CHAPTER 54: SPEAK. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?

On the way back home, Le An, Tracker, and Theo didn’t speak a single word to each other at first. They were too shocked to find anything to say, neither about the unpleasant moments with the sponsors nor about the things Kiet said. So, the vehicle was dead silent for a while.

Before long, Theo broke the silence by placing a hand on Le An’s forehead. "Le An, you have a fever."

Le An shifted his crimson eyes -reddened by unshed tears of rage- from the window and turned his head toward them. "I’m fine. I don’t feel unwell."

Tracker, helpless against Le An’s habitual claim of always being "fine," briefly exchanged glances with Theo. Being an alpha himself, he could also pick up on the full mixture of alpha pheromones clinging to Le An, an unpleasant and disturbing scent that was clearly irritating Theo as well.

"About that omega..." Theo leaned forward, elbows resting on his thighs, clasped his hands in front of him, and placed them gently on Le An’s knees. "I know your mind is still on him. But you shouldn’t intervene in something that the Deputy Minister is involved in, Le An."

Le An understood what Theo meant and why, but he simply looked at him, neither agreeing nor rejecting. As Theo clenched his jaw from the alpha pheromones radiating off Le An’s body, he added, "So you were right not to book that room. I know you’re upset."

The moment the word "upset" reached his ears, Le An’s brows furrowed in a way that made it look like he was in pain. That word didn’t feel enough to describe what he was feeling, and instead of softening, his face twisted back into anger. The fury born of helplessness had been gnawing at him ever since the moment he failed to stop Kiet.

"Treasure, I’m truly sorry. Both for what happened in that room and... for the situation that omega you knew was in," Tracker said, exhaling as though still in disbelief. "I’m still in... shock."

Le An didn’t look at him. The pheromones filling his lungs with every breath made him nauseous, and he opened the window, murmuring with his mind still on Kiet, "This is unacceptable, this..."

His brows knitted again. The fact that someone like Kiet was being dragged into something illegal, something clearly designed by people as powerful as the law itself, the ones who kept the system running, was beyond comprehension.

Those who had abandoned people in the outskirts... the very architects of the system were also luring omegas into their filthy operations. Le An muttered to himself, "This is just the surface. All of this, these people..."

"There’s nothing you can do," Theo said, but the moment the sentence left his mouth, Le An turned to him with fierce eyes, maybe for the first time letting his anger out on someone else.

"So you want me to just turn a blind eye, Theo? You saw him, you heard what he said!"

Even though his heart was racing and his body filled with stress from yelling, Le An didn’t feel guilty for raising his voice at Theo. Staring at him, he went on, "What happened to those speeches about me being... a symbol of hope for people? He told me all that because he trusted me. Maybe he risked his life by putting his hope in someone useless like me-"

"Le An, please don’t do this to yourself. This is... the world we live in, and you can’t- just save everyone," Theo said gently, reaching for Le An’s hands, which he was tightly gripping in his lap.

Once again, he and Theo were on opposite ends, talking about whether someone might die and how there was nothing they could do to change it. Le An looked into Theo’s eyes, saddened by the fact that they were being tested on the same issue again, even though just yesterday, they had hugged each other tightly.

Even with their hands intertwined, Le An felt, once more, as if he couldn’t reach him. He turned his gaze to the car window.

Saving everyone? Le An just wanted to be able to save at least one.

Le An looked out the open window, locking eyes with people on the street who recognized him; some waved at him in excitement. The sight filled him with the urge to cry. His eyes brimmed with tears, but the adrenaline rushing through his body, the lingering stench, and the burning anger seemed to hold his tears back.

Tracker, looking at Le An with worry, sighed. Even if it wasn’t the right time, now was precisely the moment to do his job.

Trackers were selected from individuals with high intuitive abilities. They couldn’t be deceived during interactions with the subjects they observed. "Treasure, I saw that omega slip something into your hand," Tracker said. Le An’s tear-glossed eyes turned to him, not surprised, but already weighed down by exhaustion. Tracker knew Le An wished he hadn’t seen that.

"Please give me the paper so I can do my job."

"..." Le An stared into Tracker’s eyes for a long while before silently reaching into his left pocket and pulling out the note. When Theo saw the note in question, his face hardened, realizing that Le An had attempted something dangerous, such as hiding that piece of paper from Tracker.

As Tracker held out his hand, Le An said, "I haven’t read it yet," and carefully unfolded the crumpled paper. Tracker watched him, sensing that Le An was holding back tears and visibly disturbed by him.

Though Tracker could see past the polite, tightly guarded expression Le An wore, Le An was one of the most difficult people to read he had ever encountered. That ever-present smile rarely cracked, and when it did, it barely revealed anything beneath.

Until today. Until his limits had been pushed.

Tracker hadn’t been able to make sense of him. But now, watching Le An’s eyes move across the words on the paper, he was starting to understand. A child, constantly having his boundaries violated, burdened by guilt and weakness, with a fragile spot for love. Tracker stared as Le An finally handed him the paper. Le An reminded him of someone, someone deeply important.

"It looks like a drug leaflet," Theo said. "Probably torn from the packaging of the drug he told you about."

This piece of leaflet was nothing more than an insignificant piece of paper, which Kiet had probably torn into his palm in the rush of the moment.

Methoterole. Le An memorized the drug’s name, rolling it over in his head as he nodded. Tracker only glanced at the paper briefly before lifting his head to look at Le An. "What would you like to do with this?"

Le An stared at the paper and held out his hand. "Give it back to me, please."

"Are you going to throw it away?" Tracker asked as he handed it back. Le An wiped the sweat from his face and squinted, as though he couldn’t quite see Tracker clearly. "Sir, may I ask... what your job description entails?"

Tracker shifted to a more neutral posture and replied calmly, "In short, my job is to observe any person or message that could have reached you following the attack, and report it to the authorities, dear Treasure."

Le An nodded slowly, wiping sweat from his face again. His legs were tense, restless on the seat as his body steadily lost energy. "Then, does the event you witnessed today hold any value for an official report?"

Tracker hesitated for a moment before responding to the carefully worded question. Le An waited silently.

Theo, noticing the sweat-soaked hair sticking to Le An’s forehead and neck, quietly closed the car window he had opened earlier.

Tracker, fully aware of what Le An was getting at, looked at him uneasily. "Which event are you referring to?" he asked.

"You know which one, sir," Le An replied. Theo gripped Le An’s hand again. "You shouldn’t do this, Le An," he warned.

A faint flicker of irritation crossed Le An’s face, only deepening Tracker’s unease. Ignoring Theo, Le An repeated his question. "Do you think Kiet is someone connected to the attackers?"

Realizing he couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer, Tracker dropped his shoulders. "No. I don’t think so, Treasure."

"Then... reporting it would be an invasion of my privacy," said Le An, having gotten the answer he wanted.

Theo looked at him with something close to a plea, and Tracker made one final attempt. "If I don’t report this, my job might be in jeopardy, considering the possible consequences you may face, Treasure," he said, playing what might be his strongest card. "I could lose my position."

Le An’s expression visibly wavered at that, hesitating for a moment. Tracker thought to himself: Please, child... don’t get involved in this.

Le An turned his pain-filled gaze back outside, slightly opened the window again, and shifted his fingers in Theo’s palm. Theo interlaced their fingers, and sensing that Tracker’s last words might have just stopped Le An from acting, he felt a secret sense of relief.

His fingers traced the joints of Le An’s hand, but then, Le An slowly pulled away, his expression changing. Tracker realized that the gesture Theo made had somehow reminded Le An of something... painful.

Still looking out the window, Le An finally spoke to Theo in a quiet voice, as if covering his pain with indifference. " Theo, assign two guards to watch over Kiet and his sister, please."

"Le An-"

Theo was about to object when Le An continued, "They mustn’t know about the guards. They’ll watch from a distance and report only to me. And they’ll only intervene... if their lives are in danger."

Le An turned his gaze to Tracker. "You can include this in your report, or it can remain between us as a secret, sir."

"You shouldn’t do this," Theo interjected, raising his voice as he felt he was losing reach of Le An. "You know how Mr. Qui might react!"

As the car pulled into the driveway of his house, Le An finally placed his hands over his face and paused, exhaling a trembling breath.

"He... he couldn’t be killing someone every day like he did that day... right?"

As if reliving the moment, Le An began trembling, unable to remove his hands from his face. He didn’t want to put Theo or Tracker in a difficult position, but the thought of abandoning Kiet to his fate was unbearable.

The muffled question from behind Le An’s clenched hands caught Tracker off guard, leaving him momentarily stunned. Treasure had handed him another secret, one even darker than before. About an unspeakable person. An unspeakable crime. He was speechless for a while.

"I’m truly sorry," said Tracker finally, genuine sorrow and pity for Treasure filling his chest. "But I will report everything that happened today. And if Mr. Theo follows through on your request, I’ll report that as well. I’m really sorry, Treasure."

When the vehicle stopped, Le An finally lowered his hands. His flushed face was illuminated by the yellow lights of the garden.

Theo looked at him helplessly, unsure of what to do. Le An, in turn, now feared that if Theo obeyed his order, Mr. Qui might hurt him. When he thought that something might happen to Theo, Le An’s body went rigid and his breathing became completely erratic.

"Hic, huff..." Le An shivered from the wind that came in as the guard outside opened the door. He shook his head. "Okay, no guar-guards, hng, hic, cancel. Cancel."

Theo, overwhelmed with grief at the sight of Le An’s broken expression, whispered, "...I’m sorry." As Le An got out of the car and stumbled into the house in tears, all they could do was watch his back, unable to do anything else.

As uncontrolled tears streamed down his face, Le An stumbled into his room, breathless, his body reeking with the overpowering scent of multiple alphas’ pheromones.

And right at that moment, he saw him. The one he had waited for days. Le An’s lips moved as he muttered his name softly under his breath. He froze, and his hiccups suddenly silenced.

The moment his eyes landed on Le An, Taras stopped cold. All the cues he’s looking at, gathered up in his mind and made his gut twist.

He’s crying. Drenched in the scent of multiple alphas. His clothes are wrinkled.

Taras didn’t utter a single word as he closed the distance between them. And without taking his eyes off of him, he reached past Le An to shut the door he had left ajar. Next, the black tulle shimmered into existence around them.

Taras reached for Le An’s chin, tilted his face up, his eyes scanning every inch of him, his tear-streaked cheeks, his disheveled state. His neck, his chest, his shoulders.

"What happened?" he asked.

A single tear that slid down from Le An’s lashes just then hit something in Taras like a snapped wire; his gaze turned sharp, almost ruthless.

He stared hard into Le An’s stunned, trembling face.

"What happened?" he demanded again, voice low, cold, and almost threatening.

"Speak. What the hell happened to you?"