Chapter 128 Haven't Practiced Your Cooking Skills?
"Alright," Katniss shot back, giving Ryan a quick nod before jogging to catch up with Tristan.
Under Tristan's no-nonsense orders, she hopped into his G-Wagon.
She watched him handle the wheel like a pro, speeding off.
He was driving fast, and she instinctively grabbed the oh-shit handle above her head.
"What, you scared?" Tristan glanced over. "Weren't you all tough when you came to grill me earlier?"
She let go with one hand, touching her nose, feeling kinda sheepish. "Sorry, I thought..."
She thought he was out for payback for that rejection a year ago, but then she realized she was giving herself too much credit.
To him, it was probably just a blip on the radar.
"You thought what?" Tristan sneered. "That I was some petty, small-minded 'playboy'?"
Katniss felt even guiltier hearing that.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and stared out the window, pretending she didn't hear him.
He didn't push it and drove straight into the Celestial Villas neighborhood, stopping in front of a villa.
Tristan was out of the car before Katniss even unbuckled her seatbelt. By the time she got out, he was already punching in the door code.
"Anyone else here besides you and Aaron?" Katniss asked as she caught up.
As the door swung open, Tristan's voice echoed, "Nope."
On the third floor, both Aaron's bedroom and study were empty.
"Got his number?" Katniss asked Tristan. "I saw him hiding a game console; he might've stashed his phone too."
Tristan's face darkened. "Nope."
He called Ryan, telling him to track down Aaron.
Ten minutes later, Ryan sent Aaron's location.
It was some internet café in a sketchy part of town. Tristan parked on a nearby street. They got out and walked into the alley.
The humid weather had moss growing on both sides of the stone road.
The middle of the road was wet, and the air smelled damp and musty.
Katniss and Tristan followed the navigation arrow on their phones, trying to find the place.
But the GPS was a joke, leading them in circles through the maze of paths.
"Let's split up; he's gotta be around here somewhere." Katniss pointed to two unexplored paths. "You go that way, I'll go this way."
Without waiting for Tristan to respond, she turned and walked off.
Tristan squinted, watching her disappear before heading in the other direction.
A light drizzle started, and Katniss's long hair got all speckled with water droplets.
She didn't care and asked a hurried passerby with an umbrella for directions.
"Over there," the person pointed, then added, "It's pretty wild over there. I saw a fight when I passed by. You shouldn't go alone."
Katniss glanced in the direction they pointed, faintly hearing some ruckus.
She frowned, thanked the passerby, and picked up her pace.
A small sign that read "Internet Café" hung above a closed door.
From a nearby alley came the constant sound of fighting and cursing.
Katniss walked over and saw Aaron getting the crap kicked out of him by a bunch of thugs with colorful hair.
Finally, someone yanked him up and pinned him against the wall.
His white T-shirt was filthy, and his face was covered in mud.
"Still wanna hang with us? Then cough up all your cash!" A blond thug grabbed Aaron's hair, slapping his face hard.
None of them were taller than Aaron, but they had the numbers.
Aaron was at a disadvantage, couldn't even talk back.
But he gritted his teeth, breathing heavily, and looked away, meeting Katniss's surprised eyes.
He paused, then frowned and looked away again.
"Stop it!" Katniss was shocked by the coldness in his eyes, quickly snapping out of it and walking over.
The thugs were only in their twenties, and Katniss's outfit made her look not much older.
Seeing it was a girl, the thugs immediately sneered.
"Mind your own business!" the red-haired thug shouted.
His words didn't stop Katniss from walking over.
She walked up and yanked the thug's hand off Aaron, pulling Aaron out from among them.
The reason she could easily pull Aaron away was that they hadn't reacted.
The red-haired thug was the first to snap out of it. "You got the guts to mess with us! Don't you know whose turf this is?"
"I don't care about your turf, but I care about him." Katniss took out a tissue from her bag and wiped the mud off Aaron's face.
Without looking at the thugs, she continued, "What you're doing is illegal, but as long as you don't touch him, I can overlook today's incident."
Mentioning the law made the thugs look uneasy, their eyes all turning to the red-haired thug.
The red-haired thug sized up Katniss for a few moments, maybe not wanting to cause trouble but also not wanting to lose face, so he stubbornly said, "I'm letting it go, Aaron. Don't let me see you again!"
After that, the red-haired thug waved his hand, and the group of thugs followed him out of the alley.
"Hold up!" Aaron yanked Katniss's hand away from his face and snapped, "Leave the stuff!"
The red-haired thug paused, took a small bead on a red string from another guy, and turned around. "Almost forgot. Here, catch!"
He tossed the item on the ground, and the muddy water instantly dirtied the red string. With a couple of kicks from the red-haired thug, the bead cracked.
"I'll kill you!" Before Katniss could react, Aaron had already lunged and punched the red-haired thug in the face.
Seeing this, the others swarmed and started beating Aaron again.
"Stop!" Katniss ran over frantically, but their movements were so wild that she couldn't get close to Aaron.
Suddenly, someone got shoved out by Aaron and bumped into her. She staggered back, slipping and falling.
A warm, strong hand caught her waist, and she fell steadily into a solid chest.
The familiar scent enveloped her, and she looked back to see Tristan standing behind her.
"Stand aside." His thin lips parted slightly. After steadying her, he walked slowly toward the group.
His black shirt and trousers added a touch of coldness, making him look particularly mature and dignified compared to the colorful-haired thugs.
The trousers didn't hinder his movements. With a few swift actions, he had already knocked the thugs to the ground.
Cries of pain echoed.
Katniss's eyes followed Aaron's figure as he ran to the bead that had been stepped on by the red-haired thug. He carefully picked up the cracked bead and tried to piece it together.
Though he stubbornly gritted his teeth, his eyes were red.
"He's hurt. Let's get him to the hospital first." Katniss saw Aaron's arm bleeding and walked over to Tristan.
Tristan called Ryan to handle the thugs in the alley, then took Aaron and Katniss straight to the hospital.
Aaron didn't resist, staying silent the whole way, tightly clutching the bead.
During the fight, someone had pulled out a small knife and cut Aaron's forearm.
The injury wasn't too bad. After some bandaging, Tristan and Katniss took Aaron home from the hospital.
Once back, Aaron went straight to his room, locking himself in without saying a word.
"Who gave him that bead? Does it have any special meaning?" Katniss asked.
Tristan was making coffee at the simple bar in the living room, his clean, slender fingers skillfully working the coffee machine.
Without turning his head, he said, "It's probably from his grandmother. She passed away when he was ten, and he changed a lot after that. Then, two years ago, his parents died in an accident, and he became even more different."
A wave of sympathy washed over Katniss. She thought her own life was tough enough, but Aaron's was on another level.
"Stay for dinner," Tristan leaned against the bar, pointing his chin toward the kitchen. "There are ingredients in the fridge."
It was already past noon, and there were no buses or taxis near the villa area.
Katniss, who had come in Tristan's car, couldn't leave even if she wanted to. But did Tristan mean for her to cook?
She hesitated for a few seconds, pursing her lips.
He seemed to read her mind. "Haven't practiced your cooking skills?"
"I never had the chance. Matilda's cooking is really good," she mumbled softly, her ears turning red with embarrassment.
Judging by his expression, he still remembered the taste of her cooking after all this time, which meant it must have been memorably bad.
Tristan frowned, downed his coffee in one gulp, and said, "I helped you find Aaron. You handle him yourself."
Putting down the coffee cup, he unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up, revealing his muscular forearms.
He went into the kitchen.
Katniss went upstairs to Aaron's room, knocked twice, and said, "I'm coming in."
There was some noise inside. Although Aaron didn't respond, she knew he heard her.
To her surprise, Aaron had already showered and changed into clean clothes, his thin frame curled up on the sofa playing a game console.
He didn't even glance at her when she entered.
"Tristan is pretty impressive, right?" She sat down on a chair, bringing up a topic that surprised Aaron.
He lifted his eyes to look at her but said nothing.
"I know a Taekwondo class. Although you're a bit old for it, it's not too late to start seriously now. I can't guarantee you'll be great at fighting, but you definitely won't get bullied." Katniss took out her phone, opened the Taekwondo instructor's contact, and handed it to him. "Interested? Take down the number and get in touch."
Aaron's furious button-mashing suddenly stopped. After a moment, he turned off the game console and looked at her. "Why aren't you scolding me?"
"Why should I scold you?" Katniss asked back. "You were bullied and got hurt. Why would I scold you?"
Her words were simple and straightforward, but Aaron seemed unable to understand.
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