In the small kitchen, there were three people sitting. After Harvey Dent's urgent call, Liu A'dou and Iselin fell silent.
Liu A'dou was willing from the start. To him, this was a win-win partnership. He worked as a cameraman and a reporter for the TV station, so he needed big news. Working with the prosecutor naturally meant big news, though it came with the risk of retaliation from the gangs. Liu A'dou wasn't afraid of that.
But Iselin was different. She was just an ordinary person, and she had her own concerns. However, no matter what Iselin decided, Liu A'dou would support her.
At this moment, Iselin was lost in her memories, thinking back to her younger days. Back then, to escape her father's influence, she and her mother moved around often and changed schools frequently. She remembered it was when she was in the first year of high school. At school, just like in society, there were always people who bullied the weak—this was what we now call school bullying. Iselin, as the new transfer student, became the target of the school's cheerleading squad, and it was unbearable for her. It was a classmate, a girl named "Selina," who stepped up to help Iselin. Unfortunately, Selina was just a frail girl, and the cheerleading squad had about twenty members, so the odds were stacked against them. In the end, Selina became a target too, and the two of them were bullied together.
Iselin remembered a time when they were locked in a bathroom stall by the cheerleading squad for an entire half-day. While there, Iselin asked Selina why she helped this new student. If Selina had ignored her, she would have still been able to go on with her life at school. But Selina said something that Iselin could never forget: "If I turn a blind eye, I won't be targeted, but sometimes people have to do what they think is right. I've always despised those people. This time, I want to let them know that there are girls in this school who won't follow their orders."
Indeed, if no one had stood up, the cheerleading squad would have ruled the school, making all the other girls live in fear. But as long as one person stood up, it meant that the forces of evil hadn't triumphed, and it could encourage those being bullied. From that day on, Iselin never feared bullying again.
Unfortunately, Selina dropped out of school not long after, and Iselin never saw her again. But from then on, Iselin became the backbone of the resistance against the cheerleading squad. Whenever she saw them bullying someone, she would step in. Eventually, the cheerleading squad would avoid her because while others tried to avoid them, Iselin didn't hesitate to stand up and even helped other bullied students. By the time she graduated high school, Iselin had successfully beaten one "evil force."
With these thoughts in mind, Iselin made up her mind. Harvey Dent was right, someone had to stand up. "Evil will never defeat justice, so no matter what methods those gangs use to retaliate, I won't be afraid."
"Well said!" Harvey Dent exclaimed, clapping his hands. Iselin's declaration was amazing.
Liu A'dou also clapped, "As long as we're careful, it won't be easy for them to take revenge."
"I have some experience in this area," Harvey Dent said. Sending criminals to prison had earned him many enemies, and he had been followed several times, so he knew what to expect. Since he wasn't working much lately, he could teach the two of them a few things.
"First, try to avoid isolated places, because they like to attack where there are fewer people. Second, you should get a self-defense stun gun and some pepper spray. They're very useful. Third, keep in shape so you can outrun bad guys if you need to..." Harvey Dent lightened the mood, trying to keep things from feeling too heavy for his younger counterparts. Giving self-defense advice in a relaxed tone helped keep the situation from feeling too overwhelming. Plus, not everyone would be targeted for retaliation. Some big shots preferred bribing or threatening relevant people to get themselves out of prison.
The bomb incident could only be described as one of the few retaliatory actions. "From now on, we'll contact each other directly by phone. I can guarantee that the footage you record won't leak from my side. Of course, since you're reporters, if it gets public, your identities will be easy to discover, so you'll have to be even more careful than I am."
"It's fine. Like our station manager said, any reporter who hasn't been threatened isn't a good reporter. I don't believe they can always send bomb killers after us," Liu A'dou replied, then his tone shifted as he asked, "How much longer do we need to stay here? Has the police caught the killer?"
"Not yet, but the mob boss will soon be convicted. Once that happens, you should be able to go about freely," Harvey said. "It won't be long now."
That was good news. Being cooped up here was getting boring.
After seeing Harvey Dent off, Liu A'dou, feeling bored, started watching TV. Iselin, having finished cleaning the kitchen, sat down beside him. "A'dou, did you go out yesterday?"
Iselin didn't like the way she pronounced A'dou's name; she only called him that when she was being particularly serious.
"Uh." Had she woken up and noticed he was gone last night? "You know it's boring here, so I went for a walk."
"At midnight?" Iselin's expression darkened. She had realized that Liu A'dou wasn't in the room last night, and her heart had nearly stopped. However, she had managed to calm down and wait for him to return. But halfway through, she had fallen asleep again. So, when she woke up in the morning, she thought it had just been a dream, though the feeling of it had been so vivid that she couldn't help but double-check.
She never expected Liu A'dou had really sneaked out. "That's too dangerous."
"I just walked around the neighborhood," Liu A'dou replied. Lying was never an easy task, so he usually tried to keep his odd behaviors from being noticed. It was better to avoid lies whenever possible, as one lie would need ten more to cover it up, and the more lies you tell, the easier they are to see through. As a phantom thief, he couldn't afford to fall into the trap of lying.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have made you worry," Liu A'dou said seriously, looking at Iselin's face. "It won't happen again."
But Iselin suddenly smiled. "What do you mean, don't let me worry? Since we've decided to help Prosecutor Harvey, we're going to have to do the most dangerous work. I'll worry, but it won't affect me. I'm just mad that you didn't take me with you on your walk. I was bored too."
It seemed the girl was regaining her strength. "So, do we want to go for another walk now? It's much more interesting during the day than at night."
"Sure!" Iselin was also feeling restless, so the two of them snuck out through the bedroom window.
It was thrilling. Doing something forbidden behind the cops' backs was undeniably exciting. "Liu, where are we going?"
"I don't know, just wandering around!" Liu A'dou replied.
It was surprising to see Liu A'dou, usually so righteous, showing a little bit of rebellion. Iselin was starting to understand him better. He wasn't just a rigid fool; he could adapt, he just didn't understand romance.
When girls are led into breaking rules by boys, it makes them more easily "captured." So, "bad boys" tend to be so popular. This could be seen as an explanation of the "suspension bridge effect."
"Come on, let's go for a walk!" Iselin grabbed Liu A'dou and ran toward the store she often shopped at. She couldn't just let him know more about her, she also wanted him to learn about her preferences, like what she liked. After all, she needed to let her little boyfriend know.