Ivan was speechless. He awkwardly gazed at Daiyu.
Daiyu was infuriated with his silence. She raised her voice, saying, "Don't just stare at me; say something."
"Sorry, sorry," Ivan apologised. "I like you too, but I have been reluctant to tell you. There were some matters that made me reluctant to express my feelings to you."
Daiyu inched closer to Ivan. She correctly guessed that Ivan wanted to mention her history with other men. She said softly, "Tell me what matters."
Ivan noticed her faint breathing become a bit audible and faster. He became tense, thinking that Daiyu had become very anxious and would react uncontrollably to any unwanted response. Also, sleep left his eyes.
In contrast to before he spent some time in police detention, his feelings were against getting into a relationship with Daiyu because of her history with men. It wasn't that he, Ivan, was not open-minded, but the issue was with Daiyu. He felt that she just went with whatever she felt at the moment, hence making her vulnerable to heartbreak in the future.
While he was in police custody, he met three characters, all male, in the same cell. They spoke about their life experiences in the game. The characters were all married, and every one of them had at least a kid. Ivan was asked if he had anyone he had something intimate with, and he revealed that he was single. The cellmates advised him to hop on the love train with someone his heart accepted.
"No one in the world is perfect. Even you are not perfect. What we need is the right person to complement us and hide our weaknesses. That's when we become perfect," one of the cellmates advised Ivan.
Ivan had acted like he was unconcerned about what the cellmates said to him. But within him, he contemplated every word of advice, and what he felt was that Daiyu was the right person for him. He considered starting things with her after a while, not wanting to dive into things without a proper outlook.
Alas, it wasn't him who made the first move; it was Daiyu. He felt so awkward and was finding it difficult to express himself.
He sighed. He said to Daiyu, "I'm not judging you, but your dating history scares me. I don't want to be on the list of the guys you will say hurt you. Additionally, why I felt so reluctant to express my feelings to you is because we are close friends. I felt that it would hurt the bond of our friendship, and we would push away Roger and Chioma."
Daiyu inched closer to Ivan. She grabbed his hands, looking into his eyes. She said,
"I knew that is what you would say. The truth is that I have had feelings for you before, but just like you, I was scared about expressing it. I was scared about what it would do to our close friends. If I had been bold enough to speak out, I'm very sure that I would have dated vipers that I was unlucky to come across."
She drew her face closer to Ivan. She could feel Ivan's warm breath blow on her face. The same applied to Ivan, but he could faintly hear her racing pulse. The extra sensation he felt made the room's atmosphere more tense for him. It felt like torture to Ivan, and he wanted it to end. He considered every flaw about starting a relationship with Daiyu. He felt that she didn't have a personality that he could consider a red flag. His thoughts urged him on to propose to Daiyu that they kick off a relationship from this moment on.
"Daiyu," Ivan began. "Would you like to be more than a friend?"
"Yes, I would like to!" Daiyu squealed in excitement.
Ivan sat on the bed, smiling like an elementary school boy who just got awarded a candy. Daiyu was living the moment, gyrating with happiness. Daiyu calmed down after a while, but she was not calm. Her demeanour changed to that of a seductress.
She crawled up to Ivan on her hands and knees. She caught him off guard. She drew her face to Ivan's face.
She brought her lips to Ivan's left, her breath caressing the back of his ear, making him feel uneasy, but he couldn't mount a resistance.
She whispered softly in his ear, "Ivan, I thought you would say no. I'm glad you didn't. I know what a big tough boy like you needs after getting out of prison."
Her lips enveloped Ivan's left ear. At that instance, something awakened in Ivan, and he turned into a ferocious monster. He grabbed Daiyu by the waist, and they both engaged in a fierce make-out session.
Although Ivan had taken the bait, he still wasn't in control of the love session. Daiyu was the one who controlled matters. She was doing all the unbuttoning and guiding Ivan's hands on where to touch.
Ivan gained some sanity and resisted Daiyu, the fierce tigress with burning desire. He said,
"I think we are progressing too fast. I think we should take things slowly."
Daiyu gave Ivan a seductive questioning gaze. She said, "Really?"
He almost lost himself again, but he controlled himself before he could pounce on her. He looked away and calmly replied, "Yes, we should take things slowly."
Daiyu used her finger to poke a protrusion on Ivan's trousers. He flinched back, feeling a tickle.
Daiyu laughed and asked, "What are you going to do about that?"
Ivan fell silent, thinking about what do. He finally decided and said, "Don't worry about it."
Daiyu winked and said, "Naughty boy."
Ivan shook his head. He said, "I think we should have a nice meal to celebrate the moment. Staying awake all night made me hungry. I will head to the kitchen to make us something."
"No, I don't agree with that. I will make us breakfast," Daiyu said, quickly getting off the bed.
She pushed Ivan on the bed and said, "Get naughty with yourself while I make breakfast."
She left for the kitchen without looking back. Ivan flung up his hands in indignation at her suggestion of what he should do while she was busy.