“You let them take your blood?” Minji exclaimed.
Zeno nodded. “They had a warrant. Having beef with the police is never a good thing, you know?”
Zeno knew first-hand how that felt!
“Zeno,” Minji sighed, shaking her head. “You’re not that kind of person. You rarely went out of the house when we were younger. Drugs? Taking money from sick people? You didn’t even want to smoke cigarettes when we went to that retreat once.”
Doha nodded in agreement. “Is your company doing something?”
“They’re going to deny it,” Zeno said.
“That won’t be enough, though,” Eli muttered. “Have you tried contacting those people you interacted with?”
Zeno shook his head. He couldn’t even remember the herb man’s face, and Kwong’s wife must be in the hospital, ready to give birth or probably on the verge of labor!
Eli ran his fingers through his hair. “So, that’s it, huh? You’re not even going to do anything?”
“I will lay low for a month and then find a new job,” Zeno answered.
Doha and Minji cast their heads to the ground. Meanwhile, Eli appeared annoyed more than ever. It seemed like Zeno wasn’t affected by all of these!
Just then, much to everyone’s surprise, Eli held onto Zeno’s collar.
“Eli!” Doha exclaimed, attempting to pull him away from Zeno.
But Zeno held out his hand and gestured for Doha to step back. It didn’t seem like Eli would do anything to hurt him. Zeno could tell from the look in his eyes.
“Seriously, how long are you going to keep this up?” Eli exclaimed.
“It’s inevitable,” Zeno argued.
Eli bit his lip. “Do you even hear yourself, Zeno? You’ve always been like this—just letting things happen to you. Since we were kids, you never fought for anything for yourself.”
Zeno’s eyebrows raised in surprise. This human has been like this since he was young?
“Remember when they accused you of cheating on that exam? You knew you didn’t, we knew you didn’t, but you just let it go. You didn’t defend yourself. You just let people believe whatever they wanted,” Eli continued.
Zeno pursed his lips.
“And your second girlfriend—she was obviously cheating on you! Everyone knew, and you just acted like it didn’t matter.”
Zeno allowed him to vent his feelings. It also provided him some information about his current host.
Eli laughed bitterly, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re so freaking lucky. Do you even realize that? Some people would kill for the chances you’ve had, and you just throw them away like they’re nothing.”
“And here we are, trying our fucking hardest but not getting near to what you’ve achieved in a month,” he muttered, but Zeno still heard him.
Zeno knew that his success wouldn’t take away from others’ success. However, Eli must be frustrated that Zeno wasn’t doing anything to capitalize on his fame, or to try and defend his name.
But then again, how could he when it was against his mission?
“Are you making a fool of us? Of yourself? What do you even want, Zeno?”
Zeno still didn’t answer, causing Eli to curse under his breath. Then, he let go of Zeno’s collar and stormed toward his unit, slamming it shut.
Minji sighed and turned to Zeno. “Eli is just having a hard time. I think he doesn’t have enough money for his tuition this semester.”
Doha pursed his lips but didn’t say anything. It didn’t take long for Zeno to know that they were disappointed in him, too. However, Eli’s anger had undoubtedly triumphed over everything.
“We should all rest,” Minji muttered.
Doha nodded and went to his unit, not bothering to greet Zeno a good night like he always did.
Minji merely smiled at him before going to her unit, too.
As he watched his friends walk away from him, Zeno scratched the back of his neck.
He had gotten what he wanted.
[Notable Meter: 20%]
However, why did it feel like he still lost something?
He sighed and walked back to his unit, where Maxie was looking at him with a disappointed expression.
“Did you hear us talking?” Zeno asked.
Maxie let out a deep breath and looked away.
Zeno clicked his tongue and picked up the old dog. “You would understand if I want to become ordinary, right? If that happens, then you’ll get your real owner back.”
“This life isn’t mine, to begin with.”
“I’m just fulfilling your owner’s greatest desire,” he explained.
For some reason, Maxie’s eyes appeared sad, but she quickly jumped out of Zeno’s hands before he could confirm it.
With that, Zeno fell to his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He placed his hand over his heart and felt that slight ache once again.
‘I’m homesick,” he muttered. “Yeah, that’s it.”
“It will end soon.”
But, as he closed his eyes, he began to wonder.
Is Avalis really his home?
***
Zeno’s largest fanbase had decreased by more than half the moment he was involved in a scandal.
Risa didn’t know what to make of it. She had seen celebrities come and go in her long career. However, she couldn’t help but think that Zeno wasn’t that type of person.
She sighed and decided to stay in his fanbase for now. She watched the latest episode of ‘Stars in My Ordinary Sky,’ and it seemed they still kept Zeno in. However, it was kept to a minimum.
The views were still the same, even higher this time around. However, the comments were a different story. It was filled with hateful comments regarding Zeno.
She quickly went to the group chat for the page admins. Fortunately, all five of them had stayed.
ZeNoEscape: What are we going to do? His company has refuted all of the rumors, but they don’t have any solid evidence.
Zenaur: Zeno is silent, too.
Zenosapiens: Should we shut this down?
Zenoholic: No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Let’s wait for now.
Risa had finally found something she enjoyed rather than modeling and acting, and she wasn’t ready to let it go for now. Just then, while she was lost in thoughts, their group chat was bombarded with numerous messages.
Zenaur: *sends link*
Zenaur: I found this! I think this was the guy that Zeno saved during ‘Code Black.’ It doesn’t have many views, but we can share it!
Zenosapiens: I found this on Tick, too! He’s the guy in the video where Zeno was accused of distributing drugs.
Rina quickly clicked on the videos and watched them with an agape mouth.
“This is… amazing.”