The next morning, around 11 a.m....
Eiran was sleeping soundly on the bed—only to be disturbed by a heartless ray of sunlight. The light quietly highlighted the lines of his face, and a small black mole on his left collarbone could be seen peeking out from his loose collar.
His eyelashes fluttered as he frowned in his sleep, pulling his hand from under the covers to rub his eyes.
As he slowly opened them, the first thing to greet him was—Kael's enlarged face.
"AHH!"
He reacted before he could think and hurriedly rolled backward on the bed to get away.
...Unfortunately, he miscalculated and ended up falling onto the floor, his blanket—loyal to its master-following suit.
"Ah... man..."
So unlucky...
He groaned, angrily pushing the blanket aside, then stood up slowly while rubbing his waist.
He turned around to find the culprit-but the culprit was fast asleep on a chair, his head resting on the bedside pillow.
Though he was very annoyed and wanted to hit someone badly, he didn't act out... because of the throbbing headache he felt-it was as if he hadn't rested at all and had stayed wide awake the entire night.
He frowned and rubbed his waist a few more times... his gaze falling on the alarm clock beside the table lamp.
Wait...
He quickly picked it up and checked the time.
11:15...
It was already a quarter past eleven—had he slept that long?
Why was he still feeling so tired...?
Ah, right... he went to Lilia's birthday party yesterday.
He looked down at his clothes-the same as the previous night—and at his surroundings. This was clearly his own bedroom.
That was another thing... but why couldn't he seem to recall how he came back?
Well... since he was safe, there could be only one explanation—he had gotten drunk and forgotten what he did.
But how? He clearly remembered he hadn't drunk much. And the last drink he had was given by that bartender—which, according to him, was low in alcohol.
He couldn't accuse someone without any proof—especially when he himself wasn't sure.
Nyvoré had very tight security and strict rules. Given his status, if he said that the bartender had tampered with his drink, the man would surely lose his job. And given how protective Valerian and his mother were... this certainly wouldn't end with just that.
There could be a misunderstanding too. What if it was simply a mistake?
Just as Eiran was pondering what decision to make... he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, startling him.
"Ran, you finally woke up?"
He instantly swallowed the scream that was about to escape his lips and forced his racing heart to calm down before turning his head to glare at Kael-who had apparently woken up and appeared behind him out of nowhere.
"Wow! Man, you get scared too easily?" Kael exclaimed, taking a step back and raising his hands in surrender.
"You better not even mention that!"
Eiran scoffed, throwing the words over his shoulder as he brushed past him and headed toward the bathroom.
Kael scratched his head awkwardly, looking genuinely confused as he tried to follow.
"Huh? What did I do now?"
"Nothing!"
Eiran slammed the door shut.
"How did I provoke this little deer without even doing anything?" Kael muttered, trying to recall his crime.
He felt extremely wronged.
~
A few minutes later, after Eiran came out of the bathroom, he threw a towel and a set of spare clothes at Kael—silently signaling him to freshen up.
Kael had no choice but to obey.
He didn't want to provoke the little deer any further.
~
After washing up, Kael decided to be a brave warrior and face his enemy head-on—
But the enemy delivered himself to his doorstep.
Now they were lying on the bed, still tired, talking lazily.
"What happened last night? How did I get back home?" Eiran looked at him with a mix of curiosity and suspicion, his brows slightly scrunched.
"I knew you wouldn't remember anything the next day!" Kael gave him a meaningful look. "Have you— okay, let me start from the beginning."
He looked like he wanted to ask something else but paused and changed his words instead.
Eiran noticed the hesitation but said nothing, waiting for him to continue.
"So we were still on the dance floor when the club's manager suddenly came and informed Lilly that a guest had fainted in the corridor. Then I realized you weren't around either. I got worried and followed Lilly to check. They led us to a VIP room, and we found you there. I wanted to ask more, but that manager wouldn't say a single extra word!"
Kael paused again, looking somewhat smug.
"So—I asked a waiter about the situation! He told us you probably drank too much and got lost. See? I'm smart, right?"
Then he sighed, his expression changing as quickly as a bullet train.
"You don't know how worried I was, you know?"
Eiran shook his head in resignation. He knew his dramatic friend too well.
"Mm. Continue."
Kael lamented internally for a few seconds at the dry response before continuing.
"You probably couldn't see properly and went in the wrong direction. Thankfully, their boss and his bodyguards were there and got you a room."
After finishing, he glanced at Eiran several times, hesitant.
"Ran, have you..."
"What?" Eiran still looked lost, trying to process everything.
"Have you seen their boss?" Kael finally asked, unable to hold back. His puppy eyes shone with interest.
Eiran tried hard to remember—but...
"I—I don't remember anything, Kael. Wait—" He suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Is that all you're concerned about? You haven't even asked how I got drunk!"
Well, it would be a lie to say he didn't remember anything-he could still recall a few things.
But it would be too embarrassing to admit.
He had crashed into a man with a pleasant voice and silver-blond hair—
and that was the only thing he remembered.
Kael seemed to have a sudden realization and quickly adjusted.
"Ah... that. I was about to ask! You're not usually fond of drinking. What happened?"
Eiran scoffed and lightly kicked his leg.
"You don't look sincere, you know?"
"I don't?" Kael leaned closer and blinked innocently. "Look into my eyes. Have they ever lied?"
"Forget it. I'll tell you anyway."
Eiran pushed his face aside and sighed.
"Two weird things happened yesterday. First, a guy came up to me out of nowhere and..."
He recounted everything that had happened when Kael wasn't there, then looked at him expectantly.
"So you kissed him?!" Kael suddenly exclaimed.
His concerns were always off-track.
"Kael! I told you we were pretending!" Eiran finally snapped. He was truly done at this point.
Kael looked genuinely troubled.
"But his friends and the other guests might not think that..."
His voice trailed off as he imagined several dramatic scenarios.
"You'll definitely get in trouble if this spreads, you know?"
"I know that—I just..." Eiran's voice cracked.
It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it... but that in that moment, he just felt sympathy for that guy.
Emotional fool...
Kael immediately noticed his mood drop and tried to comfort him.
"It's fine. There were CCTV cameras, and people saw what happened. There isn't any stir about it in the circle yet." He patted Eiran's back and decided to change the topic. "What was his name?"
"I don't remember his full name—but I think I still have his card."
Eiran stood up, went to the bathroom, and returned with the card.
Kael examined it.
"Theron Arden." His gaze fixed on the name. "The Arden family? The one whose main branch is overseas? That's the only one I can think of from your description."
Eiran frowned and shook his head.
"I don't know. Why don't you ask Lilly?"
"There's no way she wouldn't have told me if he was coming."
"Maybe he tagged along with friends?"
"How am I supposed to know that?"
"Tsk. I'll ask Lilly. Be careful about that bartender too. But you really are a walking love potion, you know?"
"Shut up, Kael!"
Eiran threw a pillow at him, but Kael dodged in time.
"Alright, alright. Don't overthink it. You're still single—Valerian doesn't exactly have the right to question you, even if you actually kissed someone... just explain clearly later."
Kael knew exactly what troubled him most and clumsily tried to reassure him.
Then he seemed to think of something amusing and winked.
"And this might actually be somewhat helpful, you know?"
"How?" Eiran gaze was filled with suspicion.
"He will feel jealous, and might confront you directly and he might even ended up confessing."
Eiran was amused by his words. But he knew Valerian better than anyone in this regard...
"He won't."
Just those two words-
he didn't explain anything further...
It was unclear whether he was talking about jealousy, confrontation or confession.
_________________________________________________________________________________
The glass table shattered—its fragments scattering across the floor.
Rowan Delaire sat behind his desk in a dimly lit underground office. His left fist was slightly red from striking the glass table, causing it to crash onto the floor.
Five men stood inside the room—including his secretary.
"You can't even handle a drunk boy?"
Rowan asked, his sharp gaze fixed on them.
"Is that why I'm paying you?"
"Sir... we tried—" one of the men standing in the middle began, but Rowan cut him off before he could finish.
"No excuses," Rowan said coldly.
"S-Sorry, sir."
"Since you can't do anything useful, you might as well leave that place for someone capable."
Rowan's voice was indifferent, but his eyes were icy.
It was clear—if they left this room like this, they might never find a place anywhere else.
"S—Sir, we—" another man dropped to his knees to apologize.
Only to be interrupted by the man standing beside him.
"Sir, I have something you might find interesting."
Rowan narrowed his eyes, observing him silently before asking a single question—
"What?"
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