BREATHE ✓ ⇢ [EDITING]

《 CHAPTER 3: TANTALIZED 》[REVISED]

CHAPTER 3
TANTALIZED

Hans Hayder could feel his blood boiling beneath his skin.

The ferocious, dark-haired thief had merely stared him in the eye from across the street, but he had already succumbed to her seduction. He hated how his body uncontrollably reacted to her presence. A surge of disgust traveled up his veins as he remembered her natural, unaffected gaze. Hans involuntarily crossed his arms as she hastily drove away.

Until now, not a single soul had ever just left him hanging while he stared them down like that. It was the perfect product of nine years of harsh scoldings and fails, dozens of nights staying up as he practiced in the mirror of his bedroom, the clock in the corner ticking away. He had trained his pupils on the mirror, glaring at his own reflection through the glass until his fierce look matched the intensity of his brother and father's.

Hans nodded into the air, his mind still wavering on the image of the girl's rebellious aura. He could melt into her liquid chocolate eyes, or her smooth scorched desert sand skin. Although his father wouldn't approve of her darker pigmentation or wild wavy hair, Hans figured he could probably wind a way around that. After all, both he and his brother had thick curls from their paternal grandfather.

Hans suddenly replayed the moment in his mind. There was a man with his arm wrapped around the woman. Although the man's eyes had not met Hans', Hans gathered that that man was certainly her boyfriend. Hans would be absolutely correct, unless this woman was truly another species of female and allowed any man to grasp her so cunningly. 

More important than his hold on Hans' woman was the man's identity. Hans certainly knew that face, from the dark brown hair framing his thick eyebrows and prominent nose to the little dimple on his left cheek. Hans barked out a snide laugh as he remembered those poor dimples being teased by nearly every single female, both women and girls, during primary and junior high school.

Had this ferocious, rebellious woman also been lured by his dimples like the others? Had she really been caught like a fish in Kaan Yusuf's net?

Hans huffed as he reflected on those angry chocolate eyes. She was a motorcycle thief with a harsh gaze. There was no way that such a tough woman would ever fall victim to a measly dimple now, would she?

Yet a very microscopic, but still existing doubt rested in Hans' heart as he kept going over the seconds-long interaction between the motorcycle thief and Kaan Yusuf. She hadn't been leaning away or expressing any distaste towards him. Surely she hadn't chosen such a simpleton for herself? A flower boy could not be enough to satiate her.

Hans held back a cynical laugh as he walked the remaining blocks home. A calm walk down the main road had cost him his sleep and indirectly cost Kaan Yusuf his girlfriend.

Hans wound up in front of his father's bedroom that evening, the midnight air from earlier clearing his head as he rose his head in pride, just as he had been taught. His twinkling black eyes studied the heavy oak doors, the surface gleaming from the recent polish. The twenty-one year old man lifted the ornate golden knocker, his ears ringing slightly as the vibration echoed throughout the rest of the empty house.

A firm, drawling voice sounded from within the master bedroom. "I was expecting you." Hans' father's face was tinted with a deep yellow from the lamp at his bedside, a newspaper folded neatly in front of him at his feet. Despite the time, the older man was dressed as if he was ready to go outside. His emerald green yelek hugged the aubergine shirt beneath, both prim and sickly straight. 

"Baba." Hans greeted, slightly bowing his head. Despite all he had been scolded for, he still found himself rather intimidated by his father's presence. A part of him knew that despite his father scolding Hans for lowering his gaze, the elder felt a sense of satisfaction at Hans' self-belittlement. Hans told himself that it was because the latter had been widowed too young, but then the other part of him confirmed that it was his father's habit even when Hans' mother was still alive to intimidate those around him.

Baris Hayder plastered a small smile on his face, a knowing gaze smothered as he looked down at Hans. "It seems that Aydin Yusuf has not finished paying his debts on time." 

Hans widened his eyes as his father's words sunk in. "Father, how did you know-?"

The latter lifted a hand, his smile growing larger. "I practically own this town because of your Buyuk Baba's extensive connections. There is nothing I do not know regarding what goes on here, let alone my son's intentions."

Hans nodded once, bowing his head once again. "Thank you, Father." He waited for his father's harsh rebuking, but to his surprise, received a cold embrace.

Baris Hayder patted Hans awkwardly on the back before beckoning him outside of the room. Hans blinked in astonishment before turning and closing the thick doors behind him.

Somehow, the wood seemed even heavier than usual on his shoulders.

-*-

A/N:

So I can't afford a $182 hoodie from Team Wang, so let's move on-

How did you guys like this chapter? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Until next time,

Sanha ♡