CHAPTER 200: CHAPTER 199. ALICES’ METICULOUS ESCAPE

"Take off your clothes and put them inside the basket--the glasses and the earring too," Noah told Andrew as the car rushed through the street. This time, he was in the driver’s seat while the idol stayed in the back.

"O-okay..."

Andrew immediately did as he told; he still felt in a daze, and wasn’t really sure if he was already safe or not. All he could do was do what he was told to do while trying to get rid of the gun image in his head. He wasn’t the only one changing, however; Noah also let the car drive in autopilot while also taking off his clothes.

"There’s a red bag on the side; you’ll find a change of clothes over there," Noah pointed to the corner of the backseat. "Give the black bag to me."

Andrew opened the red bag after handing over the black one, finding casual clothes that weren’t only right for his size, but also in his usual style. He would look like he was just going out to have a casual drink with his friends in a BBQ place or something.

"Shoes too?" Andrew raised his brows.

"Obviously," Noah replied while taking out the clothes provided for him. They should get rid of any indication that they were once there. Even when their faces got blurred, their clothes would still he visible in the CCTV, so they would have to get rid of those. "Just leave the shoes beneath the seat."

"Y-yes."

Andrew wore the shoes, which looked exactly like one of his own, with a wildly beating heart. It was so meticulous that it was scary. Noah was right--these people, the ones Lee Sarah employed, were scarier than those gangsters. Did Amber even know about this? Andrew wondered if he should tell her about it...

He looked up and caught Noah’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Calm, a little cold even, as if he was already used to this kind of thing. Unlike him, Noah never looked in panic, even while a gun was pointed at him. Which got Andrew thinking: who was this person, really? He was an actor--he should be an actor, a celebrity, and yet...

With a shudder, Andrew decided that he knew nothing and he should continue to know nothing. He saw no one and heard nothing. He just went for a walk and stopped at a convenience store for a bit because he was feeling stuffy.

Yeah. There was no need to tell Amber anything. Lee Sarah was scarier than her anyway.

As the car was about to reach a tunnel, Noah took over the control again. "You didn’t touch anything, right?"

"No, Senior. I looked for Jasper immediately and went to see you right after."

"Good."

They didn’t know how thorough the search would be, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Oh...was that why you broke that glass?" Andrew widened his eyes.

"Yeah," Noah replied briefly before stopping the car on the side of the road, still inside the tunnel. He pointed at another parked car in front of them. "You see that taxi? It’ll take you back to your place."

"Okay," Andrew nodded and pressed the hat included inside the bag to his head. He glanced at the driver’s seat while scooting to open the door. "Umm...thank you for protecting me, Senior."

"It’s also just a job for me," Noah shrugged. "Oh..."

Andrew stopped before he stepped out completely. "Yes?"

"I’ll introduce you to a director soon," the actor said with a simple smile on his lips.

Andrew widened his eyes, brightening up as if all the tension had melted from his body. "T-thank you, Senior!"

Noah watched the idol bow deeply about three times before entering the taxi--of course, the driver was someone from Helios. He would have preferred not to engage further with someone who knew his ties with Helios, but the boy deserved a prize of some kind--although which director he would introduce depended on how well the recording turned out. Besides, it didn’t seem like Andrew knew about Helios.

Noah hummed and skillfully picked apart the cameras installed on the buttons and the belt of Andrew’s clothes, putting them inside a box he took out from the glove box. He added his necklace, Andrew’s earring, and the device behind his ear as well as the glasses and sunglasses.

Just as he closed the box and tied a nice ribbon around it, another car pulled up and stopped in front of the grey car. The driver got out without turning off the engine and waved at Noah.

"It’s been a while, huh?" the driver, who sometimes worked as a bartender in Helios, patted the grey car’s hood as Noah alighted. "Good job, today."

"Is Hyung in Helios?" Noah grabbed the box and a blazer jacket from the black bag as he stepped out.

"Yep, go straight to his office," the bartender nodded. "Grab a drink in the club sometimes."

"Hyung doesn’t like me there," Noah shrugged before waving at the chuckling bartender. He slipped inside the new car and headed to the golden dome he could see even from the tunnel’s exit, tapping the steering wheel in contemplation. "Teach should be okay, right? Even if there’s a gun..."

But, well...it wasn’t like he could do anything even if he stayed to help. Hajin never taught him how to fight against people with guns anyway, just how to handle the fake one. Taking these cameras to Helios was more important, since they were only recording, not streaming anything. They were sure the host would erase everything, and the guests would pay big money to get their name written off, so...

They needed equally big evidence to be spread across all media platforms.

Noah hummed some melodies while driving toward the golden dome. Despite the tension, he enjoyed joining this kind of thing again, being useful to his hyung. It had been a while since he saw Lee Sol, since the man asked him to do all this over the phone.

Tsk--he became an actor because of Sol, but why did it only get harder for him to see the older man?

Noah sighed and, after many years, finally entered Helios from the front gate as a customer. It was part of his ’alibi’, since it wouldn’t be hard for the team at Helios to make it seem like he was already there for hours. Unlike Sarah, however, he didn’t need to be guided to the manager’s office, even using the secret passage to arrive through the wall instead of the door.

"Everything’s here," he waved the box and smiled brightly at the manager who was busy staring at several computer screens while typing away.

Sol arched his brow at the cheeky ribbon, but said nothing as he checked the contents, making sure everything was there. "Good job," he nodded, before glancing at the actor leaning against his desk. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, but is that it?" Noah tilted his head. "I was risking my career and my life there, and it’s a mere ’good job’?"

Sol rolled his eyes while closing the box again and standing up. "I have to deal with this, so I have no time to play with you now."

Noah groaned in a whiny tone when the manager shooed him away. Was he just a courier or something? When he saw that Sol was truly about to leave the office, however, his expression turned serious.

"Did you..." he licked his lips anxiously. "Did you send me as a test?"

Sol stopped and turned his gaze at the actor, who looked down with a slight frown. Almost reminded Sol of the way he looked when Sol told him he couldn’t work under him anymore.

"If it’s only someone in showbiz, you have other people you could choose besides me, don’t you?" Noah continued. "Sending an ex-user to a drug party..."

He looked up with a self-deprecating chuckle, upset and hurting. The hands inside his pocket were still shaking, even now.

"No," Sol replied dryly. "I just thought you’d act the most realistic among the others."

That didn’t make Noah feel better at all.

"And this is an important job for someone I have to babysit from the big boss," Sol added. "I’d never send someone I don’t trust to carry it."

"...oh," Noah muttered, blushing from the sudden affirmation.

Sol let out a soft sigh. Well...the guy deserved some indulgence anyway. "I need to get this done before dawn, so just wait at my place," he said while heading to the door. "I’ll return in the morning."

Noah perked up and straightened his back at that. "I’ll make breakfast, then!"

"Don’t bother," Sol raised his hand in rejection. He had no idea how Sarah could see Hajin as a puppy before, but he kind of understood this time. Kind of. "Just rest or something."

"Okaay~" the actor gave Sol a salute, and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, what about Teach Jin? Has he returned?"

Sol froze, almost flinched in reflex before stopping himself. He looked at the bright face of the actor, which would only darken in guilt if he told the truth.

"He left the parking lot already, if that’s what you want to know," Sol replied as he opened the office door. "Go and catch some sleep."

He sighed again as he left the office. Well...he didn’t exactly lie; it wasn’t like Noah would ever know about it unless Hajin told the actor himself. Shaking his head, Sol gripped the box of hidden cameras tighter and headed to the Little Bird.

Rather than worrying about someone who had already been shot at least three times before, he should just focus on finishing this work before dawn.

"Who needs sleep anyway?"