"Hey, Exusiai—can you scoot over a little?"
"Hehe… huh? Oh! Sure, sure."
As Exusiai stood up and plopped down on the other end of the sofa, Croissant—midway through cleaning—and Texas exchanged a look and sighed in unison.
"Has she been like this the whole time, Texas?" Croissant asked.
"Yeah. Ever since that day she managed to get a date with that guy, she's been in this exact state."
Texas lay sprawled on the sofa with a pokey between her lips. Her expression didn't change as she lifted her smooth, pale right foot and gently pushed Exusiai at the waist.
Exusiai didn't even react—like she was possessed. She just kept grinning at her phone, letting Texas lazily shove her over until she rolled onto the cushions.
"If she has even a second of free time, she just stares at her phone and giggles like an idiot," Texas said. "Honestly, at first I thought someone drugged her."
Exusiai remained collapsed on the sofa, staring at the screen as if the world didn't exist. Texas gave up, swung both legs onto the spot Exusiai had been sitting in, and turned her attention back to the TV.
"Let her be dumb for a while. She'll probably go back to normal eventually."
"Hey—no, no, don't give up on her that fast," Croissant protested.
At this point, with Exusiai acting like that, what was Croissant even supposed to clean?
She crept closer and craned her neck to peek at Exusiai's phone.
A chat log—specifically, last night's chat log.
Exusiai had sent a huge wall of messages. The other side had replied with nothing but perfunctory throwaways like "Mm" and "Okay."
Even Croissant couldn't bear to look.
So pathetic that for a moment she didn't even want to interrupt Exusiai's… self-indulgent daydream.
But after hesitating, the kindhearted "croissant" finally reached out and shook Exusiai gently.
"Um… Exusiai, have you thought about asking him out again today?"
Because if Exusiai kept sitting there grinning at her phone like this, Croissant was getting genuinely scared.
It was like a keyword had been triggered. Exusiai snapped out of her trance immediately, then answered with a downcast look.
"I want to, but the internet says if you cling to a guy all the time, it'll just annoy him. I don't want Chen Mo to think I'm some woman who doesn't know boundaries."
"And Chen Mo's on duty today. He doesn't have time to come out on a date with me."
Croissant's eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
So because Chen Mo can't make it, you're just going to sit here re-reading the chat history and spacing out all day?
She didn't want to be too rude, but someone really needed to replace Exusiai's wings with a Perro's wagging dog tail.
"Then you're not going out today?" Croissant asked. "Normally when you're bored, you're always out looking for fun, aren't you?"
Exusiai sat up straight. She brushed a pair of pale, delicate feet off the floor—feet that had been in her way—then thought seriously for a moment.
"Going out alone sounds kind of boring."
Hopeless.
Watching Exusiai drift right back into staring blankly at Chen Mo's avatar—his dragon tail icon—Croissant instantly lost patience, grabbed her broom, and went back to cleaning.
"Then go stay in your room. Don't get in my way."
"Hehe, don't worry, don't worry. I was just spacing out a little. I won't bother you again."
Exusiai kicked off her slippers and squatted on the sofa, then lifted her phone like she was showing off—tapping Chen Mo's profile and flashing the chat log at Croissant and Texas.
"Look! I feel like I'm so close to locking Chen Mo down!"
Ding—
The special notification tone Exusiai had set rang out. That meant Chen Mo had just sent her a message.
Croissant scratched her cheek as she stared at the screen—at the sudden flood of new text—and blurted out:
"Seduction? Slums?"
Texas, still sprawled on the sofa, sprayed her pokey halfway across the room. For a split second, even her calm mask cracked.
Croissant, somehow, had a gift for getting Exusiai's attention.
Exusiai's whole body jolted. She whipped the phone around and pressed her face close to the screen.
"…I've got something to handle. Don't wait for me for dinner tonight."
Bang—
Exusiai burst out the door—barely even dressed properly—grabbed her gun, and vanished from sight.
Croissant sat down in the spot Exusiai had just been squatting and asked, baffled, "Doesn't Exusiai know what Chen Mo's capable of? Why's she in such a rush?"
"…She probably just doesn't want anyone else setting their sights on what she thinks is hers," Texas said after thinking it over. Her fluffy wolf tail flicked once as she settled on that explanation—about as much as a lifelong single woman could manage.
…
4:54 p.m.
Deep inside the Lungmen slums
"We're here. In a minute, watch yourself—be good and make sure you serve our boss properly."
Before Chen Mo—who was still carefully taking in the surroundings—could reply, the underling spoke up with a dissatisfied pout.
"Boss, why are we giving this guy to her? Can't we have some fun first?"
Thud!
The leader slammed a fist into the underling's head, face twisted with anger, and pointed at Chen Mo as she yelled.
"Idiot! A prize like this goes to the boss first. After she's done, we play—what's the difference?"
"And maybe the boss will see how loyal we are and decide to promote us. Don't you understand something that simple?"
"…O-Okay… Boss, you're smart."
So the two punks even had ambition.
Chen Mo finished scanning the nearby buildings and didn't bother responding. He walked straight into a dim stairwell and headed up at an unhurried pace toward the only floor with light.
The two women didn't think much of it—assuming the guy was scared stiff and couldn't even speak. They hurried after him, chattering and boasting nonstop.
"You hit the jackpot, man. Our Black Hand Gang is one of the top gangs in this part of the slums. If you get the boss interested in you, you'll never worry about food or clothes again."
"And don't even think about running. Our people are everywhere around here. Even if you somehow get out, you'll just run into refugees who came to Lungmen to escape trouble. You know what happens then."
Seeing Chen Mo stay silent—as if he'd accepted it—the leader took out a key and unlocked the door in front of him. Light spilled into the pitch-black corridor.
"Remember—talk less, look less. If they ask you something, you answer. That's it."
She led Chen Mo and her underling into the room. Inside, several high-ranking Black Hand members were gathered around, clearly discussing something. The leader rubbed her hands together and grinned ingratiatingly.
"Boss, I brought you some premium goods. Take a look."
What she got in return was dead silence.
In the smoke-hazed, lavishly decorated reception room, the tall woman at the head seat remained quiet for a long moment before frowning and speaking in a heavy tone.
"A man? You bring him in now—can't you see we're discussing serious business?"
The moment she spoke, the gang's higher-ups lining both sides turned cold eyes on the leader, who began sweating profusely. Panicking, she shoved Chen Mo—who was still openly studying everyone in the room—out into the center.
"I didn't mean to, Boss! But this guy is really top-tier. Just look—look first, then decide!"
Chen Mo nodded in agreement, completely sincere.
"Right. If I actually did this for a living, I'd definitely be among the best."
…He really was good-looking. And he had nerve—talking himself up right in front of her.
But something was off. No ordinary male escort would have this kind of composure.
The boss narrowed her eyes and studied Chen Mo from head to toe. Then her gaze caught the badge on his clothing—
Her cup flipped over as she shot to her feet.
Crash—
Tea splashed across the table. The higher-ups finally noticed what he was wearing too; they drew weapons and aimed them at the silver-haired man, who was still calmly surveying the room.
"A cop dares come here and act tough?"
"Damn it—are you two [Lungmen profanity] out of your minds, dragging someone into our base?!"
"Grab that cop!"
The atmosphere, which moments ago had been vaguely suggestive, turned instantly murderous.
The sudden escalation nearly made the leader piss herself. Trembling, she pointed shakily at Chen Mo's outfit.
"B-Boss… sisters… it's just a… a fetish costume…"
"Costume my ass!" the boss roared. "That badge—I'll never forget it as long as I live. That's the Special Ops badge!"
Furious, she smashed her fist into the table, startling both the leader and the underling so badly they collapsed to the floor. Only then did she force herself to truly reassess Chen Mo—who looked entirely relaxed.
But the closer she looked, the tighter her chest became. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
"…So it's true you joined the Lungmen Guard Department."
"Fire Drake of District Nineteen—what exactly are you doing here today?"
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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