"You don"t even have packets of ramen in your house?" Ren asks her with disbelief.
Nina stops crying. She sits up abruptly as if she just received an electric shock. They don"t speak for a moment. She dashes to the kitchen and looks opens the cabinet. Ren hears the sound of cabinets being opened, stuff dropping on the floor, and the utensils cranking against each other.
He shakes her head. She"s probably younger than she looks.
Nina finds the packets of ramen. She clutches them to her chest and cries, "Hoorah! I won"t die today."
Exasperated, Ren looks down at the rope. How long does he have to be tied like this? She"s 100% psychopath.
"Do you want some ramen?" Nina yells from the kitchen. "It"s only 3 months past expiration date."
Only 3 months...
"Foolish woman! Don"t eat those things. You will get a sick stomach," He yells back.
"Don"t be a nitpick." She is already cooking the ramen. "Do you know how many people die from hunger in this world? They will look at these ramen packets as the heavenly gift."
Ren clenches his teeth. He can"t see her from the place where he"s at. "You are no angel. Untie me and then, we will decide what"s a heavenly gift."
"I am going to eat first." Nina plays jazz music on her phone and begins to sing along in Russian as her feet move around smoothly following the music. Ren can"t understand a thing. He hates to admit that she has a good voice. With that face and voice, she can probably be an idol or perhaps, an actress. She can be a songstress. Is she? He doesn"t know anything about her.
She comes back with a large bowl of ramen and places it on the bed. There"s only a pair of chopsticks in the bowl. The scent of ramen makes his stomach grumble. He looks at her. She looks at him. She raises her brow. He gulps down. She pulls a table in front of Ren and puts down the bowl in the middle of the table.
He looks at her solemnly. "I won"t eat it."
"Did I say that I will give it to you?" She sits on the bed and pulls the bowl closer to her. "I don"t like people who don"t respect food. Then, I already don"t like you."
Ren huffs. He knew it! This woman is crazy. "If you don"t like me, why did you do that in the car? Why did you confess to me that you like me? Most importantly, why did you kidnap me, you insane witch?"
She stares at him. The calmness in her eyes makes him shudder. "Is it witch or b.!.t.c.h?"
Ren does not curse people unless it"s the extreme. Someone like Nano, the downloaded p.o.r.n and games eraser, is someone who probably deserves to be called a b.!.t.c.h. But kidnapping is still a lesser crime in his eyes. "Witch, let me leave now."
She shrugs and gobbles down the ramen. Ren gawks at her. Where"s the seductress who sat on his lap? She"s eating like a chimpanzee. He has never seen anyone eat like this. She"s so different from Rie.
Rie would never cry for food. She"s not much of a foodie either. She will certainly won"t eat alone with a tied man in front of her.
"Usually, I don"t eat in front of men I am going to f.u.c.k." She speaks with her mouth full, "But today is an exception. I was in T City. I didn"t buy any groceries for home."
"Did you come to the T city to meet me?"
Ren has this weird feeling that her stalkerish tendency is grave.
"Yes, I rented out that apartment and spent some bucks." There"s still some ramen in the bowl. She rolls it on the chopsticks and takes it toward Ren"s mouth. "You didn"t have dinner."
He looks at the ramen. His stomach growls again. He"s starving. The food doesn"t seem to have any strange drug either. "It"s full of your saliva."
He usually doesn"t mind sharing chopsticks with his friends and family. G.o.d help him! He"s been in a prison. Why he"s complaining now?
"You shouldn"t reject the food that"s being offered to you kindly. You can never tell when such an offer will come to you." Her lips curve into a smile. "Besides, we will be sharing more than saliva later."
"I am not doing it with you." He opens his mouth wide and leans forward to eat the food that she"s offering "kindly".
She chuckles. "We will see about that."
Ren keeps glaring at her while she feeds him slowly. When he"s finished, she plants a kiss on his mouth. He blushes furiously before grumbling something about s.e.xual hara.s.sment. Nina laughs as she walks back to the kitchen. The song changes. She washes the bowl while singing again. Ren quietly listens to her.
Why acting so crazy about food? The way she acted before she found ramen doesn"t seem normal. Overreaction to hunger? His experiences with Rie have taught him a thing or two. Nina is already abnormal. He looks up at the ceiling and sighs.
Suddenly, there"s an eerie silence. Ren notices that the song has stopped playing half away. He tries to look over his shoulder. He can"t see her. There"s no sound coming from the kitchen.
Frozen at the spot, Nina is holding her phone. On the broken screen, there"s a notification. Her pupils shrink back. Her heartbeat is slowing down. A drop of cold sweat trickle down on her back. She has forgotten to breathe.
Who dared to hack her?
She opens her mouth and inhales sharply. She takes long steps out of the kitchen. She doesn"t look at Ren once. She reaches for her laptop. A black screen is waiting for her with a message in neon green.
[You only have an hour before they come for you.]