Back of the house

  The back of the restaurant was an area strictly reserved for the staff members. The front of the house was the area accessible to customers, the reception, and the dining hall.

  Clatter!

  As they walked past the kitchen, Rin and Alvin could hear the muffled rush of the busy workstation. The clattering of utensils, the sharp sizzling of oil, and a gruff voice of an old man educating a junior chef.

  "Who taught you how to hold a knife? Even the toddler of my son can hold it better than you. But with how incompetent he is, I don't think I will ever see him get married, let alone play with his grandkids."

  The passing waiter entered the kitchen, allowing the voice to escape the room. Even though the man spoke in a harsh, berating tone, his words caused a wave of laughter to burst out inside the kitchen.

  Hearing the outburst and the vibe inside, both Alvin and Rin exchanged stifled laughter. Rin moved past the kitchen and made her way towards the resting area. This area was both a locker room and a place for the staff members to rest.

  It was a cozy space where staff could catch their breath; the wooden ceiling and supports in the corner added a sweet scent to the room.

  Entering the room, Rin noticed that it was empty and heaved a sigh of relief inwardly.

  Alvin, on the other hand, noticed that she was still holding his hand. Taking the opportunity, he decided to tease the young woman, "How long are you going to drag me, manager?"

  Rin realized that she was still holding on to his hand protectively. But instead of releasing his hand, she tightened her hold on it. She looked at the man, who was older than her in age, and spoke softly, "I am sorry you had to go through that… again."

  Seeing the pained look in her eyes, Alvin could only smile wryly, "Who is the older one here?" He chuckled, rubbing the lobe of her right ear with the practiced move. Rin did not flinch under his touch and listened to him as he continued speaking, "There is nothing for you to be sorry about. Do you think I like it when you face a situation like that, but we cannot silence everyone or change their opinion about us?"

  Rin visibly flinched when he revealed how much he knew about her situation. "Did he tell you that?" She frowned with a bit of annoyance, but it was not directed at Alvin.

  Alvin smiled and took his hand back. "Matsuoka is my friend and as much of a brother to me as he is to you." Pausing, he put on a serious expression before asking, "Do you think even if he did not tell me anything I would not know about it? You get all enraged for me, but when it comes to yourself, why do you act like this?"

  Alvin sighed when he got no reply from now-meek Rin; she had lowered her head and stood there with her hand behind her back, rubbing against her expensive kimono.

  Knowing that he wouldn't be getting any reply from her, Alvin changed the topic. "Anyways, what did you bring me here for?"

  "Ah! I almost forgot," Rin jumped back, skipping to Alvin's locker. "As you know, Big Brother is busy in the kitchen, so he asked me to give this to you."

  Watching how she opened the locker without him even giving her the keys, beads of cold sweat appeared on Alvin's face, but he looked away, acting as if nothing had happened.

  Unaware of Alvin's thoughts, Rin turned around and raised her hands to reveal the contents of the box she was holding. Inside the box was freshly baked garlic bread.

  The moment she opened the box, Alvin had long stopped thinking about the drama that had just happened; his mind was fully assaulted by the sweet scent of the bread. The beautifully charred garlic shreds on the stuffed folds made him drool by just looking at them.

  Rin chuckled at his familiar reaction; he knew how much he liked the stuffed garlic bread, especially the one made by her brother, as her father refused to cook it for him. Even though she knew how to cook this dish, she felt it was not as good as her brother's.

  "Yep. Stuffed garlic bread, extra cheese, no jalape?os. Made by big brother Matsuoka himself." She presented the bread without skipping a beat, but the truth was she baked it herself, but there was no need for Alvin to know that.

  Alvin snapped out of his daze and looked at Rin in suspicion. "Wait… that old man let him cook something that wasn't on the menu?" Looking back at the dish that was now in his hand, he thought, 'I call it cap; with how stuck up that old man is, he will not compromise with his principles even if someone placed a gun on his head.'

  "Of course… he did not!" Rin snorted in amusement, but even she agreed with his words. That lunatic would rather come back from the grave to stop it. "Matsuoka had to use the oven in my office to cook it."

  The garlic bread in Alvin's hands almost slipped when he heard her speaking like that about her own father. He glared at her for almost making him commit a sinful act.

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  But her words did make him imagine a bony hand coming out of the grave, only to smack Matsuoka's head.

  "I can totally imagine him doing that." Alvin laughed; he looked at Rin and expressed his gratitude. "Thanks, Rin."

  "Mhmm," shaking her head, she replied, "There is no need for that; I only gave it to you. It was my big brother who made it. Besides, if you want to do something, why not cook me a warm meal after we go back home?"

  "Sure thing," Alvin smirked and decided to cook this little sister of his a very special egg-based dish.

  Rin beamed at his agreement and turned around to leave, not before flashing him a warm smile. "You can enjoy your meal here; I will go and handle the work I left to deal with that scum." There was something warm about the way she smiled, something that softened the usually sharp edges of her demeanor.

  As she left the room, Alvin shook his head and looked at the bread in his hands. "Little girl, you forgot that the old man would not even allow his son to leave the kitchen for bathroom breaks, let alone do some odd work."

  Even though the bread was now cold, Alvin felt his heart warming up. He could not help but look forward to their late-night dinner back home.

  At the same time, outside Fugetsu Restaurant

  A certain man was lying on the ground, groaning in pain after being thrown out of the restaurant unceremoniously.

  "Hmph! You should count yourself lucky that we were the ones who dealt with you, not Miss Rin. The last guy who faced her is still hospitalized." One of the burly guards sneered, "Go away now; trash like you doesn't belong here; you will only taint the beauty of this place."

  The guards paid no more attention to him and turned around to leave, leaving him sprawled on the cold pavement, his pristine suit along with his so-called expensive shoes now drenched in broth and dirt sticking to them.

  The man lowered his head; his slicked-back hair was a tangled mess, and his face still bore the sting of humiliation. The expensive clothes he was wearing before were now covered in broth and noodles, and his hairstyle was nothing like it was before.

  His hands scratched on the ground, clenched into a fist so tight his knuckles turned white.

  'They think they can humiliate ME and get away with it?' His breath came in a ragged burst. The man pulled out a burner phone from his pocket and dialed a number with shaking hands.

  A cold breeze flew by; the sound of the call ringing was the only thing to be heard beside the man's hitched breath until the person on the other side of the phone picked up the call. "It's me; I need your services right now."

  The man paused for a good while; his eyes swept over the glowing restaurant building before him, and his hold on the phone tightened as he added through gritted teeth, "...yeah, I need a lot of firecrackers. Bring a few, and the bigger, the better."

  After speaking for a few seconds, the man hung up the phone and threw it on the ground. He destroyed the bird with his feet, kicked away the carcass, and turned to walk in the direction of the parking lot on the side of Fugestu.

  The parking lot was covered in concrete walls, preventing the expensive cars parked there from getting damaged by the harsh environment. Outside the block was a single valet taking care of them.

  Taking the keys from the suspecting valet, the man made his way inside; the dim light inside barely illuminated the cars inside, but as he walked deeper inside, the sensors increased the intensity of the lights.

  Only after walking a couple of steps did the man come to a stop, not only because he found his car but also because he heard something.

  …Crying?

  The first thought came to his mind when he heard the faint sound. Sneering, the man wanted to ignore it at first, as he was already preoccupied with his own rage. But when he realized that it was a woman crying, a thought flashed through his mind, making him turn to look at the farthest corner of the parking lot.

  There, curled up against the black door of a black sedan, was a woman familiar to him, crying with her head buried in her knees.

  With his lips curled up dangerously, the man walked to his car, a red sports car, and reached out under the driver's seat. Pulling out a small object, he made his way toward the crying woman.

  Hearing the sound of footsteps coming closer to her, the woman stopped crying for a second and looked up to face the person coming towards her. Her face was covered in snot, and she was instantly drained of color when she saw who it was.

  Her eyes widened in horror when she saw light falling on the person standing before her; the face she hated the most right now was standing before her.

  "Did you think you could walk away humiliating me like a fool?" The man spoke, his voice eerily calm. The woman was so scared that she forgot to scream. "I did not become the leader of the Axe Gang by forgiving my enemies."

  Bang!

  The man calmly pointed his gun, its muzzle equipped with a silencer, at her forehead and pulled the trigger without allowing the woman to snap out of her daze. With a single shot, a lifeless body fell to the ground.

  The sound of the shot was so light that it was barely heard before the concrete walls absorbed it.

  But the man did not immediately turn around to leave; he looked around and dragged the woman by her leg deeper under the cover of the huge cars parked there.

  After fifteen minutes, the man emerged from the gaps between the parked cars, a grin etched on his dirtied face. He made his way back to his car while tidying his loose shirt and messy pants.

  He drove out of the parking lot as if nothing happened and stopped under the shade of the dense trees in the nearby forest. He stepped out of his car and looked at another vehicle standing there; it was a suspicious-looking van.

  The man walked up to it and opened the sliding door of the van. Without saying anything, he pulled out a duffel bag and closed the door. As soon as the man took a step back, the van drove off.

  With a dark glint flashing through his eyes, the man made his way back to the restaurant.

  Inside the staff room, Alvin eagerly waited as the oven warmed the bread.

  When the 'Ting' alarm finally went off, he jumped from the table, his excitement barely contained.

  He quickly retrieved the bread and placed it on a ceramic plate. The aroma hit him, the scent of melted cheese oozing between the slices.

  Alvin's stomach growled as he tugged at the bread, only to yelp as the heat burned his fingers. He tossed it between his hands, blowing on it frantically before attempting another bite.

  Just as he was about to sink his teeth into it—

  BOOM!

  The entire restaurant shook.

  A series of deafening explosions went off, and an explosion ripped through the walls of the staff room. The force sent Alvin flying, his body crashing into the lockers.

  The garlic bread was flung across the room, forgotten.

  Dust and debris filled the air as another BOOM followed—then another.

  With a high-pitched ringing in his ears, Alvin slumped against the cold floor.

  His vision blurred.

  His consciousness faded.

  And then—

  Darkness.