"What’s up with him?"
Penny scrunched up her nose, rubbing it mildly as it felt a little itchy. "Why does it sll like..." she trailed off, assuming the sll was similar to the one from the hospital. The thought of the hospital imdiately sent a wave of alarm through her brain as she thought of her patient.
Zoren!
"Renre—" she abruptly stopped the second she turned, only to see Zoren looking in her direction. "Renren!"
Penny quickly jumped up from the floor as if she had forgotten the stiffness in her neck and shoulders. She slid beside him, her eyes shaky as she scanned his face. Her eyes shimred with relief as her lips curved into a satisfied smile, pleased that his complexion was better than yesterday.
"Goodness..." she breathed out, teary-eyed. "Thank God. Oh, my god."
Succumbing to her heart’s desire, Penny threw herself into his embrace. She bit her lips, torn between crying and laughing.
"I’m so glad you’re back," she whimpered under her breath. "You scared ."
Zoren raised his brows a little, his eyes slowly gazing down at her body. He could not only feel her trembling, but he could see it clearly. Slowly, he wrapped his arm around her and patted her back.
"I’m sorry for worrying you," he whispered, his eyes softening as she drew her head back to look at him. Even though her face was covered in scribbles and her nose was black, the look in her eyes filled him with nothing but warmth.
’Is this how you’ve been looking at all this ti?’he wondered to himself, his breathing slowing. Zoren slowly raised a hand, caressing her soft cheek with his fingertips. He wiped the tears lingering in the corner of her eyes with the back of his index.
"I’m sorry for making you cry," he whispered, brushing her cheek with his thumb.
Touching Penny’s face wasn’t the first ti, nor the second or tenth ti. In fact, he did it as many tis as he could, in case he would lose his sight completely. She even described her face in full detail at one point, but now, he realized just how much he lacked imagination.
He realized that it wasn’t just how she looked that he wanted to see. He wanted to see her eyes, how they shimred with different emotions. He wanted to see her smile and laugh — perhaps even the expression she would make when she was beneath him.
There was so much to see, and he didn’t realize it until now.
Zoren smiled subtly, his heart full. ’I hope our quadruplets get your eyes,’was what he wanted to say as his mouth opened. But before those words could leave his lips, Atlas’s cold and flat voice shattered the heartwarming atmosphere between the couple.
"Are you done?"
Penny’s and Zoren’s smiles froze, and the imaginary llow background music stopped. Her face twitched as her brows spiked up.
"Ha... hah..." Penny let out a shallow laugh as she turned to her First Brother. "And you’re still here?"
"I’ve been here since last night."
"First Brother, you should’ve gone with Slater when you saw and Renren reuniting."
"Reunion? You were with him all day and night... or do you an a reunion after a few hours of sleep?"
"..." Penny deadpanned, staring at Atlas blankly. "You..." she trailed off, having a mont of self-reflection as she wondered if it was worth it to say the unpleasant comnt she wanted to make at that mont.
"How are you?" Atlas ignored his sister and set his eyes on Zoren. "You look better."
"I’m better now." Zoren nodded. "Thank you for watching over ."
"Don’t ntion it. I’m not only watching over you, but also that girl." Atlas snapped his eyes at Penny, shaking his head. "If this had happened without Mom here, would you even have survived the night?"
Penny pouted. "If what happened yesterday happened when I was alone, then I..." she trailed off, wondering how she would have reacted.
Would it have been different?
Would Penny have reacted more rationally? After all, since Allison was there, Penny could’ve intuitively thought that there was soone with her who would do the thinking.
Or would she have been the sa?
"You call , you foolish girl," Atlas clicked his tongue mildly, watching her snap her eyes up at him. He sighed faintly, not pleased at all with her, but his expression wasn’t as combative — just milder. "If bad things happen, you call — especially if it’s about that boy."
"Boy?" Zoren pointed at himself.
"This independence, along with this bad habit of yours..." Atlas sighed, shaking his head. "Do you get it, Penelope Bennet? Mom and Dad were very worried about you — and you too."
Zoren almost flinched when Atlas briefly gave him a deadly glare. ’He looked kinder in my head when I was blind,’ he thought, but didn’t dwell on it. Instead, a subtle smile slowly crept onto Zoren’s face as he observed how Atlas scolded Penny.
Yet, Atlas might have been scolding his sister, but one could see that his words ca from the sincerest part of his heart and soul. His words didn’t contain malice, but rather genuine concern.
’I take it back,’ thought Zoren with a smile. ’He looked kinder... sotis.’
"Fine, fine..." Penny sighed, pursing her lips because the more she thought about it, the more she realized just how much she had lost herself yesterday. For a brief mont, Penny had indeed forgotten everything and let fear overtake her.
After letting out another sigh, she looked up at Atlas and smiled helplessly. "Thank you, First Brother. It’s good to have a brother like you who will kick back on track when necessary."
Atlas’s stoic expression remained unchanged, but his eyes looked milder. He casually rocked his head, about to push himself away to give these two privacy — or perhaps give himself so ti to erase the awful mory of his sister and Zoren.
They were too cheesy for his taste.
But before Atlas could push himself up, the door suddenly flew open. Atlas, Penny, and Zoren instinctively turned toward the door, only to see Charles and Allison panting for air while looking inside with dilated eyes.
"Zoren!" Allison exclaid in relief, smiling as she saw the healthy color on her son-in-law’s face. Charles, on the other hand, huffed, his shoulders lowering — a small detail that showed his relief.
"Oh, my goodness...!" Allison rushed inside with her husband, walking over to where Penny was. She stood behind Penny, her hands on her daughter’s shoulder. As for Charles, he stayed close but not too much.
"How are you, kid?" asked Charles. "You made all of us worried — why would you drink your nosebleed?"
"Ugh... why are you all so noisy...?" At the sa ti, Hugo groaned as he groggily sat up. When he peeked at his surroundings, the first person he saw was Charles. His father looked back at him, giving Hugo a glimpse of Zoren and Penny on the bed.
"Oh! You’re alive!" Hugo cheered, jumping out of the spare bed to jump on the king-sized bed. His action made Penny and Zoren bounce a little, but they didn’t dwell on it. "Wow... you have more color now. What a relief!"
"Hugo, if you think you have the height of a dwarf and the weight of a feather, you’re dreaming," Atlas comnted. "You cannot just jump on soone else’s bed like a kid... is that dry drool?"
"Eh... First Brother, I just had the deepest sleep I’ve ever had."
Charles snorted. "Goodness. I can’t believe I was able to sleep in the sa room as this guy."
"Hugo, why don’t you wash your face first and brush your teeth?" Allison suggested as Hugo had just put himself in the spotlight.
Penny and Zoren remained quiet, watching everyone gang up on Hugo, who had just woken up. Well, they couldn’t bla them, because Hugo was like a kid, excited to see his favorite person awake. Zoren’s eyes softened despite the ongoing banter — or bullying — unfolding before him.
His brows rose when he sensed Penny looking in his direction. Looking back at her, all he saw was her slight smile and slightly squinted eyes. He smiled back before they both chuckled quietly, watching how the entire family ruthlessly teased another family mber.
Zoren leaned back, observing everyone quietly. ’Now... I’m sure the Bennet Family aren’t just fignts of my imagination.’
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