JET REPAIR
*Ugh, this job is seriously exhausting.* Dante mumbled to himself. He would come here six days a week to work and pay off the debt his father left behind. He was almost done with it, just $12,000 left. Most of it was gone, only a little remained…
"Hey Dante, that's enough for today. Go home before it gets dark. Hasn't your sister's school finished?" asked Dante's master.
Dante replied, "No, boss. Natasha stays at school from Monday to Friday, she's in boarding. And when Natasha isn't home, I'm always alone… My mom… Mom—"
Before he could finish, his boss cut him off, "Alright, alright, no need. Go home now."
Dante looked at his boss with a happy expression and said, "Okay boss, see you tomorrow!" He smiled, wiped his sweaty face with the towel on the table, took off his overalls, and left the repair shop after saying goodbye to his boss. As he walked towards home, he checked his pocket, he was hungry, and the fridge at home was empty. Seeing he had money, he immediately sat down at a nearby burger place.
EVENTS AT THE BUSY CAFE
The bald man's head felt like it was about to explode, but it wasn't physical pain—it was the spiritual voices that were destroying him… Constantly, over and over again: "You, the one in front of me, you, mine, you, you, boss…" Strange voices and thoughts kept coming, as if they would shatter his skull. The man tried to hold his head and scream, but he couldn't even open his mouth…
No one around him was even looking at him. Was all of this just a coincidence?
While this was happening, a waiter came and placed a cup of coffee in front of the shirted man who had given the candy. On the cup was written "Shinycafe." Was it really a coincidence that this word kept showing up in eerie places?
After the waiter left, the shirted man began to speak, "So, how's our candy…? Anyway, you won't be able to speak for 30 seconds, but after those 30 seconds, you will be mine." He then smiled unpleasantly.
The bald man couldn't handle it. He couldn't stand up, couldn't move his arms… He was completely helpless. But after exactly 30 seconds, everything stopped. The bald man could now move, he could speak.
But something was wrong—he wasn't resisting, he wasn't screaming, he was calmly sitting there…
The shirted man took a sip of his coffee and spoke again, "So sir, how's our candy? Did you like it?"
The bald man calmly answered, "It was wonderful."
How could a man who was completely paralyzed just 30 seconds ago suddenly become like this?
"So, would you like to get a hair transplant? Very cheap, real hair." The shirted man asked an unrelated question.
The bald man, with a happy expression, answered, "Of course!"
Then the shirted man calmly called the waiter, whispered something in his ear, and started walking with the bald man toward a back room in the cafe.
Everything happened so quickly. When they entered the room… A man in a suit with bright red hair said, "Hello, soldier," while pointing a gun-like device at the bald man's head and pulling the trigger.
But this wasn't a gun—there was no sound at all… And during all this, the bald man remained completely calm. How could this be possible…?
After pulling the trigger, the red-haired man took a hat hanging on the coat rack and put it on his head. The bald man lost consciousness right after the trigger was pulled. He was carried by the waiter and the shirted man out of the back door and loaded into a mysterious truck. Inside the truck… there were five, maybe eight to ten men—their only common trait was that they were all bald.
BURGER PLACE
Dante finished his burger, reached into his pocket to pay the bill. The cost was almost all the money he had left.
Dante sighed tiredly, took the money out of his pocket, and handed it to the cashier. Then he started walking home. It was getting dark—actually, it was already dark. Dante was walking past a park; he had changed his route because he stopped at the burger place…
He saw a girl sitting on a bench in the park, someone who didn't look like she was from his culture at all.
He froze when he saw her. Her bright yellow hair, her slim waist, and her stunning figure shocked Dante. The girl seemed to be around his age.
Dante was frozen for a few seconds, then started to walk again, thinking the girl hadn't noticed him. But Dante couldn't stop himself, he was really attracted to her.
So he turned back, ran into the park, and quickly approached the girl.
When he stood in front of her, he shouted, "HELLO!" without even realizing what he was doing.
The elegant girl in front of him spoke with a strange accent, "E-excuse me?"
Just as Dante was recovering from his shock, he froze again out of embarrassment.
"P-please, I'm so sorry… I don't even know how it happened, it just… happened…" he said nervously.
The girl started laughing and spoke again with her strange accent, "It's okay, you can sit."
Dante couldn't move for a few seconds but after getting over his second shock, he excitedly sat next to the girl.
The girl began to speak, "You're really brave. What's your name?"
Dante replied, "D-Dante. And yours?"ç
The girl answered, "Selina."
Dante was even charmed by her name and then asked excitedly, "You're not from around here, are you?"
The girl smiled and said, "Yes, I'm English.