Immediately after school, Eva packed her bag and boarded a cab straight to Ida's place. The latter was in the middle of finishing a bowl of instant noodles when Eva burst in, the door slamming against the wall. On seeing the scene, Eva put on a dramatically sad expression, her lower lip trembling.
"I was taken away, and you didn't even worry or get sad for me! You even had the appetite to eat!" she cried, flopping onto a nearby stool with theatrical tears.
"You ate heavily and five times a day when I was down with the flu and couldn't eat a thing," Ida replied blandly, not even looking up from her noodles.
"Why do you still remember that? It was two years ago, and I was eating your portion!" Eva defended herself, already eyeing the remaining noodles.
Ida rolled her eyes, a long-suffering gesture. "So? What's the verdict on the walking death machine?"
Eva's demeanor shifted, a genuine spark of interest in her eyes. "6th Anderson is actually different from the rumors. At least for the hours I have spent with him. He cooked my meals, made sure I slept early without doing anything, woke me up to get to school early this morning, and even drove me to school," she rambled, picking up a spare fork from the table and digging into the shared bowl of noodles.
Ida watched her, unimpressed. "Probably because he thinks you have the brain of a child."
"It's a really good thing! I get free princess treatment. I really struck gold with this marriage," Eva said around a mouthful of noodles. Then her eyes widened as she remembered something important. "There's a disadvantage, though. He's actually a secret federal investigator," Eva said.
This made Ida pause, her fork hovering midair. "Seriously?" she asked, her frown deepening.
Eva nodded, swallowing. "Well, that's dangerous," Ida stated, her voice overly concerned. "Because there's a very high probability he is looking into the assassin in pink. Not just that, you have two new job offers. How are you going to work?"
Eva reached over and pinched Ida's cheeks with a bright smile. "You are so cute when you worry."
Ida swatted her hand away. "This is serious, Eva."
"I would be fine, baby; sneaking around is one of my favorite things to do. It would be just fine," Eva said with a dismissive wave of her fork. "So what job offers do I have?"
Ida shook her head negatively, but seeing Eva's nonchalance, she reluctantly accepted it. Having no choice but to believe Eva could handle it, she opened her laptop, typed in a password, and turned the screen to face Eva. "You can choose one or take both. This isn't a bounty kill; it's a personal job. And one of the men is Zino's illegitimate son," Ida said.
Eva exclaimed immediately, "Hey, why am I getting jobs relating to Zino these days? Who has the oldie offended?"
"I think it's because of the purple gold that was found on his property; rivals are probably trying to force him to give it up because, of course, Zino refused to accept the claim that another crime organization actually owns the gold and had misplaced it on his property," Ida explained.
"Too much nonsense. How much is the pay?" Eva asked as she slurped up the last of the noodles from the bowl in front of her.
"A hundred thousand dollars," Ida said with a slow, knowing smile.
"No wonder you chose it," Eva said, sharing the same predatory smile. Ida laughed, a rare sound from her.
"The other job is a shady ex-celebrity makeup artist. He's perceived to know some secrets he isn't supposed to know. This one has a payoff of 30,000 dollars," Ida said.
"I'll take it," Eva said without hesitation.
Ida nodded. "I'll send all the important information you need to know about both kills to you. You are expected to make both in a week or two."
"Noted," Eva said and pushed the empty plate towards Ida. "Where did you get these noodles from? They were actually good."
Ida shot her a glare as she stood up to clear the bowl. "You won't even answer my innocent question," Eva pouted, but Ida ignored her, heading to the small sink to wash the dishes.
Eva got home past ten, the night air chilly. As soon as she opened the door to the bungalow, she almost freaked out by the sight of Jervis sitting and facing the door directly with a belt in his hand; he looked like he had been waiting all day for her, ready to beat her to death for real. The low light in the room cast sharp shadows across his face, making him scarier.
"Come in and close the door," he said. His voice was calm, but it wasn't trustworthy at all.
With a gulp, she stepped in and closed the door behind her, but she didn't move away from it, her body poised for a quick escape if necessary.
"You ended classes by 4:00 pm, but you are coming home by 10?" he said, his eyes fixed on her.
"I went to play at Ida's place," she replied, her voice small.
"And you didn't think it was too late by this time?" he asked, his voice still calm.
"I do it like that at home. Nobody says anything," Eva said, shrugging slightly.
He delivered the blow straight and clear: "Anyone who says nothing about that is a bad person and should be avoided. It is very dangerous for you to be out by this time without a guardian. So from today onward, you will return home from wherever you are as soon as it's 7 p.m. If you end up being later than that, you have to call me." He stretched out his hand to her, palm up. "Give me your phone."
She handed it to him immediately, and he typed in his number and then handed it back to her. "Save it immediately."
She fumbled with the phone, her thumbs clumsy as she created a new contact and saved his number.
"Eva," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument, "if you return home this late again without calling me, you will be punished." She nodded vigorously in understanding. He stood up and walked away, his message delivered and the belt in his hand hanging casually on his shoulder.
Eva sighed in relief; at least he didn't hit her, but just at that moment, her stomach let out a loud, plaintive growl, betraying her hunger. The sound made Jervis pause mid-stride. He didn't turn back but changed his course, heading towards the kitchen instead of his room.
"Go change your clothes and come out for dinner," he said, his voice losing some of its earlier ice.
She didn't need to be told twice. She hurried to her room to change, her guilt momentarily overshadowed by the tantalizing prospect of a home-cooked dinner.