Another Bad Boy Down

I helplessly shoved the phone back to my pocket and leaned on the kitchen counter as I stared at the kitchen wares in front. For a guy who lives by himself, Neo's kitchen is very presentable and the cooking tools are abundant. I don't know if he bought all this things as display or he is really using them to cook.

I strode towards his huge refrigerator and unceremoniously opened it. I was surprised to see how full his fridge is. From vegetables to meat to beverages it's all here. Is he having a party? Boys who lives on their own usually don't have that much on their refrigerator except for beverages because they tend to often buy ready made food from outside or cup noodles. I thought his would also look the same but surprisingly it's quite full.

Maybe his maids come here to cook for him. Yeah, that might be the reason. As I closed the refrigerator, something caught my attention. I strode towards my right side and picked up the hanging cloth on the wall. It's a white apron with a green and gold dragon printed on it. I spread my arms apart to see the whole picture.

The dragon is now looking straight at me with a ferocious gaze like it's alive. Wow, the dragon is actually handmade and is embroidered into the white cloth. I applaud who ever made this. It must have took at least a couple of months for this to be finished completely. I then returned it to it's original place and picked up the apron beside it. My eyes then grew big in awe as I saw a magnificently embroidered red phoenix. It's color is very eye catching, especially since it is embroidered in a white cloth.

Wait, Dragon? Phoenix? Is this... Ah! Are these couple aprons??!! Really??! I cringed as the thought passed my mind. The thought of Neo and Miss A wearing this suddenly flashed in my mind. Wha... Erase... erase... erase... The thought of a couple wearing matching aprons is just overly sweet for my blood sugar.

I shook my head and told myself to focus on my own task. Seeing Miss A's footprints in her fiance's home is not surprising. The thing which actually surprised me is how sweet the devil can be to his lover. Oh well, they say that people change when their in love and they also become ruthless when betrayed by the same receiver of that love.

I returned the phoenix embroidered apron on the rack and moved to the other part of the kitchen. Vincent thought me how to cook some dishes like salads and steaks but I never thought that I would be cooking a simple porridge for someone. As I recall during my stay in the orphanage, the volunteers there would often cook porridge for us. Hmmm... Rice? sticky rice? I guess I would be needing something like that. Salt and water too. Let's see, ginger too if there are any though I am not really sure how to cook it. It should not be dry though so that he can eat it more easily.

I then busied myself in the kitchen. I looked for every ingredient I needed and the kitchen wares that I would be using. When everything is ready, I started chopping the ginger into the smallest size it can get so that he can also eat the ginger slices with ease. I added quite an amount of salt because sick people tend to lose their sense of taste. Even if he doesn't like the taste, he still needs to finish it all up because he needs to eat something before taking his med.

After mixing everything and making sure that the rice is cooked well and wet enough, I served it into a bowl and placed it on top of a tray together with his medicine and a glass of luke warm water. I didn't serve the food immediately. I left it to cool a bit while I clean my mess in the kitchen. I'm sweaty and a stain can be seen on my clothes since I didn't use any apron. I rather get dirty than use their apron.

After a few minutes, I headed back towards the guest room Neo is in. Holding the heavy tray with both hands, I struggled opening the door. After a few tries, I finally was able to open it without dropping the tray. I saw Neo sleeping on the bed. I placed the tray on the bed side table and felt his forehead using the back of my hand. I then retracted it within seconds because his temperature is really high. I helplessly stared at his handsome blushing red face due to the fever.

It is not good to delay his medicine any longer. I took all my courage and woke him up. "Hey.. Neo...Neo eat first and take your medicine before going back to sleep." I tapped his left shoulder to wake him up. His eyes slowly opened showing a pair of hazy black orbs. The two black orbs wondered around first trying to recognize the place before he focused his gaze on me.

"Eat first. Can you sit up a bit?" I asked him.

He nodded and slowly moved his body in a sitting position. I helped him by placing a few pillows behind his back so that he can lean on them more comfortably. "Here, eat a bit. You need to eat first before taking your med." I graciously handed him the half full bowl of ginger porridge.

"I'm too weak to eat on my own. Can you help me?" Neo said in a calm and weak tone of voice. My brow lifted up as I heard his request.

"I made sure that the porridge is not that hot. You can hold the bowl more firmly since it is not that hot at all." I said to him.

He then lifted the bowl up to his chest, the bowl unsteadily tilted to the side and out of reflex I grabbed it with both of my hands with Neo's hands under mine since he is still holding the bowl.

I sighed in relief and pulled the bowl out of his hands. "Fine. I will feed you. Just remember to pay me handsomely for my effort and services today." I said to him as I took a spoonful of porridge and moved it closer to his lips. A crease formed on my forehead as I saw mirth glimmer in his eyes for a second before it turned back to it's hazy glow.

Neo was about to open his mouth to eat but was interrupted when the door bell suddenly sounded inside the house. Oh right, I forgot to close the bedroom door earlier that's why we heard the door bell rung. I retracted the spoon away from his lips and hurriedly placed the bowl on his hands on top of his lap.

"Hold this for a bit. That must be the doctor." I then swiftly moved out of the room to open the door for the new comer.

Little did Elrae know that the weak Neo who clumsily held the bowl earlier is squeezing the poor porcelain right now. If he was in his normal state then the innocent porcelain might have cracked or worse broken by now.