Nagas.
Out of pure curiosity, Y/n had made a habit to search it up. Half man, half snake..
What a peculiar choice to write Naga, of all things. Did Aruna have some sort of interest in snakes? Some sort of connection with them? Whatever it was, during the car ride, Y/n snuck peeks at Google to ensure he had some snake facts memorized. And there were certainly a handful...that he didn't really need to know.
Like the fact that Nagas, or snakes..had..
Two..
He didn't even want to think of it. He couldn't deny sex appeal was literally wafting off Aruna, but..
"Um," Y/n cleared his throat, "so where are we going?"
"A restaurant," was all Aruna replied, "I take it you're fine with anything? Any allergies? Any..."
"Oh no, I'm fine," Y/n said hastily, "really."
"Alright then," There was a brief, awkward silence, and Y/n really hated awkward silence. He focused on Aruna's voice: low and slightly breathy, and very bad for Y/n's heart. There was some sort of..hiss to it too, but it wasn't in a suffocating way. It was in a hot way, if that made any sense.
Y/n blinked dazedly, and their eyes met in the mirror.
Y/n managed a weak smile.
And Aruna smiled back.
This was really, really bad for his heart.
Y/n wondered to himself, just how they looked to a passer-by.
Did someone walk by and think: I don't think that guy is good enough for him? Or did they think: are they rich enough to spend so much money?
They were sitting in a restaurant that was obviously expensive judging from the sheer obscene amount of tasteful, extravagant amounts of decorations, and the fact that...well, they were two men. In a romantic setting. Y/n thanked his lucky stars that Nadia had lent him a relatively formal suit.
And god. There were no menu prices. Y/n ordered a plain salad. Hopefully it was the least expensive, or at least that was what Y/n had hoped for, before it came with gold flakes on it, and Y/n could feel a sudden feeling in his empty stomach. Like he was burning a hole in his wallet.
"Do you not..like it?" Aruna frowned. He tapped the table.
One.
Two.
Three—
"No," Y/n stammered, "it's really, um, good! I feel all the nutrients and..." He deflated, "okay, never mind." He carefully speared an olive, twirling it on his fork. He didn't know table manners. He didn't have table manners. Simply put, he was doomed. He popped the olive in his mouth to prove his point that yay! The salad was so delicious!
Aruna looked unconvinced. He had ordered some sort of venison for himself. But Y/n noticed he wasn't eating that much of it. He didn't seem to enjoy it.
"You don't have to force yourself," He said, "we can order something else."
Speak for yourself.
"Oh, I really like it," He shook his head, "I love it." He forced a bright grin.
Okay, that was a bit much.
Y/n raised his head meekly, expecting to see some sort of disapproval towards him, but instead—
Huh? Was that the slightest bit of a smile? So Aruna wasn't emotionless, after all!
Aruna waved over a waiter.
"Two bottles of wine, please."
Y/n felt another dent in his pocket. If Aruna wasn't paying for both of them, then he would be doomed. Funny how he never needed math in his life until this moment. He frowned. How many months—years—decades would he need to pay this ridiculous meal off? Or would he pass it down to his unfortunate future generation (that he possibly might not even have because he was pretty sure he was gay, not bisexual)?
Why did Nadia do this, again? For him to have a better life? For him to be more extroverted? Sure, maybe he was on the good-looking side, but personality wise, he was not particularly interesting.
Y/n was certain Aruna was regretting this whole thing now. But hey, Y/n thought, I'm not the one who thinks I'm a half snake.
Y/n shoveled the salad in his mouth. The gold bits didn't even taste nice. But maybe if he ate faster...
He tried to eat as fast as he could, and with as much elegance he could muster. Everything tasted like cardboard. He was way too nervous to truly appreciate the taste of food. Aruna seemed content with just observing him (like how a predator would watch his prey, Y/n gulped) and that did absolutely nothing to soothe his nerves.
Y/n took the last few bites, and took another cursive glance—
And found himself staring right into Aruna's eyes. Like direct contact.
It was practically drilling holes into his head.
Shame pricked up Y/n's neck. He clamored for a topic, searching his fuddled brain that was only filled with 19+ erotica and waayyy too much naga fanfiction (he admitted he got carried away a little bit)—and opened his mouth. But no words came out.
His ears burned with humiliation.
Thankfully, Aruna broke the silence.
"You..."
"Uh. Me?" Y/n repeated, his voice a little too high.
"You're a little different from what I expected," Aruna finished.
Y/n's heart sank. Oh great, this was the moment Aruna ditched him with a foot-long bill, disappeared to probably find someone better and maybe roleplay with said person, and frankly..
His reputation had already hit rock bottom. Y/n found he couldn't bring himself to date much. Or care. It came with an odd sense of relief that he had already reached the lowest point he could reach. There simply wasn't anywhere lower.
Now Y/n could apologize for wasting his time, dash away, pay his own half of the bill that he would have to sell his kidneys to do so, and slack in the comfort of his very run down apartment.
Y/n smiled politely.
"I'm sorry. I could get going now—"
"For what, exactly? What are you apologizing for?" Aruna's voice was cold. And smooth. Like a frozen lake, somewhat. And also...incredibly sexy.
Y/n had learnt to keep his gaze trained on the ground.
"I know you must have better things to do than entertaining someone like me," He resorted to simply insulting himself—now that s something Y/n was used to, "so.."
"Why do you think that?" Aruna leaned forward. A tad bit. He really wasn't making things easy for Y/n.
"I must not make a pleasant lunch partner," Y/n sighed, "let's be real here—" He ignored Aruna's puzzled expression at that word—"you're hot. Rich. There should be plenty of both women clamoring to breathe your air."
Aruna was still silent.
Gah.
"You're in a different league, how about that?" Y/n admitted, "and also, I don't get how your mind works. You seem so..otherworldly. In a good way," He quickly added, "and truthfully, I don't know whether I can even—get along with you. For starters, I'm a human. A male. Okay, you're a male human too. But I don't really know much about um, snakes. And you seem to like them, right?" Y/n babbled on. "Wait. So my point is..I don't want to be indebted to a stranger. So I'll take my leave, and..."
"Okay." Aruna said finally. Somehow, his expression seemed to change at you are a male human too. Was he offended?
Y/n could have jumped for joy. Finally, this whole horrifying thing could be over!
"You foot half the meal, of course. That would be five thousand."
Y/n's dreams and hopes shattered. God. Nadia, he seethed, I'm strangling you when I go back.
"I'll..pay you back...later?"
Five thousand for a bottle of wine and a salad? This was daylight robbery!
"The words of a stranger can't really be trusted, right?" Aruna drawled.
"Um. A check?"
Aruna extended an arm. Y/n's brain fixated on the fact his fingers were long, slender—
"No. Now." There was no room of discussion.
"I don't have enough money," Y/n muttered under his breath, sinking into his seat, "happy now?"
Aruna paused at that. His expression twisted into something incomprehensible, and Y/n watched as he waved a waiter over, paying for both their meals. God, he's fucking rich.
"Accompany me for the rest of the day, and the debt will be paid off." Aruna told him.
"But—" Y/n was cut off.
"Get up."
Y/n could only trail pathetically after Aruna, as they left the restaurant.
**
"This is.."
Y/n stared.
Massive.
Humongous.
If Y/n didn't understand the actions of Aruna previously, he certainly didn't now. Why was he—in his fucking house? Screw that. A mansion! To make things worse, they were surrounded by tailors and maids.
"Clothes," Aruna clarified.
"I really can't afford any of this."
"I'm aware." There was a faint twitch on his lips.
"Okay," Y/n sputtered over his words, "wait, what?" Y/n was certain that Aruna was smirking. So his facial muscles were working! Congratulations!
"So, choose one."
There were massive rows of clothes. All branded and extremely, disgustingly, expensive.
"Making someone fall further into debt isn't how you usually pay people back," Y/n shifted in his seat. Very annoyingly velvety, he thought. He was now throughougly convinced that this was a elaborate ploy of torture. A new method to make someone as uncomfortable as possible.
Well, it's working! Y/n scowled.
"I did tell you that if you accompany me, I would write off your debt—"
"Oh, what a lovely young man!" A female voice exclaimed, suddenly measuring his shoulders, "what beautiful [s/c]-skin! And gosh, your features!"
"Um..."
"You'll look so good in this! and this!"
Multiple staff members simply materialized out of nowhere. Y/n felt like a bunch of vultures were after him. He looked beggingly at Aruna, who had been watching everything go down from the very start.
"Uh, why are they..taking my measurements..?"
"I think you can figure it out for yourself."
"I beg your pardon? And.." He stared at the numerous suits they held up, "how much are these even...?"
"Pick one," Aruna nodded towards the suits, "or I'm buying this whole store out. You have five seconds."
Wait, what? Uh...
"Perhaps you would like to measure his waist, sir! That would require close contact, and I don't think you would like it if we touched your partner so intimately, no?" One of the staff members chirped up.
"I'm not...his partner—" Y/n stammered.
"We met on a dating app, no?" Aruna whispered to him as he placed the tape around his waist, his voice low and so, so immeasurably hot—"so.." He squinted.
"Five."
"W-Wait!"
"Four."
"Any, really."
"Three."
"The—the.."
"Two."
"The navy one!" Y/n finally picked one at random, "and you can uh, let go of me now.." His cheeks flushed at their close proximity. He stared at Aruna's face, his lips—the way they parted as he spoke—
Y/n took a double take.
A forked tongue?
Was that a forked tongue? God. It looked so...long—
Nevermind. Y/n must have been dreaming. Humans didn't have forked tongues. He was high on something, clearly. Was the food earlier drugged? What had he gotten himself into? Y/n started to internally panic.
"Then we'll take it," Aruna gently dusted at the fabric on Y/n's chest, turning around. "All done."
Y/n squirmed. Was Magical Love a sugar daddy website? Why the hell was Aruna so...loaded? It seemed he had money to last lifetimes.
Aruna swiped the card with ease, and wordlessly dragged Y/n out of the door.
Y/h spotted the staff giggling.
"What an adorable couple!"
"Gosh. Did you see that eye contact—I almost blushed myself."
Contrary to himself, Y/n felt something bubble on the surface, and a small laugh slipped past his lips.
The situation was funny.
Just a tiny bit.
hey everyone! hope u loved this chapter 💕 and before u say anything no aruna did not fall in love at first sight! for now, it's merely interest & amusement that will slowly (though not very slow LOL) turn into affection. i mean he views y/n as this adorable little pathetic person that he has this urge to take under his wing it's kind of funny..AND also there's something about scent trails yada yada yada (snake stuff basically) that will be revealed next chapter! prepare for heavy snake stuff (Jacobson's organ being incorporated in kissing with tongue is going to be fun 🥺🥺🎶/j) comment because it motivates me (as u can see I've updated ⭐️)