Instagram ID for book's art: ikigai_yugen7
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She glared down at the— suspicious but weirdly appetizing-looking— chicken soup that was placed in front of her. Asking herself why she didn't learn how to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous food was apparently useless since she had no clue if something like that even existed.
'And why the hell is he being so nice!?'
Completely out of character.
"Eat."
"Is that a question or an order?"
Zei analyzed her expression and believed it was better for it to be a question rather than an order. Considering who he was facing, an order would most likely make her fling him out the window without a single glance of remorse.
"Believe whatever you want to," he spoke instead, tossing the question back to her and Haven narrowed her eyes but didn't question him any further.
"Why'd you come here?" placing the spoon inside her mouth, it took her entire willpower to not widen her eyes or make a sound that would embarrass her for the remaining years she had to live.
Divine would be the one word suitable enough to describe his cooking. Not him. His cooking.
Since when did men like him know how to cook?
"Couldn't wait till the end of the week and I was already kind enough to give you a day to think." he paused for a second, and Haven could almost see his brain's gears whirring inside. "Though I don't know what you did in those hours considering the fact that there's absolutely nothing but air up there." he pointed to her head with a small smirk.
"..."
Did he... did he just call her an airhead?!
Haven remained silent, knowing well enough he wanted to rile her up and ruin her morning by creating a mess out of her temper. If non-verbal talents were a thing, hers would've been professionally ignoring people.
"How's the soup?" he asked in a much softer tone and Haven cursed herself for shivering at the sound of his voice so close.
"Edible," she remarked, looking up. "Now I hope you can get back to your evil lare without a babysitter, Mr. Stale Ham Sandwich."
His left brow twitched. "And I should expect you to know my address already? Not a week and you're already out stalking I see." he drawled and Haven didn't know whether the sudden appearance of goosebumps all over her arms were a sign of disgust or something else.
She hoped it was the former.
"Okay, I never meant it that way." she took another sip, her actions a little less hesitant than the previous attempts. "But by all means, feel free to spend your glorious time outside my doorstep for as long as you want."
If he spent hours sitting outside her door, that was none of her concern.
"Do you know how much my ass is worth?"
"I dunno, a couple of bucks maybe?"
Zei looked as if he would love nothing more in this world than to toss her out the window and then set his ass out to auction the very next minute. A couple of bucks?! Who was she trying to fool?
"Till when shall I expect you to be available then?" he asked, the look on his face capable of driving an old man to a flood of tears and panic attacks.
"Pick me up at the nearby park by evening," Haven answered, setting up her plans mentally in her head on what to do before he comes back again. Moving didn't make such a difference. Shifting from a small hell to an ever bigger one couldn't be that bad when she thought about it.
After making sure he was out of the apartment— which was relatively easy to confirm when she peeked out the window and saw his car drive off as if a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas were after him— Haven got up and started getting everything ready.
Gavin had provided enough information about his base and the people who lived there with him. The only problem was: Haven didn't know which base he would be taking her to.
'Hopefully not a prison cell or a solitary compartment...'
Come.
Flinching at the sudden voice, she shook her head and tried her best to focus on getting everything to fit inside a small bag. The chances of her getting out of his base were as likely as her reaching Jupiter by the end of the year. Not being able to contact CIA in some of her cases was not something new but keeping in touch with Gavin was necessary at all costs.
A burner phone could be useful for a few days but this was Ezekiel Wei she was taking on. The security around his house would be tenfold of a normal gang, being reincarnated as an experienced hacker had its uses for sure. Getting past his security defenses wouldn't be such a big problem once she got inside the database and got the important data files she was after.
There was only one way her plan could get twice as hard than it originally was. If his minions were around the house, keeping an eye on her, carrying out her job would indefinitely get risky. There was a reason that even the government didn't bother messing with Wei's companies let alone his gang. He already had his pawns placed around the whole world, getting his dirty work done for him with just the snap of his finger.
Plopping down on the bed, she gazed down at the wooden floors in silence. She had gotten done what she previously couldn't for the past 7 years. Yet the happiness or hope she was expecting to feel was lost somewhere, unable to be felt or heard or glimpsed at. Her 12-year-old self, which was almost bursting with the hope of taking revenge, had long drowned away into the sea she was thrown in.
Haven smiled. Life had turned meaningless just as her purpose was close to being achieved. It was hilarious yet she couldn't bring herself to laugh. Staring at the ground, she let her heavy eyelids gradually close, surrendering to the weight of her thoughts as they wrapped around her consciousness, engulfing her within their intricate maze.
Come.