Yuxuan (REMASTERED)

Chapter Twenty

When morning arrived, I woke up to the sound of Yuxuan tying his clothes around himself. I don't think he slept well. I felt like I was partly to blame. After what happened to his tiger, I wouldn't trust myself either.

Yuxuan acknowledged that I was awake, but it was different. There was no kiss, our usual routine. Maybe he was avoiding me. If he was, I wasn't going to let it slide.

"Yuxuan," I pushed myself off the mat and went to wrap my arms over his shoulders. "Hansel is a friend. He's not going to harm you or your tribe. Actually, he will try to defend it. I've known him for a long time."

Yuxuan remained quiet for a moment. Could he understand? "Hansel is a friend," I repeated.

"Friend," He mumbled, and I nodded.

"Yes. It means he won't harm you. He won't hurt you."

I stepped on my toes and kissed Yuxuan. Rather than reacting gently, he became aggressive. The wind got knocked out of me when he tossed me onto the mat and pushed all his weight on top of me.

"Yuxuan! What are you—"

"Hansel is...friend," Yuxuan whispered into my ear bitterly. "Alex... is mine." He finished sharply, pushing off of me and storming out of the hut.

He was jealous. Or weary of Hansel. Either way, he viewed Hansel as competition, simply because he was a man. I laughed.

If only Yuxuan knew how much older Hansel was. Hansel was like another father to me. Never had I ever considered thinking of Hansel in that way.

I left the hut and saw Hansel at one of the fires, stuffing his face with every food that was offered to him. Sheng stood over him, making sure he wouldn't try anything.

"Good morning, Hansel,"

"Oh! Alexandrea!" He greeted me ecstatically. "Would you mind telling this fellow to kindly give me some space?"

"Unfortunately, I can't. They don't speak English, they can't understand me. I think they only tolerate me because of Yuxuan."

"Is he the chief over this village?"

"... I think so. Everyone looks at him differently. Like they respect him. Or maybe he's the community's hero. He seems much stronger than everyone else."

"These people... they look endangered."

"Besides me, there are only 4 women."

"Only 4? That's not enough to repopulate."

"I wish I could ask Yuxuan if it was always like this. I've been here for some time, observing them. I don't think Yuxuan is directly blood-related to anyone here."

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Well... he's not fluent. In English. And right now, he's not in the best of moods."

"Very well," Hansel sighed. "I wish I brought some of my things. It would've aided him in his studies."

"Where's James and Peterson?" I had to ask. I was very skeptical that Hansel came here alone. I knew he wouldn't do something to hurt these people intentionally, but I worried that he may have led them here accidentally.

"I don't know,"

"You don't know?"

"I don't, honest." Hansel frowned. "I woke up, and those bloody twits had run off and left me. I walked around for days. No food, no water, no rest. Finally stumbled around here and one of the savage men found me."

"Don't call them Savages." I groaned.

"Sorry, Miss. Earlier, one of them tried to force me to eat an odd speck of meat."