Chapter 4
In the middle of the night, Sophie woke from the cold. The damp first-floor apartment had turned especially chilly.
In the darkness, Evan was curled up tightly on the floor, sleeping restlessly, so she sighed, took a thin blanket from the bed, and draped it over him.
Sophie lay back down, but sleep wouldn't come again. It was only near dawn that she finally drifted off.
When she woke once more, it was to an intent gaze fixed on her face. Evan was already awake, sitting on the pallet and staring at her without moving.
Like a big dog waiting for its owner to wake, he sat there while morning light slipped through the curtains and gilded his handsome profile. Sophie's heart skipped a beat. She sat up and cleared her throat awkwardly.
"If you were already awake, why didn't you call me?" Evan only shook his head and kept looking at her. She stepped onto the floor, felt the chill, and remembered last night.
"Was it cold sleeping down there?" He looked at her and nodded with grave seriousness.
Guilt rose in Sophie. She blurted, 'Next time you can sleep on the bed,' then wondered, 'But where will I sleep?'
Evan pointed at her, then the bed, and shook his head. Sophie thought, 'Forget it. I will deal with that later.'
The urgent problem now was food. The fridge was empty, and so was her wallet. After paying rent, she had less than 300 dollars left in her account.
She needed a job immediately, yet now she also had one very large dependent to feed.
"Come on. Let's go buy some food and basic supplies first." Sophie found a cap and mask to hide Evan's absurdly eye-catching face.
The moment they stepped outside, he grew tense and instinctively reached for the hem of her shirt.
Feeling the tug, Sophie turned and saw the panic in his eyes above the mask. In that instant, all her irritation and uncertainty about the future turned into a fierce urge to protect him.
She didn't pull away. Instead, she slowed her pace.
At the nearby grocery store, Evan looked like a child seeing the world for the first time. Everything fascinated him, but he was very well-behaved.
He only looked, never touched, and stayed glued to Sophie, clutching her shirt like a lifeline.
A middle-aged woman pushing a cart walked past them and gave them a strange look. "Miss, is that your younger brother? He seems a little... off, doesn't he?"
Sophie's face turned cold. She pulled Evan farther behind her and snapped, "How is that any of your business?"
The woman curled her lip and walked away. Lowering her head, Sophie found Evan peeking at her through the shelves, those beautiful eyes full of gratitude and absolute dependence.
For some reason, her heart trembled.
She bought the cheapest pasta, a few eggs, and basic toiletries. Watching her balance shrink at checkout made her heart ache.
So this was how expensive it was to keep a man, especially one who couldn't do a thing.
The two of them carried the bags back to that small but tidy apartment. Once the door shut, the outside world was cut off again.
Looking at the tall man beside her, Sophie suddenly felt that this place really had become a home, their temporary little home.