How Can Two People From Different Sides Ever Fall in Love? - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

◎ A Gift for the Brave ◎

Hollis had known Raven for much longer than Silver imagined—so long ago that the title of the “Twin Stars” hadn’t even begun to circulate.

She had originally thought Hollis and Raven met at least after starting work, or at least after she did. Little did she know, she was the newcomer.

Four years ago, right when Hollis graduated from university, he applied for his current job through a website. On the way to the interview, as soon as he got off the bus, his ears immediately captured some discordant sounds.

His eyesight wasn’t great, but his other senses were sharp, and he followed the sound to find the source.

Raven often said he could “identify positions by sound,” like a great martial arts hero in China.

Hollis had been to China and lived there for a period. He knew that the online stereotype of every Chinese person knowing martial arts was just that a stereotype.

He knew even more clearly that Raven was subtly mocking him for being blind.

Hollis was only slightly nearsighted, and he wore glasses besides. On the day of the interview, he identified the direction of the noise and soon spotted a man and a woman.

He watched from a distance for a while and realized the two knew each other but were having a conflict, resulting in a verbal spat. Glancing at the surveillance camera above their heads, he didn’t intend to get involved.

However, just as he turned to leave, a scream suddenly rang out.

His body moved faster than his consciousness. By the time he reacted, he was already firmly grasping the man’s high-raised palm.

“Stop!” Hollis shouted in a low voice, the veins on the hand gripping the man’s arm bulging.

“Who the hell do you think you are!” The man started to curse, but when he turned and saw a man over a head taller than him, the vitriol got stuck in his throat.

Not only did his volume drop sharply, but he also changed his wording: “Who are you? Does this have anything to do with you? Why are you interfering?”

Hollis shook off the man’s hand and stood before the woman like a protective wall.

“Maintaining social order is an obligation every citizen should fulfill.” He had been practicing interview techniques recently and had memorized many templates; as soon as he spoke, he unconsciously displayed the results of his studies.

At this point, the man saw Hollis’s clear eyes and understood this was just a student who hadn’t lost his naivety. Anyone who had worked for a few years wouldn’t have a face full of righteous indignation or speak in official jargon the moment they opened their mouths.

The man’s mouth twitched in speechlessness, his nostrils flared, and he couldn’t help but curse: “You’re sick!”

Hollis remained unfazed, constantly observing the man to prevent him from striking again.

“That’s enough. You can control today, but can you control the future?!” Seeing that Hollis wouldn’t budge, the man pointed to his own cheek. “Open your eyes and look clearly—who exactly started it!”

“You’re full of it!” As soon as the man finished speaking, the woman behind Hollis jumped out, unwilling to back down. “This was clearly you being handsy with me! My bag just accidentally grazed you while I was struggling!”

Staring at the mark on the man’s face that was nearly invisible, the woman spat: “I spit on you! The skin isn’t even broken, and you’re whining non-stop. What kind of man are you!”

“Hey!” Hollis transformed into a judge while simultaneously stopping the woman’s uncivilized behavior. “Spitting is prohibited in public places.”

The woman wore the same expression the man had earlier, but considering the “judge” was generally fair and fearing she might annoy him, she worried that as soon as he left, the man would counterattack immediately.

Her mouth opened and closed, and the woman silently lowered her head to prevent her distorted expression from being exposed to the judge.

“I was being handsy? Between a couple, what counts as being handsy?”

The man pointed forcefully at the woman: “When you were in bed with me, why didn’t you say I was being handsy!”

She couldn’t speak back to the judge, but could she not speak back to this disgusting man? The woman retorted: “Has that mouth of yours not been poked by a plunger in a long time? It’s so full of crap that it stinks the moment you open it!”

“I f*cking…” The man couldn’t win the argument, so he started to get physical.

Hollis hurried forward to stop him.

The man’s eyes were red with rage. Realizing Hollis was only blocking the two of them and wasn’t hitting back, he lost all inhibitions. His arms swung wildly, raining blows down upon Hollis.

The woman couldn’t bear to watch and swung her bag, trying to knock the man’s hands away. But Hollis worried that if she poked her head out, the man would hurt her. He blocked left and right, so the attacks from both sides fell almost entirely on him.

Amidst the three-way scuffle, not only was his tie pulled loose, but the buttons on his shirt went missing. Fortunately, he was a head and a half taller than this pair; his face and hairstyle remained largely unaffected.

People arriving for the interview began to gather, hearing the commotion.

Those who wanted to mediate feared getting caught in the crossfire; those who wanted to call the police feared it would delay their interview. While everyone was stuck on what to do, someone arrived with security personnel and brought the farce to an end.

“So, that person was Raven?”

Silver and Hollis were from the same intake; she had been at the interview that day too, but she had missed the farce. She heard rumors afterward, but as time passed, it became old news, and she didn’t dig for details.

Years later, bringing up old times, she hadn’t expected the two main protagonists of the event to be right beside her.

“Yes.” Hollis nodded. “While others were watching from the side, only he stepped in.”

The onlookers had formed a circle with Hollis and the other two at the center, leaving an empty area in the middle like a vacuum zone that no one entered.

Except for Raven and the security guards he brought.

As soon as Raven appeared with the security personnel, the man immediately ceased his hostility. Seeing him turn to run, Hollis grabbed him by the collar and handed him over to the guards to be taken to the security booth to wait for the police.

Under Raven’s direction, the remaining onlookers dispersed. Once the circle broke, Raven turned to size up Hollis.

He looked like a gentleman from the neck up, but indescribable from the neck down.

Raven frowned and asked: “Candidate?”

Hollis kept his hands tight against his trouser seams, standing at attention. Upon hearing this, he nodded vigorously: “Mm-hm.”

Raven took a sharp intake of air and said with a troubled face: “How can you go into an interview looking like this?”

Fortunately, he didn’t plan to leave him be. He rubbed his chin, scanning Hollis from all angles, muttering constantly: “You’re too tall, and sturdier than me…”

It sounded like he intended to swap clothes with Hollis.

Hollis didn’t know if he was a candidate or a staff member.

Putting aside their physical differences, for a staff member to swap clothes with a candidate before an exam could lead to misunderstandings or suspicions of foul play if word got out.

And if he were a candidate, the interview times and sequence weren’t fixed yet. If the times clashed or the exam rooms were different, there were too many uncertainties.

Hollis gradually calmed down. He knew he had been a bit impulsive today. It would be a lie to say he didn’t regret it, but he would bear the cost.

Just as he was about to thank Raven for his kind rescue, a strange male voice suddenly came from nearby: “Um, this, that, I found these on the side.”

What “this” and “that.”

Raven and Hollis were confused and looked toward the source of the sound. They saw a thin man holding out a hand, with two buttons sitting in his palm.

The buttons that had flown off Hollis’s shirt were now lying in the man’s palm.

Raven looked even more excited than the owner of the buttons. His face lit up instantly: “Good deeds bring good rewards. Maybe you’ll have some extraordinary luck in your interview today.”

He stepped forward to take the buttons, not forgetting to thank the stranger, then turned and waved at Hollis: “Let’s go, we still have a little time.”

Before leaving, he said to Hollis with a mix of joking and sincerity: “If you pass the interview, don’t forget to thank them properly.”

At his mindless comment, the man behind them involuntarily clenched his other fist.

“So where did Raven take you? And at that time, he had already been working for a few years; he wouldn’t fail to realize the risks of swapping clothes with you, right?” As Hollis paused, Silver asked impatiently.

The subject of the questioning unhurriedly packed up his meal box: “He usually keeps a change of clothes in his trunk. I assume he planned to have me change into those.”

In fact, Hollis wasn’t sure of Raven’s true thoughts either; he was just using his current understanding to speculate on what his most likely choice was back then.

“Swapping clothes on the spot isn’t very advisable, but there was surveillance on-site. He wasn’t the examiner. If he reported the situation in advance, even if someone complained later, the evidence would show it was a justifiable circumstance.”

Hollis commented: “Raven has always been reliable in his actions.”

“What about the person who found your buttons? Did you ever see him again?”

Hollis shook his head: “No.”

Silver sighed with regret and continued to press: “What happened next? How did Raven eventually solve it?”

“Later…”

Later, Raven went into a convenience store, bought needle and thread, found a quiet, deserted corner, and quickly sewed the first button back on for Hollis.

Slender, fair knuckles held the fine needle, the taut thread acting like a connection between them.

He and him, at that moment, seemed to become one.

Leaving the scene of the incident, Hollis had been in a daze the whole time and hadn’t said a word; even the money for the needle and thread was paid by Raven.

In the blink of an eye, the button was nailed back. A sense of reluctance welled up in his heart; for some reason, he didn’t want it to end so soon.

“Oh dear, what a bother,” Raven suddenly said with annoyance. Hollis was startled and about to ask, but saw him give a helpless smile and say “Sorry.” Without giving Hollis time to react, he leaned his face in and bit off the thread with his teeth.

Once the thread snapped, the connection between them seemed to snap with it.

Hollis stared at it all blankly.

“Where is the button on your sleeve?”

Hollis raised his arm in confusion and found a button missing from his right sleeve. His thoughts returned to the present; he answered while recalling, “It probably got torn off along with the shirt buttons.”

The person involved wasn’t panicked, so Raven didn’t say much.

“Just pay attention to the sleeve; it’s not obvious.” But it was an eyesore.

Raven sighed: “Forget it.”

Hollis remained dazed: “Ah?”

In the next second, Raven took off his own cufflinks and put them on for him, covering the unsightly sleeve.

His arm suddenly felt as if it had weight; his heart felt both tart and swollen, constantly tugging at Hollis’s flesh and blood.

After an unknown amount of time, he snapped out of it and hurriedly called out to the departing Raven, not even having time to say thank you: “What is your name? How can I return these to you?”

Raven didn’t look back, only waving a hand behind him: “Consider it a gift for the brave.”

“Brave sir, I wish you success in your interview in advance.”

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