"Did I come at a bad time, am I interrupting you?"
The moment the words fell, the atmosphere in the room instantly dropped to freezing point.
Shawn's brain, however, at this moment, rebooted and processed at an unprecedented speed, and then... completely crashed.
Shawn roared internally: It's over, it's over, it's over! I'm caught! Not only is the five hundred thousand dollars gone, but I'm also going to be seen as the other man who breaks up relationships!
This damn system must have done this on purpose. It could have shown up any time, but it had to issue the mission at this exact moment, timing it perfectly just to see me make a fool of myself. This is definitely deliberate revenge on me!!!!
"How about I just pretend I wasn't here, and you guys continue?" Jessica said, holding the doorknob and slowly backing away step by step like a thief.
The sentence was like a clap of thunder, jolting the petrified Shawn awake. He violently shoved Simon, who was still pressed against him, away, with so much force that Simon stumbled.
"No! It's not what you think!" Shawn's face was beet red. He waved his hands frantically at Jessica, trying to explain incoherently, "It's not... it's not what you think, we... we're not... I'm not the other man! Really! This is all a misunderstanding!"
At this moment, Shawn felt like strangling the system. I was just after the money! Who would say no to money? I've been so screwed over by the system.
Simon leaned against the counter, rubbing his chest where Shawn had pushed him, his expression complicated to the extreme. He looked at the guy in front of him, who was almost crying from anxiety and desperately trying to clear his name, and he felt a mix of anger and amusement, and also, for some reason, found this Shawn incredibly cute.
"Pfft—" An undisguised burst of laughter completely shattered the frozen air in the room. "Hahahahahaha!" Jessica burst out laughing, almost to the point of tears.
Shawn was completely dumbfounded. 「Oh my god, driving someone crazy for this little bit of money, my sins are truly grave.」 "You... you're not angry?" Shawn asked cautiously.
"What would I be angry about?" Jessica finally managed to stop laughing. She walked over to Shawn and looked him over with amusement. She turned, walked over to Simon, who was still rubbing his chest, and then, with her elbow, poked him hard in the ribs, once, and then again, and then again.
"Not bad, Simon," Jessica's tone was full of teasing and banter. "You really can't judge a book by its cover. I've watched you grow up, seen you reject so many suitors, and I always thought you were this innocent good boy who was above worldly desires. I never expected..." She drew out her words, then gave Simon another hard nudge, "...that you were so wild, huh?"
She made Simon's face turn completely red, even the tips of his ears were burning, looking like they could bleed at any moment. He grabbed Jessica's mischievous hand and said, a mix of anger and helplessness in his voice, "Shut up! You're so noisy, you know that?"
"Oh? What? Shy now? By the way, was that your first kiss just now?" Jessica laughed even more happily. "Where'd that fierce energy from just now go? Tsk, tsk, pinning someone against the wall to kiss them, was that your inner domineering CEO coming out? But from the looks of it, your technique seems pretty skilled. Have you been seeing a lot of people behind my back?"
"Jessica!" Simon's voice held a trace of annoyance.
Shawn stood where he was, watching the scene unfold, his brain once again descending into chaos. "Um... you two..."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Jessica finally let Simon off the hook. She turned around and, to the still-clueless Shawn, she pointed with her chin at the 'I've-lost-the-will-to-live' looking Simon behind her. "He's my neighbor. We grew up together, he's like my older brother. Did you misunderstand our relationship? You two go ahead and be together, you have my blessing."
Childhood friends? Neighbors? Shawn felt like his brain had been repeatedly crashed and rebooted within just a few short minutes.
"Let's go, let's go, time for dinner!" Jessica seemed completely unfazed by what had just happened. She grabbed Simon's arm, "My mom made your favorite Spanish food today," and then quickened her pace.
"Slow down!" Simon stumbled as she dragged him. He turned his head and said to the still-petrified Shawn, "Shawn, see you tomorrow!" The second before he was dragged out the door, he even gave Shawn a quick, playful wink. A wink.
…I feel like I've gotten myself into an awkward situation. This money doesn't seem so easy to earn after all.
The wind chime at the door rang again, and the door slowly closed, leaving only Shawn, standing there, dumbfounded.
Just as Shawn was in a daze, an inopportune voice sounded.
[Congratulations, host, on perfectly completing the mission today. Keep up the good work, hee hee.]