He couldn’t adjust his eyes to the lights at first when he woke up. The curtains were drawn but some sunlight managed to pierce through a slit. The light hit him right in the eyes. William squinted his eyes and started to move his body to avoid the sunlight. “Uh…” He complained with his hoarse voice. But the movement caused his whole body to ache. His body felt heavy and sore. It was really like he was hit by a truck, got all his bones broken and died, but then had to wake up from being dead. It felt like that.
As much as it was a torture, it was a sweet torture.
And as much as it was painful to wake up like this, it was a sweet pain.
William was not traumatised by Marcus’ high sex drives. In fact, he felt a little addicted.
He smiled to himself as he savoured all the pain on his body. That was one hell of a satisfying night. He chuckled slightly to himself as he realised that he had indeed found a gold mine. Marcus is precious to him. He’s my precious little gold, William thought to himself.
But where had this precious little gold gone? William wondered as he looked around. He was alone in Marcus’ room. He eyed the room carefully. There was a bookcase at the wall next to a desk. It looked like a place for a studious student to study. But this was a resort so that somehow perplexed William. The layout of the room was similar to his own room minus that there was a bookcase, this study desk, a standard-size fridge, a microwave, and a stove. It seemed that Marcus had been living here for a while now.
A supposedly college student living alone in a grand resort in the middle of nowhere? William wondered. That was kind of odd.
William moved a little and saw a note left on the bedside table. ‘I’m going out for a while to learn to manage the resort. Please wait for me. Breakfast on the table next to the bookcase. You can heat it up in the microwave. -M’
William smiled to himself as he looked at the note carefully. Even his handwriting is cute, he thought. The handwriting was cursive and very neat. William’s own handwriting was very messy and inconsistent. So it made him really appreciate such beautiful handwriting. He folded the note and started to look for his clothes with his eyes.
He found them neatly folded and stacked on the sofa. Smiling, he got up, got dressed, and walked over to the desk by the bookcase to look at the breakfast. Still smiling, he placed the food into the microwave and heated it up. The smile never left his face as he put the note that he folded into the pocket of his pants. He really appreciates beautiful handwriting. Or perhaps, he just really appreciates Marcus.
He moved to the bookcase. There was a row with his own novels arranged on it. He took one of his novels and opened them. He saw that Marcus had his digital signature on it. He gave them out to 10 lucky readers back then. It seemed that Marcus was the lucky one or maybe he bought it from the lucky ones. William has heard of that happening. He looked slightly to the left and found that his older novel, which was not one of the bestsellers, was also there. William’s smile got wider. He must be a true fan, he thought to himself. He wanted to pick it up when suddenly, Marcus barged into the room.
“Mr. Hendrik!”
“Whoa… What’s wrong with you?” William asked, slightly startled by the sudden appearance of Marcus at the door.
“It-...It’s you, isn’t it? You’re THE William Hendrik,” Marcus said with his hands trembling.
To that, William couldn’t say anything. He just stood there awkwardly being completely speechless.
“I found your signature in the guest log. It’s the same signature. You’re my favourite author, aren’t you? You wrote those novels!” Marcus said excitedly.
William laughed awkwardly upon hearing it. He then grinned guiltily in answer. Marcus smiled brightly and happily trotted over towards William. He then picked him up and spun him around. “Whoa. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Put me down!” William complained. His body was still sore and he couldn’t handle any physical aggressiveness at the moment. Once Marcus heard that, he stopped spinning him around and gently made him sit on the bed. “What the hell is wrong with you?” William whined angrily.
“Mr. Hendrik, I’m so happy. I think we’re really fated. Don’t you agree?” Marcus said. The smile on his face was so bright that it left William completely speechless. It’s really a sin to be so beautiful, William complained silently in his heart. And I’m a sucker to such beauty. “You must autograph all your novels for me!” Marcus then spoke excitedly.
“...”
“The sequel! Are you writing it now? How far have you written? Tell me all about it! Please!”
“...”
“Mr. Hendrik, why aren’t you saying anything? Am I annoying you?” Marcus then started to pout his lips and acted coquettish.
William could only finally sigh in answer. “Just… let me calm down for a while. I haven’t even eaten anything yet,” he said.
“Oh! Okay, okay. I’ll get the food for you!” Marcus said and jumped up excitedly as he went over to get the food.
William just looked at him from the back, smiling to himself. Suddenly, he felt some kind of warmth beginning to spread all over him. It was not akin to catching a fever. It was a comfortable feeling that he had long lost. It was a sense of belonging mixed with a sense of yearning. It was a good feeling. It’s best to just savour it for now since he knew it all too well that good things won’t last.
William’s first book ever being published was a fictional autobiography of a little girl being sexually abused by her father. Marcus cast a glance towards that novel which was stationed at the left side of his bookcase. There’s a secret inside it that Marcus was still being indecisive about. Should he let William find it out by himself? Or should he hide it away?
With his back to William, Marcus smiled to himself, making him look a little dangerous. A thought crossed his mind; Oh… Just let fate decide this one for me.
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Next update: 2023.09.29
*Author’s Note: Before anyone speculates, let me just say… Nope. There's no hidden passage or a hidden room behind the bookcase this time. Lol. -K
