CHAPTER 10: THE COLD-HEARTED GUY

Dova stood leaning against the wall, staring at me coldly. "Turns out you have failed, Suri."

I chuckled. "Actually, I almost won the mission, and then something happened."

Dova shrugged. "In fact? Your mission is just auctioned."

"Okay, okay," I mumbled with folded arms. "Whatever you want to say."

"I don't think you were moving fast enough in your last mission, so eventually you will join another new team that can cover your flaws," he replied, putting his hands in his school uniform pocket. Seriously, Dova was cool enough as long as he stopped being so cold-hearted to me. "I hope you practice more often, Suri."

"Hey, Cordova," called someone. "Is she Suri?" asked a guy as he approached us.

Dova nodded. "The three of us will be on the same team."

"Oh, hello," I greeted. "I'm Suri."

"I'm Roy," he smiled. "I just received information about our next mission."

"Really? What is the mission?" I asked.

"It's best if we don't talk about it in a crowded place," warned Dova while observing the place around us.

The three of us finally left the division center hall, and went to the school's private shooting range instead. It was pretty quiet, hardly used except for target practice. One of the students who often visited here was Dova, because it was his favorite place since childhood. He used to be good enough at archery while playing with Fia and I at my house yard.

"So, what's the next secret mission?" I asked.

"It's a red mission," Roy replied. "This mission pertains to the lost of a cursed painting."

"The cursed painting?" I said ghastly.

"Another name for it is The Dancing Smoke," explained Roy. "The painting was very expensive, made by a man named Seno Joan," he continued. "Mr. Ferdy gave me only the data on where he lived, and location of the museum."

"Is the museum monitored by CCTV?" asked Dova.

"Yes, it is. But there's no evidence of theft's presence on the CCTV at all," Roy replied. "When morning came, the painting simply vanished from it's frame."

"Why is it called as cursed painting? Is it so magical that it can disappear without a trace?" I wondered. It made no sense to my thoughts. "Isn't there any chaos around? Where did the guards go at the time?"

"I think that's what we should find out, Suri," Dova responded.

"Okay, so when do we go for the museum?" I was very excited.

"The sooner, the better," Roy said. "What do you think?"

"It is far away from this city," Dova answered. "I propose to leave tomorrow morning. Let's prepare everything for the next three days."

My arm nudged Dova's shoulder intentionally. "Only three days? You're too optimistic, Dova."

"Overly optimistic? I'm a realist," he replied. "We just need to find information of that mysterious painting's presence, and that's it."

"Well, I hope the mission will be easy, too," said Roy. "Then I'll go first. See you tomorrow!"

Roy waved his hand and walked straight into the corridors of our school.

Now it was just Dova and I. We were standing, no looking or talking to each other. The wind rushed between us, made me wanted to chase Roy and leave Dova here to keep my presence away from his favorite place.

I was about to start a step.

"You'd be scared if your hair got stuck on a branch as you did last time."

I looked behind quickly. It turned out that Dova was smiling as he held the tip of my hair. It was so rare to see him smiling so bright. I swore I would intentionally let my hair get stuck on a branch one more time, if I could make him smiling that way.

"Why are you so happy when my hair got stuck?" I still stared at him. "Besides, I let my hair tied only for professional purpose."

Dova chuckled, sounded like as if he mocked me. Then suddenly that warm smile vanished. Now his serious face reappeared. "What about your marriage plans, Suri?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought about it yet," I answered confusedly.

"I took it all as a joke from the start," he stated quietly.

I smirked. "What if it's not?"

Dova wasn't answering. He just stared at me blankly. He lost in thought.

"What do you suggest, Dova?" I asked over the silence.

Dova looked at me deeply, as if I had just asked him a question that was blowing his mind. "Do you want that marriage?"

"What answer do you want?" I blurted out.

Dova then walked away. He kept made me wonder what he was thinking. He always did it, that cold-hearted guy.

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(Dova's Point of View)

This world was full of possibilities. In a positive way, there would be hopes for tomorrow. However, it could also be negative, when fear of loss appeared.

I had never been in that negative part, ever. Until now. Until I heard a joke where I had to pretend to laugh, I was scared. Before someone who was never been there in my life, became disappeared.

"Do you want that marriage?"

Just now, I let go of the question that had been my shield, because I always made up my own answers. I thought it would lighten up my mind, but it didn't. Because the answer wasn't whether you want it or not.

"What answer do you want?"

A girl near me asked a rhetorical question that already had an answer in it. And I felt sorry for myself for asking. Because I always knew, sooner or later, that day would come.

Now I realized a thing. My time with her was too short. I wished we could freeze time. Before someone from the future took it away from me. My part was over. I should be happy that my job to look after her was complete, but I wasn't. Pretending not to care would only reduce my fears for a while.

If this continued, before I really lost it, I would soon lose her first.

I realized I was overthinking about future possibilities. Feeling insecure of emptiness. I shouldn't expect anything, but that was what I did. It created greater fears.

But on the other hand, I knew my position as no one. So I was kind of going nowehere, not moving a damn thing. Or, I was like a donkey chasing a carrot in front of me. I never found the end of my goal, but I was reluctant to stop, though.

Sometimes I wondered if I looked good enough from that girl's eyes. Because all this time, I could always be replaced. Imagining how it happened was creating another pain. I always wondered how strong I was. Maybe with this, I would know my limits.

But it wasn't fair. On the other hand, I also wanted to know her feelings. Would I lose her? Would she lose me? Or we wouldn't have lost each other because we never have each other in the first place.

I might have been captivated by the moment. I felt I had it, before I even realized it. It wasn't my fault, it wasn't her fault either. It seemed as if moments like this were going to last forever, whereas it would collapse eventually. And I was tired of dreaming for something unreachable.

I couldn't answer anything now. No one could know how I feel, but that was not important though. If I could, I'd like to keep it locked up tight for God knew how long. Probably until this feeling reached it's smallest particle. Then it vanished into oblivion, and at that moment I would forget that we were both once in my dreams. Just a few thousand seconds to go, hopefully not forever.

****