Chapter 69, Eighteenth Cycle (13)

After completing the task, Bourbon drove Vermouth back to her hotel and then naturally followed her into her room.

"No matter how many times, I'm still amazed by your incredible disguise skills." The blond youth, having torn off his disguise, examined the human skin mask with curiosity.

"You don't actually want to learn disguise, do you? Isn't programming enough to keep you busy?" Vermouth also tore off her disguise and was touching up her makeup in front of the mirror.

“I can never have too many fun and useful things,” Bourbon said with a smile as he helped her tie up her long hair.

Vermouth looked at him in the mirror and said, "Then you can give up. This technique is my unique skill. If others can do it too, I won't be as valuable."

Then she won't be able to slack off so arrogantly anymore; she'll definitely be dragged down by this guy.

Vermouth is no longer overly wary of Bourbon's approach. Just like she spent half an hour disguising the blond youth by holding his head down and applying makeup to his face that morning, isn't it only natural for Bourbon to fix her hair?

She touched up her makeup very quickly, but while touching up her lipstick, Vermouth's hand brushed past her usual purple lipstick and picked up a bright red one.

Bourbon skillfully styled her curly blonde hair, picked up a red rope and loosely tied it behind her back, his fingers deftly making a bow.

Compared to her blonde hair, Bourbon's hair was a lighter shade, a pale gold like platinum, which made his honey-colored tan skin appear somewhat sexy and mysterious, creating a striking contrast with her pale skin.

But Vermouth liked it very much.

Like the sun in the darkness, danger and warmth are both obvious; whether to approach or not depends entirely on one's own will.

Or would it be more accurate to describe it as a black hole?

After all, what humans can observe about a black hole is a bright ring of light, like the sun. Drawn close to this light in the darkness, by the time they realize that what lies ahead is an abyss, it is too late to escape.

Bourbon, the intelligence agent, had a bad reputation in the organization due to his terrible personality and reckless, crazy style of doing things. However, he had dealt with almost everyone, directly or indirectly, from the BOSS and codenamed members to newcomers and junior members.

Everyone says Bourbon is terrifying, that he's a madman, and that his insight is frightening; they feel like they have no secrets left in his presence. But the next time they encounter a problem, Bourbon is still the first person they think of, and his first choice for help, besides their most trusted partner, is always Bourbon.

They were indeed afraid of Bourbon, but they also trusted him a lot.

As long as it doesn't violate the organization's rules, Bourbon will help them, and even lend them a hand when they encounter danger during a mission, in exchange for only some favors and intelligence.

Most importantly, no matter what the problem is, Bourbon seems to be able to solve it perfectly.

Even Gin, when Bourbon is on a mission, unless he encounters Sakura, he basically doesn't worry about mission failure.

Of course, unless necessary, Gin would never take the initiative to contact Bourbon. Even if he was tired, he would not ask Bourbon for information. He was very unwilling to be mocked by Bourbon whenever he had the chance.

Even Rum, the organization's second-in-command and head of the intelligence group, is now gradually grooming Bourbon as his confidant.

The boss was surprisingly lenient with Bourbon, second only to Vermouth in this regard. Even when Gin went to complain that Vermouth and Bourbon had disappeared and were slacking off somewhere while sending back huge bills to the organization, the boss only said a few words and let it go.

This is a very interesting and amazing phenomenon, considering that Bourbon has only been in the organization for a year.

Vermouth picked out the reddest bottle from a pile of cool-toned nail polishes on the table, turned around and placed it in the hands of the blond, dark-skinned youth.

Bourbon unscrewed the cap of the nail polish, gently took her hand, and began to slowly apply nail polish to her fingers.

Vermouth rested her chin on her other hand, looking down at him as he skillfully and evenly applied the red nail polish: "I heard that you only said one sentence to Miyano Akemi, and she dumped Ray?"

Bourbon continued to carefully paint her second nail: "Yeah, she saved me once, so I helped her break up with that lousy man."

Vermouth laughed so hard her hands trembled slightly: "What? You ruined his relationship because you couldn't stand Ray, right? You even pulled his girlfriend away in front of Ray, right? And it was in front of other members of the organization? Now everyone in the organization is saying you stole his girlfriend, just with one sentence."

Vermouth now thinks, like Gin, that Bourbon could never fall in love with anyone. However, precisely because Bourbon wouldn't like her, she can get along with him more easily.

Bourbon's reputation is now even stranger. Putting aside the fact that she is seen as someone close to Bourbon, most people don't really think that Bourbon likes Ray's girlfriend. After all, he hasn't had much contact with Miyano Akemi since breaking up with Ray.

It's clear that he's only targeting Ray.

Bourbon was just an ordinary person who wanted to cause trouble.

However, Ray wasn't exactly a good boyfriend either. Initially, he confronted Bourbon several times because of this, and they even got into a fight. But this was more like anger stemming from a challenged male dignity. After the fight, he quickly forgot all about Miyano Akemi. When the topic came up again, his attitude was extremely cold, as if there had been no feelings involved and it hadn't affected him much.

No, perhaps breaking up would be happier for him. After all, he is no longer the ordinary person he was when he first met Miyano Akemi. Now that he has obtained a code name and become a high-ranking member of the organization, it is only natural that he would be tired of Miyano Akemi.

He probably hadn't initiated the breakup before because he was wary of Miyano Akemi's sister, who was also a high-ranking member. But now that Bourbon had interfered, she had taken the initiative to break up with him, so he was naturally more than happy to accept it.

The one who suffered the most was probably Akemi Miyano.

Vermouth thought gleefully that it would be even better if Sherry, or Shiho Miyano, were involved in this.

She was very grateful to Bourbon for letting her watch such a good show; as long as the Miyano family was unhappy, she was happy.

"Don't move, be careful not to smear it out." The blond youth holding the nail polish brush looked up at her, his purplish-gray eyes crinkling into a smile. "I don't have those kinds of feelings for her. I was just returning a favor. Admittedly, there was also some reason why I disliked Lai, so I gave her a little bit of information for free. Choosing to leave Lai was a wise choice for her. After all, as you know, Lai is a lot like Gin. Someone like her will get killed sooner or later."

"Are you this gentle with all women?" Vermouth moved closer to him and gently poked his cute, short, blond hair that was sticking up by his ear. "I'm curious, what exactly did you say to Miyano Akemi?"

Vermouth's dislike for Akemi Miyano wasn't as deep as her dislike for Shiho Miyano, who was continuing her research, but she also felt no affection for Elena Miyano's daughter. However, her murderous intent and malice weren't strong enough to warrant her death.

Moreover, she was very familiar with the Miyano family for personal reasons, and she knew that given Miyano Akemi's personality, since she and Rae had become boyfriend and girlfriend, it was impossible for her to easily break up over some trivial matters.

Bourbon's words must have been extraordinary for Akemi Miyano.

Vermouth stared into the eyes of the blond youth in front of her, wondering where he had obtained this incredible information, and whether there was any information about the Miyano family that Bourbon knew but she didn't.

Bourbon looked at her, suddenly put his index finger to his lips, and then slowly smiled and said, "Secrets make men more attractive."

Vermouth: "..."

Vermouth paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.

She didn't seem angry at all; on the contrary, she seemed even happier, looking very satisfied and appreciative, and had no intention of asking any further questions.

So the blond, dark-skinned youth smiled and continued to hold the woman's slender, fair fingers as she painted her nails.

The smooth brush, carrying the cool red nail polish, gently glides across the slightly long nails, making the coloring process smooth and beautiful.

Not only were her nails beautiful, but the handsome young man who was carefully applying nail polish to her nails was also a delight to behold.

His movements were incredibly elegant; not a single drop of color touched the skin around his nails, and his technique was even better than that of a professional.

After painting all ten nails, Vermouth held up her hands under the light with satisfaction and praised, "Bourbon, your skills are getting better and better. Sometimes I really wonder if there's anything you can't do."

"For example, disguise?" Bourbon asked, tilting his head as he closed the nail polish bottle.

"You really won't give up," Vermouth laughed.

“Yes, I really want to learn how to disguise myself.” Bourbon placed the nail polish on the glass table in front of him, making a soft, crisp clinking sound.

The blond, dark-skinned young man leaned back on the sofa, stroking his chin with one hand as he looked at her thoughtfully and asked, "What would it take for you to be willing to teach me?"

"That's impossible. You should focus on studying programming to deal with Sakura. His progress seems to be faster than yours." Vermouth placed her hands on the armrest to dry.

"Sigh." Bourbon sighed, lowered his hand, and his originally gentle and lovely smile gradually turned dangerous, his eyes fixed on Vermouth with a sharp and aggressive look.

"Even if I knew one of your earth-shattering secrets, would that not be allowed?" he said with a smile.

The air froze instantly, and a chilling, dangerous atmosphere quickly spread throughout the room. Vermouth's smile vanished.

"Are you threatening me?" she frowned, a cold smile playing on her lips. "I'd like to know where you dug up some secret of mine."

Bourbon remained unaffected, smiling as he held up a finger and said, "First of all, you and your mother, Sharon Vineyard, are the same person. You are playing both roles."

Vermouth's eyes flickered slightly, but she remained relatively calm.

Bourbon raised his second finger and continued with a smile, "So, the reason you've lived with the organization for at least half a century and still look so young and beautiful is because of the experiment by the Hell Angel Elena, right? Because of that experiment, you became the immortal thousand-faced witch you are today."

Vermouth sat up straight immediately, her murderous intent surging uncontrollably.

But Bourbon's smile deepened, and he even used honorifics before slowly raising his third finger: "Of course, what surprises me most is that I never expected you to be connected to the organization's boss—"

Vermouth suddenly stood up, her mind blank for a moment, her ears filled with a deafening roar.

She tried to convince herself that she hadn't heard, but she had definitely heard Bourbon say it.

"Click!" Vermouth pressed her gun hard against Bourbon's head, and the safety was pulled back at the same time.

The blond youth frowned slightly, as if accusing her of being rude, then continued with a smile, "I hope you can calm down. If I die, your secret will be immediately sent to everyone's phone, and then everyone will know."

Vermouth gritted her teeth: "Bourbon..."

The blond youth smiled and tilted his head, reaching out to hold her hand that was holding the gun. His innocent, drooping purple eyes sparkled with smugness as he put the safety back on the gun in an affectionate tone: "I just finished painting my nails, don't hold the gun, be careful not to scratch it."

Vermouth took a deep breath, put away her gun, and sat back on the sofa. At that moment, she remembered Gin's warning to her to be careful of Bourbon, which made her even angrier.

But at this moment, some fearless guy grinned and brought the golden head closer, took her hand and examined it, saying, "Great, it's not scratched. Such beautiful nails, I painted them carefully for so long, it would be such a pity if they were scratched."

Vermouth was so angry she laughed.

“Bourbon.” She smiled as she approached the blond young man in front of her, her slender, pale fingers adorned with the red nail polish he had just applied and praised.

She gently stroked Bourbon's beautiful blonde hair and delicate cheeks with those hands, and said with a malicious smile, "My dear Bourbon, do you know why I like you so much?"

Bourbon blinked his long, golden eyelashes, his doll-like face contemplating a serious expression: "Is it because my appearance suits your taste? Or because I'm obedient and well-behaved? Or perhaps because I possess the most comprehensive and advanced intelligence network?"

“Those are certainly some of the qualities that make you likable.” Vermouth gently lifted the blond youth’s chin with her index finger, bringing her close to his face. “But there’s an even more important reason why I chose you, a reason that probably only I can perceive.”

Genuine curiosity appeared in Bourbon's eyes: "What is it?"

“Because you smell just like me,” the beautiful assassin said with a smile, her thumb and forefinger still gently stroking the blond youth’s cheek, while her pinky and ring fingers rested on his neck.

She stared intently into those questioning purplish-gray eyes and sighed in a soft, eerie voice, “You should understand, right? That loneliness of being abandoned outside the laws of time and the world, and the countless times you’ve been to hell, still struggling desperately and unwillingly in the dark mire, living yet feeling like you’re already dead… that rotten smell of death that seeps deep into the bones beneath that young and beautiful exterior.”

This statement was completely unexpected by Furuya Rei, and it almost caused his heart to stop beating.

However, the dangerous, ageless witch in front of him never looked away from his eyes.

She curled her red lips into a smile and chuckled softly, her tone ambiguous: "In that case, Bourbon, what is your secret?"