Chapter 4

After that night, Tian took Taria home and went back to his apartment. He could feel someone was inside before even opening the door, but he entered anyway

"A part timer at a store! really", a voice Tian knew well said

"I'm just keeping an eye on her, Ve", Tian said coldly

"I know you well, Tian. A heartless person like you won't mind if she died in the first place, even though she helped you", Ve said, but Tian stayed silent, knowing, deep inside, that his brother was correct, but not having an answer

"However, I want you to keep working at that store", Ve said

"I know, a Leo would never go back on his words", Tian said calmly

"No, I want you to stay with that girl", Ve said

"Why?" Tian asked

"Don't ask your brother a question like that. I have my reasons for that", Ve said, then he left, leaving Tian with so many unanswered questions. Just like that, the man who can easily buy the whole street started working as a part timer at a store, and the cold prince of the school started getting warmer and nicer towards that mysterious girl, showing her a side of him that he himself didn't know existed.

One night, Tian was talking to Taria normally when he realized that she was gazing at someone while snapping her fingers nervously. He turned around to see a man trying to pick a chip flavor, so he looked back at her and said "what's wrong?". She gasped, then she smiled and said "nothing".

After a while, the man came to pay for what he bought, and Tian could see how he was looking at Taria with an uncomfortable look in his eyes, so he pulled her to the back gently, and started serving the man instead of her with a sharp deadly look in his eyes

"34 dollars", Tian said

"When have you started working here? I come a lot but this is my first time seeing you", the man said

"Your total payment is 34 dollars", Tian said

"I want to talk to the young lady. Could you excuse us?", the man said

"She doesn't want to talk to you. If you won't pay now, I will have to use other methods with you", Tian said

"What methods, little boy? How can a part timer even dare to talk to a client like that? I will talk with the owner", the man said angrily

The man was going to get out of the market. Taria looked at Tian whose face was still cold and expressionless, but she felt a bad feeling inside her. She didn't want the man to go out without paying since the owner will cut that money out of Tian's first salary, so she said "wait. You haven't paid yet"

"Are you saying that I would run away without paying? I'm going to tell the owner about that, and you would be thrown out, jobless", the man said

Tian stopped the man from going out by holding his wrist. He tried to break free but Tian held him stronger with every move he did, and he was looking straight into his eyes with a controlling look that gave the man chills.

"Don't talk to her like that, old man. Pay for the things you bought, and leave", Tian said, but the man took his phone out of his bucket and called the police. Taria felt scared since it was her first time interacting with the police, while Tian stayed calm as a mountain. She pulled his sleeve gently asking him to bend over, then she whispered "is it going to be dangerous? Will we get fired?", with a concerned look in her eyes as a child who just broke his mother's favorite perfume bottle, but Tian poked her nose and smiled warmly to calm her down.

The police asked Taria and Tian for their IDs, but once they saw Tian's ID they looked at him as if they couldn't believe what they just saw, then they gave them back and asked Tian about what happened

"This man was going out without paying, and when we wanted to stop him he acted like the victim", Tian said

"DON'T BELIEVE HIM, SIR. He hurt my wrist as you can see, and they both disrespected me", the man said

"Well, you will come with us now", the police officer said, drawing a smile on the man's face which faded fast after realizing that he was the one going with the police.

When the man left, Tian looked at Taria while crossing his arms and said "who is that man?", but she smiled stupidly to avoid his gaze. Taria was going to run away, but Tian caught her from her collar, and sat her on the chair.

"You have three minutes to tell me everything about that man, or I will go ask him personally", Tian said

"Why are you acting like the older sister?", Taria said

"And why are you acting like the teenager brother? Just tell me", Tian said

"Ok, SISTER. That man usually comes here after midnight, and he came drunk many times. He becomes so mean when he is drunk, and he starts saying harsh words. That's why I hate seeing him", Taria said

Tian sighed as if he was expecting much worse things about that man, then he said "tell me from the start next time, BROTHER. Your sister will take care of everything that annoys you". They both laughed a lot, and Taria forgot the only question she wanted to ask, "why did the police seem shocked after looking at Tian's ID?"