"Seriously?"
"Yep."
He shook his head with a laugh.
"Bluey definitely ran into a wall this time.From what I've heard, Rüzgar hasn't shown any real interest in a girl for the past six years. And it's not even that he turns them down or brushes them off—he just stays completely unfazed, no matter what they do. At first I thought maybe he was gay, but if that were the case, he wouldn't be so indifferent to me either. And somehow, that only made the girls even more obsessed with him. If you knew how many girls have made bets with their friends about 'winning' Rüzgar, your jaw would drop. The guy even ended up on the city's 'Top Ten Most Popular Single Men' list just because he's unreachable."
My mouth fell open as I stared at him.
"There's a list like that?"
Then I remembered what I should've asked in the first place and waved a hand, eyes closed. "Wait, wait. That's not the point. How do you know all this about Rüzgar?"
"That's not even all. There's more."
I squinted. "Did you research him, Mete?"
"Not just him. I researched all of them."
He said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. My eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"
He nodded, and I stared at him like an idiot. "But why?"
"I needed to know who I was leaving you with. You three idiots love throwing yourselves into the middle of chaos like you're Charlie's Angels, without even knowing who you're dealing with. The people we got tangled up with aren't just a few random punks. I needed to make sure, for all of us, that the people around us are good enough and trustworthy."
I scratched my head, thoughtful, and murmured, "I guess you're right."
Then I shrugged and set the laptop aside again. "Go on then. What else did you learn?"
He grinned, pleased with himself.
"I'll start with this. Rüzgar's interests are cars and illegal racing. People won't shut up about how good he is at it. And apparently he's very good in a fight too. Enough that a bunch of people who messed with him ended up with hospital bills the size of a mortgage. Despite that, they say he's helpful and fair. When you combine that with his complete indifference toward girls, it earned him an interesting nickname. 'Saint.' If you say that name in the right places, it can open a lot of forbidden doors. Other than that, there's not a single detail about his private life."
"So basically, Mete, you described him like he's a superhero and we just don't know it."
He laughed and shrugged. "Why not? I think he'd make a great Silver Surfer."
"Silver Surfer, my ass. If anyone is Jack Frost, it's Rüzgar." I leaned closer. "So what did you hear about the others?"
"If you asked about Kerem directly, you'd be less obvious, Duru."
"Nope. I'm really curious about Demir too."
He chuckled and nodded. "Not gonna lie, his was entertaining. Demir, aka Casanova. Never faithful to his girlfriends, and he has no issue seducing girls who already have boyfriends. Apparently almost half the girls in the city have cheated on their boyfriends with him. As you can imagine, that's raised the number of men who hate Demir to the point where they could form an illegal organization, but somehow our hero is still alive. His interests are basketball, and he was captain and playmaker in both high school and university teams, and still is. He's also gotten offers from multiple pro teams since high school, but weirdly, he turned them all down. His skills are climbing to high places, picking any lock, and shooting, based on how many first-place awards he's won. The second one is suspicious, but the first is probably a talent he gained through flirting. And the last one, I'm guessing, has something to do with the fact that his dad and brother are both very successful cops."
I stared at him. "Mete."
"Hm?"
"When did you become a paid CIA agent, honey?"
He burst out laughing, shoulders shaking, while I kept staring at him with the same suspicious seriousness.
"You're getting more and more mysterious," I said. "I still haven't processed you secretly being good at fighting, and now you've added 'professional investigator' to the list. If your real name turns out to be David Webb Jr, I won't even be surprised."
He squinted. "Was that a Jason Bourne reference?"
I grinned and nodded. "I can't help it. I like him."
He gave me a weary look and poked my shoulder.
"You say the same thing about Loki, Duru. Your taste in fictional men is questionable. Anyway. Bora. His interests are surfing and photography. And the only truly interesting thing about him is this: the guy is an incredible chess player. It's hard to believe that adorable idiot can handle something that requires strategy and analytical thinking, but his medals say otherwise. His talent in math also drew teachers' attention throughout school, kind of like chess. Of course, his careless, laid-back personality kept him from developing those areas properly. But I think family problems played a role too. His sister is seriously addicted to drugs and has been in a private clinic for a long time. My guess is she occasionally escapes and starts using again, and that's the real reason her treatment keeps being extended."
I looked away and tugged nervously at the sleeves of my pajama top. "Can we just watch the movie now?"
I knew cutting the conversation off like that was rude, but I couldn't help it. The things he was saying were dragging up memories I'd buried deep and hadn't dared to face yet.
I wasn't ready. Not now.
"Are you okay, angel?" Mete asked, watching me with concern.
I forced a smile. "I'm fine, honey. I just want to watch the movie."
"You're not curious what I found out about Kerem?"
"Tell me later. Let's watch the movie."
He must've noticed how uneasy I was, because he nodded with quiet understanding.
"Okay. Whatever you want."
He pulled the laptop onto his legs and lifted his arm with a cute little grin. I smiled and immediately tucked myself under his arm, resting my head against his chest. He restarted the movie from the beginning, and when he stroked my hair gently, I relaxed a little more and focused on the screen.
About an hour later, I sniffled as I accepted the tissue that was pressed into my hand like a blessing and wiped my eyes. When Mete went to the bathroom and came back a while later, he sighed at my puffy, messy face, handed me another tissue, and sat down again.
At that exact moment, the bedroom door opened and Feyza and Aylin walked in.
"We're back! We're late, but the breakup talk took longer than I expected."
Feyza's excited voice died the second she saw me. Her brows knitted, and she pointed at me.
"What happened? Why are you crying?"