I Raised Him Modestly, But He Came Back Obsessed With Me

In the quiet room, surprised by his low voice, Cersinia quickly pulled her hand. Her heart was pounding fast as if she had been caught doing something bad.

‘Wait a minute, I didn’t do anything wrong,’ what she was doing was putting him to sleep, who can’t sleep easily. Rather this is a situation where she should be thanked.

‘Of course, I didn’t do anything wrong,’ Cersinia nodded her head in thought like that. It’s not like she was a criminal who would do anything bad while he was asleep. Ben was still half awake. He blinked his eyes as if trying to tell whether the situation was a dream or reality.

“Sleep more,” a blunt tone to hide embarrassment came out from Cersinia’s mouth. As if realizing that it was a reality only when he heard her voice, Ben smiled with his eyes curled. Receiving his smile, she felt like a bully who touched an innocent boy.

“I did it because your hair looks so stuffy,” Cersinia spoke first even though Ben didn’t ask. It was like a sinner confessing in front of the priest.

“Yes. Cersinia’s hands always felt warm,” he was still smiling, not caring about what Cersinia would feel.  

“Ah… Is that so?”

“The hand that patted me every night is as warm as Cersinia.”

Cersinia’s eyes widened at his words.

‘What, did you know?’

She only thought that he was sleeping… Cersinia was embarrassed.

“I’m sorry. I pretended to sleep because I thought you wouldn’t do it when I opened my eyes…”

“Huh?”

“Thank you. Really…”

Ben gently placed his hand on Cersinia’s hand that lay on the floor. Her body trembled at the sudden contact.

“Thanks to Cersinia, I was able to sleep comfortably.”

However, Ben smiled brightly as if it was a thank-you message without any intention. Cersinia grinned and ruffled Ben’s hair.

“Stop it, now go to sleep.”

She pulled her hand out and climbed onto the bed, and lay down. It will take quite some time for her to fall asleep again. Still, if you close your eyes, you will go back to sleep.

“Yes, Cersinia too.”

Hearing Ben’s slightly trembling voice, Cersinia closed her eyes. Ben looked at the bed where Cersinia lay. His heart was beating fast.

‘What, what is this…’  he blinked at the signs of an anomaly. His forehead, which was slightly touched by Cersinia, was hot as if it had been burned. He slowly raised his hand and stroked the hair that Cersinia had stroked. He groaned as if a tremor had reached his fingertips. When he was with her, his cheeks were hot. He grabbed his chest, startled by his pounding heart. However, it didn’t calm down easily.

After a while, Ben heard the breathing sound coming from the bed as if Cersinia had fallen asleep. But he couldn’t fall asleep until then. Rather, the sound of Cersinia’s breathing made his heart pound faster. 

* * *

“I’m trimming your bangs a little.”

“Yes… It’s okay.”

Cersinia tried to reassure him that he might be anxious, but it was rather the opposite. His eyes lost their way and were trembling slightly. He looked like he had trouble sleeping just by looking at the eye bags under his eyes and his complexion. 

Cersinia said, putting down the scissors she was holding, “Are you okay? Should I just leave it alone?”

“No! It’s okay. Please trim it.”

“Then keep your legs still. I can’t trim it if you are like this.”

Since he was nervous, his legs had been trembling, and she hadn’t been able to trim his bangs. Ben looked down at his legs and paused in amazement. Judging by the look on his face, he must be unaware that he was shaking his legs.

That day, Cersinia decided to cut the cumbersome bangs that covered Ben’s eyes. She had been sitting in the yard since morning while holding scissors, and Ben was anxious about something. Cersinia was a little worried when she looked at Ben.

‘Is he afraid of getting hurt by the scissors? If he had a difficult past, he could have the trauma of being hurt by scissors.’

“If you are scared of scissors…”

“Ah, it’s not like that!”

“Really?”

She glanced at Ben suspiciously. Ben replied with a fierce nod.

“Yes. I’m really sorry, Cersinia. Please trim it quickly.”

Ben’s eyelids slipped shut. Only then Cersinia was relieved and grabbed Ben’s bushy bangs. He flinched as if he had been electrified again. His white cheeks instantly turned red. Cersinia panicked and lowered her hand again.

“Are you really okay? Don’t you have a fever?”

Cersinia’s hand touched Ben’s forehead. Then Ben flinched much louder than before and jumped up from his seat.

“Ben, are you sure you’re okay?”

He was looking into the air, cooling off his face with fanning using his hands, perhaps feeling hot. Still, he went back and forth in the yard as if he couldn’t calm down. Cersinia grabbed his shoulder, who was in anxiety.

“Argh!” surprised, Ben groaned and collapsed on the floor.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?”

Cersinia crouched down to meet his eye level. Ben crouched down, hugging his knees tightly. His ears were ripe red. As Cersinia tried to meet his eyes to examine his complexion, Ben buried his head deep into his lap.

“Why don’t you say it right away?”

How many times had Cersinia asked if he was okay because she was worried… but her patience was reaching its limit. Unlike before, Ben slowly raised his head, noticing her cold tone. Cersinia looked at Ben’s wandering eyes. He didn’t look sick or in pain.

Ben moved his lips as if to say something, but no sound came out of his mouth, which was closed again. Cersinia glared at him with strength in her eye. Ben’s shoulders trembled. He finally opened his mouth, knowing that she would be really angry if he delayed it any longer. Unlike before, Ben slowly raised his head as if he noticed her cold voice.

“M-My heart keeps…”

“Heart? Does your heart hurt?”

At the word of heart, Cersinia asked back. If your heart hurts, isn’t it a big deal? As she considered taking him to the medical center, Ben shook his head and spoke again.

“No… My heart is pounding so fast…”

“Your Heart? Why?”

Both of them looked like they didn’t know. Silence came between them. The morning wind blew gently in the yard. It was summer when the heat came, but the morning breeze from the cabin in the forest was quite chilly.

Ben breathed in and out loud enough to shake his crouched body. Cersinia looked down at Ben, who took a deep breath as if trying to calm down. Ben’s red cheeks were returning to their original color. He seems to calm down a bit after receiving the cold wind for a while. His bright red ears were the same.

‘Is it possible that he has a myocardial infarction?’

Maybe it’s because he has been overworked. If he already has this at a young age, he will suffer when he gets older. Cersinia had ridiculous worries.

“I’m really fine now. Please trim it this time.”

Ben got up first and sat in a chair. Cersinia looked at Ben, making sure if he was really okay.

“Please take care of my hair.”

He smiled brightly and closed his eyes. As the sunlight landed on Ben’s face, his skin gleamed supremely. He seems to be really all right. Cersinia stood up and approached Ben.

“This time, I’m really going to trim it.”

“Yes, please.”

Cersinia grabbed his bangs as carefully as possible in case he flinched again. This time Ben didn’t respond much, perhaps because he perfectly prepared his mind. Cersinia opened the scissors she was holding.

Snip. Snip.

Ben’s dark hair fell off from the blade of scissors. His bangs that covered his eyes were cut off, revealing his hidden eyebrows. If Cersinia trimmed it wrongly, he would look ridiculous, so she carefully scissored it as much as possible. 

His bangs became at length with half of his eyebrows visible. Thanks to this, the long, neat eyelashes under the eyelids were clearly visible. If you touch it, it will feel as soft as a delicate skein of thread.

‘He looks so handsome.’

When Cersinia cut his bangs, his character looked much more prominent. His face was still skinny, but he looked like a sick boy. If only he could recover his health, he would be more handsome than now. It was just a pity that she couldn’t watch the change by his side.

“Cersinia, are you done?”

As Cersinia was admiring his appearance, he was awakened by Ben’s voice.

“Uh, uh, wait a minute.”

Cersinia hurriedly stepped back to check the symmetry of his bangs. It was the first time she cut someone’s hair. She thought it was successful enough. She pulled up her sleeve and brushed off the hair on Ben’s face. 

“Okay, take a look.”

She held out the mirror she was holding to Ben, who opened his eyes.

“Isn’t it okay?

Cersinia asked with a satisfied face because she was confident with the result. Ben smiled at her without even checking with the mirror she gave him.  

“Yes, it’s pretty.”

The corners of his eyes curved softly like a crescent. Cersinia’s heart pounded at the sudden smile. This was evident that a smile has magical powers that can disarm people. Otherwise, how can her heartbeat be like this? But Ben didn’t even look in the mirror, so what did he say pretty about?

 “You should look in the mirror.”

Cersinia raised Ben’s hand holding the mirror. Unable to overcome her touch, Ben checked himself in the mirror. He touched his bangs, perhaps because the short bangs were awkward to him. 

“You don’t like it?”

“No. The hair Cersinia was holding was still warm,” at the end of those words, Ben bowed his head. 

Ben’s face was burning up again. Cersinia had her chest pounding and throbbing in pain. Now, the situation was so perplexing and confusing. Maybe it’s not Ben who is suffering from myocardial infarction, but herself? She couldn’t understand why her normal heart was suddenly behaving like this.

“I-I’m going to eat.”

She wanted to escape this tickling atmosphere. Cersinia quickly turned her body and headed to the cabin.

“I’ll help you too!”

She heard the sound of footsteps rushing after her from behind.