Codename Vestia

Chapter 34:

The door opened. The hotel room was silent. However, Jain, without letting down his guard, carefully inspected the interior. After confirming that no one was inside, he stepped out and said,

“It’s clear. You can go in.”

Tora, waiting in the hallway, smirked mischievously.

“Feels like I’m a princess.”

“That’s the kind of remark that would make other princesses faint,” Jain replied flatly, leaving Tora no room to continue.

“Get some rest.”

With a cold glance, Jain turned to leave the room.

“Could you maybe grab me something while you’re out?”

Tora’s sudden question made Jain look back with an expression that would make anyone less confident hesitant to ask for anything.

“Do I look like your errand boy?”

Tora shrugged.

“I could go myself, but I don’t think you’d like that very much.”

That was…

Jain sighed as he turned back.

“What do you need?”

Tora listed off a few items that, in Jain’s opinion, were absolutely unnecessary. Then, as if it was an afterthought, he added,

“Oh, and durian juice.”

“Durian juice?”

Jain looked at Tora, not bothering to hide his incredulous expression, as if to say, Who even drinks durian juice?

“Do places even sell something like that? I’ve never seen it.”

“Is that all the diversity America has to offer?”

“The word ‘diversity’ isn’t meant to be used like that. Anyway, fine.”

Jain thought his taste was beyond peculiar but answered simply to avoid further interaction. Tora smiled brightly and waved his hand.

“Have fun.”

As Jain left the room, he couldn’t help but wonder how he’d ended up running errands like this. This was far from the image of being a soldier he’d envisioned when he started.

***

Jain scanned his surroundings. Just in case, he also carefully observed the area around the hotel. There were no signs of anyone following him, nor did he see the men from earlier in the day.

He entered the hotel, took the elevator, and went up to the room. As he stepped inside, he muttered,

“I can’t believe they actually sell durian juice—”

On the bed, Tora was entangled with a woman. The woman was groaning as if she were on the verge of death, and Tora was… Jain didn’t want to describe it. Either way, he was clearly busy.

“Fuck!”

Jain cursed and immediately turned around, only to stumble and hit the doorframe in a clumsy mistake he’d never made before. Finally, he managed to escape the room.

“You didn’t lock the door?”

Inside, Tora’s voice asked the woman.

“It locks automatically, doesn’t it? Oh, but it seems they had the key. I didn’t know that. Not that it matters.”

Through the crack of the closing door, the woman’s moans followed Jain.

What the hell… what the actual hell…!
As Jain stomped down the hallway, her footsteps loud enough to almost crack the floor, her heart pounded fiercely—not because she was naive enough to be shocked by what she had seen, but because she was so angry.

He couldn’t even hold out for the short time I was at the store and dragged a woman into the room?

Suddenly, Jain stopped walking. She let out a bitter laugh, the absurdity of it all too much to process.

If there was any consolation, it was that she had only caught a side view of the scene. The woman’s thigh had conveniently obscured any direct view of them being… connected.

***

Jain sat on a sofa in the hotel lobby. She could have just gone to her own room, but she simply didn’t want to be on the same floor. Resting her hand on the armrest, she ran her fingers over her forehead.

She really needed an aspirin.

At that moment, the elevator across the lobby opened, and a familiar woman stepped out. It was the woman from earlier—the one with Tora. Or, to be precise, the one beneath Tora.

The woman recognized her as well and, for some inexplicable reason, flashed a face full of smug victory—why? She then walked past Jain and exited the hotel. Jain, despite feeling reluctant, finally got up and headed back to the room.

The woman was gone now, so there was no chance of encountering another unpleasant scene. Still, Jain pressed the doorbell and waited. The door opened, revealing Tora with damp hair, apparently fresh out of the shower. Thankfully, he was fully dressed. Tora greeted her with a broad smile.

“That curse earlier? Pretty impressive.”

Jain kept her expression neutral as she asked,

“What would you have done if she had been suspicious?”

Tora shrugged.

“Suspicious or not, she didn’t have teeth down there. Not like she was going to bite.”

“Men are at their most defenseless in situations like that, you know.”

“If she wanted to kill me, she’d have stabbed me before getting to that point. And if she did stab me then? Dying inside a woman? Now that’s a blissful way to go.”

Jain couldn’t suppress her expression this time. Her face contorted as if she were looking at a giant centipede. She hadn’t thought of herself as someone who showed emotions easily, but hiding her disgust toward Tora was a different matter altogether.

“Do you have a wife?”

It was the first time Jain had asked such a personal question to a surveillance target. Her tone was laced with a silent threat—If you do, I’ll kill her.

“I don’t make wives.”

Tora’s response was oddly serious, enough to make Jain instinctively ask,

“Why not?”

Tora smiled faintly.

“Because I belong to all women.”

Then, with a voice so sultry it could make a nun break her vows, Tora leaned in and whispered,

“And if you want me, just say the word.”

Jain didn’t waver in the slightest.

“I’m not sorry to say this, but I’ll have to decline.”

Tora crossed his arms and declared confidently,

“There isn’t a woman who doesn’t like me.”

Jain’s expression didn’t change.

“Well, it’s an honor to be the first.”

“Why?”

Tora asked, almost like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Feels like you already have the answer to your question.”

Jain’s expression didn’t waver. Tora leaned forward, resting a hand on the desk.

“Don’t you think I’m beautiful?”

Of course, she did. It was impossible not to see this kind of beauty, transcending gender. And it was exactly because of that, it felt all the more repulsive.

Jain answered in a voice devoid of any warmth,

“The standards of beauty differ depending on culture and individual preference.”

“You’re wrong. Look closer.”

Then, as if truly asking her to admire him, Tora stayed still.

If it were possible to buy him with money, what woman wouldn’t offer her entire fortune?

Jain’s brow twitched. Disgust simmered within her chest.

“How long do I need to look at you for?”

Tora couldn’t believe it. Jain looked genuinely upset. It wasn’t jealousy or anything like that; it was pure rejection emanating from her.

“Next time, please give me a warning. I have no desire to walk in on people’s intimate moments.”

Tora clutched his chest theatrically.

“So this is what it feels like to be rejected by a woman. It’s awful.”

Jain turned away, as if heading back to her room, her expression dripping with contempt.

“Why should you feel sad about being rejected by me?”

Tora smiled faintly.

“I actually like you quite a bit, Jain. Strong people are admirable.”

Jain looked as though those words had dirtied her, her face contorting in disdain as she stormed out of the room. Her reaction was so vivid that Tora ended up laughing. Eventually, the laughter faded, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

Didn’t mean to get caught.

How could he have known she’d return at just that moment? He’d even deliberately included items that required visiting multiple stores.

Still puzzled by how she managed to get everything so quickly, Tora opened the bag Jain had left on the table.

Some of the hard-to-find items were missing.

Guess she thought, “If it’s too difficult to find, just skip it.”

That must have been her reasoning.

Tora chuckled to himself.

Her personality, I swear.

***

Since enlisting right after graduating high school, Jain had lived as a soldier. For her, morning marked the start of yet another routine, and there was a certain satisfaction in executing that routine perfectly. Artists might not understand, but Jain believed this was why she was naturally suited to the military.

However, it had been a long time since she dreaded morning. The thought of seeing Tora’s face made her loathe it.

Like a child being dragged to the dentist, she headed to his room, only to find it empty.

Where did he…!

She was about to rush out to search for him when the door opened, and Tora walked in. He wore a white T-shirt and jeans, looking as if he had just stepped out of an advertisement.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Tora turned the question back at her.

Jain frowned and asked,

“Where have you been?”

“Relax. I just went to get breakfast,” Tora replied, placing a bag of food on the table.

Since the two weren’t on a leisure trip, going down to have breakfast and unnecessarily showing their faces wasn’t an option. So it had always been Jain’s job to fetch breakfast. Even if it weren’t…

“Are we out of Flos?”

She asked, knowing full well that the fridge was still stocked with it.

“I prefer eating real food,” Tora said, plopping into a chair. Jain glanced at him.

“What a twist of fate. I’d rather live off Flos alone. Eating three meals a day is an exhausting and time-consuming process.”

“Where’s the fun in that? Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures,” Tora replied as he pulled a container of Greek yogurt with an eco-friendly label from the bag and peeled off the lid.

Jain watched him and remarked,

“Not everyone lives for pleasure, you know.”

“That’s why people are so uptight.”

Tora licked the yogurt off the lid. Even such a mundane act seemed suggestive with him.

Jain furrowed her brows.

“Are you saying I’m uptight?”

“I didn’t say that about you. Wait, are you implying I’m the one who lives only for pleasure?”

Jain stared at him. Normally, she might have held back out of politeness, but with Tora…

“Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.”

She had no desire to be polite with him.

Tora chuckled lightly.

“Didn’t know that.”

Didn’t know? That couldn’t possibly be true. He was maddeningly coy.

“Aren’t you eating?” Tora asked, gesturing toward the bag on the table.

Food hadn’t done anything wrong, so Jain sat across from him and began to eat.

“Please refrain from acting on your own.”

Tora just shrugged.

As they ate, Tora reached behind him, lifted a cheek off the chair, and pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. He handed it to Jain.

“I got a contact.”

“What kind of contact?”

The fact that he was using a paper note in this day and age was curious enough. Jain unfolded it with a puzzled expression.

“The woman Rato spent the night with.”

Tora muttered almost to himself,

“It’s odd, though. That guy having a one-night stand?”

“Considering he’s your twin, it’s hardly surprising,” Jain said, unable to resist a jab as yesterday’s events flashed through her mind.

Tora glanced at her and replied,

“Rato is different from me.”

Though she didn’t quite believe him, Jain refrained from judging someone she hadn’t even met. Acknowledging her error, she changed the subject.

“Where did you get this?”

“Lola.”

Lola?

“So, was that why you were talking to the waiter at the café yesterday?”

She remembered Tora chatting casually, almost flirtatiously, with the waiter.