Actually, there was no need to ask. It was easy to tell just by looking at the items that had spilled from the man's bag when he tried to run away earlier. There were suspicious items such as a rope, vials, syringes, scraps of cloth, mask, etc.
—Tsk, there's trash like this everywhere. Lakis, should we toss him in the river?
The voice in his head also seemed quite annoyed with this situation.
Snap!
"Argh…!"
This time Lakis broke all of the man's fingers. He couldn't stand the screaming that followed so he smashed the man's mouth into the wall again.
They were currently at the back of the building, where nobody passed through. At best, there was a narrow pathway which could fit the tiny steps of an adult male and other than that, was a steep cliff with a large river flowing below. So far, the small noises from Lakis and the man had been buried by the shallow noise of the flowing river.
Lakis clicked his tongue under his breath.
Now that he thought about it, this was the perfect environment for crime to occur. And that's why rats like this one came crawling fearlessly.
Lakis turned a cold gaze to the man he'd shoved to the floor. It was almost time to Yuri to come back. And before she did, he had to quickly tidy everything up and get inside.
* * *
As soon as Yuri came back, Lakis welcomed her, no different from usual. He was lying on the sofa, looking natural and virtuous as if he had never gone out.
[Welcome back.]
"Yes, I'm back."
[You're late today.]
"Something suddenly came up."
With the condition of his throat gradually improving, Lakis was capable of having such conversation with his voice for a while now. But maybe because he used his vocal cords a lot while dealing with that scum earlier, his throat was hurting again.
So he picked up the paper he used to use often and wrote down what he wanted to say in advance.
Right then, a grumpy voice rang out in Lakis' head.
—Ugh. It's that beast smell again. It's especially worse today.
Suddenly, the dirt on Yuri's clothes was reflected in Lakis' eyes.
Yuri followed his gaze, lowering her eyes to her dress then she also noticed that her clothes were dirty and frowned. It was thanks to Leo pushing her to the floor earlier.
"I fell on the way back, I guess it got dirty then."
Lakis' gaze stayed on Yuri's face for a moment. He remembered the rat he just took care of and unknowingly frowned.
'This house is less secure than I thought.'
Actually, he didn't need to care this much about it but after what happened a little while ago, he strangely kept noticing the locks on the windows and doors.
Of course, nothing dangerous would happen while he was here but there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen again. But for now, it seemed nothing happened to her outside like she said.
Lakis wrote something on the paper and showed it to Yuri.
[Don't stay out too late, it's not safe.]
When she saw that, Yuri blinked a few times. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 8pm.
"Yea…sure. I'll do that."
Yuri replied in a slightly vague manner.
Lakis seemed satisfied with that for now and turned his attention somewhere else. In the line of his gaze, was a small bouquet in Yuri's hand. Honestly, from the moment Yuri entered the house, the flowers subtly bothered him, and his brows were raised in a line.
'…Did she get it from someone else, like at the festival?'
At the thought, his mood fell slightly even though he didn't know why.
—Hey, cut the jealousy.
'What?'
The bug was eventually unable to stand it and spoke. Then like he was hearing something completely ridiculous, Lakis retorted.
'Jealousy? Why the f*ck would I do something only losers in life or nobodies do? Something as pathetic as jealousy? Seriously, I'm hearing all sort of nonsense.'
Lakis seemed to really believe what he was saying.
—Oh, for crying out loud. I'm going to die from frustration. Ugh!
The bug made sounds of agony in his head. Lakis frowned slightly, wondering what this bullshit was now.
Meanwhile, Yuri noticed Lakis' eyes were fixed somewhere and looked down. The golden-yellow flowers she brought home reminded her of Lakis' blonde hair.
Yuri's gaze alternated between the flowers and Lakis' hair. Now that she thought about it, weren't flowers the most common gift to people that were sick?
Of course, Lakis seemed healthy enough to wander outside the house but he was still a patient for now. And somehow, she felt like if Lakis held these flowers, it would paint quite the picture.
"Mr. Lakis, take this."
Yuri walked up to Lakis and held out the flowers to him. In a momentary daze, Lakis accepted them. His eyes were slightly wide as he looked at Yuri with the flowers in his hand. As expected, his appearance matched Yuri's aesthetics.
"The flowers suit you well, Mr. Lakis."
Hearing this kind of compliment for the first time, Lakis' expression turned odd for a moment. His gaze fell to the flowers Yuri gave him.
'…Did she get them for me?'
The flowers he wanted to crush moments ago suddenly looked a little better. He brought it to his nose and noted that it also smelt nice. The parasite who was watching all this was dumbfounded and yelled:
—Oh my god! Are you really the Lakis I know? Look at you, your jaw is dropping because you got a stupid flower!
'What, a stupid flower?'
Instantly, Lakis' docile expression hardened again. A chilling aura began to rush out of him.
'Hey, who do think you are to belittle my gift as you like? Take it back right now.'
—Is that important right now?
While Lakis and the bug were arguing with each other, Yuri spoke.
"I'll go freshen up then."
Lakis hurriedly straightened his expression and nodded.
When Yuri re-emerged from the bathroom, Lakis was still holding the flower she gave him. Seeing that he seemed to like the flower more than she expected, Yuri didn't mind it.
"Mr. Lakis."
Yuri had resolved herself to do something in the bathroom, so she approached Lakis without completely drying her hair. And seeing her like that, Lakis abruptly moved his hand.
Eventually, after walking up to Lakis, Lakis' hand reached Yuri faster than she could speak.
Long, pretty fingers touched her damp hair. The water droplets at the end of her hair moved towards those fingers. Then Lakis' hand moved to take the towel thrown loosely around Yuri's neck. Following a slow touch, the faint moisture on her hair was wiped with a towel.
Then their eyes met.
It seemed like he was trying to convey that he would dry her hair well. Seeing Lakis like this unexpectedly made Yuri remember her previous life.
Her mom would also frequently nag her to dry her hair before sleeping. For a moment, Yuri's lips curled very faintly like she was smiling. But as it was a very small change, Lakis and even Yuri herself did not notice.
"With this much, it should dry fast even if you just leave it."
Yuri said, telling him it was okay but Lakis still looked unsatisfied.
"Besides that, Mr. Lakis."
Yuri called his name again. And she said what had been on her mind since she was in the bathroom.
"Your hand, can you lend it to me again?"
Her voice was calm and serene as she spoke. Her face which was looking at Lakis was also the same. This time, Lakis stared quietly at her for a while. Then he soon wrote down his response on the paper.
Seeing the answer he showed her, Yuri's brows furrowed slightly.
[I'd rather not.]
"I'll only be a minute."
[I'd rather not], Lakis once again showed the paper with the statement.
Yuri was about to reflexively ask why then she stopped. Because the reason was too obvious. Honestly, it was already strange to ask him to hold his hand out of the blue and every time it happened, she was mesmerized and clung to him. If she was Lakis, she would probably reject herself too.
On top of that, last time she behaved shamefully. It was probably better for her to get drunk and make a fuss instead. At least if she was drunk, she wasn't completely in her right mind.
"Yes, I understand. Of course you don't want to, I'm sorry to ask you for something so strange."
Yuri cleanly took a step back. But of course, she wasn't just giving up like this. There would definitely be an opportunity to approach Lakis, whether by mistake or coincidence since they were staying in the same house.
But when Lakis heard what Yuri said, he paused. He knit his brows and reflexively opened his mouth.
"It's not that I don't want to."
Upon hearing that, Yuri was surprised. She didn't consider that he might say empty words or lie about this. Because someone in his position didn't need to.
This sub-villain seemed to be a more generous person that she thought.