[BL NOVEL] Kill the Lights (Chapter 17 Part 2)
Kill the Lights by Jangryang
Proofreader/Editor: Kaima, Hwarang
And when morning arrived, Milo turned really spiteful. Since he hadnât recognized Haley and missed him right in front of his eyes, his colleaguesâ sneers towards him mixed with complaints.
Not only did he fail to get a proper picture when Noah asked Haley out for a date because he had been out of his mind, but he also missed all the pictures of Haley going inside his house. It was common for paparazzi to miss out on one occasion, but missing yesterdayâs pictures was such a stupid thing to do.
Also the process of how it happened scratched Miloâs inside. While Haley handed him the burger and introduced himself as âDonny Evelynâ, spitting out nonsense, he was too focused on the hamburger and kept drooling. He didnât even recognize that the one sharing his hamburger was none other than Haley, for whom he had been waiting over eight hours.
It sounded like an excuse, but there was a reason why he was fooled. The man who blabbered in Kansas accent and had an upset face did not look like Haley at all. âDonnyâ wasnât flashy, even when he was cursing; he looked plain and his existence was blurry. If he didnât continue talking while holding a tasty-smelling hamburger, Milo would never have known that there was a person there.
No one knew since when had he been hiding amidst the paparazzi. As if possessed by a ghost, all of them saw Haley take off his cap, turn around and flash his sparkling smile; still they just stood there, stupidly wondering why that guy was there. Not only had their noses got cut off while their eyes were open, but also their ears and lips. (âNose got cut off while oneâs eyes were openedâ means something bad happened so fast even though one was paying attention.)
Just as if mocking Milo, Haley went inside the fitness room, which displayed his silhouette and exercised for about an hour, and after that, he disappeared for a round of showering and then turned on his bedroom light. And it seemed like he lied down on the bed right away, because it was not even 30 seconds before the lights were turned off, and it didnât turn back on again.
Milo couldnât believe how, even after he turned the world upside down, Haley just exercised, which he never did, and went to sleep like he had no worries.
Milo, who thought about it, got pissed and pressed the doorbell like crazy at dawn. But it seemed like Haley had already unplugged the bell because he couldnât hear anything from inside.
And when dawn broke, it made sense that Milo was very spiteful.
âIâll definitely take pictures even if I have to make him trip. Iâll take dozens of pictures and pick the ugliest and the funniest looking one and post it on the front page of the newspaper and on the web.â Unlike last night, Haley would be the only one walking out of the house today morning and so he wonât be able to pull an act.
The house was so protected from spiteful paparazzi that not even a single ant could get in. There was a young man delivering their breakfast, but Milo, who got very sensitive, took off his hat and carefully examined him.
It was now 9:45 AM. They heard Haley had a movie schedule at 10 AM, but he hadnât moved a single step out of his house. He was probably not confident enough to go through all these paparazzi. Milo predicted Haley would definitely check out through the window, so he waited with his telephoto lens attached camera focused closely on the window. When he was checking whether Haley was peeping outside, he heard someone mumbling, âWhy isnât he coming out? Perhaps, he had left already?â
Milo smirked. How can he get out? Dozens of paparazzi were guarding his front door. That bastard cannot possibly slip out.
âHe definitely cannot get out, of course.â
Yesterday he missed him because he had let his guard down, but not today. Right when Milo murmured a promise to himself that, âNever, he can never get past us,â he looked up at the sound of the earth shaking.
From somewhere, a helicopter slowly flew and passed on top of their heads. Instead of passing them and disappearing, the loud noise grew and the chopper stayed on top of Haleyâs house.
Because of the sharp, loud noise and strong winds, Milo frowned and covered the camera lens with his hand. âNo way. âNo wayâ, thatâs what he thought. It canât be that. This is a residential area, and even though Haleyâs mansion was luxurious, it wasnât spacious enough to have a helipad.
Miloâs mouth dropped open as he stared at the helicopter landing and its propeller sound hitting everywhere and whipping up a huge gust: dirt, small tree branches and pieces of grass blew everywhere.
Just like a star appearing in the middle of dry ice smoke, he saw the helicopter land trampling down on Haleyâs garden.
Because of the loud propeller sound, which could break the glass windows, Mason ran outside and frowned at the chaotic looking garden. The flowers were all cut off by the wind, the tree branches were snapped off and the tree leaves were falling, leaving them naked and shaking. And the grass and bushes were dug out by the helicopterâs ski shaped landing gear, so only the ground was showing.
The helicopter landed just like that, in his garden. Mason annoyingly swatted at the flying grass pieces and dust.
He definitely knew who would do this kind of insane thing.
This morning, Mason woke up from his sweet sleep that didnât even have a dream and saw a bunch of zombie like paparazzi guarding his front door with their cameras. He thought about it for a minute and took out his phone and called Phil.
âMr. Hepson? Iâm Haley.â
Mason greeted brightly and over the phone as he heard a cold voice, [Yes, tell me.]
âIâm just asking in case, can you send me a car?â
âYes. I have to get out of my house, but the paparazzi are not leaving. I know Mr. Raycarlton is not a person with a lot of time, but if he has a spare car, I would like it if it can be parked outside my back door for a short time.â
âIf you can, let it be a car that he rides often.â âHe knew that he canât trick all the paparazzi, but if they got distracted for a little while, heâll have room to escape. If the were the enemies surrounding him, heâll either throw a bomb or throw something that can grab their attention and look for a gap. But for the paparazzi, Noah will be stronger than a bomb.
Phil said, [Wait a minute], and then he couldnât hear his voice for a while. Mason, who put the phone on speaker mode, began pulling on his clothes. He was comfortably thinking, âSince he said heâll help, he will at least let me borrow a car.â Noah probably had more than two cars.
[Are you trying to lose the paparazzi in front of your house and go to the filming set?]
At the voice he suddenly heard, Mason, who was putting on his pants, lifted up his head and looked at his phone. It was Noahâs voice.
Masonâs answer was delayed. Noahâs phone voice was a little bit lower and sweeter than his real voice. Mason walked over to his phone, turned off the speaker mode and put it near his ears.
âBecause more of them are gathered in front of my house than I thought.â
Mason pretended to complain that, he didnât know whether this place was a homeless shelter or a refugee camp, and he heard a small chuckle over the phone.
[Get ready and wait. Iâll come pick you up.]
âNo-, Iâm not saying to pick meâŚâ
Even before Mason could finish his sentence, he heard the call ending beep- sound.
âWhat does he mean pick me up? Heâs not saying heâll come personally, right?â What Mason wanted was people to get tricked that Noah has come in person and after turning their attention away from him, he planned to escape from there. He didnât want Noah to actually escort him.
Even if Noah came personally, he canât ride that car. The paparazzi will surround Noahâs car and not only canât he get to the filming set on time, but also will be forced to model for the paparazziâs cameras until their batteries ran out.
The fact that even he, who was ignorant about Hollywood, knew meant that Noah knew it too. âMason thought that even if Noah did arrive in person, he wasnât going to take him.
Mason, who was ready to run out to the other side of the street once Noahâs car stopped nearby, covered his ears and stared at the helicopter, which was destroying his garden. The same garden that Mason took care of little by little whenever he had the time ever since he became Haley. The big chopper flew in proudly and stopped its propeller with a loud sound. And soon its door opened.
ââŚ. I donât think you understand. I donât have a helipad in my house. Thatâs the garden.â
Mason said with an indifferent face to Noah who took off his headset inside the helicopter. He had felt nervous when Noah said he was going to pick him up, but he didnât know he would appear in this absurd and ignorant fashion. At Masonâs critic, Noah languidly smiled.
âYes, so it was a little shaky when it landed.â
âWouldnât it be better to build a helipad?â âHe made it sound like, âhow can you live so uncomfortably,â and instead of answering, Mason frowned and turned away.
He of course noticed the paparazzi outside of the gate and even the passing by neighbors, who had come out to watch what was going on. He thought that he even heard a police siren from far.
â-Get in. We wonât have any traffic on the way, but we donât have that much time left.â
Noahâs tone suggested that if they had enough time, he would like to have a cup of tea, and Mason sighed and walked a little faster as he approached Noahâs helicopter. He felt embarrassed in front of his neighbors, and just like Noah said, he really didnât have much time.
âAlways, meeting with you is uproarious.â
Yesterday and also today. It wasnât just uproarious, it was like an armed protest saying, âlook here, hurry up and look.â
âMy mother said a helicopter is a good way to escape from the paparazzi. I didnât mean to make a commotion.â
Saying that he didnât mean to make a commotion by bringing a helicopter to a residential area and landing on other peopleâs garden, Mason predicted it wasnât healthy for him to talk to Noah about that matter.
Noah gave Mason his hand, and Mason hesitated for a moment before grabbing it. While he was climbing in, holding his hand, he turned around and saw people looking at him with stupefied expression, and noticed the paparazzi, Milo, whom he had met yesterday. He still had that exact same expression like last night.
When he chuckled, Milo looked surprised and then as if by accident, pressed the shutter. The same time when the flash burst, Noah pulled Masonâs hand and let him in. The paparazzi, who finally regained their senses, started to take pictures, and the helicopterâs propellers started to spin loudly. Phil, who was sitting up in the front, gave Mason a headset, and Mason quickly put it on.
âIf we land a few more times, I think we can use it as a landing field.â
He heard Noahâs usual voice, through the loud noise of the propeller, saying that if they landed two or more times, it wonât shake as much. Mason closed his mouth and gazed through the window at the garden that had become more of a mess than before. When the helicopter lifted and made half a circle, few more trees got sawed off by the landing gear. He wasnât sure if he could use it as a helipad, but he definitely couldnât use it as a garden anymore.
âHow long is the filming?â
ââŚ.Around two months.â
Hearing Masonâs answer, Noah smiled like he heard some good news.
âWe have enough time to turn it into a landing field.â
Just like he said, after two months, the garden will only have dirt leftover, nicely beaten down by the landing gear. However the house glass windows wonât be safe.
Mason thought that if he came once or twice depending on the situation there wouldnât be any trouble. But because of Noahâs eccentric behavior today, the paparazzi were bound to multiply and that was the problem.
ââŚI heard you have a helipad at your homeâŚ.,â
Mason moved his cold salty lips, and Noah answered as if he was waiting for that.
âCall me in the evening. Iâll come pick you up.â
Itâll be better if you call me instead of Phil. Through the headphone, a sweet voice rang and tickled his ears. When Mason stared at him, he smiled brightly as if everything was working out fine.
ââââââââââââââââââââââââ-
SoâŚâŚ. Noahâs threat worked?