Chapter 244

Without realizing it, Zinnia found Yannis’s bewitchingly beautiful face surfacing in her mind.

She had been with Yannis for several months now. During that time when she couldn’t move, he stayed by her side night after night. He had told her stories, fed her, braided her hair, and whispered sweet nothings to comfort her.

Her dazed gaze gradually focused, only to find his face suddenly so close, enlarged before her eyes. His long, mesmerizing eyes locked with hers as his warm, slightly damp breath gently caressed her soft cheek.

For a split second, Zinnia felt her heart speed up.

While she was lost in thought, Zinnia heard Yannis speak.

“Is it me?”

His voice was soft and measured, laced with anticipation.

Zinnia felt her heart pounding against her chest. She frowned, thinking, ‘This time my emotions are really out of control. It used to just feel like little ants crawling around, but now my heart’s actually jumping. It’s not beating that fast, but I can clearly feel it going quicker than usual.’

Zinnia couldn’t quite put a name to what she was feeling. Almost without thinking, she pressed her hand to her chest, frowning slightly as she gently rubbed the spot, hoping the strange flutter in her heart would calm down soon.

“Zinnia.” Yannis’s voice, deep and crystal-clear, murmured in her ear.

Zinnia snapped out of her daze. “Huh? What’s up?”

“Zinnia, why are you staring at me like you’re lost in thought?” Yannis’s lips curled into a playful smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners as they held her reflection.

Zinnia thought he was about to say something important. She reached out and pushed his head away. “Seriously, you’re the one who shoved your face in front of me,” she complained, her tone dripping with annoyance.

She was just trying to think, and he had to stick his big head right in her face.

“Alright, my bad. So, have you made up your mind yet?” Yannis obediently moved his head away as she pushed, but the moment her hand left, he came right back close to her.

“Thought about what?” Zinnia feigned ignorance.

“Who’s the second person in your heart? Is it me?” Yannis smiled, his eyes never leaving hers, as if he was trying to peer straight into her soul for the answer he so desperately wanted.

“No,” Zinnia snapped irritably. She was just trying to figure it out when he suddenly shoved his face right in front of hers. Now she couldn’t even tell if it was him.

“No?” Yannis’s face visibly fell, the light in his eyes fading like ripples on a still pond, leaving behind an undisguised melancholy.

“It’s your fault for suddenly shoving your face in front of me,” Zinnia muttered under her breath. “If you hadn’t interrupted me like that, I might’ve figured out whether it was you or not.”

“So… what you mean is – if I hadn’t come over, you would’ve picked me?” Yannis, ever quick to pick up on cues, couldn’t hide his delight as his face visibly lit up.

“I don’t know,” Zinnia muttered. Yannis was seriously way too good at twisting her words and way too full of himself. Truth be told, even she wasn’t sure if it was him.

“So when you say ‘I don’t know,’ it means I’m one of your options. You just haven’t decided yet,” Yannis said, quick to twist her words. He just wanted her to admit he had a place in her heart; only then could his anxious heart find some peace.

Zinnia fell silent. ‘Well… he’s not wrong,’ she thought. Before she even noticed Yannis leaning in, his face had already surfaced in her mind, almost instinctively.

But when she snapped back to reality and found his face right in front of hers, she suddenly couldn’t tell whether the person she’d been thinking about was actually him.

“Ugh, you’re so annoying. You messed up my train of thought,” Zinnia grumbled, tugging at Yannis’s hair in frustration. “If you hadn’t come over here, I could’ve figured it out myself!”

Yannis indulged her, letting Zinnia tug at his hair. When she struggled to get a good grip, he even leaned his head in closer. It was her habit. Whenever she threw a little tantrum, she’d always go for his hair.

The last time Zinnia had a fever, Yannis tried to cool her forehead with a towel. She wouldn’t cooperate, mumbling and grumbling, maybe even cursing him for waking her up. Suddenly, she grabbed his hair and kept tugging at it, until she finally settled down.

Sometimes, when Yannis wasn’t looking, Zinnia would twirl his hair around her fingers until it ended up in little knots. When he caught her, she’d just give him a sheepish little grin.

Yannis once asked her why she only tugged at his hair. She replied, “I can’t bear to pull my own. My hair is so silky. I’d hate to lose even a single strand.” Whenever she pulled his hair, she always ended up pulling out a few.

Yannis let out an exasperated laugh.

Realizing how that sounded, Zinnia added with an awkward chuckle, “But your hair is really nice.”

Yannis simply humored her mixed signals of annoyance and affection. ‘Thank goodness I have thick hair,’ he thought wryly, ‘or it wouldn’t survive her constant tugging.’

“You’re the one who’s wrong. Why do you keep bombarding me with questions? Don’t you know I only have one brain? First this, then that. Are you some kind of question machine?” Zinnia huffed.

She could only process one thing at a time, but today Yannis had thrown so many questions at her that her brain had turned to complete mush.

Seeing how obediently Yannis let her tug at his hair, Zinnia suddenly felt embarrassed. She released her grip with a little huff, pouting in annoyance and showing him no mercy, as if to say, “This is all your fault.”

“Alright, one last question then.” Yannis humored her, his eyes dancing with unconcealed mirth.

“Go ahead.” Zinnia nodded.

“Am I the second person in your heart? Or, if you’re not sure, let me rephrase. Besides me, is there anyone else?” Yannis tilted his head, suddenly closing the distance between them until their noses nearly touched, their breaths mingling in the intimate space. They were impossibly close.

Without warning, Zinnia found herself so close to Yannis that she froze, caught completely off-guard. Her fingers tightened around her cup, her breath hitching slightly.

Staring at the magnified version of his strikingly handsome face, with flawless bone structure, she was overwhelmed by the intense visual impact. Every detail was vivid – his long, straight lashes, those clear amber eyes, the subtle undereye contour, the high bridge of his nose, and lips that were neither too thick nor too thin, tinged with rose. Her throat tightened.

Yannis was honestly handsome. And his voice was almost hypnotic, pulling people right into everything he said.

‘Is there anyone else besides him?’ Zinnia’s mind went completely blank. No, there wasn’t. When it came to who mattered most, it was only Yannis. No other possibilities even crossed her mind.

Over these past few months, Yannis had woven himself into every corner of Zinnia’s life. Whenever she thought about anything, his face was always the first to pop into her mind.

“No,” Zinnia said. The moment the words left her lips, she saw Yannis’s beautiful eyes light up, sparkling with pure, unrestrained joy.