Leansei felt absolutely nothing for a few agonizing seconds. He didn't feel the soft, anticipated brush of lips or the daring heat of that proximity finalizing into a kiss.
Xerchin was simply looking down at him, an irritatingly handsome smirk firmly carved into his features. He reached out, gently wrapping his long fingers around Leansei's chin to tilt his face up, forcing their gazes to lock. The sheer innocence of Leansei's furiously blushing face even his eyes remained shut only seemed to fuel the heir's amusement.
But the moment Xerchin's eyes dropped back down to linger on Leansei's lips, his smug smirk evaporated in an instant. A sudden, overwhelming wave of intensity surged through Xerchin's body—a sensation so fierce and entirely unfamiliar that it caught him completely off guard.
Click.
The sharp sound of the clinic door swinging open shattered the heavy silence.
Leansei's eyes snapped open. Panicking in sudden realization, he violently shoved Xerchin back to create space. But the damage was already done. Doctor Lina stood frozen in the doorway, completely staggered as she took in the undeniably compromising, intimate position of the two boys.
Mortified, Leansei didn't wait for an explanation. He bolted past the doctor, desperate to escape the suffocating embarrassment of the room. Xerchin, on the other hand, merely shot a piercing, icy glare at Doctor Lina before spinning on his heel to follow closely behind.
Leansei marched down the corridor with his head buried in his hands, trying to shield his flaming face from view. His mind was a chaotic mess as he struggled to comprehend his own physical reactions.
' Did I actually enjoy that?! No way! That is completely impossible! What on earth is wrong with that arrogant jerk? And why did this borrowed body react so intensely?! That absolute bastard is never going to let me live this down. He is definitely going to tease me relentlessly later on! This is so incredibly humiliating! '
Lost in his panicked internal monologue, Leansei fumbled blindly forward until a firm, warm hand suddenly clamped tightly around his wrist, forcing him to a halt.
He jolted and looked up, instantly freezing in a daze. Xerchin stood right in front of him. His styled hair was slightly messy, a faint, rare flush painted his pale cheeks, and his striking blue eyes burned with an intense emotion. He was gasping softly for air, his chest rising and falling as though he had frantically sprinted down the hallway just to catch up to him.
Seeing the usually stoic, unbothered heir looking so undone and breathless immediately pierced straight through Leansei's heart.
' Something is wrong with my heart... this absolute jerk...'
Xerchin sharply averted his gaze, a rare and genuine flush painting his pale cheeks. Leansei had never witnessed him looking so utterly undone before. It was infuriating how damn beguiling the arrogant heir looked when his defenses were completely shattered.
"W-what are you—" Leansei started, but the words caught in his throat as Xerchin firmly gripped his wrist. Without a word of explanation, Xerchin pulled him along the sidewalk straight toward his parked luxury car, throwing open the passenger side door. "Where exactly are we going?" Leansei demanded, anchoring his feet.
"Somewhere," Xerchin replied flatly.
Realizing he didn't have much of a choice, Leansei reluctantly climbed inside the leather interior. Xerchin moseyed around the front of the hood, slid effortlessly into the driver's seat, and fired up the powerful engine with a deep rumble.
"Seriously, where are we going?" Leansei asked again, his expression completely bewildered.
"A place I know," Xerchin stated simply, shifting gears and accelerating smoothly onto the bustling road.
.
As the minutes ticked by, a heavy silence settled inside the cabin. Neither of them seemed to have the courage to break it. Leansei pulled out his phone to check the time and blinked in surprise—it was already past 4:00 PM. He hadn't realized the afternoon was slipping away so quickly.
Eventually, the car slowed to a halt in front of a massive, breathtaking building. Leansei's mouth parted in awe as he stared at the enchanting, twinkling lights illuminating the exterior of an incredibly exclusive restaurant.
Xerchin killed the ignition and climbed out. Leansei pushed his own door open, stepping onto the polished pavement to take in his surroundings. The customers arriving, the elegant valet service, and the architectural decorations were the epitome of extravagance.
"Are you here to pick someone up, or are you meeting a guest for dinner?" Leansei asked, turning to him.
Before Xerchin could answer, a sharply dressed man in his mid-twenties rushed out of the grand entrance. "Good day, Sir," the man greeted warmly, placing his left arm across his stomach in a flawless, sophisticated gesture of respect. "If you had only called ahead to inform me of your arrival, I would have personally overseen all the preparations."
' So, I guess I'll just wait out here by the car, ' Leansei reasoned silently, shifting his bag. ' He's clearly hosting a high-profile dinner with someone important. Wait... then why on earth did he drag me along? No way. He wouldn't actually—'
"Mooncalf," Xerchin's sharp voice shattered his thoughts. "Why are you still standing out there like a statue? Get inside." Startled, Leansei quickly jogged up the steps to follow him. In his previous life, he had never even set foot near an establishment this wealthy, but here he was, crossing the threshold of a truly captivating venue. The rich, mouth-watering aroma lingering in the foyer made his stomach instantly rumble, threatening to make him drool from pure hunger.
' Why did he take me here? ' Leansei mused, casting a sideways glance at Xerchin's stoic profile. ' Wait, could this entire lavish dinner be his bizarre way of apologizing for what happened in the clinic earlier? Since his pride won't let him actually say the words, he's treating me to a meal instead?! ' He shook his head slightly. ' I swear, I can never truly decipher what goes on inside this bastard's mind. '
"Keep staring at me like that and you're going to trip," Xerchin remarked coldly, his eyes fixed straight ahead. "Don't expect me to take responsibility when you fall."
Leansei quickly snapped his head away, looking anywhere else but at him. "As if," he muttered in a low whisper, though the quiet interior made it perfectly audible to the boy walking right beside him.
The interior design was breathtaking, styled entirely in deep grays, brushed silver, and polished gold. The colossal dining room was filled with wide tables draped in high-class, heavy fabrics, while a live string section played classical melodies softly in the background.
They were seated at a secluded table, but Leansei's face suddenly turned pale the moment a waiter handed them the leather-bound menus. A cold dread washed over him as he opened the cover and scanned the numbers. A single entree cost the equivalent of forty-five hours of hard labor at his old part-time job. It was so absurdly expensive that a visibly gloomy, dark aura began physically radiating from his body.
Xerchin instantly picked up on the sudden, tenebrous shift in Leansei's energy. Without looking up from his own selection, he spoke smoothly. "I'll pay."
The suffocating gloom evaporated from Leansei's face in a split second, replaced by relief. But the comfort was short-lived. He genuinely loathed feeling indebted to anyone.
' He's helped me so much over these past few weeks, and I still haven't thanked him properly, ' Leansei reminded himself.
But the moment his brain tried to brainstorm a proper way to express his gratitude, a vivid memory of what had just happened when he tried to thank him in the clinic flashed in his mind—the trapping hands on the wall, the heavy scent of mint, and their lips inches apart.
Leansei's expression instantly flattened into a deadpan glare.
" —_— "
"I can pay for this myself—"
"Good evening, sirs," a polite waiter interrupted, shifting his gaze back and forth between the two boys. "May I take your orders?"
Leansei swallowed hard, his eyes scanning the elegant script on the menu. Aside from the astronomical prices, he had absolutely no idea what most of these foreign culinary terms even meant. Desperate to find something safe, his eyes locked onto a single familiar item: a steamed egg dish priced at 12 dollars.
"Why not select a few more items? You may purchase anything you like," Xerchin noted smoothly. He leaned back comfortably into his cushioned chair, resting his elbows on the armrests with his long fingers tightly intertwined.
"No, this is entirely sufficient. I happen to be on a diet," Leansei lied, forcing a tone of absolute, unshakable confidence.
Yet, a mere twenty minutes later, Leansei found himself practically swallowing his own words. The moment the feast arrived, his self-control vanished; he ended up devouring every single lavish dish Xerchin had ordered in a matter of minutes. Xerchin, on the other hand, barely touched his own plate. He spent less time eating and far more time simply staring across the table.
Leansei leaned back against his chair, completely defeated by his own hunger, and gently tapped his stomach in utter satiation.
"Thank you for the meal," Leansei murmured softly, a sudden wave of shyness hitting him. "B-but I know this isn't free. I intend to—" He was cut off before he could promise a way to repay the favor. A young, exceptionally beautiful girl approached their secluded table. She had striking foreign features and long, silky blonde hair that fell perfectly around her shoulders.
The moment she stepped into his periphery, Xerchin's demeanor shifted entirely. His posture stiffened, and his expression hardened into the ice-cold, unbothered mask he usually wore when dealing with the outside world. He kept his eyes locked firmly on his plate.
"Hi there," the girl began, offering a confident, radiant smile. "You are completely my type. I was just wondering if you happen to have a girlfriend? Could I possibly get your contact info?" Leansei's mouth formed a silent, shocked circle as he watched her extend her phone toward Xerchin.
Xerchin merely glanced at the glowing screen, his face completely devoid of any warmth or emotion.
' There's no way he's going to pass up an opportunity like this,' Leansei mused internally, watching the interaction unfold. ' But... why on earth do I feel so strange right now? Is it just because she didn't bother asking for my number instead? hey i look good as well! '
"Are you blind?" Leansei felt his soul physically detach from Kean's body the exact second that churlish, razor-sharp response left Xerchin's mouth.
The girl froze, entirely flabbergasted by the sheer hostility of the rejection. "W-what did you just say—?"
"Did you fail to notice that we were in the middle of eating our dinner?" Xerchin questioned, his baritone voice dropping into a chilling, dangerous register. Tense and thoroughly embarrassed, the girl's frantic gaze snapped over to Leansei, her eyes silently asking if I minded her intervention.
Leansei immediately threw his hands up in the air defensively. "N-no! Please, don't mind me! I don't care at all!" he stuttered out, feeling completely and awkwardly torn between the two of them.
"Tch," Xerchin hissed softly under his breath, leveling a piercing, dismissive glare at the intruder. "Furthermore, I am already in a relationship with someone." Leansei was completely nonplussed by the sudden revelation. A bizarre, heavy knot tightened in his chest. Needing a distraction, he quickly looked down at the tabletop, grabbing his glass and aggressively drinking his water instead.
"Y-you could have just said you had a girlfriend in the first place instead of being so incredibly rude!" the girl snapped back annoyedly, her face burning red as she spun on her heel and hurriedly stormed out of the restaurant.
' Is it actually true that he has a girlfriend? Then... why on earth did he stay the entire night at my condo nursing my fever? nor the clinic..was that casual for him to everyone else?'
"What exactly were you trying to say earlier?" Xerchin asked, pulling Leansei out of his spiraling thoughts.
Leansei flinched, quickly rubbing the back of his neck as he realized he had completely lost his train of thought from a few moments ago. "I forgot—oh, right. You really shouldn't be that incredibly rude to girls."
Xerchin's sharp gaze seemed to peer straight into Leansei's soul. "Why? Are you interested in her?"
Leansei's head snapped up, and he defensively shook his head side to side. "No! I just thought... she looks so beautiful, so I assumed you'd happily give her your number—ah! I remember what I was saying earlier. I will treat you to a meal, or do literally anything you want. Consider it payback for all the things you've done for me lately."
Xerchin gazed at him silently. He tilted his head, leaning his cheek casually into the palm of his hand while his elbow rested firmly on the armrest. "You'll do anything?"
' Wait... his tone sounds a bit dangerous. '
"No, let me rephrase. I said I will treat you to a meal tomorrow," Leansei corrected quickly.
"You already uttered the word 'anything.'"
"I said I'll treat you."
"I'm suddenly not hearing a single thing you're saying."
"Then how on earth did you just reply to me?"
"..."
.
In the end, Leansei realized he simply couldn't win an argument with this stubborn bastard. They finally made their way outside the establishment after Xerchin effortlessly settled the expensive bill.
' Did we seriously come all the way to this luxury place just so he could treat me to a meal? He barely even touched his own food earlier... And does he actually have a girlfriend? If he does, they surely must look incredibly good together. '
Lost in the suffocating depth of his thoughts, Leansei didn't notice Xerchin sudden halt and crashed face-first directly into the boy's broad back. He jumped back, aggressively rubbing his smarting forehead since it felt like he had just collided with a solid brick wall.
"Why did you just stop out of—?" He couldn't even finish the complaint before Xerchin slowly turned around to face him.
"Do you want to take a walk with me?" Leansei stood dazed, staring up at Xerchin's face. He quickly diverted his eyes to break the spell, but after a quiet second, he gave a small, reluctant nod.
' Why does my chest tighten like this every single time I look into his eyes? Those mesmerizing, merchanting blue eyes. '
They walked in comfortable silence, leaving the restaurant behind and entering a nearby public park. The area was exceptionally wide and large, beautifully designed with winding pathways, wooden benches, a vibrant garden, a playground, and outdoor exercise equipment. A massive, serene lake bordered the edge of the property.
Since evening was fast approaching, the sunset bleeding across the horizon was simply too gorgeous to ignore. The fresh, cold evening breeze gently brushed against their skin, swirling rustic autumn leaves across the pavement. The soothing sound of dancing tree branches and the quiet chirps of birds settling into the leaves made the entire atmosphere feel incredibly enchanting.
"The sunset is so beautiful," Leansei said softly, a genuine, jovial smile breaking across his face as he watched the vibrant colors reflect off the lake.
A few quiet seconds stretched between them before Xerchin finally responded. "Yes. It really is."The unusual warmth in Xerchin's voice caused Leansei to turn his head in surprise. The moment he did, his breath hitched. He froze in a complete daze, realizing that Xerchin wasn't looking at the horizon at all.
He was staring directly at Leansei.
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