The dark-haired man tore off his sleeves and wiped the blood splashed on his face with his cuff in front of the broken mirror in the trash can. The cracks on the mirror made it impossible for him to see the position above his brow bone. He tried twice and then wiped it with the back of his hand.

The wind in the alley in the middle of the night was as cold as a knife. The man couldn't help but shiver. He quickly put on his hat and left with his head down.

[— — Eddy]

“hum？”

Venom laughed in a low voice, his voice was full of joy. [Your performance today is enough for me to laugh at for a year.]

Eddy walked to the entrance of an alley and casually glanced around before continuing on his way. "Is this the reason why you laughed just now?"

Venom, Don't Call Me Parasite, Super Ferocious, Man-Eating Alien Species, was as good as ever in his daily good deeds tonight. But from time to time, he would let out some annoying laughter, like an annoying old man who could laugh until December after hearing a silly joke in January.

[That girl is so cute, you should kiss her.]

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Eddy wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Why do you always want to kiss someone?"

After Venom banned him from the bars that were 'too noisy', 'too many people', and 'strange lights flashing', Eddy complained loudly that he was a dead man without alcohol.

Venom said that he could buy a dozen back to his apartment like before.

Eddy snorted. "Loser!"

[Yeah, it's the old you.]

Eddy pretended not to hear. "The most popular handsome reporter in New York, after work, going back to the apartment alone to eat some instant potatoes and drink a bottle of Wimbis beer that I bought last weekend?

Don't joke around, where did this poor guy come from? "

Venom said that he could deal with it.

"Deal with it?"

Eddy slumped his shoulders and looked up at the darkening sky. "Oh … Let me see what happened to the things I gave you.

You broke your leg from a high-speed motorcycle once, climbed up a few hundred stories and fell down again — "

[Shut up, Eddy. It's all your fault for being afraid of heights.]

"Very good, you still remember that I'm afraid of heights!"

Under Venom's instructions, Eddy looked at the "bar with red leaves" that he mentioned.

"Canada!" Eddy put her right hand to her lips and pretended to cough as she scolded, "Trash."

[Earth!]

Venom imitated him in a weird tone. [Ugh (Rubbish) Cough (Rubbish)!]

"That one!

I want to go there! "

Eddy blinked and stared at a bar where there was already a long line. "I bet it's going to be a good night."

Venom kept quiet.

Eddy triumphantly planned to cross the road to his destination, but suddenly there was a familiar pulling force behind him. A strange black gel stretched out and firmly fixed him to the railing beside the pedestrian path. Eddy was alarmed, and before he could react, Venom threw him into the semi-underground bar behind him.

[Have

a

nice

That bastard Venom's subwoofer sounded in his ears along with a happy snort. When he saw the scene in front of him again, he was already at the entrance of this' quiet ',' not many people alive ', and' leave immediately after drinking 'bar that Venom had casually chosen.

"… I want to go home early." Eddy muttered.

He walked to the bar, ordered a glass of wine, and chatted with the bartender out of boredom. "How's the business today?"

The bartender, Karl, poured the wine and slid the glass to his guest. "Very good.

Your market doesn't look very good. "

Eddy was angry. "Do I have the word 'single' written on my face?"

Karl shrugged, turned around, took two bottles of beer and handed them to another guest. "Coming to this elegant and tasteful bar alone at six o 'clock in the evening, you're either here for a date or looking for a single girl."

Eddy looked around the bar as if he had seen a ghost. "Since when does a bar have the same taste as a café where high school girls gather for dinner?" He took a sip of wine sullenly.

Karl patted him on the shoulder, raised his eyebrows and pointed at the girls at the other end of the bar.

"No …" The dark-haired man obediently turned his gaze away and sighed. "I'm not here to flirt with girls." Even though he said that, his eyes were still honestly looking at the girls around him.

He finished the last sip of wine, asked the bartender to refill his glass, and got up to go to the bathroom.

"Remember to save a seat for me!" Eddy turned around and called out to Karl.

Karl made an "OK" sign from afar.

Before he turned around, he felt that he had bumped into something.

Then, a girl exclaimed softly. Eddie subconsciously reached out and grabbed the girl to help her stabilize herself. The girl was knocked back a step by him. "I'm sorry," Eddie turned around, bowed his head apologetically and said, "I'm sorry..."

The dark-haired girl was petite, and her chocolate eyes sparkled under the warm light. She was too close to Eddy, so she had to look up at him. Her fluffy bangs slid to the sides when she looked up.

"It's okay." She squinted under the light. "I wasn't looking at the road just now."

"…" Eddy looked at her blankly.

[Eddy.]

Venom's voice suddenly sounded. [Why is your heart beating faster?]

Eddie came back to his senses as if he had been awakened. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. He blinked his eyes quickly a few times and then said incoherently, "Walk, walk carefully."

[Oh, I remember. You also had a situation where your heart beat faster … Your ex-girlfriend.]

Arya was amused and showed a cute smile. "I know. You don't have to look at the road, but you have to teach others how to walk properly."

Mr. Block, whose job was to be a reporter, was tongue-tied at this moment. He could only stand there in a daze, his hand still holding Aliya's wrist.

"Can I go over now?" Arya raised her eyebrows. "I promise to walk properly in the future."

Eddy let go of her in a panic and took a few steps back.

Arya tilted her head and looked at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

[Eddy!]

Venom urged. [You should kiss her!]

[What the hell!]

Eddy scolded him in a low voice.

[Don't try to lie to me. I know what you're thinking.]

…

Eddy summed up what happened today and finally realized something was wrong. He criticized Venom. "What's your obsession with kissing?

Why do you always want to kiss others? "

[Hiss … You can lick her too.]

"No!"

Eddy opened the door with the key, pushed the door open and went straight to the bathroom.

He turned on the tap and splashed his face with cold water.

[If I were you, I would be more careful when washing my face.]

"What?"

Eddy didn't hear it clearly for a moment. The water droplets rolling down blocked his vision. He tried to open his eyes and asked, "Why should I be careful?"

Venom condensed into a gel and drilled out from his shoulder. [Look here.]

Eddy looked for a long time and finally saw a touch of light red between his ear and chin.

He stretched out his wet fingers and carefully rubbed a little on the edge. He raised it in front of his eyes and observed it carefully. He couldn't figure out what it was.

[That girl's lipstick.] Venom snorted. [I rubbed it when I was talking to you.]

Eddy and Venom looked at each other for a while. "… I don't want to wash my face."

[Please be hygienic.]

"Hygienic?"

Eddy sneered as if he heard that New York would be bombed tomorrow. "Then don't bite other people's heads in the future."

[Enjoying good food and hygiene are two different things.

You have to respect my little hobby.]

Eddy curled his lips and carefully lifted the cuff covering his left wrist. "I don't want to wash my left hand either."

[Call her.]

"Look at the time!" Eddy ran into the living room with a wet face to look for his phone. "Aren't you afraid of disturbing her?"

He read the lipstick number on his wrist and entered it into his phone one by one. He finally confirmed it before saving it into his address book.

Next, Eddie took a leisurely bath under Venom's incessant verbal bombardment and baked a pizza for them. When he returned to the bedroom and sat down by the bed, he took out his phone.

The screen lit up and showed that it was 2: 15 in the morning. He pulled up the string of numbers that he had already memorized and gently stroked the signature that started with E.

"… It's too late."

[I've been urging you since two hours ago, idiot!]

Eddy's voice softened in the quiet bedroom. "Maybe she has already gone to bed."

[Maybe she took a leisurely shower and baked a pizza as a midnight snack.]

Venom laughed at him.

The mint-scented shower gel smell faintly came out from his collar. He slowed his breathing, and the outline of his face was soft and ambiguous in the dim light of the screen.

"Three rings," he whispered as if he was talking to himself. "If no one answers, I'll hang up."

Eddy pressed the call button and patiently counted one ring, two rings, three rings.

For some reason, he waited for the fourth ring.

"Hello?" A cute voice came through the phone, like a baked marshmallow. "Eddy?"

Eddie Brock couldn't help but smile before he breathed a sigh of relief. "How did you know it was me?"

"I just knew."

Arya laughed in a low voice. "I threw the phone on the carpet and rushed over to pick it up. What if you hung up?"

Eddy lay back on the bed, the fluffy and soft quilt sinking into the shape of a person. "I was going to hang up after the third ring."

"I got the third ring?"

"It's the fourth ring." Eddy looked at the ceiling, but seemed to see the stars in the night sky of New York through it. "I suddenly wanted to wait."

"Well …" Arya yawned and said, "That's a good idea."

"Arya," Eddy knew that the girl was going to rest, so he whispered, "Will you be free tomorrow night?"

"Yes."

"Can I invite you?" The man paused and pursed his lips. "Can we have dinner together?"

Arya said, "No."

"… What?"

The girl on the other end of the phone laughed happily. "I'm kidding!

It's okay! "

Eddy felt like he was back in high school when he was 17 years old. All the muscles on his face were used to form an expression. He smiled with his eyebrows curved, and his delicate eyelashes cast a shadow under his eyes.

"Good night." He smiled silently and finally said goodbye softly. "Sweet dreams."