God Complex - Vol. 1

VI. Naivety-Part II.

Jun felt as Somkai led him back out into the somewhat crowded streets of the red light district.

He tried to free his arm out from under his, but he was too strong for Jun. Jun sighed at his own incompetence in strength and decided to allow Somkai to guide him.

As Jun guessed that struggling would just make the situation worse than it is.

While he was guided through the district's street Jun looked around at the various venues that they walked past.

He saw all sorts of entertainers from go-go dancers to more strippers to even prostitutes. Even some of the workers were male.

The entire street felt like something of fiction. From the many tables that drinks could be ordered at on the sides of the street to the venues and entertainment.

After a few minutes of walking down the street the both of them made it to the end of the district. Jun looked up to see the last of the tall, packed buildings end and the start of a canal.

Somkai eventually let go of Jun's arm when they reached the black, iron railing that separated the stone road from the water of the canal. Jun leaned on the railing to take in the beautiful scenery before him.

Houses with barely curved roofs lined both of the roads on each side of the canal. Bright pink and plum colored cherry blossom trees lined the edge of the canal which blew their beautiful petals lazily in the air from the soft breeze. Colorful lanterns were strung across the canal from the roofs of the houses and trees.

Orange lotus-shaped lanterns floated in the canal's waters along with abundant amounts of cherry blossom petals. Sampans could be seen making small lines and gaps in the petal-covered waters as the merchants rowed with their single oars.

Mountains could be seen far off into the distance along with people crowding the streets on either side. Jun saw another bridge which also looked like the bridge he had seen in the forest.

It was arched just like a moon bridge once again. Though it was even bigger and lit up with candles along with it draped with red and orange clothes, compared to the other one.

Jun turned to look at Somkai but he was gone.

All he saw behind him were crowds of people in various formal wears and local clothes jostling throughout the street. He decided to turn back to the canal and lean on the railing once again.

He let out a small sigh as he watched the sampans lazily float across the river while the festival music continued to play in the background. It was oddly peaceful in this town.

Considering it had its own red light district which housed many questionable and definitely not peaceful activities.

Suddenly something was thrusted in front of his face and Jun flinched backwards. Only to bump into something, or rather someone.

Jun looked up to see that it was Somkai.

He didn't know if he should be happy or not about his return as Somkai wore a somewhat neutral expression on his face.

He looked to see what Somkai was holding out in front of him to see what looked like a type of fruit of sorts. It was cut in half with very knobby and jade green skin. Jun hesitantly took the fruit half from his hand and inspected it.

As expected the skin felt knobby and bumpy. But also kind of scaly. The flesh was almost milk white and formed individual segments arranged in a single layer around a conical core.

Jun noticed that a spoon was stuck into the flesh standing upright. He grabbed the spoon and was surprised on how easily he was able to remove it.

The fruit smelled extremely fragrant and sweet which Jun didn't really care for, as he didn't really like sweet sweets. He poked the flesh with his spoon and felt that it was soft, slightly grainy, and slippery.

Jun turned to Somkai who was also holding a half of this strange fruit as well. Jun pointed to the fruit with his spoon.

"What is this?"

"Ni nawa," Chai replied as he scooped one of the segments out of the fruit.

Jun furrowed his brows, pursing his lips as he looked down at the fruit for a moment before looking back up at Chai.

The language barrier hung thick in the air to where Jun thought he might choke on it.

"Does it mean anything?" He continued to inquire.

"'Ni' is fruit. 'Nawa' is any custard dish." Chai took a bite of the fruit from his spoon and savored its flavor. As Jun watched him eat the fruit he decided to try it.

He took the spoon in his hand and scooped out a segment. It wasn't jiggly but it wasn't rock solid either. Jun slowly guided it to his mouth and took a slow bite.

It felt like he bit down on a type of custard that had small grains in it. But once he started to chew it, it was a strange but oddly good flavor.

It reminded him of narin[1] or even the filling in narin bān[2] in the flavor. Though the flavor was more watered down, like a sugar water was added. It wasn't as sweet as it smelled which was a pleasant surprise to Jun. He soon took another bite and this time wasn't as slow.

"Like?" Somkai asked which Jun nodded his head as he ate. Soon Jun felt as he ruffled his hair which caused him to flinch a little.

As Jun took a another spoonful of the ni nawa he looked up at Somkai.

"Are you trying to court me or something?" He asked with a small scoff, half serious half jokingly.

Since fruits are extremely expensive back in Huaza, only the higher class and royalty could afford to casually buy and eat fruits.

So for commoners to give fruits to someone who wasn't family or close friends, especially strangers, was often considered a proposal for wanting a date.

Jun then saw as a small smirk was on Somkai's face.

"Huazan? So rare to find," Chai said in a somewhat playful tone which sent a chill down Jun's spine.

Is he referring to the strict travel laws on Huazan citizens? Jun wondered suspiciously.

Jun felt as Somkmai went to grab his hand but brushed it away.

Though when he did that he noticed how Somkai's expression quickly changed and turned into a glare, he felt like an animal that had gotten cornered.

"I am noble," Somkai said bluntly.

Jun looked him up and down and realized that though he considered his clothes simple, they were different from what the people in the crowd wore.

He swallowed hard as he felt Somkai get closer to him. But before he would let himself get scared he thought about his words.

Maybe I could ask for more money than I usually do...

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1 Narin is a type of egg-based custard in Huazan cuisine that is steamed and is often topped with a caramel or honey-based syrup, honey being the most common.

2 Narin bān is a type of Huazan yeast-leavened filled bun with narin being the filling.