Lahynna forced herself to return her attention towards the container. She likes her worms to be this healthy. It is easier to dissect and identify the parts.
“Nice! Thank you!” She gladly said.
The guy just turned away and went directly to the faucet near the cabin. He cleaned himself.
“Thanks again,” I told him when he was done cleaning.
The guy just nodded. He keeps on cleaning his feet.
“Do you live near here?” She asked again.
The guy walked near the cabin. He sits on the bamboo seat in front of the cabin.
“Yeah. It’s been a year since we moved here.”
So, it means they were new settlers.
“The air here was so refreshing, right?” She could not find a word to say.
Lahynna did not want to go just yet. She still wanted to talk with the guy even though it was evident that he was not interested anymore.
She closed her eyes when the fresh wind blew. It was as if kissing her face. She could feel that her hair flew lightly through the blows of the wind. She gladly filled her lungs with the fresh and clean air of the field.
When she finally opened her eyes, she'd never forget how the guy looked away. Was he watching her while she was enjoying the fresh air? And why is her heart going crazy over her chest?
“You should try to breathe fresh air.” Lahynna smiled as she suggested.
Damn! The guy was so attractive she could stay looking at him all day long!
“You should try it to refresh yourself. You might also learn how to smile.”
She gasped when she finally saw the thing she was curious to witness. A small smile ripped from his lips. It seems he finally got the glimpse of light in his darkened world.
He did really smiles. It suits him better than having that poker faced. He was actually handsome in any angle and any emotion he had with that stunning face.
“There, you should smile more. It’s so nice to be happy.”
She suddenly felt like slapping her face when the smile on his face fades. He was once more poker faced.
“There was no reason for me to smile. So why should I?”
She doesn’t understand herself. Lahynna suddenly felt something heavy put in her chest upon hearing the sadness in his voice.
She wanted to ask why he thought that way. He was still alive and breathing. That was already something he should be happy about.
But who is she to question how he sees the world. She doesn’t even know what the guy was going through. And she wasn’t in the right place to ask anyway.
But still…
She still wanted to know. She wasn’t the type to interlope, so it was new to feel something like this.
“Hynna!!!”
I turned in the direction where the voice was coming from. It was Jane who’s coming near the cabin. She was actually her grandparents' neighbor and a childhood friend.
Just a little while and she saw Jane was running towards her. When Jane was almost near, her broad smiles vanished. She turned up a serious face.
“Granny said you should go home now. Lanryd was looking for you all over the place.” Jane said and pulled her on her arm.
“Ah, yes. We just look for some worms.” She turned to the guy who seemed oblivious to us. He was watching the vast rice field.
“Thank you.”
He looked at her and nodded after a moment. Jane pulled Lahynna away from the cabin. She was in a hurry. Lahynna still wanted to stay at the cabin, but Jane seems to run her away from there. She was as if afraid of something or someone.
When they were finally far from the cabin, Jane started to scold her.
“Why were you with Rubick?” Jane sternly asked, as if nervous or something.
“Huh?”
“Rubick. I mean the guy you are talking with.”
Oh. She hasn’t even asked the name of the guy.
“He helped me catch the worms,” Lahynna answered.
“Did he do anything to you? Did he hurt you or anything?” Jane nervously asked.
“What?”
Her brows made a straight line. Isn’t Jane exaggerating? Why would the guy hurt her?
“What harm would he do to me? He was actually nice. He helped me even though he doesn’t know me.”
“Hmmp!” Jane smirks. “Don’t be fooled, Hynna. He was notorious in this place. Some said he was not a good guy. He was always in trouble.”
She wanted to raise an eyebrow at what Jane said. She couldn’t judge the guy, most especially that he has been good to her. He even helped her. So, it’s been so hard for me to believe Jane.
“And you know what? That cabin was his….”
Jane stopped talking. She was as if in doubt if she should tell her or not.
“That cabin is what?” I curiously pursued her.
“That is his… f*cking place...”
“Whoah!?” My eyes grew wide and round.
“I mean, it’s a rumor,” Jane added.
Lahynna was really shocked by what she heard.
She may not be minor and wasn’t young for that word anymore. She’s already twenty-one. Jane is the same age as hers. But she was still shocked to hear those words coming from Jane.
Alright. She has a boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean they do such a thing. They never break the limit. Jane seems to be so ready to tell obscene stories, but she still encountered a culture shock.
“That’s right. Someone caught him doing it with… the-girl-who-shouldn’t-be-named.”
Lahynna did not know if she should laugh or what. Jane started to pass down the gossip circulating in the village.
“They said he had tasted all the flirty girls here in our village and even the others coming from downtown. You should be careful when talking to him. You might not know what is going to happen next. You should not be alone with him.”
Lahynna lightly slapped Jane in the arm. “Isn’t it too much of an accusation? I mean, it was just gossip.”