Wild Young Miss: Mister, Let's Kiss!

[What truly transpired before the game started.]

"Hey, Yan," Suddenly, Owen called him out which snapped Ryan back from his trance. "Come here. I have a proposal." Slowly, the side of his lips curled into a wide grin which made the latter narrow his eyes before coming close vigilantly.

"How about we take down Carter first?" Owen leaned closer, which made Ryan gasped in disbelief. "Well, there wasn't anything in the rules about an alliance being a problem, right?" He justified, shrugging his shoulder as he detected tons of loopholes almost in an instant.

"No way!" When Ryan absorbed the proposal, he immediately rejected without batting an eye. "Why would I do that? Then what happens when we take him down? You would shoot me down before I realize it!" He sassed, casting Owen a disdainful glare.

"Well, that would happen if you don't shoot me down first." Yet, Owen didn't deny it as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "We'll be enemies in the game, after all." He added, thinking as a logical person he has always been.

It was true, though. Their alliance would only last when their target was down. After that, it would be a one on one battle between the two. Thus, the victor would either be the two. That was, if Ryan agreed.

However, by the looks of it, Ryan's principle and morals wouldn't be persuaded. "No. I want to win fair and square." Ryan, although understood the tactic still refused, shaking his head sideways.

"I appreciate the offer. But, I won't betray Carter." Ryan added, a solid determination flashed across his pair of eyes.

"Well, I tried." Owen took his answer as it was, not pushing his luck calmly. "A reminder, though. Treat this one as a real battle where you have to take a person's life like your life depended on it." Before he left, Owen advised, knowing his colleague and how his mentality worked.

Little did they know, as they were conversing, Zoey was watching them from the window before Dredd came to shock her to the core. 'Ohh… he's quick-witted, huh?' Zoey thought internally, her gaze fixated on Owen's retreating figure and then shifted it to Ryan, who was sighing while shaking his head.

'This will be an interesting one.' Zoey smirked, excited at how this game would turn out. Just then, she thought of an idea that would make things interesting; and at the same time, would give a lesson to the three that would make them break through their bottlenecks.

After that, Zoey glanced at Matthew's back, who was already far from her. "Hey!" She called out, sprinting towards him until she bumped against his back as he abruptly stopped. "Aw… wait for me." She rubbed the tip of her nose that turned red from the collision.

"You can't join." Without further ado, Matthew spoke sternly, without much emotion in his voice.

****

Later on, when Matthew was busy talking to his men as to how to make the first floor more spacious, Zoey turned her head to Owen, then to Ryan, before her gaze landed on Carter. As usual, Carter was the silent type as he was busy checking the crates of guns on the floor.

Zoey glanced at Matthew first. Upon realizing he was indeed busy, Zoey took a step back with her hands behind her. She took a lot more steps back before she pivoted on her heel and trudged towards Carter.

"Hello!" Zoey greeted, bearing a wide grin on her lips. 

Slowly, Carter turned his head to his side, to where she stood. "What do you want?" He asked without beating around the bush. Upon a closer look at Zoey, he narrowed his eyes as she seemed very familiar.

"Straightforward, I like it." Zoey's grin stretched wider, revealing her even white teeth that made the slit in her eyes narrow. "I have a proposal." She said, causing his eyebrows to furrow.

"Did the other guy come to you?" Without further ado, Zoey inquired, perking her chin towards Owen's direction, who was listening to how the floor would turn out. 

For a moment, Carter remained silent and only stared at Zoey. "I see…" She said, nodding her head in understanding. "Did you agree? Hmm…" Zoey rubbed her chin lightly, peering at him from head to toe. "You did." She guessed, making Carter purse his lips into a thin line as her guess was correct.

Earlier, Owen came to him and proposed an alliance. Since Carter was more open-minded and treated this as a battle, he didn't mind considering the alliance. In the end, he still agreed to take down Ryan first.

"Did you know that guy first offered the same deal to that other one?" Zoey queried, tilting her head to the side.

"Why are you doing this?" Yet, Carter didn't answer. Instead, he threw his own question as he stared at her intently. "I don't know why, but the more I look at you, the more I think I have met you before. Do you intend to harm the Master?" Blunt and straightforward, he expressed and questioned.

"As if I will admit I intended to, if that's my plan." Zoey could not help but let out a short chuckle, seeing how blunt and honest he was that it sounded a little naive. "Don't worry, I don't. I wouldn't propose this game if I do." In a matter-of-fact tone, Zoey answered with a sweet smile.

"Anyway, since you already agreed with the alliance, just follow it." Zoey paused, secretly looking around to see if anyone was listening to her. "But, as you do, I want you to drop your guard, making yourself a bait." When she reassured that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, Zoey suggested.

"You want me to die first?" Carter's already furrowed brows knitted in puzzlement.

"More or less." Zoey responded, humming as she rubbed her chin once again. "It's a gamble. You will know the reason when you do. But I guarantee you, doing this would make you see your brothers differently and understand their nature." Zoey hinted. She didn't explain the reason and kept everything vague to him.

Not that Zoey trusted that Carter would listen to her vague words. Still, she hoped that she piqued his curiosity enough for him to take the gamble. "Nice talking to you, anyway." After saying her piece, Zoey turned her back against him and took a step forward.

However, just as she did, Zoey stopped in her tracks and turned her head back. "By the way, if you want to know why I look familiar, heed to my request and I'll tell you." A smug grin formed on the side of her lips, giggling before she resumed skipping her steps and headed to annoy the other two participants.

'Uh…' Carter watched her annoy Owen, who was instantly irked by the lady around him. 'I have a bad feeling about it..' He muttered internally, her last remarks repeated in his mind which would lead him on heeding her request just to extract answers from her.