Bab 8: She is Played With

"Rowan!" Ran felt goosebumps forming on her arms because of Rowan's growly soft whisper so close to her ear. His soft, alcoholic scented breaths trailed to the front and into her nostrils, suffocating her to some extent.

"Please don't leave me too," His whisper transformed into a whimper as he held Ran's hand. He lowered his head until his forehead touched Ran's shoulder while tightening his grasp on her hand.

'We barely know each other and you're already asking me not to leave you? Oh boy, affectionate drunk people are such a hassle,' Ran didn't dare voice out her thoughts as she let her free hand finally rub his fluffy curly fringe.

'But I shouldn't judge. I probably acted like this too that one night...' She felt her arm starting to ache after so many rubs, 'This will count as payback for that time.'

She patiently waited until her show of affection finally satisfied Rowan. His small growl of contempt indicated for her to stop her rubs and finally push his heavy head off of her shoulder.

"Satisfied now?" Ran asked with slight amusement in her voice. Although affectionate drunk people were annoying when demanding for attention, she had to admit that they were much more endearing than their normal selves. She chuckled when she saw Rowan slightly nod his head in response.

Indeed. This puppy-like Rowan was much more adorable than his stiff(?) awkward manner of constantly saying "Based on my observation" or "I came to the judgement" and so on. This way of speaking initially threw her off a bit, but she's grown accustomed to it by now. After all, it was their like what fourth meeting now? 'Enough to become best of friends,' Ran joked to herself.

"Rowan... are you—?" Ran hesitated.

"No, I'm not?" Before she even managed to finish speaking, Rowan cut in on her and shook his head.

"...Oh, whatever," Her thought wasn't even worth the time anyway, especially to a drunk person, "Come on, let's go."

...

"We're here. C'mon now! Get in and somber up," Ran pushed Rowan forward to the entrace of his apartment building. He looked back at her with puppy eyes, as if reluctant to separate from her.

'Oh no way am I escorting him all of the way to his room. Too dangerous to do that with somebody I've only known for a few days,' Ran gestered a 'go on in' motion with her hand as she watched him obediently enter. She didn't leave until she saw that he safely entered the escalator and (hopefully) pressed the right buttom to his floor.

"Drunk people. What a sight to see and handle," She put down her waving hand and stood there for a moment. There was something wrong somehow...?

"My purchase!" Ran finally remembered why her hands felt so empty. "What in the world happened to what I bought?"

She tried to recall all of the events that occurred, AKA when her bag mysteriously disappeared. She had it when she met the drunk Rowan, she had it when she walked him to his home...

"That god damn drunk took my purchase from me when I placed it on the ground to pat his head," She blamed herself for forgetting it pick it up again. She also cursed herself for not realizing that the bag Rowan was holding onto while entering his apartment was indeed her purchase.

"His puppy expression distracted me," She made an excuse while pondering over what to do. After all, the clothes were for her interview! And it costed a staggering 200. She absolutely needed to get it back, but how?

...

Rowan woke up somber from a few hour long nap with a minor headache, his mouth feeling incredibly dry. He cracked his stiff neck and back before pushing his heavy body up from his sofa. He sat there with a dazed expression for a minute before a bright red blush covered his entire face.

"Getting intoxicated was beyond my judgement," He facepalmed due to his stupidity and also to hide his embarassment from interacting with Ran earlier. He couldn't remember all of the details, but he could definitely recall their major conversations and his childish, emotional behavior. He got way too carried away during his smoke break.

"I must have miscalculated my tolerance level for alcohol due to my excitement," He recalled downing four bottles of alcohol by himself, ignoring the worried warnings of the shop owner. Afterwards, he saw Ran and everything went downhill from there.

"I must apologize to her later," Rowan breathed in to cool his unusually hot face, sweat trickling down his forehead.

Once he finally calmed down, he pulled out his phone and checked the time.

"3 am," He whistled at his own guts of steel since this was the longest smoke break he's ever taken.

Rowan threw off his pungent white shirt into the laundry basket in the living room and replaced it with an exact same white shirt. After spraying on some cologne, he fixed his appearance and got ready to head out.

Except...

"What's this bag doing here?" Rowan saw a lone plastic bag next to his doorway and stared in confusion. He didn't go shopping during his smoke break, so what is this bag? He scratched the back of his head and picked up the bag. Inside it were clothes... Female clothes.

"Could this belong to...?" He tried to recall all his interactions with Ran, but he couldn't remember picking up anything along the way.

"It most likely belongs to her. I should ask her the next time I see her and also apologize for this," Rowan kept the bag as he left his apartment room, the lock turning as the door shut.

...

Ran thought about waiting outside Rowan's apartment until he came out, but after waiting the first hour, she grew tired. So, she made the decision to miserably walk back home and hope that she runs into him again soon. Worse case scenerio, she'll have to buy another pair of formal clothes and return the old ones if she gets it back in time. It was especially urgent since the interview was scheduled in two days.

"Hah... it's like I'm cursed by the world itself," Of course Ran hasn't forgotten about all of those horrible events she's experienced recently. She just chose to move on, yet the world somehow insists on dragging her down.

"Well this isn't the worst I've ever experienced," She huffed and turned into a street. She walked for a few minutes before realizing she entered the wrong street.

'Curses. I can't believe I'm getting lost in a city I should know in and out. How come some of the streets decided to change places?' She turned back in a hurry. Otherwise, she really might collapse in exhaustion.

...

"Sir. I have information regarding the request from before," A man entered an auspicious room while pushing up his glasses, looking rather guilty.

"Gerard," The man with the slicked back hair looked away from his computer and took off his work glasses, "It took you so many days to run an inspection when it should have only taken a few hours. Give me a good reason not to punish you for your irresponsibility and the entire team for their incompetence this instant."

His tone was quiet and calm, as if he were having a regular conversation. However, the underlying growl in his voice and his cold stare expressed his disappointment with the man, causing the atmosphere to tense up.

"Sir," The man named Gerard now had sweat forming on his forehead, but his voice remain undisturbed by the other's warning, "I apologize for taking so much time on the inspection, but the team has informed me that they have encountered an error in the system. I decided to get back to you after the team has confirmed this without any mistakes."

"An error?" The man's eyebrow raised slightly, intrigued by this unusual detail. He thought for a moment before his lips curled into a mischievous smile. "How interesting," His laidback aura returned as he leaned back onto his chair, planning his next plan of action. He tapped his finger on the arm of his chair as he waved the relieved Gerard out of his room, dismissing him from punishment.

"Now the little mouse wishes to play hide and seek. Very well..." He smirked as he went back to working on his computer.