"(Y/n)...?"

That person's voice, which you hadn't heard in a long time, entered your ears like a beautiful song. It made you feel an overwhelming sense of joy and longing, as if you were floating up into the sky. You had missed it so much, and its return was like a wave of emotions washing over you.

His voice was akin to a precious treasure found again after it had been missing for a long time. It reminded you of the past and brought back memories that tasted both sweet and sad. You exhaled shakily, not knowing what to say. Still, your heart struggled desperately, wanting nothing but to go to him right now.

—that's just how deep the bonds the two of you shared.

"Yohan," you uttered his name in yearning, wanting to see his face, touch his skin, and talk to him directly. "Yohan."

You missed him.

And surely, he must have felt the same.

"Have you been well?"

You nodded eagerly but remembered that there was no way he could see it, "Yes."

"That's a relief to hear," he sighed, his voice filled with a mix of worry and regret, causing him to speak faster out of anxiety. "Were you upset with me? Is that why you didn't answer my call? I'm sorry. I might have acted impulsively when I suggested separating. You can come back home whenever you want, you know? Mom and Dad miss you. I do too.

As soon as your mind was able to comprehend his words, you were happy, but most of all, you were confused. "Didn't pick up your call? But Yohan, I've never received one in the first place."

"Huh, that's strange, but I guess, what's important right now is that you're well and healthy." He replied. "Maybe the problem lies in your phone. How about buying a new one?"

You smiled, not answering since there's a lot of precious memory you have on your phone. "Is madam okay?"

"What 'madam'?" he chuckled softly. "She'd be annoyed if she heard that. You should call her 'Mom' like she wants you to. And to answer your question, yes, she's okay and is still traveling with Dad. I'm not sure where they are in the world right now though. Probably somewhere in Southeast Asia."

You nodded, relieved to know that everyone was okay. As a spirit, your job is to protect your human, but since this world is now at peace, there's not much chance where you can showcase your ability. Still, you're glad that everyone's healthy even without you around.

"I miss all of you too," you confessed, your voice tinged with a hint of longing. "It's tough being away, but you're right, Yohan. The world has so many things to offer, and I can proudly say that I have created memories that I can look back on fondly. I'm also slowly adapting to the outside world. Just a little bit more and I think I might be able to achieve my dream."

"Okay, but don't push yourself too much," he advised. "Days ago, I noticed some tiny wounds on the back of my hand. I hope it's not you scratching your skin again in frustration when things don't go your way. Also, don't limit yourself when it comes to eating, it's okay to indulge in some fast food like pizza or hamburgers once in a while. It won't kill me honestly. And remember to be cautious when it comes to trusting a total stranger, I swear that sometimes you're like a newborn baby to me, too trusting and innocent."

You laughed. "Well, that's because I learned that from you. Your kindness, your attentiveness, and your patience—all reflected in me so blame yourself first if anything happened."

"Tha—"

"Sweetheart, didn't I tell you to rest well?"

The sudden voice of Kael sternly calling out to you startled you, causing you to stop paying attention to that person's response. You raised your head, dumbfounded to see your escort holding a tray of smoothies and quesadillas. His expression is sulking.

"Kael?"

The said man slammed the tray of food on the coffee table. His eyes glaring dagger at the sight of you holding your phone. The duvet that wrapped loosely around your bare body was on the verge of slipping down, exposing your skin, especially your collarbones and shoulders. The man gulped at the sight before focusing on the most important matter.

He snatched the phone and turned it off before wrapping you around with the duvet like a rolled sushi. You can't even get mad because you're too confused.

"Rest."

He then took the tray and fed you the quesadilla like how one would feed a baby bird. You frowned, not liking the position you're in as it would be hard for indigestion but your mouth is quite honest, opening up once it had swallowed its food.

"Kael, why did you interrupt my conversation?" You asked after swallowing, furrowing your eyebrows.

You were angry, yes, but you weren't impulsive as you expect a reasonable explanation from your escort, yet he pursed his lips and remained silent.

Kael's heart raced as he looked into your eyes, his mind frantically searching for a response that would satisfy you but he wondered, until when does he need to lie about his feelings? The truth was, he couldn't bear the thought of anyone else taking your attention away, even for a moment. Every second spent with you was precious, and he couldn't stand the idea of someone else filling the gap where he wasn't there.

I've gotten greedy. The amorii extended his hand to caress your cheek. He once prided himself in being one of the most tolerable amorii who was willing to give their significant other the freedom they deserved, but in the face of love, he can only helplessly watch and feel jealous by the corner.

"Aren't you already mine?" He asked absentmindedly. "Can't you prioritize me like how I would prioritize you?"

"I'm... yours?" Your tone was laced with confusion.

"Aren't you?" He frowned. "You told me you like me. You want me to embrace you and you don't mind the idea of having a family with me. Isn't that equivalent to love already? That you don't mind being mine forever?"

His words hung in the air, their implications sinking in slowly. Kael's delusional belief was developed in what had occurred earlier. He saw your affection and openness as an unspoken commitment, a confirmation that you were ready to accept him.

But your confusion only deepened, and a flicker of unease danced in your eyes. You had expressed your feelings, yes, but that's only because you were taught that "love," and "like," are different. Was it not the same for Amorii? You squirmed, struggling to get out of the duvet he wrapped you into.

Once you managed to change your position, with the duvet still wrapped around you, covering your nakedness, you hesitated, searching for the right words.

"I didn't mean that, the like that I have for you is merely platonic. We can care for each other without... without being in love, and I thought it was normal for you to embrace your client considering the nature of your job, an— and I only let you, um, inside because I'm confident that I won't conceive. I'm sorry if I give you the wrong impression, Kael."

Upon hearing your explanation, he faltered, darkness clouded his gaze. Usually, he would just brush this off with a pretentious smile, but the hope he had earlier was too much, and now that it shattered, his cheerful mask cracked, revealing a glimpse of a desperate man beneath.

"Is it because of that person? You still can't forget about him?" He chuckled bitterly. "Is he that good? You love him that much?"

You opened your mouth slightly before closing it back, not knowing what to say. Although your feelings towards Yohan can't be considered romantic love, it is true that it's partially because of him. It's not like the idea of finding a significant other never crossed your mind before, but not now, not yet, you still haven't achieved your dream yet.

So you nodded, not wanting to give him any mixed signals. With the way you are right now, you can't afford to be in a relationship.

Kael chuckled helplessly, covering his face behind his palms as if crying. "Is there really nothing I can do to change your mind?"

You shook your head after contemplating for a while, "I'm sorry."

"What to do then, sweetheart?" He retracted his hand away, revealing pupils that had turned verticals and scleras that had turned black. "We're both stubborn. Neither of us is willing to relent so we can only fight for what we want, don't you agree so too?"

Before your mind can comprehend the meaning behind his words, your escort had long taken this opportunity to tackle you, his fingers wrapped around your throat as his irises glow. You struggled to break free, wondering how things escalated to this point.

"Ka— el...! Stop...!" You clawed his wrists, tears welled up in your eyes, and drool started to accumulate as he increased the pressure around your windpipe.

"Stop?" He inquired with a pretentious smile on his face. "How about you? Have ever stopped to think about how much your action hurt me?"

No good, your visions are starting to blur as dizziness consumes you, each passing second makes it harder for you to breathe, and you can vaguely feel something warmth continuously dripping on your cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I will make it up to you once you're awake, promise."

As your vision dimmed and your consciousness teetered on the edge, the world slipped away, and you succumbed to the darkness, yet what was plaguing your mind wasn't the bleary sight of your assailant crying, but the well-being of your human, Yohan.

Unlike when you were doing it will Kael, you were confident that Yohan wouldn't feel anything between what had occurred between you and the Amorii because that's not how the bond between the two of you worked. It only functions when one of you is in pain or being harmed. This meant that any form of pleasure or positive sensation was absent within that specific bond, hence, Yohan must have felt that painful sensation of being suffocated to the point of losing consciousness.

Once the Amorii had confirmed that you were out cold, he retracted his hands away, feeling a sense of elation at the sight of bruises around your throat—the bruises that he made. In actuality, for a sick and twisted person such as him, it's not that Kael is a masochist, it's more like he viewed violence as a part of love, but of course, no one with an overflowing amount of love can bear to see the one they loved hurt so Kael would rather be the one hurting than be the one that inflicted the pain, but now that he has a reason to put his mark on you, Kael can't help but feel a little happy. This feeling is akin to a child experiencing the sheer delight of owning something exclusively his as he watched his mother engraving his name on his belongings so they wouldn't be taken away—that's how he felt.

Kael traced the bruises gently with his fingers before burying his head in the crook of your neck, wiping away his tears on your skin.

As a result, because his vision was blocked, he wasn't able to see the small (color) flames that escaped through your mouth. It quivered slightly, floating in the air as it stopped for a second as if to look at the Amorii, but then it ran away, escaping through the open window. It braved the snow, floating until it reached its destination and it met its human.

Its flames flickered brightly at the sight of its human coughing on the floor. It quickly entered the building through the hole specially made for it, running to its human side.

It circled its human, as if concerned and anxious.

"What happened...?" Yohan questioned dazedly.

He was talking to (Y/n) and the line was cut off. While he was contemplating whether to call her back or not, he felt suffocated to the point of losing consciousness, and after that, he was lying on the floor, coughing in pain. He belatedly noticed the anxious flames circling him and frowned.

"Did something happen to you?"

He touched the little flames gently. To others, this spirit's flame was toxic, just a single touch can cause corrosion, but the same can't be applied to Yohan, after all, he's its human.

A gust of wind suddenly entered the room, making the human shiver slightly from the cold. The sound of the wind created a faint voice whispering to his ears. It sounded heartbroken.

[I was tricked,] it spoke. [I let down my guard because I thought he was harmless. Thanks to that I had to leave my body to ensure your safety.]

Yohan helplessly stared at the floating flames. He knew that it was working hard to become independent outside, to create memories and relationships it could look fondly on, and to achieve its dream, but such a thing suddenly happened to it. Yohan assumed that it must have mistakenly befriended a bad person, causing it to be in this predicament.

"Is this 'he' the Amorii you rented?"

The spirit trembled, as if surprised that Yohan knew. Now that it thinks about it, Yohan also called ROMANCE's HQ to ask about its well-being.

"Well, I had to know where you are so I look through the transaction history of our joint bank account." He poked his finger through its flame, smiling helplessly. "Anyway, what about your body? Do you want to retrieve it or discard it? If it's the former, we need to do something quickly before the body ceases to function properly."

[I want that body back,] it answered dejectedly. [But why aren't you asking me anything regarding the situation, Yohan? Aren't you mad that I caused a lot of trouble? I even lose my vessel in the process and cause you to suffocate.]

"It's not that I don't want to ask, it's just that I'm waiting for you to tell me." He said gently. "I know relationships can be tough, but that's just how it is. Sometimes, you find people who are true to you, and other times you come across those who want to deceive you. That's just how people are, both good and bad."

He got up from the floor.

"Besides, it doesn't matter how much trouble you cause. I'm here. I trust that you won't make an irrevocable mistake so go wild. No matter what kinds of troubles you bring, I will help you fix them up." He grabbed his car key and glanced at the stupefied flames. "Let's go. ROMANCE, is it? We're going there to retrieve your body back."

[Yohan...]

It trembled, as if holding itself back from tears before snuggling closer to its human out of gratitude.

Seated gracefully in her workplace, the woman's gaze wandered momentarily as the door swung open, revealing the entrance of Coffee, the most lackadaisical assistant ROMANCE has ever had. She frowned slightly as he entered with a sense of laziness, leaning down to whisper into her ear, informing her of the unexpected arrival of an unfamiliar figure.

"Should I let him in?" He drawled lazily.

"If he's a potential client who's willing to pay more, why not? Let him in."

The woman then gestured for him to go and he obeyed. After a few minutes, a man with an imposing figure made his way into her office. If the woman was ignorant of her employees, she would have thought that this man was one of her escorts judging by how dashing he looks. She smiled, intertwining her fingers together.

"I'm sorry. I only employ male escorts so if you're searching for a female one, you can go to one of our branch companies," then as if she realized how narrow-minded she was, the woman gasped pretentiously. "Or is that your taste? A man?"

The man frowned. "That's not what I'm here for."

"Oh? Then are you here intending to become an escort? If so, I approve."

"Let's cut to the chase," he sighed, taking a seat. "My name is Yohan, and I don't know if you were informed of this, but I have made a call to ROMANCE this morning and indeed, my sister, a client of yours, has been hiring a certain escort here name... Kael?"

At that name, a hint of distaste can be seen in her eyes. "Nope. He's no longer our escort. He has resigned."

"Then what about my sister?"

"Since he's no longer our worker, naturally, whatever it is that involves him and your sister, got nothing to do with ROMANCE," she rose from her seat, making her way towards Yohan. "So I won't be helping you in retrieving your sister's body."

As soon as she said that, the woman fished out a certain spirit that hid in his clothes. Yohan was startled at first, thinking that this woman was trying to grope him until he saw her taking out his spirit with her thumb and index. The spirit's corrosion retaliated by making its way to her skin but because her self-healing ability is top-notch, one can see how the corrosion disappears and reappears.

The woman smiled. "My name is Maya. I'm the founder of ROMANCE."

"Since when did you know?" Yohan furrowed his eyebrows, retrieving back the flames that struggled in her grip. "No, how did you know?"

"You mean that your so-called sister is a spirit?" She chuckled. "It's not impossible to know. Ever since one of my assistants has been reporting me regarding his... strange behavior. I simply concluded that he had fallen in love and yeah, I wasn't wrong. So the next step is to find out what kind of girls did he fall for, and to be frank, I was disappointed but also elated."

She went back to her seat, exaggerating a sigh.

"My baby Kael whom I had raised with blood, sweat, and tears has fallen in love with a spirit." She glanced at the quivering flames. "A freaking spirit. Can you believe it? Even though spirits and Amorii are natural enemies?"

"Natural enemies?" He frowned. "If you're talking about the war they once had before. It happened centuries ago so why bother to mention that? Also, what's wrong with my spirit? My (Y/n)? Do you think that she's not good enough to be with your... baby Kael?"

Although he knew he shouldn't, Yohan felt distasteful. This feeling is akin to a parent hearing that their child is not good enough to marry the other party.

"It's not about good enough. It's about incompatibility." She rolled her eyes. "When an Amorii falls for a spirit, the one who loses out in this relationship is the Amorii. I live long enough to know that spirits are such fickle beings that engage in multiple relationships simultaneously."

Yohan wanted to refute that, but recalling the way you once behaved in your rebellious phase, it doesn't seem to be wrong.

He recalled how horrified he was upon finding out how many people you were in relationships with simultaneously, and yet you have the audacity to come to him and complain that "Humans are complicated beings that are hard to reason with."

"(Y/n), declaring that you love another person in front of your lover and telling them that you have been dating someone else behind their back is a little..." Yohan, at that time, was simply helpless as he advised you. "That's unfaithful. Cheating. Infidelity. Something that should not be normalized."

The immature spirit you were at that time frowned, feeling offended by your human speech.

"I'm not unfaithful," you declared defensively. "Unfaithful is when you're loving someone else while no longer loving the one you're currently with. I love Abel, but I also love Orson."

To anyone, such words that can only be uttered by a scumbag is proof that you are indeed a cheater. Yet, Yohan thought that it couldn't be helped since your culture is different. Spirits are polygamous beings and their hearts are fragile—easy to love and easy to fall out of love—they don't understand the heartache that appears by sharing spouses because it's not in their nature to get jealous over that. As a result, it is understandable that you would behave in such a way.

However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so Yohan meticulously taught you the way humans view relationships before your potential suitors ended up beating you to death out of anger—not that they would ever win but just in case.

However, there's no need to explain that you are now different from other spirits. It's not like this is a meeting between parents to promote their children.

So he chose to ask. "You told me that you were disappointed but also... elated? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the existence of this little thing gave me ideas," she smiled wickedly. "You see, the amount of Amorii I recruited to be an escort at ROMANCE has been decreasing rapidly because they ended up resigning to pursue their crush. At this point, I might as well go bankrupt, so when I found out your spirit's identity, it gave me ideas so I'm going to propose."

She poked you, ignoring the corrosion. "I want you to make my escort like you. I don't know what is it that made Kael fall for you but if you think you are capable enough, accept my proposal and seduce my employees under the guise of a client. Of course, I will not take any fee but if you did a bad job, you will have to pay full price, no negotiation."

[Why? That contradicts how you acted earlier. Don't you find it absurd for an Amorii to fall for a spirit—their natural enemy?]

The founder shivered slightly at the sound of the wind whispering to her ear, ticklish.

"It is absurd but if it will help me, why not? Plus, I'm confident that you won't fall for them, at least, not for long." She retracted her finger. "You see, an Amorii only live once. Kael resigned because he fell in love with you, that means if you don't reciprocate his love, he can only go back to the way he once lived, lest what would that child eat to survive? After that, I don't need to fear him leaving for another client. Hence, it would be great if my employees were to behave like this too."

The spirit had a feeling that there was more to her plan and that things were not that simple. There are too many contradictions, absurdity, and loopholes in her plan but the offer was too tempting for you to refuse.

—just like how this woman wanted to achieve something from this collaboration, you too desired something from the escorts you're going to rent.

[What about my body?]

"If you can make my escort fall for you, I will personally retrieve your body back. You don't even need to lift a finger," she promised. "Besides, even without that body, you're still able to create another vessel for you to occupy right? So I don't see the problem in not retrieving the body now."

You remained silent before turning towards Yohan, as if asking for permission.

Yet the man only smiles, letting you make the decision yourself.

You recalled his words.

"It doesn't matter how much trouble you cause. I'm here. I trust that you won't make an irrevocable mistake so go wild. No matter what kinds of troubles you bring, I will help you fix them up."

With a newfound courage, your flames burn brighter. [Okay, so who will be my next escort?]

The founder beamed. "You probably don't know him but I'll tell you his name; it's Hollis."

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

||KAEL'S LOVE STATUS||

🖤🖤🖤🖤♡

Arc 1 ended—

pst, hollis has been mentioned twice in this book. you can find him in chapter 1.11 & 1.18