Chapter 66: We Are Friends

Kat was talking about her type of man, and Alan couldn’t avoid a small smirk as an image obviously came to his mind.

"So you are talking about someone that looks like Arthur."

Kat fell silent for a moment, her cheeks flushing as she realized she’d just put her foot in her mouth.

"By the way, I need to ask, do you have a crush on Arthur?" Alan asked, eyes curious.

"That..." Kat stammered, her cheeks burning even brighter. "Definitely not!" she hissed.

It doesn’t sound all that convincing when you’re blushing like that, Alan thought, but he didn’t have the courage to tease her any further.

"He is my type... and he’s not a bad person, but..." Kat mumbled, trying to convince herself more than anyone else. "I..."

She struggled to find the words. Her pride wouldn’t let her admit she liked Arthur, but claiming she hated him felt just as dishonest at this point.

They worked well together. He was a good person, and...

"We’re just friends," she finally declared, deciding to friendzone him. Not that he had shown any interest in her in the first place. Still, if anyone was going to friendzone anyone, it was going to be her. "But he is a great guy. I misjudged him at first..."

"Yeah... There was something about you two hating each other. Why did that happen?" Alan asked, blinking with curiosity.

"This..." Kat blushed. "It was all a misunderstanding." She refused to elaborate, especially on the stupid reason she’d supposedly "hated" him. "Being in the same group as him was a pleasant surprise. He’s very good at his job, even if he’s late today," she added with a hint of annoyance.

"Arthur is super diligent with everything he does," Alan said cheerfully. "He probably had some big problem to deal with. He usually does everything really well."

The shy boy went on to recall a few stories about Arthur, who had always excelled at almost everything he tried and put his full effort into everything he did.

Kat blinked in surprise. It was the first time she had heard Alan talk so much, yet she didn’t interrupt him. Instead, she rested her chin on her hand and listened, a soft, beautiful smile gracing her lips.

There was something effortlessly beautiful about her at that moment, her usual sharpness giving way to a warmth that made her features seem gentler, almost radiant.

If Arthur had been there, he would undoubtedly have captured the moment with a photograph.

"You definitely like Arthur a lot," she finally joked, looking at Alan with a small chuckle.

"Of course I do! He’s my best friend," Alan said proudly, puffing out his chest. He looked genuinely proud of the fact, as though being Arthur’s friend were something worth boasting about.

"I do envy you a little bit in that regard," Kat mumbled, more to herself than to Alan, as she looked up at the library ceiling.

She had no problem with her own friendships. The blonde girl was popular, and people always wanted to please her, but she doubted she had any friendship like these two. She barely knew them, and she could already tell they would probably hide a body for each other.

"Anyway," Kat clapped her hands. "We should start getting work done."

"Okay," Alan nodded.

The blonde girl began reading the instructions the teacher had given them. It was supposed to be a simple project; after all, they had only one week to finish it. However, Kat was overly ambitious, and she kept suggesting more and more things they could do.

Alan only nodded along. He didn’t have the courage to disagree with her, and he had no genuine interest in any of it. The only reason he was in college at all was to help Arthur investigate the principal.

The library doors banged open and Arthur came through at a run, skidded on the polished floor, and nearly took out a display stand on the way in.

His shirt was soaked through at the collar, his hair was plastered to his forehead, and he was breathing like he’d sprinted the entire way. Which, judging by the state of him, he probably had.

Kat’s eyebrow climbed. "You’re late."

"Sorry," he got out. "Sorry, sorry, I..." He bent over with his hands on his knees. "Give me a second."

Kat’s annoyed expression softened as she noticed he was really tired. Meanwhile, Alan had already pushed a chair out with his foot, and Arthur dropped into it and stayed there, breathing hard.

"Did you run here?" Kat asked, her tone becoming gentle and worried without her noticing. "Why didn’t you just take the bus?"

"Running was faster, and I need to do my daily cardio..." He let out a breath; he had pushed his pace far harder than usual.

Finally, he straightened, pushed his wet hair back, and looked at the mess of notes spread across the table.

With him there, they actually managed to get some work done, since he didn’t let Kat run off with a hundred different ideas. The blonde girl was annoyed at first, but eventually agreed with his suggestions.

After about an hour of productive work, she asked for a break, saying she was going to the bathroom.

Alan waited until her footsteps turned out of hearing, and then he waited another five seconds before speaking in an excited tone:

"I got into the camera."

Arthur blinked in confusion, his tired mind needed a solid ten seconds before it processed what he meant. Remembering the camera Alan had found in the women’s bathroom, Arthur’s interest immediately piqued.

"Do you know who set it up?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, it was a cleaner who works at our college. He only does night shifts," Alan said, glancing toward the shelves, then back. "I researched as much as I could about him. This man has been spending like he earns at least four times what he does."

"Couldn’t he just be irresponsible and getting into a lot of debt?" Arthur asked, though he also agreed with where Alan was going.

"No. Even taking that into account, he’d be completely broke by now. And his family has no money either, so..."

"Either he’s receiving something extra from Gerald, or..."

"Or he’s committing some other crime," Alan shrugged. "However, I know he has been in contact with Gerald. I’m just not sure what they’re up to."

Arthur leaned back. "Can you get into his phone?"

"I already did, but I can’t know what he talks about on his calls. His messages have nothing useful..."

Arthur nodded. They had something to follow now, but it didn’t look like Gerald was the irresponsible type. Very likely, even if they got the cleaner in jail, that damn old man would still escape.

"There’s more." Alan hesitated, the way he did when he was about to deliver bad news. "Now I’m almost sure Gerald keeps his files in some physical storage with no connection to the internet. So there’s no door for me to knock on."

Arthur went quiet for a moment. "We expected that already, but it means we’re basically stuck..."

"Almost." And then Alan smiled. "Because there’s one last piece of good news."

"Which is?"

"I got into the camera in his office," he said proudly.

Then, at that moment, he caught Kat approaching from the corner of his eye. She was trying to sneak again, and because of that it took Alan five extra seconds to notice her.

The man leaned in, close to Arthur’s ear, and commented on how he had been watching Gerald’s office all day. With that camera, they could possibly catch him committing a crime, or something like that.

As he finished whispering, Kat arrived and looked at them with suspicion, asking what they were whispering about.

"It was nothing," Arthur said quietly.

"Alan." Kat turned the full weight of her attention on him, because she knew he was the type to fold easily. "What were you two whispering about?"

Alan’s eyes flicked to Arthur. Then to Kat. Then to the table.

"Don’t answer that," Arthur said.

"That is not fair!" She slammed both palms flat on the table.

Kat leaned forward over the table, the angle accidentally perfect for revealing her black bra to Arthur as she pushed her round rear up.

"We’re friends!" she hissed. "Why are we keeping secrets now?" She pouted.

"Shhhh!" A librarian’s head appeared between two shelves, about six feet away, glaring at them. "This is a library."

Kat went crimson from her collar to her ears, then slowly sank into her seat, mortified. It was the second time she’d been too loud, and as annoying as she could be, Kat genuinely didn’t like being inconsiderate.

"Kat," Arthur said seriously, "we weren’t talking about anything to do with you. It’s a private matter that isn’t mine alone to share, and I won’t share it, okay?"

"Okay," she replied quietly. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pressed."

After that, they finally settled down and finished the rest of their work without further interruptions. Once they were done, Arthur stretched and stood up.

"I’m going to grab a book before we leave. You two can go ahead."

Kat and Alan agreed, leaving him to browse the shelves while they headed outside.

Arthur found the book he wanted and made his way toward the exit, only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw what was happening outside.

Three thuggish-looking men had cornered Kat and Alan. One of them stumbled forward, swinging a blade at the pair in broad daylight. His movements were clumsy, his eyes glassy, and his grin disturbingly vacant.

The man was clearly high on something, and apparently too drugged to care about the consequences of waving a knife around in public.

And he was swinging it straight at Alan.