"No..... You're saying Cherith did this!?" Taji was incredulous.
"No way! Cherith loved Antonio! She was even the one who said we should take him in!"
He shook his head in disbelief. "There's no way..... It must be a sick hater or something....."
Wolfe shifted from foot to foot. "That's true but..... Don't you think Cherith was acting weird lately?"
"What do you mean?"
"She's always away and excusing herself." Leon said. "She acts distant with you. Have you two ever been in a fight?"
"Yeah..... I mean, all couples get into fights. You guys are even a proof of that." Taji wiped his tears away.
They looked at each other at this, then looked away.
Wolfe shook his head. "That's besides the point. It's different."
Taji was even more confused. "How is it any different? Leon got jealous, you two were shouting up a storm right outside the theater... Isn't that a fight?"
"I mean something possibly more serious than that. Anything at all?" Leon slowly brought up the big reveal. "Like.... you getting jealous over some guy or something?"
"I did.... But does that mean she'd kill my cat over it? I don't think so... Cherith's not like that."
Taji's not budging, so there's no choice but to bring up the truth.
Leon took out his phone. "Taji..... We sometimes think we know the people we love, only to be mistaken at the end."
He showed him the picture.
Taji went closer to the phone, as it was really dark. "What's this?"
"Leon saw her. WIth four guys.... The night our fight happened. The night she suddenly disappeared without telling you."
Taji blinked fast. "I..... I know this guy."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "You do."
"Yeah... It's one of Cherith's boyfriends."
The couple said at the same time. "Aren't you her boyfriend?"
Taji sighed. "You guys.... It's 2042. Cherith and I are in an open relationship."
They blinked. "Oh..."
An open relationship! So that means Taji not only know about these other affair, he also accepts it!
"You guy must have think she was cheating on me, right?" Taji chuckled. "Well, she's very careful about it, but her boyfriends can get over-supportive sometimes. Even more than me."
"They drove all the way from Texas just to watch the show from Toronto, but arrived late because of the blizzard. That's why she had been away lately. She keeps tabs with me all the time."
"I'm close with these guys, actually." Taji said. "So I really don't think she or her boyfriends would do this."
The two went home to the hotel even more confused than before.
"An open relationship..." Wolfe rolled in his bed. "Is that what we're currently in right now?"
Leon furrowed his brows. "I'd rather worry about this case first than what our label should be."
"If it's not Taji or Cherith.... We're back to square one. It could be anyone from the actors..... to the staff, the production, the management team...."
He plopped onto his bed. "Ah, I really don't want this case to go any longer. More lives would be lost, and maybe someday it won't just be suicidal people and cats..."
Wolfe sighed. "Sorry...."
Leon looked up. "Nah, it's actually valid to think about our labels---"
"No. Well, I'm sorry about that too." Wolfe took off his contacts, and wore his glasses. "But I'm also sorry for dragging you into this mess."
"I'm stressing you out, I could tell. I keep being a nuisance in your life...."
Leon scoffed. "When are you never a nuisance? Even as a kid, you stressed me out a lot."
"Really now?" Wolfe crossed his arms. "Because from what I could remember, you pampered me a lot as a kid."
"Exactly. Because you cry all the time, and I always have to guess what you want, or what makes you sad and how to make you feel better.... You're just born troublesome, Wolfe Fang."
"Alright, alright." Wolfe took out his laptop.
"I guess that is a little true. You and mom would get along now, you both are such bullies."
"Haha..." Leon picked up Little John to play with him. "What are you doing with your laptop by the way? We'll be leaving for London tomorrow. You shouldn't stay up late."
"I'm talking with people at the Cave to look into all the evidence we have so far. Any leads that may help. I don't want to push all the burden on you."
Leon went over to him. "You're not burdening me. And Interpol is also doing it's best already, though Teddy had to be more discreet as this was more of a personal project."
"Mm... Is Teddy from London?" Wolfe asked as he typed away.
"Yeah. His mother's Nigerian but lived in England for the majority of her life. His father is from Guangzhou but became a salesman there too."
"Can he speak Chinese?" Wolfe asked. "We could invite him if the wedding would ever be in China. I heard him insisting you to make him your best man all the time."
"Hah, your Chinese is actually a whole lot better than his. That's why it takes him long to gather data from China, he had to machine translate it first."
"As for the wedding..... Let's not think about it yet." Leon said. "I've been avoiding the topic with Teddy for a reason."
"Why?" Wolfe said.
"Well, we never know if either of us changes our mind. Until all this is settled... Let's put our mind off it for now."
Wolfe seemed to think about something, then closed the laptop.
"Do you... not want to get tied down to me?" Wolfe asked. "Does it scare you?"
Leon frowned. "Why do you ask? Again, Wolfe, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself---"
"No, no.... You brought it up when I talked about Shirley. You thought I must be scared of commitment."
"I'm really not... But..... Are you?"
Leon took a deep breath, and set down the now sleeping Little John to the floor.
"I thought you were. That's why I asked." Leon said. "I don't want to be committed to someone who's scared of it."
"I see. So it's trust issues with you, then." Wolfe sighed. "Afraid that you'll get left behind?"
"....... I don't know."
Wolfe looked at him for a while, then decided not to push it.
"Well, goodnight. You're right, we shouldn't stay up late." He said, as he lay on his bed.
Leon then lay beside him.
"Not that I think about it.... You were also right." Leon said. "Wolfe Fang....."
"You made me so scared of being left alone. It's also your fault."
Wolfe's eyes widened, then he said sincerely.
"Sorry. I should have tried to get back---"
Leon kissed him before he could say anything else.
"You'd be mistaken if you think I'll ever forget about that. I'll keep it in mind forever, and hold on to that day until the end."
"That way, I'd never take a single moment with you for granted."