CHAPTER 114: THE TRUTH HURTS!

Mika could see it in her face, the way her pride was flaring again, her chest rising high as though she’d just been reborn. His words had lit something in her, a glow that made her eyes even more radiant than before.

She looked like a woman who had just shed an invisible weight and found new life, and seeing that made him quietly proud. She deserved to carry herself like this, with her chin high and her heart unburdened.

But then, as he was caught in that thought, Yelena suddenly leaned forward with an excited, childlike spark in her expression. Her lips curled into a mischievous smile, and her eyes gleamed as though she had a secret she couldn’t hold back.

"Hey, Mika." She said, voice teasing but sweet. "You said I look pretty, right? That I’m so beautiful you can’t even walk next to me?"

Mika groaned under his breath. He already knew exactly where this was going.

And sure enough, she leaned in even closer, her voice bubbling with glee.

"Then tell me! What exactly do you find so pretty about me? Is it my eyes?" She tapped her temple with a finger. "Or my face?" Then she gestured to her cheeks, then her lips, her hair. "Which one is it, Mika? Which part do you like?"

Mika let his head fall back with a long sigh, looking at her in mock despair.

"This...This is exactly why I didn’t compliment you before. I knew it. I knew the second I said it, you’d rub it all over my face. And I was expecting it, but..." He gestured at her bouncing in place, eyes gleaming. "...not this soon."

Yelena didn’t even try to deny it. Instead, she broke into a bright, girlish smile.

"I can’t help it!" She said happily. "I’m just so...so happy, after hearing the truth. Hearing that my Mika thinks I’m beautiful. I want to know everything, every little thing you see when you look at me."

She pressed closer, her voice slipping into a pleading whisper.

"So, please, tell me, Mika. Please. Otherwise I won’t be able to sleep tonight. I’ll just keep thinking about it."

The look on her face, bright-eyed, pitiful, yet so earnest, made him sigh. He couldn’t resist her when she looked like that.

"...Fine."

He relented and immediately her entire expression lit up like fireworks, excitement bubbling over as she all but bounced in place.

"Let’s go! My Mika is about to confess which part of me he finds prettiest!" She leaned forward eagerly, her words tumbling out in a rush. "Now, is it my eyes? My lips? My hair? My smile? Tell me, tell me!"

But istead of answering outright, he reached forward and cupped her face in his hands, making her still. His thumbs brushed gently across her cheeks, his gaze locking into hers with disarming seriousness.

"It’s not just one thing, Yelena." He said quietly. "The truth is every single part of your face is beautiful to me."

The sincerity in his voice froze her in place. Her excitement faltered, replaced with sudden heat rushing to her cheeks. She hadn’t expected him to answer like this.

"Let’s start with the most striking feature." He murmured, brushing his thumbs lightly over her eyes. "These emerald eyes of yours. They don’t shine like normal eyes. They’re like gemstones, bright enough that even in a dark room, anyone could see them."

"...They sparkle so beautifully they could make the stars jealous."

Her eyes trembled under his touch, caught completely off guard. She had only expected some flippant remark about her lips or her hair, something teasing.

But this, this raw, devoted sincerity, staggered her.

Before she could recover, he lowered one hand, tapping the tip of her nose.

"And this nose of yours. Cute, delicate, perfectly sculpted. You probably don’t even think about it, but I swear someone could fall in love with you just by looking at your nose alone...That’s how exquisite it is."

Her blush deepened, her heartbeat quickening in her chest.

Then his fingers slid lower, gently brushing over her lips.

"And then there are these." He said softly. "Your lips. Pink, plump, so luscious they’re like petals resting on your face. You don’t even realize how much power they hold over a man, do you?"

"W-What do you mean, Mika?" She blinked rapidly, her voice trembling. "What do you mean my lips hold power?"

He leaned closer, still caressing her lips.

"What I’m saying is that when you frown like this, just this..." He used his fingers to tilt her lips downwards into a pout "...is enough to freeze men where they stand. One scowl from you, and entire armies would lose heart."

Then, slowly, he lifted her lips into a smile.

"But when you curl your lips upwards...one smile could stop a thousand men in their tracks. One smile could win kingdoms. That’s how powerful these lips of yours are."

Her whole body shivered, her eyes darting away in disbelief. "You’re exaggerating...too much..."

But Mika wouldn’t let her look away. He tilted her face back toward him, his expression grave.

"Not at all. Haven’t you heard the tales? Kingdoms ruined, wars started, just because of one woman’s beauty? People wonder what kind of woman could cause such ruin...But I don’t wonder. I already know."

"They’re women like you, Yelena. Beauty so devastating it could ruin men’s lives with a single glance."

And then he added, voice low and steady,

"And that’s exactly how I see you...A woman whose beauty could ruin a man’s life with a single glance."

Hearing this, her world seemed to tilt. She had thought she could handle his compliments, that she wanted them, but faced with this, her heart was thundering wildly. She felt dizzy, overwhelmed, as if his words alone could shatter her.

Mika finally let her face go, fingers sliding down from her cheeks with reluctant gentleness, his gaze still fixed on her as if she were the only thing worth seeing in the entire world.

"Now, do you understand now, Yelena? Do you see how I look at you? Or should I go on? Should I tell you what I think of your cheeks, your ears, your hair...even your forehead? I even comments about that on the ready." His smile deepened, faint but mischievous. "I wouldn’t mind at all, if you want me to."

The moment those words left his lips, Yelena panicked. Her hands flew up in protest as she shook her head fiercely, her bra straps trembling against her shoulders.

"No, no, no! Don’t you dare!"

She blurted out, voice high and frantic, as her free hand clutched her chest.

"M-My heart, it’s already racing so much. It feels like it’s going to leap out of me." She patted her chest as if to prove her point, cheeks burning. "So, if you say one more word like that, I swear it’ll explode. And then you’ll just be sitting here with a dead woman in your arms!"

Mika blinked at her dramatics, then coughed lightly into his fist, trying to hide the curve of his lips. "Oh, come on. You’re exaggerating. It can’t be that bad."

But she shook her head again, her hair brushing wildly against her cheeks, her eyes wide with real panic.

"You don’t understand, Mika, you don’t understand at all!" She insisted. "I was only expecting you to say something simple, something like ’your eyes are nice’ or ’your lips are lovely.’ That’s it. I thought that would be enough."

"...But you, you went and turned it into—into poetry!"

Her hands flew to her cheeks, pressing them as if to contain the heat.

"You spoke about my face like...like it was something out of a dream. No one’s ever said things like that to me. And hearing it from you, it went straight through me, like a arrow to the heart."

Her voice softened, trembling, as she continued to admit,

"It caught me off guard, Mika. Completely. And it’s too much. I feel warm all over, I can’t breathe right, my body won’t calm down..."

Mika tilted his head, watching her flustered panic with interest. "I thought you’d appreciate the compliments." He said simply. "I thought if I did it properly, you’d like it more."

"Yes, that’s what I thought too!" Yelena nodded quickly, then groaned, her hands covering her face. "But it seems...it seems to have the opposite effect."

She peeked out from between her fingers, cheeks redder than ever.

"When you say something bad about me, it hurts, yes, but when you compliment me too much, it hurts in a different way. It’s like..."

She searched for the words, then looked back at him helplessly.

"It’s like your words are too lethal for me. Like medicine, some of it is good, but too much, and I’ll overdose and die."

She pointed a trembling finger at him.

"So you have to limit yourself, Mika! You have to. Or else I really won’t know how to handle it."

Her voice was pleading, almost desperate, and yet the flush on her skin betrayed that every single word of his praise had lit something deep inside her.

Then, still flustered, she dropped her hands to her lap, staring at him curiously.

"But...tell me." She asked, her voice wavering as her lips trembled between embarrassment and genuine intrigue. "Where in the world did you even learn to compliment a woman like this?"

Her eyes searched his face, trying to find a crack, some sign he was teasing again.

"Do you talk like this to every girl you meet? Is that why you’re so popular? Because no girl could possibly resist words like those. Especially, not when you look at them with a face like that."

Her breath hitched, as though the thought alone was too much for her. "It’s like...like a short-kill technique. Enough to make their hearts go crazy in an instant..."

Mika chuckled softly, leaning back a little, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"I do compliment girls." He admitted. "And I’ll admit, most of the time it works. The trick is confidence. You can say anything, even the cheesiest line, if you say it with absolute confidence, it’ll always work." He smirked faintly. "And yes, I’ve gotten good at it."

But then his expression shifted, turning more serious as his eyes locked on hers.

"But with you, Yelena...it’s different." His voice dropped, softer but firmer, deciding to give another fatal blow to her heart. "I never say it like this to anyone else. To most girls, I toss out one or two lines and that’s it."

"But for you...your beauty can’t be described in just a word or two. Not even a handful of compliments is enough. If I tried, I’d end up writing an essay about you...And even then, it wouldn’t be enough."

Once again her face that had just calmed down went bright red, her breath catching audibly. She stared at him like he had just committed some unspeakable sin, before finally squealing out.

"Shut up, Mika! Shut up!" Her hands flew forward, pushing at his chest. "Don’t say anything more! You’re too much!"

She covered her face again, groaning.

"I knew it, you really are a playboy. A womanizer through and through! Every word you say is meant to target a women’s sweet spot! So, don’t you dare say another word to me right now, I’ll really explode!"

Mika only laughed, reaching out to gently pull her hands away from her face. "But I’m not lying, Yelena. I’m just saying the truth."

"The truth is too scary!" She shot back instantly, her eyes wild as she trembled in place. "If this is the truth, then I don’t want it!"

"...It’s better if you just lie to me, call me fat, call me chubby, call me a pig, anything but this, because this truth is going to kill me!"

Seeing how cute she looked right now, he smiled faintly, cupping her cheek again, his thumb stroking over the hot skin.

"Actually no...I’ve changed my mind." He said quietly. "Teasing you was fun before, calling you names, watching you get angry. But your flustered face right now...this is even better."

His lips curved, eyes gleaming with sly delight.

"I want to see more of it. I want to see you blush like this every time. So from now on, Yelena, I’m going to keep praising you. I’m going to keep saying everything I see, until you can’t take it anymore."

Her breath caught, her heart slamming against her chest. She shook her head frantically, clutching at his shirt.

"No! Please, Mika, anything but that! I can’t handle it, I really can’t! Call me anything else, an idiot, a hag, a pig, I don’t care, but don’t compliment me like this anymore, please!"

But Mika only pulled her closer, his lips brushing near her ear as he whispered.

"Not a chance. Now that I know your weakness, I’ll never let it go. For the rest of your life, Yelena...I’m going to make you blush so hard that you regret the fact you told me to be honest."

Her whole body shivered, a helpless whimper leaving her throat as she buried her face into his shoulder, clutching him tight.

"No...no, please, Mika...don’t..." She whispered, but her trembling betrayed how much his words were already consuming her.

And Mika, smirking to himself, thought with satisfaction, not only had he uncovered her weakness, he had uncovered her second one too.

And he was going to use this one thoroughly, mercilessly, because her reactions...were far too intoxicating.

And he couldn’t help but think if she was already melting over this, then what exactly was going to happen when he dirtily praises her body next...