Chapter 27: Chapter 27

“Let go of me, sir! It hurts so much."

Jonea looked pleadingly at Aland, who was trying to keep pulling Jonea's hand from behind his back.

In that second, Aland suddenly let go and felt guilty. He raised his hands to shoulder height and took a step back.

“I'm sorry, miss. I didn't mean to be rude to you. I'm just… a little curious. What exactly are you hiding behind your back?”

Jonea looked offended. "You think I stole your stuff, huh?"

"No!" said Aland quickly. “Of course not like that. It's just… how should I put it, huh? You make me a little curious,” said Aland.

Jonea lowered her head so that her chin was pressed against her chest. She exhaled roughly and slowly lowered her hands from behind her back. She gave up.

Aland looked thoughtful.

‘Is she finally going to tell me the truth?’

Aland started to get impatient, waiting for whatever the girl in front of him would explain.

Jonea raised her hand and showed a half-wet wig there.

"You?" Aland frowned. "You're hiding a wig?"

“Are you satisfied now? Maybe to you, this is just a wig. But, this wig is very precious to me.”

Jonea pretended to control her tone so as not to explode, not too nervous. She is forced to take a very dangerous risk, even the possibility of revealing her identity.

'But,' thought Jonea. ‘As long as Aland doesn't pull the towel over my head, maybe I can cover it up with another theatrics.’

"You've been wearing a wig all this time? This is a bit strange.”

Jonea quickly cut in. “You have embarrassed me, sir! Hair is a crown for a woman as well as honour. I have already shown my weakness in front of you. This is tantamount to lowering my self-esteem. This situation was truly extremely embarrassing. I always keep it a secret from other people, but you… you….,” Jonea said as if she wanted to cry.

Jonea was at a loss for words and ideas. She didn't know what excuse to make in front of Aland.

Instantly Aland paled, and he felt guilty. He cupped his hands in front of his chest and apologized.

"I didn't mean it like that, really. I don't know if you have health problems with wearing a wig."

"Health?" Jonea repeated, confused.

When Aland said that, it suddenly occurred to Jonea that she should welcome him with a more convincing acting.

"I'm sorry, Miss."

“Can you keep this secret, sir? You know this is very embarrassing for some girls."

"Yes, of course. Do… you have a serious illness that makes your hair fall out?”

Jonea opened her eyes wide. She didn't think Aland would think that far ahead. But Jonea didn't lie; Aland offered the lie.

"Can we finish talking about the wigs? Lend me a hair dryer, please. So I can go back to wearing this hair on my head. As you can see, I'm not that beautiful and special without hair.”

Aland nodded. 'I think maybe because of this, Elmar is paying attention to this poor girl,' thought Aland.

Instead of being angry, Aland was also concerned and empathized with the girl before him. Aland backed off and was about to leave Jonea alone for her privacy. When he got to the door, Aland turned his head again. At that time, Jonea was about to remove the towel on her head.

"Miss?"

Jonea jumped. She quickly pulled back the towel to cover her head. "Yes. Is there anything else?"

"Sorry, what's your name? We've been talking and living together for two days, but I don't even know your name yet.”

‘Living together?’ The thought gave Jonea goosebumps.

Jonea bit her lower lip. She didn't know what to say to Aland. Suddenly it occurred to her, “Marlyn!” replied Jonas. "My name is Marlyn Monroe."

“Wow!” muttered Aland. “What an… unusual name. I'm sure there must be some history behind that… cool name.”

Jonea suddenly laughed stiffly. “Yeah, it just so happened that my parents were huge Marlyn Monroe fans. When they had a daughter, they gave her that name without hesitation. I admit it's a little embarrassing. And I was often teased by my friends at school," said Jonea, who continued her lies.

'Oh, Marlyn, I'm sorry!' Jonea thought as she remembered her best friend.

"Okay, please do your thing. After that, I can take you to the hospital to check your health. Just to ensure you're okay, I'll take you home."

"No! There's no need," Jonea shouted. “I'm well. The wound on my hand seems to have healed as well. I am alright. Really."

Aland nodded. He didn't want to force it and tried to respect the girl's decision.

“And you,” Aland said hesitantly. "Don't you want to know my name?"

Jonea answered without thinking. "Of course, I already know."

A second later, Jonea immediately covered her mouth and realized her folly again.

"You already know my name?" Aland was even more astonished, and he raised his eyebrows suspiciously.

“I mean, every VIP at Johny's Cafe & Bar, we have to know their names. The four of you usually come. If I'm not mistaken, your name is Edison Fuller, right?" Jonea tries to make up stories.

Aland nodded. "Yes, you're right."

Jonea was silent. Her lips form a straight line. 'Why did Aland say yes if he was Edison? Why didn't Aland correct my mistake by telling me his real name?”

"Very well, Miss Marlyn Monroe."

Jonea snapped out of her reverie.

"I'll wait for you downstairs for breakfast if you don't mind."

As soon as Aland left the room, Jonea jumped up and punched the air in annoyance.

'Stupid! Very stupid. Why should I say my name is Marlyn Monroe? What if suddenly Aland comes to Johny's cafe and looks for me but finds another Marlyn instead? This can be very dangerous.’

Jonea fumbled for her cell phone. “At the very least, I should contact Marlyn and get her to cooperate with this strange scenario.”

Aland was still standing in front of the room. He tilted his head. Aland couldn't stop hearing a strange name coming from Jonea's mouth.

“Marlyn Monroe? Should I introduce myself as Elvis Presley? But that's just too ridiculous, isn't it? I'm sure Marlyn is not her real name. I'll find out later. This girl is really very… strange. However, I wasn't honest with her either. Why should I even claim to be Ed? Ah, never mind."

Aland rushed to reach the stairs leading to the dining room.

Jonea fumbled for her cell phone on the table by the head of the bed. But found nothing. She saw her bag lying at the foot of the bed. Jonea reached for it and searched in the bag but also found nothing.

"Where's my phone? Last time I dropped it in the back alley of the store. Is that cell phone left there?”

Jonea looked around the room. She saw a charger attached to the power jack. Jonea tugged at the cord and found her cell phone. As she was about to turn on the cell phone, her hand accidentally bumped into something and fell into the slightly open drawer.

Jonea idly opened the drawer, and to her surprise, she saw something else that caught her eye.

"What's this? Why did Alan keep this?”