It's true that Noah’s skills had gotten better. Ten years ago, in contrast to being smart and sly, Noah wasn’t good at poker. But now he had a sizeable amount of chips stacked in front of him.
“It seems like luck is on my side today.”
Noah looked at the cards on the table and said easily. Mason had a perplexed face and swept his forehead.
“Ah, definitely.”
Mason watched Noah’s hand as it scraped away the stack of chips, feigning pity and secretly stowing the card that came out as triple, back into the stack.
It was true that Noah’s skill had gotten better, but it didn’t mean he was amazing. He was good at hiding his expression, but not well enough since he haplessly raised the betting money after winning a few games in a row.
While Mason was plotting how it's better to win at least a small sum in the next game, in order to simulate Noah’s competitiveness, Noah asked him as he handed out the cards.
“You don’t seem that curious what the people outside are going to say.”
“They are probably talking how Mr. Raycarlton is crazy? Or thinking you’re getting threatened by me.”
Like ‘What kind of picture did he take?’ –Mason said placidly as he checked the cards he got. Noah laughed lowly.
“Don’t you need to worry about yourself instead? My image was already on the ground, more like drilling through the ground.”
It did get better recently, but even still Haley Lusk was introduced discourteously as the Hollywood’s Bitch. Because of the scandal with Noah, everybody in the country became an anti-fan. But Mason was someone, who originally was good at sleeping around with the enemies holding guns and knives, and he didn’t really mind if he couldn’t be an actor anymore. 1.1 million dollars may be a huge amount and it’ll be too bad to lose it, but unless he had a hard time living, it’ll be fine.
Even if he was desperate for money, how hard could it be to earn some, with a perfectly fine body, for only himself? … Of course you can’t really say Haley’s body was perfectly fine, but, anyways.
“An image isn’t needed for my job. –Are you going to bet some more?”
After Noah checked his cards, he asked. Mason added four chips and said,
“You won’t probably have trouble eating and living, but you didn’t have to fling mud on your good image….”
Mason murmured and glanced at the cards that Noah was covering with his hand. Mason’s hand was a two pair. It wasn’t the best hand, but it wasn’t bad either. Noah checked his cards one more time and thought about it for a short while and added four more chips. If he checked like that one more time, it meant the cards were not that great.
“Should we turnover? Or do you want to bet even more?”
Mason asked, and Noah shrugged his shoulders and tossed his cards on the table.
“Did I lose this time?”
Noah asked in a placid tone, and Mason flinched a little bit and said.
“No. It seems like today is not the day for me.”
Noah’s hand was the same two pair, but the numbers were higher than Mason’s. It was really unlucky this time around.
‘Did I let myself lose too much?’ Mason briefly counted the chips with his eyes and when he thought it is getting dangerously low, Noah shuffled the cards again.
“When I was little….,”
While he was handing out the cards, Noah spoke like he just remembered something.
“There was a time, I had something I really wanted but couldn’t get it.”
Mason checked the cards he had and asked, “You?” Noah was brought up preciously; he received a luxurious yacht for his birthday present after all and said it was annoying and bothersome. Mason chuckled at hearing that there was a time, when he had something he wanted, but couldn’t get it.
“Did you want something like a small island country?”
“If it was something like that, I could’ve just bought it. But no, it wasn’t-…,”
Noah, who was looking at his cards, raised his head and stared at Mason. Noah’s green eyes had a strange glow, and Mason was startled. He studied Noah and felt uncomfortable, like his clothes got stuck somewhere.
“It wasn’t like I couldn’t just snatch it away against its will or forcibly hold it in my hands; but it was so precious that I couldn’t even imagine doing it. Can someone like me have it? What if it gets hurt? If I insisted on having my own way, I might’ve distorted it and that’s unacceptable.”
“-….Mr. Raycarlton?”
‘Should I even be hearing something like this?’ Mason questioned and called him. Noah moved his stare and looked at the cards on the table.
“I thought I couldn’t handle it if I was hated.”
Noah mumbled. To him, Mason was the only god to him. The one and only savior, who was coming to his rescue.
10 years ago, to Mason, Noah was the owner and the employer. But to Noah, that relationship was the opposite.
Noah was a survivor, who was waiting to be rescued from a mud puddle, and the one who could save him was the one and only person in the world. The man who took him out from that small bag and held him, it was Mason Taylor. By himself, he could never get out of that mud even if he dies, and only Mason could save him.
In other words, if Mason didn’t lend his hand, it meant that Noah would be thrown back into that dark, suffocating hole, and stay there forever.
He couldn’t stop Mason who was leaving to Afghan in front of him. He couldn’t even think of a way to lock him or threaten him from leaving.
Back then, when Mason turned around to leave, Noah thought he was going to go crazy, so much that he wanted to cry loudly and stop him. But he didn’t, because he thought Mason might think of him as weird.
“Um…, are you talking about a next door dog?”
Mason read his countenance a little and asked. Noah flipped one card apathetically and said, “You know usually…”
“–Usually isn’t it easier to think about it as a person?”
‘What do you mean, a dog?’ Noah looked at him like ‘is this time for a joke,’ and Mason flipped a card and said,
“No, I mean, if it was a person-…., I thought it wouldn’t be easy to reject, if you hold on desperately and treat them preciously.”
Mason definitely thought so. Don’t know about a regular Joe, but this is Noah Raycarlton who was talking. Money and power, he was standing on top of the world’s pyramid. The personality was a little…, no, pretty bad, but that sensitivity and vulnerability, that aloof and pointy personality, if you get to meet that in person, there was indeed some charm to it. There was nothing to say about his looks. Your type or not, everyone will admit that he is a beautiful man.
Mason, who was always weak when it came to Noah, could never reject him. He could only think, ‘If it was a person, they obviously had a weakness for Noah.’
Hearing Mason’s opinion, Noah just stared at him for a while and smirked like, ‘Can’t believe you said that, it’s funny.’
“So anyway. There is one thing I learned during that time.”
Noah checked his cards and said. Mason also checked his three cards and asked,
“What did you learn?”
“What I learned was-…,”
Among the three cards, Noah flipped 2 of spades and gave a new card to Mason and said.
“If I have something I want, dig a hole first. A hole so deep and spacious that, it would walk into it by itself, and still not realize if it was a trap or not.
“…That’s a little dismal.”
‘To think like that, just because he couldn’t get what he once wanted?’ Noah looked at Mason, who was thinking he doesn’t get people who have got everything, with his chin on his hand and smiled.
“I became an adult.”
Mason glimpsed at Noah’s smiling eyes and agreed, “Well, it can be interpreted like that too,” and checked his cards.
Before the last card was spun, Mason had three same numbers in his hand. It was a good hand and if the last card were a 6 of diamond, it would be a four card, or if it's not, it can at least be a full house.
Noah’s flipped some cards, a 2 and 4 of spades and an ace of diamond. He didn’t know which cards Noah was hiding, but the only chances of him possessing a higher hand than Mason would be if he had a straight flush.
Mason glimpsed at Noah. He was thinking of checking Noah’s expression before the last card was revealed.
At that time, there was a knocking sound from the door. Noah said to come in, and a woman wearing a two-piece suit appeared.
“The meal is ready, should I bring it later?”
“-What should we do?”
‘Should we make this as the last game?’ Noah turned to Mason and asked, showing the stacked chips on the table, and Mason shrugged with an indifferent face.
“Bring it 10 minutes later. It’s going to end soon.”
The woman politely bowed and left. It was then that, Mason’s stare, which returned from the room’s door to the table, saw Noah’s hand tapping the cards. It was nothing outrageous, so Mason diverted his stare and clicked his tongue with an indifferent expression.
Ten years ago, when Mason was teaching Noah about cards, there were a few cute tricks that he taught him. One of them was a simple one; hide a card in hand by placing it on top of the stack and then swipe another from below. It was a flimsy trick, but could be useful if one was skillful- however, Noah was a little inexperienced with tricks, and more importantly, he picked the wrong opponent.
Noah divided the last set for both sides. Mason checked the last card, out of habit. Six of diamond.
“Since it’s the last game, should we bet everything?”
Mason observed Noah’s eyes. They had a strange glow. It was as if he was expecting or looking for something.
‘What should I do?’ He could’ve just pointed out Noah’s trick. If he guessed that Noah had flipped the cards and talked about the trick, instead of getting mad, Noah was the kind of person who would languidly smile and hand over the yacht.
Or, end this game and ask to do over it again. He won’t do the trick in the next round, and that round could be the actual last round.
“Mmm, all in?”
But Mason made an unpleasant face and tossed his cards on the table, facing down.
“Ah-, you totally win. The goddess of victory seemed to have abandoned me.”
What yacht? Mason said, “I never won this kind of a prize in my life,” and sighed and stood up. Just like the 1.1 million dollars, Noah’s yacht was pitiful, but it wasn’t like it was hard to give up. If you think about it, paying anchorage fees and maintenance fees would really have bankrupted him. Then he would’ve to wait for another rich guy to come and buy it, but this beautiful yacht really suited Noah.
Also about Noah, who wanted to win using such tricks, he didn’t want to make him lose.
He stood up and turned his gaze and stretched his body. He noticed that the sky, which was blue, had started to drop thin strings of rain at some point.
At the horizon, a black rain cloud appeared. Mason walked over to the fence. He saw a clear borderline of blue sky, but the dark clouds were moving fast.
It looked like it was moving towards the ship-, Mason tried to point that out and moved his lips, but heard Noah’s voice murmuring, “What do you mean you don’t have luck-,” behind his back.
“Even throwing away your four cards?”
Mason flinched and turned around. Noah was checking Mason’s cards that were lying face down.
“It seems like you knew what kind of cards I held?”
He raised his head and stared at Mason and smiled squinting his eyes. Noah’s green eyes were glowing sharply and coldly. When Mason moved his lips trying to make an excuse, Noah flipped his cards.
Spades 2 and 4, hearts 7 and 8, an ace of diamond, a 9 and Jack of clubs. It was a hand that didn’t even have one pair.
Mason stared at his cards, swallowed his dried throat and raised his head.
“….-I was not confident that I can pay the anchorage fees.”
“Ahhh-, yes, of course.”
Noah said lightly, as if meaning ‘yeah, for sure’ and smiled, bending his eyes. Mason kept staring at Noah’s sweet green eyes, which was bent as if in satisfaction; he slowly looked back.
“…..”
The raindrops, which had been falling sparsely around the ship, had grown a little stronger at some point. The black clouds from far away had already moved in on them. He saw waves becoming scarily high, and black things move as though alive and cover the blue sky, ready to devour it.
“Oh no. It seems like there’ll be a storm.”
Noah said in a languid voice, and Mason tasted something bitter, watching his indifferent face. He remembered how when he entered this room, he’d felt like walking into an enemy’s booby-trap, naked. Unfortunately, it seemed that feeling wasn’t wrong, and Mason realized he had fallen into a trap.
He knew he was trapped, but didn’t know what kind of trap it was, and how it’ll impact him. The only thing he could do at this point was to just stay calm and hunker down until the other side reveals itself.
Just like when you meet a storm on a ship and hope that it’d be small and wait for it to pass soon.
“I see.”
Mason said plainly and shrugged his shoulders. The whole sky was covered in black clouds. It was a storm.