Everyone — even those watching — knitted their brows. All eyes were on the single man standing behind the group. The man panted, eyes stuck on Lola.
His entire body throbbed, his bones slowly wobbling as exhaustion crept in. His heart rate was racing, his knees jerking involuntarily. Yet, his attention didn’t leave Lola.
Lola continued because so n still kept running, but her head was turned toward the person behind them. She nodded at him, her eyes swirling with promise. The n, on the other hand, just stared at their comrade before another one slowed down until he ca to a full stop.
Just like the man before him, his body was slowly entering what looked like a state of mild shock. Then, another one stopped, followed by another one. Soon, one after another, they slowed down and stopped until the last man.
This ti, Lola slowed down and turned around, facing all of them. All of them were panting, but their solemn eyes remained on her. The latter scanned them quietly, her lips twitching into what resembled a subtle smile before she nodded at them.
*****
anwhile...
As the first man stopped, Atlas arched a brow. Even Allen paused mid-bite, staring at the scene. Slater and the twins blinked innocently. The crowd also froze in place, watching as all the n started stopping in their tracks, one after another.
"She made them stop," Allen blurted out under his breath when he recovered, his attention fixed on all the n staring at Lola. "Or was it the food?"
Everyone wanted to say it was the food, but they all knew those n weren’t that shallow. They might have been tempted, but giving in to temptation wasn’t what they were trained for. They stopped because Lola convinced them to stop.
"They really did it," one of the crowd muttered. "How did she convince them?"
"They’re dead, right? Like, dead-dead?"
"I don’t know. I bet that they wouldn’t stop—damn, my money."
"No way... they believed her just like that."
One after another, the crowd expressed their thoughts — all a mix of disbelief, amusent, and confusion. A huge part of them had believed Lola was wasting her ti. Even if she ran more laps with them, it wouldn’t be enough to convince anyone.
However, the n who had been running with her might argue otherwise. Lola didn’t convince them with words. If anything, she was silent and barely spoke a few sentences. She probably didn’t even say more than fifty words throughout the entire day.
It was her resilience, her spirit, and the determination and sincerity in her eyes that swayed them.
For the next minute, thick silence hung in the air until everyone slowly turned their eyes toward Atlas. So gulped, watching him chew his food casually before taking his ti sipping from his glass of water.
"What’s he going to say? He’s going to get angry, isn’t he?" soone whispered.
Dread crept into everyone’s chests as they held their breath. Lola wasn’t excluded from that. She gulped and slowly moved her attention to Atlas, who was now wiping his mouth with a napkin.
When Atlas finally put down the cloth, he slowly lifted his eyes to Allen.
"Allen."
"Yes, sir?"
"What were the conditions I told them?"
Allen cleared his throat. "You said they would run, and the mont they stop, they’d have to kill themselves. If they could run for a full month with barely four hours of sleep and minimum food intake, then they might earn a chance."
Atlas’s gaze swept across the track. His expression was still plain, giving no clue what he was thinking. And yet, the air around him dropped significantly, growing heavier by the second.
When his eyes landed on the n, his voice ca out calm but sharp. "Then why did they stop?"
Allen’s breath hitched, eyes widening at his boss. "Huh?"
The twins frowned, and even Slater gave him a dissatisfied look. But with Atlas’s current tone, none of them dared to speak. Still, everyone wondered what he was up to. Weren’t they here to cheer for Lola?
Atlas pushed himself up and walked toward the track. He stopped just before stepping onto it, his eyes fixed on his n.
"I take this as another act of disobedience to the highest authority of this Order," he said coldly. "I gave you an order, and yet you showed that another person’s words carry more authority and importance than mine. Even now, you are doing it."
His words made the n’s hearts sink. They were still catching their breath, but now their eyes widened in dread.
This was not good.
Everyone winced as the night breeze blew, yet it didn’t ease the heavy silence that settled over the area. If anything, it only made it thicker.
"What a sha," he murmured quietly. "Allen, I do not want to see them tonight—"
The rest of his words halted when a figure suddenly jumped to his side.
Despite having run for an entire day, Lola’s energy spiked. She hugged his arm, fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly, and showed her most dazzling smile.
"I’ll take them," she said with a grin. "If you don’t want them, then I’ll take them... okay?"
"..." Atlas stared at her, his stoic expression unshaken.
Seeing that he wasn’t softening, she clenched her teeth ntally. How dare he continue this judgnt day after I ran the whole day just to convince them to stop?! She inhaled deeply, trying to stay composed, and continued with her plan.
Lola leaned closer, her chest pressing against his shoulder. "They made a mistake once, and they learned their lesson. You’re punishing them because of , so why not just let punish them instead?" She fluttered her lashes again, her voice soft and sweet.
But alas, he wasn’t budging. So, Lola huffed faintly and decided to follow the advice she had received not long ago.
"Just let them off this once, okay?" She tilted her head, still acting cute. When he didn’t budge, she stood on her toes, placed a soft peck on his cheek, then drew back with a little pout. "Please... baby?"
Slater gasped and covered his mouth in disbelief while the twins frowned deeply. As for everyone else, they nearly choked at the endearnt she used.
There was no way he would fold just because of that. While those who had entrusted Lola with their lives couldn’t help but think,
This was her grand plan?
"..." Baby slowly pointed at himself, only for the man beside him to grab his finger and push it down.
"She didn’t an you."
Atlas slowly turned to Lola, who was still smiling and fluttering her eyelashes like a cat begging for rcy.
"Please, baby?" Lola leaned even closer, still hugging his arm tightly. "For , please?"
He blinked, a faint glimr of amusent in his eyes at how far she would go.
"Punish them accordingly," he said flatly as his hand crawled around her waist. "Do not disappoint ."
He folded.
Everyone: "!!!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)