43
Plan B
Before Kuno could come to his senses, Sebastian grabbed his hair and punched him in the cheek. With a thud, Kuno staggered towards me, but Sebastian’s blazing eyes sent me a warning. Just try to catch him? I quickly dodged Kuno, and he tumbled to the floor, knocking over my stool.
Nice punch, my boy.
I thought he was just rich, but he’s strong too. While I was admiring this, Sebastian was kicking Kuno with his long legs.
By the way, we originally intended to approach Josef Kuno. We came to get friendly with him, but after spilling drinks and beating him up like this, it’ll be difficult to become friends, right…?
Maybe it’ll turn into a “You’re the first one to hit me” kind of development, I thought, when Josef Kuno suddenly swung something. Sebastian managed to dodge backwards, but if he hadn’t, he would have been seriously injured. Because what Kuno had in his hand was a knife.
“Hey, come out.”
Our guy might hit a bit, but swinging a blade? Don’t you see his face? He’s not only the son of a wealthy family, but his looks, his beauty is heavenly. If you ruin that, do you have the ability to restore it?
Sebastian forcefully pulled out the reluctant Kuno. Josef Kuno’s eyes were rolling with rage. Ah, yes, yes. These are the eyes. With eyes like these, you can beat someone to death. You made me misunderstand earlier when you pretended to be normal for a moment, didn’t you?
Kuno swung the knife at me. The knife that drew a large semicircle, coming close to me and then moving away, was laughable.
“Struggle more.”
You need to do more, you bastard.
When Kuno swung the knife again, I caught his wrist. I pulled in the direction it was coming and bent it downwards. The music was too loud to hear the sound, but I could clearly feel the vibration of his arm breaking. Aaargh. His scream was so loud that it slightly reached my ears. At the same time, the knife fell limply from his hand.
“Try to make more of a fuss so it doesn’t feel like I’m bullying the weak.”
When I lifted Kuno’s broken arm, he screamed. The music suddenly cut off, causing his scream to tear through the entire club. I could feel the men who had been dancing, either caught up in their own emotions or drunk or high, all turning to look at me at once.
Oh, shit.
I threw Kuno aside and grabbed Sebastian’s arm. As expected, the sound of camera shutters started somewhere. Yeah, that’s the problem. In modern society, you can’t escape those damn cameras.
Everything went wrong.
The next morning, we sat side by side eating salad and tearing bread, playing the “last night was ruined because of you” game. We were even pointing fingers at each other when David Nakaban approached with a much colder expression than usual, striding in and slamming a newspaper down on our table with a thud, in the empty space where there was no food.
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a paper newspaper. I guess there are still people who read those.
This house really doesn’t feel like the 21st century. As I clicked my tongue, Sebastian seemed to have discovered something else. He reached out and picked up the newspaper. And he started reading the article.
“Sebastian Riegel, the eldest son of Michael Riegel, chairman of the Riegel Financial Group, appeared at a famous gay club downtown. The man who was embroiled in dating rumors with a famous actress two years ago has now been confirmed to be involved in a love quarrel at a gay club. According to an anonymous witness, there was a love triangle drama involving two men with Riegel in the middle, and an Asian-looking man subdued the other man with violence, then took Riegel’s hand and…”
“Ah, that’s an exaggeration.”
The article seems too dramatic. I just made a comment because I felt wronged, but Nakaban, who had been silent with his mouth tightly shut while reading that long article, shot me a sharp look like an eagle that had found its prey.
“Didn’t you say you were going to get friendly…?”
“Well, that was the plan.”
I was clearly trying to take the position of Josef Kuno’s friend from a past life, you know? I even memorized all of Kuno’s preferences for that. Sebastian ordering expensive whiskey was also to attract the attention of Kuno, who is a heavy drinker and whiskey collector. Of course, 2.2 million Leed was a bit much.
But then, he suddenly.
“He swung a knife at Sebastian!”
“What?!”
Nakaban was startled and checked Sebastian’s body all over.
“Are, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No. My lover is from Security Department 1.”
At Sebastian’s words, Nakaban glanced at me.
‘Is this lover statement a fully agreed-upon matter between you two?’
His eyes were asking.
The answer was difficult. Well. I like Sebastian too, but if you say lover, it’s somehow… a bit burdensome. I know that looking at what we do to each other, there’s nothing lacking to use that word. But what kind of relationship is a lover anyway?
I don’t really want to be tied to Sebastian with that word.
When I slightly avoided Nakaban’s gaze, my side profile felt hot. Nakaban was staring at me intently as if I was just playing around with Sebastian.
“It can’t be helped.”
It was Sebastian’s light voice that broke the tense atmosphere between us two.
“If it’s come to this, we have to go with Plan B.”
“There was a Plan B?”
In a situation where we’ve completely crushed the arm of the person we were supposed to get close to, can there be a Plan B? I asked, half doubtful and half expectant, and Sebastian stabbed a salad with his fork and put it in my mouth. As I chewed, I realized that all the ingredients in the salad were evenly distributed. How does he even fork so well?
As I was looking at Sebastian’s face while chewing, he said,
“Do you know what’s closer than a friend?”
Ah, this is easy.
“An enemy.”
“That’s right.”
If that’s the case, we’ve already done enough. Josef Kuno probably wants to tear us to pieces and chew and swallow each piece slowly.
“Even if we’ve become enemies, I don’t think Kuno can get through this incredible security of yours to approach you?”
To be precise, he can’t approach. Moreover, Sebastian’s bodyguards are not just bodyguards, they’re almost at the level of a lord and his knights in medieval terms. In the case of Kouri, the head of security, doesn’t his wife worry about Riegel? What I’ve felt while staying in this house recently is that all of Sebastian’s employees sincerely care about him. Even that maid wearing that strange costume is sincere to Sebastian. It feels like more than just the expected service for someone who pays you.
“Nakaban.”
“Yes, Mr. Riegel.”
“Find the CCTV footage of Josef Kuno swinging a knife at me. Make him wish he’d never been born.”
I was curious about how he intended to make someone wish they’d never been born, but Nakaban simply said, “Yes. I’ll start right away,” and immediately left the dining room. His retreating figure exuded a determination to crush the bastard who had swung a knife at Sebastian. Sebastian’s order seemed to be more like permission than an actual order.
“What are you going to do? Send Kouri?”
If he’s from SAAD, he should know how to ruin someone’s life. And if it were a civilian it would be one thing, but is Josef Kuno just any civilian? His father is a terrorist, and he’s using that as a banner to commit serial murders. If you’ve killed more than three people in a similar way, that’s a serial killer, right?
“What are you saying, having such violent thoughts? That won’t do.”
Sebastian spoke in a tone as if scolding a child and then put a piece of ham in my mouth. It’s ridiculous, but the ham is delicious. Even a small piece of ham is this tasty. I want to get annoyed at being treated like a child, but the ham I’m eating while being treated like a child is so delicious that I can’t get annoyed…
“Then?”
“We live in a democratic society, don’t we?”
That’s right, and the guy we’re trying to deal with is the son of a father who’s having a fit every moment because he’s dissatisfied with that.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes and smiled. The way he licked his lips was almost like something you’d see in bed. With such a sensual face, he said,
“The law.”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to sue. Not just Josef Kuno, but also that gay club. And that newspaper. And I’ll strongly protest to Canaris as well. I have no intention of using violence. Why use a gun? A gun can only kill one person.”
Sebastian added while elegantly cutting smoked salmon with a knife.
“I’ll make Josef Kuno hate me even in his dreams.”
There’s no need to go that far.
We just needed to get involved moderately. Whether as enemies or friends, what mattered was creating some kind of relationship. If we could approach Canaris through Josef Kuno, that would be enough. There was no need to create a bitter enemy who would resent us even in their dreams.
Moreover, with a guy whose eyes roll at the slightest provocation? It was dangerous.
“Why don’t you take it easy?”
At my words, Sebastian fell into thought for a moment. He seemed to be recalling something, or perhaps reviewing something. Then he smiled slightly.
“I’ve never lacked anything since I was born.”
Suddenly bragging about himself?
“Uh, yeah…”
It’s too sudden, but somehow Sebastian doesn’t seem to be in a good mood to point that out, so I just nodded.
“So I think I didn’t know well.”
There’s no need to ask what. Because after being silent for a while, lost in thought, Sebastian finally looked at me.
“My own tendencies.”
“Tendencies?”
“It turns out, I’m the type with a bit of possessiveness.”
I guess so. That’s why you leave kiss marks in places I don’t know about. There were numerous kiss marks on my nape that everyone in the world except me knew about. I was grumbling to myself that I’d have to grow my hair out when it happened.
“Let’s step on Josef Kuno and try to get inside Canaris.”
“His father, August Kuno, won’t sit still, you know?”
“If he doesn’t sit still?”
Sebastian’s eyes took on a cool light. In his eyes was the conviction that August Kuno would abandon his son and choose him.
