Lookism: What Am I Even Doing?

Chapter 65

(Daniel's POV)

None of this made any sense. If it really was true that Ila was somehow involved with the Four Crews...exactly what did that mean? A person can be connected to something through many different ways. And Ila was a bit of a loner. If you put her loud personality aside her life was pretty clear cut and she was always by herself if not in school.

Was I supposed to believe that she really belonged to one of the members of the Four Crews? Thinking about it like that was completely absurd.

There was no way she could be part of God Dog since Johan didn't recognize her that one time when they met. And if she was part of Big Deal then why would she stand up for Jiho? Does that mean she was somehow a part of Hostel or Workers?

No, I refuse to believe that. Like I said, her life was lonely if it wasn't for us. There was no time for her to be involved directly with these sorts of things. Home or school. Those were the only places you could catch her unless she was working out and she was too dedicated to strengthening her body to toss aside even five spare minutes for someone else.

But she was still involved regardless.

Could that mean she was involved as a smaller third party? Jace was also right when he mentioned that she always seemed to know where to be. For some reason that made me think of DG, Gun, and Chairman Choi. The three of them are involved in the Four Crews but not directly. All of them keep going forward as if they know a lot of things I could barely grasp.

Did that mean Ila was like them in some way? She knew some secret of the Four Crews? What could she possibly know? Didn't she just get here from America? It hasn't even been two full years since she's arrived and the chances of her finding out some big secret in that small time was almost impossible.

What did she do before this? Maybe there was something in her past that could lead me to answers. Jace and Vasco sat thoughtfully as we sat in Ila's Uncle's living room. I sat with my head hung low and my hands on my knees. I wasn't sure to look and the sheer anxiousness of being here was making it hard to keep myself from sweating. The tension was making the room unbearably hot.

When I mentioned this to Jace, his first thought was to gather information straight from the source. I really was hoping the whole walk here that he meant asking around for rumors but much to my dissatisfaction, he brought me here. Her Uncle walked around the house in crutches. He said he was recently in a scooter accident.

The three of us immediately felt the burden of having him feed us dinner but he insisted. It's not like we could decline after his excuse.

"I haven't gotten used to cooking for one yet."

How were we supposed to just walk away from something sad like that? Still, I felt my stomach rumble lightly at the sight of fried chicken, large portions of rice, and various side dishes. I looked up from the food in front of me and focused on the dark rings underneath his eyes.

"Thank you for the food~", we all said at once.

We ate in silence for a bit before my glances became too obvious.

Her Uncle wiped his face with a napkin and then sighed, setting his hands laced in front of his face, "So...what do I owe the pleasure of you three coming to visit?"

Vasco immediately got up. He shook the table as he pushed his chair out, sending all the plating and silverware to rattle. I held still what I could as he bent forward into a low bow. I could feel a small blush of embarrassment at the back of my neck.

What was he doing....

"UNCLE, SIR! We apologize for coming here suddenly!"

U-uncle? I looked at Vasco and Ila's Uncle. No way, were the rumors true? Was Vasco actually dating Ila? There's no other reason that he'd address him like that otherwise.