Saving the Villain

SLAM!

Cosette held her breath and clutched her hand closer to her chest. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage as the situation she was pulled in slowly drilled into her head. In the past, she would squeal every time she would read the female lead getting kabedon-ed by the male lead. But now that she was in such a situation... she felt a little confused.

She raised her eyes cautiously, only for her breath to hitch under his menacing gaze. Maxen's palms were on either side of her; eyes as sharp as daggers glinting, and that towel's shadow over his damp hair that was still dripping little drops of water masked his upper face. The sight of him made her heart race in fear.

He looked dangerous. Like a villain watching his prey's every little movement.

'It's not as romantic as I thought it was,' she thought, discreetly fusing her back against the door as she avoided his gaze. 'Since when did he start going dark? It feels rather dangerous to be in this situation.'

"What...?" she asked when she couldn't take the silence echoing in her ears. Cosette snuck a look at him when he didn't reply.

"Hey, say something," came out a voice that was barely above a whisper. "I feel like you will bite my head off."

Maxen let out a silent sigh and closed his eyes. He avoided looking down as he kept his gaze on her face.

"Have you been walking around wearing... that?" he breathed out in distress, tapping his fingertips against the surface of the door.

"Well..." Cosette massaged her nape awkwardly, looking anywhere but his eyes.

"Cosette."

Her back stiffened as she felt a chill down her spine at his lowering voice. "Not really."

"Not really?"

"I mean, I hadn't joined everyone because I called my dad to update him," she explained in a muffled voice, and then glanced at him. "Why? Do I look weird? But they said it looks nice."

"Who?" asked Maxen with a deep huff.

"Huh?"

"Who said it looks nice?"

pA n,dan(-)0ve1.c0m "Uhm. The girls — Sarah, Fay, and Amie."

His eyes darkened at the thought of those spawns of evil. 'I swear those three...'

"Max?" she called, mustering her courage when she sensed he was murdering someone in his head. "Is everything alright?"

"No."

"What... what is wrong, then?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Mhm. You. Look at what you're wearing. It's too..." he trailed off and hissed, looking away from her when he glanced at her body. How should he put it? His anger continued to spike, disabling him from moving an inch.

Meanwhile, Cosette frowned and lowered her eyes. "They said it's good, and it somehow made me feel good," she confessed under her breath. "It gave me a little confidence. Do you really think it's bad?"

There was a moment of silence between them before Maxen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he reopened his eyes, he sighed upon seeing her dejected expression.

"I didn't say that." He clenched his teeth and pushed himself from the door. Taking advantage of the momentum, he turned on his heel and ran his hand through his hair, pulling down the towel over his head along.

"If it's not bad, then why do you look like you just saw a disgrace?" she asked out of plain curiosity since his opinion mattered to her more than anyone in this place.

"It's... " Maxen glanced at her and quickly looked away. "... distracting. It's too sexy."

"..."

For the next several seconds, Cosette blinked as she registered his last quiet remarks. She studied him, noticing how he was avoiding looking at her.

'So that's the reason...' her mouth formed an o-shape, rocking her head in understanding. 'I thought he thinks it's bad.'

Cosette bit her lower lip to stop it from stretching. Although he didn't praise her, she felt flattered. She held her hand behind her and grinned mischievously.

"Max!" she called to get his attention, but he simply responded with a cold, "what?"

"Max!" she called once again, and this time, he looked at her in irritation.

"What?!" His breath hitched when she smiled and winked at him. Cosette raised her hand and turned around gracefully as to show herself.

"Looks good?" she asked the second she faced him once again. "Mhm?"

'This devil...' Her action rendered him speechless, pinching the bridge of his nose. '... will be the death of me.'

If only she had any idea how his heart was racing right now that he was afraid she would hear his crazy heartbeats. Maxen was barely keeping it together, thinking about all the good things her father did to him, and going crazy right now was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want to disrespect Conrad by seducing this unsuspecting temptress, and he didn't want to ruin his friendship with her by getting the wrong signals.

For goodness' sake! They were in a room! Just the two of them! And they were at the age they were curious about intimacy.

What was she doing by teasing him like that?

Of course, Maxen was aware Cosette didn't mean any harm, but he would have a heart attack if he was a bit unhealthy!

"Just go..." he waved helplessly, dragging his feet only to collapse on the bed, face first. "Go and just walk around like that. Who cares? Do what makes you happy."

Cosette pursed her lips and raised her brows. She held her hand behind her, walking toward him.

"Max." She sat down on the edge of the bed, reclining with her palms on the mattress. She tilted her head and watched him peek from his one eye.

"Is there something wrong if I wore something that is unusual from what I usually wear?" she asked, but his eyes just looked lazier and bore a lack of interest. "I mean, I'm not walking around naked. Although it's a little revealing, the plan is to swim. Do you expect me to cover myself from head to foot, and get drowned by the weight of my clothes?"

"Just do what makes you happy," he grumbled and turned his head to the other side. "I'm just concerned since I don't want your father to tell me I let his daughter parade her body for everyone to see."

Her face froze as she thought of her father. She didn't think of Conrad when the girls were encouraging her to wear just this. But then again, the thought of the real Cosette and how she was in the past crossed her head.

She glanced at his back and sighed. "I thought you were jealous that people will see me like this," she blurted out as a way to tease him before she retracted her hand from the mattress to leave. However, before she could stand up, she halted at his reply.

"And what if I am?" Cosette slowly looked back at him at his remarks, watching him twist his neck again to return her gaze. "What if I am jealous?"

Cosette didn't know if he was joking since she could only see his eyes while the rest of his face was buried in his folded arm. What if he was jealous that other people could see her showing too much skin?

"Well..." how was she supposed to answer that? "... I don't know?"

She touched her nape as she looked down. Her other hand touched her cheek, using the back of it, feeling her face heat up. She glanced up slightly when she noticed that the air in the room slightly thickened with just that question.

'I feel sort of weird...' she told herself, finally realizing she was in a guy's room, and it was just the two of them. No one was looking, no one would know. Anything could happen.

She gulped and cleared her throat. She told herself to get up and leave, but somehow, her feet wouldn't move and she was stuck sitting on the edge of the bed. What was she waiting for? To get preyed upon? This was already a situation she should have run away from, but here she was, sitting silently just right beside him.

'I think I'm going crazy...' she thought, having all these sorts of things in her head. Her memories and fantasies in her previous life and the real Cosette's memory and personality seemed to have compacted as she realized one thing they had in common.

They both once had this silly dream of having a prince of their own.

"Hey, Max," she called in a low voice, lowering her eyes until she was staring at the floor.

Maxen quirked a brow, glancing at her. His brows creased, seeing that she had just gone silent and now seemed to be deep in thought. Did his question bother her to silence? Or was she terrified and found his last reply weird? Assuming it was the latter, Maxen was about to explain himself with a blatant lie when Cosette suddenly suggested calmly.

"Should we kiss?" he instantly froze, watching her set her limpid eyes back at him. "I never kissed anyone before, so I'm a little curious about what it feels like."