The Alchemists

"Max, I'll leave them to you for now. Please don't let this show up in the news." Marion patted Max's shoulder then gave him various instructions on how to hold hostage of the two assassins. She then contacted Endo as she needed to look for a quiet place to detain them.

Max, who still couldn't believe that young girl could handle the crisis so efficiently, could only nod. He coordinated with the police force and the stadium security officers and immediately carried out Marion's orders.

"How is Neo?" Marion asked rather anxiously.

She could still picture Neo taking all the shots with his shoulders and back. Even though they were Alchemists who had extraordinary physical endurance, their bodies weren't immune to bullets. If one of the bullets hit the spine or nerves, Neo could become paralyzed or even lose his life.

"He is undergoing surgery to remove the bullets. The doctor said his chances are good. Lauriel is already on his way here. I believe he is able to treat Neo better than any doctor," Endo replied. He hurriedly added, "Besides, the singer stopped by here too, and said she would come again. I'm sure that Neo will recover very fast when she is around."

"Oh," Marion just remembered Billie. "Who did she come to the hospital with?"

"She came with Jean."

"Oh, okay." Marion hung up the phone and remembered that Jean had repeatedly tried to contact her but she instead turned off her cellphone.

She dialed the telephone number for the caller ID: MARION LIKES THE ADORABLE ACTOR and waited for Jean to pick up her call.

RING

RING

Somehow, after the tenth ring, Jean still hadn't picked up her call. Marion became angry and she disconnected the call. Ughhhh ... what was Jean doing with Billie? Why didn't he pick up the call???

Her jealousy started overflowing again, but Marion had no other option than to swallow her frustration because ... she didn't have the right to be jealous, did she? They were not lovers ... at least not yet.

Marion irritably edited Jean's contact name and changed it to AFFE (Monkey [German]).

***

Jean had just taken a shower and came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. His hair was still dripping wet and he was not aware that he had made a girl very upset by not picking up her call. He dressed himself and went to Billie's suite on the 90th floor while carrying a bottle of wine.

The girl was still devastated and Jean wanted to accompany her tonight, hopefully the alcohol would calm her down. It did not cross his mind at all to take his cellphone along.

When Marion arrived half an hour later, the girl looked for Jean but could not find him in the penthouse. She tried to call back but Jean still did not answer her call.

Finally, Marion could only sit in the living room feeling angry. Out of frustration, she threw her cellphone to the floor. A while later she noticed that she looked very messy and dusty from the riots at the stadium, and so she decided to take a shower and change clothes.

When she came out of her room to get the cellphone that she had thrown, Jean entered the penthouse. Instantly Marion stopped on her tracks.

She wanted to ask Jean where he had been, but somehow she could already guess; he was probably at Billie's place earlier. The girl was must have been devastated by the attempted murder she had experienced and Jean must have accompanied her to calm her down.

She did not want to hear the rest. Maybe something had happened between Jean and Billie ... maybe not. Whatever the answer, Marion was not ready to hear it. Not now.

She wanted to focus on her task and did not want her mind clouded by personal matters.

"Hey ..." Marion greeted him nonchalantly. She took her cellphone from the floor and returned to her room. Jean could only stare at her in disbelief. He then went into his room. When he took the cellphone that he had left behind, Jean was shocked to see 89 missed calls from Marion.

If Marion tried so hard to contact him, why was she so indifferent when they met earlier? Jean could only ask himself.

"Mmm ..."

He was contemplated to go to Marion's room and invite her to talk. He had been very worried about leaving Marion at the stadium as she went after the shooter, but after speaking with Endo at the hospital, he realized that his worries were unreasonable because Marion was very formidable.

He didn't need to worry about her.

But Billie ... that girl was as delicate as a grass flower. He had known her for more than 20 years and so he knew that behind Billie's talented and outgoing personality was a delicate and vulnerable being. That was why she chose to keep her private life from the media and outsiders, almost in contrast to Jean's warm and open personality.

When they finally formed a romantic relationship 15 years ago, the two supported and protected each other in their own ways.

Jean, who was very open to the media, never asked Billie to appear with him in public and when he had interviews, and he always protected Billie's privacy. He loved the girl very much and, although after ten years his feelings turned more platonic, they remained together.

Billie was also very much in love with Jean, and in time she finally realized that his feelings had changed and he didn't want marriage and children with her, which was the opposite of what she wanted.

After more than a dozen years together, Billie finally accepted the fact and ended their relationship, allowing Jean to find his own happiness.

Their separation was announced to the public six months later. Despite the break-up, everything was still good between them, until tonight, when someone attempted to murder Billie.

She was in such shock that she could only stay silent during their visit to the hospital and on their way to the Continental Hotel.