Mikhail stared at Adrian and Kyle, who were happily chatting with each other, his face twisted in a sulky scowl. At first, he simply crossed his arms and glared at them. The two seemed to have far more to talk about than expected—their conversation showed no signs of ending.
“So, we’re heading out for a field survey because of what we found near the Hildeke Cliffs last time.”
“Ah, perfect timing. I was just about to run out of that reagent.”
“About that survey, though…”
As always, Mikhail’s patience wore thin in no time.
Tap, tap. Mikhail struck the heel of his shoe against the floor a few times, as if telling them to wrap it up already. A slight furrow creased his otherwise handsome brow.
“Aren’t we going? You gave me grief for showing up late, and now you’re ready to stand around chatting all day?”
Do they really have that much to talk about, even though they see each other every day? Mikhail pouted his lips.
Adrian, who’d been speaking with Kyle, stopped mid-sentence and turned toward Mikhail. Ah, right. We were on our way to lunch. Adrian, thinking it was a miracle Mikhail had waited this long without saying a word, turned to Kyle.
“Sunbae. We were actually just about to grab lunch.”
He tried to end the conversation by saying he’d drop by the Ordinas clubroom later. Kyle’s eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands lightly.
“Really? Nice! I haven’t eaten yet either. Let’s go together.”
“Together?”
Adrian immediately glanced over at Mikhail beside him. After all, it was the person offering to buy lunch who should get to decide.
“What do you think, Mikhail?”
“No.”
“……”
It was a response that could not have been more expected. So why bother asking in the first place?
“Aw, come on. What do you mean no? Let’s go! I’ll treat you guys to something good.”
Kyle burst into laughter at Mikhail’s blunt reply. Then, without hesitation, he smacked Mikhail hard on the back, thwack, with the flat of his palm. He clearly mistook Mikhail’s answer, which had been laced with sincere annoyance, as nothing more than a dry joke. Mikhail glared at Kyle in irritation, but when he saw the odd expression on Adrian’s face as he looked at him, he let out a small sigh.
Adrian probably had no idea how many pitiful errands Mikhail had to run just to scrape together enough Tilon for lunch today. If only gold were accepted in Basamiel, he could’ve splurged and shown off by treating him every day. Then again, Adrian probably preferred something like a greenhouse or an orchard over a meal. Isis, where he lived alone, was a city known for its arid weather. If he had greenhouses or orchards, he could grow a wider variety of plant species there.
“Mikhail.”
Adrian’s clear voice snapped Mikhail out of his thoughts in front of the restaurant’s menu board. He shook the thoughts from his head in an instant.
“It’s your turn to order. Oh, right—you always go for the A course, don’t you?”
Adrian jerked his chin toward the restaurant menu. Mikhail lifted his head lazily, his expression indifferent.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
A Course ✧ Tenderloin Steak (+5 Tilon surcharge)
B Course ✧ Grilled Rosemary Flounder (+3 Tilon surcharge)
C Course ✧ Creamy Shrimp Pasta (+1 Tilon surcharge)
Today’s Menu ✧ Caesar Salad and Pea Soup
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
Right next to him, Kyle grinned.
“Order whatever you want. It’s on me.”
Is that so? Mikhail glanced at Kyle, one side of his lip curling up. He raised his index finger and swept it down the menu board from top to bottom before picking out two dishes.
“A Course and B Course.”
“……Mikhail. The two of us already ordered, though?”
Adrian pointed out Mikhail’s odd order in a less-than-enthusiastic tone. Mikhail had never been the type to overeat—he always dined with a refined sense of moderation.
“Today, I’m having two courses.”
Mikhail was resolute.
Kyle nodded without the slightest hesitation and ordered both dishes as Mikhail requested. His expression said, If my hoobae wants to eat, of course I’ll treat him—what kind of sunbae wouldn’t?
“You must be starving from all the training lately. Eat up—don’t worry about it.”
…So basically, he’s saying he’s loaded with Tilon. Mikhail found Kyle’s smug expression all the more irritating. Of all days, he just had to barge in when Mikhail was finally about to treat Adrian to a meal. That flashy smile and easygoing personality rubbed him the wrong way, too. So, just as Kyle was about to finalize the order with the restaurant staff, Mikhail opened his mouth again.
“Then I’ll have to add the C Course as well.”
“What?”
Adrian muttered from beside him, but Mikhail ignored him completely.
The staff member taking their order looked up sharply at the unexpected addition, then glanced toward Kyle for confirmation, since he’d be the one footing the bill. Kyle nodded with the confidence of a dependable upperclassman, placing a hand on Adrian’s shoulder to his left and Mikhail’s to his right.
Mikhail immediately brushed off the hand that had landed on his shoulder without permission.
With a bland, professional smile, the staff member swiped 17 Tilon from the back of Kyle’s hand.
“All five courses have been ordered. Please have a seat and wait for your server.”
Mikhail gave a slight nod with his usual dispassionate expression and turned on his heel to head to the table. Adrian glanced once at Kyle, who was still grinning to himself, then shook his head and followed after.
***
“I’ve brought out the meals you ordered… but first, I need to check if I’ve got the right table.”
The server pushing the tray noticed only three people seated and brought the order slip closer to read it carefully. Adrian gave a small nod and spoke up.
“They’re ours. Please place all the A, B, and C courses in front of the person next to me.”
At that, the server let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Ah, good. That’s a relief.”
He stopped the tray beside the table with a smooth motion and began placing the fully loaded plates one by one.
“……”
Mikhail merely looked down at the beautifully arranged dishes being set in front of him. Even before picking up his utensils, he already looked like he’d lost his appetite.
“Well then, please enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you.”
Only Adrian and Kyle responded to the server’s farewell. Both of them stole a glance at Mikhail, who sat in silence, staring at the plates laid out before him.
“Just how much training have you been doing? Are you actually gonna finish all that?”
Kyle asked with a grin barely held in check. He was starting to catch on to the odd dynamic between Adrian and Mikhail. That sulky face, all worked up from having their time together hijacked—it was obvious.
Then he turned his head to check Adrian’s expression, who was already quietly eating. Yeah, there was no way Adrian had picked up on any of this. That made Kyle’s next move clear. As a proud fourth-year student at Basamiel, helping out a lovestruck freshman in distress was surely the right thing to do.
But…
Kyle pressed his lips together to stop the corners from curling into a mischievous grin.
Of course, he’d help… just after teasing him a little more!
Resting his chin on one hand, he stared intently at Adrian, who sat across from him quietly eating.
“Anyway, as I was saying earlier—we’re heading out to the Hildeke Cliffs for the next field survey.”
Adrian took a sip of tea mid-bite, lifting his cup to his lips as if to say, And?
Right beside him, Mikhail raised one eyebrow as he listlessly chewed a piece of steak, looking as if his soul had checked out.
“If you’re interested, you could come too. Though it might be a bit advanced for a freshman… But you did say you wanted to look deeper into the source of black mana, didn’t you?”
“…Black mana?”
Mikhail’s low voice cut in the moment Kyle finished his sentence. For some reason, there was a chill in the air.
“Adrian. You’ve been researching black mana all this time?”
“Yeah.”
“…If that’s what it was, you should’ve told me.”
“Should I have? I figured you wouldn’t be interested in Kyle sunbae’s research topics.”
You always looked bored whenever I talked about the plants I’m raising or the Kevish saplings—Adrian’s casual add-on made a spark flicker in Mikhail’s eyes.
“Of course I’m not interested in those! But black mana is connected to our kingdom, isn’t it? We heard about it together at the royal capital, so I have every right to know.”
“Ah, I see…”
Adrian glanced sideways at Mikhail’s face. He just wanted to give Mikhail what he wanted and get it over with quickly.
“So what—you’re saying you want to be Kyle sunbae’s assistant too?”
“That’s not it!”
The one who answered that question wasn’t Mikhail or Adrian, but Kyle, who had been listening quietly from the side.
