04. As A Dealer He Can

 

"What—what are you doing here?" Sieghal asked, stepping back to close the door. But Helbert held it open with his strength.

 

Sieghal's panic grew, sweat dripping down his face. He didn't want Helbert entering the house with just him inside, so he tried to push Helbert's hand away, hoping to shut the door and lock it. But his efforts were futile as Helbert forced his way in and locked the door behind him.

 

"Why are you doing this?! I'm sure my dad condition is your fault, right?! That's why you're at the hospital!"

 

Sieghal spat, saying something meant to infuriate him, but Helbert didn't care. He pulled Sieghal close, reducing the distance between them to mere centimeters. Sieghal could feel Helbert's breath on his face.

 

"If your fear lies in the ocean, why blame me?"

 

"Wh—"

 

"I didn't come here to argue with you," he said, releasing Sieghal. "I'm just here for a negotiation you ignored in the first place."

 

"I already told you, I'm not negotiating with you."

 

"Even if this job could earn you millions in just three months?"

 

Sieghal's brow furrowed. Earlier in the elevator, Helbert had offered him a job similar to his casino work as a dealer. But three months? What kind of dealer could make that much in such a short time? It would take decades to earn that with regular payments.

 

Helbert let Sieghal stew in his shock. He walked to the display cabinet behind the sofa, looking at the framed photos.

 

"With all these memories, I bet you don't want to lose this house, right?"

 

"I'm not selling this house to you! Whatever Theo says, the final decision in this house is—"

 

"A runaway for over a decade like you? Do you think you still have that right in the house your brother has kept up?"

 

Sieghal fell silent at that. He turned away, unable to deny the truth. He had run away, leaving Theo to handle all the work and responsibilities that should have been his.

 

"I have a cruiser setting sail in a week. It will sail around Asia, stop briefly in Macau, then return to Europe on a slightly roundabout route. It's a long trip filled with all the fun I offer, but I don't have a professional dealer to handle the VIP guests who are poker enthusiasts," Helbert paused, then turned to Sieghal, "I can offer you nine million dollars for three months on the cruiser as our special VIP dealer in the casino."

 

"Are you mocking me?"

 

"Nine million dollars is more realistic than borrowing money at fifty percent interest and late fees. You're afraid of the ocean, not of being on a cruiser."

 

"You've been rambling without asking what I really want from you."

 

"If you agree to the voyage, I'll not only give you that but also cover all your dad hospital bills until he's well. So, you can use that money to fix up the boat and renovate this old house without owing anyone."

 

"But you're making me indebted to you."

 

Helbert raised his head, looking at Sieghal with an air of superiority that no one liked. "If you feel indebted to me, then why keep refusing? I'm just trying to offer something small to improve your financial situation, not drag you into something terrible like thirteen years ago."

 

"Oh, how wise of you. Is this how the Dylan family offers a job, by threatening?"

 

"Because you keep avoiding me."

 

"You're completely opposite to the dignity you claim to have."

 

"And so are you," he replied.

 

Sieghal went silent. His jaw tightened with anger. He wanted to punch that handsome face, but if he did, it wouldn't be just him in trouble, but also Theo and his dad lying helpless in the hospital.

 

As Sieghal pondered the offer—an offer too big to pass up—Helbert walked past him, unlocked the door, and stood in the doorway.

 

"The sooner you decide, the better it will be for you," he said before leaving Sieghal alone in the quiet house.

 

Sieghal collapsed after Helbert left. He felt like he would be devoured alive if he kept resisting and responding to Helbert's words.

 

This was frustrating; only bad things happened on his first day in Shira. What should he do now? Helbert Dylan's visit was unexpected, and even if his offer was genuine, Sieghal didn't think he was that naive.

 

Sieghal didn't believe that a 'simple transaction' like offering a dealer job would solve all his problems. Besides, a cruise? It felt like an insult, knowing his fear of the ocean.

 

He looked at the display cabinet Helbert had approached. Sieghal got up to look closely at the photos, focusing on a family picture that stood out.

 

In a small frame in the middle of the living room, his dad and mom held baby Theo while Sieghal was in his dad's arms. They stood before their house, and Sieghal remembered his mother's happiness when they arrived.

 

It was the first house his family owned and the only memory left after his mother's death. Maybe that's why his dad never wanted to renovate it despite its dilapidated condition.

 

"What should I do? If this continues, Theo will go back to the sea to make money after selling this house. But if I accept Helbert's offer, then I'll be the one going to sea," he muttered in frustration.

 

Sieghal sat in the living room, looking at the old, rotting wood ceiling. Despite the lack of repairs, the house was spotless. Maybe Theo had been cleaning it all along, and Sieghal realized he had missed how hard his brother had worked for their family, which fell apart because he ran away.

 

As Helbert had said, running away was the only term that fit his foolishness over thirteen years. And the only reason he did that was because of that man.

 

Sieghal stood up and walked out to the back door. A small yard led to the hills and forest not far away. Beyond the mountain was a high cliff and a luxurious mansion standing strong—the Dylan family's home.

 

A house from which the owners seemed to oversee all of Shira, every nook and cranny, without missing a thing. While all of Shira believed in a guardian deity protecting the small fishing town, always providing abundant fish each year and protecting the fishermen at sea, to Sieghal, that deity was nothing more than a monster controlled by the Dylan family.

 

"This feels like I'm about to sell my own soul," he muttered, full of frustration.