Chapter 4

Hudson's eyes flew open. What the hell? That voice had never appeared in his head before. Not to mention, it sounded so familiar. It was as though he had just heard that voice recently. The voice said, "Hehehe… You won't be able to escape… You're all mine… Bread, cake, tarts, desserts… Come to my mouth right now… Heheheh…" Soon, Hudson realized that the voice belonged to Winona, who was talking in her sleep. Rays of sunlight poured through the gaps in the drawn curtains. That was when Hudson realized that Winona and him had been hugging each other tightly all this time. Her face was extremely close to his. Her button-like nose twitched slightly with every breath. Her pink lips were bunched into a small pout. She looked very innocent when she was asleep. Winona's occasional mumbles and the transparent strand of drool hanging from the corner of her mouth made Hudson think that she was actually pretty cute. If anything, she wasn't as scary as he thought she was last night. Honestly speaking, Hudson didn't rest well. There was a popular student sleeping next to him, after all. More importantly, she was wearing a skimpy white nightgown. The main point was, Winona was a restless sleeper. She had the nerve to warn Hudson not to move around and snore in bed, yet her sleeping behavior was even worse. Not only did she place her legs onto Hudson's stomach, but she'd also talk in her sleep. Sometimes, she'd also let out weird cackles. She sounded scary whenever she did that. In the end, she straight up hugged Hudson tightly as though he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Just like that, Hudson managed to tough it out until it was almost 3:00 am. That was when he gave up on fighting back his urge to sleep. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. Then, he was awakened by Winona's sleep talk when he was stuck in his eerie dream. What Hudson didn't expect was that he'd wake up earlier than Winona. He raised his wrist carefully to look at the time. It was 7:40 am. He only slept for four and a half hours. What made Hudson curious was that he was actually brimming with energy instead of being exceptionally tired due to the lack of sleep. After all, he loved sleeping in. It was extremely difficult to get him to wake up early in the morning. However, Hudson had a feeling that his sleepiness and exhaustion evaporated instantly the moment his eyes opened. He gulped nervously while wondering if this could be a sign that he was infected, like Winona had said last night. Or, could it be a side effect brought to him due to an awakening? At that moment, a light breath suddenly swept across Hudson's earlobe. It made him feel all tingly and had his heart racing. It was only then that he realized that he and Winona were currently embracing each other in an intimate fashion. Hudson tried to struggle out of the embrace, but soon realized that the handcuffs had completely restricted his movements. Winona must have sensed his movements as she frowned and tightened her arms around him. Hudson dared not move around after that. He was afraid of disturbing the young woman who looked innocent and cute on the outside, but had actually possessed mysterious strength and skills in reality. The threat he received last night was still printed in his mind vividly. If he were to disturb Winona in any way, he'd most likely get his throat slit. Even though Hudson might not really die from the injury, the pain would still be etched into his body. Just as Hudson began to overthink, Winona slowly opened her eyes. She stared at Hudson with bleary eyes at first, but they quickly turned sharp and clear. "Are you that happy to see me?" Winona asked. That question completely caught Hudson off guard to the point where he actually trembled for a moment. It was only then did he notice Winona's awakened state. "Am I happy to see you? What do you mean by that?" Hudson asked in confusion. But he quickly caught the actual meaning behind her question soon enough. Since Winona had really bad sleeping posture, she had hooked her leg onto his abdomen when she was hugging him. Naturally, her calf rested on a certain sensitive spot between his legs. That was why she asked Hudson that question. "I can explain! It's just a natural biological occurrence!" Hudson sweated nervously. He secretly hoped that Winona wouldn't castrate him as a form of punishment. However, Winona merely let out a soft chuckle. She caressed Hudson's cheek gently before speaking up in a soft tone that was laced with huskiness that was only present when she just woke up. "Why are you so nervous? Are you scared of me?" she said. Winona was putting up yet another façade, so Hudson felt that he could never understand what exactly she was thinking. Before he could react to Winona's new persona, he heard a soft click. Suddenly, he realized that his hand that should be cuffed to Winona's was now instead cuffed to the wooden decorative knob on the bedpost. The sudden shift shocked Hudson. Just now, Winona still had one hand on his cheek. How on earth did she uncuff herself before cuffing him to the bedpost with the other hand? "What did you just do?" Hudson asked. "I have a habit of taking baths in the morning," Winona replied randomly while getting out of bed. She began stripping down while walking toward the bathroom. "What does your bath have to do with cuffing me?" Hudson asked, clearly peeved. "According to the 24-hour non-stop monitoring period's protocol, you have to stay with me when I'm taking a bath. But judging from your current condition, I feel that you'll suffer even more if you enter the bathroom with me," she explained. Winona walked to the bathroom door. As she flipped her hair from her shoulder, she turned around to glance at Hudson's body. Her words gave him the completely opposite effect. Now, he felt even more uncomfortable. "So, you should wait outside the bathroom. Don't even think about wiggling out of the cuffs," she said. By then, Winona had already walked into the bathroom. Hudson gazed up at the ceiling before letting out a long sigh. ... By the time Winona stepped into the bedroom, she had already changed into the black outfit she was in when she arrived at the apartment last night. Previously, Hudson couldn't make out her outfit. Now, he could see everything clearly. The outfit was even more plain than he thought. However, it appeared to be quite dazzling once Winona wore it. It was basically an oversized white shirt with its hems casually tucked into a pair of black denim shorts which clung to Winona's hips and thighs. A portion of her slender waist was exposed because of the way the shirt was tucked. A short-sleeved black jacket overlapped the white shirt, effectively concealing Winona's gorgeous figure. Lastly, a pair of ankle-high black boots completed the outfit. Everyone could tell that Winona was very fashionable just at one glance. But Hudson felt that a woman as gorgeous as Winona would be able to make any clothes look good on her. While people often made themselves more presentable with different clothes, sometimes, clothes needed attractive people to serve as their models just to bring out their charm. "Have you calmed down?" Winona had reverted to her icy appearance. She folded her arms in front of her chest while looking at Hudson. When she noticed that Hudson seemed a lot more turned on than before, she clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. "Let me take a bath too. I'll calm down after the bath," Hudson quickly said in order to mask his embarrassment. Hence, Winona approached the bed and bent over to uncuff Hudson from the bedpost. He could even smell the fresh fragrance wafting from her hair. It was a light floral fragrance mixed with the sweet scent of fruits. It reminded him of a garden in full bloom on a spring day, where everything was brimming with vitality and energy. Winona's movements were gentle yet skillful. Soon, she freed Hudson from the handcuffs. Throughout the entire process, her gaze never left Hudson's face, as though she was observing his reaction. Once Hudson regained his freedom, he quickly got out of bed and made a mad dash toward the bathroom. When he realized that Winona was about to follow him into the bathroom, he quickly slammed the door shut. "My bathroom doesn't have any windows, so there's no way I can escape! I'll call you if anything happens!" Winona was silent outside the door for a moment. Then, she said, "Hurry up. We're going to be late soon." Cold water flowed all over Hudson's body, making him shiver. His teeth rattled against each other uncontrollably. The blood left on his chest and stomach had already dried up. It started crumbling into flakes under the shower. The sight of the dried blood made Hudson calm down for the time being. After the bath, Hudson spotted Winona lying on the couch, playing on her phone. He quickly darted into his bedroom and changed into fresh clothes. By the time he returned to the living room, he saw Winona heading toward the front door. She shot him an impassive glance "Let's go. We can't be late for class." Just like that, Hudson followed Winona out of the apartment. They headed down the stairs together before exiting the rundown apartment block. At that moment, Hudson's phone chimed loudly. He dug it out to see a new message on WhatsApp. The sender was a person named "WinonaMelody". The alias was pretty straightforward. Hudson turned to look at Winona immediately. "Since when do I have your contact number on WhatsApp?" he asked. "I keyed my number into your phone when you were showering earlier," Winona replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Hudson wanted to tell her that phones contained a person's private information and that she shouldn't be poking around his phone. But then he thought about how she had saved his life last night. Besides, saving her contact number into his WhatsApp contact list wasn't a big deal. After that, he noticed the text message Winona sent. "Once we reach the campus, remember to play along with me." Hudson texted a question mark back to Winona, but she never replied to him after that. She also never said a word on their way to the university. This situation lasted for about 20 minutes. When the pair was about to reach the street right outside the university, Winona suddenly said to Hudson, "Get ready." "Get ready for what?" he asked. Before Hudson could react, Winona quickly hugged his arm. At the same time, her expression shifted into something else entirely. He was about to say something when he heard a voice calling out to Winona from behind. "Hey, Winona! Huh? You're hugging a guy's arm?" "Morning, Zarina! This is my boyfriend, Hudson Jarrott!" Winona said. The sight of Winona's bright and radiant smile made Hudson feel uneasy. It was a shame that she wasn't an award-winning actress in real life, because that was how amazing her acting was.