Hearing the footsteps, Averie opened the door.
"Welco back." He smiled at the two ladies, who looked completely exhausted. "How was your night?"
They got in.
"Exhausting," Min-Ha replied.
Hyerin didn’t even care to open her mouth. She jumped on the bed and closed her eyes. All she wanted was so sleep.
It was six in the morning, and the Sun was already out.
Averie prepared two glasses of lemonade and handed one to Min-Ha, who wore an expression of utter disgust.
"After that interview, you really thought lemonade would be the best drink for ?"
"Those are so harsh words." Averie stirred his glass as if it were wine. "Peter’s grandmother must be feeling insulted wherever she is."
"She was insulted when you insinuated sothing disgusting."
Enjoying the girl’s remarks, Averie prepared a cup of coffee for her instead.
She told him about their night out.
"She got so drunk she started bragging to random people about her ’friend who is a big star.’"
Averie was feeling secondhand embarrassnt just listening to the story.
’Never thought I would feel shy.’
"We brought you this from a high-class Chinese restaurant." She handed him a plastic bag with Chinese letters written on them. "It’s a costly dish. I don’t rember what it’s called. It’s so bird or the other."
Averie whistled.
"I was feeling hungry."
"There’s tea in it too. Heat everything before you eat it."
Averie covered Hyerin, who was snoring without a care in the world, in sheets. While heating his food, he entertained Min-Ha.
"So, how was your night?"
"Fantastic." Averie smiled cryptically. "I had lots and lots of fun."
"Really? That’s good."
"What movies did you watch?"
"Gory action films."
"I can never stomach those. How do you do it?"
"You get numb to it."
"That doesn’t sound appealing. What was the na of the movie?"
"It’s an obscure Chinese film called Mr. Consequences is a little bitch."
Averie was shaking while holding back his laughter. It was so funny that he did not mind blowing up his secret over it.
"Should I watch it? What’s the plot?"
"A cool, handso man beats an ugly old villain half to death. It’s a cult classic. Did I say the main actor is really cool? He is like super cool. He delivered one cold line after another. My favorite scene is when he breaks the old villain’s nose and says, ’Don’t be a little bitch.’"
’Hold the laughter in. Don’t laugh. It’s a curse to be so funny.’
Min-Ha looked unimpressed.
"Doesn’t sound like my cup of tea."
’No shit!’
Averie tried to control his breathing.
"That’s sad to hear."
"At least you enjoyed it..." Min-Ha found the remote and turned on the TV. "Did anything concerning happen?"
"Nope." He gave a chef’s kiss. "Everything was just perfect."
"Good, good. We tried to call you at 3:30 or sothing, but you wouldn’t pick up. Hyerin got worried. I barely held her from rushing back."
"She worries too much. I was tired. I must have fallen asleep."
"With those dark circles, I would have assud you didn’t get a wink of sleep."
"Half an hour of sleep is pretty much no sleep."
"Uh-huh. Nothing good is ever on this early in the morning." She changed the channels. "I don’t want to sleep right now."
She switched to a news channel.
Averie slled the ward dish.
"It’s a duck, not a chicken."
Averie offered her so, but Min-Ha refused.
"We had too much to eat and too little to drink." She looked upset. "Hyerin kept insisting on not drinking too much. She did not want to be a bother to you—sothing about being sober."
Averie would not have guessed that. From the way the two were behaving, they seed plenty drunk.
’They definitely had enough.’
One had fallen asleep within seconds, and the other was speaking with slurs and stutters.
’If this is what they consider holding back, how much would they have drank if I weren’t sober?’
Averie began tearing into his duck.
"You’ll choke. Slow down," Min-Ha whispered. "How do you get so hungry just resting at ho?"
She sipped her coffee as the news reported on the latest and the breaking.
"...and so, the man was arrested with his genitalia hanging from his zippers," the anchor reported. "The police chief said: ’We were planning to tuck it in, but it looked wet, and none of our boys wanted to be called gay. So, we let it hang.’ He went on to comnt that the dia should feel ashad for filming a ’pathetic criminal’s pathetic peepee.’"
"Interesting." Averie nodded. "How insightful."
"In other news, a 52-year-old man was beaten ruthlessly and abandoned in front of St. Maria Hospital. The victim is Walter Dean, Head of Managent Team 1 at Loret Entertainnt."
Min-Ha’s brows furrowed. She raised the volu and sat up straight.
"Just like any other day, Mr. Dean was working late at the Loret Entertainnt main building yesterday night. Soti after 2 PM, he left his office on the seventh floor and took the elevator down to the underground parking lot. Waiting for him was a masked man hiding in the shadows. Mr. Dean was ambushed after he exited his vehicle to investigate a popping sound."
Suspecting one of Averie’s fans to be behind it, Min-Ha tried to wake up Hyerin but stopped. It was interesting but not a big deal yet.
"The attacker used a lug wrench—taken from Mr. Dean’s car—to inflict severe pain on the victim. The police reports say the victim’s fingers, cheekbone, jaw, kneecaps, and a rib was fractured. After causing such damage, it was the culprit who abducted and left the victim in front of the hospital, where he is currently being treated. His condition appears to be stable, but he hasn’t gained consciousness yet."
"What’s going on?" Min-Ha mumbled. "Who would do this to a Loret higher up?"
"Must be a brave soul."
"While addressing the dia this morning, the police chief stated that ’the motive and the identity of the attacker remain unknown,’ but that they are ’investigating with plenty of leads to chase.’ He also added that the culprit’s behavior was ’both organized and baffling.’ The police believe it was a planned attack by soone with a connection to Mr. Dean. The assault—from beginning to end—was captured by the surveillance caras."
They played a short clip of the footage, which showed the masked man entering the parking lot and brazenly looking at the cara.
He even threw a gang sign followed by a peace sign just to be sarcastic.
Parts of the video were blurred, which Averie did not like.
’Are they afraid to show violence now? Tomorrow, they’ll say intercourse is illegal.’
Still, Averie liked the angle. It clearly showed his bright amber eyes.
’Recognize , please.’
But soone already had.
"Is... Is that you—you?" Min-Ha stuttered, her voice full of emotion.
There was shock and uncertainty etched on her face. There was no sign of previous weariness left.
Averie smiled. "What are you talking about?"
"Where are your earrings?" she asked.
Averie touched his ears. They were naked. He had forgotten about that.
"Be truthful. Don’t lie." Her brows were furrowed. "Did you do it?"
"If I did, would I confess to a cri?"
"Did you do it?" she repeated.
"What if I did?" His smile was nowhere to be seen. "What then, dear?"
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