Chapter 391 - Blood on the Floor

Checks was already there in the meeting place an hour earlier. It was not because he was laying ground or setting up traps. He was there because he wanted to be able to take in the area. He had never been here after what happened that unfortunate night.

Checks never had an issue with his own mission decades ago. He went straight to the target, no second thoughts or whatsoever. Finished the job and escaped. When he returned, everyone clapped him on the back and congratulated him.

They all knew that he was going to be the one standing at the top on their graduation.

Graduation had been… there was no other word for it other than sad. He and Christina had made plans before. They would go on a trip on their one week vacation before they would receive their first official assignment as assassins.

They had made intricate plans that would not allow them to go into hotels. They would be on the streets all night, exploring. They would sleep on the trains—to travel in between places—then wake up in a whole new different land.

It was a great plan.

One that Checks had always regretted that he didn't take. How could he go when all trip, he would think about how Christina should've been there with him?

He didn't want to force her into anything. The last time that they had been in this roof together, she made it very clear that she didn't want to be friends anymore. He was too much invested in her own affairs when he shouldn't have been.

She was a mature woman… although she was at the brink of dying even before graduation. He felt responsible for her because they were friends.

But it seemed like all she wanted was to be left alone. So he never tried to talk to her. Whenever they see each other, they pretend that there was nothing but air where the other was standing.

A lot of people asked Checks about what happened between him and Christina. There was some sort of conspiracy behind their severed ties in the office. Some speculated that they had broken up, assuming that they had been in a relationship all this time. Some thought that him and Christina finally slept with each now they were awkward, a theory that never failed to make Checks laugh out loud. Some thought that one confessed and the other rejected.

Only a few got the idea that they separated because they had been meddling with each other's business too much—but the same people who thought of that dismissed because why would friend be mad at each other just because they were looking at for one another?

In the end, a lot of people gave up thinking about it as he and Christina had been tightlipped about the situation. It was kind of a relief that they were still doing something together, even if that meant that they were trying to cover up what really happened to them.

When Checks had gotten back that night that he tried to save his friend from dying, he was sent to Jaws' office.

"I'm not letting her graduate," said Jaws almost as soon as the door was closed.

"What?"

"I'm not letting her finish this year," repeated the boss while writing things down on a piece of paper. "She failed her mission."

"She's alive," Checks protested.

"Yes, with your help she's alive." Jaws pulled something and tossed it to Checks' way. "Stop dripping blood on my floor."

Checks grabbed the towels and clutched them hard. The bleeding on his hand already stopped—mostly. "She would've survived."

"It was not a matter of that, and you know it."

"She's alive, isn't that what matters?"

Jaws shook his head. "It's not something about that, Checks. She didn't use the best way to kill her target. Just be simply choosing the way to kill, she already failed."

"No," Checks said with a hard tone. "You're going to pass her. She had been through a lot. You know she would just repeat the same thing again if you choose to keep her this year."

Jaws sighed. They both knew how hard headed Christina could get. "Then, that should mean that she should not be an assassin. The last trial is the final measure of everything that you have learned in this school. If you fail it, then what was the point of sending you off to the real world?"

Checks slammed both hands on the table. "I'll take responsibility for all her missions from here on forward."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If she fails, you could take it out on me. I would finish whatever she failed to do. Free of charge. I'd even pay for the fares if it would be needed. Not a bad deal?"

Jaws shook his head. "I still could not let her pass. She had to repeat this year."

Checks' hands balled into fists. "No, you cannot do that. Accept my offer."

Jaws clicked on his pen and analyzed him with a look on his face. "Do you love her?"

"She's my friend. Of course. I would die for her."

"But would she do the same?"

"I don't know. I don't really care."

Jaws' eyebrows twitched. "Oh really? You don't care what happens to you as long as she's alright?"

"Yes, that's the point of having friends, isn't it?"

Jaws nodded his head and started writing on his paper again. "Let me tell you something, Checks. There's no such thing as friends in this industry. You are all competitors."

"I don't believe that."

"Well, you're going to in the hard way, when you're the one getting aggravated because of Christina's failures."

Checks nodded hard. Jaws granted his wish. "I promise I would not fail you."

"I better hope you would not, Checks. I would hate to lose you. I'd have to think a clever way to punish you if she fails."

"Make it good, Jaws."