As the yellowish light from the lamp on the ceiling washed over the bar counter, it illuminated two figures on either side. To the left, a young man with glasses went about his duties with a meticulousness that suggested he took pride in his work. His hands moved with a deftness born of practice, clearing away glasses and wiping down shelves filled with books using a white cloth. To the right, a young woman with blonde hair perched on a bar stool, her fingers idly tracing the rim of her drink glass as she savored its contents.

Despite the hum of activity around them, the atmosphere in the store was strangely subdued. Even the sound of the young man’s cloth as it swiped over the glasses seemed muted as if it were part of a larger silence that hung over the room. The gentle siphoning of drinks from bottles into glasses, too, seemed hushed, as if the air was conspiring to keep everything quiet.

Amidst the silence, the only sound that could be heard was the beating of two hearts. The young man and the young woman, separated by the length of the counter, thudded with a palpable intensity that seemed to echo off the walls.

When the mechanical digital clock struck 23:00, the silence enveloping the store suddenly broke as the clock screamed loud enough to hurt one’s ears. It screamed out with such force that it felt like it could pierce one’s eardrums, making it impossible to ignore.

At the sound of the clock’s ear-splitting call, the young man tending his duties immediately froze in his tracks. His hands, which had been moving with a steady, almost meditative rhythm just moments before, came to an abrupt stop as he turned to face the source of the noise.

“It’s about time!” the young man thought, then approached the young woman, “Lady, it’s already time for you to go home.” He said it in a polite way.

“Eeeeeh! Don’t wanna!” The young woman replied, throwing her body from side to side. She didn’t want to go home yet. She wasn’t ready to leave the store, and she definitely wasn’t ready to stop staring at the young man with glasses who stood before her.

“You should go home, lady!” The young man insisted, ignoring her words.

The young woman winked her eyes. “Are you sure I should leave?” she asked. Her tone was weak yet seductive. The light from the lamp on the ceiling cast its glow over her, creating a perfect scene to highlight her beauty.

Despite her efforts, the young man remained unmoved. “Yes, Lady. The store is going to close soon, and it’s not safe for you to be out late,” he replied, trying to sound as professional as possible.

The young woman twinkled her eyes mischievously to respond. “But I’m a little drunk,” she said, exhaling seductively as she stirred her drink slowly with a straw.

The young man’s anger was ignited, and he unconsciously murmured, “Ciih! What a troublesome woman!”

Of course, the young woman noticed that, so she asked, “Hey, are you talking bad to your customer?” her eyebrows rose.

“Of course not! How dare I do that!” The young man quickly responded.

“Don’t lie. I heard what you said, Storekeeper!” She added, stared at the young man, and then repeated his words by words, “Cuiih! What a troublesome woman!”

The young man turned his pupil away from her, “Yes! You are!” He wanted to say that but knew it would cause more problems, so he decided not to. Instead, he made a reason to change the topic, “I’m sorry, maybe you heard it wrong.” He pointed to her drinks, “What I murmured was your drinks over there!” he said, then slightly lowered his old-stylish glasses.

His response caused the young woman to freeze in her faulty laugh, “Hehe … Sorry!” she said apologetically because the drink served to her was a glass of milk.

The young man sighed. “As you know, even though my store is designed like a bar, it’s still a bookstore. I did not serve any alcohol! What I served here was milk and dessert to enjoy your time reading the books!” He explained. “Sorry!” The young woman apologized once again but was embarrassed to face the young man’s eyes, so she turned her face away.

“That’s fine, but you should go home, Lady!” The young man reminded her as it was already too late for a beautiful woman to stay out; it would endanger her. “It’s time for you to go home, Lady.” He added to emphasize his words.

Although the young woman knew it was for her good, she was still reluctant to leave. “No! I don’t wanna go home yet!” she said while shaking her body like a worm, “please let me sleep here with you!”

“The heck!” The young man thought after seeing her childish act. His forehead wrinkled, “No!” he uttered firmly.

“Are you sure?” The young woman asked.

“Yes.” Another firm word came out from him.

“Even if I let you do things with me?” She asked again, her eyes widening and adopting a pleading expression reminiscent of a puppy’s gaze.

Her words once again ignited the blaze from the young man that made his chin scrunch up, “Lady! Please leave now!” He said. It was obvious the young man was uncomfortable because of her.

But the woman still didn’t back down, “Cmoon! Shopkeeper, don’t do that to me! Please let me stay for a little longer!”

The young man’s head shook slowly from side to side. “I’m sorry, but no,” he replied firmly. “You’ve already asked me that five times in the past two hours, Lady!”

“Buuuh!” The young woman’s dissatisfaction was palpable as she stared at the young man’s eyes.

The young man stared back at her, “Even if you look at me like that, I won’t do as you wanted!” His voice when said that was something that the young girl wanted.

A voice that was firm but gentle, full of inner self-confidence with arrogance, something she liked.

“Ahh … What a lovely day to live!” she thought.

“Eehm … Eehm … How about it—”

Before the young woman could finish her sentences, the young man interrupted, “No!”

The response caused her face smile in wry and irritation, yet her mind still filled with the thought of him, “Please—”

“No!” Another interrupting answer from the young man.

It caused the atmosphere to become tense, with those two individuals staring at each other.

“Lady, I don’t know who you are, but it’s your first time here! and you already bring tons of problems to me!” The young man said, breaking the tense atmosphere. “Please just go home already!” His tone was laced with anger as he said that.

“Nope! I’m not going to… Especially tonight! I’ll make sure to make you fall in love with me today!”

Actually, the young woman was a regular customer-‘special customer’ in the sinister meaning of the term at the young man’s shop, but that night she was disguised in a blonde wig and green eye lenses, causing the young man couldn’t recognize her.

A few hours earlier, she met an old man dressed in Victorian attire while walking down the street. The old man approached her for unknown reasons, which had initially frightened her. However, after he revealed to her how to melt the heart of the Storekeeper, the young woman found herself stunned.

Despite her initial disbelief, the young woman followed the old man’s instructions without realizing it. Before she knew it, she sat face-to-face with the notoriously cold Storekeeper, implementing the plan the old man had shared. “Let’s do this … Hehehe!” The young woman shouted devilishly inwardly.

“Lady, if you can smile like that, please leave right now!” The young man reminded the young woman before him, who smiled lustfully. “I wanted to close the store soon.”

“I don’t know why, but her aura seems similar to that crazy woman!” He thought, feeling crazy goosebumps.

“Lady—”

Praaak!

The sound of flesh slapping against wood filled the room.

“How about this,” the young woman interrupted, an unfazed smile on her face as she stacked her hands like a tower and rested her chin on them. “I’ll tell you something that will blow your mind. If you like it, you should let me stay with you, and if the opposite … I’ll do as you wish.”

Wrinkles began to crease the young man’s forehead, his irritation growing as the young woman made her demand. Despite his annoyance, he knew he had to listen to her if he wanted her to leave him alone. “What information do you have?” he snapped, “Make sure to hold your words!”

“Eheeim … Eheem,” the young woman coughed slightly to clear her throat, “It’s the information from two years ago,” she said seriously, staring at the man with a gaze full of herself.

“The heck! Another one!” Even before the young woman told the information fully, the young man already knew where the topic would end up. In fact, that type of opening was something he heard almost every week.

“You must know about the Isaad family, right?” She asked.

“Nah … hell no! Please not anymore!” He already started to get annoyed by that type of information, especially when it connected to him. So the young man covered his face with his hands in a desperate move.

“Judging by your reaction, I’m assuming you’re already aware of it,” the young woman said with a knowing look. She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again and changing the tone of her voice to a more ominous one. “But here’s something you might not know,” she continued. “Even though the family was reduced to ashes two years ago, the sole successor is still alive. In fact, he was close to us all along.”

“Graaaah!” The young man shouted in his mind, igniting the urge to end those conversations by revealing the truth, “Of course, he is still alive! I am that person!” However, if he did that—it would make his fake death two years ago pointless.

From the gaps in his fingers, the young man stared at her, “That’s all?” he asked.

Before the young man could utter any words, the young woman quickly interjected, “Of course no, I know you will think this is just a joke, right? But you must know that my father is in government—an elite one.” a grin adorn on her face. “It’s a lie, though, and you’ll find out the truth!”

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The young woman’s words tickled the young man’s stomach, causing him to chuckle. “Haha...so let me get this straight,” he said, trying to keep a straight face, “your father told you this information, right?” but as the young woman had predicted, the young man quickly saw through the ruse, “sorry to burst your bubble,” he said, his tone turning serious, “but there’s no way that could be true.”

He paused for a moment before adding with a smirk, “That’s like me declaring myself as Gaith Isaad, the only successor of the Isaad family!”

The young woman couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the comparison, and the tension in the room dissipated. However, unbeknownst to the young man, her laughter was not due to his joke but rather because his reaction was exactly what the old man had predicted. She knew it was time to move on to the plan’s next step, as the old man instructed.

With newfound confidence, she looked the young man in the eye and declared, “Yes, you are Gaith Isaad.” The young man’s expression turned from amusement to confusion as the young woman continued, “You are him, the sole successor of the Isaad family!”

“Huh, did my identity leaked out?” Gaith’s face turned pale.

As Gaith was about to say something, his mouth suddenly fell silent as his heart started beating faster. He had been ready to dismiss the young woman’s claims as just another rumor, but her tone …, her gaze …, and even her gestures were so convincing that he couldn’t resist thinking the young woman knew the truth.

“Eeeeh, this really works?” The young woman was amazed and couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but at the same time, it also ignited doubt about him in her mind.

They stared at each other intensely, trying to process the strange turn of events that had just occurred, causing the room to turn back into complete silence.

Gaith tried to make sense of how the young woman before him could speak confidently of his joke as she found out the truth about who he was. Even her eyes locked at him reinforcing his assumption, but no matter how hard he tried, the only thing he could conclude was that the young woman knew about him.

Meanwhile, the young woman’s expression became blank, and she started to doubt Gaith’s true identity.

For a few months, she had been gathering information on the young man, noticing subtle details about his appearance and behavior. He always wore the same uniform - a white shirt, a black apron covering his chest to knees, and black pants. He had long hair tied in a bun and wore old glasses. He had an attitude of secrecy, never revealing his name to anyone.

His way of talking to women was also peculiar, using ‘lady’ for someone around his age and ‘madam’ for older women as if he were pretending to be a green boy—taught with manners full of his life. However, there was something else that made him suspicious - his eyes. They were pure black, darker than a black hole, with a naughty gleam hinting at the knowledge of the world’s darker side. It was the mysterious quality that drew girls to his store.

And after all of that, sometimes he looked similar to Gaith Isaad. “Ah … Maybe …But well who cares!” The young woman chose to give up. She didn’t care anymore except for turning him to become her mine. “Let’s keep that old man’s instruction!”

It was the same as Gaith; he decided to give up thinking deeply about her and followed the flow to where it would bring him.

The young woman was the first to break the silence. “By the way, I think you already realized who I am, right?” she asked, echoing the old man’s instructions. Her voice was firm, conveying a sense of determination: anger or a desire for revenge.

Her acting was enough to fool Gaith. “Did I meet her somewhere?” Gaith wondered aloud in his mind, his brain heating up as he tried to remember if he had ever encountered the young woman. He scoured his memory, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing came to mind. “Sorry, but who are you?” he asked.

The young woman brushed her blonde, shimmering hair back and looked at Gaith. “Now, did you remember anything?” she asked.

After seeing what she did, Gaith came into a clue, “No way, is she the child from two years ago? “he muttered. “But... that child was a boy, “he continued,” There’s no way that could be her. Unless... unless I’m wrong. “

He paused, his thoughts racing. “But even if I am wrong, it’s only been two years, “he reasoned. “There’s no way a child could have grown into an adult body then. “

As he pondered the situation further, another possibility occurred to him. He remembered one of his uncles, nicknamed “The Professor of Madness,” and “The Miracle’s hands.” Gaith’s uncle was the person who became the father of techs, so it would be expected if he could fasten the growth of children just like how he modified his body into a biological weapon.

Gaith’s mind started to feel numb as he considered the implications of this new information. “Let’s keep this information until I get more data to calculate,” he thought, determined to investigate this further before revealing his true identity.

“I’m sorry,” Gaith said, his tone apologetic. “But I still can’t remember who you are, lady.” He hoped his response would deflect her attention away from his true identity. “By the way, do you know someone called ‘Jun’?” he asked.

Jun was the secret name of his uncle’s name; it was rare for people without a relationship with him to know that secret name.

However, the young woman already predicted that, too, so she followed the old man’s instructions. She stood up and extended her hand across the bar counter, taking the glasses from Gaith’s face. She put them on herself, adjusting them until they sat comfortably on her face. Then she gestured as the old man had shown her.

As she lowered the glasses slightly from her face, she looked at Gaith expectantly. “Now, do you remember?”

Recognizing the similarity, Gaith decided to wear off his disguise. “So that’s how it turns out, huh!” he sighed.

“What do you want?” Gaith asked, his face turning serious as he sat down. He folded his sleeves, revealing his muscular forearms, and then crossed his arms, projecting a sense of confidence and authority, and the unnoticed-person vibes from him were gone.

The young woman couldn’t believe what she was seeing. At first, she thought it was all a joke from the old man, but seeing the Storekeeper’s reaction left her speechless. “Old man, thanks for the opportunity!” she shouted inwardly while maintaining her composure.

She followed Gaith and sat down, their gazes locked on each other.

“So what do you want?” Gaith repeated.

“Eeehm … Eeehm … Did I need to tell you?” the young woman replied, keeping her arrogant tone.

“It’s time for me to die, huh!” Gaith expanded his right hand, “Before that, could you give back my glasses first?”

The young woman gave back the glasses to Gaith. “Sure!” her gaze was adorned with vanity.

Gaith put his glasses back on and leaned his hands on the table. “Lady, can you please tell me why you’re so persistent in doing this?” he asked, his tone severe but not aggressive; what Gaith meant in his words was why she was so persistent in doing her revenge on him.

However, the young woman misunderstood Gaith’s question and thought he was asking why she was so persistent in making him fall for her. “Why? Of course, because I like your appearance!” That was what the young woman wanted to say, but if she did that, it would ruin the play. So, she kept her arrogant attitude.

The young woman leaned her upper body forward until their breaths crossed, her tone growing more arrogant. “Are you still asking about that?” she said, her voice sharp. “Don’t you already know the reason yourself? You’re the one who caused this to me! My soul was filled with you, and only you!”

As she spoke, the young woman’s emotions boiled over, and she couldn’t help but express her true feelings. She paused, then pointed at Gaith with a fierce determination.

“And to make sure that you understand what I wanted,” she continued, “All of you, I want that to be mine!”

Again, the young woman’s words and what Gaith thought were opposites; she thought romantically, while Gaith thought in a horror way.

“I want to lick your nice muscles!”

“Damn … What kind of monster did she become!”

Gaith knew his body was thick and strong enough to make normal weapons scratched his skin, let alone injure his body. “And how do you plan on doing that?” Gaith asked, while his fingers tapped the table fastly to transfer his focus, “You must know that no tool can pierce through me!”.

“Pierce through him?” The young woman was confused, “Ah, maybe … he meant to melt his frozen heart! Of course, I will melt that using my body, hehe!” Thinking about it made her grin.

“She smiled? Huh!” Gaith thought.

The young woman pulled her body back, raised her right hand, placed it on the counter like a stand, and rested her head on it. “You don’t have to worry,” she said. “I’ll take care of it. Although it might have made you scream all night!”

At her words, Gaith’s heart leapt into his throat. He could feel the sweat starting to bead on his forehead, and his hands trembled slightly as he tried to compose himself. He couldn’t shake the image of being trapped in a room, subjected to unspeakable torture all night.

“Can you explain how you plan to do that?” Gaith asked, trying not to sound weak but unable to hide his anxiety; he was curious about what torture he would face.

And another misunderstanding arose again, “My plan?Aaah … the gameplay?” The young woman smirked, “As I thought, he was a naughty man!”

Her smile sent another cold wind into Gaith’s bone, causing him to shiver.

The young woman stood gracefully from her seat and took a few steps back from Gaith. Her movements were fluid and graceful, as if lost in her world. Despite the absence of music, she danced as if a symphony accompanied her every move.

Her dance was a seductive one, every motion pulsing with sensuality. Her hips swayed in a slow and deliberate rhythm, accentuating the curve of her waist. Her arms moved gracefully, like the wings of a bird in flight, as she twirled and spun.

But for Gaith, her dance was a horrifying sight, as if it were the dance of death itself. With each swing of her arms, he imagined a sharp blade piercing his body. “No way... has she already completed that brutal training in just two years?” he thought, his anxiety rising.

When the dance came to its final moments, the young woman fixed her gaze on Gaith and blew him a sultry kiss. Her eyes held a mischievous glint, and a sly smile played on her lips as she watched him. “That’s what I plan to do!” She said.

“Howly, Molly, I’m in big trouble!” Gaith thought. “But what can I do? It’s a price that I need to pay … Although I didn’t kill them because I liked it, but because I had no choice, except kill them all!”

Despite Gaith’s attempts to reason that he was not to blame, the guilt weighed heavily on him. Every night, he was tormented by nightmares of the people he had killed. In his subconscious, his body knew that he needed to apologize to the young woman for denying the truth about his actions.

Even though he wasn’t fully aware of it, something inside him knew that he was responsible for the sins he had committed and that he needed to make amends. It was time for him to face the consequences of his past action.

With the help of his hands, Gaith stood up from his seat. “Lady!” his voice filled with seriousness.

The young woman was amazed by it, and for a moment, her arrogant facade almost slipped. But she quickly regained her composure and took a deep breath to ensure she didn’t break character. “Yes!” She shouted.

Gaith’s eyes turned upward towards the ceiling; he took a deep, long breath to steady his emotions.

With a heavy heart, he bowed his head until it touched the bar counter, a gesture of humility and contrition.

“Please forgive me … Please … Please …” Gaith sounded like a crying donkey.

Listening to those screams, the young woman’s maiden heart was shattered. She couldn’t believe it, “Aahh— He disliked me, no– he must hate me. That made him choose to die rather than stay by my side.” she thought.

Before she realized it, she unconsciously shouted, “No … No ….”

“Did she reject my apology?” Gaith wondered, his mind consumed with guilt and regret. “No, it’s not her fault. I know what I did in the past wasn’t something that could be forgiven. Still, that’s not my fault, though.”

As he reflected on his mistakes, Gaith began to wonder if it was better for him to accept his punishment. “Now that I think about it, what difference would it make if I died?” he pondered, feeling as though he couldn’t find happiness even if he lived.

However, when Gaith was lost in thought, the young woman had already left. She had run away with noodle-like legs, her body swaying back and forth in distress.