IN THE CAGE

76. UNFINISHED

...NORMAL pov...

...----------------...

"It's been pretty good, Ace boss." It was a speech Felix made on the first day of class learning to cook their curry. But, even so, his interlocutor showed no satisfaction. Ace stood with his arms crossed at the chest. Eyes stared at the bowl of curry which was his umpteenth work that morning. The work of which of all his works-still disappointed him.

"I'll do this again tomorrow" Ace said. He looked out the window. To the blue sky that had greeted. Ace needs to prepare himself for work. Although he was still not satisfied with the results of his work, he could not continue to struggle with the meat and potatoes that had been panned he threw away because of failure.

"Alright, Ace's boss."

"Prepare for Fawn's breakfast now and oh.., don't mention this kare matter to her."

Felix nodded once more, and Ace left. Heading to his room, to where the figure he loved was sound asleep in the thick blanket deck. At least, that was how Ace thought until he finally opened the room door. The Fawn he thought was sound asleep - already sitting on the lip of the bed, feet hanging touching the cold marble floor.

Fawn looked up at Ace with a large puff. "Where are you from?" fawn asked, his eyes watering from drowsiness.

"I have a job," Ace said, not to make Fawn immediately believe. Blame it on the strong aroma of the spice that emanates from Ace's clothes.

Was the man struggling with kitchen spices before this? Ace also doesn't look like a man who just finished work. Not with his pajama arms rolled up to his elbows, sweaty forehead, eyes as fresh as a watermelon. Ace when finished work usually looks tired, eyes sluggish and head down.

"Are you-" Fawn was about to say something-but stopped in the air. He developed a smile and scratched his eyebrows. "No, nothing."

"What's wrong?"

"No, nothing." Fawn shook her head and returned to lay her body on the bed. Somehow, the girl started giggling herself under the attracted blanket up to her chin. Ace looked at him astonished, but reluctantly asked. Maybe Fawn's just crazy. This isn't the first time Ace has seen Fawn acting strangely. This is just one of the many oddities Fawn Ace loves.

"I'm going to take a shower now" Ace said after picking up a towel from the closet. He walked over to Fawn on the bed. Sitting at the side of the bed and staring at the pair of childish hazel Fawn eyes. Like a boy who wakes up in a state of joy.

"I'm curious about the contents of your head," Ace said without being able to hold back his smile.

"You won't know." Fawn said, a big smile.

"You make me curious."

"There are some things you shouldn't know, okay?" Fawn chuckled again.

"Well, whatever it is..." Ace bowed and kissed Fawn on the forehead. "I'm glad you're happy."

"In a moment," stop Fawn as Ace is about to pull himself away from Fawn's face. At a shocking speed, Fawn grabbed Ace's face and gave a kiss on Ace's cold, moist lips. Ace was instantly stunned, but that did not prevent him from reacting and replied to Fawn's pagutan back.

Two minutes - until Fawn finally pushed Ace's shoulder with great exertion - the man let go of his pawn. Their eyes meet. Fawn with aggravation, Ace with disappointment.

"You can't be fixed at all" Fawn said. The man could have shed his clothes if they had stayed in the pawn for longer. Fawn had already memorized the man and all his bad habits.

"Why? I thought you wanted that?"

"No one, no one wants anything!" Fawn said fiercely. He kicked Ace, rolled himself in the blanket and turned his back to the man. The Ace Fawn left behind only sighed grimly. Damn, he was excited first.

...----------------...

Jerome-Ace-personal assistant-was reading Ace's schedule today very seriously. He stood in front of Ace's table, holding a black tablet with the label of the partially bitten apple.

While Jerome explains that today Ace needs to meet a new client from Mesa Tech, his boss, Ace even evaporated long. Tears gushed thinly in the black eyes of his boss who often looked at humans like looking at trash.

"Boss Ace" Jerome was amazed. It's not usually Ace yawns. In Jerome's work experience, the number of Ace yawns before his eyes could be counted as fingers. The man is usually very focused at work, fresh appearance and sharp eyes. He never looked like an office employee in general, an employee who came to work with an helpless lamp.

"Continue on," Ace said as he wiped the wet on the tip of his eye.

"Then, today too, after meeting with Mr. Sakamoto, Ace's boss had a 20-minute break before we checked into the arsenal in the South. I've prepared a private jet to get there today. Mr. Frederick will be waiting for Ace's boss there to discuss the agreement regarding the new weapon and its license."

"Ah," Ace felt his head as if it was about to explode. Too much activity and he's just one person. God fucking. Life is so exhausting. Ace just wants to go home and hug Fawn. That must be very comfortable.

"Is boss Ace okay? I can cancel the meeting with Mr. Frederick if Ace's boss is unwell."

"No need, I just lack sleep."

Meanwhile, in the Ace workspace whose room temperature is below 20 degrees. Ace leaned against the bench with his eyes closed. He had a lot of work to do, but his sleepiness made it very difficult to pay attention to anything. All of this thanks to the lesson of making his curry which is held every 3 am with Felix. Ace's sleep time is only a little-became less due to the kare cooking lessons.

Today is Ace's third day learning to make kare. Little by little, his efforts showed satisfactory results. Felix praised him with a sumringah the whole time, that Ace's job was already very good and Ace could stop now.

Ace would not stop. Not before he could produce a curry that was truly equivalent to an expert chef's work. This food was Fawn's request, food was also something Fawn loved so much in this world. Ace doesn't want Fawn's first experience on her food to leave a despicable trail or be limited to 'oh, pretty good!'.

"Excuse me, Ace's boss." Jerome came in and knocked on the door.

Ace opened his eyes - and instead of looking at Jerome with coffee, Ace saw his assistant come in with his uncle.

"Ace, are you sleeping?" Jack Hunter raised his eyebrows in astonishment. A shocking awkwardness.

"Just need a little rest." Ace chimed. As Jack enters and joins Ace at the table, Jerome who just stops at the door returns to his room and pours one more cup for his boss uncle.

"I'm moved. You don't look like a man who knew rest before."

"Am I a robot?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "You look like that a while ago."

"So, what brought uncle here?" Leaving aside the issue of whether he was a robot or not, Ace changed the topic by anchoring their topic to his visiting uncle Jack.

"I found a clue to Fabian's death."

As Ace had guessed, there was indeed something.

"I didn't say this to Margot because she was in a relationship with the elder Rashid. If he knew this information, he could get out of control again and start acting with no brakes at all."

"Say, what is it?"

"Someone from Rashid's family, I don't know the specifics of their relationship. But.., Fabian got in touch with him and met him a few times."

"Consider?"

"No," Jack handed me a picture on the table. A photo of a woman sitting side by side with Fabian, a bright red lipstick lit up. "Eleanor Finnigan, or you know, Eleanor Rashid."

"Huh?" Ace frowned in wonder. He did not understand at all the situation that began to involve people who should not be in this scheme at all. Does Eleanor want to monitor her family? Is this Anggara?

"You may be confused" said Jack Hunter. The man paused his remarks as Jerome walked in and handed him two cups of coffee on the table.

"Thank you" Jack Hunter said at a glance to the young man who had worked hard at his nephew's side. Jerome responded with a nod and retreated without a word at all.

"It's just my speculation, but.., I think he's trying to do this to impress someone. You'd know better, wouldn't you?"

"someone? Uh..." Ace understood immediately. 

Eleanor Finnigan is a parasite. To be able to survive in this environment, he needed to cling to people who were able to make him look strong. He renounces his Finnigan name and rejoins Rashid, but that is not enough.

Now he was chasing another figure, a man who could still be within his reach, but not a man anyone could underestimate. Killing Fabian - a figure that is likely the right hand of the man targeted will make the man alert and interested at the same time.

"Be careful with Jemaine Emery from now on, Ace." If Jack's calculations are correct, then Jem is the one who already hired Fabian as a spy. Jem was also the one who had planted the bomb in Margot's car at the time.

That bastard bastard!

"I'm always careful." Ace said calmly. "I just need to increase my protection to Margot from now on."

"I'll contribute to that."

"Please don't lower your vigilance one bit."

"All right, uncle."

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