Chapter 389.

Chapter 389.

Chapter 389. My First Day Back at Work. (3/3)

“Well, I heard from Yuna that she was about to be assaulted by someone at her apartment one day after work. She was saved by a passerby though. That passerby explained that the people who tried to assault her were dangerous and she shouldn’t go to work for some time until it was safe if they knew where she worked. Yuna informed me that they might also go after me, so I took her advice and called out sick for some time. We didn’t know it was Swastika though.”

“I see... but if something like that happened, why didn’t you report it to the police?”

“We thought getting the police involved would just make whoever targeted her more aggressive. It’s not like the police can be constantly keeping an eye on her at all times either. The situation would get messy and we didn’t want that. So rather than escalate things by getting the police involved, we figured we could just stay away from work until they forgot about us.”

“You should report these things to the police. When did this happen exactly?”

“Over a month ago.”

“The specific date?”

“I don’t remember. I haven’t been keeping track or anything.”

“That passerby you mentioned, do you or that girl know who it was?”

“No, we don’t.”

“They didn’t say anything?”

“No. Is that even important though?”

“Maybe... maybe not. It’s just... I wonder if they were... no, it couldn’t be.” Officer Johnson shook his head.

“Do you have an idea of who it might be?”

“Did you get a description of the person?”

“All I heard was that they had a motorcycle helmet on. It had a dark tint to it and you couldn’t see the person’s face.”

“Were they a man or a woman?”

“They were dressed like a man, but apparently they sounded a bit feminine.”

“Could it be...” Officer Johnson touched his chin as he fell into deep thought.

“Did someone come to mind?”

“Possibly.”

“Who is it? I’d really like to thank them.”

“I can’t say. But the day this Yuna girl was assaulted, while you were at work that day, did either of you encounter a girl with maroon hair, wearing a black face mask, driving a motorcycle?”

“There might have been someone matching that description that day, I don’t really remember too well though. We get a lot of customers, remembering each one that comes in every single day is impossible. Plus this was over a month ago.”

“I’d think a girl like that would be pretty easy to remember. Has a girl matching that description ever come to the store before?”

“Well, yeah. I just don’t remember whether she was here that day.”

“But it’s possible that she was here on that day though, right?”

“I guess so. But are you suggesting the passerby that day was that girl?”

“Possibly.”

I had no way to confirm that now that he was gone though. Even if I could, why would I? It was none of my business.

“That was quite the exit, wasn’t it?” Alicia broke the silence.

“Yeah, it was.”

“Was that the girl he was talking about?”

“Yes.”

“And you know her?”

“Yeah, she cooperated with us. She played a pretty big role in everything, don’t go spreading that around though.”

“She did? Why’d she show up here today?”

“No idea. Her showing up just now was just some awful timing on her part. We didn’t plan to meet today or anything.”

“I see. Is she pretty?”

“Huh? Why are you asking that out of nowhere?”

“Uh... why? I’m... not too sure... actually. No reason... I guess.”

“Are you feeling insecure?”

“Insecure? About... what?” Alicia's voice was filled with uncertainty.

“She’s not ugly, she’s definitely pretty.”

“Wha-”

“But you don’t lose to her in any way.”

“Shouldn’t it be... prettier?” She furtively peeked at me from the corner of her eye.

“I invoke my right to remain silent.” I raised my hands up helplessly to my sides and shrugged.

“I find the defendant guilty as charged. You’re sentenced to life by my side.” Without even thinking about it she gave a playful response. She’d gotten pretty into cop movies and dramas ever since she set her sights on criminal law and criminology.

“Oh no, what am I supposed to do? Can I appeal this unjust ruling?”

“No. There was no error in law here.”

“There must be something I can do to overturn this.”

“Are you... that against being by my side for the rest of your life?”

“Not at all. I’m just concerned you’d be the one to regret cuffing yourself to me for the rest of your life so early on when you’re still so young. You might change your mind in the future, you know. What will you do then?”

“I won’t change my mind. My mind is made up.”

“Then don’t come crying to me when I intentionally say a random girl you don’t know is prettier than you to make you dislike me then.”

She lightly hit my shoulder right as the front door to the store opened up and a customer entered. After that, things picked up in the store and we didn’t have any time to converse as we had up until now.

My first day back at work ended up being a return to normalcy after those five agonizing weeks spent in hell.