Jerson felt restless as he drove his cruise to his partner's whereabouts. He could vividly hear his heart thumping so hard. His breathing was volatile. He felt restless. The thought about Degree, who’s currently in peril, and the possibility that he might get killed while they are on a mission gave him a vast amount of fear. He didn’t want to lose someone again. Not now. Not ever. He couldn’t tolerate that same kind of pain.
The traffic enforcers gathered the people at the side of the road. The traffic-jammed caused by the gunshot made him a bit slower. Jerson uttered all kinds of profanity he knew. He’s afraid that if he can’t make it to Degree as soon as possible, the Avialanchê will corner his partner and, worse, will shoot Degree dead.
In hopes that the tough old geezer might be pulling some prank, Jerson dialed Degree’s number, but to no avail; it seems like the old geezer turned off his phone. He frustratedly bit his lips, stopping himself from condemning the elderly. That old-aged man doesn’t know how to pull up pranks, so Jerson couldn't guess whether Degree was jesting or not. If he does, Jerson will surely kill Degree. These kinds of tricks were beyond everybody’s bottom line.
Jerson’s disheveled hair pranced with the air as he drove his motor fast. People would look at him in a questioning manner, curious at the guy who went his engine quickly. In the end, they conclude that somebody needed the man’s aid in his cruise in some fiasco. Something urgent might be happening somewhere, and that needs his abrupt assistance, so instead of going after him, people just let him go. They even made way for him to go faster. This advantage made Jerson sneer.
Apart from Jerson’s knowledge, the same kind of event happened when a man in a black suit drove fast in his car. The man was heading the same way as Jerson did, running more quickly for Degree’s aid. The Capital of City B was in chaos because of the gunshot. Denizens thought that it was a terrorist attack making them run outdoors. At the same time, people in their homes watched the chaos happening on the internet, where they witnessed the downfall of the most prominent diplomat. All of those were happening in just a day.
Just when Jerson was at the corner of the street from where he last saw Degree, a man in a tux came out of a car. The man was wearing a neat tuxedo, but it looked like he must not have neatly fixed his tie. Jerson wanted to fix it but only could blankly stare at it. He couldn’t fix it. He didn’t know the man. His perfectionist ass wanted it neatly tied, but Jerson knew it was a weird shit to correct a stranger’s tie neatly.
Jerson caught the man’s stare and immediately backed down. He gaped at how indifferent the man’s reaction was. Jerson thinks that this man’s complexion was comparable to Degree’s features. If only this person were as sunny as his boss, he would think that the two were siblings, but the man is so grim. It was as if he’d been through a lot of misery.
Jerson stopped his cruise just at the opposite side of the man’s car and got off it. Without glancing, he walked towards the corner to check people he would find suspicious, entirely ignoring the man in a tux. The man observes Jerson’s action. Before Jerson could even step at the dark corner of the intersection, a pair of cold hands grabbed his wrist. Jerson felt his heart jump a beat.
“I’m afraid that area is off-limits, Sir. Ordinary citizens that aren’t part of the investigation team and part of the cops in charge of this case are not allowed to come in. This district is also a private division. You have to acquire first permission from the authorities before you can enter,” the man said. Jerson turned his head and looked at the man indifferently.
The grim-lined lip of the man curved upward as he looked at Jerson’s expression, stunned that Jerson’s indifference remained unfazed. For a few seconds, the man admired Jerson’s complexion. Never in his entire life did he find a man beautiful, but the man with his cruise was beyond any beauty that a woman could possess. Jerson is a beautiful man. Although he found Jerson amusing, he also found the young man incredibly suspicious.
“Off-limit my ass. I have a business to take care of,” Jerson said, insinuating the man to back off.
“I’m Prosecutor Vishnu de Oliveira, and there are things to be taken care of before I let you go. Do you mind if I ask you some questions, Sir?”
“I mind, Prosecutor. As you can see, I’m pretty busy at the moment. Please guarantee a warrant of arrest before asking me to answer your indictment and a bunch of tricky questions,” Jerson replied.
What Jerson said made Vishnu’s brows furrow. In a timely moment, he found the man amusing, but this didn’t last any longer. Now, Vishnu only wanted to cut the young man’s tongue with his hand and teach him how to show some manners. But Vishnu knows the annoying man got the point. He couldn’t just interrogate someone bluntly without an arrest warrant. The arrestee also has the right to remain silent, so he can’t yank any information at the young man.
Jerson sighed, scarcely disappointed by his careless actions. Whatever comes to mind that prompted him to behave the way he did, he begged that it would be the first and the last.
“What are you doing here anyway? This area is private, Sir.” Vishnu licked his lips while looking at the beautiful man in front of him. “As to what I am implying, I am sure you get it,” Vishnu mumbled calmly.
“I’m confident that the restriction of this territory isn’t as tight as to how you insinuated it to be,” Vishnu implied while tapping hastily at his IPad, trying to get Degree’s current location. “First, a domineering prosecutor could get in and out here unharmed given the fact that these are for a certain private group to use. Second, the mere fact that I am still hearing you speak nonsense could be a shred of circumstantial evidence to prove my claim.”
Pressed lips, Vishnu massages his temple. He finds Jerson a terrible genius that could get into his nose anytime soon. He looked at Jerson, who showed a numb face. The beautiful man was still busy typing on his IPad. While glancing at him, Vishnu could picture his well-built body. Although Jerson was smaller, more than a half ruler than him, this didn’t hide that Jerson had a good body that could take him down.
Vishnu collected his shredded ego and decided to work on further investigation that he was ordained to perform. He was here in this city, all thanks to his brother, and now the situation forced him to check the case personally even behind his busy schedule after he lost Degree’s tracks. The gunshot made him worried.
Heeding to what purpose he originally came up to as to why he drove the intersection, Vishnu inspected the area. There’s no sign of commotion that had occurred earlier. The place was too peaceful, but this form of stillness isn’t a good thing.
“You motherfucker! Where are you?!”
Jerson’s deep voice made him look in the guy’s direction. The hint of irritation on Jerson’s voice somehow made him curious as to what expression Jerson's beautiful face would give. But Jerson still has the same attitude. It was cold. It appears to him that Jerson could only give one expression. Indifferent. His gazes will compel everyone to assume he was gawking at a piece of shit.
“You made me worry, and that’s all you have to say?”
“I’m just a meter away from your current location. Don’t even dare to run and do insignificant things again.”
“Just let me punch you once,” Jerson said before hanging up. Vishnu could see how Jerson clenched his fist.
Vishnu tilted his head. ‘I wonder who was on the other line?’ he thought. ‘It might be someone important indicating that kind of act he expressed.’ With those thoughts in his mind, he couldn’t focus on his work. The beautiful man is indeed his most significant distraction.
Jerson, on the other hand, started to track Degree again. He could feel his blood boiling. This reckless act made him want to choke Degree to death and send him to the morgue himself. He never felt this kind of fear, even when he faced dangerous missions until now. Operating such a stunt made him want to punch Degree; after all, he considered Degree his brother.
While murdering Degree in his mind, he could feel someone was staring. He pressed his lips. There was a certain someone who was making him uncomfortable at the moment, and it bothered him. He then unconsciously turned his head at the Prosecutor, who was intently looking at him. It troubled him more when he couldn’t read what the man had on his mind. He trained himself to read everybody’s facial expressions. With that kind of work, reading facial expressions comes in handy. Unable to read Vishnu's face, he was somewhat troubled.
In fact, both of them couldn’t get through what the other was thinking, which is why Degree wanted them to meet. He tried to play cupid and hooked Jerson and Vishnu. This way, they would be able to mend each other in any means possible. Although the two men were different, the other one lacked something that the other possessed.
Degree couldn’t care much about his brother’s sexual orientation. He’ll accept him no matter what circumstances it is, and this also applies to Jerson, who he treats as his brother.
Seeing the two from afar and how the two gorgeous men look good together made Degree sneer. Unbeknownst to him, Jerson finds the man strange and willingly breaks Vishnu’s legs if the Prosecutor acts suspiciously. Degree steps up at the location, making the two men look in his direction.
“Vishnu,” Degree called that prompts Jerson to look at Degree confusedly. Seeing Jerson’s inquiring look, Degree introduced Vishnu.
“This is my brother. The one I’m talking about,” Degree announced. Jerson looked at Vishnu. He examined the so-called decent person.
‘So he’s the great brother Degree was babbling. He didn’t look that decent, though. More like, he’s ruthless.’
Vishnu extended his hand and offered it to Jerson, who was looking at him.
“Vishnu de Oliveira. I’m his brother.”