Wizard Of Cosmos

04 - I Would Have Been Happier

‘Sigh. What am I going to do?’

Jason sat on the bench with an exhausted look on his face. He got an extra day off to take medical assistance, yet he was here to do something else. 

‘Will I not be able to get the money?’

He really felt helpless.

He had no friends; he had no family. He didn’t have anyone rich enough to lend him money, and he had nothing he could sell. 

‘Sigh.’

He took out the phone, trying to find another bank nearby. 

…

“It is that guy, again.”

“Who?”

Ashly frowned, knowing who her cousin was. Of course, Freya wasn’t a woman who didn’t date, but she rarely had a man who could gain her attention. Besides, her words made it obvious that this guy caught Freya’s eyes more than once.

“That guy. I showed you him earlier.”

“Hm?”

Ashly turned her head toward the direction Freya was looking at. 

There was a scrawny young man sitting alone on a bench in the corner of the bank. His dark hair was messy, and he was looking at something on his phone. His worn-out clothes looked too big for him. 

If she saw him outside, she would have thought he was a homeless man. 

“Am I supposed to know him?”

She took a step back, looking at Freya with surprise. 

‘Is this the man who caught your attention?’

“What? Are you serious? I am not interested in him!”

Freya saw the look in her cousin's eyes.

“I showed you him this morning. He was in the bank trying to get a loan.”

“And?”

Ashley didn’t find anything special about this young man. 

“And then we went back for a meeting.”

“I know.”

She was the one that called the meeting.

“And then we went to the bank at 15th street, and he was there. And three hours later we came here, and?”

“Should we call the police?”

Ashley didn’t expect something like that. She never doubted Freya in a matter like this. 

Her cousin had excellent martial arts and weapon training. Freya was her bodyguard, in a sense. 

“No. Let’s go and ask him what he is doing?”

“But what if he is dangerous?”

“Seriously? Look at him.”

Freya had already taken her step forward, and Ashley had no other choice except to follow her. Besides, Freya always carried a gun with her.

…

“Why are you following us?”

‘Hm?’

Jason almost dropped his phone when a sharp voice entered his ears.

He looked up in annoyance to see two young women. 

He had to admit both of them were good-looking, and they gave off an air of authority. Both of them wore business suits. The blond girl that looked a bit younger wore a tight knee-length skirt while the one yelling wore long trousers. 

‘They shouldn’t be talking to me, right?’

He never knew these two people and they looked too rich to waste their time on someone like him. Besides, they didn’t wear the uniform of the bank staff, and he felt the staff shouldn’t be this rude. 

He looked left and right, but there was none besides him.

“Are you talking to me?”

“Of course, we are talking to you.”

‘Hm?’

Jason’s body reacted instinctively. His mind reacted fast.  The redhead was pushing her high heels to the ground and her legs had a slightly inclined angle. Her right arm was hanging above her waist. Although she didn’t look too hostile, she was dangerous. 

She had a weapon on her waist, and she was ready to attack him.

‘I hate my body.’

He was weak; for now. 

‘Wait. How should I use my left arm?’

He fell into thought. 

He only had his right arm when he learned how to fight, and his brain lacked the sense of the left arm in combat.

“Hey… We are talking to you.”

“Ah….”

He was disturbed.

“Who are you?”

He had no idea who these girls were and why they were bothering him. There wasn’t anything on the bench when he sat here. 

“Who are we? You are following us and you don’t know?”

Freya was getting angry with this guy.  Not only he didn’t answer, but he even started ignoring her. 

“Why would I follow you? Do you guys give loans?”

He wondered if these were money lenders. He really hoped he didn’t have to go through such a painful option. 

‘Can I sell organs?’

He thought of the possibility of growing them back. 

He heard rumours that Serena, the Angel of Life, could regrow missing limbs, but he never got a chance to try that out. She passed away before the last part of their desperate struggle for survival and he never met her. 

“Give… Give loans?”

Freya fired up when she heard him.

“Why else would I follow you?”

“You tell us. You were in all the banks we went to. I am telling you….”

“You also went to fifteen banks?”

Jason felt lost.

‘I thought I was the one who is crazy enough to be that desperate.’

He looked at the two women carefully. 

Both of them looked well-dressed. Actually, they both looked as if they were from a rich family. He thought they were trying to give him a loan, but apparently, it wasn’t the case. They must be going from bank to bank, trying to get a loan approved. 

He wondered if they were as desperate as him.

‘Should I buy some new clothes and try? Wait! There is no use. They are also going to bank after bank, even after dressing like that. Let’s not waste any money. Maybe they can try dressing like me. But that didn’t work well, either.’

“Fif… Fifteen banks? Why do you go to so many?”

Ashley was even more lost.

“Obviously, to get a loan, just like you guys.”

“We didn’t go to fifteen banks.”

Freya clenched her fist to suppress her anger. She already regretted initiating this conversation. 

“Wait! You went for more?”

Since there were two of them, he thought of a possibility, and he felt helpless. He only went to fifteen and all fifteen banks rejected him, and these two must have gone for more. 

‘Then should I just give up?’

He again wondered about the organ sellers.

“Why do we go for more? We only went for three.”

“Oh!”

His spirit instantly went up. These two were obviously lazy. Then he might have a chance to get a loan from another bank. 

“Hahaha….”

Ashly found this entire thing to be hilarious. Although she didn’t know why this guy went to fifteen banks to get a loan, she found him to be interesting. 

The guy looked malnourished, and she couldn’t say he was handsome with his sunken cheeks. However, he had a deep gaze that was filled with determination. She suddenly wondered why this guy was so desperate and how much he wanted. As for the reason for getting rejected, she could guess it by his clothes. 

“How… How much are you trying to get?”

“One hundred thousand.”

Jason answered in a dejected tone. 

“Alright. Let’s start over. I am Ashley Steel, and this is Freya, my cousin.”

“I am Jason Hope.”

He really wished this conversation would end here and he could look for another bank.

“Why do you need money?”

“Ashley….”

Freya didn’t like Ashley’s tone. Because she knew this boy had caught Ashley’s interest. 

“Sigh. Whatever….”

She looked away when Ashley looked at her with a broad smile and puppy eyes. 

“Look. Ma’am… I am flattered. But I really need to find a place to get this money.”

Jason didn’t have more time to waste. If he couldn't get this money, then he had to go back to work from tomorrow. Today was crucial for him, and he wouldn’t get a day off until the end of the week. 

“If you can give me a good enough reason, I can lend you money.”

“Ashley?”

Freya pulled Ashley back. It was just a hundred thousand, but it was still their money. 

On the other hand, Jason wondered if they were trying to scam him. 

“It is just a hundred thousand, Freya. Not a million.”

“Sigh. Do whatever you want.”

Freya gave up when she saw Ashley’s eyes.

“Well?”

Ashley gave Freya a winning smile before looking at the young man.

“How do I know if you can lend me that much? Besides, you are not guaranteeing that you will give me the money?”

“Yes. I don’t guarantee. But can you guarantee that you can get a loan?”

“Fair enough.”

“As for who I am… Here.”

She gave her card to Jason.

“Ashley Steel?”

Jason looked at the name card with only a name and a phone number. 

“Steel corporations?”

Ashley looked at him with surprise.

‘Am I supposed to know her?’

Jason slowly started typing the name on his phone, taking a suspicious glance at the girl.

“Seriously? Did you live under a rock?”

Freya was the one who lost her patients again. This idiot actually didn’t know the Steel Corporations.

“Jumping from one foster home to another, actually. Sometimes I would have been happier if I was under a rock.”

After he returned, Jason felt his memories were getting refreshed. Although he had forgotten most of it, he always thought he missed many things in this world.