Kill the Lights

[I don’t know how to share this news so that it’s less painful for our hearts.]

The reporter’s lips were shivering. There was no way of knowing if it was because of a strong wind, or a shocked heart. Just like when she reported the death of a star she liked due to a heart attack, she now wore a grievous and terrible face. Her lips moved

[Viewers of The Inside,]

‘Viewers of The Inside,’ she held her breath after saying that. She crooked her lips like she was about to say something that she really didn’t want to and continued.

[just a short while ago, in the filming set of the movie ‘Real,’ Raynoah asked– yes that troublemaker, Haley for a date]

‘And in a public place full of reporters!’ –She then burst into a cry of agony and a scene captured by the cameraman showed up.

Riding in a white Mercedes-Benz, like a prince on a white horse, Noah appeared and separated the reporters who were attacking Haley and approached him. And then he said something that made everyone turn into an ice sculpture and left the scene, holding Haley’s hand.

‘Of course, it’s a date.’

When the voice of a brightly smiling Noah was heard, the scene became all quiet, and people just stared at them, like they’d lost their words, until they left. Unlike the movie ‘Notting Hill,’ smart reporters taking pictures of two main characters didn’t happen. Everyone were all just blinking wearing blank expressions.

[Where did those two go, after freezing everybody?]

The reporter pointed to a far place as if she was accusing, and the camera moved, following her. It was on the blue ocean where it met the sky and where a big and a beautiful yacht that was like a liner was afloat, looking as small as a fingernail at the end of the beautiful sea.

It was Noah’s yacht, “Lachesis.”

The two, who had left riding the Mercedes, rode a helicopter that was waiting in the nearest heliport and embarked on that luxurious yacht.

[We can’t film any closer, because of the anti-paparazzi system.... Damn the paparazzi protection! Why, why is it shooting a laser whenever our camera gets closer?]

The woman, who was standing dangerously close to the helicopter door with strong winds blowing, had a resentful stare focusing on the luxurious yacht and didn’t seem to care about her safety.

[What is the government doing? They should quickly make a paparazzi law and make that anti-paparazzi thing disappear!]

‘What private life!’ –She roughly murmured as if she had lost her mind and gnawed on her lips. Her eyes were quivering like she wanted to jump onto the yacht any time soon. No, she was actually willing to do so, but the stupid helicopter pilot did not want to take her down near the yacht. She just had to watch the yacht leave to the far away seas.

[Seriously, I’m gonna go crazy with curiosity.]

‘Too bad,’ she said while staring at the yacht, with a depressed expression.

[I wonder what on earth are those two doing on the yacht?]

[Are they really on a date? Really?]

Every American was just wholeheartedly curious if Noah Raycarlton, the one who was loved the most by America, and Haley Lusk, the one who was hated the most, were really on a date.

***

“-What are you doing, not getting off?”

Mason heard the question from in front of him and raised his head, surprised. Noah was looking in his direction with a languid expression.

“Ah, perhaps I need to hold your hand?”

Noah asked, as he brushed his hair that flew in the wind to the back and smiled, his eyes slightly opened. Mason answered quickly, “No, no,” and shook his head.

Mason’s eyes swept around for a short while and hesitantly got off from the helicopter. When he set his foot on the white deck, the sight of a blue sea greeted him. The sunlight sparkled white on the moving waves.

In front of the helicopter, men and women wearing white uniforms were bowing their head, and Phil and Noah were looking at him.

“......”

The sea, the clear blue sky without any clouds and the beautiful blond man. There was no doubt, it was the most ecstatic view one can have on a luxurious yacht, but instead of admiration, Mason inhaled sharply and looked around.

Open sea. Just like the world. They were in the middle of the sea where there was no land at sight. Not so long ago in the filming set, he had been surrounded by a sea of reporters and was in the middle of listening to their enmities, ‘Are you crazy, Haley?’ ‘What kind of drug was it this time?’ ‘Why did you do that? What’s your intention?’ But why am I suddenly standing on a white deck of a giant yacht, in the middle of the ocean.

Mason was blankly staring at the incomprehensible situation right now; it was just like when he woke up as Haley.

“Give me something simple to eat. –Ah, except for a sandwich. Starting tomorrow, Phil will once again get me only sandwiches for every meal and make me slave at work.”

Noah teasingly smiled and ordered to a man, seemingly the chef, who now looked around to Mason.

“How about you?”

“....-Pardon?”

“I mean lunch. What do you want to eat?”

Noah looked like he meant Mason could ask for anything, and he will get it. Mason replied, “No, I’m not really....”

“It’s better for you to eat something. We don’t know when we’re going to get off.”

Noah walked down the deck and warned in a normal tone. Mason, who was standing on the deck, stared at Noah’s back and awkwardly turned to face the chef, who was smiling with a gentle face.

“We are always prepared to serve high quality meals up to one week.”

“A week?”

Mason rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Uh, then I will also have something simple....” but soon changed his words–

“No, it’ll be better if it’s of high calorie kind.”

“Pardon?”

“So..., I can last longer if I fall into the water.”

He didn’t think it would happen, but Mason was preparing himself to not be surprised if Noah suddenly threw him overboard. So many unpredictable events had happened, he felt like he was acting like an idiot.

Mason thought this life would be more comfortable compared to his previous life. It felt like he was standing in a garden with a gentle breeze, but he shouldn’t have been complacent. It wasn’t like there

were bullets flying around, but far from being predictable, this life had more variety than his previous life.

No, definitely not. Compared to publically receiving a date request from Noah Raycarlton, getting shot and dying in the middle of a desert was normal.

The chef looked at him questioningly and tilted his head, but soon said, “It’s a good weather for a swim. I’ll prepare it right away.” He smiled and went inside.

“–...Should I prepare a swimwear and oil?”

Phil asked with an indifferent expression. He was standing on the stairs through which Noah had gone down and was staring at Mason. When he moved closer to Haley, he could sense some of his emotion, ‘Swimming in this situation? I’ve heard rumors that he doesn’t have a brain, but I didn’t know it was this bad.’

“If I fall into the water later, just throw me a rescue tube.”

Mason said, waving his hand. Phil looked at him strangely, turned around and left via the same stairs. Mason followed him and climbed down from the deck.

The yacht, which he thought was pretty tall looking from the ground, turned out to have four luxurious floors. Underneath the fence, the lowest floor had a big swimming pool, with waves lapping above beautiful blue lights. It was a private swimming pool with a beachhead and a pavilion, which looked like it was floating on the water. There was a proper bar with alcohol bottles laid out. Well, the yacht had two helicopter landing pads; a swimming pool was nothing. He did hear there were luxury yachts like this, but it was his first time riding one, so Mason was reveling in its sights. The money indeed was good. Mason murmured and followed Phil to walk inside the ship.

The inside was more comfortable than the deck. On one side there was a window, so it didn’t look too stuffy, and instead of the humid ocean air, the wind here was cool and sweet smelling. The floor had a soft carpet that sunk up to his ankle, and the walls were decorated like a classy gallery.

“It’s a very nice yacht.”

Mason murmured looking around. It looked more like a hotel than a yacht, and Phil glanced at Mason and answered.

“Mr. Edgar Raycarlton specifically custom ordered this from HDW Nobiskrug and a famous architect, May Bermon, to celebrate his son’s 18th birthday. The heart of a father, who wanted his son to be always healthy and happy, can be felt everywhere on board this yacht.”

“.....Is that so?”

Giving a yacht as a birthday gift, he wasn’t sure where he could feel his heart, but definitely the father’s heart was big.

If he thought about it, 10 years ago, Noah’s parents seemed little extreme for his taste. All of their focus was on Noah. They were worried as if he’ll fly away if there was a strong wind or disappear if they hold him. Well, they were even careful and paid attention to Mason, who was a mere bodyguard.

Of course, at that time Noah was someone that anyone would want to overprotect and dote upon. Noah was still beautiful, but now...., what should he say, Noah had a vibe as if he materialized out of a temperamental and perverse French novel.

A beautiful boy, so marvelous that he is alive and moved, when Noah was pale and shivering, Mason, who heard from people that he was dry, couldn’t stop himself from moving his wet hair to the back and patting his shoulder.

“.....”

Even yesterday, he didn’t have to do that, but Mason remembered him when a kid, so... He did think he was being nosy, but Mason couldn’t regret what had already happened. It was better to prepare for what is going to happen in the future but-, Mason glimpsed at Phil.

“But isn’t Mr. Raycarlton busy?”

‘Whenever I met him, in a filming set or any other places, I don’t think he ever stayed for more than an hour’. Mason asked, and Phil looked at his watch out of habit and replied.

“He ordered to cancel all of today’s schedule.”

“It’s going to be all day.”

Mason nodded as if he wasn’t surprised. Noah ordered to cancel the whole day; it was definitely a good idea to have ordered a high calorie meal.

“While he’s busy, he took off a whole day, do you think he has an important business with me?”

Mason asked elusively, and Phil stopped in front of a door.

“Who knows? I was not privy to that information.”

Phil held the doorknob, as he turned around to survey Mason, from head to toes. His stare was filled with curiosity. Phil opened the door for him and said.

“Then have a good time.”

The door opened into a nice interior with a good view of the blue sea. And in the middle was Noah, looking at the ocean. He turned to Mason, his hair wavering in the wind.

“You can go in.”

Phil said to Mason, who was standing by the door startled. Mason felt strangely nervous as he walked in. He wasn’t sure if the metaphor was correct, but it felt similar to walking naked into an enemy’s territory full of booby-traps.

When he took two or so steps inside the door, he heard the door close behind him. Noah was staring at him with an indifferent expression. Mason slightly scratched his head and walked to a chair and asked as placidly as possible.

“I just looked for a short time, but the yacht is awesome. How do you feel getting this kind of a thing as your birthday gift?”

“It’s annoying and bothersome. I don’t even have time to ride in this.”

Mason, who wasn’t expecting up to ‘I think, I’d rather fly,’ but expected some soft words like, ‘its not bad,’ said vaguely, "-...A yacht is indeed annoying and bothersome."

“Do you like this yacht?”

“I think it’s only Mr. Raycarlton who doesn’t like this thing.”

While he was walking, he had seen a spa, a theater-room, a pool table, and even a putting filed. Even if he was locked in this place for three months and ten days, he won’t die of boredom. A symbol of pleasure, for not just going towards the sea, but also had leisure facilities. He felt respect towards Noah, who could call such a thing as annoying and bothersome.

Noah shrugged, “Not that I don’t like it.”

“They said it’ll take some time to prepare until lunch. I don’t think we’d be hungry anytime soon, so I asked them to prepare the meal a bit later, is that okay?”

Mason nodded his head. Noah didn’t seem like he was going to throw him to the ocean. At least not for now.

“There are several things we can do before food arrives.”

Noah pointed at a table with his finger. When he looked below the table, there was a small drawer. He pulled the drawer open, and several things to simply pass the time, appeared.

Chess, cards, Jenga and a few condoms.

Noah, who moved close to him before he’d realized, stretched out his arm and picked up a silver condom package. Taken aback, Mason rolled his eyes, and Noah tossed the condom that he picked up like he didn’t care and took out the cards and chips.

“You probably know how to play cards, at least?”

Mason inhaled his breath in surprise and said, “Little bit,” and quickly closed the drawer. Noah sat on a chair in front of Mason and skillfully mixed the cards.

“What should we bet on?”

He asked in a casual tone, and Mason asked, “From 20 dollars?” He thought that even if they upped the stakes later on, it’ll be better to start small, but Noah instead said, “Since we are betting, its better to ask for something what each other wants.” He kept mixing the cards, as if he was giving it an actual thought.

“How about this? If I lose, I’ll give you this yacht.”

“..........It seems like you really don’t like this yacht.”

Or planning to bankrupt me from paying the anchorage fees, maintenance cost and what not. Mason moved his lips and bared his teeth, and Noah chuckled.

“Are you good at cards? I might win.”

“.....That’s true too.”

Mason slurred the words. Of course he could win, but the chances weren’t that high.

Because the one who taught Noah, how to play cards 10 years ago, was Mason. He didn’t know how much Noah had practiced during the past 10 years, but the 17 year old Noah wasn’t that talented in card games, and Mason was someone who earned dinner money with cards whenever he was drew short from his wallet.

“But I don’t really have anything to give you. I can’t give you my house.”

“What am I going to do with your house?”

Selling and taking care of it will be annoying. Noah flatly rejected as if someone told him that they will give him trash and scanned Mason from head to toe.

“Well, the bet should be of equal terms”.

“I’m no philanthropist”. Noah said, looking at him with a dissatisfied stare.

“Well, we’ll talk about it later, after I think about what I’m going to ask if I win. If you don’t have what I want, I might not even get it.”

Noah sounded confident, like he was going to win anyway and smiled, bending his eyes.

“Aren’t you taking this too lightly?”

Noah was showing off while mixing the cards, for Mason’s benefit.

“Who knows? It’s not even that great a bet. –A simple entertainment before a meal to add a little bit of thrill.”

Noah sounded like he won’t lose. But even if he didn’t win, losing several of this kind of yacht was nothing but a bit of thrill for him.

“So?”

“Aren’t you going to pick up the cards?” Noah asked and Mason slightly wondered if he were at a disadvantage. Actually such a tempting game, with seemingly good conditions, had a high chance of being a trap.

But soon Mason said, “Hand me the cards,” tilting his neck and putting both hands together, as he started to stretch his body.

Noah laughed lightly, like from 10 years ago, and started to handout the cards.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mason is still hung up to 10 years ago. He’s keep thinking about 10 years ago....

Hmmm suspicious...