"Damn it! Which one was supposed to go under again?"

"This one." He whispered, tapping on your left index finger. Mayanka rested his cheek on the top of your head, warming it up like a fleshy hat.

Mayanka is sitting cross legged, you're sitting in his lap like it's a chair. Surprisingly comfortable despite his body being as hard as concrete. His arms were snaked around your waist, knitting his own practice patch with orange yarn.

You're exhausted and uninterested. For the sake of your husband, you decided to put in an effort to at least seem supportive of his bonding idea. You're glad that he didn't pick up on your bad vibes, he generally seems pleased with your change.

But now, you're just too tired to think.

"Can we continue it tomorrow? It's like... three in the morning. We've been practicing for six hours now." You yawned, leaning deeper into his wide, tight chest.

"Ok." He ruffled your hair with a hand before shoo-ing you off his lap. Mayanka picked up everything and kept it in his night stand's drawer.

You rubbed your eyes and yawned. Finally, sleep—

"I want to talk, you always so busy never listen to me talk." You opened your eyes and saw him pouting.

"But—" you sighed. Guess this is karma for mistreating him.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about...?" You groaned.

"You know, I don't always sleep night time."

"Huh? Why?" Mayanka never had bags under his eyes, he must have had enough sleep everyday.

"Because I sleep in day. So lonely in day, I dream of you with me."

"Oh." You grimaced out of guilt.

"So sad, right? I have more time with wife in dream, not in real life." He snuggled close to you, wrapping the comforter over the both of you.

"Damn, sorry."

"I actually happy when you got fired."

"Laid off."

"Whatever. Fired, Laid off, laid away, laid down, laid out, all same. Now you no excuse, must be with me more." He pecked your cheek.

"What do you do at night?"

"I hug you long time. I don't want to throw away time sleeping where I can hug." He mumbled.

"So... for eight whole hours, you're awake... just so you could cuddle with me?" He nodded wordlessly.

"I like hug. So soft, so warm. Many love." He murmured in your hair, tightening his strong arms around you.

"Hey, how... how do you get these muscles? Do you go to the gym or something?" You poked his extraordinarily firm flesh.

"Yes."

"Oh cool, which gym?"

"House."

"A house gym? So like, an unlicensed one?"

"No OUR house."

You paused for a while.

"I don't get you."

"Then tomorrow I show. We have exercise room."

"We do!?"

"Yah."

"How did I not know about this!?"

"You always in work. You use more time to work than stay at home. You only know kitchen, toilet, work room and sleeping room. Our house more big than you know. So sad, your office like your home. You marry to your work not Mayanka, I sometimes— no, ALL THE TIME jealous." Although he said it all in a playful tone, you knew that he's taking the opportunity to tell you off for neglecting him.

"Damn, didn't realize that."

"Good, now you know. I happy you want to fix." He purred.

"Yeah... sorry about neglecting you so much. You did so much for the relationship, I did the bare minimum. I'm really lucky to have you, Mayanka." You clicked your tongue.

"Ok. I love you." He grinned, pressing numerous kisses all over your face.

"Love you too, Mayanka."

That's what he needed to hear to get a good (morning's?) night's sleep for once.

——

"H-hey!" (Wattpad username) woke you up by nudging your stomach repeatedly.

"Go to Mayanka, I'm goddamn sleeping..." you slurred, shielding yourself from your pug.

"I am here." Your head shot up to see him holding a breakfast tray filled with... quite literally, every breakfast item you can think of.

Waffles, pancakes, toasts, bacon, ham, fragrant rice, banana fritters, prawn fritters, breadfruit, fritters, various pastes, buns, fruits, sausages, eggs cooked in four different ways, 'Bubur Kacang Hijau' (mung bean porridge), Idly, Falafel, Hummus, 'Roti John', lassi, Cardamom Tea...

...And other items that you can't identify. But you knew that it was either belonging to Arabian or Malay cuisine. These alone would probably cost you your entire paycheck for the week, Mayanka wasn't lying when he said that he was making good money off his not-so-small business.

"How did you even get a tray that huge?" You asked.

"I make the tray. Come, eat." He gently set it down on the bed, your legs are tucked under it. Mayanka then set (wattpad username)'s metal food bowl, filled with cooked rice, raw meat, potatoes, chopped up hard boiled eggs, ham and high grade kibble down next to the bed.

Your dog was overjoyed at his own heaping breakfast. Is that how Mayanka feeds him every day? No wonder he's getting so fat, you'll need to talk to him about this later.

"This... this can easily feed a village." You gawk at the sheer amount of food.

"Then you are half village. You MUST finish your part."

"EVERYTHING HERE??" He nodded and began cutting some of the food into bite size pieces for you. Even if it was divided into half, it's still... nauseatingly a LOT of food.

"Oh my god." You counted the plates.

"Why? Don't like my cooking anymore? I do so difficult cook and you don't want to eat?" He frowned.

"No! No, I love your cooking! It keeps me going every day, but I mean... I'm NOT 6'7, I'm only (your height) and I don't work out as often. I really... really don't need all of these foods, especially it's only breakfast now!" He stared at you blankly.

"...My size your size no matter. You, me, still human. Still must eat." He began eating his breakfast. Mayanka started off by drinking his cardamom tea to stimulate his insatiable appetite even further.

"No! I get what you're saying, but I don't need to eat AS MUCH as you do!"

"Your cucur-cucur becoming soft and wet. Faster eat." He completely ignored your statement earlier.

"Mayanka! There are just so many! I can't finish all of these in an hour!"

"It's ok. Use whole day, I also will eat slow." He grinned, this can probably take up to five hours and about three times of reheating.

You wanted to argue again, but it was cut off by your stomach growling.

"See! You hungry already! Faster Eat! Eat! Or your stomach pain!" You sighed in defeat and began to dig in.

No matter what you choose from the tray, it always explodes in your mouth with delicious flavour. Mayanka is, no doubt, a wonderful cook. The only problem is that he does not know how to estimate appropriate meal sizes, leading to an overflow of food and agonizing HOURS of eating—

Wait.

Is he trying to spend more time with you this way? Eating is included in his hobbies and it seems like he's trying to get you involved into all the things he find enjoyable.

You looked over and saw Mayanka occupied by his hummus dipped falafel. There is something different about him... as if he's... beaming, glowing with life. Not looking like a walking, buff zombie anymore.

It's a nice sight. You like seeing him happy.

You slowed your chewing. He noticed it.

"Why? No like?"

"Let's bring this down to the dining table."

"Why? You can lay down and eat, no rush. You no work." He had a confused look on his face.

"That's right. We're gonna be here for a while and so will the rest of the tray. Some are bound to be soggy and cold at one point, why not bring it down where it is near our microwave, air fryer and stove? That way, we can reheat whatever went cold with ease." You reasoned.

Mayanka smiled and started packing things up. You helped him too.

——

Ding!

Mayanka opened the door to the microwave and carefully took out a steaming bowl of reheated soup using a pair of mittens.

"Oh god, there is more...?" You whimpered, patting your bloated stomach. Mayanka's still fit and HUNGRY, as if he didn't eat a high percentage of your mass in food.

"Want to breaktime? Rest five minutes to digest and then eat again." He slurped on the clear soup, directly from the bowl.

"We've been at it for five hours!" He chuckled and shrugged.

"This is giving time to me. You promise you will pay more attention to husband." You rubbed your face and grunted. Luckily you're not doing the dishes, god. You can't even see the table anymore, they're covered with empty and filled plates.

You did not know that he had more prepared downstairs for your very late lunch. It was a grave mistake to continue it in on the dining table.

It's a miracle how you haven't vomit from overeating. It must be his mystery teas, Mayanka would make you drink something from the kettle everytime you told him that you're full.

Now, he's pouring you another cup.

"What... what tea is this!?" You asked, weakly grabbing it from his hands.

"Herb tea. Good for you and very 'health tea'." He blew cold air onto it to cool the liquid down.

"Did you... did you just... say your first English pun?" Mayanka's face heated up in embarrassment as he gave you a bashful smile.

"Wow, that's... ugh..." you silently burped into your hand. "Great. Good job."

"Thank you." He replied quietly.

The next few minutes were spent in silence... not complete silence, it was accompanied with your stomach 'screaming' and Mayanka's soft chewing.

Also (wattpad username) the pug passed out from overeating. Hey! Did Mayanka add more things to his food bowl!?

"Hey uh, Mayanka."

"Hm?" He hummed, wiping his mouth with a napkin. For an extreme glutton, he eats decently most of the time.

But when he's AWFULLY hungry, he eats like a starved beast, shredding everything with his teeth, disregarding the existence of forks, spoons and knives. He would get food splattered almost everywhere and Mayanka would make frightening noises while doing so. Even when something dropped on the ground, he would eat it in a heartbeat.

The only time it got to that point was when he had to fast for a risky, life threatening, invasive surgery. You didn't really know what his medical condition was, you only knew that it had something to do with his heart (or was it brains? Kidney? Lungs? All the organs? You did not pay attention nor remember well because you had to close an account payable that day.) and he fasted for 32 hours.

Fortunately, dinner happened at home. It saved you the embarrassment of having others witness his hunger fueled rampage.

It was a huge cleanup after that. You didn't even bother helping Mayanka with it, you just went straight to bed in your work attire while Mayanka slowly scrubbed the grease off the painted walls... in immense pain from his recent surgery.

"Little wife?" He called again. You snapped out of your thoughts.

"Right, uh. You said you were a chef before this?" Mayanka froze and swallowed his masticated food.

"Yes." He curtly reply before stuffing his face again.

"...so uh. How was it?"

"Ok." Nothing else came out of his mouth after that. Odd, he doesn't seem to want to talk about it.

Maybe this is another test to see if you care enough? You must tread carefully though, there is a possibility that he's trying to hide something for the sake of his or your sanity, once you pushed the wrong buttons, it's going to be *yesterday* all over again.

But what is he trying to hide? Maybe he wasn't a chef but a male stripper instead? You don't mind, work is still work. Though, you can easily visualize him in that field.

"Uhh... you don't... you don't wanna talk about that?"

"No." He replied, avoiding your tired (e/c) eyes.

...It's probably for the best that you drop it.

"Um, ya don't have any friends?" You slapped a hand over your mouth, you didn't intend to make it sound so harsh.

"No." He sighed.

"Sorry, did not mean to come off as an asshole."

"Ok." He seems gloomy now.

Oh! Maybe he was lonely because he doesn't have any friends here! Mayanka originally came from another country that doesn't speak English, you forgot where it was (good grief, you ARE a terrible wife)... of course he would feel lonely here! Aside from that mutual friend who introduced you to him, he probably doesn't interract with anyone because he doesn't go out!

"...do you want friends?" You cautiously asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't like anyone except you." Flattering. But not the answer you're looking for.

"Wanna hang out with my friends?"

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Then you don't pay attention me. Always that 'G' woman. Like you marry to her." He's now frowning. Whoops.

"W-well, she has a boyfriend that you can talk to too!"

"I don't like man."

"Miss G is a woman, you can talk to her!"

"I don't like any woman except you." He sure is loyal.

"U-um, so. Do you have friends back in your... your hometown?" You fidget with your hands.

"No and I feel like you want me have friends so you can go away from me." His quiet voice wavered.

"No! No, Mayanka, that's not what I'm trying to do—"

"Then stop asking. I don't want friends, you are my wife. I only want you, I only need you. Everyone else I don't care not important, you only important, I care. You enough for me. Finished. Don't want to talk anymore." You flinched at the annoyance radiating out of him.

You sealed your lips and drummed your fingers against the table. You have to distract him with conversations or else he's going to make you eat.

"So uh. What are we gonna do next after finishing this?"

"Watch TV. Almost 7 o clock." Right, you woke up around one and ate until six.

"Are there any... subtitles for that? I wanna enjoy it with you." He gave you a sympathetic and appreciative look.

"Sorry, no subtitle for English. I can explain if you want."

You wanted to say 'no thanks' because you're just not into soap operas. Or anything that Mayanka is into.

But seeing him all giddy and in child-like joy...

You swallowed your pride/discomfort and said:

"Sure. Tell me all about it."

——

YOU REGRETTED IT. It was incredibly boring and COMPLICATED.

He talks about how this woman cheats on her CHEATING husband with another woman who cheats on her own CHEATING husband who slept with the first woman's husband..

...that owned a jewelry company. Except that company isn't a legitimate company, it was a mafia business. One of the bosses is the brother of the first woman and the uncle of one of the husbands who also cheats on the other woman's cousin's wife... That cousin's wife is the daughter of a completely unrelated character which opened up another complicated web of connections.

Then the ghost of their grandparents and HIGH SCHOOL JANITORS comes along to haunt them OR facilitate more

cheating...

You can't picture the connection or even COMPREHEND what he just told you. Mayanka even told you that he thought it was screwed up because topics of incest and bestialities would be brought forward. However, there were no rape scenes. But a number of outlandish physical abuse that defy the laws of nature.

They had bad CGI but good acting and camera angles. The actors and actresses seem to have a never ending supply of tears.

You asked him why would he watched this, he replied that he thought it was funny and he can never predict what happens next.

He cannot miss an episode or else he would not understand what is happening in the next. It's outrageously bizarre. You thought it was satire— a parody of another series at first, but turns out it was a real soap opera.

"...ah! That is the woman! The woman with baby five!" He excitedly pointed at the screen showing a crying woman, holding a realistic baby doll.

"You mean she has five kids? Or fifth kid?" Your mind is swamped.

"No, baby with husband number five! Baby five!"

"She has five husbands?"

"Eight, and four fathers." You rubbed your head. What?

Mayanka blabbered on about this mind boggling lore. You zoned out, letting him enjoy himself while you let yourself wander to the thought of getting through one whole month with Mayanka.

You love him dearly, he cooks, he cleans, he gives you sexual and non-sexual pleasure, he's sweet... but it's like a chore to spend time with him. You're just not interested in the things he finds 'cool'.

Then, the ending theme plays. Finally, it's over. Time to go to bed—

"Hey!" Mayanka gently tossed your unfinished, knitted practice patch onto your belly.

"Come, learn craft." He opened his arms wide for you to snuggle into.

You grumbled and did what he expected. Mayanka sighed dreamily and kissed you on the forehead.

You got into position until—

"Hey wait! You told me that you're going to give me a house tour." Mayanka snapped his fingers. Your husband placed the yarn, needle— everything away.

"Yes, ok. Later craft. Now come see rooms."

"Mayanka! I can walk!" You yelped, surprised that he's going to carry you around.

"No." He pecked the side of your neck, Mayanka is holding you like a precious, glass vase. An arm under your rear while the other supporting your back.

"Whoa! Slow down, the rooms aren't goin' anywhere!" You held onto him tightly.

"What? I am slow." He gave you a puzzled look. Yes, he is walking with the speed of a turtle, but because you're so 'high up', it made him seem like he's running,

You did not respond, he took it as a confirmation to move on.

"This is craft room." He pushed the door open with his foot and then flicked the switch on.

"Whoa." It's three times as large as your ex-cubicle. Filled with equipment, scribbled papers on the walls, hanging decors and—

"Hey, is that a wedding dress?" You asked, pointing at the clothes on the mannequin. It looks beautiful and scarily well done, Mayanka could retail this at a price of five grand.

"Yes. I make cheap, now no excuse, must have wedding party." He hissed.

"B-but what about the venue and—"

"Borrow small hall, I no friends. No family. No need big space, you also don't have many friends... only family."

"—the food—"

"I cook."

"T-the... the..." now you're really out of excuses. Mayanka covered everything for you and now you're unemployed. You can't say no to this...

"Wedding. I want wedding. I want everyone know you are my wife and I am your husband." He nuzzled his head against the crook of neck.

"I want wedding picture, big. Put in living room, very pretty." He stared longingly at the wedding dress he sown.