Kapitel 160: Alfred, You Like Jess!

Hearing the sharp hiss coming from Jessica, Alfred's legs worked quicker than ever. Before she knew it, he was already bent down on one knee. With his hands on her legs, he began applying pressure on acupuncture points to see what was wrong with her. He noticed her calves were extremely stiff. Without doubt, she was experiencing mild to severe cramps.

"Try relaxing your muscles. Do these cramps happen often? Did you injure your legs before?" As he spoke, the concerned tone in his voice couldn't be concealed. She winced from pain and chewed on her lip as he skillfully massaged using the right amount of strength. Soon, the pain soothed and the cramps began fading away.

"Ah! Sss..It's okay. It'll stop hurting soon. It's been like this for years. I'm already used to it." Once she learned to relax her legs entirely, Alfred pressed on a particular spot where her old injury was located. Out of reflexes, she withdrew her leg away from the source of pain.

"Don't move." He held her leg in place, preventing it from moving around as he continued inspecting the cause of her pain. Although her muscles were less stiff after he massaged it, he was not rest assured enough to let her walk on her own.

Each time he raised his head to observe her expression, the creases on his forehead would become more evident. She sucked on her bottom lip, hesitating if she should talk about the incident from a few years ago. When he lifted his gaze to face her again, she sighed.

"A few years ago, I had an argument with my mom about blind dates. When I refused to attend the blind dates that she set up for me, she got angry. Out of anger, she took a wooden chair next to her and smashed it against my legs. When she swung the chair, it slammed against my lower spine and my legs were too numbed to move around." Her hands clenched into fists as she recalled the terrible incident.

"When she finished venting out her anger, the chair was already disassembled. My brother came home just in time to take me to the hospital. I was lucky enough to still move around with my legs. Because of that incident, I can't do excessive exercises nor play sports. I had to quit swimming. My legs can't stay in the same posture for too long or else it'll start cramping."

Though he didn't speak after hearing about the incident, she felt his grip tighten around her calves in the middle of her story. "Y..You...Does the wound still hurt?" Alfred spoke after a while later. Staring deeply into her eyes, he was neither enraged nor sad. Instead, she saw hesitation in his eyes as if he wanted to comfort her, but didn't know what to do.

Trying to ease the awkward atmosphere between them, she laughed softly. "Mm. It still hurts sometimes." She told him her truthful thought since she has already revealed the incident to him.

"Then what would make you feel better when it hurts?" His eyes narrowed slightly as he lowered his gaze to her legs.

"Whenever it hurt, I really wished someone would be there to hug me and pat my back. I want to be able to cry out everything off my mind and make my parents change. At the end of the day, they won't ever change. So, I also gave up." She stared at her kneecaps, remembering the empty seats in the hospital room when she woke up hours after her mother had attacked her.

Disappointedly, she lowered her gaze to avoid Alfred from seeing the look on her face. Suddenly, her body stiffened as she tried to process what was going on. At the moment, she was blinking and glancing upwards where she only managed to capture the sight of Alfred's chin. After she said those words, she found herself pulled into his embrace. He held her with just the right strength and caressed her back in a bobbing manner.

He whispered, "I might not be able to change anything nor anyone's mindset. However, I can still give you a hug, pat your back and be your support when you need it. Everything is alright now. Nobody can hurt you anymore."

Other than Selina and her brother, nobody else had said such comforting words to her. Of course, Selina was feistier when she found out what her mother did to her legs, but this was a different sensation. His embrace felt warm and oddly relaxing. Even when she suffered living in the same house as her parents, she never had such urges to cry.

Her arms wrapped around his back, exposing her underlying thoughts. Though the hug was simple, she felt very safe in his embrace. Minutes passed and both of them had stopped talking. Everything seemed peaceful until Jessica heard an annoying buzz to her ears.

"Ah! Mosquitoes!" She quickly covered her ears and waved hands around her face to avoid getting any bug bites on her skin.

He chuckled, "Let's go back in. Here, hop on."

"Y..You're..." She was surprised to see him knelt down with his back facing towards her.

"Your legs just stopped cramping. What if the pain comes back in the middle of walking up the stairs? Hop on. I'll carry you back to your room." He patiently waited for her while she wavered between taking up his offer or not.

"I don't mind staying out here to feed mosquitoes with you. We have all night." A grin curved on his face as he looked at the bright moon in the sky.

His words resulted in a psychological effect on her. She started rubbing the sides of her arms and feeling as if insects were trying to bite her limbs. With that thought in her mind, she quickly hopped on his back and settled down.

After making sure she was ready to go back into the villa, he stood up and took the route that circled around the garden. She raised her eyebrows when she saw him take a longer route than the straight path that'll lead them directly to the entrance.

"Why didn't you take the other path? It brings us straight to the door." She questioned curiously.

"The sprinklers are turned on." He smiled.

"Oh..I didn't see. Let me know if I'm heavy. I can walk on my own if you get tired." Jessica couldn't see the smile on his face. If she did, she would've realized she's been tricked - the sprinklers weren't turned on in the garden.

Since the two of them thought everyone else was asleep, they minimized the sounds they could possibly make while going up the stairs. With Jessica on his back, he carefully walked step by step across the living room. What they didn't know was that everyone was actually awake. They were pretending to be asleep to give them some privacy.

As soon as Alfred reached the stairs, she became self-conscious of her body leaning close to his back. Her chest was too close to his back, making her feel embarrassed. Without any warning, she suddenly sat up.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"N..Nothing." She tried her best to conceal her mixed emotions. This was the first time she let someone piggyback ride her, so she felt nervous.

"If everything is fine, then you should lean on me. If you don't, we will roll down the stairs like glutinous rice balls. I wouldn't mind it, though." Alfred tilted his head slightly sideways, trying to get a glimpse of how she looked. "if it is with you."

Rendered speechless by his words, she slapped his shoulders playfully and whispered. "Let's go." She returned to her original position and counted each step it took to get back to her room. Once they reached the top of the staircase, Alfred knelt down low enough for her to get off without having to jump off his back.

She stood in front of the room, waiting for him to walk downstairs before heading inside. Unexpectedly, he turned around with a smile on his face. He whispered, "Go in. I'll wait for you to get in first. Good night."

"Oh..Okay. Good night." She replied as she rotated the door knob and pulled the door open. After watching the door close entirely, Alfred waited a few minutes before walking down to the living room.

The second his right foot laid flat on the floor, Selina sat up from the couch and tossed the blanket off her head. She pointed toward Alfred and whispered, "Alfred!!! You like Jess!!"

Alfred's first reaction was to cover her mouth and shush her in the quietest tone. "Shhhhh."