CHAPTER 73: A SHORT CUT

"Where did you even learn to look at me like that, Le An?"

Mr. Qui signaled to the barber waiting beside him with his bag. The barber quietly stepped behind the chair where Le An sat.

"What kind of style would you like, dear Treasure?"

"A short cut," Mr. Qui answered the barber in Le An’s place. "Something short. Something worthy of an alpha."

"Very well."

As the barber opened his bag and laid out the tools on the table, Le An said nothing. He slowly shifted his gaze away from Mr. Qui.

Mr. Qui sat down on the chair across from him, leaning back, loosening one of the buttons on his collar. He kept talking, and no one in the room could take their eyes off Le An’s soon to be gone, beautiful hair.

And of course, no one dared to say a single word to the man who had brought his own barber to the institute and was now forcing Le An to cut it against his will.

"I brought my own barber for you, hah. What is this, are you depressed? Or do you want the whole world to find out you’re an omega, Le An?"

At the first snip of the scissors against his hair, Le An lowered his head further. "No." He closed his eyes without giving an actual answer.

In truth, it no longer mattered to him if people discovered he was an omega.

Le An was no longer afraid of being exposed. And that meant Taras’s greatest threat, the one thing he had used against him, was gone. Absurdly enough, Le An found that relieving. Because whatever existed between them was no longer what it had been in the beginning. It no longer continued because of a threat.

"You really must be depressed. Is there anyone in this room who can explain why our dear Treasure is in such a state?"

Mr. Qui turned his eyes to Emerald, Theo, and Tracker, who now stood uncomfortably. Their silence irritated him in the end.

"Mr. Theo? Hm? Mr. Emerald, you always have something to say about everything, don’t you?"

"I’m not depressed, Mr. Qui." At last, Le An lifted his gaze to meet the man’s piercing eyes. "I’m just tired."

"Le An," Mr. Qui leaned forward suddenly, triggered, eyes boring into his. "We’ve already spoken about how you being tired means nothing to me."

"Have I caused you trouble?" Le An lifted his head as he asked. The barber paused, the scissors halting midair.

It was as if every movement in the room froze. It wasn’t the first time Le An talked back, but, obviously today was not a good choice to anger Mr. Qui further. He was... extra bad tempered today.

But Le An seemed too out of it. His mouth was already going dry. He swallowed and forced himself to go on.

"I came to work. I did my job. I’m participating in the experiment, and I’ll go home without causing any problems. I didn’t think people would care about my hai-"

"Since when do we make decisions based on what you think?" Mr. Qui’s voice sliced through his words like a knife as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Did you think the current chaos would let you slip under the radar, hm, is that it?"

"...Yes," Le An muttered. He would have lifted his head to meet Mr. Qui’s looming figure, but the barber pushed his nape down to keep him still.

"Please don’t move, Treasure."

Watching Mr. Qui’s feet approach, Le An swallowed again.

"Have you ever in your life made decisions based on your own thinking, Le An? Tell me."

"Did we ever ask your opinion on how we present you to the media?"

"Have we ever asked your input on anything at all?"

Now Mr. Qui’s legs blocked his view. Le An saw the man slip his hands out of his pockets. A heavy silence pressed down until he muttered his answer. "No."

"Bingo," Mr. Qui said with a laugh. His laughter vanished within seconds, and Le An could already imagine the expression that had replaced it.

"Then I suppose you need a little practice in reality. Because you’ve started to act... spoile? Even if you’re doing your job, you’ve become... whiny."

Le An wanted to shake his head, but the barber’s hand on his shoulder pinned him like ice. "I understand," he said finally, his voice trembling.

But when Mr. Qui seized his chin and forced his head up, a startled whimper escaped his lips.

The look on Mr. Qui’s face was exactly as he had imagined. "I don’t think you understand at all..." His eyes roved through Le An’s hair as he sighed.

"What’s wrong with him today..." Emerald whispered to Theo. Theo didn’t know either. He actually didn’t know whether Emerald meant Mr Qui or Le An either.

"You were a stubborn little thing when you first came, darling. And now, after years of taming you, you’re slipping back to your old self..."

"Annoying." Mr. Qui tightened his grip on Le An’s chin, making his eyes squint with pain. Theo stepped forward.

"Mr. Qui," he said in a warning tone.

Mr. Qui’s head turned to him, slow as a predator’s. Le An locked eyes with Theo and muttered through clenched teeth, "Stay out of it, Theo."

When Mr. Qui turned his eyes back to him, Le An was already staring. "You’re speaking to me, Mr. Qui. This has nothing to do with him," he said.

"...Correct." Mr. Qui’s phone rang. He glared at Le An a moment longer, shaking his head. Then he answered the call and listened silently, finally releasing Le An’s chin.

The snipping of scissors and the muffled voice from the phone filled the room. When he hung up, the weight of the unfinished matter hung heavier than before.

"Another explosion," Mr. Qui muttered. "Seems your new hairstyle won’t be stealing headlines after all, Le An."

As he moved away, Le An quietly inhaled, grateful for the oxygen returning to his lungs. But Mr. Qui didn’t head back to his chair. Instead, he walked toward Theo.

And with eyes burning with undisguised fury, Mr. Qui slapped Theo hard across the face.

Theo’s head jerked to the side from the blow. Emerald and Tracker instinctively stepped back.

"Mr. Qui!" Le An shot up from the chair like a spring. The barber’s scissors clattered to the floor.

As Le An stepped toward Theo, Mr. Qui whipped his head toward him and spat out his words.

"Stay out of this, Le An. I’m speaking with Mr. Theo now. This has nothing to do with you."

Le An froze, staring at him with a shattered expression as the same words spilled from his mouth like rehearsed lines.

Even with the revolution only days away, the suffocating weight of Mr. Qui’s ruthless power crushed them still.

"You have no right to hit him," Le An said, forcing himself to stay calm.

Mr. Qui laughed, his face twisting with dangerous delight, his eyes unblinking. "I have every right Le An." He turned and struck Theo again with the back of his hand.

Rage surged through Le An. He stormed toward him. "That’s enough! Why..."

The look on Le An’s face alone was enough to send a chill through the room, if only because it was the first of its kind.

"Le An!" Emerald cried out. Le An’s steps halted inches from Mr. Qui.

A mocking, excited smile spread across Mr. Qui’s lips as he stared into his eyes.

"What? Go on, why stop now?"

He leaned closer, taunting.

"You have nothing to fear, Le An. No matter what happens here, I won’t let it leak. Were you really about to hit me? Ha! Look at your eyes..." He laughed, both mocking and impressed.

"Would this have been the first time you lost control? What stopped you? Was it your personal doctor? Should I speak to him the way I spoke to Mr. Theo?"

He turned to Emerald. Emerald met his eyes with open disgust, unflinching. "Why are you acting like this, sir?" Emerald asked, his chin trembling with unsaid curses.

Mr. Qui lifted his hand, as if to slap Emerald. But then, smiling like a madman, he stopped midway. He turned to Le An’s wide, shocked eyes.

"Hm? Won’t you do anything? I’m telling you, even if you hit me, even if you try to kill me, not a word would leave this room."

A devilish glint flashed in his gaze as Mr. Qui finished his thought. "Which of the people you’ve killed has ever been revealed Le An? Has a single one of their deaths made headlines? Why are you hesitating?"

Something broke inside Le An. His mind plunged into a dark abyss. A tear fell to the floor like lightning.

An alien force seized him, a feeling he had never known, spreading through his body like a parasite. He thought the trembling in his fingertips was adrenaline, not fear.

He hadn’t killed those people. Le An hadn’t.

Mr. Qui, knowing the words about to spill from his twitching lips were ’I didn’t do it,’ laughed. "Haha!" For him, this was just another fool, one who stood tall for himself and his loved ones, only to freeze in place seconds later—

Smack!

Le An’s palm stung from the sharp impact. He stopped breathing.

Everyone in the room stopped breathing.

Mr. Qui’s smile froze. His cheek flushed red, blood rising under the skin. Even he forgot to breathe that moment.

"Then..." Le An clenched his palm tight, his words spilling out as if spoken by someone else entirely. "Even after this slap, I still can’t be expelled from GAC, can I?"

Mr. Qui’s face trembled with shock and rage.

Suddenly, he seized Le An by the throat, slamming him back against the wall. Le An didn’t even resist him.

"You little whore!—"

"Mr Qui!" Theo lunged forward, but Tracker stopped him and with pained eyes, he murmured. "Not now, Mr. Theo. Please do not interfere."

"Hh-ugh! Ha..." Upon hearing Le An’s anguished breath, they turned and looked at them, helplessly.

"Y-you mustn’t leave marks, Mr. Qui," Le An gasped, struggling against his iron grip. "Are you... huff... going to kill me too, just to shut me up?"

"Mr. Qui." The barber moved forward, grabbing his arm. But Mr. Qui’s eyes never left Le An. Theo and the barber tugged at his arm until he finally let go, jabbing a finger at Le An as he shouted.

"I’ll make you suffer worse than death!"

Le An clutched his throat, coughing as air rushed painfully back into his lungs. His face was flushed, his eyes watery.

And yet... a smile spread across his lips.

"Ha... huff." Each breath pierced like glass, but his grin deepened.

"You’ve already made me suffer worse than death," he murmured, still smiling, leaving everyone stunned. "What more can you do to me? Everything is already... already-"

As the strange power drained out of him, he stiffened, pressing his lips together to keep from sobbing.

His eyes swept the room. On Theo’s face, Emerald’s, even Tracker’s and the barber’s... he saw the same expression.

Pity. They pitied him.

No one in his life had ever truly been there for Le An.

And even now, they pitied not him, but Treasure. They had always been there for... Treasure.

Le An leaned back against the wall, not caring for anyone else in the room. The crushing weight of his pitiful life dragged him down until his body collapsed to the floor.

Mr. Qui’s shouting, his threats, his jabbing finger, all of it continued. But Le An never lifted his head.

His eyes fell on the scissors lying on the ground. He sat there blankly until Mr. Qui finally stormed out.

When he spoke at last, his voice was clear in the silent room. "Is my haircut... finished?"

The barber, caught off guard by being addressed, stammered out an answer.

"Yes, Treasure."

Le An raised a hand to his head, remembering Taras’s fingers gliding through his hair just days ago. His eyes filled again. He clenched his fist, pulling the short strands caught in his palm, and whispered with eyes closed, "Please leave me alone."

None of them had the heart to leave him like this. But none dared to defy him either.

When everyone left, Le An felt as if one of the chains that had bound him for years had finally snapped.

Links had been added one by one, growing heavier and heavier.

And yet, it was those same chains that had kept him from falling into the abyss all this time.

Le An struggled to his feet. He wiped away the last of his tears.

Would it be selfish to want at least a fragment of the future to belong to him, as he longed to break free from these chains?

"A short cut..." Le An murmured. Le An wanted a short cut for himself too. He wanted a way out of this.