Chapter 12 Quicksand

• Once I was finally out of the hotel, I heaved a loud sigh of relief. Then, I jogged all the way to the nearest bus station.
• I had to pat myself on the back at my successful escape attempt from Julien.
• “Wow, the man's handsome.” Right then, I heard two middle-schoolers beside me muttering to each other as they glanced at the spot behind me.
• When I turned around to look at what was going on behind me, I nearly screamed.
• When did this guy catch up with me? Moreover, he's like some ghost haunting me! I never realized he was right behind me.
• I then huffed, “Why are you following me around?”
• He gave me a look of disdain and answered, “Miss, this is a bus station. If you can be here, so can others. Are you saying that your family owns this bus station?”
• “That's right. If you can be here, so can others. Mister, which bus are you taking?” One of the earlier girls had taken the opportunity to approach Julien. It was a rare sight to see someone as courageous as her.
• “I haven't decided. Girly, would you like to buy a bus ticket for me?” Julien asked, a rare calm look on his face.
• “Sure, let's have supper together,” the two girls replied, thrilled by his response.
• Just then, the bus to the sanitarium had arrived, so I sped over to it.
• After tapping my card, I was about to sit down on my seat when I heard the driver say, “Hey, you haven't put in your coins.”
• Thinking that he was talking to me, I turned around, about to tell him that I had tapped my card when I saw the tall Julien standing by the door. He was scouring through his bag frantically.
• I doubt he ever rode a bus before. There was no way Julien would have coins on him, let alone a public transportation card. Behind him, the other passengers were getting impatient and noisy.
• At that moment, he lifted his head to give me a miserable look. I ignored him. I sat down on my seat, and I turned my head away to look out of the window instead. Didn't you want the girls to buy you a bus ticket? Why don't you look for them to save you now?
• “Honey, are you not going to even give me two bucks for the bus ticket? Our house is so far away... How am I going to walk all the way home?” Julien asked, looking at me.
• Instantly, almost everyone on the bus turned to look at me.
• “Honey? How could you let your husband walk home when you're taking a bus home? What kind of person are you?” said a righteous passenger.
• “Women nowadays are ridiculous.”
• Ugh, idiots. Look at his custom-made suit. That suit would cost at least fifty thousand. Does he look like someone who doesn't have the money to ride a bus?
• In just seconds, he had managed to push me into a pool of sharks. People around me started criticizing me, and the passengers behind him kept urging him to hurry. Soon, even the bus driver said, “If you want to fight, fight at home. Don't make your lovers' spat someone else's business.”
• As Julien looked at me, a wicked grin grew on his lips. I hated it, but it made my heart skip a beat as well.
• I then stood up and tapped my card for his ride. He did not even thank me for that. In fact, he scoffed at me. It was as if he was mocking me about how I could never win against him.
• Just as I sat back down on my seat, he pushed me further in toward the window to squeeze with me. “How dare you bite me. I'm going to bite you ten times tonight for biting me earlier.”
• He was loud; he did not care that we were in a public space at all. The passengers around us swiftly looked at me, and I hastily lowered my head to avoid their stares. What a shameless man. Why can't he just embarrass himself?
• Hearing nothing from me, he squeezed over even more. It was a two-man seater, but he had taken up two-thirds of the seat. I was a three-dimensional person, but at the rate he was going, I was going to be two-dimensional. Barely able to breathe, I tried to push him away, but alas, my efforts were fruitless. The only thing I could do was to glare daggers at him.
• Nevertheless, he pretended not to see anything. A nosy passenger behind us then said, “The woman's average, but the man's pretty handsome. Women are seriously unappreciative nowadays. I can't believe she's not cherishing the fact that she's got a good husband and even wants him to walk home.”
• I pretended not to have ears, but Julien elbowed me, a silent question of whether or not I had heard the one behind me. He seemed delighted about how someone was commenting about his good looks again.
• I turned away from him to look out of the window, but somehow, that strange feeling was rising in my chest again. The man was running hot and cold. He was unpredictable and dangerous. Yet, I could not help but feel captivated by him.
• My original aim in approaching him was so that I could use him as a jumpstart in my plan to deal with Cary. Yet, I now felt as if I had stepped into quicksand, and I could only watch as I gradually sunk.