*Ding*
Lance stepped into the elevator, and waited for the door to close after pressing on the button for his destination. However, just then, a call came:
"Wait!"
He reflexively held the door, before even recognizing the voice that had made him react. Then, he regretted it. His face turned bitter, and he considered letting go of the door, only to move his head with even more bitterness. He had missed his chance. He had even taken it and thrown it down the executive floor of the Group.
He would not have been so fast if it had been a man who called out. If only…
The clatter of heels rang in the air as the source hurried over, before stopping dead in its tracks at his sight:
"It's you!"
Right. That was exactly why he had seemed bitter just now. The affection between them didn't matter, if she had any for him. But no meeting between them had ever gone with quarrels and bickerings, with him almost always on the losing end. Especially when alone.
She might be tame and spoiled around her brothers, but she was a fierce tigress anywhere else.
As he held back a sigh, and forced a smile as sincere and natural as possible, Jenny broke out of her surprise, and moved into the lift.
Lance held back another sigh, and let go of the door, before turning to her to ask:
"I'm going down to big sister Leyna. Where are you going?"
"I–"
Jenny turned to him to answer, and only then did he get a good look at her, and the traces on her face. His eyes went wide, and he exclaimed:
"You cried!? What happened!?"
Jenny froze, the concern in Lance's tone warming her heart for a moment, and softening the glare in her eyes, as her face mellowed. But all of that disappeared in the next moment, like an illusion, as her glare came back stronger:
"Where did you see me crying!? How dare you say I cried!? Do you think everyone is like you, crying when bullied?"
"You–"
Lance's eyes grew wide in indignation, but the latter could only remain pent-up. Not only could he not fight back as he should against Jenny, he could not, nor did he dare to, even go and confront Alex for having ousted his dark history years ago and leaving that material lying around for anyone after him.
It seemed like it was only for him that the beginning of their twenty years of friendship was precious, not for Alex. He gritted his teeth in impotent… whatever it was he was feeling, because even he did not know.
Jenny's lips twitch from a nascent smile of victory, and she snapped her head to the side, cutting Lance's off even as she was unwilling to afford him so much as a glance:
"Humph! Leave me alone!"
The victory, like a stream of cool water, finally brought down the heat in Jenny's chest. It was then that her brain resumed processing the first sentence that had almost flown over her head because of the clash that followed. She paused, recalled Alex's words, before looking at the shining floor button among the dozens of dim ones on the panel of the lift, and finally, she understood what he had meant. She understood who he had called her secret bearer, even if she did not understand why the latter was now a few floors below.
She glanced at Lance from the corner of her eyes, and finally replied to the first question that had come before the explosive-ladden second one. She spat out, her softer voice laden with her broad-mindedness as the victor:
"Where I'm going doesn't concern you."
Lance glanced at her, and smiled wryly. He muttered to himself, or maybe to her:
"A little pepper like you, who will marry you in the future."
Jenny froze. The corner of her eyes twitched, and she took a deep breath. It was only after that that she managed to keep the explosion inside, and retort in a calmer voice:
"What does that matter to you? You'd better take care of yourself before trying to lament about the world. With your lifestyle, beware you don't end up with some trouble down there."
Lance's face immediately turned red. It was impossible to tell how much of that liver-like color was coming from embarrassment, how much of it was coming from indignation, and how much was born out of dread-filled apprehension.
The expression on his face went through a well garnished catalog, before he seemed to have found something to cling onto. He retorted indignantly, and loud enough to stomp out the fear Jenny had planted in his heart:
"I will have you remember that your brother and I live the same hedonistic life. I'm just a sidekick of his."
Instead of the anger, fear for Alex, or even disgust, Jenny smirked, and glanced at Lance with a look of disdain:
"At least you know that you are just a sidekick. Unlike you, Alex is very picky about his food. He doesn't eat just anything, unlike you. You must have been too busy running after anything with curves and long legs to notice, right?"
*Ding*
The notification from the door seemed to put an end to the battle, leaving Lance with an arrow in the heart that he was left unable to pull out. Jenny let out a snicker that only served to exacerbate the pain, before she left him behind, all pale and trembling.
The clatters of her heels forced him back into reality, and he followed behind her listlessly, dragging along the cloud of depression that had come to embrace him.
"Hello, sister Leyna! Where is your office?"
"..."
"Yes, I came to the Group. And I can't leave without seeing you. I have to brighten up your day!"
"..."
"Yes, I have already come to your floor. I'm coming from upstairs, though, I have a burden with me."
Lance looked up to meet Jenny's gaze, as she glanced backwards while on the phone, and lowered his head again. He had no energy to bother about her right now, not when as preoccupied as he was.
His life was so grey, and this time, it was not even anyone else who had tricked him. He had done himself dirty on his own.
Life was so bitter, so painful…