Regi slowly rose from his seat. His towering height still blocked Mely's body, which was now hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.
*Wearing sunglasses this late at night... But it's okay. Hopefully they won't see me,* Mely thought, carrying on a private monologue.
Meanwhile, Regi cast a brief glance toward the suited older men Mely had mentioned, his face still as expressionless as snow-capped mountain ice. Yet the air around them suddenly felt hollow, filled with a terrifying atmospheric pressure.
Not long after, the stocky man asked sharply, “Hey, junk dealer! Who’s the woman behind you? Move aside!”
“What do you want? She’s my wife, helping me out. Don’t wreck my stall unless you’re prepared to take responsibility,” Regi replied casually, folding his arms across his chest. He wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the flash of the knife the stocky man deliberately displayed.
“You talk too much... Move, or—”
“Over there...” Regi cut him off, pointing toward several people wearing the same uniforms. “Security officers are patrolling the park. Can’t you see? They’re heading this way! You don’t want to deal with them in a crowd like this, do you?” Regi continued, then glanced behind him.
*Where did she go?* Regi froze for a moment when he didn’t see Mely behind him.
*Damn it... Mely.* Regi grew agitated. Without a second thought, he walked toward the older man selling watches beside him.
“Sir, I need a favor... Could you watch my stall for a little while?”
“Oh... Sure, Gi. No problem. Andi, sit over there, okay? Watch Bro Regi’s stuff for a bit!” the man replied warmly, clearly not bothered—especially since his elementary-school-aged son happened to be accompanying him.
“Sorry to trouble you, sir. This is an emergency,” Regi said again as he grabbed his jacket from where it hung.
“It’s fine, Regi. Go ahead. Besides, if you weren’t here, I probably wouldn’t be taking much money home. Those nasty thugs keep extorting me,” the man replied with a grateful smile.
Regi wasted no more time and ran toward where he thought he had parked his scooter.
“Vroooom...”
Regi’s scooter roared down the road once he broke free of the city park’s crowd.
His sharp gaze swept over every corner of the street, searching for the person who had been making him uneasy.
It didn’t take long. At a turn not far from the convenience store, his eyes caught a sight that made his heart pound. Mely looked panicked on the back of an online motorcycle taxi, while directly behind them, a sports car followed. One man inside leaned his head out—the stocky man who had threatened her earlier—glaring angrily at Mely.
“Damn it,” Regi muttered. Without turning on his signal, he gently twisted the throttle, keeping a safe distance behind the shadow of a box truck. He chose to escort her in silence, ensuring the girl’s safety without provoking a commotion on the fairly busy highway.
Before long, Regi saw the online motorcycle taxi carrying Mely turn into an alley—a shortcut through an area of abandoned shop houses commonly used by motorcyclists to reach the main road. The car following them stopped abruptly, then turned to look for the road the motorcycle taxi would emerge onto.
But their car came to an immediate halt when a common scooter blocked its path.
“Hey! Move!” the stocky man shouted, his face red with anger as he yelled at the man blocking his car. The stranger wore black clothes, a face mask, and a cap completing his disguise.
“Who the hell is this bastard?” the stocky man cursed, rubbing his face in frustration.
“Just run him over! Don’t let Radit’s girl get away again! The boss is going to lose it!” shouted his tallest companion.
“Like hell I will. My new car could get scratched, damn it,” the stocky man replied. He chose to get out of the car and deal with the man himself.
“This scrawny bastard has some nerve blocking us,” the stocky man cursed repeatedly as he strode toward the man—Regi.
Regi got off his scooter. His breathing was steady, but he remained fully alert.
“Hey, shrimp. If you’re trying to rob us, you picked the wrong targets. Get lost before my weapon ends up at your throat,” the stocky man threatened, his expression vicious enough to suggest he wanted to chew Regi alive.
“Back off. Stop chasing that girl.”
Regi spoke calmly, deliberately lowering his voice to disguise it and keep the stocky man and his two companions from realizing that the man in front of them was the junk dealer they had looked down on earlier.
Hearing Regi’s words, the stocky man burst out laughing, followed by his two companions, who had apparently gotten out of the car as well.
“Haha... Are you her boyfriend?” the stocky man asked, still clutching his stomach because he found it so funny.
“Enough. Finish him quickly. We don’t have time. That girl might make it back to her safe place,” said the tallest burly man, who seemed to be their leader.
“Why didn’t the boss just send us straight to her house? Wouldn’t that have been faster?”
“Idiot... You really don’t know why? Obviously, that snake of a woman needs a clean alibi,” the leader snickered, unconsciously answering as he smacked the head of the man standing beside him.