The Sway and Slide of Love

After Hendrix finished speaking, there was a brief silence on the other end of the line. Then, Erwin chuckled. "Hmm, that does sound interesting."

"Then, I'll leave it to you."

"What did you just say?"

"As far as the world is concerned, I'm already 'dead.' And as for the Swift family, for certain reasons, it's not exactly easy for me to do anything to them. Besides, haven't you always wanted to break into the market in this country? Well, here's your chance now, no?"

Just as Erwin was about to respond, Hendrix heard a soft knock at the door. The villagers went to bed early, and the surroundings were eerily quiet, so the sound was especially clear to Hendrix.

He immediately moved the phone away from his ear and asked, "Who is it?"

Still in work mode, his voice carried a sharp edge.

The person outside the door seemed to hear it, and the knocking stopped abruptly. But there was no response to Hendrix's question.

A frown immediately appeared on Hendrix's face. For a moment, he thought it might be someone sent by Dylan and even started looking around the room for something to use as a weapon.

But then, he heard a soft voice say, "It's me."

Hendrix froze. Then, without a second thought, he hung up on Erwin and walked to the door. After pulling back the rickety wooden latch, he opened the door. There stood Noelle, holding a bowl of soup in her hands and a thermos at her feet.

"Y-You're still up," Noelle said. She seemed a little embarrassed, biting her lips before lowering her eyes. "I didn't know if you'd eaten dinner yet, and since you don't have a stove here to cook, I made you some soup and brought hot water."

Hendrix looked at the bowl of soup in her hands, feeling as though something had struck him square in the chest. After a moment, he asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Caught off guard by the question, Noelle paused, then shook her head.

"Then, why are you bringing me these things?"

"I-I don't know." Noelle truly didn't know, nor could she explain why.

She just felt a strange sense of familiarity toward him. But where that feeling came from, she had no All she knew was that she

idea. All

instinctively wanted to be a little kinder to him.

"Aren't you afraid I might be a bad person?" Hendrix asked.

"Are you?" Noelle shot back.

The moment her words left her lips, Hendrix laughed. "Of course not. But it's so fate now. You shouldn't just go to a stranger's house like this, like

you know? It's dangerous.

"I know." Noelle nodded without hesitation, then frowned and added in a low voice, "I don't do this for just anyone."noveldrama

Her voice was soft, but Hendrix heard her clearly. Still, he asked, "I'm sorry. Come again?"

But Noelle didn't answer. Instead, she shoved the bowl of soup into his hands before turning and running off.

The soup was still steaming hot, and

the warmth of the bowl against

Hendrix's palms felt almost scalding. He slowly lowered his gaze. After staring at the bowl and the thermos she had left on the ground for a long while, he finally let out a quiet chuckle.

Meanwhile, Noelle sneaked back into her house like a thief. Just as she closed the door, Irene's voice suddenly came from behind her, "Where did you go?"