"His mother sent this; the first bag has a gift for Devon's mother, and the second one has some clothes for you. Also, his mother put some money in there," said the driver after Dash got off at Devon's house an hour earlier than agreed.
"Thanks for being considerate, Mom; this is a lot of money..." Dash thought as he saw the amount in cash and decided to keep it all in his wallet, which was an old gift from his father.
"I'll be going then; tell my mom that I'm excited and full of energy."
After leaving the driver behind, Dash arrived at the house he hadn't been to in over a month and gently knocked on the door.
"Will it be the same movie I saw in my past life? I hope the actors haven't changed, although some definitely won't be where they should be because I'm in an exciting movie..."
Today, at least, he would distract himself with Devon and the movie. At home, he either trained or was alone. Although he was familiar with that feeling, he found it overwhelming to feel any resemblance to his past life, which was a hell.
A little change is okay; maybe letting his body rest for a few days is the right thing to do to improve. Still, leaving behind the hard training for exercises with familiar attack movements is what he had been doing at night.
"I'm coming!" Devon, who had received Dash's message, rushed down the stairs and opened the door.
Dash on the other side smiled, then said, "Look, Devon, I brought orange cake."
"How adorable. You better come in before I hit you." Devon sighed with a bit of exhaustion after having a long conversation with her mother about the relationship between couples.
Although what happened a few hours ago with the call was not Devon's fault but his, everything about this strange matter bothered her a bit.
"If you tell me what happened, I won't ask again." Dash handed the cake to Devon and entered the house. He looked around as if searching for something and then focused on his friend, who was acting strangely.
"My mother entered my room just when we were talking on a video call," Devon said as she left the cake in the kitchen.
"And is that bad? I've talked to you in my living room when my mom is reviewing documents; it's nothing out of the ordinary." Dash walked to the living room and sat on a long couch while taking control of the TV.
Devon really didn't want to, but Dash was getting a beating with every word he said, and she told him, "I was on my laptop; she saw the whole show you were putting on the call and believes, no, she's sure we like each other."
When those words came out of Devon's mouth, there was a long silence. Dash, who was about to turn on the TV, then understood what his friend was referring to and thought about it.
What does it matter? Well, maybe many would think so, but this can be much more delicate than they think if taken lightly.
Of course, Devon wouldn't know that yet, so she replied, "Does it matter at all?"
"Aren't you listening to me?" Devon replied as she sat in front of Dash, who was calm, and said, "That would be super awkward; it wouldn't be normal."
"So tell me, what do we do if our mothers think that?" Dash asked indifferently.
"Well, nothing..."
"Alright, problem solved." Dash was convinced that it would be more obvious to deny it and much more uncomfortable if they thought about it carefully.
This same conversation had unfolded twice, first when Dash told Devon about the kisses and punches that his family never found out about, and just now when his friend was affected.
"Leave this to me; I'm good at talking to people." Dash stood up when he heard noises on the stairs and saw Devon's mother coming down.
Devon touched her forehead and murmured, "But you're terrible at conversations..."
"Dash, it's nice to see you." Zoé said as she approached to greet him.
"Mrs. Lee, as always, it's a pleasure to be able to visit your beautiful house..." Dash greeted the kind Mrs. Zoé, and just as he was about to speak, a cell phone rang.
"They're calling me, make yourself comfortable, I'll come down when it's time for the movie."
"Of course, we'll be down here..." Dash smiled broadly until Zoé left, and he muttered, "You're right, I'm not very good with conversations."
"Forget it; do you want something to drink?" Devon needed to take a breather to release all that tension from her body, so she got up and walked to the kitchen.
"Just water..." Dash sat without paying much attention to what had just happened when suddenly his phone vibrated.
Dre Parker: "[I hate China, buddy; the kids here are really hard to understand literally…]"
Dash was surprised and replied calmly: "[Well, learn, idiot. You're in China, buddy. My uncle once bought horse meat without realizing it.]"
Dre Parker: "[You don't understand, there's a group my age that bullies me, and I can't do anything to defend myself because they are expert fighters.]"
"[Then learn from some hidden master and give them a beating. If you were the King of Detroit, you can also be the King of Beijing. I'm also learning some Kung Fu, and I can tell you that right now, I'm like those movie guys.]"
Dre Parker: "[I'm going to eat; I just wanted to tell someone... I'll survive until you decide to visit this wonderful place.]"
"Yeah, well, that won't happen until before the tournament..." Dash murmured without writing more.
"Who are you talking to?"
Dash took a sip of water and said, "My friend who moved to China says some guys his age are bothering him. Everyone is crazy right now with this school and dynamic fighting stuff."
"As you say, I'll go change..." Devon left Dash alone, who comfortably turned on the TV to watch some sensationalist news.
"A good dose of brainwashing..."