Arc 0 My first mission: My head hurts from your voice!

[Ren Yu's affection points at 15]

"This Ren Yu, he's not a sadist, right?" Vierre asked the system in her head. Her rabbit instinct told her that this guy liked seeing her in pain and it's just the right coincidences that the affection points goes up whenever she's in a miserable state.

[A sadist? No way, this is just the common behaviour of a snake.]

Vierre was silent contemplating what the system had responded, although she was not reassured by its explanation.

"By the way, besides the rabbit costume, do you have any other creatures' costume that more powerful than a snake?"

[Oh, more powerful? I have one actually wait a minute.] 337 replied and rummaged its inventory for a brown leathery suit it had gotten out of a raffle draw.]

Vierre's eyes lit up at its words.

"Why are you suddenly pleased?" Ren Yu asked and grasped her chin to trace the soft lips that was wet on the corner by her tears. His thumb caressed them in fascination. "How do you eat with this small mouth of yours?"

Vierre regained her senses and lowered her eyes to look at the powerful hand that was gripping her chin. She writhed and twisted her neck to get out of his hold. However, Ren Yu guessed her intentions and gripped her chin more tightly. "You're not crying anymore?"

Vierre stopped at his words. Indeed her throat was hoarse and she seemed to be depleted of water that's why the dam in her eyes couldn't produce anymore tears. But still, her heart was beating fast whenever this predator would be close as if he would devour her any second.

"Talk!" Ren Yu didn't like the rabbit being silent. He shook his hand with little force. He wasn't even aware that he adjusted and started to consider the rabbit's sentiments.

"I'll talk but don't eat me." Vierre said in genuine honesty. Her ears drooped and its tip almost reached her cheeks.

"I'll consider if you manage to distract my thoughts from digesting you." Ren Yu replied and released her chin.

Vierre wasn't a bit relaxed by his statement. But nonetheless, she liked the moment of peace he gave. "What do you want me to do?" She sat on her knee and snuck a peek at the snake's expression.

"Why are you asking me? You're on your own in figuring how to do it unless you don't want to see the day again?" Ren Yu rested on the grasses and said in the midst of observing the rabbit's hairless face. Truthfully, he had recently digested a huge prey yesterday so he was a bit lazy to go in the surface. Dealing with this rabbit was already out of his expectation. If it was not interesting, he could have just killed it and dumped it somewhere else.

Vierre scratched her head. What does a rabbit need to do in order to bargain for its life? I'm a talent scout and not an entertainer. She wanted to shower him with flatteries but the image of him choking her for telling exaggerated lies was still fresh in her mind.

"I don't know what to do." Vierre confessed. Her eyes were red.

Hiss-

Ren Yu released his tongue at her which made the rabbit leaned back and fall on its butt.

Her whole body was petrified by his obvious warning and out of nowhere her mouth opened and suddenly sang a song.

…..Her country's national anthem.

"Serving the nation with my heart….." Her voice quaked and stuttered in the midst.

Ren Yu leaned forward and listened to the words the rabbit was uttering.

"Full of patriotism and love…" She continued and sang. Her voice stuttered but never stopped.

Ren Yu tilted his head wondering what's this rabbit was talking about. Its soft voice was a little higher and was following a certain tune.

"The land surrounded by seven seas…"

What? This land has seven seas? I haven't seen an ocean yet.

The increasing creases on Ren Yu's made Vierre's heart palpitated and she suddenly sang faster.

"Mould the youth for human dignity"

"Blend of heroism and….

"...unity…." Vierre patted her chest after the stifling circumstances. She panted and tried to catch her breath. That was probably the fastest anyone had sung a national anthem and if it was the on the modern world she would be drown in spittle and stones for the disrespect.

Ren Yu was rubbing his chin and was in deep thought. "Seven seas? Country? Patriotism? What are those?"

Vierre shrunk her shoulders and didn't dare to look at him while replying. "It's the rabbits' national song."

"Are you spouting such nonsense again?" His eyes narrowed and turned into golden slits.

Vierre's hairs on the costume and on the body rose. "Please don't eat me…I'll sing you another song…or ten more songs… just don't eat me…"

"Ten more songs?" Ren Yu retrieved his beastly eye lenses and asked in a low almost inaudible voice. Okay, he was a bit curious as to what new words this rabbit knows. Staying in the underwater lair was a bit boring might as well have little rabbit do some silly things before eating it.

Vierre nodded her head like a chicken pecking the ground for food and started singing what she remembered from her artists' albums.

"Rock and roll…." Vierre closed her eyes adjusted her pitch to more punk rock tone. She sung until Ren Yu frowned.

"You're my honey bunch sugar plump…." She gulped and replaced the song into a cheesy lyrics but the crease on Ren Yu became deeper.

'I'm doom! What genre does this snake prefer? This is so difficult' she started changing the song again and this time she uttered the lyrics of the unfinished music composition she once had written.

"When the rain had poured down…." She cleared her throat and recalled the notes of that piece. A slow, sad song filled with heart break of a girl.

The scenery changed and a café whose glass windows were stained with the rain water droplets appeared in front of her.

"and the streets were blanketed by mist…." A girl had seated in front of the window with an eager expression. Two set of desserts were placed in her table. One was for her and the other for the person she was waiting for.

"While inside your favourite teashop…." The girl was always glancing on the door taking a peek of the customers coming in. Another fifteen minutes passed, and the cup of tea that she had ordered went cold.

"as one watched the coming customers by pairs…" The girl despite waiting for half an hour, the smile on her had not diminished a bit. Even when she received some questioning glances from the couples who passed by her table she had remained optimistic.

"I thought I saw your silhouette…" The girl suddenly stood up when she saw the familiar back that passed by in front of the teashop after a customer opened the glass doors wide. The cellphone on her hand had ringed but she ignored it.

"Heart pumping, my mind was full of you…" She dashed out of the shop bumping into some customers and even forgetting the umbrella she had brought with her. The rain poured quite heavily drenching her white dress and her short hair completely. The pitter patter stained her newly bought shoes with mud as that girl silly chased after the figure never knowing where it'd gone to.

"In the sea of faces and heaven's tears…" She kept searching foolishly amidst the people carrying their umbrellas. Her heart continuously uttered the figure's name but no matter how she tried to look for it she always failed to. Did she make a mistake? No, although she was bad at studying, she was very good at memorizing people's faces and their figures, so she couldn't possibly be wrong. Her eyes never gave and roamed the surroundings until…

"I saw someone stood in under the streetlight…" She saw what she was looking for. He was there without any umbrella. Although, it was odd why his clothes were pristine and dry amidst the torrent rain, she was still elated. She slowly walked and the cellphone on her vibrated. She opened the phone only to find out that the caller was the person under the streetlight.

"His smile was blinding warming the whole place…" She was confused however she still answered while looking at the male whose lips sloped upwards. Her eyes caught the movements of his mouth before the caller whose voce didn't match his dropped a statement that made the whole world silent.

"I only heard something had murmured beside my ear…" The phone dropped to the ground. The corners of her eyes were red and widened. She didn't believe any of it.The moment feels like a dream- a nightmare rather. Then, she heard a voice, his familiar voice whispering 'I fulfilled my promise'.

"…..but why…." Vierre sniffled and finished singing albeit her heart was clenched by pain after reliving the memories. In the middle of her heartbreak a force hit her head.

Smack-

"You little- "She stopped crying and angrily cursed the culprit. However, Ren Yu's face became clear and Vierre woken from the memory.

"My head hurts from your voice!" Ren Yu spoke however instead of massaging his head he rubbed an area in his chest that was stung by something.

'Is she implying that I'm a lousy singer?' This jerk! Vierre complained but didn't dare to voice out her thoughts. She wiped her face and the thoughts in her head were soon replace by some images of her skewering this snake.