40 A.C - MARCH - 1 WEEK AFTER LUCKY CYAN'S DEPARTURE
"9:13 a.m.... did we come at a good time?" Little Johnny asked as his son yawned in his lap.
"Honestly, I wish we had come earlier," Queen confessed as she rang the doorbell.
"...I'm sorry, no interviews—Queen and The Johnnies!?" A young employee who opened the door exclaimed in surprise.
The three mentioned gave a small wave in greeting.
"We came to talk to Luo, the director of the orphanage." Queen wore a calm expression.
"O-of course, come in..."
Entering the orphanage, the heroes found themselves in a large courtyard with access to other facilities of the orphanage, where a small group of children could be seen playing nearby.
"Please wait here, I'll inform the director of your arrival."
"Thank you." Queen smiled slightly as the employee nervously left the scene.
"LOOK! It's Queen and The Johnnies!"
The children finally noticed the heroes and excitedly checked them out.
"Is that Big Johnny!? So cute."
"Hey, can you really talk to animals?"
"What do they usually say?"
Little Johnny chuckled at this scene, which brought back memories of how excited he used to be, just like them.
"Yes, they tell me everything they see, so I hope they're behaving themselves..." Little Johnny flashed a playful smile.
Meanwhile, Big Johnny had a more mischievous smile on his face.
Some children shuddered slightly, they were certainly being well-behaved children...
Queen smiled at this scene, the two had always been the ones who attracted the most attention among the children.
"Hey, Mrs. Queen..."
Queen felt someone pulling on her leg and found a little girl holding a Lucky Cyan stuffed animal. She had a sad expression on her face.
"Is Lucky Cyan okay?"
Queen bent down to the child's level and looked at her with a serene expression.
"Yes... she's just resting after so much work, she'll be back soon and you'll hear her singing again..."
The child nodded, she seemed a little better after hearing those words.
Little Johnny watched intently as the children attacked his son with affection.
"Sorry for the delay..."
Everyone's attention was drawn to the return of the previous employee.
"The director will see you in his office."
They both walked toward the office in silence.
"Do you think this is the best we can do?" Little Johnny asked, breaking the silence.
"What exactly?" Queen asked politely, already knowing what he meant.
"Lying about Cyan... I don't like it, I don't want to pretend that things are fine..."
Queen let out a small sigh.
"I know... I don't like it either, but we can't leave people like this. Cyan would only feel guilty seeing people sad because of her absence... When the time is right, we'll tell them the truth."
"And when will the time be right?"
"I don't know..." Queen had an uncertain expression on her face.
Queen and The Johnnies stopped in front of the office door.
With a knock on the door, they announced their arrival.
"Come in."
Upon entering the office, the heroes had a brief surprise, the office was messier than the last time they had seen it.
Papers and books were scattered across the floor, coffee cups were scattered around the room, and on the office desk were piles of papers, with Luo working on them at that moment.
"Queen and The Johnnies, it's been a long time."
Luo raised his head and looked at the heroes, smiling as best he could.
The heroes smiled and waved as best they could, just as they expected. Luo didn't look well; besides his forced smile, the dark circles under his eyes were very visible.
"Would you like tea or coffee?"
"Tea, please." Queen gladly accepted; it was a kind gesture on his part.
"Tea for me is fine," Little Johnny accepted as well.
"All right."
Everyone was now seated, with Luo at his desk while the heroes sat in front of him. A photo of Luo and Cyan smiling together with a group of children was visible on the table.
"Sorry about the environment, this week has been... chaotic." Luo confessed calmly.
Everyone knew the reason behind it.
"I assume the interview denial at the entrance is involved in this." Queen asked with the same calmness.
"Yes..." Luo put his cup aside and rested his hands together on the table. "After Cyan's sudden departure, reporters have been coming to the orphanage tirelessly in an attempt to find out something... I would sincerely like to know something about it." Luo had a sad expression.
The heroes looked at him intently.
"I tried calling her, but got no answer... I called DOS every day, but they told me they had nothing to tell me... The children are worried about her..." Luo clenched his hands tightly on the table. "I'm worried about her."
"Please..." He looked at the heroes, his expression distressed. "Tell me you know something about Cyan... anything..."
Queen clenched his free hand in frustration. Of all people, lying to Luo about Cyan was the hardest thing to do. He was a hero to his friend... he deserved to know the truth...
"I—"
"Unfortunately, we have nothing to say..." Little Johnny replied before he could finish.
"The DOS refuses to tell us anything... we're in the same situation, I'm sorry." Little Johnny had a sad expression.
Luo lowered his head, it was impossible to see the expression on his face.
"I understand... this is my fault... I shouldn't have made her a promise based on what I thought was right..." Luo put his hands on the side of his head,
Queen was concerned about this action.
"Damn... how could I be so stupid. I acted like I knew what was best for her, I put her in this nightmare... I-."
"STOP!" Little Johnny shouted.
Luo raised his head and looked at the heroes, small tears falling from his face.
A brief silence ensued.
"I'm sorry about that... I understand that feeling, the feeling that you could have changed something, made a difference in the right way... but that's not how it works... Cyan didn't continue as a hero just because of you, if she had the strength to continue this far, she had her own reasons, so don't blame yourself like that, Cyan made her decisions when it was necessary."
"Yes..." Queen continued little Johnny's speech. "Remember, Cyan believed, thanks to you, that music could convey feelings to everyone... You gave her strength, and surely the person she is most grateful to is you... And I'm also worried. Cyan was there for us when we needed her, and now..." Queen looked at her own cup of tea with a sad expression. We weren't there for her when she needed us. I want to see her, hug her, and apologize for not being there... so this time." Queen raised her head and looked Luo in the eyes. "Please trust us, not as heroes, but as Cyan's friends. We'll find her and make sure she's okay."
Queen had a gleam of determination in her eyes.
Luo let out a small laugh and leaned back, resting his back against the chair.
"Cyan always has this effect on people, we always feel like we haven't done our best for her, she's incredible... I want her to live according to what she deserves and desires... that's the new promise I want to make to her..."
Luo looked back at them now with a more serious expression.
"I trust you... please find her."
The heroes nodded seriously at him.
"We will."
"Thank you, come back soon."
The children and Luo waved goodbye to the heroes.
"Thank you," Queen said as they both got into the car.
"Hm?" Little Johnny looked curious, his son once again sleeping in his lap.
"If it weren't for you, I don't know if I would have told him the truth. I think I was afraid..."
"It's okay, I was afraid too, but at that moment I didn't think of myself as a hero, I thought of myself as Cyan's friend, and as a friend to a friend,I just said what I wanted someone to say to me, the truth, that's all..."
Queen had a small smile on his face.
"I wish the public knew more about this side of you."
Little Johnny let out a small nervous laugh at that.
"What are we going to do now?" Little Johnny asked.
"There's someone who might know where Cyan is. Let's talk to her," Queen said as she started the car and drove away from the orphanage.
Lin Ling was trembling slightly as he stood in front of his boss's desk.
Mr. Cheng was reading the scripts for the March commercials, and Lin Ling, as always, was worried about what his boss would say.
"I assume the reason you left early yesterday was to finish the scripts in another environment..." Mr. Cheng commented emotionlessly as he finished reading the second folder.
"I can say that I found some good inspiration yesterday..." Lin Ling said nervously.
Mr. Cheng picked up the third folder, the one with the script for the couple's commercial. Mr. Cheng read it carefully. Lin Ling swore he saw his eyes widen briefly as he read, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
"Lin Ling..."
Closing the folder, Mr. Cheng spoke calmly.
Lin Ling trembled with worry.
"...good work."
.
.
.
.
"What?" A look of slight disbelief appeared on Lin Ling's face.
"Are you deaf!? I said good job." A vein of irritation grew on the boss's forehead.
"N-no, I just didn't expect that..."
The boss sighed wearily.
"Nice and Moon's individual scripts still need some tweaking before we send them to Treeman, but I liked the couple's script. this idea of a date after a hard day at school, lighthearted banter between Nice and Moon, brings a light and youthful context to this couple, it's perfect for the restaurant and Treeman to attract a younger audience, as well as older people wanting to relive that kind of nostalgia, it even reminds me of the time I went through those experiences..." the boss commented as he relived some memories.
Lin Ling looked at this scene with a lost expression and wide eyes. He couldn't remember the last time his boss praised his work like this.
"What are you waiting for? Get back to work and adjust those two scripts, we have to send everything today!" The boss said again, his voice irritated.
"Y-yes." Grabbing the folders, Lin Ling awkwardly left the boss's office.
"So how did it go? Did the boss complain about everything like he always does?" Wang Ming, who was at his own desk, asked his neighbor as he arrived.
"Actually, he praised one of them, the couple's, but I have to make adjustments to the others as usual..." Lin Ling sighed as he sat down at his own desk to get back to work.
"Oh wow..."
Wang Ming's tone of voice betrayed his surprise.
"Yeah... wow..."
"Tell me where you got the inspiration for that couple's commercial, after all, yesterday you were still stuck on it... so..." Wang Ming flashed a smug smile. "Your date yesterday was a success, wasn't it?"
Lin Ling choked with embarrassment at the question, a slight blush rising to his face.
"I already told you it wasn't a date! I just realized that yesterday's similarities matched what I needed and decided to use them as a basis."
"Right... but you know, if that tactic works, you could say that you and your girlfriend... are the perfect couple."
Lin Ling lowered his head in embarrassment. He wanted to avoid this, but sooner or later Wang Ming would find out about his inspiration, so he just brought the inevitable forward.
"You can be a pain in the ass when you want to..."
Wang Ming chuckled softly upon hearing this.
"That's part of my charm, it was one of the reasons my wife fell in love with me..." Wang Ming flashed a proud smile.
Lin Ling rolled his eyes at this scene.
"Oh, I almost forgot..." Wang Ming picked up some folders from his desk. "Here."
"Don't tell me it's..."
"More autonomous requests. They never stop coming in throughout the month, so you'll be seeing a lot more of these..."
Lin Ling sighed as he picked up the folders.
The work never ends...
Lin Ling arrived home late once again, exhausted as he was every other day.
Damn overtime...
Upon entering the apartment, he found a surprise, Cyan was lying on the sofa asleep, wearing Moon's apron.
"What?" Lin Ling let out this question, which ended up catching Cyan's attention, who began to stir and wake up in the process.
Blinking and yawning, Cyan looked at Lin Ling.
"Hi... how was work?" Sleepy, Cyan smiled slightly.
"It was... normal..." Lin Ling was still trying to understand the situation. At this time, Cyan would normally already be asleep in her room.
"Cyan, why were you sleeping here on the sofa?"
"Oh... I was waiting for you to come home and ended up falling asleep..."
"Cyan... you need to rest... and I usually come home late like this, so you don't need to wait up for me." Lin Ling was not surprised by her actions.
"But you said that after work today you would teach me how to cook..."
Lin Ling's eyes widened in succession.
Shit... I forgot...
Cyan frowned and narrowed her eyes at Lin Ling.
"You forgot?"
"No! I'll teach you right now... I'm just going to take a shower first..." Lin Ling laughed nervously at the situation she found herself in.
Cyan nodded happily.
Lin Ling came out of the bathroom with a towel around his neck, wearing a black tank top and white shorts this time, holding Moon's shampoo bottle in one hand.
I should have expected the shampoo to run out soon.
He sighed wearily as he remembered once again why his workload had increased.
"Hey."
As he approached the kitchen, he heard Cyan calling him, pulling him out of his thoughts.
He put the shampoo aside and gave Cyan his full attention.
"Here, everything is ready to start."
Cyan showed him all the ingredients and utensils on the kitchen counter.
"Okay, we're making Beef Chop Suey today."
Cyan nodded eagerly.
"Start by cutting the vegetables."
"Okay."
Cyan picked up the knife and began cutting at her own pace.
"Stop." It only took a few seconds for Lin Ling to intervene.
"Look, it's not bad, but the way you're cutting and holding the knife makes it easier for you to cut yourself."
"Okay... how do I do it more safely?"
"So..."
Lin Ling picked up the knife and cut some of the vegetables.
"There... do you understand?"
Cyan nodded in response.
Trying again, Lin Ling still didn't think Cyan's results were good enough.
Lin Ling thought as hard as he could to help Cyan once and for all, but fatigue was already preventing his mind from thinking clearly.
What if I...
"Here..." Lin Ling called out to Cyan, who glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
"I'll help you..." In one swift movement, Lin Ling stood behind her and placed his hands on top of hers, standing very close to her.
Cyan was surprised and shuddered at his sudden action and contact, She felt small with him so close.
"Now hold on like this..." Lin Ling gently held Cyan's hands as he guided her.
Cyan was quiet, but distressed inside. Lin Ling was speaking very close to her ear, and she closed her eyes in an attempt not to pay attention to the situation, but it became increasingly difficult, and a slight blush was visible on her face.
"And that's it..." Lin Ling removed his hands and stepped back a little. "See? That's how you do it..." Lin Ling smiled slightly.
A few seconds passed and Cyan didn't respond, Lin Ling became a little concerned.
"Cyan... are you okay?" Lin Ling put his hand on her shoulder.
In response, Cyan slammed the knife hard on the counter, breaking the cutting board they were using and leaving the knife stuck in the counter.
Lin Ling jumped in surprise at this action.
Cyan turned awkwardly, a slight blush on her face.
"I-I'm fine... now the next step is the meat, right?" Cyan picked up the knife again and now worked on cutting the meat.
Lin Ling, who was still calming down from the shock, stared wide-eyed at this scene.
I don't think that was a good idea...
In a luxury apartment, the doorbell rang incessantly.
"I ALREADY TOLD YOU I WON'T ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS!!!" A woman with long black hair opened the door and threw a punch at whoever was on the other side.
Her punch was easily blocked by the other person's hand.
"Huh...?"
"Good evening... Mrs. Smith..." Queen held her fist with a glint of anger in her eyes, The Johnnies standing beside her with the same look.
"Can we talk?"