Chapter 14: Apartment

"At this point, we're already dating right?" I accounted.

He pulled out from the embrace and stared at me in the face. "I can marry you if you want."

I burst out laughing. "Will you? I need to meet your family then."

Wew, that was smooth. I wish we could really get married if that's the only way I can get inside the palace.

He circled his arms around my shoulder. "First, let me see your place."

"Wait-- what?!"

I can't think of any other reason to send him away so, in the end, we both went inside the compound. Instead of calling for a golf cart, I decided to just walk with him. It's pretty cool how wide the field is, it's so green and there are trees everywhere randomly.

After walking a few meters Neuron started complaining about how his feet hurt from walking. He keeps on asking how far we must walk to get there. And I just laughed at his misery.

When we arrived in front of the buildings he said, "Do you wanna live somewhere else?"

"What? Why would I?" This place is already perfect!

"I mean, this is a decent place, but not so."

"What do you mean by that?"

"This is the cheapest among residential subdivisions in the whole city. If you want, I can find--"

"What do you mean the cheapest?" I exclaimed in confusion. Does he mean, this place that looks like heaven to me is the cheapest among all others?

Then how much luxury do the others have?!

But I kinda get it. This could happen. I grew up in a shabby place. I was so used to poverty. Maybe that's the reason why this place already looks like heaven to me.

But for Neuron who grew up in glamour, it's different.

"Are you upset that I'm calling your home cheap?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not like that. I like it here."

He nodded. "Okay then."

I led him inside the Chastity Building. And I stupidly forgot what unit number my apartment was. I tried so hard to remember because I don't want it to be obvious that I just moved in. But I do remember it's on the 6th floor so I pushed the 6th-floor button.

So what I did is, I subtly checked my resident card. Unit 613. Problem solved.

And when I opened the apartment, another problem occurred.

Neuron stood in the middle of my apartment looking a little surprised and confused. "Your place looks surprisingly so empty," he admitted in disbelief.

I bit my lower lip. "Uhm, I'm a minimalist that's why."

"But don't you think this is too minimal?"

"Are you criticizing my way of living, Neuron?" I deliberately retorted in an annoyed tone to divert his attention.

He smiled and shook his head. Then he took my hand but I shove his hand away to pretend I'm sulking. He gave me a furious look and took my hand again.

"I'm your boyfriend now. You are no longer allowed to disallow me from touching you."

"For the record, this is still my body. I can do whatever I want."

"It's mine too."

"It's mine alone!" I retaliated.

"It's mine too," he insisted. "Do you want me to prove it?"

"What?"

My heart skipped a beat when he suddenly snaked his one hand on my waist and pulled me closer to his body. "Am I still not allowed to kiss you?"

I gulped when I saw how his Adam's apple moved when he spoke. His face is so close to mine. And his body is so close that I can't distinguish whether the beating sound I hear is from his heart or from mine. And I can smell how freaking good he smells! D-mn it!

"You said I'm allowed to kiss you," I mentioned.

He nodded. I tiptoed and gave him a peck at the corner of his mouth. He gave me a dissatisfied smile. "Really? A peck?"

I laughed to deliberately annoy him.

He started looking around the apartment which made me nervous. I don't know if he believed my excuse of being a minimalist. We came to the kitchen. And then I felt that rushing loud thump from my chest when he started walking towards the refrigerator.

Oh no! I haven't bought anything yet! How will I explain if he sees that the fridge is empty?

"Neuron-- don't--"

I gasped when he finally opened the refrigerator. I am sweating cold right now. I deliberately stopped breathing because my heart is beating so fast that I am already catching my breath like I just ran a marathon.

"Healthy stuff. Approved."

Wait what?

I released the breath I was holding when I saw that the fridge had a lot of stuff.

Oh Chief, thank you! Oh god! What a relief!

I went closer to Neuron and held his arm. "You know what sir, stop this supervisor-like inspection. If you don't I will kick your ass out of here."

"I just wanna see how you live."

"Aren't we all the same? We sleep, then eat, then work, then sleep. And the same thing goes over and over again."

"You don't take a bath?"

"Okay, insert take a bath. What I mean is--"

"How about brushing your teeth? It's not part of your life?"

"Okay, insert brushing teeth. The point is--"

"How about washing--"

"F--k!" I cursed in frustration. "Neuron, that's not what I meant. Of course, that's given in between. You're so frustrating!"

He laughed like he was having so much fun while I almost blew out of fury. "I'm just teasing you."

He circled his arm again around my shoulder. "I'm famished, ma'am."

"And so?" I snapped at him while raising an eyebrow.

"Cook."

"And why would I?" I maintained that annoyed tone and still raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm your man."

I rolled my eyes at him. Asshole. A smart-mouth asshole.

"I'm going to watch TV. Make a delicious meal."

I clenched my fist and almost punched him in the face but I succeeded in restraining myself from doing that.

Patience, Rath. Patience.

I almost didn't notice I have a television in the apartment. The Chief really provided me with everything. Is this his way of giving me what he said 'the better life I deserve' that he owes to my parents?

I minced towards the kitchen to prepare a meal for that annoying prince. It's funny how I had to check every cupboard to look for what I have to use. Fortunately, Neuron is not here to see this because he might really be doubtful if he notices that I don't know this apartment at all.

When I finished preparing a meal for two, I went back to him. He's watching the news and it made me stop.

"Breaking news. Mr. Carlos Riganda, owner and founder of Riganda Bank, was arrested this morning for tax evasion and usury. Riganda is also suspected of illegal transactions in the black market and for money laundering but the authorities are still looking for proof and therefore, Riganda can only be punished for tax evasion and usury on its client. This case has been going on for about--"

I celebrated silently inside my head. Unfortunately, Riganda can't be punished for everything because of a lack of evidence. But still, it's relieving that he's in jail now. There are much more hideous crimes he did than tax evasion and usury. He was also involved in human trafficking for prostitution and children pornography, and it really makes me furious. I want people like him to rot in jail.

Neuron didn't notice me. He was so focused on the news. Then I saw him taking his phone and calling someone.

"You did well, Michael. But you still got nothing about the robbers?"

My ears went into alert mode. Did he have something to do with Riganda's arrest? Was he the one who put him in jail?

I was informed that he led the investigation personally. But is he investigating the robbers as well? Us?

"Something still doesn't add up," I heard him say. "Don't you find it strange how immediately after the robbery, someone placed a donation for PWDs under Riganda's name?"

I listened intently to what he's saying.

"I talked with Carlos. He never donated money. I'm guessing it's the robbers. It could be them. And that's what's intriguing me."

I'm trembling. He's forming suspicions inside his head. And I know he's going to investigate it. I'm scared that his investigation might lead him to me.

"There's more to this, Michael. I want you to dig deeper on this incident."

I gulped a couple of times to gather courage. It's time for me now to announce my presence.

"Neuron.."

He turned his head around to see me. He smiled and put his phone down. He also turned off the television.

"Let's eat," I announced.

While we were at the dining table, Neuron kept on glancing at me. He looked like he had something to say but didn't want to say it.

"Why? Is there anything you wanna say to me?" He shook his head as an answer. "Neuron, don't lie. It's very obvious. Come on, spill it out."

He wasn't sure if he could say it but he did it anyway. "I know I already said I'm not going to ask anything about the bank incident. But it keeps on bothering me."

That made me nervous, but I concealed it so he won't know I'm anxious. He stared at me with eyes full of pure curiosity. "What were you doing there?"

It's like my mind went blank. I tried to come up with an excuse and I can't think of anything.

I was wearing black clothes that night. Black shirt, black jacket, black pants, black cap. How would I explain my suspicious attire?

"I-- uhmm.."

He is staring at me waiting for my elaboration.

"I was hanging out with friends, and I love running during the night. So I decided that I should run after our hangout. When I was near the bank-- wait! Why am I explaining to you? Are you perhaps suspecting me of anything malicious?"

His eyes widened. "No, that's not what I mean--"

"That was upsetting, Neuron."

I creased my forehead so it would look like I was disappointed and hurt. He stood up and went to where I was sitting and then he held my hands.

Okay! The tables have now turned! What a relief!

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I just can't help but worry. The fact that you were there and you were almost shot because of me, has been bothering me."

"I would've been scarred for life if I hadn't saved you. I did it for myself Neuron so don't let it bother you. There is no one else in this world I love more than myself. I do everything for my own benefit and not for anyone else. So don't be bothered."

He had that look I couldn't quite understand. Then he smiled. "That just turned me on."

"What?" I shrieked. I slightly pushed him away from me. "What's wrong with you.."

"I love that."

"You love what?" I asked.

"Doing everything for one's self and not for anyone else. Keep on doing that. I don't want you sacrificing yourself for others." He planted a soft kiss on my forehead and went back to his seat.

I stared at him wondering what would happen if he knew that everything I said, everything I showed to him was all fake. Will he be hurt? Or angry?

"What do you do for a living?" He changed the topic casually. "I tried not to ask you before because you might take it as interfering with your personal life. But now, I wanna know."

"Ah, me? I'm a calligrapher. I have a shop here in the city."

Did that come out to be so natural? That's because I already had an established fake identity so that when we interact with people during our missions, we have proof to back up our lies.

Apart from the soldiers inside the camp, we also have members spread across the whole kingdom who help us clean evidence during missions, help us establish alibis, and help us fake our identities. They also act like our ears and eyes.

My fake identity was a calligrapher and I own a shop. But in reality, I only own that shop in papers, the real owner is a member of Soma. And they already know what to do when someone visits there looking for me. We've been doing this for a long time, we learned how to blend in with society without making anyone suspicious.

All of the soldiers only graduated elementary school. We only need to know how to read and write and count. Then we focus on mastering our fighting skills. Another reason for that is because the camp does not have the funds to send us to school. Also, it's a waste of time studying when we could've used that time to train.

Outside of Soma and without my fake identity, I am only an orphan and an uneducated individual.

"Rathna.." he called.

"Hmm?"

"I wanna be thoughtful and don't want to tell you this. But.." I stared at him in anticipation. "The food is too salty. Just how many kilograms of salt did you add?"

I grabbed the table napkin, crumpled it, and threw it at him. "Shut up, jerk! F--k you."