INM 5 Part 1

Chapter 5: Promise

“I’m telling you!”

With another sigh, I ran my hands through my cool blonde curls.

“It’s true that it’s not the typical chair shape that everyone imagines, but at least it serves its purpose as legs, right? Right? This curve is great! And it can hold a lot of weight…”

I was so engrossed in my speech that I grabbed the mug on my desk and took a sip, almost unconsciously. On the other side of the desktop screen, which I bought for its design, the other person was as engrossed as I was, piling up words. The excellent built-in speakers picked up every nuance and bounced it around the office.

“Listen, Kirk. You’re probably using gold and more gold and white and gold all over the floor and walls, right? Then this design absolutely fits! Just put my chair data in VR first! We can talk after that!”

As I shouted this at the screen, the reception bell rang, announcing a visitor. This had been happening more often lately. I’d been pretty diligent about letting Megan and Wyatt know about visitors, so it wasn’t unusual for the front desk to contact me so often until a few days ago.

“Looks like I have a visitor. I’m going to hang up now. Just put my chair in VR! Then I’ll listen to your complaints!”

I ended the call, stood up and walked over to the controller. Brian, who was elegantly sipping coffee on the sofa, spoke to me.

“You’re quite popular.”

“Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel that way.”

I replied, pressing the button on the controller. Wyatt’s cheerful smile appeared on the screen.

“Hey, Luke. You’re pretty popular lately.”

Repeating exactly what Brian said, he informed me about my visitors.

“It seems that the university students who visited recently are back. There are only two of them this time.”

“Really… By the way, which one came?”

“They are both boys, and one of them has red hair.”

I see. At least I found out that one of them is Kasim. Speaking of which, yesterday I sent him the cop’s contact information unilaterally and left it at that.

I glanced at Brian, who was sitting on the sofa. The man, who had been watching me out of the corner of his eye, gave a small nod in response to my look.

“Okay. I have a rough idea of what they need, so can you send them up? I was about to take a break anyway.”

“Got it.”

Wyatt ended the call with a cheerful smile.

“Those students we were talking about before?”

“It seems so. I’ll have them sit on the sofa, so could you move to the glass table?”

“I’m about to leave, but I’ll say hello first. I’ll come back in the evening to share the information we didn’t get yesterday.”

“I hope it’s not bad news…”

Brian shrugged exaggeratedly at my words and got up. He rinsed his cup in the sink and disappeared into the bathroom. He seemed perfectly prepared to me.

“You’re not going to get upset just because some students are coming over, are you?”

The low murmur apparently reached the bathroom. Brian stuck his head out and grinned with a relaxed expression.

“You are so clueless.”

“What do you mean?”

Without answering, Brian smiled mischievously and retreated to the bathroom. Feeling slightly uneasy, I switched on the electric kettle and took out the same Iittala cups as before. As I was putting tea leaves into the pot, the doorbell rang.

“Hey, welcome… Wow, what an unexpected pair.”

The two young men who had been quietly waiting on the other side of the door… none other than Kasim and Viktor! They exchanged glances at my words and nodded awkwardly.

“I think so too.”

“I can’t deny it.”

“Well, come in for now. I’ll hear what you need inside.”

“Thank you.”

Kasim’s polite words of thanks trailed off.

The two students looked behind me, surprised and silent.

Following their expressions, I turned to see Brian coming toward us from the washroom, and I couldn’t help but press my forehead with my left hand. The pristine white shirt, free of stains or wrinkles, was the same as always, but now the tie that had been stashed in his pocket was neatly draped around his neck. It was a striking royal blue that suited him perfectly. His trousers were crisply pressed, and his well-kept belt and shoes were plain black. Every button on his shirt was buttoned without a gap.

The man walked toward us with such elegance that even I found myself staring, and he stopped right next to me. With a calm expression, he looked down at the two young men and then, at the perfect moment, relaxed his mouth… a sharp smile that was undeniably meant to be attractive. His hair, previously neatly styled, was now slightly disheveled for maximum allure.

Standing beside me in bitter silence, Brian slowly extended his hand to the young men.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Brian Darcy.”

“Ah, yes, nice to meet you. I’m Kasim.”

“Victor Moreau.”

Even the usually brusque Victor seemed a bit overwhelmed by Brian’s presence. No wonder. What on earth is this? Could he really be turned on by the appearance of young men?

If that’s the case, I would break up with him right now.

“I have to go now, but please make yourselves comfortable.”

Brian told the young men, then turned back to me with a smile that hid his firm resolve.

“See you later, darling.”

A sudden bad feeling hit me at that smile and I reflexively took half a step back. Brian quickly caught up with his long strides and approached me with a meaningful expression on his face. No, no, that can’t be… Brian dismissed my thoughts with a confident smile, then bent down like a cat and pressed his lips to mine.

The skill and comfort of this kiss made last night’s awkward kiss seem like a distant memory… No, no, this is not the time for that. What the hell is he doing?

Brian lifted himself from my lips. Satisfied with my expression, he gave the three of us a dazed look before disappearing through the entrance.

“Um, he’s really cool, isn’t he?”

Kasim sighed in admiration, then added hesitantly.

“But that guy, how shall I put it…?”

“He’s a strange one, isn’t he? Lately I can’t figure out what he’s thinking.”

My tired words caused Kasim and Victor to exchange glances. They nudged each other for a while, but finally fell silent.

“So, what brings you two to the office so suddenly? It’s a weekday. Don’t you have classes?”

“Classes start today in the afternoon. I was a little worried because you didn’t answer my messages.”

At his words, I realized that I had left my device in my bag since last night.

“Oh, right! Sorry, Kasim. I didn’t feel well last night.”

I tried to emphasize my point with the bandage I had wrapped around my head, but I had taken it off first thing in the morning. Fortunately, Kasim seemed to believe me and asked, “Are you okay?”. I nodded confidently even though he looked doubtful.

“At least it’s good that you weren’t involved in a strange accident. If it’s okay, can we discuss the police matter here?”

“So you’ve already been interrogated?”

“Yes, it was your request.”

“So you came to see me with Victor?”

Victor, who had been standing around looking bored, raised his head and shook it.

“No, I just came to see the letter. You know, the silly letter that was delivered by a very primitive method.”

“Oh, right, we talked about that.”

“When I told Chloe about the letter, she seemed to sense something. No matter how much I asked, she wouldn’t tell me anything, so I decided to come and solve the mystery myself.”

“I see…”

“Your house is conveniently located in downtown Brisbane, so it was easy to drop by. I just happened to run into Kasim on the way over.”

“We both have classes in the afternoon, so we’ll leave at noon.”

I listened quietly and nodded, twitching slightly at Kasim’s last words. They can’t possibly intend to stay until noon, can they? Maybe it’s time to tell them about the hustle and bustle of freelancing.

I pulled myself together, sat them down on the sofa, and prepared tea for the three of us. When I asked if they would like some pound cake with dried fruit, the reply was, “We had breakfast, but we’re only about eighty percent full, so if you make it, we wouldn’t mind having some”. So I brought them some cake as well.

“So you mentioned that you were questioned?”

They called it “cooperating with the investigation”. They happened to be nearby when I called, so we met in person.

“Oh, I see. May I ask what they asked you about? Just out of curiosity, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Nothing special. They asked how I spent the day of the incident, what my relationship was with Alan, what I knew about Alan’s friends, and my impressions of him.”

After Kasim’s explanation, Victor, who had just swallowed the last bite of cake, snorted.

“Hmph, I don’t like it. They asked me all kinds of detailed questions. Do they suspect me more than you?”

“Of course. You’re one of Alan’s closest friends right now. Even if I were the police, I’d ask you more questions than Kasim.” 

“Hmph, that’s true.” 

Victor, who didn’t seem entirely displeased, picked up a slightly faded light aquamarine celadon cup. As he did so, Kasim placed a light blue cup on the table and began to speak. 

“What did they ask you, Vic?” 

“Nothing special. Same as you, my alibi, how I met Alan, Alan’s social circle, Tony, and then a lot about myself.” 

“Heh.”

“It was a terrible time. The only amusing moment was my roommate’s confused face when the cops showed up.”

Kasim, who had been listening and thinking deeply next to my shameless grin, interrupted.

“So, Vic, you’re also thinking about checking your alibi around 10:30, right?”

“Of course.”

“So it’s probably the drugs, isn’t it?”

“Most likely. It’s the most rational explanation… or rather, given the circumstances, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Kasim sighed with a furrowed brow, and Victor, who raised his eyebrows at that, both turned their eyes to me. I sipped my tea with a cool expression, shook my head coolly at their stares.

“Don’t ask my opinion. Unfortunately, I couldn’t follow the conversation at all.”

Perhaps impressed by my honesty or feeling pity, Victor explained without mockery.

“At the funeral, the priest said that Alan “fell asleep” at 1 a.m.”

Seeing that I should understand this, Kasim added a clarification.

“The time when the cops checked our actions is quite different. Alan’s body was found in his own bed and even after the autopsy they couldn’t determine if it was murder or suicide. I think he was given some kind of sleeping pill in a dosage that would cause a slow death.”

“Pharmacology isn’t my area of expertise, but considering the time difference, it seems the drug dosage wasn’t very high. Alan’s body just couldn’t handle it.”

Shadows fell on her green and blue eyes. To shake them off, Victor gave a quick nod.

“Well, anyway, it seems neither of us has been asked much. Let’s finish our information exchange here. It’s my turn next, Luke. Can you show me the letter now?”

“I don’t quite understand why you think it’s natural for you to see someone’s letter, but all right. Just wait a moment.” 

Victor just shrugged his shoulders at my sarcasm. As long as he could see the letter, he didn’t care about my complaints.