What A Coincidence

"Oh, what a coincidence!" Sean exclaimed as he raised his hands in an awkwardly comical way. He wasn't much of an actor so he was a little stiff.

Cleo smiled and pointed to the restaurant across the street. "Do you come here often? Max is opening a restaurant there soon. Make sure to check it out," she shamelessly advertised.

Sean grinned at the woman awkwardly, "Oh yes, I work near here. I'll definitely check it out."

"Are you working right now? What time do you finish work? Max and I were planning to grab some dinner and visit a karaoke bar that his friend owns. Would you like to join us?" Cleo suddenly asked as she looked at the man with hope.

Sean glanced at Max awkwardly. Max did not look pleased. But, the mention of a karaoke bar reminded Sean that Jackson owned one. Could Halia be there?

Sean quickly realized it was a good opportunity to investigate Halia's whereabouts and confirm her safety, so he agreed.

"I've already finished work for the day. Dinner and karaoke sounds fun. I'd love to join you," he replied.

...

Back at the lab, Halia and Jackson were lying awkwardly next to each other in bed.

There was a slight gap between the couple. Even though they had been affectionate earlier, being in bed together still made the two of them extremely nervous.

Initially, Jackson was simply planning to keep Halia company until she fell asleep, but since he stayed up all night to make a bracelet for her, his eyes began to feel heavy and he unexpectedly fell asleep.

Halia glanced at the man beside her and noticed he had nodded off. With a smile she tucked him into the blanket and brushed some hair out of his face.

All of a sudden, Jackson grabbed onto her hand and held it firmly against his chest.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Halia whispered.

The man smiled without responding as he continued to hold onto her hand with his eyes closed. He quickly fell back asleep.

Halia looked down at the man and felt her heart warm up and her awkwardness fade. Slowly, she shuffled in closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder. She felt safe and comfortable around him. So, before she knew it, Halia completely let her guard down and fell asleep as well.

...

At this time, Sean, Max and Cleo arrived at a restaurant near the karaoke bar.

"They serve the best black bean noodles here," Max smiled. "Let's get takeaway and eat it at the bar. We can use a private room there."

Cleo and Sean nodded at the suggestion and Max quickly walked over to the counter. "5 black bean noodles for takeaway," he said.

Cleo quickly looked at the man in surprise. "Are you planning to eat 3 servings on your own? That's too many carbs, it's not good for you," she said with concern.

Max was happy that Cleo cared about him, but she was wrong, 2 of the servings were for Halia and Jackson. But, of course, he couldn't let her know that.

"I know the staff at the karaoke bar since my friend owns it, so I usually bring some food for them too," he explained.

Sean looked at the man suspiciously. Was he telling the truth?

After collecting the noodles, Max suddenly visited a coffee shop. Sean recognized the coffee shop: it was the one that Sara used to visit and it was also the one that Halia bought coffee from last time.

"One of the staff members love the coffee here, so I'm just getting her one while I'm in the area," Max explained.

Afterwards, he popped into a convenience store and bought a 1L bottle of green tea. "It's hard working all night at the bar, so this is for the staff as well," he smiled awkwardly.

By this stage, Sean was beginning to feel confident about his suspicions. He was certain that the noodles, the coffee and the tea were for Halia. He wasn't sure about the noodles, but the coffee and tea were both the brands that Halia always drank.

Soon, the trio arrived at the karaoke bar. Sean was right, it was the one owned by Jackson. But, when they got inside, there was a slight commotion in the public bar area. "Where's your boss?" a young gangster-looking man asked as he latched onto one of the staff members. He wasn't alone; there were 3 other men with him and they all looked threateningly at the other guests.

The staff member waved his hands in fear, "I honestly don't know, Calvin, I haven't seen him in the last two days."

The man named Calvin grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it on the bench. The other guests in the bar screamed as they watched him point the sharp end at the frightened man. "Your boss snatched business away from my boss, so I've been ordered to snatch business away from him. Now, everyone get out or I'll slice this man's neck," Calvin threatened.

As he watched the drama unfold from the entrance, Max felt his blood boil. How dare this guy cause trouble in Jackson's territory?

He immediately handed the bags of food in his hands to Cleo and stormed over to the troublemakers.

"Get out or you're going to regret it!" he yelled as he rolled up his sleeves.