BXBX NOVEL Chapter 134 - Investigating Assault (4)
"Well, Noah also has problems with them. They are bullying and beating him as well," I had to drag Noah in this because Mona seemed to have some attachment to Noah.
"Ah, even Noah got bullied, huh? That\'s weird."
"Weird? What\'s so weird about bullying?" I asked. I didn\'t expect Mona to say that, honestly.
"Well, it\'s just that—I never expect Noah to be bullied…." Mona said.
"Huh? What makes you think so?" I remembered what Noah looked like when I first encountered him. He was lying on the ground with bruised and even bloodied face. He was beaten to a pulp. He was the definition of a bullied kid.
"Because he is kind of… an observer? He doesn\'t really care whether someone got bullied as long as he is safe. He\'s pretty invisible to be noticeable by those bullies," Mona informed. "But don\'t be too harsh on him, though. He is not a bad person at all. He\'s just like a regular guy. I just never expected him to get bullied.
"Huh, I see…."
I mean, there was nothing wrong with being a bystander. I knew not everyone could stand up against the bullies.
But I wouldn\'t lie that I had some grievance and disappointment towards them. All they did was watch me getting beaten up by those bullies without doing anything.
They probably sympathized with me, but they were either scared or didn\'t care because they weren\'t the ones who got affected.
Anyone wouldn\'t care about anything as long as it didn\'t affect them. That was the harsh truth I learned before.
Noah was just like the rest of those people until he got bullied, then he could finally connect with me.
"Then, can you help me by giving me Elise\'s contact? I want to help them both, Noah and Elise, since they are bullied by the same group," I asked.
Mona hesitated and shook her head, "I—I don\'t think Elise wants to talk about it, seriously. She\'s very traumatized about it. If she knows that I\'m telling someone else about her problem, she\'ll probably break our long friendship…."
"Besides… it happened a month ago. She didn\'t report it to the police immediately, and the scars have faded. Although she\'s left traumatized for life, it\'d only be a baseless accusation, right?" Mona made a solid point there. Because the wounds had faded, there was no way to prove it.
But I didn\'t want to give up now. I would find a way to use her testimony.
"Without her report, it\'ll be hard to take those three bastards down. It\'s almost impossible even," I insisted. I knew it might sound inconsiderate, but Elise\'s report would definitely burden those three later on when I could find a good way to trap them.
Mona stared at me and sighed, "You are so convincing. I can\'t help but say yes…."
"Fine, I\'ll give you her number. But promise me that you\'ll take care of those jerks, so all of Elise\'s suffering will be worth it… at least," Mona warned me, and I nodded full of confidence.
I already swore to myself that I\'d get my revenge, no matter how.
Mona finally gave me Elise\'s number, but she warned me, "Don\'t call her immediately. Try to text and comfort her first. I\'ll tell her your purpose, so she wouldn\'t block you."
"Thanks, Mona," I nodded with a slight smile, "I promise she\'ll get her revenge."
Mona smiled at me and then giggled, "So, about you and Noah. You two have been dating for a while?"
"Huh? Dating?"
"Yeah, dating. You don\'t need to hide it from me. I know what type of person Noah is. He is very guarded about his heart, it\'s been a while since we broke up, and he\'s yet to get another girl."
"Whoa, you guys—"
"Hehe, yes, we were. Noah and I were a couple last year. We broke up about four months ago because I got so busy helping my parents here, and he said we should break up. We were better as friends instead," Mona said. "He\'s a good boyfriend, but we do fit better as friends instead."
…
Nah, it wasn\'t because they didn\'t fit as a couple. That was definitely because Noah was gay.
But it still shocked me that he had a relationship with a girl before. Maybe he just didn\'t want to hurt her in the long run after knowing his sexuality.
After talking with Mona, Noah returned inside and paid the bill before leaving with me. We went inside his car to discuss what I found.
"So, I finally got Elise\'s number, but we shouldn\'t rush this. We know that Elise must\'ve been traumatized by what happened to her."
"Indeed," Noah agreed.
"So I got Elise\'s number, although Mona told me not to rush her. And I agreed with her because it must\'ve been really traumatizing for her."
"Indeed," Noah nodded.
"So I will start chatting with her slowly, and after I could get at least a bit of her trust, I want to tell her about our mission. Don\'t worry about your secret. I won\'t tell anyone," I said. "Remember, Noah, we NEED to get Elise in this mission. Her testimony would definitely put worse verdict to the judge later on," I briefed him.
Noah nodded again. He looked a bit guilty and looked down slightly, "I\'m ashamed…."
"Ashamed? Why?"
"Uh… you just look so professional and fearless, as if you\'ve been doing this for a while, Em. I feel like I\'m a deadweight here…" Noah said. "Oh, by the way, that\'s a great idea. I\'ll follow whatever you want me to do. This is the least I could do."
"Well, do me a favor and explain how in hell you could date Mona for one year?"
"Ah—" Noah choked on air. He looked nervous and scratched his head, "Well, it\'s just me trying to discover my sexuality. I wasn\'t sure if I was truly gay before, so I dated Mona because we\'ve been close friends since freshman year."
"But it didn\'t work out because I discovered that I was into men exclusively about four months ago. I don\'t want to trap her to be my girlfriend despite me having no sexual attraction to her," Noah explained. "Is that enough?"
"I see," I nodded. It was a wise move since he didn\'t have any attraction to her anymore. "One more Noah… Mona told me that you\'re pretty invisible before you got bullied."
"Ah, that\'s… that\'s true…." Noah confirmed with a grieving face. "I mean, I\'m just like the rest of the people here. I don\'t know what to do when I see someone getting bullied, so I just… watch…."
"Now I\'m in that bullied position, and I disappointed at myself for ignoring those who got bullied…."
I took a deep breath after hearing his explanation, "It\'s okay. I just want to know whether you had bullied someone directly before."
"Anyway, all you need to do right now is to survive, okay? I\'m going to contact Elise, and hopefully, things will go smoothly."
"Sure thing, Boss."
Noah and I finally finished our meeting today, and I left his car. I checked my watch, and it was already 11.00 A.M.
I promised Mason to go on a lunch date first with him somewhere nice and cheap, so I called Mason\'s phone, only for him to reject the call.
"Huh? Why did he reject my call?" I wondered. I tried calling him again, but this time, someone suddenly snatched my phone from behind.
I turned my head immediately, ready to strike whoever grabbed my phone because that was my only \'wealth\' right now.
But when I turned my head, I was stunned by the sight of a handsome man in front of me.
He was wearing a thick white jacket due to cold weather today, and he was wearing a beanie hat, something I never saw him wearing.
But that didn\'t hide his beauty at all, though. He still had the same dreamy blue eyes behind that glasses, and his smile was still the same sweet smile that\'d intoxicated countless girls.
"Good afternoon, Em," Mason greeted me first.
"A—Ah, Good afternoon, Mason…." I snapped out of my daze and greeted him back. "Why didn\'t you tell me that you\'re around already? And don\'t startle me like that!"
"Hehe, I\'m sorry, I just want to tease you a bit," Mason said. "Anyway, I\'m sorry for looking very ordinary today. The weather is really cold. I can\'t handle it."
"Oh, I thought you\'re good with cold…."
"I am, but only when I\'m exercising. That\'s why I\'m sorry for dressing up like this for a date…."
"No, no, you look cool and handsome. It\'s good this way as well because you\'ll attract less attention," I patted his firm chest. "And it\'s fine, don\'t you see what I\'m wearing right now?"
"You\'re still beautiful no matter what you\'re wearing, Em…" Mason stared at me with his gentle and warm gaze, giving me assurance that his words were an absolute truth.