hmau

This part...

*sigh* Good thing I had you two come check this out for me. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be able to live here anymore.

You're just too on edge. Calm down. Lungmen isn't full of conspiracies, and there's no such thing as ghosts.

You've been imagining things because of all these strange marks and sounds, and I can sympathize with that, but you seem overly nervous. I hope you don't mind me asking, but did something happen recently?

If you ask me, given that you think someone's been following you, and that you're even worried about threats to your life... there has to be something more than the marks on the wall and the air purifier's sounds that got you so worried in the first place.

Uhh...

To tell you the truth, I actually... reported a coworker from my company last week... for smuggling and embezzlement.

I've always known that the company deals in some pretty shady business, and that coworker of mine keeps getting promoted pretty quickly, so I suspected him... No, I guess I just envied him...

But I got so hotheaded that I went and reported him! Ever since, I've been scared he'll come and get me.

And I haven't seen him in the office all week, either... Maybe... Maybe he's making preparations to off me.

Why didn't you tell us sooner?!

Misunderstandings between people ought to be resolved as soon as possible. Otherwise, they'll start piling up, and things are bound to get out of hand from there.

It's pretty late already, so we'll head back for the day. Calm down. Everything will be resolved by the time you visit our office tomorrow.

Oh, thank you so much, you two! As for your payment—

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We'll talk about that tomorrow. Try to get some rest now.

Interesting. Someone's out to get revenge, huh?

And how can you be so sure that you'll have this taken care of by tomorrow?

Well, it's just a little misunderstanding. I can handle that.

Once we get paid tomorrow, we'll finally be able to get ourselves some fresh vegetables. Stir-fried meat with corn, braised ribs with pumpkin, and how about some cucumber salad with cloud ears? Anything you want to eat, Aak?

Come on, I'm just asking you to come up with a dish for dinner tomorrow. No need to look all serious.

You know, I'm really not sure about this. There's no way that Siumi just so happens to take leisurely walks on his windowsill every single night, and there just so happen to be strange sounds that start as soon as it makes its way up.

Check out the tag on its collar! It glows! Look, I got a picture here. Just think about it. Why would anyone give a cloudbeast that kinda bling? This is way, waaay too shady.

Maybe that's just what's trendy these days. Having a glowing collar helps those who comes feed it at night, too. Look at how dark its fur is. You gotta look really carefully to even spot it.

A dark-furred cloudbeast with a glowing collar and a fixed routine... Someone feeds it every night... Strange marks, strange sounds, and a component stuck inside the guy's air purifier...

Hah, what did I just say? I found the guy who's been tailing Mr. Lau!

Oh?

Take a look at the picture. That guy downstairs is holding something in his hand, looking up!

He's probably just looking at Siumi.

But Siumi's hanging out on Mr. Lau's windowsill?

Which means... that guy downstairs is using Siumi to eavesdrop on, no, to monitor Mr. Lau! That flashy collar? That might just be a camera!

Good thing you didn't mention this theory in Mr. Lau's place. He'd be scared out of his wits.

Did you see the bags under his eyes? He probably hasn't had a good night's sleep for a week. At this rate, he'll end up with neurasthenia.

Life in Lungmen's not really all that hard. I mean, Lee often gets himself dragged into some pretty hot messes... and there are things you can't talk over.

But the way I see it, if everyone just treated each other with sincerity and respect right from the start, things wouldn't be nearly as troublesome. If it's all a misunderstanding, then there's still room to talk things out, and it's always worth a shot.

After all, all this boils down to interpersonal problems. You don't like me, I don't like you. You envy me, I envy you back. It's a vicious cycle.

In any case, once we take care of the problem at its source tomorrow, Mr. Lau's worries will be a thing of the past.

Not every day we actually agree with each other...

Yeah, let's take care of the problem at its source. Heh, tomorrow, I'm gonna hit up the mastermind's crib and see exactly what it is they're up to.

Crib? What crib?

Phew… Let's head on home already. Gotta get up early tomorrow for work.

Where's Aak? I thought we were going to take care of this problem first thing in the morning.

Eh, whatever. I can probably handle this alone. I should be able to keep up appearances by myself.

Hello? Oh, Mr. Lau. I'm at the store.

Thanks for doing all of this. I'm almost done picking out everything I'll need.

Oh, right... Would it be okay if we got a small advance payment?

Hey, hey... Siumi, come on out.

You see this piece of meat? It's from my cup noodles this morning. If you want it, you gotta give me something in exchange—

Got it!

Hah, just as I thought. There's a camera on the collar's tag.

That's way too roundabout for gangs these days, using stray animals... If not them, then maybe some corporation? Or maybe it's a personal grudge thing?

Mr. Lau said he offended somebody... Maybe this is—

Hold up, is that the guy who was feeding Siumi downstairs last night? He's knocking on Mr. Lau's door.

Nobody's here. Hm, guess Hung stopped by and lured him away. Good one.

He's talking to somebody... Oh, is he leaving already? Not good. Gotta follow him. He might be trying to look for Mr. Lau.

Hey, outta the way, Siumi! I'm all outta meat!

Phew... He sure runs quick...

The shopping district? Shit, maybe he noticed I've been tailing him. It's the weekend. There's way too many people here! This isn't gonna be easy...

Huh? Is that... Hung and Mr. Lau? Why are they both holding all those bags? Those aren't their weapons or whatever, right?

Agh, what to do... Should I call the cops? But what if the L.G.D. takes Hung away too?

Whatever... Following that guy's more important.

Hey, coming through! Make way!

A residential building? That's pretty spartan for a crib...

Now he's got a huge bag in his hand. Most likely handed to him by one of his buddies from the shopping street... What's inside... Weapons? Stolen cash?

Argh, should I get in touch with Hung or call the cops first? He looks pretty thin, though. Bet Hung could take him down no problem.

Wait... Is he looking at me? Crap! He noticed me!

Ahhh!!! He's coming this way! And his hand is in the bag—

Uh, oh my, Wong... What happened to you?

Well, haha... I had a little fall last week and ended up in the hospital.

Goodness... That's pretty serious... Uh...

Mr. Lau and Mr. Wong simply look at each other quietly in embarrassment, as though the air in the staircase has frozen over.

Next to them, with a bright smile on his face and two plastic bags full of fruits in his hands, Hung looks toward Mr. Lau with expectant eyes.

(Whispering) You asked me where the coworker I reported lives, and <i>this</i> is why?!

(Whispering) Yeah!

(Whispering) You... You could've at least told me and let me prepare myself, mentally!

(Whispering) What? Didn't I say last night that misunderstandings between people ought to be resolved as soon as possible?

(Whispering) I didn't know you meant this—

May I ask what you two are here for? If you don't need anything, I'll head inside now.

Hold on, Mr. Wong! Mr. Lau has something important to tell you!

What do you mean?

It's really, really important!

(Whispering) Go on, Mr. Lau! We're here already. Might as well!

(Whispering) A-Alright...

Well, uh, remember how I got a little hotheaded last week and reported you? You see, for the last six months, work hasn't been going very smoothly, but you got promoted so easily... and I got a little jealous.

I really should've talked to you about this ahead of time! I mean, the company dealing in shady business doesn't have anything to do with me personally. I didn't have to stick my nose into this...

So, what I'm saying is, I'm here to apologize today, Wong. Please, take these!

Lau finishes getting everything off his chest, and hands the two big bags of fruit to Wong.

Wong's mouth is half agape, as though he just heard the most shocking news of the century. He already has one hand busy holding a crutch, and is unsure how to take the two bags of fruit with his free hand.

Hung takes Mr. Wong's free hand, and pulls it toward Mr. Lau's hand. At the same time, he also hands the fruit directly to Mr. Wong.

That's the gist of it. For the past week, my client has been losing sleep over this, thinking he had acted too rashly. That's why he's here to apologize.

As they say, friendship is wealth! Let's not dwell over matters past.

What do you say, Mr. Wong?

You're far too kind, Lau... I actually didn't even know the company was dealing in gray area business. I was just doing what the higher-ups told me to, and had no idea what they were up to.

The company reassigned me to another department, and truth be told, you were a lifesaver. If you hadn't reported that in time, the company might've set me up as a fall guy!

Oh, so that's why!

Oh, this is all my fault! If I'd only talked to you about this back then...

No, no, no. Don't say that, Lau.

Great, that takes care of everything. In the end, nothing's more important than actually talking to each other.

Now you don't need to worry about getting followed anymore, Mr. Lau!

Followed...?

Right, now that the misunderstanding between you has been cleared, to celebrate, how would you two like to come to my place for a meal?