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CHAPTER 4

Everyone saw the car that was parked in front of the Nagano villa that day and rumors spread like wildfire. The tall fences and walls that separated the large properties of our neighborhood, did a good job at hiding secrets but that didn't stop the people from talking. No one really knew what happened a good month ago, when my new boyfriend fell off our school's rooftop and I was found beaten, bloodied and half dead, but there were some interesting theories circling around. Even if none of them were true. The appearance of a police car, sparked a new wave of rumors and I could almost imagine the rich parents, their sons and daughters and even their staff, standing by their windows, pointing towards our villa and whispering among each other.

These days, people pronounced the name of our family only in a whisper. Both because of my father's power and my bad reputation.

" What do you think that our neighbors are saying about us? " I asked and looked at Baekhyun. He was crouched down on one of our villa's many balconies, hiding from the strong sun in the shade of the railing and smoking a cigarette. He was distracted and watching Mina instead of really listening to me. The house manager was in the middle of supervising the gardener, who was changing the shape of the bushes in our garden. She saw that our neighbors did the same thing the previous day and she wanted to make sure that the beauty of their home wouldn't surpass our own. Baekhyun seemed to find it absolutely fascinating how rich people wasted their time on things like that.

" That your gardener got inspired when he was high on drugs. Are triangle shaped bushes really in this season? " Baekhyun asked and shook his head in disbelief.

" You know that I'm not talking about the stupid garden. Also, don't say things like that around Mina if you don't want her to hate you even more than she already does. Don't tell her that I called her garden 'stupid' either. She takes a lot of pride in how great our house looks, " I replied and frowned in annoyance. A frustrated sigh escaped my lips when I leaned on the railing of the balcony. After the conversation that I just had with a police officer, all I wanted was a breath of fresh air, but that day was incredibly hot. Summer was still months away, but I was hoping that the high temperatures would make chef Manon change her mind and start making her homemade ice cream a little earlier than she usually did.

" People always talk. Who cares? You know what the truth is. Why would you get hung up on lies? " His voice was serious, but he didn't sound like he completely believed in what he was saying. It seemed more like together with me, he was trying to convince himself too. I was eyeing him from the side and repeating his words in my head, but I couldn't stop thinking about the police officer, who told me to say that my ex boyfriend jumped off that roof instead of falling. He wanted me to lie. " How old is she? "

" Who? Mina? " I crossed my arms on my chest and rolled my eyes. " She's too old for you. She would never go for a man like you either. "

" How would you know? " he snapped, took his gaze off the redhead and glared at me instead. " You're just a kid. You know nothing about adult dating. "

I frowned and protested: " I'm eighteen. "

" Exactly. A kid basically. You tend to act like one too. Sometimes, you remind me of my cousin, who is still in diapers. " Chuckling in amusement, he lit up a second cigarette and ran through his dark hair with his hand. He was wearing basketball shorts, a baggy t-shirt and he was preparing to do some kind of sport, same as every other day, but I had yet to figure out what it was. With his wounded leg, it didn't seem like he would be able to do much and I was a little curious about how he used his free time. He had a lot of that while he wasn't tutoring me and he always disappeared in some hidden corner of the villa or headed towards central Tokyo, without saying where he was going or when he would come back.

" I'm acting childish? You're the one who's been hiding here ever since that cop parked his car in front of our house! " I snapped and narrowed my eyes.

The sound of my sudden screaming, made Mina turn her head and gaze towards the balcony that we were standing on. Baekhyun barely managed to pull me down before she would see me. I was crouched down by his side, his arm was wrapped around me and he was covering my mouth with his hand. " Hey! No wonder Mina doesn't like me, when you keep screaming things like that! "

I mumbled something in his hand, before he carefully moved it from my face and allowed me to hiss: " You're the one who's acting shady and suspicious. "

" We all have our faults. You should be aware of that, since you have a lot of them. " Rolling my eyes at his mischievous smile, I tried to stand up again, but he only tightened his grip around me and added: " One of my faults happens to be my dark past. Hiding from cops is a natural instinct to me. "

" We all have a certain darkness in our pasts, " I said, purposely using his own words against him. A scoff appeared once he realised what I was doing and my lips stretched in to a smug smile. " What did you do though? It can't be worse than my own past. I got a dead body on my conscience. "

I was purposely trying to make things humorous, when in reality, my past haunted me every single moment of the day and even more in my nightmares. It was always on the back of my mind and nothing seemed to be able to erase it. Instead, time was only making it worse and a part of me wished that my wounds would never heal, so that I would be able to keep hiding in my house forever.

" I've got one too. " My eyes grew wide with surprise at the sound of his words and I waited for him to explain, but he never did. Instead, he flicked his cigarette over the railing of the balcony, even if the housemaids kept telling him to use ashtrays and stood up. I saw him smile when he stepped inside and saw somebody. " I thought that I noticed someone eavesdropping to a private conversation. "

" So you're the new guy, huh? " My father's personal driver, mister Morisaki Kentaro, was standing in front of Baekhyun and watching him. His dark hair was slicked back and there was a pair of dark sunglasses on his nose. I heard that he worked for my father since before I was even born and the two of them seemed to have some strange friendship going on, but he was always somewhat cold towards me. His features hardened whenever he looked in my direction and he tried to keep our conversations as short as possible. It was obvious that he would prefer not talking to me at all. " I heard that you like to joke around and act like a smartass. Interesting qualities for a person from Yugagata, where acting stupid could easily get you killed. "

Baekhyun seemed to want to say something, but he completely forgot about it when he saw the old star-shaped tattoo that mister Kentaro had on his hand. " You were a part of that biker gang when you were young? My uncle was one of the members too. I used to think that he was extremely cool because of that. Maybe I overestimated him. I can see now that their standards for new members weren't very high. "

Baekhyun patted his shoulder and strolled inside the house. I was snickering in amusement until mister Kentaro stepped in front of me and held his hand in my direction. His face was as serious as ever, but there was something strange swirling in his dark eyes. After hesitating for a moment, I grabbed his hand and let him pull me on my feet again. '' I heard what happened today and what the cop said. Are you going to listen to him and lie to everyone? ''

'' Probably. What else am I supposed to do? ''

At that time, it seemed like admitting the truth would hurt more than letting everyone believe in a lie.