Billionaire's Bodyguard

Ch 8. I'm not sure

Rey stared at Ethan, waiting for any reaction after he admitted his failure. But Ethan just stayed silent, his eyes widening like someone who had just received shocking news.

The car kept driving, passing through streets starting to get busy with afternoon traffic.

The driver sitting in the front seat shook his head slowly, then let out a small sigh that sounded like pity.

Rey couldn't hold it anymore. "Am I ... going to die?" His voice broke in the middle of the sentence.

Several seconds passed without an answer. Rey could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, louder than the sound of the car engine.

Then the panic exploded, taking over every nerve in his body. He grabbed Ethan's shirt collar with both hands and pulled him closer.

"TELL ME!"

Ethan raised both his hands, his palms open toward Rey as a calming gesture.

"Rey ... calm down, calm down first." His voice sounded hesitant. "You still remember what I answered when you asked about this, right?"

Rey released his grip and fell silent, his body stepping back slightly.

He remembered very well.

Ethan's words about considering the package the same as his life still echoed clearly. But at that time, in the quiet coffee shop, it had all sounded like a metaphor, like an exaggerated way of speaking to emphasize the importance of the task.

Now, seeing Ethan's reaction and the driver's gloomy mood, that metaphor suddenly felt very real and about to actually happen. The conviction that he would soon face his death began to make Rey tense.

"I remember," Rey finally answered, his voice smaller than before.

"But ...." His sentence trailed off.

In his head swirled the urge to blame Ethan, to shout that this man was the one who had put him in danger.

But Rey couldn't, he himself was the one who had accepted the offer, with a conscious mind, even though he hadn't fully understood the risks.

His panic surged again, uncontrolled this time. "What, what should I do?" He turned his body toward the driver and shouted, "Hey stop! Let me out now!"

The driver didn't turn around, his eyes staying fixed forward. "That's useless," he said in a flat tone.

"You already know yourself how those thugs found you at the hotel. They have their own ways, that's how this world works."

"None of your business!" Rey snapped, not caring. He grabbed the door handle and pulled it hard, trying to open it even though the car was still moving.

"Don't be crazy Rey!" Ethan shouted this time, his hand reaching out and holding Rey's arm. "We're in the middle of the road! Andre, pull over!"

The driver nodded slowly and started steering the car toward the road shoulder.

As the car started slowing down, a short, vibrating beep sound came from Rey's jacket pocket. The man froze for a moment, then with slow movements he took out his phone.

The screen lit up, showing a notification from a mobile banking app indicating incoming funds of 20 million rupiah.

Rey stared at the screen, his eyes unblinking as if he didn't believe it. Then he turned to Ethan with a deeply confused expression. "What ... what does this mean?"

The car had come to a complete stop on the somewhat quiet roadside. The atmosphere inside returned to silence, though the tension hadn't fully disappeared. No one moved to open the door.

Rey stared at the numbers on his screen, then looked back at Ethan. "Is this ... my funeral money or what?"

Ethan frowned, a confused expression settling on his face. Not fear, but pure confusion.

He looked at Rey's phone, then his own phone which he took from his pocket. After looking at something on his screen, he let out a long exhale.

"No," he said slowly, as if just now understanding something. "It means they consider your task successful."

"How can that be?" Rey fired off his question quickly, like before. "Who are they? How do they know my account number? Didn't you say if I failed I would die?"

Ethan raised his hand again, this time with a calmer motion. "Calm down, Rey. It's not within my authority to decide who succeeds and who fails. I just received the same message as the one you received."

Ethan tilted his phone toward Rey, showing a screen containing a text message full of number and letter codes, exactly like the format of the message Rey had received.

Rey looked at it, then looked back at his own phone. Frustration and confusion clashed inside his head. Rey wanted a clearer answer. But he also remembered Ethan's words at the coffee shop, "don't ask too many questions."

***

The sky had turned orange fading toward gray as Emily pedaled her bicycle home. Several black plastic bags full of cooking ingredients hung from her bicycle handlebars, making the steering feel heavy and unbalanced.

Every pedal stroke felt heavier, and she complained softly between her breaths.

"Damn it, I ran out of cheap eggs because I couldn't carry everything at once," she muttered to herself in annoyance.

She imagined how much easier it would be if she still had a motorcycle, able to carry many plastic bags at once without hassle.

In the middle of her annoyance, she forgot to pay attention to the road ahead. A small pothole she usually avoided easily, was now missed.

Once she realized it, she jerked her handlebars to the left to avoid it. But the handlebar, loaded with four heavy plastic bags, immediately made Emily lose control.

"Oh my god!" she screamed while trying to balance her body.

The bicycle slid uncontrollably toward a car parked at the roadside.

"AAA, DON'T!"

Suddenly, a man jumped in front of the bicycle. Both his hands caught the handlebars firmly, stopping the bicycle's momentum right before it hit the car's body.

However, the momentum of Emily's body being thrown forward couldn't be stopped. She crashed into the man's chest hard, and both of them fell together onto the asphalt.

"Ah!" Emily screamed as her body landed on top of the man's body.

Their faces were only a few centimeters apart. For a moment, Emily could feel how broad and firm the man's chest was, and smelled cigarette smoke.

But that moment was immediately shattered when the man pushed her off roughly while grumbling.

"Damn it, what the hell is wrong with you?" the man's voice sounded annoyed and out of breath. "How could you drive like that, are you stupid, huh!"

Emily, who had been about to apologize, immediately changed her attitude at being scolded like that.

She got up quickly, her face flushed with embarrassment and annoyance. "You're the one who blocked my way, why are you angry now?"

The man was already standing, pointing at Emily then at the car beside him. "Are you crazy? Swerving around like that about to hit my car, of course I had to stop you!"

"Didn't you see my groceries?" Emily shouted back, turning to her bicycle lying on the ground with plastic bags scattered around.

Some tomatoes had already burst and dirtied the road. "Look! My groceries! Look what you did!" She crouched down and started picking up the vegetables that could still be saved with quick movements.

The man looked more and more annoyed. "Why are you blaming me instead? Even if I'd let it go it still would have fallen! Plus my car would've gotten scratched too, you know!"

Emily didn't care, she put the already dirty vegetables into the plastic bag with angry movements, then lifted her bicycle.

Without saying a single word, without looking back again, she walked away leaving the man just like that.

The man was still standing there, watching Emily walk away with her bicycle still slightly tilted. "Unbelievable!" he cursed in annoyance. "At the very least you should say thank you, shouldn't you?"

Suddenly a deep voice was heard from behind. "Hey Jin, who are you yelling at?"

The man snorted, "no one, just a naughty kid. What's up?"

"Brother is calling you. They failed to get the package."

The man was surprised and asked softly. "How could that be?"

The man leaned his face closer. "They used a decoy as bait. It seems Brother wants you to hunt it down."

"Hh ...." The man immediately walked into the house.

***

The sky was already completely dark when Rey arrived in front of his house. The porch light was on, and beneath it was parked a bicycle he was seeing for the first time.

Rey let out a long breath before pushing the door open. The sound of running water and vegetables being chopped could be heard from the kitchen.

On the dining table, several grocery bags had already been opened, while some were still lying intact.

Emily was bent over in front of the sink, washing a bunch of water spinach.

"I'm home," Rey said while putting his sling bag on the living room chair.

Emily glanced over briefly. "Rest first. I'll prepare dinner."

"No need to bother," said Rey while putting down two food packages he had bought on his way home. "I already bought dinner."

Emily turned around fully, her hands still wet. She saw the two plastic bags of packed rice on the table, then looked at Rey's face which looked very tired. "Did you ... get something good today?"

Rey looked away, his eyes staring at the floor. He sighed, his shoulders dropping like someone who had lost his energy. "I don't know. I ... I'm not sure."

Emily fell silent, the tired expression on her face slowly replaced by deep worry. She didn't ask again, just stared at Rey who didn't look back at her.

The air in that small room felt heavy, full of unspoken things and dangers they didn't understand.

***