Winning Over His Wife

She clenched her fists, veins bulging on her arms.

Though those veins were so delicate they were barely visible, her anger was entirely real.

She swung her fist and slammed it toward Kexi's lecherous face.

Her fist cut through the air with a whoosh, aimed straight at the bridge of Kexi's nose.

Then Kexi saw something that made him frown at once:

A fist was blocking Aemeath's face.

A fist was blocking the face of his favorite wife. How could he stand for that?

He reached out, casually caught Aemeath's wrist, and brushed it aside.

Before Aemeath could react, the momentum of her own punch threw her off balance. She lurched sideways, missed her footing, and fell uncontrollably toward the ground.

Her eyes widened, and her hands flailed through the air, but caught nothing.

Then a hand gripped her firmly around the waist, catching her before she hit the ground.

Kexi pulled her back up.

His arm held her around the waist with just the right amount of force, steadying her without squeezing hard enough to make her uncomfortable.

He looked down at the face in his arms, which had gone pale the moment she lost her balance, and grinned, a hint of reckless smugness in his voice.

"Steady now. Don't fall."

Aemeath found her footing, but her composure did not.

She glanced down at the hand still resting on her waist, then up at Kexi's grinning face. The anger churning in her eyes reached its breaking point.

Rather than step back or push him away, she raised both fists and launched a flurry of little pink-fisted punches.

Her fists rained down on Kexi's chest, shoulders, and arms at a furious pace, but with all the force of a kneading cat.

Each punch landed with a muffled thud, but Kexi stood perfectly still, without so much as swaying.

He didn't even raise a hand to block. He simply stood there, chest out, letting her punch him again and again.

Then his expression changed.

It wasn't pain or anger, but a look of pleasure that made one want to call the police.

His eyes narrowed into two curved slits, a dreamy smile spread across his lips, and he let out an almost inaudible sigh.

She was giving him a back rub.

No, it was even gentler than a back rub.

It was too light to count as a massage.

But these were Aemeath's fists. Aemeath was touching him, and every punch was intimate contact between them.

Ah~

He let out an enraptured cry.

Aemeath punched him for about two minutes.

Her fists grew slower and weaker, until she could barely keep up the pace of her attacks.

Her breathing went from steady to rapid, then to great, heaving gasps. Beads of sweat broke out across her forehead.

She gritted her teeth and put all her strength into one final punch.

At last, she couldn't punch anymore. She bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

Her sweat-soaked hair clung to her cheeks, and her shoulders rose and fell with every gasp.

Kexi, on the other hand, stood where he was, his clothes slightly rumpled, looking full of energy and in high spirits.

None of her attacks had had the slightest effect on him.

Aemeath raised her head and looked at Kexi's face. He hadn't shed a single drop of sweat, and he even looked as though he wanted more. The shock in her eyes overwhelmed her anger.

"You... how are you completely fine?"

Kexi looked down at her, one eyebrow lifting slightly, that punchable smile on his lips. "Should something be wrong with me?"

Aemeath suddenly squatted down, curling into a tiny ball.

"Why... why am I so weak..."

Her muffled voice came from between her knees. She sounded as though she was crying, though she wasn't actually sobbing.

"The murderer is right in front of me... but I can't avenge you... Family, Aemeath is useless. Aemeath is sorry..."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter, until the last few words were almost inaudible. She curled into an even smaller ball, as though trying to squeeze herself into a crack in the wall.

Then she burped.

"Burp-"

It wasn't loud, but it was particularly clear in the quiet of the late night.

Her body stiffened.

The sound seemed to remind her of what she had done.

Her eyes reddened again, a new layer of guilt mingling with her tears this time.

She felt her sins had grown even heavier.

Kexi sighed.

"Hey." He walked over and squatted down in front of her, bringing himself to eye level and making his voice as gentle as he could. "I didn't kill them. I only knocked them out. The one who really killed them was-"

"Shut up!"

Aemeath jerked her head up, tears still glistening in her golden eyes, but her gaze stabbed at Kexi's face like a pair of little knives.

She clenched her teeth and repeated herself, enunciating every word.

"Shut. Up."

Kexi shut up.

He raised both hands in surrender.

Fine, I won't bring it up. Whoever does is a dog.

Aemeath glared at him, took a deep breath, and scrubbed the tears away with her sleeve, rubbing her eyes red.

"I don't care. Once I get stronger, I'll kill you."

Kexi tilted his head at her, the corners of his mouth slowly rising.

"All right, all right, you'll kill me. But getting stronger takes time, right?"

Aemeath looked at him warily. She didn't answer, but she didn't deny it either.

"Getting stronger takes cultivation, right?"

"...Right."

"Cultivation takes effort, right?"

"Right."

"Using up your strength makes you hungry, right?"

"...Right."

"And when you're hungry, you need to find something to eat, right?"

"..."

This time, she didn't answer.

Her gaze drifted involuntarily toward her stomach, then darted away. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"You're homeless now, right?"

The words were like a needle, piercing precisely into her softest spot.

Her shoulders stiffened, and the light in her golden eyes dimmed a little.

Her silence was answer enough.

She had no home anymore.

Kexi watched her bury her face in her knees, and something in his heart gave a gentle tug.

He put away his flippant smile and spoke very, very softly.

"Then come with me for now. I'll wait for you to get stronger, and I'll give you food and a place to stay."

Aemeath lifted her head from her knees.

"You... why are you so good to me?"

She asked slowly, a note of cautious probing in her voice.

She didn't understand.

She had come to kill him. She had bitten his neck and grabbed him by the throat.

She had said "I'm going to kill you" countless times.

Why didn't he avoid her? Why didn't he run? Why had he given her osmanthus cake, taken her out for beef noodles, and squatted down to talk to her when she was crying by the roadside?

He was her enemy. He should have been afraid of her, should have avoided her, should have left her on the street without a care-or simply killed her outright.

But he hadn't.

Kexi looked into her golden eyes, filled with confusion and vulnerability, and fell silent for quite a while.

Then he grinned.

"Because I want to be your family."

The evening breeze blew in from the end of the street, gently stirring the cloth curtain on the noodle shop's canopy.

Aemeath froze.

Her eyes reddened slightly, and her nostrils flared several times. A "yes" almost slipped out.

But she bit her lower lip just in time, forcing the words back down.

She abruptly turned her head toward the wall, keeping him from seeing her expression.

Her voice returned to its cold tone, but the last syllable wavered beyond her control, completely betraying the feelings in her heart.

"Don't think I'll give up on killing you just because you used such a dirty trick."

Kexi looked at the back of her turned head, at the blush on the tips of her ears that she couldn't hide no matter what she did, and his smile deepened.

"So, are you coming with me or not?"

"I am."

She answered instantly.

The moment she said it, even she froze. She remained stiffly turned away as the blush on her ears visibly spread to their roots.

Kexi stood up in front of her, moved his legs to ease the numbness from squatting, and held out a hand.

Aemeath stared at it for quite a while before finally reaching out and grabbing his wrist.

"I'm only holding on to you to make it easier to walk." She gave a soft huff and stood up.

Kexi chuckled.

He secretly made a victory sign in his heart.

Got her.