7 PM
Paul, who had already returned to his apartment, was sitting on the sofa, fiddling with his smartphone as if he were waiting for something.
His living room was dark; he had already turned off the lights. Soon enough, a notification arrived on his phone. He quickly tapped it and opened the screen.
It was Baldy's report, expected to arrive before six.
At least, that's what Loka had said to Sara, and what Sara had passed on to Paul, Simon, and the others. Paul, however, believed it was never too late. He quietly thanked Loka in his mind for at least delivering it.
Carefully, taking his time, Paul read through the contents of the report.
Ten minutes later, he changed into an all-black outfit, from top to bottom: black jeans, a black T-shirt, black shoes, and a black hoodie. After making sure everything was in place, he walked to the exit door of his apartment, opened it, locked it again, and slipped the key into his front jeans pocket.
Next, he took the elevator down to the ground floor, stepped out, and walked toward the main exit of the apartment building. After crossing the main yard and metal gate, he reached the main street and waited for a taxi. Perhaps the place he was going to wasn't nearby.
After a few minutes, a yellow car with black stripes pulled up beside him.
Paul opened the back door and got in, saying to the driver, who was wearing a white T-shirt under a cheap brown leather jacket that looked like it hadn't been polished in months, paired with worn-out blue jeans.
He had sunken eyes and dark spots beneath them, a patchy beard covering half his cheeks—probably hadn't shaved in weeks—and medium-length hair that just touched his ears, all greasy and unkempt from hard work and exhaustion:
"Red-fit streets."
The driver gave a short glance at Paul's reflection in the rearview mirror, nodding inwardly, and pressed his foot on the accelerator.
Meanwhile, in the back seat, Paul had already adjusted himself, looking outside the window.
Many people were walking home after a long day of work, and some were waiting beside the street food stalls to get their meals. Lights from small stores to big buildings all illuminated the scene.
Though he was looking at them, his mind had already shifted elsewhere.
He recalled the contents he had read: Baldy's real name was stated to be "Liam Hart." He lived near the City Style Mall in an average, cheap rental apartment. He also saw the exact location and a picture of the apartment in the report, age thirty-two. He had been unemployed for the last two months.
Paul wondered, "He did have a job, but wasn't mentioned here. I guess I won't really know the truth until I look for it myself. You think too, right?"
His last job was something related to transportation at port side, in a place called "Neomar."
Neomar, is it?
Paul recalled the place vaguely. "It's on the edge of the island. What's this Baldy doing out here?"
He, almost three or four days a week, went to the nearby bar called "Night Light," but rarely chatted with anyone there. Even daily customers in the bar didn't know him well. Also, even if someone had seen him there and had a chat with him, they didn't know much about him.
He didn't talk about anything related to himself or his work, but there was an exception.
It was another man. Name unknown.
Who was more mysterious than Baldy himself.
This man infrequently came to the bar, but he's the one who talked with Baldy much more than others.
Though it clearly wasn't mentioned in the report, Paul speculated, "Maybe this was him."
There was nothing about his family or close friends; he also scarcely talked with his neighbors.
Ten minutes later, the taxi stopped, and Paul came back from his mental abyss. He opened the taxi's left door, which was facing toward the walking street, and got out.
After paying the driver in cash, he took out his smartphone and started walking at a slow pace.
Meanwhile, the taxi driver put the cash in his leather jacket's pocket, pressed the accelerator, and drove off to find his next customer.
Paul observed, with the corner of his eye, the taxi going straight ahead, but the City Mall was not even ten meters away from the place Paul got out of the taxi.
He quickly reached the mall; however, it wasn't his destination. Giving a side glance towards the City Mall, which was still open, a four-story-tall building with yellow and light blue colors.
There was a big name banner up front in the entrance inside, which was illuminated with blue color. On the edges of the banner were strips of light changing color, going around the edges of the name banner and changing color every second.
Paul noticed that there were very few people entering and exiting, his mind slightly drifting, "Is it because of the timing, or...?" But he quickly brushed past those thoughts.
Paul didn't go to places like this, so he didn't have much idea about them. All the clothes he wore—his school uniform, regular clothes, even the clothes he wore for special occasions, which were rare—were given to him by either Simon or Sara. Sara had bought them for him.
One day, Sara invited him, Julian, and Alex to go watch a movie together.
He obviously tried to decline at first, but when Alex urged him, "I am going too, and it's a pretty fun movie; you won't regret it for sure," he somehow agreed to come and watch a movie with them.
However, Julian made a very lame excuse, as he always did. He said:
"Sorry, I can't. I haven't talked to my mom in the past two weeks because of work, you know? How would she feel when her only family, her own son, doesn't have time for her? I really wanna go with you guys, but... anyway, have fun without me."
Sara suggested to Julian that he could visit tomorrow or some other time, but Julian didn't listen and respectfully cut the call and the invitation.
Meanwhile, at that time, Paul didn't have many clothes or any dressing sense; he doesn't have any now, either. He wore the most suitable clothes he had: a white shirt, black formal pants, black shoes, and a black blazer.
When he arrived at the meeting place that Sara had decided on beforehand, he saw her standing alone, waiting for him and Alex—Julian wasn't coming.
She was wearing a short skirt that covered up to her thighs, black stockings, and a white-colored t-shirt, covered with a long, light brown-colored jacket that almost reached her knees, and heeled sandals.
Her hair was tied up in a bun, with a few little curly strands of hair falling side by side like veins of a tree. A small golden wristwatch adorned her left hand. She was checking the time every minute.
He walked up to her and checked the time on his smartphone. Just one minute left until the time Sara had fixed for the meeting.
Sara was glad to see him, but upon scanning his dress, she felt a little… only she would know what she felt.
The first sentence that came out of her mouth was:
"Really? Don't you have something else to put on?"
He first felt irritated, but after looking at himself again, he replied, "No."
Sara ignored his words and said, "Let's go then."
He wondered, "Wait, isn't Alex also coming?"
Sara had just taken a step when she looked back, saying, "What? Alex didn't tell you that he wasn't coming?"
"No," he didn't mention anything to me, he wondered, why??
Sara made an expression like she didn't know the reason either. He quickly took out his smartphone and called Alex. After two rings, someone answered. "Yeah, has something happened?" It was Alex's voice.
"Why didn't you tell me you weren't coming?" Paul asked, looking at Sara's back.
"I texted you, though, didn't I? Last night? Did you forget?"
He tried recalling but didn't remember receiving a message from Alex last night. He thought maybe he forgot to check and slightly said, "Ok," and asked, "So, where are you right now?"
"Right now?" The voice was a little hesitant. "Even I don't know... Sorry, buddy, it's time; I have to go ASAP. We'll chat later when I get back. Have fun..." And the call ended.
He put the phone back in his pants pocket and asked, "Just the two of us?"
"What? Is there any problem?"
Paul denied it with a gesture, and both he and Sara walked to their destination.
They both watched the movie together, but it was some romance stuff, which he clearly wasn't fond of. But from time to time, he glanced at Sara.
She was clearly enjoying it. Later, Sara went to buy some clothes, and all the time, Paul was just following her like a good puppy.
The main thing was that she bought the clothes for Paul, much more than what he had at the time. After that, they ate and went to their places, which were called home.
Leaving the flashy mall behind, he took a left turn. After barely six steps, he paused, etching the scene into his memory. The neighborhood felt eerily quiet as he headed towards Liam's place; the city's roar fading into a distant hum. Flickering streetlights cast the only glow, like a scene from a horror movie.
He passed the first lamppost, each spaced about ten to fifteen meters apart. Glancing right, he noticed ashoka trees lined up against a brick wall. Lamplight spilled from the house, illuminating two bikes and a car in the yard. The brand eluded him, but he recognized it from previous visits.
His gaze darted left, right, then straight ahead, passing several homes until finally, he arrived at his destination.