"Ahh… so peaceful…"
The man exhaled, letting his voice fade into the breeze.
Outside, the soft chirping of birds painted the morning air with a melody that danced between the trees. Wind whispered through open windows, fluttering papers that had long since lost importance.
Somewhere in the distance, car horns sang their own discordant chorus, a reminder that life, however dull, still moved on.
"Haaa… it is so peaceful…"
He lay sprawled across a sturdy wooden office desk, his upper body slumped forward in total surrender. His coat was wrinkled, tie undone, and his boots rested awkwardly over the edge, mismatched in posture and entirely undignified. This was not the image of discipline, nor of control. It was a man undone by calm. A sight that was a far cry from who he truly was.
"Damn… it really is too peaceful."
He let his head collapse onto the empty surface before him, arms limp at his sides.
"Ha… damn this peace… We're losing money…"
With a groan, he raised his head and turned toward the battered leather sofa that sat across the room. Slouched in its embrace was another man… most likely in his late teens, silent, still, and unreadable.
His presence barely stirred the air. His eyes, cold and vacant, stared ahead with the weight of a soul that had seen too much... or perhaps not enough. They weren't just tired, they were hollow… Empty…
"Don't you think so too?"
The man at the desk asked, trying to force cheer into his voice.
"We need money, y'know?"
No response… only the slight tilt of the other man's head. A nod. Barely.
"See! You think so too!"
The man at the table grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes.
For a moment, the man at the desk simply watched him, the silent one. He stared with a quiet empathy, a look that said I know… Because he did. He knew the past the man on the sofa tried so hard to forget. The things he'd done. The lives he'd taken. The world he once came from.
And now?
Now, he sat in a peaceful world where killing was obsolete, where war was myth, and purpose was hard to come by.
The man at the desk leaned back in his chair, sighing as ideas flickered to life in his mind… wild, desperate, maybe even stupid…. But they were ideas nonetheless.
Ways to make money…
Yes… money…
He needs to have the teen his purpose… and at the same time, earning them tons of money…
Hmm… what should I do…. What job fits us the most… Hmmm…
The man continued to think… His mind continued to spin… the gears in his brain went on and on… Like a broken recorder…
His brain immediately tossed ideas that were wild… dangerous… He needed to change…. They needed to change…
The ideas that passed through his mind were sifted through different hurdles… If one idea passes, it will be sifted through again… until one remains…
Here… in this dark room… two people sat silently… One's brain raced through different scenarios, while one's brain remains static… empty… with only the necessary functions of the body working, in order to keep him alive.
They sat silently for seconds….
For minutes…
For hours…
Then there it was…
BAM!
A loud pound was heard throughout the dark room.
The man seated at the table slammed his fist onto the study wooden table. It didn't break, yet two noticeable dent was seen atop it…
He stood up and slammed in fists again at the table…
"I FOUND IT!!!!!!"
The man shouted. He then looked at the teen sitting on the sofa… Who was still staring blankly ahead.
"I FOUND IT!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!!!!!"
The teen looked at him and slightly tilted his head. His empty blank eyes stared straight at the man. It was like a black hole attempting to suck everything…
The man looked at this and was a little bit unnerved… He also noticed that every time he was loud… The teen looked at him with eyes that were… a bit creepier than usual….
Hmmm… Am I mistaken?
The man shook his head and disregarded the thought for now.
He then pushed his rusty office seat behind with the back of his legs and rushed towards the teen seating at the sofa…
He then jumped towards him….
In return, the teen ducked his head down, letting the rushing man pass through the air above him. He then stood up and turned around rightways, then delivered a devastating back kick with his right foot.
The kick was devastating to some…. but… for the man… It was quite manageable.
The man immediately raised his right leg, crossed his arms, and placed it in front of his knee…
The kick connected… however… the man was pushed a meter away, but there was no visible bruise or wound.
The man's hands were red and throbbing… It hurts… but he chose to hide it away…
He put his right leg down, and shook his hands.
"Hmm.. not bad. It was a decent kick."
FUCK decent! That kick fucking hurts!
Outwardly, he just nodded and continued what he was talking earlier.
"Hey! Listen listen! I found it! I found what we will be raking in money from!"
The teen turned towards the man and slightly tilted his head again.
"Do you understand?! We will be raking in money in no time!!!!!"
The man then walked towards the teen and grabbed the teen's shoulders with both of his hands. The teen didn't move.
"WE!"
The teen tilted his head again.
"No… YOU!"
The teen just stared at the man.
"You! Will use your body!"
The teen's eyebrows slightly lowered. His eyes filled with emptiness stared directly at the man's eyes… The man's soul felt like it was being torn apart by the emptiness of the void.
Gulp
The man's forehead started to sweat… He knew he was in a dangerous position… He knew how deadly the person in front of him… He knew that if he didn't clarify it… He will be dead.
"No! That's not what I mean about using your body!"
The teen just continued staring his dark empty eyes towards the man.
"You!"
The teen stared.
"Be!"
The teen closed in his face.
"An ACTOR!"
The teen was surprised.
He widened his eyes and slightly opened his mouth.
He was in clear disbelief… something that betrayed his usual demeanor….
Without noticing it, the man continued rambling. He pulled his arms away from the teen, he then stepped back and turned away from the teen. Afterwards, he wrapped his arms towards himself.
"Think about it! Being an actor nowadays, in this peaceful world, is the greatest profession there is!"
The man turned his head towards the teen.
"It is the profession that rakes in most of the money currently! You can be a millionaire in just a year!"
The man placed his hand in a check mark position just below his chin. He then looked at the teen and scrutinized him deeply. He looked at him from the head to the toes.
He noticed how uncaring he was with himself… The teen's hair is a mess… His pants and clothes have scratch marks on them… due to 'work'...
Hmm… I just noticed…. He turned out to be quite a tall and handsome man huh… Who would've known that the child I picked up back then will turn out to be a gem.
The man then walked towards the teen and wrapped his right arm around the teen's shoulders.
"You see… we are definitely in need of money… I'll be your manager… and you'll be the actor… Don't worry. I'll be with you throughout the way. With your skills as the ultimate assassin… and my wonderful interpersonal skills… We could dominate the acting world!"
The man then leaned in closer towards the teen… The teen was nonchalant in all of this, only staring at the man's face.
The man continued to use flowery words towards the teen.
"You would rake in tons of money! Mansions in the urban area! Cars of the greatest make! Women.... Ehem… ehem… you are still half-a-year under age… so no women for now…. Anyways! You would be living in a world different from what you used to!"
"You would gain power… influence… and reputation!.... Greater than your reputation as the greatest assassin…."
The man unlatched himself off of the teen. He walked straight towards the door of the room… Leaving the teen behind him… He then raised his right fist and raised his thumb towards the teen.
"Think about it… I will definitely… no… I know… you will definitely be the greatest actor too…"
The man left the room…
Outside, the man walks with springs on his steps..
I know…. Being an actor… is the most money making activity we can do right now… However… I am being selfish against him… I can use this acting… as a way for him to regain his emotions….
The man then looked at the ceiling.
"Don't worry kid. This man here will take care of you. I, Bruce Kang, will take care of you. I'll help you regain yourself!"