Lorn appeared in front of 'Velvet's' and lightly knocked on the door. A fat bouncer opened the door and, seeing Lorn's face, gestured him in with a smirk. Lorn didn't know his name, but knew he went by Heavy.
"Irene and I's going out for the day."
Heavy nodded and shouted. "RAY! Job's calling!"
"Okay!" a cheerful voice sounded from inside the brothel.
"You know she's waiting for you, yeah?" Heavy whispered.
Lorn knew what Heavy meant by 'waiting for him'.
"You know I'm homeless, right?"
"Then find a fuckin' home. You can't measure up to me, but you're smart enough. You'll find a way."
"Someday."
"Hurry, or I'll fuckin' ban you from the brothel, yeah?" Heavy grunted.
Lorn nodded, as the sense of responsibility soured his mood.
"Hey, Lorn!" Irene came through the door and hugged him.
A faintly sweet smell entered his nose and Irene's warmth melted his worries away. He looked at the innocent expression on her beautiful face, and some form of protective instinct flared up inside him. If he made it big in the One World, he would definitely buy Irene's contract. As for what happened afterwards, only god would know.
'Let's not think about difficult things today. I'll just enjoy my day with Irene. It's been so long, after all.'
"Sorry for taking so long." Lorn kissed her on the forehead.
"It's okay," Irene beamed.
"To make up for it, I'll show you a surprise later today," he smiled back. "For now, let's go eat?"
The two went to a nearby restaurant, ordered some fried chicken and caught up on the latest. Lorn mentioned about him working for the One Country, leaving out most of the details by citing the non-disclosure agreement.
Irene spoke about how she was scolded by her manager. Apparently, her customers were complaining about her 'not being in it' too much. Well, she was a call girl, so she was expected to look like she was enjoying the process.
Which was why her regulars were dropping. The only ones who hired her were new customers, or the sadistic ones who did not want their girls to show pleasure. But those types were rare, so she wasn't making as much money as before.
Lorn felt slightly guilty for it all. He was the main reason Irene was acting like this, after all. Each time he hired Irene, he would go for food, do some shopping if he was rich enough, go play wherever, and then finally go somewhere to spend the night together.
Lorn did not do this to show off. It was simply because he genuinely liked Irene.
She first approached him when he was sitting on his little chair, performing some magic tricks for coins. She gave him some coins and invited him to the brothel.
Naturally, Lorn felt weird about the situation. She gave him change and then asked him to spend it all and much more to sleep with her. What kind of scam was that?
But it was true that she caught his interest. And she was definitely hot, so Lorn gathered his money and went to buy her for an hour. He thoroughly enjoyed his time. Mostly because she seemed to be feeling genuine pleasure as well.
From then on, Lorn started to visit her more often.
And her being a prostitute… to be honest, he first thought that it was convenient. He wouldn't have to spend his time trying to woo her. He could simply buy her and do whatever he wanted. If he wanted sex, they had sex; and if he wanted to fool around the city, they would fool around the city.
In these meetings, Lorn felt truly blessed. Irene was someone who proved that there were angels among humans. She was endlessly kind, diligently caring; and with her profession being what it is, she was kinky in bed and great fun to be with.
He spent his idle hours wondering if he was just caught under the spell of a cunning prostitute, or if there was something more going on between them. And after a couple months, Lorn moved on from surface level affection. He realized Irene was the same.
But then the problems popped out. What was going to happen from then on?
Lorn was homeless and in debt, while Irene was a prostitute owned by a brothel. There was no way a proper relationship could bloom from their circumstances.
The only thing they could do was to spend a day each week pretending they were real couples.
But even with Lorn having a stable income now, he wouldn't be able to start living with her due to Elan. He always feared that the uncanny Asian would know about his escapades. Who knows what the man would do?
Lorn needed to be completely free of outside influence before he could think of other things.
"What happened to your hand?" Irene asked, pointing at the bandages on Lorn's right hand.
"It's fine," Lorn shrugged. "I cut it while I was trying to carve some wood."
Lorn didn't want to explain his paralysis to Irene, so he decided to just bandage it and make some random excuse.
"Really? Were you left-handed?"
"Nah, but I was trying to be."
"?"
"It's useful to be able to use both hands sufficiently, you know?" Lorn said. "You should also try it sometimes… though, don't be cocky like me and hurt yourself."
"Oh, I can see how that's useful," Irene said, and started using her fork with her other hand.
Lorn smiled gently, and the two continued their date. Irene was an angel, but she was like a child. She was easy to fool and was oddly naïve. Lorn could imagine how she got tricked into such a job.
But that was also her charm. Before meeting Lorn, she apparently took her job quite seriously. She diligently memorized the advice her seniors taught her and became one of the more popular girls. And due to her sincere nature, she wasn't subject to envy and jealousy.
Anyone who talked to her would realize she's just a green and innocent woman who unluckily ended up in a not so desirable situation. And despite all that, she was willing to try her hardest. She brought out the best in others.
Even when Lorn came to take her out for a whole day, the brothel only charged him for the hour. They hoped for Irene's happiness and wanted Lorn to take responsibility for her.
'But it's not yet time…' Lorn sighed inwardly.
"This is really hard," Irene suddenly groaned, her cheek dabbed in sauce.
Beckoning her closer, Lorn licked the sauce off her face, smiled at her red cheeks and decided to forget about his problems for the day.
The two of them did some shopping, walked around a park for a bit, and went to Lorn's new house. Irene was shocked to see the new house, her gleaming with hope, but Lorn didn't want her to have too high of an expectation. He explained that it was a temporary perk from his new work, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stay there for long.
Irene looked slightly disappointed, but she nodded gently. Unlike Lorn, she was optimistic about their situation. Lorn couldn't be like that, sadly.
The two spent the rest of the night together in peace, and Lorn brought her back to the brothel the next morning.
The day after, he headed back to the research center. The tests revealed that his hand showed no signs of healing, but as Lorn expected it, he wasn't so shaken and prepared to enter the One World. For the second login, the risks of damage were significantly lower, so he wasn't so worried. He could also stay inside the One World until his immersion meter raised till 70%.
Lorn planned to stay there for at least a week this time.