Cooking in the Monster Sanctuary - Chapter 7 - Part 2

He was tall and slim, with a fair complexion, dressed in the common white lab coat worn by researchers. A pair of black-framed glasses shielded his deep coffee-colored eyes, a classic appearance of a science major.

“Thank you so much!” He stuttered and lowered his voice, gesturing for Lin Yu to push open the slightly ajar iron door. “I-I’ll be waiting here at the door. If anything goes wrong, just call me out.”

After a momentary pause, he added hastily, “Um, the soundproofing here is very good, I won’t eavesdrop or listen in.”

This guy must have barely spoken to any girls during his school days. Lin Yu exchanged a glance with him and gently pushed open the door.

This was her second time entering a room on the sixth underground floor. Unlike the pitch-black surroundings around Chi Yu, as the iron door opened, her vision was flooded with a soft, warm white light.

The room was more like a clean and simple bedroom. A single bed, desk, and wardrobe were neatly arranged, all shrouded in layers of halo-like light.

The angel sat in the corner of the bed, leaning against the wall.

He had been changed into a clean, pure white shirt. His originally messy and voluminous golden hair had been neatly trimmed, giving him a quiet and obedient appearance.

When he sensed the door being pushed open, he gently lifted his long lashes, and his gaze met the pitch-black eyes.

Surprise, disbelief, confusion, and a hint of small delight—various complex emotions entangled in his mind, but he couldn’t form a single sentence.

Lin Yu broke the silence first, her voice clear and gentle with a hint of a smile, “Hello, we meet again.”

The angel’s gaze quickly shifted away after meeting hers, and it took a while before he softly responded, “… Hello.”

“Are you adapting to life here?” She approached and sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the person next to her stiffen noticeably. “Why don’t you want to go outside?”

He still didn’t lift his head, his lowered eyelashes casting a mottled shadow like a child worried about being scolded after making a mistake.

Lin Yu smiled, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here today to bring you a little gift.”

Upon hearing the word “gift,” the angel’s face instantly turned pale. He glanced at her for a split second, his bewildered and helpless expression reminiscent of a startled deer.

It was probably because the club owner had given him strange things under the guise of “gifts,” which had resulted in a conditioned psychological shadow.

Lin Yu silently cursed that scum in her heart but maintained an unchanged expression as she took a box out of her bag and carefully opened it.

“I made these little desserts,” she said gently, using a small spoon to scoop up a bite and offer it to him. “They might be even tastier than that candy.”

The dominant fresh green color captured all of his attention. The angel’s long lashes trembled slightly as he lowered his head obediently, and his thin, pale lips slowly moved downward.

But he bypassed the dessert, landing gently on the back of Lin Yu’s hand.

It felt cool and soft much like the texture of a milk pudding.

Lin Yu had never had such intimate contact with the opposite sex before, and her breath caught for a moment. She instinctively pulled her hand back without much thought.

He looked up in confusion, his eyes tinged with a hint of panic. The blush on his fair earlobes spread to the corners of his eyes, and he mustered the courage to ask, “Don’t you like it?”

“Do you like it?”

The angel hadn’t expected her to turn the question back at him. He furrowed his brow in puzzlement.

Did he like it?

The answer was unknown.

Since the beginning of his memories, he had been told that he was the owner’s pet, and his purpose was to please all the guests who came into the locked room.

They would show satisfied smiles when they were pleased, but the angel himself was deeply confused by this behavior—why did even the simplest physical contact bring them pleasure?

Every time, all he felt was a nauseating sensation for no apparent reason.

“If you don’t like it, don’t force yourself.”

His silence conveyed his answer, and Lin Yu brought the spoon closer again, asking softly, “Would you like to try it?”

A faint smile, inexplicable in its origin, and spread from the corners of her lips. He hesitated lifting his eyes to meet the girl beside the bed.

He caught a glimpse of the intense black in her eyes before looking away, and then he lowered his head slightly and said in a deep voice, “Yes.”

When his lips touched the dessert, the first sensation that struck him was the lingering coolness.

Due to being frozen like a pudding, the dessert was soft and light much like ice cream. The delicate and smooth taste of matcha melted on his tongue along with the coldness which reminded him of the lush greenery of a forest after rain.

The matcha flavor was refreshing and rich with a slight bitterness characteristic of green tea, leaving an endless aftertaste.

Following the strong scent of tea, a wave of milky fragrance surged in. The delicate aroma of fresh cream and milk was like a surging undercurrent, flooding every taste bud in the mouth. Yet, this aroma was gentle, faint, intertwining with the lingering essence of matcha.

The creaminess neutralized the sweetness of the matcha, while the milk fragrance mellowed the bitterness of the matcha. It resulted in an overall aroma that was intense yet soothing.

The tea aroma and the cheese’s lingering sweetness blended in the mouth. When the upper and lower teeth closed, they could taste the soft and plump red bean.

Red beans were the perfect companion to matcha. When they were lightly bitten into crumbs, the rich and sweet flavor spread freely, interweaving with the matcha’s taste.

It was a novel and addictive sensation. The angel hadn’t fully recovered from the multi-layered aroma when he heard Lin Yu’s soft voice, “Do you still not remember anything from before?”

He pursed his lips and made a soft “Mmm” sound from his throat.

“Don’t worry.” She offered another spoonful of dessert, “Both I and the staff at the shelter will do our best to help you regain your memories.”

After a moment’s thought, she added seriously, “And in the future, don’t just do these intimate actions with anyone. Kissing is something you do with someone you like.”

The angel blinked, struggling to comprehend the concept, “Someone you like?”

“Yeah,” Lin Yu chuckled, her eyes forming a beautiful curve, “When you’re with that person, you’ll feel happy and naturally want to be close to them.”

A brief silence enveloped the room. Under the white light, his battered wings recoiled shyly.

Suddenly, he looked up and gazed at her intently. He spoke in a tone that brooked no argument, “I’m happy now.”

Having been avoiding Lin Yu’s gaze earlier, he unexpectedly met her eyes with this sentence, the gentle light in his eyes washing over her for a moment.

“It’s not the same,” Lin Yu shook her head. “You’ve interacted with very few people now, and the world is full of individuals with vastly different personalities. When you leave this room someday and meet that person, you’ll naturally understand what ‘liking’ means.”

The angel couldn’t comprehend it.

He thought about it seriously for a while but couldn’t come to a reasonable conclusion. So, he changed the subject, asking the question he hadn’t been able to ask when they last parted, “Can I still see you in the future?”

With caution, gentleness, and a hint of pleading, he made it impossible to refuse.

“Outside,” she glanced at the tightly closed iron door and smiled slightly. “I’ll be waiting for you outside the room. When you’re willing to leave here on your own and interact with other people, you’ll definitely see me.”

“But…” the angel lowered his gaze and lowered his voice, his nails digging deeply into his palms, “I’m a monster, and everyone hates me.”

In the locked room, the owner had repeatedly said that he was a monster incompatible with the world.

Apart from himself and the guests who came to the room, no one would accept such a hideous creature.

He loathed and hated his own existence. The two pairs of enormous wings were a source of perpetual shame, making him too afraid to step outside the room.

“Hate? How is that possible?” Lin Yu’s cheerful voice flowed like a gentle stream in the stifling summer, and the angel heard her say, “Angels are a well-known species, and there’s no such thing as a ‘monster.’ Besides, the shelter is filled with all sorts of strange and unusual beings. Everyone will like you.”

She seemed to remember something, and a deeper smile played at the corner of her lips, “Moreover, you’re so, so beautiful.”