Unfortunately for the man, Kaija Sepala wasn’t just any singer who had spent her whole life buried in music theory.
She, along with Juho, had graduated from their aviation training with the self-defense course at the highest possible score.
In one sharp motion, Kaija shoved Antony back with one arm. With the other, she struck straight into the attacker’s wrist. The knife clattered to the floor, skidding across the tiles. The corridor instantly fell into stunned silence.
Antony stumbled back but didn’t fall, his face drawn tight with shock. His breath caught painfully in his throat as he watched Kaija lunge at the man. Her fist connected with the man’s chin in an upward strike, snapping his head back.
"Security! Security!" Antony roared. His voice cut through the stunned minds of the staff still frozen around them.
At once, some staff members began screaming. Others rushed toward Kaija to help, but there was nothing left to do. The attacker had already been knocked out cold, groaning weakly on the floor.
Within seconds, security guards stormed in. They lunged at the man, restraining him as he struggled and cursed.
"Kaikai!" Antony yanked Kaija back and away from the scene at once. He gripped her shoulders, checking her frantically from head to toe, his voice breaking with panic.
"Kaikai... Kaikai... are you okay? Are you hurt?"
All color had drained from Antony’s face, yet Kaija seemed as cool as a cucumber. She started checking Antony all over instead.
"Antony, are you okay? Are you hurt? I’m sorry for pushing you. It all happened too fast. I didn’t have another option. I’m so sorry."
"What are you even apologizing for?!" Antony snapped. "I’m the one who should be sorry! What were you thinking?! You could’ve gotten hurt!" He spun sharply toward the attacker and lunged forward, his fist raised in the air.
Kaija’s calm shattered instantly. "Wait, wait, wait! Antony, stop!" she shouted, rushing after him.
Before Antony could land a blow, several more men in security uniforms swarmed the area. "Let us handle this from here! Please, everyone, stand back!" one of them shouted.
"Antony," Kaija clutched his arm, whispering urgently. "They’re the guys from my security team. Calm down. Step back. You have to treat them like Open Hall security. Only then can we take the attacker away to interrogate him."
Kaija’s words finally forced some logic back into Antony’s mind. His fist lowered, his ragged breathing slowly evening out.
"I’m sorry, Kaikai," he murmured with a strained sigh. "Are you... are you really okay?"
"I’m perfectly fine, Antony." Kaija lifted both hands to show she had no injuries.
Only then did Antony realize how tightly his body had been locked. His fists finally relaxed when he saw her unharmed. "Let’s get you to the waiting room first. We’re already running late for your stage." He pulled Kaija away from the corridor.
The crowd gradually dispersed, and the attacker was quietly taken away by Alvar’s team.
A few team members were sent to escort Kaija and Antony to the waiting room. They couldn’t risk letting any other incidents happen. They still hadn’t located who had sent the man.
Alvar was among those remaining behind to protect Kaija. The team leader seemed terribly apologetic the entire way. "We’re very sorry for not supporting you in time, Ms. Sepala," he kept saying. But Kaija wasn’t even the least bit displeased.
"Mr. Dalton, I’m still in one piece, aren’t I?" Kaija said lightly. "Let’s just be more careful next time."
"Kaikai, how did you manage to handle that bastard so well?" Antony asked. He wasn’t a martial arts enthusiast, but he could tell that it had been a very clean knockout punch.
"Oh, that guy, he was just too amateur," Kaija shrugged. "Come to think of it, I don’t think he was sent by any of Charles’s dangerous enemies. His skills were far too poor to be hired for that kind of job. And what was he even aiming for? My face instead of my ribs or abdomen? Either he read the brief wrong, or he was just committing some petty crime."
Alvar’s steps slowed. "Ms. Sepala, are you certain that was the case? Your observation could play a crucial role in the interrogation of the subject."
"I can confirm that," Antony said. Earlier, his focus had been on signing. But when his gaze lifted from the paper, he remembered seeing the man aim for Kaija’s face rather than her vital points.
At Antony’s words, Alvar fell into deep thought. "In my experience, attacks aimed at the face most often stem from personal hatred rather than an intent to cause severe, life-threatening injuries. Ms. Sepala, could it be that this man was an anti-fan of yours?"
Both Kaija and Antony turned around. "Anti-fan?"
"Yes, anti-fan. I’m certain any public figure has people who love them, and people who... don’t love them quite as much. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the subject was Ms. Sepala’s anti-fan."
"Hah, that does sound like a plausible possibility..." Kaija’s face twitched.
Great. She had just debuted a week ago. Now there were already people who hated her enough to want to ruin her face?
"That was only a hypothesis. For now, proceed with the interrogation first, and do your best to determine the attacker’s motivation, Mr. Dalton," Antony said. Pushing the topic further would only stress Kaija more than necessary, and he didn’t want that.
"Of course," Alvar replied. "I shall inform you the moment we extract any information from the attacker."
Just as the group reached Kaija’s waiting room, a familiar figure with long red hair appeared down the corridor.
Upon seeing Antony, Juliana’s face stretched with shock. What was Antony doing here? He wasn’t supposed to be here, especially not today.
The horror on Juliana’s face only worsened when her gaze landed on Kaija walking right beside him. Juliana had clearly sent the man for the job. How was Kaija’s face still perfectly intact, without a single wound in sight?
With several men in security uniforms escorting them, Juliana could already sense something in her plan had gone horribly wrong.
Smoothing her expression, Juliana approached the group. "AK, what a coincidence. I never expected I’d run into you twice within just one week."
Antony had only begun to regain his composure after the long walk to Kaija’s waiting room. Though he had come to prove there was nothing between him and Juliana to Kaija, he wasn’t in the mood to run into her right now.
"Juliana," Kaija greeted the woman before Antony could. Her tone was lukewarm, not a trace of a smile on her face.
"Oh, Kaija. I didn’t see you," Juliana said, smiling warmly.