of light happened to shine through the window, allowing Ji Huan to suddenly discern the contents of the paper.

It was a contract.

He had seen so many contracts recently that he could identify this piece of paper at first glance.

It wasn't the temporary agreement he and Abu had signed at Saroya's arena, nor was it the thick contract book Naji had received that afternoon. This contract was simple, resembling more like the indenture Little Grey had signed.

The contract paper was wrinkled, with dark red stains on it that appeared to be blood.

Ji Huan instinctively glanced towards the signature, but –

Probably a vehicle or aerial craft had just passed by, causing a fleeting flash of light. In the blink of an eye, the glass before Ji Huan was once again shrouded in darkness.

However, Ji Huan had already seen the name on the signature.

"Zhen"

The handwriting was somewhat clumsy, resembling the scribbles of a child just learning to write. Nevertheless, Ji Huan still recognized this simple character.

Standing by the window, Ji Huan froze.

He chose to continue mopping the floor. The surrounding area was already dry, and he was getting closer and closer to Ajin.

Finally, Ji Huan reached Ajin's feet.

Kneeling on the floor with his head lowered, he touched Ajin's foot.

Ajin wasn't wearing any shoes; his bare feet were immersed in the water. Ji Huan encountered a cold patch of skin.

No...

That couldn't even be called skin – smooth, flowing... A chilling liquid dripped onto Ji Huan's wrist.

There was a barely noticeable tremor in the skin on the back of Ji Huan's hand.

He lifted his head.

His gaze met a pair of blood-red eyes.

Ji Huan had seen them from afar before, but encountering them up close like this was an entirely different experience altogether.

Both eyes lacked sclera, entirely consumed by a deep crimson hue that bordered on black, an intense and eerie redness that filled the eye sockets.

A single drop of blood fell from the face of the figure above onto Ji Huan's, causing a searing pain wherever it trickled across his skin. Yet, Ji Huan didn't even blink in response.

His entire gaze was captivated by the mesmerizing appearance of this demonic creature before him.

Bathed in the faint light seeping in through the window, a terrifying face materialized before Ji Huan's eyes.

Not a single patch of skin was intact, with veins exposed and continually healing only to rupture again. Whenever those thin tubes split, countless minute fluids would burst forth, splattering onto the man's body and landing on Ji Huan's face.

The flesh around the man's eyes had also torn open, leaving his eyes, now devoid of eyelids, appearing abnormally large and quivering, as if they might roll out at any moment.

His thin lips were gone, revealing rows of stark white teeth that were not human; they had razor-sharp points, densely packed and arranged in perfect order. Ji Huan could even glimpse the tongue within.

Without the protection of lips, saliva mixed with blood, smoothly sliding down the gaps between the man's teeth, dripping from his chin into his neck, and even landing on Ji Huan's face.

It carried the scent of Ajin and a sensation of scorching heat.

In that moment, Ji Huan saw those intricate teeth suddenly part. As more saliva fell, he heard a voice addressing him:

"Ji Huan."

It was Ajin's voice.

This person was Ajin.

This monstrous figure was indeed Ajin!

Gazing at the intimidating figure above him, Ji Huan blinked slowly. Then, lowering his eyes, he gently brushed against Ajin's foot again.

"I've... wiped everywhere else. There's just this spot under your feet left."

Without lifting his head, Ji Huan knew that Ajin's gaze was fixed on the top of his own head.

Ajin probably didn't know that he could see so much in the dark. He... likely assumed that Ji Huan couldn't see anything.

In that case, Ji Huan pretended that he hadn't seen anything either.

Just like back in Badu Town and in that house in Ye Falar, whenever Ji Huan needed to move around Ajin as he cleaned, Ajin would usually accommodate him as long as Ji Huan spoke up.

No matter how much Abu and Naji described Ajin as terrifying and unapproachable, to Ji Huan, Ajin remained the one who had saved him, his grandfather, and led their family to a place where they could live openly together.

With his head bowed, Ji Huan wiped away the water on the floor using the T-shirt in his hand, as well as the sticky residue and blood.

After that, he grabbed the box of tissues he had found earlier, held Ajin's foot in his hands, and dried it with the tissues.

The cold touch of the exposed, veiny skin felt eerily peculiar, still pulsating under his hand.

After a long while, Ji Huan managed to wipe Ajin's feet clean. He then pulled on the shoes he had found earlier and placed Ajin's feet inside them.

"The room... It's too dark. I could only do so much. For it to be cleaner... We'd need to turn on the lights," Ji Huan said calmly, looking into Ajin's eyes as he knelt opposite him on the floor.

Ajin remained silent. In the darkness, his face continued to contort.

Ji Huan imagined that perhaps his tongue had also split apart.

After an extended period, Ajin's voice sounded again:

"No need to turn on the lights. It's fine like this. You've done well. Someone will tidy up the rest tomorrow."

Ajin's gaze never left him.

They were incredibly close, closer than ever before. Ajin's scent wafted over, mingled with the pungent smell of blood.

Ji Huan looked at Ajin, then lowered his head.

Feeling somewhat uneasy under Ajin's intense gaze, yet unable to voice his discomfort, Ji Huan knew that if he did, Ajin would be aware that he had seen his vulnerable state.

Tangled in this dilemma, it wasn't until a cold hand suddenly lifted his chin that Ji Huan was pulled back to reality.

His eyes met Ajin's face once more, and to his surprise, half of Ajin's face had already healed in a short span of time. Before he could fully process this, he felt Ajin's hand move, as icy fingers pressed against the skin beneath his right eye.

"What is it?" Ji Huan heard himself ask, slightly astonished by the calmness in his own voice.

Then, Ajin continued speaking:

"You have something dirty here. Don't move, let me clean it for you."

As Ajin spoke, his cold fingers gently wiped across Ji Huan's cheek.

Ji Huan froze. It suddenly dawned on him that the spot must have been splashed by some liquid dripping from Ajin's body just now.

There was a slight burning sensation, a numbness that made Ji Huan not think too much about it.

Ajin's cool fingers were soothing, perfectly alleviating the burning sensation on Ji Huan's cheek.

Ji Huan closed his eyes.

Ajin's fingers lingered on his face for quite some time before finally settling on Ji Huan's left earlobe.

It was a rather sensitive spot, causing Ji Huan to shift slightly, feeling uneasy.

"Is there something there too?" Ji Huan asked, his gaze lowered.

"Mm, no, but you have a mole there. I just thought it was..." a drop of blood.

"I've had it since I was very young," Ji Huan replied, feeling uncomfortable. He redirected his gaze elsewhere until Ajin released his ear.

From then on, Ajin seemed to be looking at Ji Huan as if for the first time, noticing numerous details he had overlooked previously.

Like the mole on Ji Huan's ear, the tiny indentation on his chin, or the small scar at the corner of his eye.

Many of these marks were nearly imperceptible unless one looked closely, but Ajin noticed them all.

He even inquired about the origins of these scars.

The dent on his chin was from a childhood chickenpox breakout, and the scar by his eye was from a fight in junior high...

If not for Ajin's inquiries, Ji Huan would have forgotten that he had so many... marks on him.

Grandfather referred to them as signs.

"When all the little ones look alike, Grandfather won't mistake Little Hua with these extra signs!" Grandfather had said when Ji Huan was young. Back then, it had seemed odd to Ji Huan, but later, he realized that for a monster, distinguishing oneself from countless humans might indeed be a challenging task.

Ji Huan recalled something from a long time ago.

"Ajin, stay with me for a while." After finishing his inspection of "the marks," Ajin didn't send Ji Huan away; instead, he kept him there.

Then, Ji Huan sat quietly opposite Ajin and fell asleep under the latter's intense gaze.

Unbeknownst to him, even after he had dozed off, the black-haired monster's body continued to convulse. Amidst immense pain, the creature picked up a small red bag beside him.

Untying the bag, he drank the liquid inside and then consumed the small red fruit.

With the small fruit nestled in his mouth like a sweet candy.

The black-haired creature remained seated there until the sun rose once more.

"So tasteless," he murmured softly.

Daybreak arrived.

An empty sack was discarded before the man, alongside a ring that had lost one of its precious gems.