You had woken up earlier than usual. Morning light filtered through the bedroom curtains, softly illuminating the room.

Your legs still ached a little. The fall the day before had been worse than you'd initially thought, and although you insisted you were fine, REDACTED clearly disagreed.

Since bringing you to his apartment, he'd practically not let you do anything on your own. Every time you tried to get up, he'd appear out of nowhere to ask what you were doing. Every time you mentioned going home, he'd find some excuse to convince you to stay a little longer.

You glanced to the other side of the bed.

REDACTED wasn't there.

For a moment, you thought maybe he was still asleep in another room, but then you caught a pleasant scent wafting through the air.

Food.

You sat up slowly and threw back the covers. The moment your feet touched the floor, a slight discomfort ran through your legs, though it was much more bearable than the day before.

You carefully left the bedroom.

The apartment was quiet. The only sound was the soft clatter of utensils in the kitchen.

When you reached the hallway, you saw REDACTED standing with his back to the counter. He was holding a frying pan in one hand, keeping an eye on something that was cooking. The smell of freshly made pancakes filled the air.

You watched him for a few seconds.

It was a strangely normal scene.

Finally, you approached him from behind.

"REDACTED..."

As soon as he heard his name, he turned his head toward you.

His eyes widened slightly when he saw you standing there.

"What are you doing?"

His tone wasn't annoyed. It was concerned.