Ch.144If only we had never met!

#144

After seeing Judy off, Dexter and his group arrived home.

While Dexter went to take a shower, Id-ya and Jessie were sitting on the sofa, talking about what had happened today.

“Wow, he really said something that cheesy?”

“It’s true. And you should have seen how Team Leader Dexter…”

Id-ya mimicked Dexter’s expression and deep voice while holding Jessie’s waist.

“‘Why do you think I have Judy?’ When he said that, didn’t you feel the cringe rising? So…”

“So what?”

“Ah!”

When Dexter approached the sofa in shorts, drying his wet hair with a towel, Id-ya, noticing him, immediately shut his mouth.

Of course, that didn’t mean Dexter missed what was happening.

“I bet you were talking about my conversation with Judy.”

“How did you know, sir?”

“What else would you two be whispering about? It has to be about me.”

When Id-ya asked in amazement, Dexter snorted and said:

“She said she wanted kids, so I told her I’d like to have children when I get married too, then we kissed and I sent her home. Was that so interesting?”

Dexter casually recounted what had happened today without much thought, but Jessie’s reaction was quite different.

“You talked about having children?”

Jessie, who had no thoughts of children for the foreseeable future, asked with an incredulous expression.

“Of course you should have kids when you get married, right?”

Dexter, who was at an age where he should be thinking about marriage and children, spoke as if it were obvious, while Jessie, still in her early twenties, crossed her arms disapprovingly.

“Excuse me, but polygamy isn’t legal in America, you know?”

“So what? Even Hollywood stars maintain marriages through common-law relationships. You can be married to one person and have a common-law relationship with someone else.”

“Are we Hollywood stars?”

“No.”

Seeing Jessie’s slightly annoyed expression, Dexter tilted his head slightly and looked directly at her.

“But looks-wise, who could compete with us? To my eyes, you’re prettier than the main character from 2 Broke Girls.”

Dexter wiggled his eyebrows as he compared Jessie to the glamorous TV celebrity.

“…You’re impossible, really.”

Jessie, who was weak to Dexter’s direct compliments about her appearance, blushed.

“Hollywood stars?”

Since the translator didn’t translate proper nouns, Id-ya looked at Dexter and asked.

“Eliya showed you those videos from Earth when she was bored… Oh, right. Those virtual historical documentary videos she often showed you. I’m talking about the people who act in them.”

“Ah, you mean those strange videos where spaceships fly around and people fight with plasma swords?”

As soon as he heard that, Dexter’s eyes widened, and he immediately shouted:

“Hey! Don’t disparage that work like that!”

Slightly frightened by Dexter’s threatening tone, Id-ya unconsciously nodded.

“I-I won’t touch that subject.”

Seeing Id-ya’s frightened expression at his momentary anger, Dexter cleared his throat and looked away.

“Uh, um… sorry about that. Anyway… let’s talk more about marriage later. Is there anything else we need before leaving Earth tomorrow afternoon?”

As Dexter actively tried to change the subject, Id-ya reluctantly went along with it.

“…Yes. I’ve purchased everything the Chairman requested, as well as some personal souvenirs.”

“I see.”

An awkward atmosphere followed.

Dexter nodded and took out a mug from the kitchen, signaling something with his eyes.

“Well, good job today.”

It was clearly pressure for Id-ya to leave their home.

“…Yes, you worked hard too, Team Leader Dexter.”

With those words, Id-ya stood up from the sofa, and Jessie looked at him and said:

“Leaving already?”

“It’s getting late, and I’m sure Team Leader and Jessie need to rest. I should check if I’ve missed anything, so I’ll head out first.”

As Id-ya quickly left for the guesthouse where he was staying, Jessie gave Dexter a stern look, noticing how rushed Id-ya seemed.

“What?”

“You threatened Id-ya, didn’t you?”

“What threat? Did you see me say anything?”

Dexter shrugged nonchalantly with an annoying expression.

“You definitely used some… alien technology I don’t know about to threaten him. Is that how you want to treat someone who’s leaving Earth tomorrow?”

Dexter, who had simply employed the universal cultural pressure tactic of “giving a hint,” responded confidently as if there was nothing wrong.

“And is it good to reveal all the details of someone else’s love life?”

“Someone else’s?”

Jessie, having caught him in his words, frowned at him, and Dexter shook his head.

“I mean from Id-ya’s perspective. You don’t think I meant you’re a stranger to me, do you?”

“Am I not?”

“Of course not! Jessie, I didn’t think you were like that.”

“Then why are you so nice to Judy but not to me?”

“Excuse me, Jessie? Who do you think is sitting next to you stroking your thigh right now? And who’s going to be lying in the same bed, in my arms, in about… an hour and thirty minutes?”

Dexter glanced at his watch as he spoke.

“You spend overwhelmingly more time with me than Emily, Himena, or Judy, Jessie.”

“But still.”

“Remember what I said in the infirmary?”

“Yes…”

“I always keep my word. Well, except during infiltration missions.”

Dexter wiggled his eyebrows again as he spoke.

“Aisha should be sleeping soundly by now. I’d like to take some time to reaffirm my trustworthiness.”

“What? Wait, it’s only 9 o’clock.”

When Jessie visibly panicked, Dexter embraced her and whispered in her ear:

“So what if it’s 9? Can’t we do that at 9? Hmm? I’m just saying we’ll be in bed a little earlier than usual.”

As he spoke, his hands began to caress her body, and Jessie, unable to refuse, accepted it but grumbled:

“You really fucking love the dirty stuff, seriously…”

Jessie gently pushed Dexter’s body away and tied her hair with the rubber band on her wrist.

“Give me five minutes.”

“Why five minutes?”

“I need to prepare too. Women have a lot to prepare, you know, Mr. Dexter?”

“Heh, if you say so.”

Dexter kissed Jessie’s cheek and headed to the bedroom first.

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Jessie Blueberg.”

As Dexter entered the room with a lecherous smile and a ridiculous dance, Jessie shook her head and headed to the bathroom.

“Why did I fall for a guy like him?”

* * *

“Oh, not crying?”

“I can come back again next time!”

At Mohave Spaceport Terminal 2, Dexter and Himena were standing in front of Aisha and Id-ya.

“This is a gift from Judy, and this is from Jessie for you to eat on your way.”

Dexter handed Aisha a yellow chick doll made by Judy and a bag of mini waffles.

“Wow, waffles?”

“She wanted to pack some for you because you enjoyed them so much when we had them for breakfast last time. The doll even has a ring attached so you won’t lose it—you can hang it on your bag or something.”

“No. I’ll keep it safely in my room. And… tell Judy and Jessie… thank you.”

Aisha pouted, put the doll and waffles in her backpack, and approached Dexter.

“Will you stay on Earth forever?”

“Yeah. I have to stay on Earth. It’s my home.”

“Tsk. Won’t you come visit us?”

“We’ll see. It takes a few days of vacation time to visit your place, and that’s not easy.”

“…Okay.”

Seeing Aisha’s disappointed face, Dexter knelt on one knee to meet her eyes, and Aisha hugged him.

“I’ll come back.”

“Coming back is fine, but let me know first. I gave you my contact info, so call whenever you need to.”

Dexter patted Aisha’s back as he spoke.

“You’re always nagging.”

“Or, you could just behave in a way that doesn’t require nagging?”

“Team Leader Dexter, I think it might be better to just hug her.”

“Id-ya is right.”

“Good grief.”

Dexter kissed Aisha’s forehead before letting go.

“Call me when you arrive.”

“…Take care, brother. You too, Himena.”

Though she tried to act brave, Aisha was still a child.

As Aisha held Id-ya’s hand and left the terminal, waving to Dexter, both Dexter and Himena waved back.

Once Aisha was completely out of sight, Dexter turned around.

“Finally, the house will be a bit quieter.”

“But judging by your expression, you seem a little sad about it, huh?”

When Himena stared at Dexter with a playful face, he cleared his throat and turned his head.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything.”

“You’re just like other men at times like this.”

Himena, who had been watching Dexter’s reaction with a playful smile, remembered something that had happened this morning.

“Oh right, you caught a sex offender yesterday afternoon, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I handled it quietly, how did you know?”

“Quietly? As if you could hide someone that size? And you said you were FBI, right?”

“Gotta use what I’m given.”

Dexter patted the pocket where his wallet was, and Himena snorted in disbelief.

“And you said you didn’t want to join OSA. Anyway, I heard the sex offender you caught was involved in something bigger than expected.”

“Something bigger?”

At Dexter’s question, Himena nodded and slightly closed her eyes.

“Among the videos that pervert recorded, there was footage of a missing engineer from the Department of Science and Technology.”

“That could happen. But why is that significant?”

“The engineer has been missing for three months. And he’s an alien.”

“An alien?”

“One of the technical consultants, and quite high-ranking in the Department of Science and Technology.”

After hearing Himena’s explanation, Dexter stroked his chin once and began to deduce.

“He didn’t return to his home planet?”

“Unless he has a personal spacecraft like you, he would have to go through Mohave Spaceport, but there’s no record of him there.”

“And I assume there’s no record of him departing on a personal spacecraft either, for reasons like no flights that day?”

“…You could just be an OSA investigator. That’s right. There were only three personal spacecraft departures on the day he disappeared, but there’s no record of him boarding any of them.”

The two continued their conversation even after leaving the terminal and reaching the parking lot.

“What’s this person’s name?”

“Encyclopedia.”

Dexter laughed in disbelief at the unexpected name.

“How can someone’s name be Encyclopedia?”

“He said he heard the word ‘encyclopedia’ for the first time on his first day on Earth and loved the sound of it. From that day on, he chose Encyclopedia as his Earth name…”

Himena was enthusiastically explaining how the kidnapped alien came to have such a peculiar name when she shook her head.

“Well, his name isn’t important. Anyway, I’m planning to check the CCTV at the location where the pervert recorded his videos. When are you free?”

“I took a half-day off today, so I’m free now.”

“Great! Can we go to the CCTV location right away?”

Dexter couldn’t coldly refuse Himena’s obviously cheerful expression.

“Alright, let’s go.”