“Joseph, can you stop being nervous?”

  “Me? Nervous?” Joseph laughs, but it’s the kind of laugh that gives him away instantly.

  He’s a wreck. Without Sebastian on this trip, he’s completely lost. The guy depends on him for everything. But what’s really breaking him is the lack of WiFi. My aunt Chi lives in an old town near the farms—aka, a dead zone for internet. And since Joseph burned through his battery taking an unreasonable number of selfies, he’s now experiencing true suffering.

  “Yeah, you. Now knock on the door.”

  Joseph’s face drains of color. Poor guy. He almost fainted earlier, and now he’s about to enter a new personal hell.

  As the sound of knocking echoes through the air, I suddenly feel my own nerves creeping in. It’s been so long since I last saw Aunt Chi… and no force in this world, not even hell itself, could prepare me for the experience of her voice in person.

  The door creaks open.

  “Joseph, you know what—maybe we should just head back. I think I left hot tea sitting on my counter.” A terrible excuse, but I’m grasping at anything.

  “LITTLE ELY!!!”

  The shriek hits my ears like a glass-shattering explosion. I thought her voice was unbearable over the phone. I was so naive.

  “Hello, Aunty!” I smile through the pain.

  She yanks me into a bone-crushing hug—then does the same to Joseph. He looks deeply disturbed, probably because Aunt Chi smells like an actual farm. Meanwhile, Mr. Delicate Shampoo Premium over here is used to expensive citrus-scented body washes and whatever fancy conditioner.

  “You must be Joseph! Elysia’s boyfriend! OMG, so handsome!”

  Then suddenly her reaction change after seeing his body

  And before Joseph can react, she grabs his arm, sniffs near his armpit, and lets out a dramatic gasp.

  “Damn, Ely. Is this even a man?”

  I snort. “Yes, Aunt Chi, why?”

  “He smells like roses and fresh mint!”

  “What’s wrong with that?!” Joseph exclaims, deeply offended.

  “Nothing, nothing…” Aunt Chi waves him off, but then—she freezes. Her eyes widen in sheer horror as she grabs Joseph’s hand.

  “…What—”

  I flinch. Her sudden outburst nearly gives me a heart attack.

  “Pedicure?!”

  It takes me a second to realize she means Joseph’s hands. And now that I actually look—damn. His hands are flawless. Smooth, perfectly manicured, like he’s never done manual labor a single day in his life.

  Meanwhile, I glance at my own hands.

  …Yeah, no comment.

  “Well, Ms. Chi, I have to sell my presence. I can’t just look bad, you know? I’m kind of a model.”

  “Do you sell your body?”

  “Yes— I mean, no! I take pictures for money!”

  “That doesn’t make you any more manly.” She raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

  Joseph smirks, ready to unleash his ultimate counterattack—the one I personally hate but am morbidly curious to see if Aunt Chi can destroy.

  “I’m not offended because I have this.”

  With a smug flourish, he whips out his most prized possessions: a black credit card and a platinum card so shiny it practically glows.

  Aunt Chi squints again. “What’s that?”

  Oh no. Oh no.

  Her sheer ignorance is a devastating counter-counterattack.

  “It’s a credit card. You can buy stuff—anything you want,” Joseph explains, as if he’s educating a caveman.

  Aunt Chi hums, looking him over. Then, with a straight face, she delivers a direct hit:

  “Why don’t you just buy another face?”

  Boom.

  Joseph stares. His arrogance, his usual pride in his wealth, takes a direct blow. I almost feel bad for him. Almost. Better him than me.

  “What—don’t you see this?” He flexes, emphasizing his sculpted physique, his peak Hercules-tier genetics.

  Aunt Chi remains unfazed. “Here on the ranch, your little card can’t raise cattle.”

  “Actually, it can.” Joseph smugly points at the card.

  There is no hesitation. She snatches it out of his hand.

  Joseph’s expression goes ice cold.

  Then—she tosses it.

  Right into the house.

  A pig sniffs it, considers it for half a second, and rejects it with a snort.

  I am more surprised there is a pig inside.

  “This thing is useless,” Aunt Chi declares.

  Joseph blinks, then lets out a laugh—loud and amused. “Okay, fine. This card itself can’t feed the animals. But I can order food for them.”

  “But, Joseph…” I grin, ready to watch his world crumble. “There’s no signal here.”

  Joseph freezes.

  Game. Set. Match.

  As we settle into the room Aunt Chi assigned us, I shiver at the eerie decor. Voodoo dolls, strange herbs, and old charms—it’s like she’s some kind of healer or witch.

  “Don’t you feel weird, Joseph?” I whisper.

  “Besides your aunt, nothing here is weirder than her.”

  “Hey!” I glare at him.

  “What? You always say she’s—”

  “I can say it. You can’t.”

  He sighs in defeat.

  Before he can argue more, Aunt Chi’s voice booms from downstairs. “Lunch is ready!”

  We head down, and the second I see what’s on the table, I freeze. Of course. Frog soup.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “You know, Aunty Chi—”

  Thud.

  I turn just in time to see Joseph faint.

  “Oh, for the love of—” I mutter, shaking my head. Well, at least now I have an excuse not to eat this.

  “Forget him. He’s a wuss,” Aunt Chi says, waving a hand dismissively. “Now, let’s get caught up!”

  Or, more like, she’s about to interrogate me until I spill every detail of my life.

  “I told you! I’ve been busy with work,” I say, already exhausted.

  “You can work here on the farm. We need more farm girls,” she insists. Then, lowering her voice, she adds with a wink, “And between you and me, the neighbor’s son is your age. Very healthy.”

  Like someone just poured cold water on him, Joseph suddenly jolts awake.

  “How dare you! Elysia is my girlfriend!”

  Aunt Chi shrugs. “Yeah, but you’re not her husband. So enjoy your time.”

  I sigh. Two more days of this.

  “So… are we really eating this?” Joseph asks. Honestly, it’s the manliest thing he’s said in months. Saying it out loud, in front of my aunty, no less—he actually has guts. I’m proud of him. Or at least, what would be left of him after this.

  “So, the delicate boy doesn’t like healthy food?”.

  “This? Healthy? Healthy is a premium salad with salmon and maybe a buffet, not a wild frog. Do you even know if it’s properly cooked?”

  “Oh, cheeky boy wants to talk about health?” Aunt Chi smirks before rolling up her sleeve and flexing. Her biceps are ridiculous.

  “If you’re so healthy, why don’t you prove it?” she challenges. “Come on, square up. Arm wrestle. Let’s see how strong that fancy diet makes you.”

  Joseph gulps.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to prove what real strength is?”

  With clear hesitation, Joseph places his arm on the table.

  The match is intense. Tense. Until it isn’t. Because Joseph doesn’t even last ten seconds.

  His pride? Shattered. His confidence? Crushed. His boyfriend development arc? Unlocked.

  Joseph retreats to our room in defeat while I stay behind with Aunt Chi. As expected, she spends the evening reminiscing about her wild youth and all the guys she’s dated—guys like Joseph.

  “You know, I’m happy you found someone… or something,” she says, swirling her drink. “I just don’t think he’ll make you happy.”

  I frown. “I don’t think you know what makes me happy.”

  “I do.”

  Her certainty irritates me. Like she has my entire future figured out.

  I cross my arms. “Why don’t we change the topic to you? I’m more curious about your life.”

  Aunt Chi raises an eyebrow. “Like what?”

  “Well, for starters… why does the ceiling and everything around here have signs and decorations from the unknown?”

  She coughs into her fist. “Oh… well.” A pause. Then, casually, “There’s a spirit in these lands.”

  I blink. “A spirit?”

  “Yep. It started about two months ago. Some guy showed up, dressed in weird clothes, and demanded we give him a black hen for sacrifices.”

  “…A black hen?”

  She nods. “Weird, right? Of course, the neighbors and I refused, but after that… strange things started happening.”

  “Like?”

  “Our cattle and pigs started showing up with bite marks. Looked like wolf attacks, but bigger. More violent.”

  “Couldn’t it just be a prank?”

  “That’s what we thought at first, too. But after it kept happening, we called our best shaman. He helped us with some… voodoo stuff, and since then, the spirit hasn’t shown up again.”

  I shudder. “Wow.”

  She smirks and tugs at my cheeks. “I always thought you were the scaredy-cat, little Ely.”

  “I’m not little anymore.”

  “Oh, but I remember when you were tiny! I used to tell you horror stories, and you’d be shaking in your boots.” She chuckles.

  I don’t remember that at all.

  The rest of the night passes with tea and a freezing shower that makes me question my life choices. Not the best start to this trip, but hey, I promised to visit.

  Maybe I should’ve promised just one day instead.

  By the time I get to bed, Joseph is already asleep.

  The mattress is awful. It feels like someone threw a couple of blankets over a pile of bricks and called it a night.

  “I can’t sleep like this…” I mutter.

  My thoughts wander. What’s Azazel doing? He mentioned something about buying a pet. Lucky him. No job, no stress… and speaking of luck, he’s still squatting in that apartment because no one’s bought it yet. But when someone does, he’ll have to move out.

  My thoughts are interrupted by a distant howl.

  I sit up, staring at the window. The night is pitch black, but that sound…

  That’s not just a wolf.

  “Damn…” I whisper.

  Joseph stirs. “What… was that?” He whispers back.

  “A wolf, maybe.”

  “That didn’t sound like a wolf.”

  I sigh. “Just go back to sleep, Joseph. We have a big day tomorrow”

  “Bigger than today?”

  “Yes, bigger than today”

  I wake up to an explosion of sound.

  “What—”

  The rooster outside is screaming its lungs out.

  On the other hand, Joseph sleeps like a rock. Unfair. If I can’t sleep, he can’t either.

  I grin and shake his bed. “Wake up, rich boy!”

  “Huh—what?” He jolts upright, his face dumbfounded.

  I chuckle at his expression, but then he screams.

  “What?!” I panic.

  “Y-Your hair! What the hell?! You look like Medusa!”

  Ouch. I know my hair’s a mess in the morning, but did he have to react like that? Meanwhile, his face is perfect. His hair? Still in shape, like the universe decided his lowest state of beauty should still be above everyone else’s highest.

  I cross my arms. “So… how’s your first day without your fancy stuff?”

  Joseph smirks and pulls out a bag from his backpack labeled EMERGENCY KIT.

  Inside?

  Hand sanitizer. A hair comb. Premium shampoo. And… a framed picture of Sebastian?

  I squint. “Why do you have a picture of Sebastian?”

  Joseph clutches it dramatically. “It makes me feel at ease.”

  …This trip is going to be long.

  As we step outside, everyone has to pitch in. Joseph gets assigned to the cattle, while I’m sent to a nearby house to pick up some pre-paid bread.

  I knock on the door, and when it opens, I’m met with an unexpected sight—a baby-faced man with a body sculpted like Apollo. His blond hair gleams under the sun, almost blinding.

  "For real, why is it so hot?" I mutter, squinting against the light.

  "Good morning. Name's Buck, and that over there hummin’ next to ya is our water heater," he says with a thick accent, like he’s got gum stuck in his mouth or is swallowing his own tongue.

  It’s hard to take him seriously despite his massive physique.

  "Oh… hi. I’m Elysia. My aunt sent me for some bread—Chi. Maybe you've heard of her?"

  "Heard of her? Who hasn’t? She’s got more energy than a whole barn of horses!" he chuckles.

  I suppress a smile. That’s one way to describe her.

  "Right, well… the bread?"

  "Ah, yeah! One sec."

  Buck disappears inside, leaving me to take in my surroundings.

  A small river trickles nearby, chickens wander freely, and a group of kids runs around, kicking a soccer ball. It’s a rare sight for me—kids just playing outside like this. I never even remember hanging out much outside in my childhood. But this environment feels so fresh, even the air is so clean.

  "Right, those kids," Buck suddenly reappears, answering like he reads my mind, and in his two shoulders balancing two enormous loads of bread like they weigh nothing. "They gather every mornin’ before heading to the fields to play."

  I barely manage to lift one of the loads. "Ugh, that’s… quite a bit of bread."

  "That’s weird," Buck muses. "Ms. Chi usually doesn’t order this much."

  "She’s… very resourceful." I smile through the pain.

  "Lemme help ya carry ‘em."

  I hesitate, but my back already screams in protest. "If you insist."

  With effortless strength, Buck hoists both loads, making me feel simultaneously guilty and relieved.

  “So, Buck, are there schools around here?”

  “School? Yes, but I’m more of a hands-on guy. I want to be an electrician.”

  “Cool.”

  “And you, Elysia? Are you a scholar?”

  “I think you mean if I went to college. But no.” I sigh, a bit disappointed.

  Buck shrugs. “As long as you have health and a big heart, you can achieve your dreams. You don’t need college.”

  “That’s an understatement, don’t you think?”

  “I mean, all I need are good arms to work! And as long as I have a good breakfast in the morning, I’m happy. Nothing beats fresh papaya juice with warm bread!”

  “Oh… that actually sounds delicious.”

  As we near my aunt’s house, I spot her standing outside—smirking.

  Oh no. That smirk means she’s up to something.

  "Buck!" she calls out, her voice brimming with exaggerated surprise. "That’s way too much bread!"

  "Ms. Chi, my parents said you ordered this much."

  "Oh, did I?" She gasps dramatically. "Silly me! There’s no way we can finish all this on our own. How about you join us for breakfast?"

  "I dunno…" Buck shifts uncertainly. "I gotta tend to the chickens."

  "Oh, don’t worry about that. Your parents already agreed—they’ll take care of it for you."

  She set us up. Damn, she’s good. And Buck, bless his innocent soul, falls for it.

  I lean in and whisper, "What about Joseph?"

  She winks. "Oh, he won’t be back till afternoon. He’s gotta feed all the cattle first."

  "But—"

  "Don’t worry, I sent him off with a good breakfast and lunch. Cheese and bread."

  "That… sounds normal?"

  "Making sure the delicate boy gets his fancy food was a pain, but for your future, little Ely, I’d do anything!" she declares.

  "Aunty!" I groan, mortified.

  She tries to hug me, but I dodge—those arms could crush me.

  “So, do you like him?”

  I stare at her, baffled. “You must be out of your mind, Aunty Chi, if you think I’d leave Joseph for Buck.”

  “Oh, come on! Your mom—”

  I cut her off instantly. “Don’t you dare bring up Mom when you know she’s not here.”

  Before she can say anything else, a loud roar echoes through the grass.

  “HELP!”

  I turn just in time to see Joseph sprinting towards us, pure terror on his face. Behind him, a bull charges at full speed.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumble, already exhausted.

  “Oh yeah… I forgot to tell you, I bought a bull last week,” Aunty Chi says casually, as if this were normal.

  “NOW you mention it?!”

  “Someone help me!” Joseph shouts, arms flailing.

  “Billy!!!” Aunty Chi whistles sharply, and like magic, the bull skids to a stop.

  Joseph, however, does not. He trips over his own feet and crashes right into me, grabbing onto my knees as he gasps for air.

  “Elysia!” he whines, still trembling. “Let’s go, I don’t want to be here anymore!”

  “It’s just today and tomorrow. You can make it… I think,” I say, half reassuring, half teasing.

  I won’t lie—I hate the lack of internet. But at least Aunty Chi is too busy making Joseph’s life miserable to focus on me.

  “Hello!”

  We both turn to see Buck approaching, all smiles. His golden hair practically glows in the sun.

  Joseph stiffens immediately, his desperate whining abruptly cut off. He sizes Buck up in an instant—baby face, but built like a tank.

  Oh.

  I can notice the jealousy in Joseph’s eyes, though he tries to hide it. Meanwhile, Buck remains blissfully unaware, his cheerful expression never wavering.

  I wonder how Joseph is going to react now.