The moment Azaan opened the door, his breath caught in his throat.

Standing right in front of him was Viki.

For a second, Azaan forgot how to breathe. The familiar pair of eyes that had occupied his thoughts all evening were now looking directly at him.

Viki stood there holding several food containers and drinks, while Sam and Mark grinned from behind him.

"Surprise!" Sam shouted.

Azaan blinked repeatedly, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"W-Why are you all here?"

Mark laughed.

"Viki sir's idea. Since you couldn't come to the treat, we decided to bring the treat to you."

Azaan's heart instantly warmed. Without realizing it, his eyes drifted toward Viki. The older man simply gave him a small smile before looking away.

The sight alone was enough to make Azaan's chest tighten.

He quickly stepped aside.

"Come in..."

As everyone entered, Sam looked around the house curiously.

"You live here alone?"

Azaan nodded.

"My parents are dead."

For a brief moment, silence filled the room.

Viki's gaze softened slightly.

Not wanting the atmosphere to become heavy, Azaan forced a smile.

"It happened a long time ago. Don't worry about it."

Everyone eventually settled down and started chatting.

Azaan quickly brought glasses of water for them.

"You should have called me," Viki said, watching him struggle slightly with his injured leg.

"It's okay, sir," Azaan replied with a smile.

As Azaan carried the tray toward the living room, Viki immediately stood up.

"I'll help."

Before Azaan could protest, Viki had already taken a few glasses from the tray.

Azaan secretly smiled.

The small gesture warmed his heart more than it should have.

Just as they reached the table, Azaan accidentally tilted one of the glasses.

Cold water splashed onto the front of his shirt.

"Oh—"

Before he could react, Viki grabbed a tissue from the table.

"Stay still."

Without thinking much about it, Viki started wiping away the water stains.

Azaan froze.

His breath caught instantly.

Viki was completely focused on cleaning the spill, unaware of how close he had gotten.

The tissue moved across Azaan's shirt while Viki's hand occasionally brushed against him.

To Viki, it was nothing.

To Azaan, it was everything.

His heartbeat became impossible to control.

"A-Ah... it's okay, sir."

Viki looked up.

"I'll change my clothes."

Without waiting for a reply, Azaan quickly turned around and disappeared into his bedroom.

Viki watched him leave, slightly confused.

"What happened to him?"

A few minutes later—

THUD!

A loud crashing sound echoed through the house.

Everyone jumped.

"Azaan!"

Viki was already moving before anyone else.

He rushed to the bedroom door and pushed it open.

The sight inside made his heart skip a beat.

Azaan had apparently lost his balance while changing.

His walking stick had fallen beside him and he was sitting awkwardly on the floor, clearly having landed hard.

Without hesitation, Viki hurried over.

"What are you doing?" he scolded, though concern filled every word.

Before Azaan could answer, Viki carefully helped him up.

One arm slipped behind Azaan's back while the other supported him securely.

"Can you stand?"

Azaan nodded weakly.

For a brief moment, their eyes met.

The room suddenly felt much quieter than before.

Much smaller.

Much warmer.

Then Viki gently guided him toward the bed.

"Sit down and stop trying to do everything by yourself."

Azaan couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face.

Even though Viki sounded annoyed, all Azaan could hear was how worried he was.

As Viki helped Azaan sit on the bed, Azaan found himself staring at him without even realizing it.

Only after a few seconds did he notice something that made his entire body freeze.

His shirt was gone.

The moment that realization hit him, his face immediately turned red.

And then he noticed something else.

Viki's hand was still resting around his waist, supporting him.

Azaan's heart skipped a beat.

He quickly lowered his gaze, unable to look at Viki anymore.

The older man finally noticed the sudden change in Azaan's expression.

"Azaan?"

No response.

"Azaan, what's wrong?"

When Azaan still didn't answer, Viki frowned slightly.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Without thinking much about it, Viki placed the back of his hand against Azaan's forehead.

The simple gesture nearly destroyed whatever self-control Azaan had left.

His heartbeat was racing uncontrollably.

"N-No, sir... I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Azaan immediately looked away.

Trying to escape the situation, he reached for his shirt lying nearby.

But in his hurry, his injured leg shifted awkwardly.

He lost his balance.

"Azaan!"

Instinctively, Azaan grabbed the nearest thing he could reach.

Unfortunately for him...

That happened to be Viki's arm.

The unexpected pull caught Viki completely off guard.

For a brief second, both of them lost their balance.

Viki stumbled forward.

Azaan fell backward onto the bed.

And Viki landed right above him, barely managing to stop himself from crashing into him completely.

The room fell silent.

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them spoke.

Their eyes locked.

Azaan's heart felt like it might explode.

Viki looked equally startled.

For one awkward moment, they simply stared at each other.

Then—

The bedroom door suddenly swung open.

"Viki sir, do you—"

Mark stopped speaking.

Sam froze beside him.

The entire room became painfully silent.

Azaan and Viki immediately moved apart.

Sam slowly raised an eyebrow.

Mark looked from Azaan to Viki and then back again.

A mischievous grin slowly appeared on his face.

"Oh..."

That single word was enough to make Azaan want the ground to swallow him whole.

Meanwhile, Viki cleared his throat and stood up quickly.

"This is not what it looks like."

Unfortunately for him, neither Sam nor Mark looked convinced.