Chapter 3

During the three days Randy was hospitalized, Maya brought him full meals every day without fail. Meanwhile, I nursed my own injury alone, forcing myself out of bed through the pain just to toast the bread.

As for Randy, he kept posting on social media to provoke me.

[A little scrape on my head still doesn't hurt my stamina.]

[My girlfriend's really starving. She's so eager.]

I calmly closed the app before getting up and driving to the hospital.

When Randy saw me come in, he raised his eyebrows and said in a sarcastic tone, "Well, look who it is. You still remember your friend is staying in the hospital?"

I ignored his mockery and walked over. Then, I pressed down on his head and turned it from side to side a few times. "You look fine. Why haven't you been discharged yet?"

Randy impatiently shook off my hand, a strange smile tugging at his lips. "What can I do? My girlfriend insisted on spending her husband's money so I could stay a few extra days. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to relax."

"Aren't you afraid her husband will come after you?" I asked.

Randy scoffed. "What, are you here to lecture me again, Mr. Righteous? He can't even keep his own wife close. How's that my fault?"

Then, he looked at me with a mocking smile. "You'd better be careful when you go on missions from now on. If something happens to you, your wife might use your money to support someone else."

I sneered when I heard what he had to say. "Is that so? You seem to really want something to happen to me."

Randy froze for a second, then waved it off as he leaned back. "Come on. Everyone knows you were always the most promising kid in our parents' eyes. If something happened to you, they'd be heartbroken."

I understood then. No wonder he always fell silent whenever I shared news of any achievements I had worked hard for. No wonder he always looked upset whenever I helped him out of a difficult situation.

It turned out he had never truly considered me a friend.

After I got home, Maya grabbed my arm nervously. "You went to see Randy?"

"Yeah. You found out pretty quickly," I said.

Maya paused, then immediately explained. "I came back and didn't see you, so I was afraid you and Randy had gotten into an argument. I just asked him about it."

When she saw that I did not react, she tested me carefully. "By the way, Randy is getting discharged next week. I invited some of his friends to celebrate, and it also happens to be my birthday, so I thought we could celebrate both occasions together."

I scoffed. "Since when did you become so close to his friends?"

Maya turned her face away and avoided my eyes. "Sometimes when I asked Randy for help, I'd run into them. Over time, we got to know each other."

I reached out, turned her face back toward me, and asked again. "Is that so? Then tell me, what exactly did Randy help you with?"

Maya's expression changed, and she snapped, "What is that supposed to mean?! You go on missions every few days. When the water heater at home broke, there wasn't even anyone here to fix it. Do you know how hard that is for a woman living alone?"

After that, she hit my hand away and slammed the bathroom door closed behind her.

It was laughable, really. All these years, the reason I had risked my life taking on dangerous missions was because of Maya. I wanted to get promoted sooner, so I could give her a better life. I even transferred every bonus the military paid me into her account without keeping a cent for myself.

Yet in the end, I could not even compare to an outsider who had fixed her water heater.

I picked up Maya's phone from the table where it was charging and casually tried a password. Sure enough, it was Randy's birthday.

I opened their chat. Half an hour earlier, Maya had asked Randy something.

[Why do I feel like Eric is acting strange? Did he find out something?]

Randy did not take it seriously.

[What are you worried about? He's so clueless. All he ever does is go on missions. Maybe one day he'll die, and you'll be free.]

[I'll get him drunk on your birthday, then we can do it right beside him. How about that?]

[You're so naughty! Fine, I'm all yours. I won't let him touch me!]