Mixed Feelings

Roxanne is now in the hospital, she has a high fever after the incident. Roxanne's senses are starting to regain their function but her ears are the first to awaken. Her eyes still could not open properly. Roxanne heard a man talking on the phone.

"Is he ready to talk now?" A frustrated tone came out of his mouth.

"I'll kill him if Lily wakes up. Don't let him escape and torture him more brutally."

The man finished his call and went over to Lily to hold her hand. Then his hand touched Armani's bite wound on Roxanne's neck, he sighed and said, "My mistake in leaving you alone."

Roxanne began to adjust her vision and saw Ares' face, "Ares.. what are you doing here?"

Ares was surprised, "Oh gosh, you're finally awake."

Roxanne wondered if what Armani said was true. Ares cared about her this much. She began to think so because Ares did treat her very well.

"How do you feel right now? It looks like it still hurts," Ares checked Roxanne's body temperature by placing the back of his hand on Roxanne's forehead. 

"I'm sorry for being late, Lily... I shouldn't have left you. It's a good thing I was able to track your cell phone."

"Ares..." called Roxanne in a weak voice. Ares put his full attention on Roxanne, his eyes looking very concerned.

Roxanne's wide smile faded, replaced by Roxanne's tears appearing at the peak of her eyes. This was unusual, Roxanne didn't understand how someone who was always in the shadows like Ares could empathize like this. Was Ares using the dark empath technique to manipulate her?

Roxanne laughed bitterly, "For an awful person like me is it appropriate to think about something that traumatizes me, Ares? You don't seem to be either."

Ares sighed and lowered his head as if he was thinking about something Roxanne did not know. Roxanne began to feel guilty saying so, what if that man also actually had scars that could not be forgotten? Everyone must have felt it, but for Roxanne, it didn't exist for the wicked.

Ares cleared his throat and changed the topic, "You must be very hungry. I got you some tender meal."

Roxanne tried to get up, but Ares prevented her from moving much, "I'm already well, Ares."

"Still, Lily. Your recovery still needs time," he picked up a bowl of cream porridge and fed Roxanne. Roxanne ate her spoonful of porridge while looking at Ares meaningfully, this was her first time feeling this kind of attention.

"...Do you like me?" Roxanne's innocent question made Ares laugh. 

"Interesting question.. hm?" Ares shook his head in disbelief at Roxanne's spontaneous behavior, "You want to know the answer now? Can you really handle it?"

Roxanne looked down in shame and squeezed her hospital gown, "I'm sorry. It just came out of my mouth in an instant."

"That's okay.. but first of all, finish your meal for now."

After three days of recovery, Roxanne returned to HQ for training after Ares took full-time care of her, Roxanne thanked him for the quick recovery. Roxanne was added to the Black Operation which would start tomorrow in the country where the criminals kept their money. They are going to Budapest to steal back the money they were stolen from.

When they finished training, Moon-06 approached her, in case you forgot, Moon-06 was an almond-eyed woman who liked to stare at Roxanne sarcastically. Roxanne took a sip of the mineral water in her bottle and noticed Moon-06 now sitting next to her.

"Moon-07... we're on the same team but don't exactly know each other well," her sarcastic tone did not escape. Roxanne raised both eyebrows casually and sighed.

"That's because our tasks and ranks are different."

"Indeed. But I don't understand how you got into the Black Operation... Did you rank up in a week? That's impossible," Moon-06 scoffed. Roxanne took another sip of her mineral water and sighed to keep from getting enraged.

"I don't understand the rank system here, but I completed my assignments well."

Moon-06 laughed sarcastically, "Doing a good job? You even disrupted the Black Operation we were running yesterday."

Roxanne was silent for a moment, taken aback by Moon-06's statement, "What do you mean?"

"Our boss stopped it for a while and resumed it now because you were captured by Armani... oops... looks like I'm getting a bit much. That's all I can say. Make sure you don't mess it up again, newbie." Moon-06 flicked her dirty blond hair arrogantly and left Roxanne. Roxanne was silent and lost in thought, she was starting to hypothesize that the incident with Armani imprisoning her yesterday was a deliberate attempt to thwart the operation.

Roxanne stood up and left the Cresenta base to take a shower and change her clothes which were already very wet with sweat. After she finished, Ares called her to come to the prison in the basement. Roxanne immediately walked towards that place. 

Roxanne held her breath as she saw Armani tied to a chair, his body battered but his psychopathic grin did not disappear from his face when he saw Roxanne's presence in front of him. Ares, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, turned to Roxanne.

"I can't just kill him. You must give him a lesson," Ares demanded. Roxanne felt the blood inside her body boiling when she still saw Armani's grin that made her very angry, that grin like mocking her. Roxanne shook her face in disbelief and smirked, after this, she would make that guy forget how to smile.

"Alright then, my pleasure, sir."

Roxanne walked over to the table with all sorts of weapons, she picked up a baseball bat and tapped it on the floor until it made a clanking sound. Armani gulped. Roxanne could feel the veins in Ares' neck and jaw clenched as he saw Armani's expression.

Roxanne immediately raised her baseball bat to hit Armani hard on the head. Armani groaned in pain. Roxanne delivered several blows that made Armani's teeth start to fall out. Armani began to lose consciousness but the man struggled to open his eyes. At that moment, Roxanne pulled out a gun from her pocket and shot Armani repeatedly in the head in a burst of rage. 

After Armani was lifeless, Roxanne's hand trembled violently causing the gun she was holding to drop to the floor. Ares immediately approached Roxanne and grasped her hand feeling very cold, "throw off the thoughts that are killing you, Lily. You deserve to do that to the one who has made new wounds in your life."

Roxanne bent down to pick up the gun again and with her hands still trembling violently, she fired the gun at Armani's helpless body many times to vent her anger. Her tears flowed without permission. Her breathing rose and fell irregularly. She spent all her bullets on the lifeless body of the demonized man.

"Very well, Lily," Ares patted Roxanne's shoulder and pulled her out of the room, he could still feel Roxanne's body which was still shaking badly due to her pent-up anger. Ares gave her a bottle of mineral water to calm her down. Roxanne gulped it down quickly with her labored breathing. 

Ares grasped Roxanne's trembling hand tightly, trying to calm her down, "it's okay. He's no longer in this world, no one will bother you anymore."

Roxanne paused, then looked into Ares' gray eyes and asked hesitantly, "Thank you, Ares. But let me ask you something first."

"Ask me then," he replied casually.

Roxanne looked right and left, checking the situation and the people around her, they were in a quiet hallway, there were no people at all, and she felt a little safe.

"Is it true that you stopped the operation just to free me?"

"Who told you that?" Ares wrinkled his forehead and crossed his arms defensively.

"So, it's true then?" 

"I haven't answered that yet, Lily. I want to know, who told you that?"

"Answer with statements, Ares, not questions," Roxanne said firmly. If Ares was being convoluted like this, it was a sign that he was hiding something.

"Fine.. yes, it's true."

"Why, Ares? Did you know that it was a ploy to thwart your mission?" Roxanne grumbled. 

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Ares said, making Roxanne even more surprised.

"What?" Roxanne couldn't believe it. Ares sighed and touched both of Roxanne's shoulders, his eyes looking straight into Roxanne's pair of green eyes.

"Look. I've already checked that Armani betrayed me and is working for the corrupt minister that I want to loot back. I always check everything, Lily. I did that because you were the victim," Ares said soothingly to Roxanne. Roxanne blinked her eyes in disbelief.

"I'm just your new subordinate, Ares. How could you do that to cause so much loss?"

"You're not just that, Lily."

Roxanne gave him a look of confusion that could have sounded 'huh?'. Ares anxiously rubbed his nape.

"You really wanna know the truth now?"

Roxanne was even more confused by his question, she just nodded weakly, "Tell me then."

Ares bit his lower lip, then sighed, "..I care about you, Lily."

Roxanne rounded her eyes, surprised by the unexpected confession. She took a step back, not ready to hear anything. Her eyes glazed over feeling her heart tighten from too many mixed feelings.

"Every time I see you, I just want to protect you."

"Stop there, Ares," Roxanne looked down nervously, even in the bottom of her heart, Roxanne liked Ares too, but an unexpected confession in a situation like this made her feelings chaotic. Roxanne left the hallway leaving Ares alone. Ares sighed slowly and did not go after Roxanne to give her time.

Roxanne immediately returned to her apartment, crying as much as she could while holding her tight chest. Roxanne felt that she didn't deserve love from people. Everyone in her life didn't care. All this time she had been bearing everything alone and this time a man who was her target gave her such a confession. Her feelings were very fucked up right now. What if Roxanne's mission failed to bring Ares to the force? Roxanne felt conflicted with herself.

She cried herself to sleep, waking up to the sound of her cell phone ringing.

"Oh, shit," she cursed because she hadn't packed anything. She immediately picked up the phone from Moon-01.

"You don't forget that it's time to go, do you? Everyone is waiting for you. Hurry up and come here."

"Yes, I understood, sir."

Roxanne quickly packed her clothes and belongings in a suitcase randomly, she didn't care what clothes she brought. She now wore sunglasses to cover her puffy eyes and quickly headed to HQ.