By Zephyria 
When he opened his eyes again, Chrissy was lying in a different room. As he pushed himself up awkwardly, feeling anxious, he unexpectedly spotted Nathaniel sitting in a chair beside the bed with his eyes closed. Along with the sweet scent secretly permeating the room, Chrissy soon realized.
Could this be this man’s bedroom?
Denial that it couldn’t be and affirmation that it certainly was collided simultaneously. Chrissy sat on the bed for a moment, staring blankly at the man’s face. For some reason, the cheeks beneath the long eyelashes looked thinner than before. The shadows cast upon the more defined contours of his face were particularly vivid. His firmly closed, thick lips looked taciturn, yet their redness—contrasting with his pale complexion—felt somewhat erotic.
A few strands of hair had fallen over the man’s neat forehead, which usually showed not a single gap. Then, the white shirt entering his field of vision also seemed somehow wrinkled. Chrissy was inwardly flustered by this unexpected disarray. Surely this man wasn’t waiting for me to wake up. Chrissy shook his head once and retraced his thoughts.
His memories were fragmented. However, he had a vague idea of what had happened to him. It was likely because he was too exhausted, both mentally and physically. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to suddenly have childhood dreams, nor to have a fit and make such a scene because of them.
Yes, especially in front of this man.
It was just as he thought that. Suddenly, the man’s long eyelashes trembled slightly, and then he slowly opened his eyes. The purple pupils revealed beneath wandered slowly around as if assessing the situation, and when they met Chrissy’s, they stopped moving.
For a while, the two simply looked at each other in silence. In that moment, it felt as if the entire world had stopped. Neither opened their mouth, as if wishing for this stillness to last forever.
“……Are you feeling alright?”
Nathaniel was the first to break the silence. His voice, sounding as if he had kept his mouth shut for a long time, broke once before continuing. Chrissy instinctively looked down and froze when he saw the bandages wrapped around the man’s hand and arm. Soon, fragmented memories returned.
‘Let go, let go of me!’
‘Wait, stop! It’s dangerous!’
As Chrissy struggled to escape from him, screaming, Nathaniel had shouted. And the loud noise that followed was…….
“Did I… break the window?”
When he asked another question instead of answering the first, Nathaniel’s brow furrowed slightly. As if dissatisfied with Chrissy’s reaction, he remained silent for a moment before speaking.
“It was just an accident.”
Upon hearing the answer, Chrissy realized his question had been wrong. He then asked another.
“Did you get hurt because of me? Your arm?”
As Chrissy asked with a frown, Nathaniel fell silent again, but this time it wasn’t as long as before.
“It was an accident.”
The answer was the same. Chrissy let out a low sigh. His chest felt tight at the realization that the scene he had caused was far from trivial. He had never imagined a day would come when he would apologize to this man, but this time, he had nothing else to say.
“……I’m sorry.”
When he managed to speak, Nathaniel gazed at him intently. Chrissy tried to avoid his gaze and added another apology.
“I… had a bad dream, and I wasn’t in my right mind. I’m sorry, I’ll take care of the cleanup, so…….”
“It’s already done.”
Nathaniel ruthlessly cut off the words Chrissy was struggling to form. As Chrissy paused and looked at him, the man continued in his usual emotionless voice.
“The cleanup is all finished. There is nothing for you to worry about.”
Does that mean an apology is enough? Or is he saying there’s something else I need to do?
While he was unable to make sense of it, Nathaniel spoke.
“Would you like something to eat? I’m starving to death.”
“What?”
Chrissy was bewildered by the sudden change in topic. As he looked up as if asking what he was talking about, Nathaniel added arbitrarily.
“Come down.”
Leaving only that single command, the man turned and walked out. Chrissy could only watch his retreating back with a stunned expression.
Staggering down to the first floor, Chrissy made his way to the dining room. As he got closer, an unexpectedly pleasant smell wafted toward him. Soon, upon seeing the food laid out across the wide table, his eyes widened. On the plates were two steaks that looked to be at least 400 grams each. The amount of salad with all sorts of vegetables filled a bowl of an immense size he had never seen before, and there were several types of eggs—from omelets to fried and boiled. The bacon was similarly varied, from crispy to lightly cooked, as if welcoming him to eat whichever he preferred. Along with various breads divided into several baskets, it was almost hard to wrap his head around what all this was.
“Sit.”
After saying a word to the dazed Chrissy, Nathaniel poured wine into his glass and then repeated the action for his own. Standing awkwardly, Chrissy belatedly frowned and asked him.
“Shouldn’t I be eating on the floor?”
When he spoke sarcastically, recalling a bitter experience from some time ago, Nathaniel let out a smirk as he sat in his chair first.
“You may do so if you wish, but it would be quite uncomfortable.”
That was not something the person who had made him do such a thing should say. Chrissy found it absurd, but of course, he had no intention of eating on the floor. Quietly pulling out a chair and sitting down, he glanced sideways to see Nathaniel first plating some salad and then handing him the bowl. Unlike Nathaniel, who handed it over with one hand, Chrissy received it with both hands and slightly furrowed his brows. It was obvious, but since the man’s hands were far larger than his own, he could accept it due to the difference in physique. However, the difference in grip strength felt somehow wounding to his pride. With a not-so-great feeling, he placed the bowl on the table, served some vegetables, and then turned his head without thinking, only to be startled. Only one piece of steak remained on Nathaniel’s plate.
“You ate it all already? That huge thing?”
As he asked unconsciously, Nathaniel answered indifferently.
“I told you, I’m starving to death.”
Chrissy watched blankly as the man cut the meat with utterly elegant movements and brought it to his mouth. Belatedly, he felt hunger himself, but even so, he didn’t have the courage to eat two of those steaks.
“Do you always eat this much?”
When Chrissy finally couldn’t resist asking, Nathaniel spoke while cutting the remaining half of the steak.
“Not always.”
The nuance suggested that he did eat like this often. As Chrissy looked at him suspiciously, he added before putting the meat in his mouth.
“I always ate like this during my growth spurts.”
Considering Nathaniel’s immense size, it felt like a natural explanation. Thinking that, another question suddenly occurred to him.
“Does your whole family eat like this?”
Everyone in the Miller family was 2 meters tall, or close to it. Given that size, and that they were mostly men, it might be natural to eat this much. As expected, Nathaniel’s answer was close to his prediction.
“I told you, I only do this when I’m very hungry.”
It wasn’t hard to imagine the Miller family eating with food piled high on a massive table. Moreover, if they were young men in their growth spurts…….
“The food expenses must have been astronomical…….”
As he muttered unconsciously, unexpectedly, Nathaniel chuckled. To speak of food expenses to a Miller. Just as he felt pathetic, the man suddenly spoke.
“Fortunately, my father earned a lot of money.”
“A lot of money, right?”
When Chrissy added mischievously, a surprising reaction followed. Nathaniel let out a loud, hearty laugh. Stunned by a situation he had never seen before, Chrissy watched as the man spoke with a still-smiling face.
“Yes. God bless the Millers.”