Sun Upon Dark Clouds

14: Compliment

Coley felt like an annoying bastard for stereotyping Ghrae as a rich spoiled brat who knew nothing about independence. When she woke up from the smell of freshly cooked bacons, the thing that she suddenly thought of was, what if the bacons will start burning later? Sure, Ghrae grew up in a mansion with servants who would clean every corner in the house including her bedroom, which had a size of a living room, and would cook any kind of dish for them whenever they want; but that did not mean that Ghrae had no skills in cooking and cleaning. A fact that Coley certainly did not know about Ghrae yet was that she was an all-rounder even though it was not totally necessary because she was rich.

“I didn’t expect you to be good at cooking,” Coley said in surprise after swallowing a bite of bacon that was perfectly cooked.

“Is that a compliment?” Ghrae asked while spreading butter on her slice of toast.

“It is.”

“Thanks,” the brunette let out a chuckle at how insincere she sounded.

The day started fresh with a basic breakfast to fill their energy for the day ahead. It was a simple breakfast with sunny side up eggs, bacons, and toast; of course, it would not be complete without cold orange juice. Pretty sure they had a lot to do after the meal since Coley was still being tracked down; knowing that she was in Peace Town, it was no doubt that the gangsters would not stop looking around the town in search for her now. Just by thinking about it made Coley grumble in annoyance—she just wanted freedom.

“Now that I think about it, there’s a possibility of those gangsters to start barging in every house now,” Coley said with worry and frustration evident in her tone. “Knowing them, they’re assholes to do whatever it takes to find me.”

“Did you commit a sin to them that they’re willing to invade anyone’s privacy just to find you?” the raven asked before eating a piece of bacon.

A sheepish grin appeared on the brunette’s face as she chuckled guiltily and leaned back on her seat, looking away to avoid the gaze of the woman across her. Ghrae was right, Coley did commit a sin to the gang. She basically did not just run away from home while they were all asleep, she also sent an anonymous message to their rival gang about Undead Beast wanting to start a war with them. Coley must be dumb to think that no one would know that she was the one who sent the anonymous message since she used a red pen for the letters: C, E, L, O, and Y; while the other letters were written with a black pen in the message that she wrote. Okay, maybe she did want them to know that she was the one who made Undead Beast and their rival gang start a war against each other; Coley loved playing around, after all.

“With that smile, I’m assuming you did,” Ghrae said as she looked at the latter’s eyes while chewing on her eggs.

“Well, it’s not like I know that they’d find me here,” The brunette pouted as she tried to defend herself.

“Okay, how about this?” Coley immediately turned to look at her with curiosity in her eyes as she waited for Ghrae to continue what she was saying. “Leave evidence that you left town to all places that they would likely go to find you.”

The brunette slightly furrowed her eyebrows as she tapped on her bottom lip while staring at a blank space in concentration. The plan that the raven suggested was not a bad one; in fact, it was the perfect plan that they could do to make the gangsters leave the town knowing that they were dumb enough to believe in those evidences that they would leave. After thinking more than twice about it, a grin of determination appeared on Coley’s face as she met eyes with Ghrae and abruptly slammed her fist on the table. Ghrae slightly flinched.

“That is an excellent plan, Ms.—” Coley slightly widened her eyes, gesturing the latter.

“Kanori,” Ghrae spoke.

“Ms. Kanori! You are definitely a genius to think of such an outstanding plan!” Coley clapped her hands as she lightly shook her head.

Ghrae let out a short chuckle as she continued to finish her breakfast with Coley following.

After breakfast, the raven went to take a shower as the brunette offered to wash the dishes to not seem like a burden. It was really a good thing that it was Ghrae who Coley ran to since she was not just pretty and rich but also smart. It was as if she was everything that Coley had ever needed.

***

“Let’s see, where do we go first?”

“Are you seriously going out like that?” Ghrae asked as she stared blankly at the brunette. “You know I can just go buy a facemask for you, right?”

“I’m going out like this, so they won’t recognize me from afar, okay?” Coley said in a serious tone as she placed her hands on Ghrae’s shoulders.

“I think you will catch anyone’s attention,” the latter replied as she stared back at her with a poker face.

The idea by Coley of putting on a disguise to not be noticed by the gangsters if ever they would run into them at the same place was to wrap a bath towel around her neck that covered the bottom half of her face and wear a hoodie with the hood up to cover her brown hair. So, using the hood of the hoodie to cover her brown hair was fine since the gangsters knew that Coley had brown long hair, but maybe using a bath towel to cover half of her face when it was not even winter was definitely not a smart thing to do.

“Because I still look hot? I know—”

“Because you look stupid.”

Coley blinked multiple times with her mouth left ajar as she got interrupted by Ghrae who stared at her with blank eyes. Embarrassment, that was what she was feeling at that moment that she wanted to be eaten by the ground already. It was not her first time to be insulted though it was her first time to feel that offended over a simple remark.

“Okay, let’s get a facemask.”

Coley forced a smile through the pain as she slowly pulled the towel off her neck. The both of them then left the apartment as they went to a convenience store to get a black disposable face mask to complete Coley’s disguise.

The first place that they decided to go was the nightclub where the gangsters saw Coley. As they arrived at the club, it looked empty as there were no flashing lights that they could see from the outside and no blasting music that they could hear muffled from the outside. It looked like an ordinary building. Before entering the club, the first thing that Coley did was to go to the parking lot to check on her motorcycle.

“My baby, are you okay? Have you been well? No one hurt you, right?” Coley dramatically said as she hugged the vehicle that was parked on the empty parking lot.

Ghrae shoved her hands in the pockets of her denim jacket as she watched the brunette act as if her motorcycle was literally a baby. She did not understand why she was treating a vehicle like a baby, though she decided to just let her be.

“As much as I want to take you with me already, I can’t,” Coley stood up as she shut her eyes and placed her hand over her eyes like she was controlling her tears from falling when there were no tears forming in her eyes.

The raven watched as the brunette threw her arms down to her sides and looked at her with her eyebrows deeply furrowed. It was as if she was not being dramatic earlier, Coley grinned as she placed her arm around Ghrae’s shoulder and began to walk toward the backdoor. It did not last though as Ghrae casually slapped her arm off her without throwing her a glance.

The club was totally different as how it looked like last night. It was dim and the whole place was blank like they could have an echo going back to them when they would speak. The dancefloor was clean and vacuous unlike last night when there was no space to stand. Ghrae and Coley slowly walked inside as they looked around with hope to see anyone inside; well, the backdoor was open.

“s**t!” Coley shrieked, making Ghrae flinch and cover with ear.

“The club opens at eight,” a man who just suddenly stood up behind the counter spoke with a tired face. He was probably sleeping behind the counter.

“Oh, we’re not here to party,” Ghrae politely said as she lightly nudged Coley’s side.

“Y-Yeah! We’re actually here to ask for a favor to the owner,” Coley wore an awkward smile as she looked around the place. “Where’s the owner?”

“I’m the owner. I got kicked out from my apartment because I couldn’t pay for the rent, so I’m here,” the man said in an exhausted tone.

“That must suck,” Ghrae blankly responded. “Anyway, we need your help.”

“I don’t have—”

“If anyone asks you if you’ve seen a woman named Coley Raku, tell them that you have but she already left town,” Coley said as she approached them and placed her arms on the counter, which she slightly regretted because the man stank.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” The man nodded, obviously not interested with conversation that they were having.

“Also, please let the sexy black motorcycle on your parking lot stay for a few days,” Coley pouted as she pleaded.

“Stay or not, I don’t care. I just need rest right now, okay?” The man deeply sighed. “I’ll tell anyone that I’ve never met Cori Ku and I won’t give a f**k whether a bike stays on the parking lot for days. Happy now?”

“It’s Coley Raku, and yes,” Coley grinned and was about to give the man a pat on the shoulder when the stink from his body stopped her from going close. “Thanks. Also, you need to take a shower.”

“I will,” the man then ducked down the counter as he lied down on the sleeping back that was on the floor. “Lock the door on your way out.”

Coley shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoodie as she walked toward the backdoor where Ghrae was waiting for her, with a smile of success on her face. Now that she was walking toward the shorter woman, that was when she realized that she was pretty either from afar or up close even though she did not have any makeup on. Because of that, the taller woman felt the need to flirt with her.

“Ghrae,” Coley spoke as they left the club. They did not forget to lock the door on their way out as requested.

“Yes?” Ghrae responded without taking her eyes off their way.

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” The brunette stopped, making the raven stop and turn to her with questioning eyes.

“How are you sure I came from heaven? My past self could have been sent to hell,” the raven deadpanned.

“I guess that explains why you’re so hot,” Coley smirked.

“I don’t think that’s a compliment,” Ghrae flashed a brief smile before turning and continuing to walk.

It is hard to flirt with her, Coley thought before shaking her head and jogging to catch up with her.