Owen applied pressure to the man’s wrist and shoved the knife into the back of his hand.
At that moment, blood spattered everywhere which surprised people causing them to take a step back. Even the man’s subordinates or companions did not dare intervene or stop them.
“Ah!!!”
The chip he had picked up earlier now had blood on it. Every time he struggled to escape the pain, the chips on his palms shook as well. The only sound made was by the injured man. To avoid interfering with the situation, no one dared utter a sound and just watched as the scene unraveled.
“It looks like you have gotten some blood on you.”
Owen lowered his head close to the man’s face to look at the blood-stained chips and spoke kindly to him. Sarin had to admit that the blood-stained lucky chips belong to the man now. Before she knew it, she unclenched her fists. Her fingers twitched slightly. She did not feel avenged even though the man was seen screaming while the back of his hands were pierced.
The whole scenario seemed so surreal.
Everyone here was unfazed by the scene. It was only Sarin who didn’t fit in with the crowd. She got goosebumps instantly when she realised the situation she was in with this stranger.
People went back to their jobs as if the incident that occurred was just a small fight. The dealer in front of her smiled briefly while calling for a cleaner and arranging the chips.
The injured man was rushed away by his subordinates. When Owen looked up, he had removed the chips that were put in his pockets.
As with the slot machine incident, this was not a big deal either.
Sarin, who freaked out at the sight of dead bodies, had to admit this on her third day here. Everything that happens in Eden City is abnormal. The fact that no one said anything is strange.
The messy table was rearranged back to its original form. All she could hear was the roulette dealer asking for people to place their bets again.
Owen approached the confused woman and bowed deeply in front of her eyes.
Surprised by his action, she took a step back and noticed he was holding the chip that fell on her feet earlier. He looked at her with the chip in between his fingers.
“Bet.”
“…It’s not my chip.”
“I heard it’s yours.”
How did Owen know what the injured man had said? She was instinctively reluctant. Sarin wanted to run away when Owen approached the subject of her betting the $500 he gave her on whether to go back or to see him again.
His golden eyes glowed devilishly. The man was looking at her with a clear curiosity unlike when they first met at the roadside. With an amused expression, he reached out to Sarin and handed her the chip.
The corners of Owen’s eyes folded slightly. Their encounter by the roadside interested him.
As soon as she took the chip from him, he moved his hands towards her shoulder and turned her body back to the roulette wheel easily. He then proceeded to pull her back toward him in between his arms, held her there and put both his arms towards the edge of the table. Sarin was startled by his hard chest that touched her back.
“Place your bets, please.”
She was well aware that the dealer’s gaze, which glanced at her multiple times, was actually on the man standing behind her.
“Just wait and see.”
“….You’ll lose.”
Sarin, who knew that her once-in-a-lifetime luck would never come again, replied in a cracked voice.
“You didn’t mean to do that, did you?”
The tone of his answer sounded like he saw through everything from the beginning and was quite happy about it. However, even without turning to see him, she could tell that his eyes were not smiling. Sarin swept the roof of her mouth with her tongue as she took a glance at his temple.
“No more bets.”
Her bet ended with the dealer’s announcement. Regardless, the man did not get off her back. Sarin lowered her head significantly knowing where the chip would end up.
The back of her neck was exposed under Owen’s gaze.
Thin and straight. Her nape surrounded by her hair brought back a memory. Not long ago, he had struck an arrow onto the neck of a deer. This felt familiar to him, hence his golden eyes relaxed at the sight of her neck that he could break with one hand.
“Bets down, please.”
A new round had started again. The roulette wheel was spinning in circles. The sound of the ball rolling sounded like her life being rolled on the wheel. Sarin held onto the chip that was in her hands several times and loosened her grip.
“I’ve been watching how you are fucking wasting the favour I gave you. So, bet.”
He said kindly.
Throw it away again like shit.
Those terrifying words pierced through her ears. She was right that he was watching her from the beginning. He grabbed Sarin’s waist since she was just standing still, and made her move. Her hand trembled as she witnessed what happened to the man earlier when he held his hand.
His and Sarin’s hands stopped at number 11, the same number she had won money from.
“Here.”
The number 11 will never be the winner again. He knew that but yet he had chosen it. She looked at the man holding her hand with a hand stained with another’s blood. Again, her chip fell onto the number 11 as her finger lost its strength.
The bell rang along the dealer’s voice telling them not to bet anymore.
As the sound of the wheel slowed down, the sound of the bell felt like the end of her life.
“Oh my.”
He knew that the probability of it landing on the same number twice was extremely slim yet he still voiced his disappointment. As soon as she felt him slowly backing from her, Sarin felt freed of the pressure that had been weighing her down.
“What a shame.”
He said calmly as he picked up a glass of whiskey from a passing servant’s tray. He casually poured the whiskey on his hand to wipe away the blood then and there.
Sarin watched the amber liquid run through his fingers and disappear into the carpeted floor. The reflection from the liquid as it ran through the gaps of his long thick fingers made her feel as though time momentarily stopped.
The man who gave Owen the knife held out a handkerchief to him this time. Even if he didn’t say anything, the man knew his next move and remained standing next to him.
It was nice to see his fingers being wiped off one by one. The remainder of the blood was gone now. Owen stared attentively at Sarin who couldn’t take her eyes off his hands.
He lowered his gaze as if it seemed strange to watch her. She couldn’t help herself and kept looking at his fingers.
“It’s interesting.”
Owen spat out impulsively. It was a rare urge for him to want to lift her small face, which was still looking at his fingers to make eye contact with him. Even more so when the words came out of his mouth.
Owen had been keeping an eye on Sarin ever since she had turned the cash into a money chip. He was half sure that the word that stayed in her mouth when she puffed up like a carp fish on the street was his name.
[ t/n: reference to chapter 1
Some say that he is called Doberman because his dogs are Dobermans, another said he got his nickname because he threw the people he killed as dog food. Even Sarin, who flew a few days to meet him, never thought she would actually be able to meet the man.
It didn’t come out properly. It seemed like it was her lips that were stuck and not the palms of her hands. ]
When he had found her again, he thought she was a common gambling addict. He was quite curious about her lips that couldn’t spit out what she wanted to say like a carp that was out of the water.
Owen held her hand lightly.
[qc puppy: DADDY HOLD MY PAW TOO ৲( ᵒ ૩ᵕ )৴♡*৹]
Her gaze followed along as he held onto her last finger with her thumb.
Let’s see what he can do with this new excitement in his old life.
“I was wondering what kind of fool you are.”
He said as he raised her chin. The tip of his tongue was salivating. His low tone was only noticeable by the man next to him.
Owen got strangely excited when he found a fool that had her palm stuck on a lamp post when he looked out of his car’s window.
As if she had lost her place, her uneven breath, her bet on the chip barely hanging on, her trembling body as she bet, and then all the cells in her body wanting to tell Owen that her purpose was not the casino.
He turned the other way as he tried to reverse what he thought was amusing. As he walked forward, she felt her reflexes telling her to follow him.
It was like a small dog chasing after its owner. There was a faint smile on his face as he walked forward without looking back.
He liked dogs.
No one stood in Sarin’s way. They didn’t even block the elevator leading directly up the suite.
It was too late for her to come to her senses when she stopped walking towards him. Owen went into the elevator and waited for Sarin as he pressed the hold button.
“Are you just going to stand there when you already came all the way here?”
It was like agonizing a mouse to come into this narrow square box after its predator lured it here. He liked to see people’s eyes but with her long bangs, he couldn’t see hers, and it bothered him. It was hard to tell whether she was scared or not or what she was thinking.
So maybe that’s why it was more interesting.
“I’m….”
What should she say? He lifted his head and nodded as he listened to the blurred words. He meant for Sarin to come inside the elevator and talk, but she refused to go any closer. She was worried that he would take his hand off the hold button at any time and it would be the last remaining warning to stop her from talking.
Owen is a dangerous man.