BIA Ch. 71

“I told you to bring cash.”

“Who carries cash these days?”

“Useless.”

Isaiah clicked his tongue and went into the apartment building first.

“What, you can just pay with the fee included!”

Manny grumbled from behind, as if he felt wronged for being cursed at. The taxi driver loudly wished Isaiah a good night, not Manny.

“Hey, you’re back, right?”

Manny shouted, running into the building as soon as the fare was paid. Instead of answering, Isaiah silently went up the stairs and opened his apartment door.

“Isaiah!”

The door was only half open when Chester, who had been sitting on the living room sofa, jumped up like a spring.

“You idiot, Liberty Port! Why the hell did you go there? What, were you planning to stow away or something?”

“Shut up.”

Isaiah frowned and headed to the kitchen. He didn’t have the energy to deal with Chester’s unfunny jokes. From the car, he felt like his throat was parched dry. And even if it wasn’t just because of thirst, ignoring Chester was the best policy.

“Hey, you…”

“Chester.”

Manny called out to Chester, who was about to say something.

“My guess was right. This guy’s back.”

At Manny’s words as he closed the front door and came in, Chester shut his mouth.

“Why are you guys talking about me coming back since earlier?”

Isaiah said as soon as he gulped down the bottled water he took from the fridge. He could ignore unfunny jokes, but he couldn’t ignore bullshit.

“I told you not to try to control me like this. As long as it doesn’t interfere with work, I’m free to do whatever I want, whenever I want. If you try to interfere like you’re my boyfriend just because you’re acting like one,”

“Are you Isaiah Cole?”

Isaiah frowned at Chester, who cut him off. Annoyed, he just stared without answering, and Chester asked with a serious face.

“What day is it today?”

Only then did Isaiah realize something was wrong. Chester’s expression was too serious to be dismissed as a joke. More than anything, he himself couldn’t even remember how or why he had gone to Liberty Port.

“……”

Isaiah put the water bottle back in the fridge. Feeling the two men’s gazes on him, he slowly walked to the living room. He sat down next to the sofa where Chester had been sitting and said.

“November 9th.”

Chester and Manny sighed at the same time.

That almost confirmed it. But Isaiah still couldn’t believe it. Or rather, he didn’t want to believe it.

“Give me your phone.”

Isaiah snatched Chester’s phone and checked the date. November 13th, Sunday. 8:23 PM.

“……Manny.”

This time, he called Manny. As if he had been waiting, Manny handed over his phone. The same numbers were displayed on his phone as well.

“……”

His head started to throb. Isaiah gave the phones back to Chester and Manny, and checked the most urgent matter first.

“Who’s the boss?”

“The announcement was delayed. It’s scheduled for Wednesday.”

Wednesday, that’s three days from now.

That was a relief, at least. Isaiah ran a hand over his face and sighed briefly.

“Where’s my phone?”

“We don’t know either.”

“What…?”

Isaiah raised his head and looked at Manny. When their eyes met, Manny said with a flustered expression.

“You’ve had it the whole time. But you weren’t answering your phone, so we…”

Before Manny could finish his sentence, Isaiah jumped up. He went to his bedroom and checked his bed first. Even if he didn’t have his smartphone, he always kept the feature phone he received from WD on his bed. It wasn’t for carrying around, and it needed to be charged constantly due to battery issues, so the charger was plugged into the outlet next to the bed. So he always left it on the bed, but…

It was gone. That phone. And the gun he always put under his pillow was also gone. He had all the extra bullets inside that gun.

“This is insane…”

Isaiah muttered, running a hand through his hair. Getting off the bed, he immediately knelt on the floor and pulled out the wooden box he had placed deep under the bed.

It was a box that he had to struggle to pull out each time because of the weight of the guns inside. But today, it felt strangely light, and sure enough, the box was almost empty. There were only three pistols when there should have been at least seven, and none of the rifles were left.

“What the hell…”

He was staring into the box with a hollow expression when suddenly a voice filled with anger came from above.

“That bastard Bran must have taken them.”

“What…?”

Isaiah raised his head and looked up. Chester was standing right behind him, looking into the box with him.

“Bran came here?”

“Yeah.”

Chester shouted, roughly pulling at his tie.

“You were amnesiac for five days. You were completely different. Manny and I tried to hide it, but Bran must have found out eventually. That bastard even ran into me here. He must have been using the fact that you didn’t know anything to come in and out of this house and remove anything that could be a threat to him.”

His headache got worse. He even felt dizzy. Struggling to get up, Isaiah sat on the edge of the bed and said.

“Explain it so I can understand. From the beginning.”

“It’s exactly as I said. All of a sudden, you were claiming to be a college student named Isaiah Diaz or something. A nineteen-year-old Latino. Of course, you acted like you’d never even held a gun before.”

He wanted to retort that it was some ridiculous story, but the situation was too detailed for that. And Isaiah Diaz. Chester didn’t know about the man he had met at Liberty Port. Yet, the fact that that name came up out of nowhere in this situation meant only one thing. He must have said it himself.

Isaiah Diaz. And nineteen years old. Did I really say that myself? And even while making such claims… I met Bran too?

He felt his blood run cold. Casually looking down at the box at his feet, Isaiah finally realized that the book he had hidden under the gun was also gone.

He had a bad feeling.

Getting off the bed, Isaiah rushed to the cabinet. As soon as he opened the door, he rummaged through the clothes piled haphazardly and pulled out the envelope that was at the very bottom. It was as he expected. His documents were all there, but Bran’s ID was gone.

Did Bran take that too? Or maybe… did Chester or someone else take it?

Just thinking about it made his heart sink. Isaiah tried his best to stay calm and asked.

“Then, in the past five days, other than Bran, no one else came to this house?”

“Manny and I came.”

Chester said. “Why, is something else missing?” Seeing the serious expression on his face as he approached, it seemed Chester hadn’t taken it.

“No, nothing.”

Was it a relief, then? Isaiah thought, putting the envelope back in the cabinet. No, it was definitely a relief. Even without the photo and signature, they could somehow find out who the ID belonged to. It was better for Bran to take it than for it to fall into Chester’s hands.

He almost put Bran in danger with his own hands. That was the worst, the absolute worst situation that could have happened.

“Ha…”

All the strength drained from his body in an instant. He felt like he had come back from the gates of hell. So much so that he even thought that nothing else mattered anymore.

He was serious. He felt like he wouldn’t be surprised no matter what happened now. Whatever it was, it was better than putting Bran in danger with his own hands. Bran approached him, who had lost his memory, and tried to remove anything that could be a threat? He was capable of that. He would have done the same if he were Bran.

Isaiah closed the cabinet door and went back to the bed. He sat on the mattress as if he had collapsed and pressed his forehead with his hand. All the tension was released at once, and the headache returned.

“Hey, if your head hurts, don’t just mope around, take some medicine.”

Chester clicked his tongue.

“I don’t have any.”

Isaiah said, still pressing his forehead. Suddenly, Chester picked up something from the head of the bed and tossed it onto Isaiah’s lap. It was a box of Tylenol.

“Why is this in my house…?”

“Ah, that’s.”

Chester suddenly crossed his arms and lifted his chin.

“I bought it for you. Because you had a cold.”

No wonder his head kept throbbing. He had gone through all sorts of shit in just five days. Isaiah clicked his tongue and tossed the Tylenol into the wooden box under the bed.