Chapter 28: Eat, Pray… Cook It Yourself

Rhos was not particularly experienced with women. Truthfully, like most men his age, he had long since accepted that trying to understand them was a pointless exercise.

Lately, the women he had been meeting recently seemed determined to make his already confusing life even more confusing.

First was when he woke up beside a naked woman with him also being naked. Before he had even recovered from that mental image, he now found himself sitting inside a stranger’s apartment wearing someone else’s sleeping clothes while the owner of said clothes didn’t seem to have a shred of modesty.

She stood behind the counter wearing an oversized shirt that did little to hide the graceful lines of her petite figure, not to mention her underwear.

She didn’t appear to be self conscious or embarrassed that she was barely dressed in the presence of a stranger, who is also a man.

Unfortunately for that said man, he was painfully aware and embarrassed. His cheeks blushed and he quickly looked away.

’Don’t look. Focus somewhere else’

When he tried looking anywhere else, his eyes wandered back to her figure on their own.

’Damn it! Stop staring, idiot!’

He immediately turned away again, his ears burning. He tried to remove that image of her in his mind however....

The harder he tried not to think about it, the more his imagination insisted on reminding him she was standing only a few steps away. He cursed his own brain for torturing him like this.

On the other side of the counter, the woman finished the last of her energy drink and placed the empty can beside the sink before speaking in the same tired voice as before.

"You’ve been unconscious for seven days. So your body should be demanding food by now. Tell me what you’d like to eat and I’ll check whether I have the ingredients"

"Huh, a week?"

Hearing that pulled Rhos’s attention away from his internal crisis. He turned halfway toward her before quickly remembering why he had looked away in the first place.

Being knocked out for that long naturally flooded him with questions, however before he could, the woman continued, tilting her head up slightly.

"Perhaps asking what you’d like wasn’t efficient. I think it’s much easier to tell you what I currently have"

She wandered back toward the refrigerator, which was surprisingly full.

"I’ve still got smoked horn rabbit, cured ridge boar, cave mushrooms, fermented moss roots, mountain tubers, riverfish fillets, giant beetle eggs, cloud berries, dried thorn peppers, forest onions, marrow herbs, honey fungus and enough grain flour to make flatbread. There are also preserved antelopes ribs, although those require considerably more effort than I’m currently willing to invest"

She closed the refrigerator.

"Those are the options. Pick any for breakfast"

She looked back expecting some kind of response from him, but she didn’t get any. She wasn’t sure if he was paying attention. He still refused to even look at her.

This confused her. She raised one eyebrow and asked.

"Is something wrong?"

Without turning around, Rhos let out a strained hot breath.

"Could you please put on some proper clothes first? I can’t concentrate while you’re walking around like a slu-, uh... like that. Also, some introductions would be appreciated because from my perspective a mysterious woman dragged me into her apartment, changed my clothes while I was unconscious, and is now offering me breakfast..."

He exhaled another breath.

"You can’t expect me to trust you just like that, right?"

The moment he said that, silence filled the apartment. The woman regarded him quietly. She didn’t seem to agree or disagree with what he said. Her constant emotionless expression made it difficult to tell what emotion she was feeling.

"I asked you a question first. You still haven’t answered it"

Eventually she spoke.

"If someone ignores my question and immediately starts making requests of their own, I don’t see why I should feel obligated to satisfy those requests. Conversation generally works better when both people participate"

She folded her arms firmly.

"As for changing my clothes because you’re uncomfortable, that sounds remarkably similar to making your embarrassment someone else’s responsibility"

Her tired pink eyes settled on him, her face twisting with disdain.

"Control yourself. I dislike perverts and ungrateful people"

Although he didn’t pick up any anger or irritation in her voice, he could tell she felt strongly about what she just said. Rhos rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright.. That’s fair"

He looked toward her.

"I’m sorry. I was caught off guard by everything. Thank you for taking me in and your hospitality. I genuinely appreciate it"

The woman watched him without responding. Rhos continued.

"For breakfast... mushrooms, onions and flatbread sounds good"

Without another word, she tied back the loose strands of hair and quietly got to work. Even though she looked like she hadn’t slept in months, she moved like someone who didn’t seem to suffer from fatigue.

A knife sliced mushrooms into even portions. The onions followed and were thrown into a frying pan. Soon, a rich aroma drifted through the apartment, mixing herbs and butter until the entire room smelled warm enough to make Rhos’ stomach betray him with a low growl.

Several minutes later, the woman placed a steaming plate onto the counter. She pulled out a chair and sat down. Picked up a fork and began eating.

Rhos stared at the woman quietly enjoying the food that was supposed to be prepared for him. She looked up at him and took another bite of flatbread.

"Uh, isn’t that supposed to be mine?"

She swallowed.

"When did I say I was making breakfast for you?"

Rhos frowned.

"You asked what I wanted to eat... so I assumed–"

"I asked because I was curious what kind of breakfast someone like you preferred. It sounded interesting, so I decided to make it. It’s surprisingly good"

She said thoughtfully as she chewed another mouthful, leaving the young man dumbfounded.

"You bi–"

"You can cook something if you’d like. I won’t stop you"

She gestured toward the fridge and pots. With the same hand holding the fork, she placed it on the counter and leaned her chin against it, a slight smile enlisting across her lips.

"I’m called Koa... Black Crow Koa"