#71
“I see you’ve been well. You look good. I hear your business is doing well too?”
“Well, I’m doing alright… How about you, hyung?”
“For someone stupid like me, working with my body like this is much more enjoyable than inheriting the family business.”
“Even when you get lost?”
“Ah… about that…”
Sitting across from James at a large dining table that could seat at least twelve people, Noah looked at his cleaned-up appearance and sighed softly.
Honestly, contrary to his desire for an intimate atmosphere where they could sit at a small table for two and their heads would almost touch if they leaned in a bit, the current distance between Noah and James was from one end of the table to the other.
Why not just sit right next to me, or use the corner to sit closer… We’re not in a formal relationship that requires this distance, are we?
Having to raise his voice just to be heard, Noah clenched his fists and abruptly stood up. Ignoring the maid waiting nearby, he sat down in the seat next to James, rested his arms on the table, propped his chin on his hands, and stared at him.
He does look cleaner now that he’s washed up. His lip is still split, and there’s a bit of swelling and bruising near the cut on his forehead, but this is good enough!
Though he wasn’t normally this shameless, when Noah recalled the pile of party invitations he had just received from the butler, he figured he had nothing to lose.
“Hyung.”
“…”
Seeing James’s expression, unable to hide his bewilderment, the tiny conscience deep in Noah’s heart began to stir slightly.
“Do you have a lover?”
“Cough—”
Was that too direct? I didn’t see a ring on his finger.
Still, this was the first thing Noah needed to know to proceed with his plan, so he carefully observed as James’s ear tips turned red following his surprise. He doesn’t seem to have one.
“Then, has your family arranged someone for you? I mean an arranged marriage.”
Though people claim love should be the foundation, what can you do when the background and situation are what they are? Arranged marriages among nobles or wealthy people were common.
“No, not that. But Noah…”
Should I praise myself for making the usually confident and articulate James stutter?
“Hyung, do you perhaps need money?”
Ah… no. How could I mention money to the eldest son of the merchant guild? After slapping his own lips once for the slip of the tongue, Noah continued.
“Would you like a promotion?”
I can’t promote you myself, but I do have connections with the imperial family…
James’s expression, which had been full of confusion, surprise, incredulity, and a lack of understanding of the situation, gradually returned to his usual composed face.
“Is something wrong? Is there anything I can help you with?”
James placed his large hand over Noah’s, which was casually resting on the table, and asked with kindness, causing Noah’s eyes to widen.
“Tell me. I’ll do whatever I can for you.”
With James patting Noah’s hand soothingly and speaking with such a serious expression, Noah’s cheeks turned slightly pink.
Is this flirting? Suddenly being so affectionate, initiating physical contact, and getting that handsome face so close—that’s not fair!
“It seems like you have something to say to me. Feel free to speak comfortably.”
“Well, so… if you don’t have a lover and… um, if you’re not arranged to marry someone…”
“Then?”
Wow, that’s dangerous. Don’t smile like that. Oh, this isn’t good. What is this?
Is it because I haven’t seen people my age for a while? Have I lost touch from dealing with middle-aged businessmen with potbellies and balding heads every day? Why is he unnecessarily affectionate? Isn’t it illegal to lower your voice like that?
“Fake…”
“AH!!”
Since he said he’d do whatever he could for me, first, please let go of my hand.
But just as Noah was about to bring up the main point of asking James to be his fake boyfriend, a startled scream erupted from James’s mouth.
“Grrrr.”
Seeing Aeongi firmly biting James’s heel and shaking his head as if he’d caught prey, Noah covered his face with both hands in dismay.
“Oh my, are you alright?”
“N…no. Um…”
As the maid who had rushed over in surprise asked about his well-being, and James couldn’t bring himself to say he was fine, Noah jumped up from his seat and flicked Aeongi’s nose hard with his fingertip, as Aeongi still refused to let go of James’s foot.
“Kyaang~”
As Aeongi retreated in pain, what caught Noah’s eye was James’s foot with red blood flowing. I really can’t live like this. Why is he being so disobedient and causing trouble today of all days?
“It’s okay.”
“…No, it’s not okay.”
Noah coldly pointed out James’s situation, countering James’s words which might have been meant to reassure Noah.
A quiet dinner for two, sharing a drink while talking about how they’d been living, building friendship… that’s what he had wanted.
Although it was a transaction, Noah’s dream of finding a good compromise for both of them and imagining a happy future was ruthlessly abandoned.
Immediately afterward, James had to see the resident doctor for the knights of Schwein Castle and had to have a thick bandage wrapped around his foot. Moreover, due to the fatigue from wandering in the mountains and his recent injury, the doctor prescribed a sedative, insisting he needed absolute rest. Before they could have a proper conversation, James fell into a deep sleep in the guest room.
Thinking about how the day had passed in a blur, Noah came out after washing and clicked his tongue at the sight of Aeongi, now enlarged, lying flat on his bed. Aeongi had never acted like this before, but today alone he had caused numerous incidents.
The most significant was biting James hard enough to draw blood, but there were smaller incidents too, like deliberately prancing in front of James as he walked, almost tripping him. At first, Noah thought it was an accident, but looking back now, it seemed like Aeongi had done it intentionally.
Even when Noah went to bring clothes to James, Aeongi insisted on following and ended up dropping the freshly dried new coat in water while playing around. Since only the coat was soaked, not the entire outfit, James had to return wearing just thin clothes without an overcoat.
If all these weren’t coincidences but incidents caused by Aeongi…
Seeing him yawn widely with his big mouth and prepare for sleep without a care in the world, as if he didn’t know what Noah was going through, made Noah’s blood boil. What am I supposed to do because of you? What about all those invitations piled up in the study?
If James had agreed to be his fake boyfriend, everything would have been solved. He wouldn’t have needed to attend all those parties—just participating in a couple of major main parties would have spread the rumors throughout this small social circle, and then he wouldn’t have had to attend any more strange parties disguised as blind dates.
“Hey.”
As Noah approached the bed, drying his wet hair with a towel, kind words were unlikely to come from his mouth.
“Hey~”
No response from the one I call. With his front legs crossed, head resting on them, and eyes closed, Aeongi didn’t budge. I know you’re not sleeping.
“Aeongi!”
After calling three times and being ignored all three times, Noah lifted one foot and nudged Aeongi with his toe. When Aeongi was small, Noah could do as he pleased, but now that he had grown so massive, even the adult Noah couldn’t forcibly move or handle Aeongi.
“Hey!!”
Throwing aside the towel he had been using to dry his hair, Noah climbed onto the bed and grabbed Aeongi’s two ears, pulling them straight up. I know this doesn’t hurt you that much.
As Aeongi’s ears were pulled up, his eyelids were also pulled up, making him awkwardly open his eyes. Meeting Aeongi’s gaze, Noah glared at him fiercely.
“You! You did it on purpose.”
Their eyes met only briefly before Aeongi turned his head away sharply as if he was the one who should be angry, leaving Noah flabbergasted. Noah burrowed into Aeongi’s embrace.
“Aeongi Schwein! Open your eyes. I know you’re not sleeping. Do you think I don’t know?”
After calling Aeongi by name, Noah added the Schwein surname as if they were family, calling him by his full name, and then pulled on his long whiskers. Even when he pulled hard enough to lift Aeongi’s upper lip slightly, Aeongi maintained his act of sleeping. Noah then flopped down limply on top of Aeongi.
When he was young, climbing on top of Aeongi like this wouldn’t have been heavy, but now Noah was an adult. He rolled his body onto Aeongi, who was almost in the middle of the bed, and kept rolling from right to left. Finally, as if it became annoying, a small “Ung-” sound escaped from Aeongi’s mouth.
“Because you’ve been causing trouble all day, I couldn’t ask James to be my fake boyfriend. What are we going to do now? Do you want me to be dragged to parties all the time, being introduced to this person and that person, and forced to dance? Huh? Do you want me to get married and not be able to do what I want, and have children? Ah, this is really something I can’t adapt to or understand… Anyway, do you want me to have children and just, huh? Live ordinarily like other people?”
“…”
“And why did you bite James? Since when did you start biting people? What did James do wrong? He’s handsome. He’s kind. If I married into James’s family, everyone would understand. Plus, if my in-laws—ah, I can’t get used to this either. Anyway, if my in-laws were the merchant guild, how helpful would that be for my business! But now you’ve ruined it. No… Maybe you were helping? Since James is hurt, he’ll have to stay at the castle for a few more days…”
Noah lay beside Aeongi, rapidly firing off words, and remained still even as Aeongi’s thick front leg draped over his body. And he didn’t stop talking even when that front leg supported his back and pulled him in, cradling him against that broad, firm chest.
Eventually, as Noah lay on his side facing Aeongi, using one of his front legs as a pillow while the other front leg patted his back regularly, Noah’s mouth continued to move relentlessly. However, it didn’t take long for his speech to gradually slow down, his pronunciation to blur, and finally stop.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
