In a room at a dingy motel, Ren is sitting across Nina. With a stern face, he cleans up the blood little by little. Nina stares at him with a ghost of a smile on her lips. Under the low light, the man looks quite handsome. If he doesn"t dye his hair red, Nina is sure that there won"t anyone who can rival his looks.
She blinks her eyes. What is she thinking? People in love are often blinded. She is not in love or anything. She just finds him good looking. "Ren, are you still in love with Umezaki Rie?"
Ren"s dark eyes meet hers. "Why do you want to know?"
"I am curious." Nina bats her expressive eyes at him. "If you aren"t in love with her anymore, why do you still date your p.o.r.n?"
"You! You deleted my p.o.r.n." He glares at her. "Why I am here tending to your wounds? Do you know how much I spent on the games you deleted? "
"If money can remove your grudges, I can pay you anytime." She pats her bag. Her sultry voice is a little serious when she asks, "Why are you here tending to my wounds when you could have ran away back then?"
"I saw a woman getting stabbed." Ren bandages the wound. It"s not as bad as he expected it to be.
"How could I run away? You know Rie chan too."
"She and I are not friends." Nina is irritated to see the soft look in his eyes when he says Rie"s name. Why does he call her name like that? She"s a grown woman who is married to someone else. "In fact, I plan to use you. I will force her to help me. But she has too many things to lose. Will she come to save you, Ren?"
Ren becomes quiet. He watches her with a solemn gaze. The gun in her hand is pointed toward him. Maybe, he should have escaped. "You don"t have to go that far, Nina. Even if Rie doesn"t help you, I will. She has been through a lot. I don"t want her to get involved in another mess. Tell me what is going on. I will do my best."
He"s strange. Skeptic, Nina pokes his chest with the tip of the gun. "You are dumb, aren"t you?"
"If being dumb means helping someone in need and saving that person"s life, I am dumb." Ren wonders why he"s bothered to help this little nuisance. But, she reminds him of Rie. It still haunts him. Once, Rie asked for his help with her silence and he ran away. He returned eight years later and saw her in the worst condition. He was partly responsible for her breakdown back then. He also hurt her.
How can he leave another person when she needed help? She was wounded right in front of him. She didn"t cry once after getting stabbed. He cries a river when he stubs his toe or gets a paper cut. How can someone still flirt with the other person right after getting stabbed?
If she doesn"t take off her clothes all of a sudden, she"s not bad.
The more she talks to him, the more she finds him strange. Can someone like him help her? He can"t. He doesn"t have the ability. Besides, she doesn"t want to drag a fool to her mess. Rie knows the rule. Ren follows his heart more than his brain. He"s lucky that he is still alive.
But, he has those enticing lips. She wants to turn them red and swollen.
"Ren..." She leans her face closer. "A kiss?"
Ren presses his fingers on her soft red lips. "I don"t kiss women who hold guns."
"Did you kiss Rie?" She raises her brow. "She held guns many times."
He frowns at her. "She wouldn"t press the trigger."
"If she uses other people"s hands to press the triggers, are her hands clean?" Nina throws her head back and laughs. "Chisa Has.h.i.+moto? Don"t tell me that you don"t know what happened to her? Oh, I saw her. She was sent to one of the cruelest torture houses. They broke her bones with relish. They poked her with hot red iron rods and cut off her toes while they tore her hair from her scalp. It was still nothing to Rie. She wasn"t satisfied at all."
"She owed Rie." The people who know nothing about a person find it easy to judge that person. "Has.h.i.+moto Chisa gave her h.e.l.l for years. I don"t think that Rie did enough."
Nina"s eyes turn dark. She might have been easy on her uncle and his family. She should have sent them to the same place where Rie sent Chisa. She didn"t have such power back then. It did feel good to kill them by her hands. Later, she took care of all the men that her uncle and cousin brother forced her to serve.
But, she is displeased with Ren. Why is he talking about Rie with such admiration? Does he still have feelings for her? "Did you reject me because you are still in love with Rie? Rie isn"t clean either. Do you think that she never did any crime? In the last five years, she stole many national secrets, wiped evidence, helped the underworld organizations, and whatnot. She"s a cyberterrorist like me."
Ren grimaces at her. He is somewhat aware of Rie"s crimes. Still, he doesn"t like someone else badmouthing his friend. "She did what she had to do. Still, you can"t compare to her. Yes, I love her. But, do I want to kiss her? I don"t think that you can ever understand what love is. Don"t talk s.h.i.+t about my best friend."
Nina clenches her fists. She doesn"t understand love? He acts act like he and Rie are human and she"s not. Should he speak this way to a woman who is holding a gun?
"Don"t tempt me to kill you, Ren."