BXBX NOVEL Chapter 331 Blown Chance
"Back up! Now." Chan-Yeol pushed Manny forward. Manny, still shocked, stumbled forward. He listened to Chan-Yeol's orders and moved to the platform. Liz, Evan, Ritsuka, and Olivia followed after Chan-Yeol and Manny.
"Has he ever done this before?" Olivia whispered to Liz. Liz simply shook her head and pressed on. Olivia looked at Ritsuka. She was angry that Ritsuka and Manny had blown their chance of retrieving the ring. They moved back up in silence. The air about them was charged as the stunned Manny quietly lead the way with Chan-Yeol behind him.
"We're aborting the mission." Chan-Yeol spoke. "I assume you heard everything."
"Yes, sir. Do you need me to alert, the CEO and the others like planned?" Marcus asked.
"Put me through to the CEO, will you?"
"Yes, sir. One moment."
Beep. Beep. Beep. Click.
"Hello?" Akio spoke.
"We're headed back to the surface. I will arrange for others to find the comm device. Someone spotted Lee Seng on the Seventh Floor." Chan-Yeol reported. "Black suit with gold and white lines like nano code on it. No tail in sigh. He was standing over a hundred dead goblins with a large hole behind him. He attacked an adventuring group."
"Shit." Akio cursed. "You're headed back now with the team?"
"Yes, sir. What do you want me to do with them? Valentin has sustained injuries because of his actions."
"Send them back to the Academy and alert Dr. Valentin of his son's injuries. Theey'll be placed in lockdown until further notice."
"Yes, sir."
"Chan-Yeol," Akio spoke after a long silence. "Did he offend you or something?"
"He offended you, sir. I only did what was necessary." Chan-Yeol answered as the platform to the Second Floor reached the First Floor.
"Alright. Have Support alert the Academy." Akio ordered.
"Yes, sir. Goodbye."
"Bye."
Click.
"Tiffi, Marcus." Chan-Yeol called out.
"Yes, sir?" Tiffi asked.
"Alert the Academy I'm bringing Zephyr back to them. Have Dr. Valentin on standby for his son."
The group appeared on the surface, Chan-Yeol hovering over Manny as they exited Hole. Chan-Yeol guided them to the telepad tent.
"Get on it." Chan-Yeol motioned. Manny led the group on it, taking his place as Chan-Yeol stepped on it. "To the Academy." Chan-Yeol ordered. The telepad technicians nodded and inputted their destination. The telepad lit up and the next second, they were back in the Academy. The group stepped out of the room and moved into the large Telepad lobby space. Dr. Valentin stood with his arms behind him near the entrance with guards.
"Dr. Valentin," Chan-Yeol saluted. "Thank you for coming."
"Ahhh, Secretary Jo. It's been awhile. How have you been doing?" Dr. Valentin greeted Chan-Yeol.
"Doing fine, sir." Chan-Yeol smiled. Dr. Valentin looked at his spaced out son and sighed.
"I will take care of my son. I'm sorry on his behalf he blew it for all of you." Dr. Valentin apologized to the group. "I don't understand it myself, but Lee Seng is a very touchy subject for him. I don't quite understand it, but I assume it's some unrequited love or something."
"DAD!" Manny snapped out. He tried to cover his dad's lips, but Dr. Valentin stepped away, chuckling.
"Back to your usual self, huh, naughty one?" Valentin raised his eyebrows. "You should be really ashamed of yourself! You blew your second chance to help Lee Seng in anyway you could."
"But we couldn't even find him!" Manny retorted.
"I don't give a damn on your personal feelings with him, Damion." Dr. Valentin shouted. "Be quiet. You and I will personally talk about this in private. Say sorry to your teammates. They all wanted to do the same thing you want to, but knew this was the best case scenario. You blew it for not you, but them as well. Apologize."
"Dad!" Manny pouted.
"Do it now." Dr. Valentin motioned. Manny sighed and kept his back to his teammates.
"He doesn't have to right now." Liz quickly interjected.
"But he should." Ritsuka answered. Liz looked at him and Ritsuka ignored her glare. "You should own up to your fuck ups, Valentin. You blew our final chance in helping Lee Seng in anyway possible. Thank god we were able to get some information outta that woman about his whereabouts. He's at least alive and that's better than finding his ring and not getting any of that information."
"If we didn't get that information from her, I'd be more pissed at you." Olivia told him.
"This is why I said we should just let someone more qualified handle it. Emotions are dangerous when its personal." Evan told him.
"It's not personal!" Manny turned, shouting. "Who the fuck said it was personal? I don't love him, alright? I don't like him at all either. I just want to fix our relationship so it can be the same like before!"
"You know as well as I do that it ain't happening like that, ever, Valentin." Liz told him. "Stop tryna fix something that's already broken." Liz moved right up to Manny and gave him a serious stare. "You hurt him by leaving him without telling the truth. You can't even talk about it or even hint at it, so fuck how you feel inside. Lee Seng gave you a big enough chance by letting you in this team and being his roommate. He's been civil about it. If you want to make it up to him, don't act like a fucking brat. This ain't about you. It's about the team. It's screwing the team over, not you and your unresolved guilt." Liz poked at his chest.
Manny stumbled backwards, looking away.
"Be good and talk to your Father about it. Enough time has passed. Own up to this mistake and we can move forward. Got it?"
"Own up to it." Olivia agreed.
"Yeah, do that first." Ritsuka nodded.
"At least he's alive." Evan shrugged. "That's all we needed to hear."
"Even if we don't know if that's actually him or not. Her description was spot on." Olivia commented. Manny sighed and turned around.
"Let's go then." Dr. Valentin motioned. Most of the guards surround Manny and Dr. Valentin and slowly moved out.
"The rest of you will go back to your dorms." Chan-Yeol ordered.
"We'll take the telepad back. Do these guys have to come with us?" Olivia asked.
"They have to be sure you go to your dorm. That's all."
"Alright. Well, lets go I guess." Ritsuka shrugged. They all said their goodbyes to Chan-Yeol and moved to one of the free telepads and stood on it. Liz pulled heer phone out and tapped in their destination, waiting for the guards to get on.
The telepad flashed and they appeared on the sixth floor of the Third Year Dorm room. They all quietly moved to the stairs and started down.
"So, what're you guys gonna do until then?" Ritsuka asked.
"I'll tell you over the phone." Olivia answered. Ritsuka nodded and as they approached the Fourth Floor, the girls stopped by the door and looked at Evan and Ritsuka.
"It sucks that it happened this way, but at least we know Lee Seng's alive." Liz spoke. "I know they'll find him and bring him back. Until then, let's hope he comes back alright? Everything will be fine." Liz tried to encourage the group. They all gave silent nods. She could tell Ritsuka and Olivia were pissed that their opportunity was taken from them because of Manny. Evan hung his head low. She knew he didn't want to come and the exact situation he thought about came true.
"Don't feel bad that one of the worst case scenarios came true. Over-thinkers think about these situations to protect themselves. Don't feel guilty that it came true." Liz patted Evan. "You showed true strength in agreeing to even go on the mission. Even though it ended like this, you're courageous for trying."
"I'm really sorry." Evan whispered. "I didn't want it to be true but it did come true."
"He isn't dead." Ritsuka spoke up. "That's the worst case scenario. He isn't dead. They just have to find him, where ever he is on the Seventh Floor." Ritsuka gave him a squeeze as Olivia moved in to hug him.
"Come on, you guys have to get into your rooms." The guard spoke.
"Just give us a moment, alright?" Liz told them. "It's been a long day." She moved in to hug the two boys, all taking a moment to let everything sink in.
"We tried our best." Liz whispered.
"We tried our best." Olivia whispered.
"…We tried our best." Ritsuka nodded.
"… …" Evan's quiet sobs grew louder. "I'm sorry."
They all separated after that. The girls were lead back to their rooms. They entered the room, Olivia closing the door and putting her back to it as Liz stopped at the end of the hall.
"Why is Manny like that? Why does he always get serious when it comes to Manny?" Olivia asked. Liz bit her lip as she took her shoes off and moved to the left side of the room. She sat on her bed as Olivia took her shoes off and sat on her bed. She faced Liz who stared at her hands for awhile.
"They briefly mentioned it before. You remember right?" Liz asked.
"Yeah, the falling out after Lee Seng didn't gain powers?" Olivia answered.
"Mmm, it's not my place to say much, but all I'll tell you is that moment was the hardest moment for Manny and Lee Seng."