Mysterious Find


    While trying to tell myself to calm down and act normal, I headed towards the exit of the archive. The


    same guard was there at the exit and that made me feel quite nervous. It went without saying that I had


    never stolen or inappropriately ‘borrowed’ a document like this before.


    I shed the guard a little smile before casually walking past. After taking a few steps away. I honestly


    thought that I had made it; however, things didn’t quite end as smoothly as I had hoped.


    “Littledy, if you put that back where you got it from, I will look the other way and pretend that this


    never happened…” the guard muttered in a low voice.


    My body froze at his words when I realized that my stupid attempt to smuggle the document out had


    failed spectacrly. He must have been watching on the security camera and caught on to what I was


    up to. It was regretful but I had no other choice except to return the document from where it came from.


    “I’m sorry…” I mumbled a soft apology as I turned around.


    To my surprise, the guard didn’t seem angry. Actually, he had azy look on his face like he couldn’t


    care any less.


    “It’s not really fine, but it’s fine. I have no idea why any of these old papers interest you or why you


    This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    would want it so badly that you would go as far as to steal it…” he said before shrugging his shoulders.


    “Can’t we just say that I’m borrowing it?” I asked as I tried to push my luck.


    “Put it back, littledy…” the guard snapped without giving my suggestion any thought.


    “I would very much prefer it if you could really look the other way while I silently walk out of here…” I


    suggested before showing him a sweet smile.


    “Stop pushing your luck. I can’t let you take anything out of here; however, you can snap up some


    photos…” he replied in a firm voice.


    “Right…” I whispered before letting out a sigh of resignation.


    “That’s the best that I can do for you. After you’re done, please put the papers back where you found


    them,” he instructed as he red at me as if to make sure that he was getting his message across.


    “Yes, Sir…” I replied with a fake salute gesture of my hand.


    I could feel his gaze on me as I almost stomped all the way back to the cab where I had found the


    document earlier. Although I knew that I wasn’t supposed to try to steal it and that the guard had really


    been lenient on me by just forcing me to put it back in its ce, I still felt like it was such a shame that I


    couldn’t take the document with me.


    “Goodbye for now…” I whispered to the document as if it had ears that could hear me.


    With a depressing sigh, I took the guard’s advice and took out my phone and began snapping up


    photos of the documents. I made sure to capture the details carefully on all pages. When I was


    satisfied with the photos that I got, I ced the document back in the folder where I had found it and


    stuffed it back into the cab before closing the doors.


    It was unfortunate that I can’t show Ace the real version of the papers, but I had to make do with these


    photos. They probably won’t have the same impact as showing him the original version of the papers.


    While telling myself to give up on the idea because there was nothing that I could do about it, I walked


    back toward the exit where I knew that the guard would be waiting for me.


    “I put it back already…” I reported grudgingly to the guard.


    To my surprise, the grumpy voice of the guard did not answer me. The silence suddenly made me feel


    ufortable. I looked around and couldn’t find the guard where he was usually stationed. I wondered


    where he went because he was just here scolding me to return the papers that I had nned to snug


    out.


    “Excuse me?” I called out to him again.


    Once again, there was no reply. I began frowning as I continued looking around. Thinking that he may


    have entered the archive while I was inside and we had missed each other, I took a few steps back into


    the archive. Although there was no real good reason for me to look for him, I ended up doing just that


    out of curiosity.


    “What are you doing here?”


    I closed my eyes and pursed my lips together into a tight line at the sound of Ace’s overly familiar


    voice. He seemed to have suddenly gotten much better at appearing out of thin airtely and I hated


    the feeling of being caught red-handed although what I was doing wasn’t exactly a crime. I tried to tell


    myself that since he had some secrets he wanted to keep from me, I also had the right to have some


    secrets of my own.


    Ace was standing there with a curious look on his face. I had no idea how he found me here unless he


    followed me here. That thought spooked me a little bit as I managed to paste a smile on my lips.


    When did he get here? Did he hear me talking to the guard just now?


    “I…came to check out something…” I murmured while my eyes darted around to look for the guard.


    Where did he disappear to?


    “I told the guard that I would appreciate some quiet time alone in the archive. He’s taking a break right


    now and probably won’t be back for a while,” Ace said as if he could hear my unspoken question.


    Being alone with him just made me feel even more on edge. I was sure that he thought that my


    behavior was suspicious; however, I didn’t actually do anything wrong. With that thought in mind, I took


    in a deep breath and straightened my back.


    --To be continued…