On the rooftop the sky burned with shades of orange and rose the last light spilling over the city. Shael was leaned against Ronan's shoulder.
Shael straightened his head, looking at Ronan, "So you prefer... being... abusive... during..." He couldn't complete his sentence.
"Not me..." Ronan hesitated for a moment and looked at Shael. A long pause of silence went by, "If I tell you that I am not from this world, would you believe me?"
"Well, I know it's impossible, but if you want me to believe, then I will," Shael thought Ronan was being playful.
"Alright then, just believe me," Ronan turned to him, "Actually, I have been meaning to tell you this before, but I couldn't think of a way to convince you. You being with me like that is actually dangerous."
Shael's faint smile faded as Ronan looked dead serious.
"I am actually not from this world. I got into an accident, when I woke up I was in this world. This world is a world inside of a novel."
"Stop! Why are you saying absurd things?" Shael frowned.
Ronan grabbed his face into his palms, "Just listen to me for now," Ronan insisted.
"So you are actually the main protagonist inside the novel. In the original plot, you were abused by the protagonist Ronan. The abuse I am talking about is that you were supposed to undergo forced abortion..."
Shael quickly pulled himself out of Ronan's grip and stood up, stepping away from him.
"Let me finish, please," Ronan's eyes were wet, "Then you are supposed to be a winner at the end, and Ronan dies in your bodyguard's hands as he tries to kill you."
"Shut up!" Shael screamed, "Shut up," his voice went to almost a whisper.
"So when I woke up, I was given tasks to complete. There are two ways I could go back to my world. The first is to gain your trust, and the second is to complete two tasks abusing you and making you go through abortion." Ronan continued without stopping.
At the mention of abortion again, Shael turned around to walk away.
"There is no way I would kill my own baby," Ronan yelled at the top of his lungs and Shael froze at his words.
Shael turned around his face was pale, and he looked devastated.
"At first, I was to take advantage of your heat and mark you, but I denied and tried to leave a good impression, although it went wrong," Ronan continued as Shael was looking at him, "I tried my best not to hurt you and complete the tasks, but you just won't trust me completely. And about the death of your father and your brother attempting to kill you was a punishment since I delayed marking you."
Ronan's voice went heavy with each word he was saying, "But I fell for the author's manipulation since I lost my memories and hurt you. Shael, believe me, at that point, I already loved you and would never dare to hurt you." Ronan walked closer to Shael.
"I am telling you this cause we would get punished again since I am not complying with the author's terms," Ronan stood face to face with Shael, "You and even our baby might get hurt. I don't want you to regret it later." Ronan gently placed his hand on Shael's belly.
Shael, who was looking at Ronan's face all along with shaky breath, took a step back, "Are you saying that you are supposed to leave? Leaving me all alone here?"
"At first I was, but now I am not confident to leave you. I don't think I would be able to cope with separation from you."
"Then why didn't you try to just gain my trust?" Shael countered as his voice cracked.
"You don't know it yourself, right? Actually, due to immense trauma from your childhood you can't really trust anyone completely," Shael shook his head in disbelief, but Ronan continued, "But you trusted me a lot cause you loved me." Ronan finally broke into tears, making Shael burst into tears.
"Are you saying that," Shael asked through his sobs, "you can't complete the tasks cause you love me?"
Ronan cupped his face, "Cause I love you so much that I would rather die here with you than leave you alone." He placed a kiss on Shael's forehead.
"Then what about the baby?" Shael sniffed crying.
"I don't know, but I will do my best to protect you two." Ronan took Shael into his embrace.
Shael's head was a mess a lot of sentences mingled in his head.
"Do you trust me?"
"Do you trust me completely?"
"I just wanted to leave a good impression."
"It's true that I am interested in you as a love interest."
"Go away, I might hurt you."
"If it was the old Ronan, I wouldn't have done that, but he has completely changed, maybe it's the power of love."
"He used to be extremely abusive to his partners."
"He hates kids."
Ronan, every little gesture, every little touch was playing in Shael's head. Shael let out his cries for a while in Ronan's arms.
Shael pulled himself out, "What about your family in your world?"
"I have a brother and parents. Father, stepmother, and Roman, my older brother. But don't worry they are well off without me."
"They would be worried about you."
"I don't know," Ronan's voice was soft and hushed, "But not as much as you would be."
Shael's eyes glittered through tears, "Are you taking my side?"
"Isn't it natural for Daddy to take Papa's side?" Ronan replied playfully as he touched Shael's forehead with his own.
Shael's eyes wandered before looking up at Ronan, "What to do now?"
"I don't know," Ronan shook his head, "I just know that I want to be with you through whatever comes next."
Shael hugged Ronan, wrapping his arms around Ronan's waist, "Me too, but I don't want you two to get hurt. You and our baby."