I was alive.
I really thought I was going to die, but I survived.
Though after that woman left, I was again dragged by those thugs before they kicked me out of the casino from the back door, there was this giddy feeling of accomplishment in my heart.
Really, I hadn't been good at anything even since I was a child and rarely did things on my own. But getting out of the situation just as this was not in any way easier.
Especially from that woman. Turn me into a spoon. Did she mean to shrink me to the size of the spoon? Probably.
After that, I didn't linger near the casino—well, anywhere actually, as I immediately rushed to my small rented room in the outskirts—away from the main Capital city.
The room wasn't large but was enough for two people, for me and Alex—yes, we shared the same room because, as I said, it was rented. So why pay double when you could save money this way?
It had been three years since we left the orphanage, and a few months ago, we had earned enough money to rent a two-room apartment, but after we paid the lease for half a year, the real owner came out.
It turned out we were scammed out of our two years' worth of earnings.
After the authorities dismissed us by thinking of two harmless orphans, Alex decided to do this drug business.
After closing the door, I slump down on my bed, panting heavily. My stomach was still aching from the punch, my chest was still stinging with each breath, and my cheek was burning from that slap.
I clenched my jaw tightly to stop it from trembling as a soft sob escaped from time to time.
I swore I would never go near that place ever again.
After a long time, when I just calmed myself down, the door suddenly opened and Alex rushed inside.
"Lyra!"
And here I just took a breath of relief.
"What the hell? Why haven't you been answering my call?"
Shouting loudly, he lunged toward me. I didn't fully get up from the bed before he smacked my back a few times.
If I think of it as a small household, then he would surely be the head, but why did he wear his temper on his nose?
Some people became irritable after they came into the harmful society, but Alex was always like that since the orphanage. No wonder he didn't have any friends back then... or even now.
And that was why we went along just fine. Because I too hadn't made any friends.
Though the orphanage was well established with proper meals and education, there was always some discrimination that couldn't be avoided.
And sadly, I was the perfect example of such a thing. The reason why my mother left me at the orphanage was because I was a defective alpha.
How did I know that? Well, it was a fact that even the whole world knew of. So it was hard for me to remain unaware of this, especially since I overheard the orphanage workers discussing me.
They were just too chatty, knowing nothing except for the gossiping.
Since the orphanage, we had been together almost every day.
"Eeek!"
His smack wasn't very hard, but it still caused pain throughout my body, so I only yelped and retreated.
"Why weren't you answering your phone? Do you know how many times I called you? Do you know how worried I was—"
Even after I crawled back, Alex slowly came towards me, massaging his fist to smack me back again. But he suddenly stopped before, in a single movement covering the remaining distance, and raised my head towards his face.
"What happened to you? Why are your eyes and cheek red?"
Cheek? Ah, that must be the slap.
Even after seeing me hurt, that bastard still didn't become gentle; he moved my face left and right without holding it to examine my injuries.
I seriously thought my neck would twist at this rate.
"I got caught by the casino owner."
I smacked his hand away. It was starting to hurt. But wait? Was she really a casino owner? I just assumed that, but it was most likely the case.
"What?"
Alex was taken aback as he suddenly moved a few steps back. Then a deep frown appeared on his face as he fell into deep thinking.
"That shouldn't have happened."
It was only recently when Alex thought of expanding the area, and he decided to sell the drug into the casino.
Because that was where the loaded customers were. And after checking it was safe, he allowed me too.
"Well, it did. And they also know about you and wanted us to die, but I begged and barely survived."
He didn't speak for a moment, simply staring at me, and suddenly he got up and started packing around the room.
The room wasn't big, so it felt like he was running in a circle, making my head hurt.
"Stop it."
He did that as a habit whenever he was nervous or thinking seriously.
Did that make his brain run faster? It didn't work for me, though.
Anyway, even if I had cursed Alex before, I wasn't angry at him—I would never be angry at him.
So, he had no reason to feel nervous.
"She said she would turn us into a spoon if she caught us next time. So, don't go over there."
Alex had stopped pacing and turned his head towards me.
"What?" His voice was confused.
I shrugged. After a while, he slowly nodded and sat beside me, resting his head on my shoulder.
"Okay, I will remove that place from my contract."
"Good."
We just sat there without saying anything, and when the tension eased a little, Alex sighed deeply.
"Damn, I never thought it would turn out like this."
It would be right to say that we were blinded by greed. We hadn't been able to earn this much in two years of working part-time jobs than by only half a year of doing the drugs.
We spent many nights in a tunnel where most homeless live and then suddenly started to think about buying a small apartment.
But I didn't have any words to say to Alex. So, I patted him on the back a few times. The tightness in my heart started to lessen. Sharing really made things easier.
I closed my eyes, and the incident started to replay inside my head—it felt different for some reason, and then suddenly—
"Hey, you know the owner of the casino was extremely hot."
Alex quickly raised his head and looked at me.
"I have never seen anyone that good-looking in my whole life. Sure, she was scary, but her face was insanely beautiful."
I was really sad that such a beautiful person wanted to kill me and much more than to see her living a life like this instead of being a celebrity.
How could I, having experienced a life-and-death situation, possibly praise the appearance of my would-be killer?
That was what I thought Alex wanted to say with the way he was giving me a look.
"You seriously find the person who threatened you handsome?"
"No, I am just saying she was really beautiful."
I knew that I wasn't the only one who considered Alex to be family—he too treated me as his little sister.
He didn't say it, but the way he shook his head clearly meant that he was regretting sending me there only to get charmed by some thug.
I smiled sheepishly. Well, at least I was well. This was what really mattered in the end, wasn't it? So, he was relieved. If he wasn't, then he wouldn't be as calm as he was now. He would have been fuming in anger.
"Let's order some food and treat ourselves to something good. All this is making me really hungry."
Ordering food was expensive, so we only did it when we were celebrating, and this felt like an occasion to be celebrating.
What was more important than your own life?
I didn't know if I wouldn't be in this situation in the future, as Alex didn't have any plan to stop the drug business, so it was better that I get used to these things, which was very strange.
But what I really wanted and hoped for was to never meet that woman again.
I didn't know why, but I knew for some reason that I wouldn't be fine after meeting her again.