Chapter 8

La-La Point of View

I was baffled for a moment to see Zayne inside this gym where a fraud program was going on. I immediately grabbed his wrist, and his eyes widened as he saw me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I should ask the same to you," he replied. Well, there were a lot of people; this was a big chance for hunters to collide. But what the hell was he doing here? And why is he here out of all people I know?

A little flashback

"Yes, I have experience in regards to having assisted someone, and yes, I am interested in books," I replied to the guy on the other line who was interviewing me. "Mmh_mmh," he responded.

I was sitting in a park, holding a coffee in my hand. He had called me earlier out of nowhere, saying he would interview me which is also shock me.

"Everything is good about you," he said in a sweet tone. I was confused for a moment. "Yes?" I replied, baffled. He was rude before, wasn’t he?

"Everything is good about you, more on to the background that you have. However, I am wondering," he said. What was with the pause?

"Wondering? What it is?" I asked.

"H****," he said, but the other line just became static for some reason. I looked at my phone to see the signal getting weaker.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me?" I said on the other line, waiting for him to respond. "Yes Ms. Lanaya I can hear you" he replied.

"I am sorry about that the signal just got weaker I can't hear anything you said earlier, can you repeat that for me please?" I asked to him.

"No it was nothing" he said. What?

"Oh-okay? " I responded then I can hear a click of computer on the other line.

Is the interview finished?- should I –

"Everything is good-" he said. How would I response with that?.

"I already send the schedule to you" he said. "Already?" I said out of question and confused.

"Yes already- I hope we get along with work" he said.

Wait- what. Isn’t this going so fast?

"Oh, yes! Thank you for the opportunity, sir!" I exclaimed with gratitude. I could hear him chuckle in response. "Okay, see you," he said, his tone making everything feel more familiar. Then, he ended the call, leaving me bewildered. What in the world just happened?

Curiosity getting the better of me, I swiftly navigated to my inbox to find a document titled 'Scheduled.' Intrigued, I immediately clicked on it, revealing a detailed table with specified dates. To my surprise, it outlined that I would be working only on weekdays, starting from tomorrow.

Is this really happening? The simplicity of it all left me questioning whether it could be so easy.

I took a deep sigh and stretched my arms, enjoying the tranquility of the park. Little did I know, my peaceful moment was about to be shattered.

Suddenly, a strong force overwhelmed me. Someone covered my mouth with a cloth, preventing any scream from escaping. Panic surged through me as I struggled to break free, but the assailant's grip was relentless. My eyes widened in terror as I desperately attempted to catch a glimpse of my attacker.

Just as I was about to see the face of the person who had ambushed me, a piece of fabric covered my eyes, plunging me into darkness. My surroundings became a blur as my heart raced, realizing I was being forcibly taken away.

I found myself being dragged, my limbs helpless against the unseen force. The once serene sounds of the park were replaced by the muffled noises of the struggle. Fear gnawed at me as I tried to make sense of the situation, my mind racing with questions and uncertainties.

The world outside my darkened vision became a series of indistinct sounds and sensations. I could sense movement, the jostling of my body, and the unfamiliar surface beneath me. Each passing moment only intensified the fear and confusion.

As I strained against my captor's hold, the reality of the situation sank in—I was being kidnapped. The struggle continued as I tried to gather my wits, hoping for an opportunity to break free from this nightmarish scenario.

Then, what felt like minutes dragging on like hours brought me to a place where, for some mysterious reason, the tight rope around my hands was loosened, and the cloth covering my eyes was removed. As my vision cleared, I was met with the sight of a man with brown hair, sporting a smile that resembled a mischievous dog.

"Damn it, Lloyd!" I swore as recognition dawned on me.

"Hi, Lala," he said with a giggle in his tone, making my frustration intensify.

I promptly stood up, grabbing his collar with determination. "Chill!" he nervously pleaded as I tightened my grip. Suddenly, familiar footsteps echoed in the basement.

Don't tell me.

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"Lala, you always had a bad temper, didn't you? Why haven't you changed at all?" her voice resonated through the basement. "Senior, long time no see," I greeted her being annoyed, releasing Lloyd's collar.

"Hi~," she said with a smile on her face. "You're still her dog, huh?" I murmured to Lloyd, but he just smiled at me from ear to ear.

"Senior Yhana, here she is~," Lloyd said with delight in his voice. Ugh, this dog.

"What now?" I asked as she now appeared in front of me, still wearing a smirk.

"I need you," she said.

"To do what, exactly? Making this all effort?" I asked her.

"If I call you, would you voluntarily come here by yourself?" she inquired. "No," I immediately answered.

"Just please get to the point- What is it this time?" I asked her.

"Just a little help from the mission before you leave, you know," she said. Really? ugh

"I can't," I immediately declined. "How can you be so selfish, Lala?" Lloyd immediately reacted.

"Shut up ,Stop being a dog, Lloyd," I said to him. He frowned. "You can't be that harsh to your batch mate," she said to me.

"We lack people on this mission, so we need you, just do this one, Lala, don't be so selfish," she added. I sighed.

"I can't," I said, and her eyebrows drew closer together. She is angry now.

"Why can't you just cooperate?" she asked me.

"The way you make me come here? You want me to cooperate?" I questioned.

"One hundred years have passed, Lala, you still haven't changed," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I agree with Senior, being so rude and selfish. I can't believe you will leave first with this work," Lloyd added with his loud tone echoing in the room.

"That is called hard work, you dumbass why don’t you try it too huh?, and I am not being rude here—you two are the ones being rude here," I said. "H—" Lloyd was about to say, and I covered his mouth.

"And Senior, how could you not know from the connection yourself—I lost my ring, therefore I can't help you, you should have known that" I said and let go of my hands from Lloyd's mouth. They both looked stressed for a moment upon hearing that.

"You are that careless?" my senior asked, sounding as if it were an insult.

"Careless? Compared to you, Senior, please you lost your ring three times, didn't you? Oh wait that’s long time ago , I don’t know if you can’t count yours now senior" I retorted to her insult, and she rethought something. "This is not good," she mumbled to herself.

Why am I even here, arguing with them?

"It seems that I will not have any contribution here," I said as I was about to leave when Lloyd grabbed onto my shoulder.

"What now?!" I angrily asked.

"Senior, isn't it that we just need bait? Lala works out just fine even without a ring, right?" Lloyd said to Senior Yhana with enthusiasm. "Wow, this dog."

"Bait?! Me?" I asked with a loud tone, and then Senior looked at me with a smile on her face. "Right, you don't need a ring when you are bait. You still have your powers and ability to run, right?" she asked me. "What are you two planning?" I asked, then-

End of flashback

"I am here due to work," I explained.

"Due to work?" he seemed confused. I looked around to see if my seniors were watching, and they didn't seem to be.

"Let's get out of here," I said to him, pulling him to leave. Suddenly, a man decided to barricade us, causing me to fall to the ground with a big impact. For some reason, I could feel the pain, and the noise it created drew attention.

Zayne immediately ran toward me, and I could see the nervousness on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked, it so obvious in his face that he is worried.

Before I could answer, he turned to the guy who caused my fall, demanding, "What are you doing?" The scenario escalated, and I could feel an unusual pain in my butt. I wasn't wearing the ring, so I shouldn't have felt any pain from this. Nonetheless, I held onto Zayne's shoulder.

"I'm fine," I said to him and decided to stand up, Zayne also help me. "Can we just leave?" I asked the guy.

"No, once you enter, you need to finish the program," he said in a firm tone.

"We entered voluntarily, so we can just leave whenever we want, I think it’s our decision" Zayne said in his cold tone. Suddenly, more people backed up the guy who made me fall; they were all wearing black shirts and looked formidable.

I looked around for my senior and Lloyd, who had planned to enter this area, and for some reason, they were nowhere to be found- oh those guys they are really pain in the ass. Zayne then grabbed my wrist. "Just hold on for a moment," he said to me.

He should be worrying about himself. I can survived here but I don’t know about him.

"What's with this ruckus?" a man suddenly appeared with a scar on his face, looking about 30 and giving off a scammer vibe. Like more a gangster vibe.

"Boss," every guy with a black suit greeted him with a bow. So, he is the boss.

"What is going on?" I heard people murmur. This thing just keeps getting worse.

"We voluntarily entered; why can't we voluntarily get out?" I asked the guy with a scar, and he smiled weirdly. What the?

"I apologize for the actions of my employees," he said, his tone lower and more pleasing. "How about you take a seat and finish the program? This is for your success in life," he added, attempting to change the topic and steer us back into the crowd.

Considering Zayne's presence, a doctor himself who might not want to get involved in this commotion, should we just go back to the crowd? And just leave quietly.

As I hesitated, the boss continued, "Come on, don't be stubborn. Our program has benefited many. You won't regret it." " Shall we-" as I about to say, then suddenly the grip of Zayne became stronger. "You're changing the topic," he said, widening my eyes because of that.

"I beg your pardon?" the boss asked.

"You want me to repeat?" Zayne asked the boss, making the situation worse.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't get out until the program finishes," he said, getting closer to Zayne. "How about you take a seat first?" he suggested, pointing to chairs, but Zayne didn't look convinced.

"For a scammer? Why would I believe you?" Zayne said firmly, insulting the boss and causing people to realize the predicament they were in. To make things worse, the tension escalated.

So, I approached Zayne. "How about we just take a seat?" I whispered to him, suggesting a discreet way to handle the situation. He looked at me for a second. Suddenly, he kicked the boss in his sensitive area. My eyes widened in shock, and I stared at Zayne in disbelief as he grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

What hell just happened?!!!!!

The guys in black shirts were slow to react, allowing Zayne and me to escape, and the onlookers followed suit.

It quickly became chaos as people scrambled to get away from the unfolding scene.

I took a moment to catch my breath as we ran miles away from the chaotic scene. I just wanted to get him out of there since he's a nice guy, but what in the world just happened earlier?

"A-a-a-are you okay?" he asked, his breath also slowing down. "Yeah, I'm fine," I answered. Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate. It was a call from my senior. Now she's calling? I looked at Zayne, who was catching his breath, and distanced myself from him to answer the cal.

"What happened here?!" she immediately asked as I answered the call. "What do you mean, what?" I retorted.

"All the people are gone, and the mission is already ruined," she scolded me.

"I am not the one at fault here. Where were you earlier? Putting me as bait is not enough, but also leaving me there alone," I stressed out in this moment.

"Didn't we say that we would come back after gathering more information? And then, as we came back, you are nowhere to be found?" she asked.

"Someone I know is I met there, then a ruckus happened. It's not my fault," I explained.

"This took a long time for us to plan, and you just ruined it," she said angrily. "I beg your pardon?! What is the mission anyway? Dragging me all the way here and leaving me? And why is it my fault?!" I asked.

"It's a gold string," she said. "Huh, wait- gold s-s-string?" I asked. Is it even possible?