Chapter 1052: A Kick In The Gut

Park Jun-Seo wanted to talk more about the blade they were entrusting into his hands, but his limousine rolled into the hangar, and he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“Well, it seems like our time together is over for the time being. I hope we can get into contact again soon and do more business,” Mr. Park said with a warm smile.

“Yes, absolutely. Have a good day, Mr. Park,” Alex replied, almost pushing him toward the limousine.

The Korean couldn’t fault him for wanting him to be gone when he hadn’t wanted him near them to begin with. But he couldn’t lie to himself that having his new highest potential client push him away hurt his feelings.

Alex shut the door to the limousine, shouting ‘Bye!’ as he did, and watched as Mr. Park’s wide eyes disapproved of his actions. But what did he care?

Alex scoffed as the limousine pulled back out of the hangar, shaking his head at himself.

“Good riddance. I can’t believe we had to trade our way out of him leaving. How clingy…”

Kary laughed at him, a part of her agreeing with his words and another wishing he hadn’t been so hasty in sending him away.

“You know Jack would kill for some political capital right now, right?” she asked mockingly.

“I know, I know. But I refuse to let it be this way that we help him in his endeavours. We can do so much better than getting into bed with a dirty smuggler. Opportunities will come that we don’t need this man’s help,” Alex defended himself.

Kary didn’t want to argue with him over spilled tea, so she let it go. But she promised herself to have an in-depth conversation with him about seizing every opportunity when they returned home.

If he started pushing away potential allies like this, their ranks of trusted people would be slim when the time came when they needed all hands on deck.

In the meantime, they had other preoccupations, like returning to China and helping Gu Fang out of the Zhong Kui.

‘I have a bad feeling about this. Something tells me there is more to the situation than he simply got himself captured when visiting them. I hope he’s okay…’

While this went down, Major Schrute finished her plane inspection, and she smiled.

“Beautiful and resilient? You are just like me, baby,” she cooed, sliding her hand across the metal exterior.

The plane barely had a scratch on it, and with the rub of a rag, she cleaned away any residual soot left behind by the lightning strikes.

The spots where the lightning struck the plane were evident by their lightly darkened paint, but that was the extent of it. This was all she could hope for.

Now she could focus on calling the pit crew to refuel the plane and set up for the next leg of their trip. She already knew the kids weren’t done with their shit, but she hardly cared.

“I’m getting paid. And when they finally go back home, I’ll have enough money saved up to enjoy myself for a while,” she mumbled, thinking of all the beer and scotch she would treat herself to.

She reminded herself of the bonus Alexander promised her, and her mood shot up like a kid getting promised a trip to the theme park.

Whistling her way back onto the plane and into her cockpit, the Major started tapping on her tablet, trying to find the resupply chain number for this airport so she could get things in motion. The faster this was done, the sooner they were heading home.

Outside the plane, Alexander watched as the younger members of his party enjoyed themselves, running around near the rain curtain, splashing each other a bit, to pass the time, while Jin-Sil and Rì-Chu were enjoying each other’s company in a secluded corner of the

hangar.

“I could hardly tell we just came out of a dungeon, where our lives were in danger,” Alex commented with a chuckle, hanging his arm around Kary’s neck.

Kary leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his back.

“You’re right. It’s crazy how fast people adapt to their surroundings. I only wish he could see it that way,” she said, looking over at Liu Yan.

The young man was sitting in an empty corner, looking at the ground with his head in his hands.

Alex sighed loudly, knowing this was partly because of how harshly he brushed him off. “We can’t bother treating him normally when he can’t trust us further than the tip of his hands. What if we need him, and he chokes up again? Or worse, ditches us and leaves us in peril. We can’t afford any slip-ups. You understand, right?” he asked, looking down at Kary. But she looked at him like a worried mother, and he knew she wouldn’t let it go so quickly. She hadn’t said a word, and her silence screamed at him loudly to try to fix this.

He sighed tiredly.

“Fine. I’ll talk to him. But no promises,” Alex said, kissing the top of her head and walking away.

Kary smiled at his back, knowing that even though her gaze was what made him flinch, he had been feeling guilty about his harsh treatment as well, deep down.

“We don’t need him to follow us into this. We just need him to know he is still a friend to us,” she said, almost in a whisper.

She knew Alex had heard her as he waved his hand dismissively behind himself.

As he walked over to the young man, Alex started thinking about how to address their concerns in a friendly way so he didn’t end up pushing him further away.

But, as he reached next to Liu Yan, his mind went blank. Thoughts of how he had stepped away from their formation and gotten himself killed filled his head, and he had to force himself to suppress them lest he get angry again.

Instead of talking him up, Alex sat on the ground next to him with a loud sigh.

Liu Yan barely turned his head to look at him and returned to staring at the ground.

They sat there in silence for a minute, which seemed like so much longer to both of them, one from the awkwardness and the other from worry, before Liu Yan opened his mouth.

“I… It’s not that I can’t trust you guys,” he started explaining, before Alex raised his hand to interrupt him.

“I don’t want to hear it, Yan. You crumbled under the pressure and got yourself killed. If Cory had been unable to revive you in that dungeon, we wouldn’t be here talking. So I want you to listen to me very carefully. Can you do that?” Alex said, looking ahead.

“I’m sorry. I-”

Alex interrupted him again.

“Rhetorical question. I didn’t want you actually to answer. Shut up and listen,” he ordered,

his tone stern.

Liu Yan shut his mouth, feeling wronged, but he knew he deserved at least this much.

If he hadn’t ended up being the one dying, he could have gotten someone else killed, and he

knew it.

He nodded, looking back at the ground.

Alex sighed loudly, knowing he was being harsh again. But it had to be done.

“Listen, Yan. I don’t care what led you to be distrustful of people. I can understand it. Life isn’t always rose and rainbows; sometimes, things break parts of us inside that can’t be fixed

so easily.

“I can’t just force you to trust us or order you to and hope you will. I get it. But I need to know that I can trust you to follow orders when we give you some. It isn’t about your trust in us that I’m worried about. It’s about my trust towards you.

“If I can’t trust you to stick to plans or formations or help out your allies when they need you, you become a risk to the team, and we can’t afford any risks. Do you understand?”

Liu Yan sat there for a moment before nodding.

“Good. I don’t expect you to change your mind about this operation we are about to get into, and I’m not asking you to. You are your own person, and if you don’t want to come, there will be no judgment, just as we don’t judge Aapo for wanting to head home and rest. “We can do this without you. But if you change your mind, here are the coordinates for where it will be. Whether you join us or not is up to you. I won’t ask you to, and I won’t wait for an answer. I also don’t want to know on this last leg of our trip until we get you home. “My mind is made up to bring you back to the airport and have them take you in alone. We already made arrangements for it. What I want you to do on this last leg of our trip together, is talk to the others. Learn about them, let them learn about you.

“I don’t ask that you start trusting them, but at least get to know them. And for god’s sake, let us learn about you, man. Being a shut-in is nothing wrong when you are online. But for Christ’s sake, let us in when we are near you. Can you do that?” Alex asked, turning his head to

look at Liu Yan.

He could see the mixed emotions on the man’s face, but he couldn’t be bothered about it. Sometimes, a kick in the gut was needed to get things across, and this was one such time.

Liu Yan took a moment before nodding.

“I understand,” he said, his voice cracking.

Alex smiled at him and slapped his shoulder as he got to his feet.

“Good. We’ll see you on board. And this time, don’t close up like an oyster. Enjoy the last leg

of the trip with us. Talk, laugh, cry, I don’t care. But be with us for a bit. It’ll do you a world of

good.”