Where should he go for a haircut? He didn't pay any heed to salons. Usually, he barges into a random one that is closest to him. Not to mention that he visits salons less than four times a year. Eccentric. Who knows for what reason he decided to pay another salon a visit 'properly' this time. He was actually thinking of trying to get something new. He could find one near the park. Good for him.
"Hello. You'll enter here in a mussy appearance but I'll make sure you get your desired look."
An NPC like greetings came to Alan as soon as he opened the door to enter. Probably the man in charge of that place.
"Oh! You are not mussy at all. You are the embodiment of it. What a horrendous sight."
The word 'embodiment' itched Alan but stayed silent. The salon and the supposedly-man in charge- were in a bigger disarray than Alan's attire. He couldn't even think how a person could get that sort of shitty hair. At that point, Alan tried to reconsider his choice and wanted to leave without saying anything but didn't, for some reason.
"Uh.." confusion in Alan's voice. He couldn't figure out what to say.
"Don't worry. My work is nothing like my looks."
Could that be worse??
"He's right. His customers never get disappointed from him. Also his employee is very nice and handy," a man leaving the place spoke to Alan with another weird looking hair. A Spike. Who in the world chooses a Spike in today's age?
Alan looked at the barber and decided to settle down anyway. While he was sitting, the man-in-charge was preparing things. On the other hand, his employee was handling someone else in an equal bizarre way.
"Call me Gin. How should make your hair?"
Gin? That name made him want to jump off the seat and leave at once for some reason.
"...I don't know. Do whatever you think would suite me."
Alan regretted saying that. Immediately. He was gambling with his appearance out there. He literally saw how fucked up the place was yet decided to leave things to the hands of 'Gin'.
"You are an interesting fella. Okay let's do this."
He blindfolded Alan and said it was for the protection of eyes. It felt suspicious for a bit but Alan turned a blind eye to that.
After about an hour or so, it was done. The whole time Alan was hoping it should not be worse than it already was. Gin pulled the blindfold off of Alan and he tried to adjust to the bright light and that gave a birth of Awe in himself. He was shocked for a brief moment. Not that his hair was changed entirely but the modification was great. The long, overgrown and pattern-less sideline hair was shaved proficiently. The middle ones were not greasy anymore. A little scrambled, the grey covering his forehead, partially his black eyes.
"Gorgeous, isn't it?"
"It feels lighter."
The sensation was odd. He didn't know why but it was on his nerves.
"Oh and could you dye it in red too?"
Pause.
"You should have said that earlier. It will look horrible if I do that now. This one is perfect for you."
Alan didn't pursue him anymore regarding that. Why did he want to have a red hair like those jokers in the first place? "Yeah I guess this one is better."
"I told you my clients never get disappointed."
It was true in a sense because he preferred it more than the red. "Yeah, Here's your bill."
"Come again, young man."
Wandering in the city, he thought that the barber did exceptionally good regardless how the place was or his looks. It was late in afternoon. Sunset. Same time, different place than yesterday. He pondered why it took one hour for that makeup. It did look good but that little work should not have taken that long. He just worked shaved the sidelines off and the the rest were same. That did make a difference but the time he took to do such a short work did seem suspicious to Alan. It didn't cross his mind back there but now in the loneness among the crowd in the middle of the city, he could think straightforward. It bothered him now.
"What could a grumpy barber do anyway" and he shoved off the thoughts the next second, just like that. In a split second. His gaze went to his ring and he didn't want to focus on this mystery yet. He enjoyed the suspense but decided to wear it off and conserve it for later.
Unlocking the door of his apartment, the unkempt visual gave Alan an odd relaxation. The clothes scattered around, the notebooks shuffled, his controller hanging by the cable with the support of the console and the disarrangement of the cables of his PC desk. Classy. Certainly not to any human other than himself.
He stored the ring into a box he found lying on the ground and put it into the cabinet. He didn't feel like wearing it anymore. It felt old fashioned to him then. But why did this tiny thing waver the ring leaders of the undercity?
Alan peeked into the refrigerator to locate any food. He hadn't had any meal for the whole day. There was one thing there. A cup noodles. "No one is going to warm you up. You are getting devoured cold." Alan said in his mind. Grabbing the cup, he boot up his PC to do who knows what. He also didn't know why. He just keeps it open the whole time he stays in his room.
Moving the spoon inside of the cup, even though the noodles were cold, he was deciding to watch something but couldn't figure out. The romance genre had same storyline. They fall in love, sometimes the hero or the heroine dies and sometimes it turns out to be a happy ending. It didn't graze his heart. He considered to browse some mystery and thrilling series but also remembered that he had a 20 thousands worth order due midnight. If he can't complete it by then, game over. It was still better since he didn't have anyone to talk with. While it felt a bit lonely, he knew it was for better. The monkeys did annoy him.
He just stared at the screen for half an hour, didn't even move the cursor. Finishing the noodles, he decided to finish the order. He was short in only ten thousands to buy a car. Not that he didn't have the money. He'd get more than enough transferred to his account every month by the family but he wanted to buy it with his savings. The Lamborghini Vaneno had been a fascination for him since he saw a picture of it online. He lacked only ten grands though. It's pretty funny that he's thinking to buy a 9 million worth of car and lacking only ten thousands. It's fortunate that the car is still listed on the auction house and nobody is willing to buy it. The particular model that grabbed Alan's attention is the last piece in production so he wanted to buy it as soon as he could.
The money didn't come only from the orders he completed, he also managed a market for weaponries with the help of professor Lysoar. Though Lysoar would decline to take the money instead he gave Alan weird things to do. Obviously the operations happened under the nose of his family but none could catch Alan. And Alan had no intention of meddling with them, he just wanted the money.
After a few hours, he gave the finishing touch to the order and submitted it to the client. Exactly a minute before the deadline. His client took another two hours to check if everything was perfect. Then he called Alan, "Wonderful. Everything is done with delicacy. Check your account, your payment has been done."
"Thank you," and Alan cut the call in a hurry. Not because of the excitement of achieving the milestone of collecting all the money, but just to slang the client in silence. He did these small tasks just for time pass and this one had been nagging him every now and then. Worst one so far.
Spending some more time doing nothing, he went to sleep into the jungly bed of his.
He woke up way before he intended. Six at morning. If he slept again, he'd miss the whole morning so he got up. The freezer was empty, so was his stomach and his will lacking to go downstairs to buy some food to eat. Instead, he decided to boot up the console.
Three hours later, he realized he had to prepare for school too. He somehow wrapped up the session and put on the uniform to venture outside.
Usually he takes a quiet route but decided to reroute from the chaotic and the mainstream one today. A thing that made him worry was that many people from his class might pester around him regarding his new look. It bothered him too much but he had to attend the school. It wouldn't hamper him to quit school but it is a great place to pass the time.
Drowned into imagination, the school came into sight, though still noticeably far away.
Beep...Beep....Beep
"Huh? What is that?" Alan looked around him in confusion. There were other students too. He asked one of them, "Hey, can you tell me what the sound is about?"
"What are you talking about?"
Tch. He asked another, then another. But everyone gave similar expression. What was going on?
Beep...Beep
He couldn't understand how nobody could hear such a sound. The constant sound made Alan vex to his root. Outwardly, he stayed straight. Inwardly, it was devastating.
Beep...Beep...Beep
The sound intensified. He ran towards school. The wind opposite of his direction. He embraced the breeze, the motion. Felt the thrill of run as he always did but in panic today. The hair getting pulled backwards with the force of the wind, he enjoyed it.
He arrived at the compound as fast as he could. The sound was still there. He looked upwards. The main building of the school.
Bang!!!