TRIP TO LIBERTY (FREENBECKY)

Chapter 2

Becky's POV

"Look Saint, we're sincerely sorry about the incident. None of us wanted that to happen and--" Lisa added.

"Here we go again." Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Says the one who broke their promise tsk." Lisa said.

"Hey, it's true. I told nobody! I swear in my grave Lisa." Rose said.

Just what the hell are they talking about? Incident? Saint? 

"Sure, then why did Mr. Smi--" Lisa said, but suddenly decided to stop when Saint walked out.

"Say it! He's dead anyway. By choice." Shik said. 

Lisa and Rose kept bantering at each other. 

"Can we not talk about dead people in front of the meal please." Rowoon said, politely.

"Oh shut up Neko!."  Shik said. 

Got ya' Neko. Mystery solved. That was easy. Well, is it really?

DEAFENING SILENCE

Now they got everyone's attention. 

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?."  Rowoon stood up with an aggressive tone. 

"Neko, because that's what you are." Shik said mockingly.

Wait, that's what you are?

I turned to Jennie who's seated next to me to ask what they're talking about and she said,

"It's a Japanese slang word that means bottom. It's a homo thing so--" 

And I was like,

"Oh." 

That doesn't make any sense. If Rowoon is in fact Neko then that means Freen is innocent after all. Maybe they really were just high school friends planning for this event. 

"B-by the way M-Miss Jennie, were Rowoon and Freen close? I mean as friends or--" 

"Well, they used to. But Freen betrayed Rowoon. It was actually her who outed Rowoon and spread the rumor that he's a bottom. That was during our last year in junior high if I'm not mistaken. Now Rowoon despised the girl. If this is a murder mystery, Freen will probably get killed first and two potential killers could be Rowoon and Saint."  She said in a lower volume. 

"Saint?. W-what do you mean?."

"N-nothing. Just forget about it. T-this steak is great, don't you think?." She said, Jisoo looked at her as if she's commanding Jennie to stop sharing confidential information to me. 

While some are screaming at each other, Freen remained in her seat unbothered while drinking her red wine. 

FLASHBACK

"Be careful Armstrong, the devil has a pretty face." Sir Baron warned.

EOFB

I briefly glanced at my notes on my phone, pondering Japanese slang. Speaking of Japanese matters, there are three Japanese ladies on board: Mina, Sana, and Momo. Mina might be best friends with Chaeyoung, as I've noticed they're quite close – they seem to inhabit their own world. I haven't seen either of them interact with Freen. Chaeyoung is Korean, and within their circle of friends, they also have Tzuyu, who is Taiwanese. 

Honestly, I don't see any chemistry between Freen and any of these girls. Like I mentioned, they hardly interact. Or perhaps they are trying to be discreet about their affair.

Moving on, if "Neko" is indeed related to something Japanese, there are three other Japanese individuals on board. In my notes, we have Kento Yamazaki (the former class prince), Nakajima Yuto (doctor), and Kentaro Ito (youngest in the class). Is there anyone else? Well, I suppose that's the complete list.

Seriously, there are 30 of them all on board. This is a lot to take in and a lot of potential suspects.

So, Freen remained focused on her meal while everyone else was still arguing over who knows what, when all of a sudden, Doh Kyung-soo started talking to her. I could hear their conversation since I had wired tapped under Freen's chair ahead of time.

D.O. relaxed in his chair, a friendly smile on his face, as he looked at Freen across the table. Despite the arguments among their classmates, they were calm and peaceful.

"Hey, Freen." he began, his voice steady.

"Congrats on your husband becoming president. Quite a journey from our school days, huh?" He added.

Freen gave a soft laugh, glancing up from her plate. 

"Thanks, Kyung-soo. It's been a crazy ride, for sure."

He nodded, his eyes reflective. 

"Remember when we used to talk about taking over the world in high school?"

Freen smiled nostalgically. "Yeah, and now here we are."

"Definitely" he agreed, a touch of amusement in his eyes. "Honestly, I never pictured you as the First Lady type."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? What did you think I'd be?"

D.O. chuckled, his gaze warm. "Someone who'd do things her own way, no matter what."

"Well, I guess I've done a bit of that." Freen replied, a playful confidence in her voice.

Their conversation flowed smoothly, mixing memories and thoughts on their own journeys. As the arguing around them got louder, they leaned in a bit, like they were sharing a private joke in the midst of the chaos.

"Sometimes I wonder if we're the only ones here with our heads on straight." D.O. said, nodding towards their arguing friends.

Freen chuckled softly. "Seems that way sometimes, doesn't it?"

He raised his water glass in a pretend toast. "To finding peace in the madness."

Freen clinked her glass against his, a twinkle in her eyes. "To keeping our sanity."

And as the chaos continued, D.O. and Freen kept their calm conversation going, two old friends in their own world amidst the turmoil.

As I watched everything happening, a thought struck me. Freen and D.O.'s quiet chat stood out amidst the noise. While others argued, they seemed different.

D.O., who was calm, stuck by Freen. They were good friends, but I started to wonder if it was more. Could he be the person Freen was keeping secret, the one she trusted?

Listening closely to them and watching how they acted, I got a feeling. The way they talked and looked suggested something deeper. Was D.O. the one Freen was seeing secretly?

Of course, this was just a guess. But among all the relationships and secrets, I couldn't shake the feeling. As others argued and lunch went on, I couldn't help but think that Freen and D.O. might be more than they seemed.

What could Neko possibly mean and how could it potentially relate to D.O?

But then,

Oliver Oscar Oken's phone suddenly rang and his ringtone sounded like Neko-neko-ni. He instantly excused himself but I don't think it's him because Freen is still here and now focused on her meal.

"He has such a cute ringtone." I told Jennie.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that 'neko' can also mean 'cat'" she said.

WTH This doesn't make any sense.