CHAPTER 73: TRICK OF TRADE

"This is it." Standing before Evelyn’s room, Jinn glanced at the girl waiting for her to open the door.

"Don’t you know it’s shameless to enter a lady’s room?" Evelyn asked once she realized he wanted to enter her room.

"Only if the lady does not invite the guests who have arrived at their doorsteps. I wonder how classless that is."

Facing his remarks, Evelyn sighed in defeat before taking out a key that looked more lavish than the one Jinn got and inserted it in the hole.

With a click she opened the door and walked inside. Jinn stepped in with the luggage and looked around. The room was as spacious as the room he had in the orphanage, but this room was not meant to be shared; it belonged solely to Evelyn.

The room was a symphony of somber colors. Right upon entering the room, one steps into a living area with sofas and a glass table. A wall separated the living area from the bedroom.

The bed faced the wall with windows behind the headrest. On one side was the closet, and on the other was a door leading to the bedroom.

’Tempting... but not worth the price.’ His thoughts were contrary to what he believed. Jinn walked to the side with the wooden cupboards and placed the suitcase neatly on the floor.

"Why would you think I want the suitcase in that place?" Just as Jinn was about to stand up, he froze, hearing the voice of the girl behind him.

Resuming his motion, he turned and spoke, "Because that is the logical choice. You don’t want your stuff to be out of your sight and out of your reach at any time, while at the same time you don’t want it to appear oddly in the room."

Evelyn hummed lightly before she nodded in agreement. "You are not so clueless after all."

"Thank you for the compliment." After a light laugh, Jinn stared at the girl as if he was waiting for something.

Evelyn noticed his gaze and tilted her head. "Are you waiting for me to ask you for water or something?"

Jinn did not speak and stepped forward, narrowing the distance between them. Evelyn did not back away; on the contrary, she watched his every move with great interest, like there was nothing he could do that would surprise or scare her.

Once he was only a step away from her, Jinn stopped and looked down and said, "I am waiting for you to give me my suitcase and the reward."

Evelyn followed his gaze. Seeing the case she was holding with both hands, she put an ’oh!’ expression on her face.

She extended her hands, and Jinn took his bag before finally backing away. Then Evelyn walked up to her suitcase and crouched down to open it before a voice stopped her.

"About the money, I will let you hold on to it."

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed slightly before she turned around and asked coldly, "What do you mean?"

"Don’t take it the wrong way; I think it would be more interesting for me to ask for a favor from you instead of your money." Jinn showed a sunny smile, looking like a suspicious man trying to lure an innocent kid into a trap.

"It won’t be anything big, just small help with studies or favors we can do for each other in this place."

For the first time Evelyn’s brows furrowed, not with distaste but with contemplation.

"Think on it, or you can give me the money next time you see me." Before she could say anything, Jinn waved at her playfully and added, "See you in the classes, Little lady."

The tension on Evelyn’s face finally relaxed, but she still asked, "Why do you think we would be in the same class?"

Without looking back, Jinn answered her query and left the room. "Your probing attempts and the look in your eyes."

Once outside the room, Jinn closed the main door behind him and added in his mind. ’You cannot hide the darkness from a being made from it.’

Inside, Evelyn stared at the closed door, lost in thought. Seconds passed before her lips parted and she breathed out, "How rude."

***

’65, 66... 68. There you are.’ While walking down the ceramic floor, Jinn realized three things.

First, the floor was bigger than he had initially thought. Second, the hallway was curved; in fact, the entire floor was a circular disk shape.

The exterior portion of the disk was filled with room, but the inner portion only had a never-ending wall. Jinn had no idea what was on the other side of the wall, but he knew it held a huge space in the middle of the floor.

The third thing he realized was that there were only about fifty private rooms, as indicated by the way the spaces between each door narrowed after a certain point.

Using the key, Jinn opened the door and walked into the room, already expecting someone to be in there, but to his surprise, the room was empty.

Unlike Evelyn’s private room, this room was considerably less spacious. There was no luxurious decoration in the room.

There was a couch and two chairs in the middle of the room and two queen-sized beds in each corner.

Noticing the stuff placed on one bed and the clothes lying around on the floor, Jinn understood his roommate had already checked in.

Ignoring the mess, Jinn walked up to the empty side and placed the suitcase he was carrying on the bed.

Just as he was about to open it, he heard the sound of the main door opening, followed by a set of hurried footsteps.

"What a small world, it’s you." The familiar tone in the silky voice made Jinn frown.

His mind rolled as he thought about all the people he met today or had crossed paths with, but he could not recall hearing the voice.

Easing his expression, Jinn turned only to realize why his roommate was acting so familiar with him.

Lying on the couch like he owned the place was his roommate.

’Now there is a face I know.’ That long hair, those unfaithful eyes, that casual demeanor, and the red mark on his face... just one look, and the scene from the morning flashed before Jinn’s eyes.