80 Aftermath 1

The young man whose upper body only had an undershirt on it tried hard not to tremble in anger. His face was red though. Initially, it was due to the odd and judging gazes from the driver who kept alternatingly looking at him and Wendy. He didn't know what was going on with the old man's head, but it was definitely nothing decent judging from the undermining look he was giving Chris.

This couldn't be helped because Wendy looked like an abused girlfriend. Chris had to do something about her stained hands and since they didn't have enough time, he could only remove his upper uniform and wrap it on her hands. The bloody smell was still there, but at least, it was no longer much. When people asked, he only said she was injured and they're on their way to the hospital.

It was a lie, of course. The moment they got into the cab, he told the driver to send to them to a hospital but they wouldn't be staying there even for a minute.

The problem should be his current look. He was only guessing but it seemed people were taking him for a rapist or kidnapper as his companion resembled someone who just lost a soul.

Anyway, that was no longer what plagued his mind. His face was also no longer blushing from shame and panic, but total anger.

Did he just hear correctly? That aside from fleeing from the police, there was another host eyeing them? That this host would intercept them soon? And the problematic girl next to him was the goal?

...Why did he feel like it was telling him that his death is also near?

"...Hey."

The feminine voice from his right side woke him up from his stupor. His head automatically turned to her direction. There she was, with her head lowered. The girl still looked like a broken doll. And the voice she used was still shaking, but now calmer and softer than a while ago.

He didn't know why but the famed beauty's unusually fragile appearance made his anger go away... a bit.

When she met his eyes, she was no longer crying. In fact, she had already wiped her tear-stained face, of course, using his polo, and without exposing her hands.

"...Mr. Driver, bring us to Velvet City."

"Velvet City? That's quite far!" exclaimed the amiable old driver. "I thought you need treatment urgently. Your boyfriend asked me to bring you two to the nearest hospital."

'...Who's that boyfriend? This old dude sure knows how to assume things. And I actually plan to tour the whole city around by changing from taxi to train to any public transport.'

He saw Wendy shook her head while looking at him. It seemed the girl finally regained clarity and was once again properly using her brain. Honestly, he quite admired her because he saw how lost she was just now and understood how hard it would be to recover.

"...We have money, don't worry." The girl slowly and softly said before pausing.

Chris almost blurted out that only he has money, but fortunately he managed to force down the words to his throat.

Wendy seemed to be lost in thought as her brows were furrowed. She eyed Chris meaningfully then said using her slightly cracking voice, "Sir, just help us. The truth is, my parents came to us, wanting to part me from my boyfriend. I cried so hard because I can't bear to. I also impulsively punched the wall so my hand is now bleeding."

"My parents didn't care though, and just wanted to separate me from him. Because of this, I became very broken-hearted, and then I just found myself running away with him."

"Of course, he's quite a nice boyfriend so he lent me his clothes to stop my hand from bleeding."

Chris was stumped for words at Wendy's ridiculous and hastily made up story. He was only brought back to reality when he saw her pleading eyes. He didn't know if it was due to her sudden fear of being captured by the police or what, but since he remembered that another host would intercept them in a minute, he gritted his teeth and ride along with her request.

"Drive us to Velvet City," he said before telling the devilish thing.

'...Mask our location so they won't know where we'll be going next. If you do so, I'll be nicer to you and reconsider doing the quest. Don't complain or else....'

The system AI attached to Chris felt helpless toward his threat because it was really afraid that Chris wouldn't be its host. Unlike other immoral AIs, it just had suffered from its previous host's stupidity. Due to the lack of Pleasure Points, it could not bounce to another person, its only choice was to make Chris its hosts. If ain't for this, it would have long abandoned Chris and enticed another desperate or heartbroken individual.

This was good for Chris though. Despite having suffered from heartbreak, he was not so vulnerable to succumb to a questionable being. Also, because he realized its desperation for the past two weeks, he knew it would complain, but it wouldn't refuse.

Hours passed and after braving the heavy traffic, they finally reached Velvet City. The good news was, the other host didn't manage to locate and chase after them.

Chris was glad due to knowing that a host was after them and this unknown host was not good. This was how the system finally received praises from the gloomy bloke.

On the other hand, Sofony was very angry. When her AI told her something shielded Chris' and Wendy's location and that her points were not enough to reveal it, she almost cried for hours. Sofony was thinking that Clarissa was behind this again, hence, she was almost tempted to hypnotize the whole city to make everyone help in the search. Of course, this didn't happen as she was just not yet capable of it.

Sofony tried calling Wendy's phone only to learn that her friend left it inside her bag. Because of this, she could only thicken her face to ask George's team to intensify their search. Then to vent her frustrations, she messed up with the Violent Goddess' gang.

Back to the two who fled to the other city. After being dropped off in front of a random church, the two argued.

"Why did we have to go to another city again? Miss genius?" He frustratedly asked because they simply didn't know where else to go.

"...We can't go home....I-I don't even know whether they'll believe I am me, and about you... I'm sorry." Wendy lowered her head. She lightly shivered, remembering that Chris too couldn't go back since the police would think he was her accomplice.

Chris saw her painfully closing her eyes, the lashes above them trembling. He sighed. For sure, she still couldn't move on from what happened. Maybe he should not be showing his frustrations. Otherwise, this girl would become depressed again.

"I don't want to be rude. I'm just wondering why, and what to do from now on."

"....I asked to be brought to this city because I have a friend here. I met her in a national academic contest. Though we're not living close, since she's very competitive, she kept in touch with me and visited me a few times in the past. I also got invited to her house at least thrice."

"You think that acquaintance of yours will let us pass the night in their house? But even if she does, what's next then?" This time, he made his voice sound gentler, or at least, his tone was not that cold.

Nevertheless, Wendy bit her lips and looked to be on the verge of crying. The guy could only sigh, "Nevermind. I still have some savings and my phone. If it's okay with you, let's just stay in a hotel. Not that I'm being difficult here, but I don't trust your friend will stay calm if she sees your..."

He didn't complete his sentence but Wendy knew he was referring to her bloody hands and clothes. Some clarity flashed on her eyes, realizing that her friend was also very intelligent and would surely suspect why she had so much blood on her when she was not wounded.

"...You're right... Sorry for dragging you into this mess...Sorry for what I said to that driver." She looked away and tightly held on the clothes. "....And thank you."

Wendy said her sorry, but she was more grateful because this guy who seemed to dislike her so much was the only one who reached out to her. At times like this when her brain couldn't think straight due to the ever rewinding bloody scene, a person who could help decide things for her was already akin to an angel - even if his face was stone cold and gloomy like he just came from Antarctica.

Earlier, she wanted to ask why he helped her. After all, it meant receiving every knowing people's scorn. However, she became scared, afraid that he would also realize he was making stupid choices and thus abandon her, or worst, turn her over to the authorities.

How Wendy really disliked being vulnerable! She also hated herself who suddenly became muddle-headed. To think she actually did something like that! Just what the heck got into her? Now, look at what happened to her and to this fool who helped her.

She was feeling guilty, towards Mr. Matthew and Chris. Factored in the fear and the depression. Wendy hated her situation because never in her seventeen years of existence did she ever see her normally strong self ending up like this.

.....

Half an hour later, the two arrived in front of a local hotel. Since Chris was worried that Wendy would suddenly break down, he only booked a single room with two beds. His thoughts were clean. He just considered being ready in case the girl suddenly decided to do something untoward to herself.

However, despite the polite smiles on the receptionist's face, he clearly saw contempt and disgust welling up from her eyes. It was not targeting Wendy, but him. Naturally, this made him frowned, puzzlement crossing his face.

Only after he heard the unbound system's remark that he realized what was going on.

His jaw almost reached the ground, especially when she saw the confused look on the pretty girl's face. Probably it was also her first time in a hotel and was wondering why her companion received a few contemptuous glances.

'...'

'....Damn.'

Could someone tell him when this idiotic devil would disappear from his life?