361: Do you want me to adopt you?

Do you want me to adopt you?

"Because I don't have a friend that's around my age or younger. Call me big sis!"  0

Dominic gazed at the girl who was smiling at him brightly with complexity. Who would believe that while he was worrying about his safety, this girl was making friends? Also, big sister? She didn't look like a big sister at all. 

"No," Dominic answered monotonously. "I don't want to call you big sister."

"Why?"

"Because you don't look like one."

"I don't?" the girl rubbed her chin, mystified at the boy's answer. "How can that be? There's no way you are older than me."

"..." — that was what he wanted to tell her. There was no way she was older than him!

"Are you not kidnapped?" he asked after a sigh, telling himself there was a more pressing matter at hand right now. "How did you get in here?"

"I went through the door, and I'm playing hide and seek with my dad."

"Hide and seek…" Dominic muttered, undecided whether or not he should believe her. "Where's your dad?"

"Counting."

"Is he one of the abductors?"

The girl blinked. "My dad doesn't hurt children, so I doubt."

A moment of silence dawned on them after her answer. The two children simply gazed at each other. One bore curiosity while the other a slight impatience.

"So, you don't want to be my friend?" asked the girl once again. "Or do you want me to adopt you?"

"It's not that I don't want to…"

"Then let's be friends!" The girl's lips curled up. "Can I take you home?"

"Huh?"

"I have many things in my house! You will not get bored." 

Dominic opened his mouth, but his voice was stuck in his throat. At this point, he didn't know what to tell the girl. She claimed she was simply playing hide and seek with her father and wasn't kidnapped. Yet, if she wasn't, how did she manage to get in here without being noticed?

"Maybe the security is lax," he muttered to himself, setting his eyes on the shut door. "That was probably why uncle was able to get in and this girl too."

"I can hear you." The girl's voice earned his attention. "Do I bore you so much that you'd rather talk to yourself?"

"No?"

"I see." The girl rocked her head before she turned her head back to the door. She simply glanced at it before facing him once again. 

"Shh." She placed a finger in front of her lips, pushing herself up as she walked toward the door. However, instead of leaving, the girl simply stood behind it. 

The young Dominic couldn't help but furrow his brows, seeing that the girl place her finger in front of her lips so he keeps quiet. 

'Why…' his thoughts trailed off as he jolted when the door suddenly flew open. 

"Haist…" the man hissed the second his eyes fell on the boy sitting in the corner. "Here, eat it."

The man strutted to Dominic, making quite some noise with his heavy footsteps. The tray in his hand clanged as he recklessly tossed it on the floor, making the foods in them clutter the tray. 

Dominic gazed at the food the man brought for him before he gazed up. 

"Eat that, alright? If you don't, you'll be in trouble." That man didn't stay long as he immediately walked away, scratching his head irritably.

BAM!

The door shut closed with a bang, revealing the girl standing behind it. Dominic gazed at the sweet girl before his eyes fell on the tray in front of him. It had been hours since these people took Dominic captive. Meaning, he was starting to feel the growls in his stomach. However, seeing the food in front of him, his gut was already clenched. 

This seemed to be worse than a pet's food.

"Oh, dinner!" the girl spoke again, skipping her steps back to him. She squatted down in front of him with the tray between them. "But why does this look like it came straight from the trash, though?"

"They only need to keep me alive."

"Right." She rocked her head. "What are you waiting for? Dig in!"

"Huh?" Dominic frowned. "You said it yourself. It looked like it came straight from the trash. How can I eat it?"

"Because you need to survive." The girl blinked almost innocently, as if the boy's argument didn't make sense to her. "My father used to tell me that he once drank his pee to not die from dehydration. In life, you have to suck things up. As long as you have a full tummy, you'll have a source of energy. Meaning, a higher chance of survival. That's what he said."

Dominic bit his inner bottom lip. He gulped as he glanced at his dinner.

"I don't want to eat it," he sighed. Just thinking about it already made him want to throw up. "I can't."

"What a hopeless friend you are." The girl sighed as well, shaking her head. She shoved her hand inside the pocket of her puffy dress, took out a small bun, and then handed it to him. 

"Here, take it." She shook the bun, watching the boy with huge, thick glasses with one broken lens. When Dominic didn't take the bread immediately, her frown deepened. 

"What? Don't tell me you don't eat bread as well?" 

"No, I mean, thank you." Dominic timidly took the piece of bread from her hand, peeking at her. "How about you?"

"What about me?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Hmm… I ate during the flight." She smiled. "So, eat everything."

Dominic blinked and blinked, studying the girl that was smiling at him brightly. He lowered his head slightly, opening the plastic wrapper. As he did so, he peeked at her once again, only to see her licking her lips while staring at the bun.

'Look at her,' he sighed.

Once it was half opened, he broke it in half and gave the one that still had a wrapper to her. 

"You are drooling," he muttered, shaking the broken bread to her. "Take the other half."

"Are you sure?"

Dominic's stomach grumbled, but he nodded. The girl's smile stretched wider as she happily snatched the bun from him, ripping out the wrapper, and then munching it without a second hesitation. 

'She looked hungry,'he said, taking a small bite of the bread. As he chewed, he couldn't help but glance at the girl. 'She seemed to like the bread so much.'— yet, she was giving it to him. 

'Maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought she was.'

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