As Sunny was semi-dashing his way to the gym, he couldn't help but notice a vehicle pulling up on him slowly. It was the cops. At this moment, he knew he was in trouble.
"God damn it! In America, having my skin complexion and coming across a cop is the equivalent of encountering a powerful cultivator and hearing them say, 'Are you courting death!' without a semblance of reasoning!'
"I'm screwed, I'm royally and absolutely screwed on so many levels!" Externally, Sunny maintained a taciturn look on his face, but internally, he was having a profound meltdown.
Despite his inner turmoil, Sunny managed to keep his composure when the lady driving the car rolled down the window and asked, "Have you seen a blond middle-aged woman with a mole on her left eye in a coat?"
"No, ma'am. My friend and I were just discussing this on the basketball court, and other than that, I have no clue," Sunny replied.
Upon further reflection, Sunny realized that this was the same lady who had been on the phone with Conor.
"Oh, so you're Conor's friend. Well, thanks for the info, kid," she said before driving away.
As soon as she took off, Sunny wiped the sweat off his forehead dramatically. 'Phew, felt like I just had a close encounter with death, and she blew me a kiss.'
Contrary to his internal monologue about how this day couldn't get any more stressful, just two minutes away, in walking distance, a hooded figure in a black trench coat appeared.
"Aw, darn it!" Sunny exclaimed, feeling like he might burst into tears. "Why is my luck so terrible today?"
As if sensing his distress, the woman turned around and gave Sunny a piercing look with mostly red eyes and dark eye bags.
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
"Ma'am, I'm just trying to go about my business," Sunny replied impatiently.
"How do I—" The woman in black was swiftly cut off by Sunny.
"Look, I know I'm pretty handsome and all, but there are plenty of fish in the sea. I'm sure you'll get over me soon," Sunny quipped as he scurried past her, leaving her in the dust.
"Hey, wait! I'm not—" she protested.
"I'm young and lively, but I'm really not interested in getting involved with a cougar—I mean, a beautiful middle-aged woman who seems to be on the run from the police for some oddly specific reasons!" Sunny's tone dripped with ridicule.
"I'm not even going to ask you for much, just some directions. Wait up! I mean no harm, please!" the woman shouted after him, but Sunny was already out of hearing distance and gone with the wind.
'Out of sight, out of mind,' Sunny thought.
'Damn, though, I'm wondering if I should notify the cops. She seemed to be up to some clear objective for someone presumably off that powder.'
[A/T note: If you know, you know, and for the kids reading this, don't do drugs!!!]
'Ah, whatever, it's none of my business. I don't want to be too nosy and get dragged into this BS when I don't necessarily have anything to do with it at all. Not like I'll regret it!'
'For now, let's get to the gym and do some lifting, and also...' Sunny's expression turned somewhat ludicrous as he finished the latter part of his thought.
Sunny walked into the gym, a familiar place he had visited many times before, and swiped his phone on what looked like a scanner.
'Man, I hate leg day, but at least talking to her will lessen the pain a bit.'
As Sunny reached the second floor of the gym, he carefully looked around and spotted a figure using the arm extension machine.
'Linda!'
As if afraid of being caught, Sunny quickly averted his gaze and went into the men's restroom to check himself in the mirror. He didn't want to mess up a potential first impression at the gym.
'Heh, look at this handsome visage. I don't claim to be the most handsome, but at least I'm handsome enough for her to notice.'
Thinking about what happened with Linda a yesterday, he was still taken aback. Despite Sunny's flirtatious tendencies, he had never expected this girl he had never spoken to at the gym to notice him at his workplace and even ask as to why he had not come to the gym for the past couple days.
Contray to how he talked with Keys on this topic, he seemed to care a lot about it at this moment.
'Man, I definitely can't make it too obvious. I have to take it step by step.'
With that, Sunny stepped out of the restroom and got ready for his workout.
His leg day routine consisted of a warm-up and using three specific machines for several rounds( each round consists of 2 sets of 12 reps.)
The warm-up entailed doing 50 squats with 25-pound dumbbells without stopping. Sunny always started with his favorite machine, the Hoist Ride Leg, even though it was arguably the most painful. He would grin like a fool with his eyes closed on this machine.
The next machine was the leg extension, his least favorite because it was the most challenging and made him sweat profusely. Nevertheless, he endured it for the acceptable results it yielded.
Then came the hip abductor, or as Sunny would call it, the "Ass Burner," because his hips would burn every time he left the gym on leg day.
Last but not least was the lying leg curl machine.
Although Sunny's training routine might not have been the most systematic or optimal, he was extremely satisfied with it. The gym not only made him happier as a person but also helped him relieve a lot of stress.
On his way to use the leg extension machine, he noticed that Linda, whom he definitely had not been keeping an eye on, was on her way to leave the gym.
"Yo, Linda," Sunny greeted her with a smile.
"Linda, what's up!"
"Nothing much, just came to say thanks."
"For?" A look of surprise appeared on her face as yesterday at his workplace was the first she spoke to him.
About an hour later, a figure could be seen wobbling down the stairs of the second floor, as if he would fall at any moment. However, the gym employees only glanced at him, having seen this scene countless times over the past year.
"Yes! I got her number. That's a nice start!" Sunny said to himself as he walked back home, grinning.