Chapter 68: Ch68: Where is Lana?

The sun had barely clawed over the rooftops, spilling a thin, sunlight across the parking lot and through the Delicacy donut shop’s front glass.

Inside, the air already hung warm and sweet — yeast, hot oil, and the first trays of glaze still cooling on the racks.

Nyle tugged the hair net over his dark hair, the elastic snapping against his forehead, then crossed the floor to his station.

Simon was already there, earlier than Franco and Antonio for once.

"Sorry dude. Yesterday you must’ve been handling it alone. But hey, at least now you understand how it feels to handle it alone," Simon said, a nervous smile twitching at the corner of his mouth like he still wasn’t sure he should be joking about it.

Nyle kept his voice even, almost lazy. "Yeah. That was hectic. But where were you yesterday?"

Simon’s grin sharpened. He flicked a look toward the back door, then past the wall behind them, then toward the front counter, making sure Franco and Antonio were busy with their work.

"Swear you won’t tell anyone."

He leaned in until his shoulder almost touched Nyle’s. Warm breath brushed the shell of Nyle’s ear, close enough that the words stayed between them and the hiss of the fryer.

"Yesterday, I was with this girl and..."

...

The story ran long. Nyle let it. When Simon finally cut it short, Nyle’s chuckle came low, half-disbelieving.

"No way... nah... you’re making it up, right?" A small smile pulled at Nyle’s mouth.

"It’s your choice if you want to believe my story." Simon already had his phone out, thumb swiping. "Needless to say, she was hot."

He turned the screen.

The photo showed a college girl in a tight top, smiling at the camera like she knew exactly what she was doing.

Nyle looked at it for a second. "Meh... I mean she looks good but—"

Simon’s face dropped. "What do you mean, meh..."

Just then—

"You guys are disgusting."

Queena stood half in shadow against the wall behind them. No one could say how long she had been there, peeking and listening to every word.

"Q-Queena?!" Simon’s voice jumped.

"You’re done, Simon," she said, already turning away with a flat, unimpressed face.

Both men felt it land. They knew exactly what was coming next. She would simply run to her mother.

She always did.

"Oh no... not again...! This stupid girl—"

The words were still leaving Simon’s mouth when Queena stepped back around the wall.

"Say that again." Her voice cut clean, fingers curling into fist, like she was one second from throwing a punch.

"Nothing..."

She held his eyes a moment longer, then turned and vanished behind the wall again.

Nyle stepped forward and peeked past the wall, toward the connecting door that led into the front.

"She’s gone."

Simon let out a sigh of relief. "Oh... my god. This stupid girl...! Always getting in my way."

Nyle turned and placed a hand on his shoulder. "As I was saying, my type is women with experience."

Simon slowly met his gaze. "I see... Like?"

"Married," Nyle said with a faint smirk. "And yeah, what’s the app called? Let me make a profile too."

"Search, Rent me in the store," said Simon.

...

Hours blurred together.

The steady stream of orders had barely slowed. Inside the kitchen, the warm, sugary scent of freshly fried dough hung in the air as Nyle worked through one batch after another.

Yet Lana was nowhere to be seen.

Every now and then, he glanced toward the kitchen back entrance, half-expecting her familiar figure to finally appear.

But each time, there was no sign of her.

He eventually pulled out his phone and scrolled through the X-group chat.

Nothing.

No new message.

Without Lana, his task would remain incomplete. And to make matters worse, the third task on his system screen had already faded to grey. Which means the task was no longer available.

’Wait... let me just call her.’

Nyle’s thumb hovered over her name. But before he could press the call button, Queena stood before him, holding an order slip between her fingers and extended it toward him without a word.

Nyle took it and scanned the order.

Forty donuts. Ten glazed, ten chocolate, ten sprinkled, and ten stuffed.

His eyebrows rose slightly at the sheer number.

"And also, one of you needs to deliver these boxes to Mother. Not you, Simon."

Queena’s gaze shifted toward Simon before returning to Nyle, before reaching into her pocket and tossed him a set of keys.

*Clink*

Nyle caught them on instinct. He stared down at the scooter key resting in his palm, then slowly lifted his eyes toward Queena.

"...Me?"

...

*BrooOOM~*

Wearing a small pink helmet, Nyle rode the pink scooter toward Lana’s house, several neatly stacked boxes of donuts secured in the front basket.

A satisfied smile spread across his face as the cool breeze brushed against him.

’Thanks, Queena. You saved my day,’ he thought to himself.

As he cruised down the street, his eyes wandered toward the pedestrians along the footpath. Several women were walking by, each with their own distinct appearance and style and shape.

An idea suddenly popped into his mind.

"Marvis, buy me a Meromone Capsule and use it," Nyle said.

’Absolutely,’ •_•

*Glup*

Nyle swallowed the capsule and continued riding at a moderate speed. As he approached the corner, he reached up and pulled down the black-tinted visor attached to his helmet, hiding his eyes from anyone who might notice where his gaze was wandering.

The capsule took effect almost instantly.

One by one, several women on the footpath turned their heads toward him. Their eyes lingered on him, expressions softening with sudden fascination, as though they had been struck by an inexplicable case of love at first sight.

’Oh yeah... it’s working,’ Nyle thought, a satisfied grin forming beneath his helmet.

...

Minutes later...

*Ding-Dong*

*Click~*

The door opened, revealing Lana standing on the other side.

"Hm?! Nyle? Why are you—" Lana asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

Then, as if realizing how abrupt she had sounded, she quickly stepped aside.

"I-I mean... please, come in."

A nervous smile tugged at her lips as she gestured for him to enter.