At Aami's call and her question, David sat in silence for a moment, unable to speak. Then, with a quick tilt of his head, he began cleaning her wound...
"I can guess... I don't need your age for the treatment... but anyone would find themselves asking your age, seeing this childlike expression on your face... don't misunderstand me..."
He said...
"Only little children pout their faces like this..."
She began to speak...
"Mmm... matured people are supposed to have a more serious expression, right...???"
Aami sat there wondering what kind of man he was to say such a thing...
"Is that why David walks around with so much unnecessary seriousness...?"
Aami asked playfully...
"Your tongue has grown quite bold..."
Aami didn't say anything more after he spoke without even looking at her. Instead, she pouted again in a show of grievance... how could asking a question be considered "boldness of the tongue"?
In truth, Aami hadn't realized he was teasing her... while she sat there silently with her head bowed, David finished cleaning the wound on her leg...
Then, he gently massaged the bruised area of her foot... his cold fingers felt so soft... so tender...
Aami slowly lifted her face and looked at him... David was holding her foot with such immense care... He, too, raised his head and looked at her... at the same time, he gave her big toe a tiny, playful squeeze.
Unknowingly, Aami let out a small gasp and winced... It felt as though a bolt of lightning had flashed from that finger straight to her head... The rosy, soft tips of her fingers flushed an even deeper shade...
He moved to the next toe and gave it a crack; Aami hurriedly tried to pull her leg back... but he was holding it so firmly that it was impossible to move.
"No, Devi... it hurts..."
Aami said... as if she were about to cry...
"Do you really feel pain...?"
He asked while gently stroking the toes he had just cracked... It was actually a serious question.
Was it pain... no, it was more like a tickle... a tingling sensation... Aami looked at him while curling her toes... he looked back... was there a hidden smile on his lips...? While she was observing him closely, he cracked the rest of her toes too.
"Sss..."
She made a sharp sound, wincing... Ignoring it, he took a bandage and neatly wrapped it around her leg...
"The first aid box is empty now...???"
He said...
"I didn't ask you to treat me until it was empty...???"
Aami replied... As he was about to say something back, Jerin walked in... he had two mugs in his hands...
"David, coffee... this should be enough for her too, right...?"
Jerin held them out to both of them. Aami nodded and took the mug in her hand... she smiled with gratitude... Her body felt completely exhausted from the cold and the pain... Aami felt that getting something like this at that moment was truly a relief. Wrapping both her hands around the mug, she slowly began to sip the coffee...
"Why did you come trekking alone... especially when a situation like this exists here...?"
When Jerin asked, Aami looked up... there was a tenderness in his voice... not like the one sitting next to her, who seemed to hold her in his mind with a certain sternness...
"I'm not alone... Alex is also with me...???"
Aami said...
"Who is he????"
David asked suddenly in a tightened tone...
"My friend... we work together..."
She looked him in the eye and spoke... He was a strange man, showing a different temperament at every moment...
"So where is he???"
Jerin asked...
"He was sleeping... when I woke up, I washed my face and went down to the stream below our tent to freshen up... that's when all this happened...???"
Ami spoke with her face lowered, her voice filled with a mix of sadness and fear...
"You shouldn't have gone out alone... it was hearing your scream that woke us up... we felt like someone was in danger... because we arrived at the exact right time... hyenas are a very dangerous category... the atmosphere here doesn't really suit them, yet they have begun trying to survive this climate..."
Jerin explained. Ami looked at him but didn't give a reply...
"She is a mute.. don't expect a reply..."
The one sitting next to her teased...
"What answer should I give about hyenas... this man has been unnecessarily pestering me for quite a while now..."
Aami glared at David.. all the difficulty she had earlier in speaking to him had vanished...
"Thanks for helping me... beyond that, if you expect anything from me, I will do it if it's within my capability..."
She said with a hint of anger and grievance...
"Everything regarding me is within your capability.. I will ask when the time is right.. or I will act..."
just stay obedient when I show you what to do, that's enough..."
As he spoke those mischievous words with a serious face, anxiety filled Jerin's expression... He looked at David.. but David didn't seem to care. It was as if something was happening naturally between them without him even realizing it.
As for Aami , she was pouting and glaring at him... but she couldn't look into those eyes for more than a moment... such was the power in his gaze...
Even she couldn't express it, but a feeling like a thousand butterflies fluttering deep in her soul began to take flight. That look, capable of giving life to those butterflies...
Without even a sense of awarenes everything happening around her, Ami slowly turned her attention back to the coffee she was drinking...
Do you know where your tent is arranged...???"
Jerin asked suddenly...
Aami looked up with a start... it was something she had forgotten to think about in the midst of everything. She looked outside... though there was a heavy mist, the day had dawned... Alex would have woken up... he'd be walking around looking for her...
"Oh God..." Ami massaged her forehead with her finger...
"What is it...???"
Jerin asked with concern...
"I don't know... but Alex must be stressed, searching for me..."
Aami said...
"Who is he to you, to be so worried about you...?"
David asked in a low, resentful voice, his face turned away...
"Don't call it foolishness... just a little while ago, even though I was no one to you, didn't you, David, Jerin, and Adham come to save me? So, imagine how much tension someone who is actually with me would feel... perhaps even more than you..."
Aami looked at him with both anger and a mocking tone. As if as an after-effect of her words, David vented his mounting anger—or whatever emotion it was—on the coffee cup in his hand, gripping it tightly.
He crushed the cup in his hand, threw it into a corner of the tent, and as he walked out, both Aami and Jerin stood there, staring in shock....