Chapter 9.1

“Ah…. You mean Mr. Haley Lusk?”

Noah gave a perplexed laugh at the reporter’s question. It was a pretty tricky question, asking what he thought of Haley Lusk. The rumor, that Haley attempted to commit suicide because of him, had spread across the country.

Until today, Noah had restrained from talking about it and had made no comments. Instead he’d let people imagine whatever they wanted to. They either said it’s not worth talking about a trash like Haley or how Noah was amazing for being polite towards that kind of a guy. Everybody had a slightly different opinion, but most agreed that Haley Lusk was a piece of trash.

People thought Noah would pass the question this time too. Even the reporter was not really expecting anything. However, before long Noah erased his awkward smile and said

“I heard that his health was very critical recently. I hope he gets well soon, so that he can film good dramas and movies.”

“….Huh? No, no. Mr. Raycarlton. You know that is not what we want to hear?”

‘Like that incident…. how did you feel when you heard the news about his attempted suicide?’ the reporter asked him excitedly. Noah had always made no comments and today wasn’t supposed to be anything different, but suddenly he had decided to cooperate and not just pay lip service. Finally, it seemed, he was in the mood to say something. Inside the reporter’s head, an exclusive sign was flashing, and she enthusiastically thrust the microphone onto Noah. Noah looked embarrassed, for real this time.

“Well, that is private. I’ve already had a personal conversation with Mr. Lusk, about his proposal. But expecting me to talk about that to strangers…. I’m not sure. Isn’t that a bit childish?”

“Oh, no, nobody will think like that. Everybody knows what a filthy mouth Haley has and you ask me! He is not a kid anymore and yet, he threatened with his life…. Is it wrong to criticize the reprehensible actions of a public star?”

Noah smiled slightly at the reporter’s fierce reaction.

“Attempted suicide… I was told it was a heart attack.”

“And did you believe that? Oh my!”

Dear all, who would have thought that Noah was so naïve? the reporter blabbered in front of the camera. Noah waved his hand.

“Ah, but that doesn’t mean it was impossible. And it is way more realistic than an attempted suicide.”

‘A lot of Hollywood stars die from heart attack, you know,’ Noah said in a gentle and kind voice.

“It’s true that he is rough and uncontrollable, but I know he is not a bad person. –There are several people in this world, who don’t like me. So I appreciate it, to rather have someone that at least likes me”.

Noah smiled with his eyes bent, and the reporter shut up for a long time, in shock. Finally, she rubbed her eyes and said

“Oh my! I just hallucinated a pair of wings, growing on your back, Mr. Raycarlton. How could you say that? We are all sick of Haley, just watching him from the side.”

Noah frowned a little bit and then smiled. He probably felt uncomfortable with her overly done compliment. He stared at her and the camera and said after a short pause.

“…..When my mother found out that he got addicted to heroin, she really felt sorry for him. I kinda felt sorry too. The Hollywood is a harsh place for a child actor, and so it was for him.”

Noah was smiling now, but with bitterness. The reporter wanted to point out that Haley earned a lot of money in return and that it was cold and harsh everywhere in this society, and not just in Hollywood. But she didn’t say it.

Talk about Hollywood’s brutality, they cannot leave out his own childhood story. Raynoah’s kidnapping incident from 20 years ago always came up, whenever they talked about the occupational hazards of Hollywood.

A nameless actress, who got jealous of the leading actress, kidnaped her kid and kept him stuffed inside a traveling luggage for 27 hours. She assaulted the child and attempted to murder him. The incident garnered so much attention that it was made into a movie.

“Oh, that reminds me, was it ’27 hours’? Haley was really lovely when he debuted in that movie”.

The reporter naturally thought about the movie and sighed. People, who thought that no other child could rival Raynoah’s loveliness, couldn’t take their eyes off the screen. He wasn’t perfect like Noah, but Haley was very cute in the movie and played the role like a charm. Back then; Haley was definitely a lovely and an innocent child. May be it was not wrong to say that the one who changed that child was Hollywood.

After the scheduled interview was over, the reporter had to let go of Noah with an awkward feeling. She had secretly asked if he was free tonight and Noah had avoided by saying, ‘You should’ve seen my cold-hearted secretary telling me that I don’t have time today for lunch or dinner so should eat only sandwiches in between….’

In fact, Noah already had other schedules lined-up, with no time to blink his eyes. Inside the limo, Noah flipped through some documents as he chewed on a sandwich that Phil had gotten him. Phil, who was sitting next to him, typing on a laptop, suddenly asked.

“Did Haley really say that Mason was alive?”

Noah stopped chewing the sandwich and looked up. He slowly chewed on, swallowed the food inside his mouth and then said tilting his head.

“Mm, not sure. If you think about it, I wasn’t in my right mind at that time and so, I cannot confirm it.”

Thinking back, it wouldn’t have been weird if he’d actually seen or heard any hallucinations.

“It’s a bit strange too. Mason and Haley, eh?”

Noah wiped the sauce on his lips with his thumb and smiled.

“Still, it’s true that I saw the man getting outta there. There has to be some kinda relationship between them. …-Oh! I’m not the only one who saw Haley there, right?”

Noah asked half-jokingly, and Phil answered, “No. I couldn’t even imagine meeting Haley in that place….” When Phil first saw Haley in the elevator, he had believed that he was stalking Noah. Except for that reason, there was no way that Haley could have been there. In addition, not only did he ride in the elevator with Noah but was also sitting on top of him, when it stopped. There was only one thing that Phil could think of…–Haley, that trash, had gone insane.

Noah was not as gentle and kind as people thought. Wings of an angel? A gentleman? Noah was just an amazing actor, who could smile and put on airs, according to his own calculations. In real life, he was a pragmatic, high-class, son of a bitch. No, the upper crust among the upper class-sons of bitches, he was especially evil. He definitely had the blood of a politician, an actress, a conglomerate, and a lawyer, all mixed together. He had everything he needed to destroy a person, and it came very naturally to him.

Compared to the elevator incident, last week’s proposal was stupid enough to be suicidal. Had he shot himself in the head, it would have been much cleaner, thought Phil. Mason had gone missing at the same time as the scandal and Noah was going crazy. But, now that he knew Mason was alive, Haley would die, after spending a life lesser than a pig.

However, it hadn’t been that simple. Haley’s full story turned out to be beyond the limits of Phil’s understanding.

“I was surprised too. But frankly, it would be more surprising had he intentionally planned it, because Haley didn’t want to talk about Mason’s life.”

Noah said with a listless face, while flipping through the pages. Phil nodded, ‘If you looked at the details, you would know that it was definitely unintentional. Which is why it’s even weirder.’

“My….. what a strange coincidence!”

He knew that such coincidences doesn’t exist. But he didn’t want to argue either. If not a coincidence, then what was it? You can’t use a big word like ‘coincidence’ for a relationship between Haley and Noah. Noah chuckled at Phil.

“Mm-… Did you get the report about Haley? What does it say? Did it explain how such an ‘amazing coincidence’ happened?”

Noah raised his head and swallowed the last piece of the sandwich and stared at Phil expectantly. Phil looked at his laptop. He had read everything on Haley’s report, but for the contact log. He had searched the data until his eyes turned red, but couldn’t figure out where Haley could have met Mason. Haley and Mason’s tastes were so different that they didn’t even share the same shoe brand. He reread the whole report, just in case he had missed something and used his imagination. But try as he might, there was nothing connecting the two of them and the house without an owner.

“Honestly, I’ve no idea. There is no solid evidence connecting them. It’s as if they used telepathy.”

“Telepathy? –Wow, is that so?”

Noah looked through his hooded eyes and smiled as if having fun. Phil handed over Haley’s file. Noah put down the files he was holding and took it from him.

“There was no evidence to find Mason?”

Noah asked looking through the file and Phil nodded with a disappointed face. Mason was definitely a skillful mercenary and a veteran, so he didn’t expect to find him that easily. However, not being able to find even the smallest clue was disappointing.

“It certainly does seem like there was no connection. Just like I thought, but….”

Noah murmured, tapping the paper with his fingertip and bridled up.

“Was there anything else other than this data related to Mason?”

“Pardon? Ah. Yes. I have it.”

He had done a thorough investigation, but hadn’t looked for anything other than finding a connection between them. In a panic, he took out the other file that he had put under the seat. Patter! Haley’s materials slipped from his hands and spilled on the limousine’s floor.

“I’m sorry.” Noah offhandedly listened to Phil’s apology, while picking up a few pages of the Haley’s report.

“By the way, are you interested in Haley himself?”

Phil picked up all the papers and asked carefully. Noah smiled and frowned slightly. Phil had a hard time guessing his mind and so, he closed his mouth. Come to think of it, usually he ignores any questions about Haley, but in today’s interview he had given pretty positive answers.

“Are you thinking of using him to find Mason?”

Noah didn’t answer but continued to thumb through the pages indifferently. There were countless data on troubles that Haley had caused; bunch of addictions, dirty relationships with men…. Haley was a dirty and stupid human being, just like he thought. Whenever he was in heat, he had pocked everywhere; he was rude and a low life. He didn’t need anyone to ruin his life. Even if they had left him alone, he by himself would have fallen into a puddle and died.

“……”

But he had looked totally different then. Last week, he was definitely the pathetic Haley that Noah knew: the one who got drunk and grabbed him and said some nonsense like, let’s date. But in Mason’s house or in the elevator, he didn’t seem anything like the ‘old Haley.’ When was it, since he started having this strange feeling?

“…..”

Noah thought about the drama ‘Clue’s’ film set. Haley was definitely different back then too. No, if he thought about it, he had been different since then.

Noah frowned slightly and pressed on his heart. When he thought of Haley standing in the rain in that set, his heart started to beat nervously. What’s wrong with him? Noah ignored the incomprehensible feeling and halfheartedly thumbed through Haley’s report.

“Isn’t there any recent file? Like…. After he had the heart attack.”

“Ah, that’s the one in the bottom.”

‘Yeah, here it is,’ Phil pointed at a red file, wedged between a thick wad of papers and when he tried to grab it, something fell onto his foot. It was a picture of Haley.

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s from another file.”

Phil tried to pick it up hastily, but Noah beat him to it.

“This… This is a recent photo, right?”

Phil gave him a questioning look. “Yes, this was taken today, not so long ago.” How the hell did he know, Phil looked amazed.

Noah smirked and murmured, “Today, huh-?.”He was definitely different, Haley, from before the heart attack and after. He could tell from just one picture.

He wasn’t talking about plastic surgery or a needle. Noah tapped at the picture. Things that changed were very minor. Instead of wearing something that screamed ‘rape me,’ the new Haley wore a muted T-shirt, covering up to his neck. His jeans were less ripped. His hands and neck that usually dripped with all kinds of accessories, now only revealed a little bit of scarred, fair skin.

People said he was always drunk or high or both, but now he just looked tired, as he bought a cup of coffee.

Noah was staring at the picture and then snapped out of it, before he tossed it aside.

“Were there any noticeable changes recently?”

Noah asked while turning the pages of the file that was on his lap. Phil slurred his words as he replied, “I’m sorry. This is the most recent, yet….” Noah gave a nod and continued looking through the file. Until a week ago, before his heart attack, Haley wasn’t any different from his past. Drinking alcohol, going to promiscuous clubs..

“…..?”

Noah looked at one point of the document and frowned. Underneath the pictures taken on the night of his heart attack, there was a testimony of a police official.

?... His face was pale, as if he saw something terrifying. He had no pulse and did not breathe. His heart had completely stopped and there was no doubt about it. There had been a few incidences in the past, where people came back to life, after getting a heart massage under five minutes after proclaimed dead. But in case of Haley, rigor mortis had already set in. He had been dead for an hour and another 20 minutes had passed during the investigation. All that was left was to carry the corpse away. That’s when we heard a small coughing sound, and it was surprisingly coming from Haley. …..?

Noah read through the novel-like testimony. Come to think of it, he faintly remembered hearing this story from Phil. Like rising from the dead?

Died and came back to life again. –There was a nagging feeling that bothered him, Noah frowned and read through the file. “Oh, it reminds me!” Phil exclaimed suddenly, as if he remembered something.

“I heard Haley’s been saying something like, he’s going to quit being an actor. This was from his own manager.”

Noah removed his eyes from the file and looked at Phil as if he’d said something strange. There were a great number of Hollywood entertainers, who wouldn’t survive not being a celebrity, and Haley especially, was in the middle of them; he would rather die than not being a star. Him? Wanting to quit his job?

“He says he’s going to build a café. –This is a rumor though.”

Recently, he’d been drinking a lot of coffee, from the nearby coffee shops. Noah slightly furrowed his brow at Phil.