Into the ice-kissed air came wintry feathers of pure white, a great snowfall that soon gave way to a blizzard, as if a sky dam had burst. You shivered slightly from the cold as you quickly stepped inside your house, hoping to find a source of heat, a bag of grocery in your hands. At that moment, you happened to notice a familiar man lying asleep on your couch. His white hair tousled and his eyes closed. You blinked in confusion before vaguely remembered that ROMANCE had notified you that your escort will come earlier than promise, to which you reply with okay along with the location of your hidden spare house key.

You decided to put down the grocery bag on the dining table first before leaving to check on your guest. He was soundly asleep and though it wasn't really professional of him to do so, you don't really mind.

However, for some reason, the closer your steps got to him, the colder you feel, as if he was a living air conditioner which is an anomaly since shouldn't human body emitted heat?

ーbut then again, this man wasn't really a human.

Nodding at that fact, you went and fetched him a duvet and a pillow. However, his body was like a broken air-conditioner that can't be turned off, and you can't help but wonder why would the founder assigned him to you on this wintry season. Was it to torture you? You frowned, fetching a few more duvets so that his cold body heat would be trapped inside instead of spreading around and making the heater in your house useless.

After about two more duvets, you were finally satisfied so you prepared a warm drink to sip on while reading the books Yohan gave.

Although spirits don't have that specialized nerve cells that are able to detect differences in temperature like humans have, their cheap imitation of a human body does have one, though not as sensitive as the original's. Still, it did give you an illusion of being a human.

"If only being a human is that easy..."

A bittersweet smile graced your lips as your delicately turned the pages of the book, your eyes tracing the words in silence. The soft glow of a nearby lamp cast a warm, golden hue on the scene, illuminating the intricacies of the room. Outside, the snow whirled and danced, its relentless howls a stark contrast to the peaceful stillness within.

Beside you, lying in restless slumber, was the Amorii. His chest rose and fell in a quick rhythm, his eyebrows furrows, creating wrinkles in the middle. It was clear that his sleep wasn't as comfortable as you thought, but unfortunately, you were too focused to notice the source of his discomfort, which is the three layers of duvet wrapped on top of him.

Lost in the quietude of the moment, you found solace within the walls of the living room. The ache of loneliness and longing was now filled with the presence of another living being. Despite knowing the possibility that he might be the same type of person as Kael, you can't deny that his existence right now comfort you.

"This...?"

You snapped out of your daydream when a hoarse voice belonging to a male invade your eardrums. You turned to look at the source of voice, seeing that the man bundled up on the couch was making a look of annoyance as he pushed the three layers of duvet away from his body, you can't help but felt guilty.

In a groggy state, his grey eyes landed on you. He stared at you for a while, the deep wrinkles between his eyebrows gradually disappeared as he sighed, realizing that he had fallen asleep when his job was to make his service worth your money. He shifted his position into a sitting one.

"Sorry, I should have wait for you." He ruffled his hair tiredly. "I will make it up to you. Do you want me to cook something for you?"

You shook your head, grimacing a little bit at the sudden remembrance of Kael's cooking ability. Would he too be the same?

"Uh, no need. I've already eat outside." You took your mug and extended it towards him. "Want it? It still warm. Also, you can continue your sleep if you wanted to, I'm just going to read a little bit more."

He glanced at the green liquid inside that mug, a subtle hint of disgust shown in his eyes but he merely shook his head before lying down on the couch once again. His eyes never leaving you.

You put the mug down with a slight chuckle. "It's just a green vegetable juice, you don't need to make such a face."

He didn't answer, still pursing his lips in distaste.

You laughed, took a sip, and continue scanning the letters on the pages, reading it carefully.

"What are you reading?" He suddenly asked.

"I'm reading about Enterpreneurs Who Dared to Think Differently, and Created Their Own Path to Success," you showed him the book you're holding and the pile of books on your side, waiting to be read by you. "It's good. This is the less boring one among these pile."

He squinted his eyes at the sight.

"The classic underdog stories of rags to riches. How original," he snorted after glancing at the synopsis. "If you knew that it's boring then why bother reading them?"

"My, uh, brother told me that if I wanted to help him with his job, I, at least, need to have a basic understanding of what he's doing," you then grabbed another book, the most difficult one for you to comprehend. "But I still don't understand why do people talk about market forces and supply chains? Can't I just come up with a great idea to help my brother and make it big?"

"Well, ideas alone won't guarantee success. You need to comprehend market dynamics, navigate complex networks, and outmaneuver your rivals," he yawned. "So I can see why your brother make you read them."

You pouted and glanced at the books dejectedly, flipping the pages to where you left off.

He continued to stare at you. "You... I heard that you knew the founder. What's your relationship with her?"

Your fingers stopped their movements, surprised. "I... don't really know her. It was my brother who introduced me to her though."

He raised an eyebrow at your answer. "Really? Then what do you seek from me when you chose me to become your escort? Do you want to be fucked? Or is it because I'm a creature that regularly went into heat so you found it interesting to play with such a vulgar thing?"

You were surprised when he started to scrutinize you. "It's nothing like that. I just wanted someone to accompany me. I have no friends, you see, and my, um, family is not around. That's why I resort to hiring an escort."

"So my job is just to remain by your side?"

You nodded.

"But I don't want that," he refused solemnly. "I'm an escort from ROMANCE so naturally, what I want from our relationship is something that transcended simple services. Other escorts might want to indulge you in your friendship roleplay, but as an Amorii, what I seek from my client is love."

You quivered when he started to reach out for a lock of your hair and twirled them.

"Buー But your profile didn't say so."

"So?" He frowned. "It wasn't me who wrote them."

Now you just feel like sending an email of complain to whoever wrote his profile. To think that you laughed and thought it was funny.

He then retracted his hand upon seeing your uncomfortable expression. "However, what was written in that profile isn't entirely wrong. What I seek from you is not much different than what you seek from me. My colleagues said that my love language is quality time, and I too don't enjoy physical touch that much so you needn't worry."

"Iー I see..."

Not knowing how to respond or react, you lowered your head down and shifted your attention to the book you're holding. Despite having your gaze lingered on the texts, your mind wasn't able to focus, mainly because the Amorii has been staring at you nonstop.

Finally, he spoke. "You have been staring at the same page for a while now."

"That's because... you have been staring at me. I can't focus," you said, putting the blame on him.

"Then will you read it to me out loud, darling?" He closed his eyes, indicating that he won't stare anymore. "At least until I fall asleep."

You wanted to say that what you read is really boring, but recalling that people tend to fall asleep when listening to something they are disinterested in, you agreed to his request, thinking it would help him sleep faster. You started to read to him softly, only stopping when you eventually heard his soft snore.

You glanced at him and smiled, belatedly noticing that he hadn't been emitting that coldness ever since he was talking to you earlier. You wondered why is that.

You shrugged and shifted your attention back to your book.

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