Fair Trade

It was clear that the restaurant staff were playing the songs on the Billboard chart in order. Sei listened to the familiar music playing in the order she was expecting.

Sei unfolded the menu, which was folded into five layers, and ordered a beef burger and steak.

She greedily ordered foods she had never tried before, such as french fries and Caesar salad.

Watching her add cold coffee and soda at the end, Yuri sitting opposite her, frowned.

“There is a French restaurant nearby. It would have been better to go there.”

He was dissatisfied with the hectic service of the fast-food restaurant from the very beginning.

Picking up the soda that came out first, she rolled her eyes and bit the straw.

“I can’t go there. I can’t walk. I can’t even take a step, so how am I supposed to go there?”

“I can just carry you.”

“If we do that, the blurred photos of our faces will be floating around Facebook.”

“Don’t tell me… Were you worried about that?”

It was like asking, ‘Do you know who I am?’ Sei nodded quickly and shook her head.

Since it was a fast food restaurant, the food came out immediately. She felt the urgency to replenish her energy as she rubbed her trembling thighs.

“Eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion.”

“You also eat, Mr. Petrov.”

“Yuri.”

“… Mr. Yuri.”

His eyes were smiling, but his attitude towards food was….

His attitude of poking the food with a fork to see if it was really edible almost made her want to spit out the food in her mouth.

Was this his first time in a place like this?

Sei, who covered her mouth with the back of her hand, held back her laughter and offered a half-cut beef burger.

“Try this.”

“I don’t like burgers. I don’t like it when the sauce flows out every time I bite into it.”

“Well, if your mouth gets dirty, you can just wipe it off. Don’t be like that. Just take a bite. Maybe you will want to come again next time?”

“You have a habit of putting in good words.”

“Hey, don’t underestimate Uncle Joe’s burger. Anyway, here!”

Yuri, while staring at her face, straight up took a bite from her hand instead of just holding the burger himself. Sei’s finger scratched the man’s tooth. For a moment, their eyes met and Yuri smiled, appearing pleased.

Sei was sure he did it on purpose…

“You’re eating well.”

Sei glared at Yuri and ate the burger that was still leftover.

Even though they ordered quite a lot, they finished the food quickly. Every time the wind blew, the halogen light on the old sign flickered.

Licking the mayonnaise sauce on her finger, she blushed suddenly at the look with which Yuri was giving her.

The satisfaction from sex was too high even though it was impulsive sex. This was the first time she had sex in five years.

She fell into despair after Uncle Albert’s death, and when she ran into Giulio, his strange obsession with her took up most of her time.

In fact, she felt that dealing with just one Giulio was beyond her abilities, so she never even considered meeting anyone else. She didn’t dare to wish for a romantic relationship while being involved in a shady business.

She broke the silence first by stirring the cola with her straw.

“Is Camille Petrov your brother?” Then Sei, who ordered vanilla ice cream and espresso for dessert, asked this with a strange smile on her face.

“Are you curious about my family history?”

“More than that, Camille Petrov appears frequently in the press. He’s committed so many crimes that he’s become quite notorious, and he’s even working with mercenaries… I heard this by chance, but do you really send them to war?”

“We do that too.”

“Then what about you? I know in my head that you are a mafia member, but it’s still hard to accept.”

“To tell you the difference, I’m the CFO of the Petrov business, not a mafia member. People just tie me up with the mafia for convenience… They usually use our intelligence to make money and build up a company. Of course, they kill people, or go and threaten them. They are all like garbage that cannot hide its stink no matter how well it has been repackaged.”

“Why are you so….”

Sei embarrassedly rubbed the tip of her nose. People had a way of wrapping up their immoral deeds with the pretense of fairness. From the basic envy and jealousy to murder, theft, rape, and assault. They try to rationalize that there is a ‘why’ behind their actions.

It was only psychopaths who not only could commit any crime but also not feel any guilt due to their lack of empathy.

Sei was a little relieved that Yuri Petrov was not a psychopath.

“I thought you had good stamina.”

“Hey, you were like a beast! Don’t you think you were being too aggressive?”

“That’s why I asked you whether or not you can satisfy me?”

After finishing their meal, Sei went back to her apartment while being hugged by Yuri. She didn’t like it, but there was no point in refusing him. Yuri hugged her after her legs became soft and she nearly fell over a man in his forties who was just exiting the building.

“My mom…. likes the new hospital room. Thank you.”

“I noticed that the hospital did not appear to be having any problems. She’ll have a good time there.”

“Yes. It’s even better than my own room.”

Sei opened the front door while being held in Yuri’s arms.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar situation for her. On the day of the Michael Dylan incident, she was carried in Yuri’s arms to the cabin room too. She didn’t have shoes at that time, but at this time, she could hardly walk so Yuri had to carry her.

“Chloe will be here at nine. So… I’m sorry, but please leave now.”

A jewelry box lay in front of her, buried in the sofa. Sei pushed the case of Baroque pearls towards Yuri.

“And this. Even though I’m a thief who steals other people’s things, I don’t just steal anything. And this is a treasure that should be in a museum. It’s not something I can pull off. So please take it back.”

But Yuri pushed it back towards Sei and said, “I’m sorry, I’m a mafia member, not a petty thief. Take this in exchange for the sex we had earlier. La Peregrina still doesn’t even cover it. Since I only cummed a little, that sex is invalid.”

What the… That’s crazy! How can he call that ‘I only cummed a little’?

“From where did it appear to you…?!”

“Don’t try to push me away anymore just because you’re busy. That makes me really sad.”

The man, who spoke softly, grabbed his jacket and got up. She raised her head and followed him with her eyes.

“I will see you again soon.”

She didn’t know whether to call him immaculate or cold-hearted. He was sweet but bitter at the same time.