Chapter 137 - 136
’A mind-altering interference drug...’ It didn’t sound like a good thing. She had never heard of a medication that required a compatibility check. What if something went wrong?
"The pharmaceutical research team is brilliant. I can be treated with it in two days," Simon Lockwood said.
Joanna Kennedy grew even more worried. "Are there side effects?"
"...Joanna Kennedy, don’t worry."
He just offered stiff, repetitive reassurances, never directly answering the question. Joanna Kennedy sat up a little straighter, her slender arms still wrapped around his neck. She tilted her face up, glaring at him with red, swollen eyes. "Don’t even think about fooling me."
"......I can’t make any guarantees right now," Simon Lockwood answered honestly.
Seeing that she was about to cry again, Simon Lockwood instinctively pulled her against his chest, as if Joanna Kennedy wouldn’t be crying if he couldn’t see it.
Joanna Kennedy: "........."
’Burying his head in the sand. He’s just fooling himself.’
She stopped struggling, her voice muffled and sulky. "I forbid you from using that whatever-it-is drug."
"Joanna Kennedy, don’t be difficult..."
"If you take it, I’ll take it too."
"........."
Simon Lockwood sighed and asked softly, "Don’t you want me to go back to being the old Simon Lockwood?"
"But you’re great now, too..." Joanna Kennedy’s heart ached, and she couldn’t help but nuzzle against his chest.
’No matter what, he was her Simon Lockwood.’
’Stubbornly trying to turn back the clock would only hurt them both. It was like how she sometimes missed the high school version of Simon Lockwood, but she knew they could never go back to that.’
"...No, I’m not," Simon Lockwood said slowly, holding her tighter.
’The way I am now isn’t good.’
Joanna Kennedy couldn’t help but repeat, "Yes, you are."
"No, I’m not."
"........."
She was pouting, like a ruffled little animal, so Simon Lockwood fell silent. He gently rested his chin on her shoulder. "Let me just try it once, okay?"
’What if it works?’
Before she could object, Simon Lockwood added, "If I feel anything wrong during the process, I’ll have the doctors stop."
’If he really did feel something wrong, how would he even be able to make them stop?!’
Joanna Kennedy wasn’t stupid enough to fall for that. Her tone was serious. "Simon Lockwood, don’t even think about using it unless the technology behind the drug is fully developed. Trust me, I’ll find a way to make you better."
’Once we’re back home, I’ll go find Charles Jennings again. If there’s truly no other solution, I’m prepared for that, too. In any case, no matter what Simon Lockwood becomes, he’ll always love me in his own way.’
She didn’t want Simon Lockwood to risk his health like this.
The next morning, Joanna Kennedy could barely open her eyes. A glance in the bathroom mirror confirmed it: they were so swollen they’d become mere slits.
’My double eyelids!!!’
After making breakfast, Simon Lockwood went to her room to get her for the meal. The moment he walked in, he saw her sitting ramrod straight on the edge of the bed, wearing a pair of sunglasses.
Simon Lockwood: "........."
Simon Lockwood frowned. "What’s wrong with your eyes?"
Joanna Kennedy dodged his hand and huffed. "It’s nothing. I’m just sensitive to the light."
Simon Lockwood: ".........."
She ate her breakfast looking like that. Perhaps because they had talked things through last night and she had cried her fill, her gloomy mood had lifted. She even ate a whole extra sandwich.
After finishing, she didn’t forget to confirm with him one more time. "You promised me. You won’t go."
Simon Lockwood was silent for a long moment. Under her vigilant, earnest gaze, he finally, slowly, agreed. "Right. I won’t go."
His gaze was lowered as he drank his milk, and Joanna Kennedy couldn’t tell if he was being truthful. Then, a thought suddenly struck her.
’Last night I was too emotional, too caught up in being sad. But now that I’m thinking clearly...’
"So, you were having dinner with your ’business partner’s’ sister??"
’Coming to Dresland was about finding a cure; the "business partner" was just a cover story. But that unfamiliar woman’s voice on the phone was real!’
With the sunglasses hiding half her face, Simon Lockwood couldn’t read her expression. He explained instinctively, "She’s the sister of a friend from the research institute."
He paused, then couldn’t suppress his innately authoritative nature. "Take the sunglasses off. Wearing them indoors is bad for your eyes."
"So, is that how you became so nearsighted?" Joanna Kennedy retorted before she could stop herself.
Simon Lockwood: ".........."
Simon Lockwood wasn’t supposed to feel any emotional fluctuations, yet at that moment, he felt a sense of exasperation so subtle that even he himself didn’t notice it.
’Has Joanna Kennedy always been this sharp-tongued?’
"Oh, and you’ve picked up smoking, too," Joanna Kennedy added quietly, twisting the knife.
Simon Lockwood: ".........."
Simon Lockwood took a deep breath. "I’m going to air out the comforter."
"Why air out the comforter?" Joanna Kennedy asked, confused.
Simon Lockwood said, stone-faced, "In case it smells of smoke."
Joanna Kennedy: "........."
’Simon Lockwood never smoked in front of her. Where would the smell of smoke even come from?’
Joanna Kennedy pouted. "Why are you being so mean..."
She thought she was being quiet, but he heard her perfectly. Simon Lockwood pinched the bridge of his nose, seriously wondering how, exactly, he had been mean.
’There was a problem with his emotional system, not his brain.’
*
Before they returned home, Joanna Kennedy did, in fact, finally meet the Dresland beauty whose voice she had heard on the phone.
Blonde hair and blue eyes, ruby-red lips against porcelain skin, and legs for days—she was the very picture of a stunning foreign bombshell.
Next to the bombshell was a handsome, similarly blond-and-blue-eyed man who stared at Joanna Kennedy from the moment he sat down, unsettling her completely.
After Simon Lockwood introduced who Joanna was, the handsome man’s gaze didn’t waver; if anything, it grew even more intense. Even the stunning bombshell’s scorching gaze shifted from Simon Lockwood to her.
Joanna Kennedy: "........."
’What is wrong with these two?’
Simon Lockwood issued a cool warning, and Kenley Kim finally, reluctantly, tore his eyes away. He spoke in a Chinese that was somehow both fluent and halting, "Hello, Miss Kennedy. My name is Kenley Kim. I was Simon Lockwood’s senior when he was studying in Meridia. This here is my sister, Heidi Kim, a one-time fanatical pursuer of her junior, Simon Lockwood."
The man made sure to put extra emphasis on "fanatical pursuer."
’And "Miss Kennedy"? Did he learn Chinese from some ancient textbook?’
A cold glint appeared in Simon Lockwood’s eyes. "Mr. Kim."
"Alright, alright. A non-fanatical pursuer, then. Happy now?"
Now it wasn’t just Joanna Kennedy who was left speechless. The stunning bombshell shot up and smacked her brother on the back of the head. "Halt die Klappe!"
The handsome man cried out in pain and let loose a stream of unintelligible German. The bombshell fired back just as impolitely, and the two went at it, trading barbs.
Joanna Kennedy leaned closer to Simon Lockwood and whispered, "What are they saying?"
Simon’s face was a cold mask. "They’re swearing. Don’t listen."
He regretted it. He never should have told Kenley Kim he was returning home. Then Heidi Kim wouldn’t have tracked them to the hotel, and Joanna Kennedy wouldn’t have been the one to open the door to her.
Which led to this ridiculous meal.
Joanna Kennedy nodded, her expression indescribable.
As if sensing the girl’s complex gaze, Heidi stopped. She gave a small cough, elegantly smoothed her slightly ruffled hair, and said, "You’re Joanna Kennedy? I know of you."