Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Roan Academy, the very elite under the elite.

It was an Academy which had been there for a very long time. Its rather famous name was internationally known by many countries and lots of foreign students wanted to visit the British Academy, even though it was a boarding school.

Too bad, that Roan Academy only accepted three kinds of students – the very elite with lots of money and famous parents with influence, smart students which were also seen as prodigies and very talented people in sports.

As people didn’t have to be intelligent in order to be a smart person, the Roan entrance exam focused more on the individuals. Of course it also had a very hard entrance exam which was said to be harder than the one from Harvard. No one go a 100% there, as of now.

Alberu Crossman exchanged looks with Choi Han, the president of the martial arts club, before looking at his vice-president, then back at the document in front of him.

It was given to him by the principal Eruhaben who had had a smile on his lips while giving him the papers. ´It´s an interesting one this time´, were his words.

“Is this real?”

Alberu´s question made the vice-president of the student council laugh, but he didn’t answer his student council president. Choi Han took the papers while he shook his head.

“Cale Henituse…I´ve never heard of him, but that doesn’t mean anything. He is a foreigner, so that´s to be expected.”

“Hm, but I can´t find anything about a Cale Henituse in the internet. Though, the Henituse family is one of the three richest families in South Korea. Google says that the Henituse family has three children, one Basen, one Lily and one name isn’t known. There is also no social media account or anything like that.”

The vice-president put away his phone as he found it to be very mysterious. Normally, if he googled any name, a social media account would pop up but Cale seemed to be non-existent. It was more than just strange.

“Haaa, my poor life.”

Alberu looked one last time at the document. Cale Henituse, sixteen years old, 5´8 feet tall/173 cm in height (rather tall for a Koran but on the smaller side in Great Britain), 100% in every taken test.

Either he cheated and bought his grades or he was indeed a genius. But if he was, he would have been indeed perfect. The picture that was copied on the paper and showed the boy seemed to be made half-assed, as if he didn’t care about it at all. Still, he looked handsome. No, handsome wasn’t the really right word, he was stunning and beautiful. His wild red hair that looked like he had just woken up went well with the simple caramel hoodie he wore. His reddish-brown eyes looked sleepy and he had small rings under his eyes, as if he wouldn’t get enough sleep. But they were too small to be noticed. The blood-red hair was on the longer side and went a bit past his shoulders. His appearance made it seem as if he wasn’t really aware that this photo had been taken, as it was not something one would wear to make a photo.

Alberu noticed the narrow looking shoulders. The boy was on the thin side…on the very thin to be more precise.

But beside that he seemed perfect. And something perfect couldn’t exist in this world after all. There were bound to be some flaws.

“Let´s just wait and see. Choi Han, would you want him in your club?”

Choi Han took the picture out of Alberu´s hand and glanced at the boy. He thought that the boy looked cute and sweet, he had to work hard in order to suppress his blush. Then he looked at his stature.

“He looks weak.”

He couldn’t really help it as he bluntly spoke the truth. Alberu let out a deep sigh once more.

“And?”

Choi Han already knew that this boy wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. His instincts were telling him and he had learnt to trust them.

“As you said, Council President, let´s wait and see. Who knows, maybe he´s a jackass and dumbass, who knows?”

Alberu found the vice-president´s words to be ridiculous. Did someone as small and weak looking like that made the impression to be a jackass?

Alberu sighed once more. Yes, let´s just wait and see.

~

Ron Molan readied the lemon tea which he prepared every morning for his young master-nim as he finally decided that it was time to wake him up. He then entered the dark room in which Cale Henituse was sleeping and opened the curtains, after what the sun immediately shone into the room.

Currently, the oldest son of the Henituse family was staying in the Henituse Residence in Great Britain. Today was the day Cale and his loyal butler Ron Molan would leave the Residence to Beacrox and Hans, two servants of the family, and go to the dorms of the Academy.

As Ron turned around he could see that Cale was already sitting in the bed. He had laid his head on his knees and breathed hectically, though he was trying to calm his breath. Ron´s benign smile faded as if it hadn’t ever been there before and he remembered the incident which occurred in Cale´s last High School back in Korea.

“Good morning young master-nim.”

Ron approached Cale in order to support his body so he could sit more comfortable.

“Ron.”

Cale´s voice was quiet but loud enough for Ron to hear. Even though the old man was already in his late sixties, his senses weren’t human.

“Yes, young master-nim?”

Ron handed Cale the tea cup which Cale accepted while frowning. He didn’t like this sour tea one bit.

“As you´re coming with me to the dorms, I wish that you don´t tell anyone about my condition, understood?”

Now Ron´s smile faded once more and the vicious look in his eyes became more present. Cale, who wanted to shiver, ignored it as well as his desire to shiver. He got a bit scared by his loyal subordinate who cared more for Cale than both would ever admit.

Ron wanted to shake his head as Cale already spoke.

“I know Ron, I promise that I´ll take care of my body properly. After school I´ll return to the dorm either way, so it won´t be so dangerous. Just don´t tell anyone.”

Cale shuddered. At his last school, his father had made sure that anyone knew of his weak body and his illness. Even though all the students respected him and talked to him respectfully, they kind of behaved around him as if he could die by any false move they made. As if he was handicapped and they pitied him. The only friend he made was also the only person who acted different and didn’t see him as a “lesser” human just because of the illness. But this was all in the past now.

Ron let out a deep sigh before he nodded and his benign smile returned as if it had never vanished in first place.

“As young master-nim wishes.”

Ron then handed Cale the tea which made Cale frown even more. He still drank the tea though. Ron then handed him the pill he needed to take twice a day. Cale didn’t like taking it, but else his body wouldn’t be able to last the day. He probably would faint and before too long he would be in a life-threatening coma.

“Young master-nim, I´ll prepare a bath for you. Young master-nim´s school uniform is already in the bathroom. Please hurry, as it is almost time to depart.”

Cale nodded as he got out of bed. As every morning, he felt a bit dizzy and had a light headache, but nothing serious, as he knew it was caused by the pill he took. It would go away during the day. He then went to the bathroom to wash all the sweat from his pale skin. He sighed. It was just seven in the morning, normally the boy slept till noon. This was the reason he hated school and loved vacation. He could then slack off, just as he wanted.

Cale heard the meowing of his two cats On and Hong which he had taken under his wing after finding them half-starved on the streets. Cale then stood up and looked in the mirror. His beautiful blood-red hair looked exactly like his mother´s. He remembered her gentle touch and lovely expression whenever she looked at him. Yes, she had been a wonderful woman before she died in a car accident in which she had protected the six-year old boy ten years ago. Cale still had a scar on the left side of his abdomen because of the metal stick that pierced through his mother and him.

He put his hand on the not too small scar as it had the same size as his hand.

Cale then turned around and ignored the nagging feelings as he put on his typical stoic expression together with the black school uniform. It was a school uniform that fit his small body perfectly. The cream colored vest that he put over his white shirt felt strangely warm and comfortable.

He then put his hair together and exited the bath room. He headed down the residence and walked to the entrance, where Ron welcomed the young teenager. He knew that Cale would use the little time he had as an excuse to not eat, and so Beacrox, Ron´s son and the master chef who willingly followed the young master to Great Britain, packed him a little breakfast-package.

Ron handed Cale the paper bag and then pulled the young master´s school bag over his shoulder. It was heavier than he expected and he didn’t like it one bit. He exchanged glances with the head butler Hans who held Cale´s two kittens. Cale just sighed as he took out a cookie from the paper bag and began to eat it.

Beacrox´ cookies truly were the best.

The black Rolls Royce that was one of the Henituse´s cars was parked in the forecourt and was waiting for the young master to head in. The driver was a black man that looked like the soulmate of the black car. He had lived his whole life in Great Britain and worked for the really rich Henituse family since he had become a college student to pay his bills. After, he decided to stay as the Henituse family payed better than most cooperation and the head hadn’t even visited once.

“Good morning, young master-nim.”

The Korean of the driver was pretty bad and Cale just sighed as he exchanged glances with Ron.

“You can speak in English.”

Cale spoke very well in English, almost as if he was a native speaker himself. You couldn’t hear his Korean accent – or any accent at all. The driver was very surprised. He had been given the information that Cale had never even once visited another country beside France, and even though he knew Cale could speak English rather well, he hadn’t expected that he could speak as if he had been born here.

“Y-yes.”

The driver hated himself that he had stuttered while talking to the sickly looking teenager that gave off and incredibly pressure-full aura.

“My name is Will, and I am happy to be your driver.”

Cale just nodded as Will opened the door for Cale to sit in. Ron gave Will his benign smile as he followed Cale inside the car and sat down right next to the young boy. After Will closed the door he excitedly headed to the driver´s seat and started driving to Roan Academy.

Back in the days, he remembered how he had wanted to attend the famous academy and how he failed the entrance exams because they were simply too difficult to understand. All the more the admired the young teenage boy who managed to get in without any effort at all. He was truly a genius. He had a very bright future waiting for him!

Well, if his anemia wouldn’t cause him any more problems than already that is…

Cale sighed as the car started to move and he looked out of the window. He remembered how his mother always talked about how beautiful Great Britain, Manchester to be more precise was. Jour Thames, Cale´s mother, was born in Manchester. It was her hometown. She too had tried to get into Roan Academy, but she failed. It wasn’t because she was stupid, but more because she met Deruth Henituse and had other matters in her mind. She then moved with him to Korea and got married. After, she was pregnant with Cale.

It was the reason why she visited Manchester with the young Cale when he was just five years old. Jour Thames´ parents were dead and thus she didn’t come here very often. Still, her hometown was her hometown.

Manchester was truly a beautiful town.

“…master-nim. Young master-nim!”

Cale turned around at the sudden call and stared at Ron who smiled benignly as always.

“You should eat. We´ll be there in approximately ten minutes.”

Cale nodded as he ate another cookie. He looked outside once again. Ron sighed. He remembered what had happened four years ago better than anyone else. The years after Jour Thames´ death were hard, extremely hard. But no one´s pain could even hope to be compared with the young child´s.

Even worse was that no one noticed it until it was too late.

Cale had stopped eating with twelve and fainted weekly, which was the reason Deruth had forced him to go to the doctor. Never ever had he thought that Cale could have a serious disease like anemia in its latter stages. It was strange that no one noticed anything. Even though Ron did, he didn’t think it was bad. He gave himself the guilt.

“We have arrived, I´ll open your door right away young master!”

Will exited the car and only mere seconds later he opened the door on Ron´s side, so that he could exit before Cale got the chance to. It was simply for security reasons. Cale sighed as he closed Beacrox´ paper bag and followed Ron. His stoic expression was present as always. He looked at Will who looked like a hurt puppy. Cale sighed once more.

“Ron, hand me my bag. Head back with Will and get our luggage. Also, bring On and Hong as they are allowed to live in the dorms. Then wait there for my return.”

Ron nodded. He too understood that Cale didn’t want to stand out too much – not that he would as lots of rich-boys attended this academy. But walking around with a butler who did just anything you asked him to do and who looked like he would serve the royal family? Nah, that was just too much, even for the rich boys.

“Please take care, as you promised, young master-nim.”

Cale nodded as he waved his hand. Ron then handed him the school bag. To say that Cale looked funny was an understatement. His hands were slightly shaking what made Ron sigh. He had to put all his effort into his smile, so that he didn’t discontinue it.

“See you later.”

With those words Cale turned around and headed towards the black gates of the Academy. Hell knows why those gates were black. The Academy behind them was as white as dirty snow. Yes, it had been white once, but kind of became yellowish-brown. The roof was red as it was made out of red bricks.

It was quite a nice sight for an Academy. It was bigger than Cale had expected it to be, as only three hundred students attended it – one hundred per grade level. It wasn’t an abnormality that foreigners studied here, though it was strange that a foreigner visited the school in the midst of the year. Cale was a second year here, as he had already absolved the first year of High School.

As Cale entered the old building, he looked at the grey halls and cream walls. It was truly a fancy school as it was neat and nice-looking. Something his old High School was not.

Cale walked towards the locker room and searched for the number 289, which was his locker. It was a big one in a dark red color that looked like any other locker as well, nothing too special about it for sure. Cale let out a deep sigh. He didn’t need his papers as he already memorized everything. He entered the four-number-password and put his school bag together with the paper bag full of Beacrox´ food in it.

After, Cale walked to the secretary as he promised the principal.

Knock, knock.

Eruhaben looked up from his paperwork and called the one who knocked in. He was aware that this was Cale, but of course there was the possibility that it was Choi Han who had once again made some problems or maybe even one of the teachers who had once again problems with one of the talented children.

To his luck, it was indeed Cale Henituse.

The redhead entered the principal´s office cautiously and sat down on the seat Eruhaben pointed to.

“Good morning.”

Eruhaben chuckled as Cale simply frowned and didn’t respond for a while.

“Yeah, good morning.”

“Have you already gotten your timetable?”

Cale nodded once more. Right after he went to the secretary, he came here to meet Eruhaben. Eruhaben nodded satisfied.

“That is good.”

The tall blonde spoke now in Korean to surprise Cale a bit. To his dismay though, Cale didn’t seem to care about it one bit. This was the problem with geniuses, they weren’t surprised that easily.

“Fine, fine, you are having Poetry as your first lesson, if I am correct?”

Eruhaben now changed back to English.

Cale nodded.

“Yes sir, in room 203.”

Eruhaben chuckled once more. Poetry was the subject he had hated most. Not because he wasn’t good at it, but because he was too good at it. His former teacher always told him to answer most of the questions and read out all his assignments if they weren’t turned in.

“Haaa.”

Eruhaben couldn’t help but remember his old days as a student in this academy. The worst thing was that Cale Henituse seemed to have run out of luck as the poetry teacher was still the same. It was an old geezer in his late seventies who simply refused to resign. It was even the same room.

“Alright, you really have rotten luck.”

“…Excuse me?”

Cale´s confused look was already too cute to be real. Eruhaben made sure to remember it.

“Nothing…eh, before we go and introduce you to your classmates, let´s first speak about your condition.”

Cale sighed and leaned back. He unintentionally closed his eyes before he opened them again. His face was void of emotions as he looked at the principal.

“It is nothing too serious, seriously.”

Eruhaben shook his head. Anemia – that was written down in the field for illnesses. And anemia was something that people had to take serious as it was something serious.

“I guess you don´t want other students to know?”

Cale nodded.

“You have a caretaker by your side in the dorms?”

Cale nodded once more. Eruhaben let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, if you´re feeling unwell, you either call your caretaker or come to my office, understood?”

Cale nodded one last time before Eruhaben finally allowed him to go to his class.

Chapter Text

It was 8.30 am and Alberu stared blankly at the whiteboard. His old poetry teacher talked about ethics and morals and how they influenced poetry as the door was being opened. As Alberu sat in the back row right next to the trouble maker (it really wasn’t his choice as he didn’t even like Choi Han) he couldn’t see right away, but soon he saw how the girls in the front row started to blush and chuckled.

´Ah, so that Cale Henituse is here´, he thought as he exchanged looks with Choi Han before looking at their handsome principal who had his long hair in a messy bun. His round glasses that he only wore because of his wife had almost the same golden color as his hair. His golden eyes scanned the room and finally stopped by Alberu.

But Alberu didn’t even realize that as he stared openly at the new kid. He took everything back, this Cale was weak. The boy was an underweight. Damn, his shoulders were smaller than some girls´ and did anyone see his waist?!

“Good morning class, if I may have your attention now.”

Eruhaben who was severely inches taller than the boy – damn, many would be taller than him – laid his hands on Cale´s shoulders.

“This is the new student of whom I talked a while ago. Do you want to introduce yourself?”

Cale sighed before he nodded.

“I am Cale Henituse and it´s nice to meet you.”

Eruhaben smiled as he had expected Cale to not fuss around. He then looked at the students. He could see just how much they wanted to speak to Cale and ask him questions about himself.

“Alright, if that´s done; Cale, you can go sit down right there, next to the black haired kid. Then, I won´t disturb you any further. Have a nice day.”

Cale nodded as he simply went to his seat without even smiling. In his hands he held a college block and a simple pencil. It wasn’t like he wanted to write something down, it was just that he couldn’t come here empty handed, even if he was a genius.

The poetry teacher smiled at Cale what he didn’t like one bit. Choi Han and Alberu smiled too and Cale gave it up and smiled back, with a fake one of course.

“Hey, my name is Choi Han!”

The black haired kid introduced himself to Cale the very moment he sat down. Cale just nodded. There was no need to introduce himself once more as he had already done that.

Choi Han had a bright, innocent looking smile on his lips. Alberu, who saw that, frowned. The president of the martial arts club almost never smiled, and if, only with his very close friends like Rosalyn (a third year) and Lock (a first year). Then it clicked inside his mind: Could it be that Choi Han had taken a liking to Cale as well?

Wait…as well?!

Alberu touched his burning cheeks. Dammit, why was he like this? Did that mean that he had fallen in love this fast and easily? Well, no matter who you were, if you saw Cale you would fall in love with him no matter what. He was simply too…Cale.

“Can you fight?”

Alberu quickly turned his head towards his table neighbor as he listened to his crazy conservation.

“Eh, I cannot?”

For some reason, the student council president was relieved and thanked God twice for the favor he had done him. Choi Han looked like a kicked puppy as he looked down at his notes. Choi Han was one of the students who entered the Academy with their talents. He was a bit below average as a student, to put it nicely. In fact, he was pretty bad. PE was the only subject he got each time 100%.

“Do you maybe still want to join the martial art-“

“Choi Han! Are you listening? Or is there something you want to tell the class?”

The old teacher immediately said and Choi Han looked up. In fact, he wasn’t multitasking-able, so he didn’t even listen to the change of topics. Alberu just wanted to help him out – as he had always done – as Cale coughed and drew the attention of everyone to him.

Honestly, it was a big misunderstanding as everyone thought he had done that intentionally while he simply felt something inside his throat so that he coughed.

“Cale Henituse, do you want to answer the question?”

Cale sighed as he answered the question and surprised everyone, including Alberu and the teacher. The old man looked at Cale and felt reminded of the old days in which he taught Eruhaben. He looked really happy. Probably this group wasn’t as hopeless after all.

The teacher nodded and started to praise Cale in front of everyone. Normally, you would think that this wasn’t fair and that the students would feel jealous, but in fact they all started to admire Cale´s intellect, as the teacher hadn’t ever praised anyone, not even Alberu, the top of the class.

“What a thoughtful answer! Everyone, look at Cale and study harder! He just came here and knew the answer immediately!”

Cale sighed as he looked at his desk. Was this really such an elite Academy if the questions were practically already answered by the teacher? And the students didn’t even seem to notice. This was really such a waste. He could just sleep and would still have 100% in every test.

Oh yes, he really wanted to just slack off and fall asleep, even if it was his first day. But he couldn’t. After all, it was still his first day and even Cale wasn’t that disrespectful.

Cale looked at the clock and his eyes fell almost out of their spot. It was now 8.37 am, only seven minutes had gone by!

~

Cale stared at the cafeteria in front of him. Lots of students sat down around different tables and he felt a bit suffocated. Why were there so many people in here? It was just lunchbreak. He came here with the intention to see how Great Britain had its lunchbreak, but never ever had he thought about something like this, here were simply too many people.

Just as he decided that it´d be best to exit this room and look around another part of the school, someone took his hand and pulled him towards a small table where a woman with fire red hair which was brighter than his and a very tall boy with grey hair and blueish-grey eyes sat. They talked about something funny as both of them laughed about it. Cale finally looked up to see the raven haired boy. Choi Han smiled gently at him as he pulled Cale even more until he finally sat down next to Rosalyn whereas Choi Han sat down right next to Cale and next to Lock.

Rosalyn was the first to look at Cale. She bluntly spoken stared at the red hair and then hid her slightly red cheeks while Lock welcomed the new guy with a bright smile.

“Hello! I am Lock! Nice to meet you! And who are you?”

Cale smiled as he took out his hand to shake Lock´s.

“My name is Cale, pleased to meet you as well.”

Rosalyn looked at Choi Han who simply had a shy smile on his lips. The always aggressive guy acted as if he was all innocent around this Cale-person! Could it be that…?

“Lovely to meet you Cale, you must be the transfer student then, right? I am Rosalyn.”

Cale nodded and shook hands with Rosalyn as well. As she held his skinny hand she immediately noticed something odd. There wasn’t really any strength in his handshake. She looked at Choi Han. First, she had thought that Cale was someone strong and that Choi Han was happy to have found someone who was on his level.

But it was the opposite! Even the weakest kid could win against Cale! His appearance wasn’t just some deceiving, he was a weakling!

She glanced at Choi Han in hope that he would look at her and tell her with his eyes what was going on, but he simply continued to look at Cale. Cale didn’t smile at them and had his usual stoic expression on his face. He wasn’t very good in expressing his emotions.

“Why did you transfer here Cale?”

Lock was very excited. Ever since Choi Han had told his friends that there would be a transfer student Lock was very excited, especially since he was from South Korea, the homeland of Choi Han!

“Personal reasons, nothing special.”

´Nothing special my ass, would you want to be treated as if you were an old person who would die if he just made one wrong move?!´

Cale didn’t state his inner thoughts.

“How come you speak English as if you were a native speaker?”

“I am just good at speaking it.”

Lock nodded as he was very happy with Cale´s simple answer.

“Do you have any family?”

This time, Choi Han´s puppy face returned to his normal as he looked at Lock. He, who had lost all his family, had hated this question his whole life.

“Yes.”

Lock didn’t notice it; however Rosalyn did as she eyed the redhead with the blood red hair and her youngest friend.

“And are they here too? Are they younger or older? How about your parents? Is your family rich or how did you attend in the middle of the year?”

Cale looked calm and made an indifferent expression while he answered the younger´s questions. He didn’t care about it all.

“I have two younger siblings, Lily and Basen, though they´re just my step-siblings. And yes, my family is rich.”

Lock´s eyes practically shined brighter than a flashlight as he bowed over the table just so he could be nearer to Cale. He was a really curious boy.

“Why step-siblings? Did your mother or father marry again after divorce or so?”

Cale sighed as he shook his head.

“My father remarried my step-mother, Violan. My mother, let´s just say she left.”

Lock immediately said sorry that he asked such a stupid and thoughtless question but Cale didn’t mind. It was no secret after all. His mother was dead, but there was no reason the others had to know. After all, the words that she was dead wouldn’t leave his mouth so simple, he still suffered from Jour Thames´ death, even if it was ten years ago. The redhead didn’t understand why Lock said sorry, though. (He probably thought that she left her son and ran away.)

“Let´s change the topic.”

Rosalyn gently smiled as she felt sorry for Cale. She saw his indifferent expression, but it wasn’t possible that the death of one of your parents didn’t shake or at least touch you.

“What did you get in the entrance exams? Do you have any special talent? Or are you just really smart like Alberu, though he is kind of talented in martial arts…”

Lock´s questions didn’t annoy Cale. In fact, he was thankful. In his last High School, the others always handled him differently, he didn’t feel human. Whenever he wanted to sit down when there wasn’t any space, others stood up for him and apologized. Others also were very careful and only talked with him about basic topics like school, weather and his well-being.

“I got a rather high percentage, but I don´t have any special talent. I am also not very good at sports and such things. I´d rather sit indoors and read.”

Lock smiled, as well did Choi Han and Rosalyn. Choi Han smiled because he thought that Cale was a really nice guy as he didn’t brag about his 100%. Even so, he kind of made it look like it wasn’t anything special at all and just something anybody could accomplish. Rosalyn and Lock on the other hand smiled because they thought that he was a good addition for the book-club which Rosalyn managed. She was kind of happy to meet someone new with the same hobby as her.

“Do you want to join our book-club?”

Cale turned his head towards the third year. She looked very happy right now and who was he to decline? After all he had to choose a club, and he would rather choose something he knew he wouldn’t get in trouble for.

“Why not? Thank you very much for your offer.”

Rosalyn nodded while Choi Han made this innocent looking puppy face again. Just as he wanted to say that he wanted Cale to join his club as well, Alberu interfered in their conservation as he laid a hand on the raven hair´s shoulder. He kind of pressed it down as he always did, but today with extra much force.

“So you´re already choosing a club, I see. Why don´t you look at the black board, there are lots of different activities listed; maybe you find a better one?”

Rosalyn stared daggers into the student council president while maintaining her smile. The dense Cale of course didn’t notice anything as he still declined respectfully.

“That´s good too, I guess.”

Alberu then sat down opposite to Cale as he looked at the trouble maker group of the school. He didn’t think that Cale looked like a trouble-maker and he sincerely hoped for him to not become involved with them. Though Choi Han behaved differently around the redhead.

“My name is Alberu Crossman, nice to finally introduce myself.”

Cale just nodded as he secretly looked at the clock. It was half past one and their lunchbreak would end in half an hour. He promised Ron to call him before it would end, though he still had time.

“Cale Henituse.”

Alberu nodded as he heard Cale introduce himself already.

“So you decided to join the book-club from Rosalyn here?”

Cale nodded this time and Alberu smirked. He liked the cute redhead very much.

“Alright.”

Alberu got goose flesh as he noticed that Choi Han stared him down as if he was a worthless insect. He then observed how Choi Han´s expression changed within mere seconds the very moment Cale looked at him or he looked at Cale. Alberu couldn’t believe it.

Could it be that Choi Han had feelings for the red head?

No way, right?

But what if?

Strangely enough, Alberu felt something inside his body. He didn’t like the idea that Choi Han may like Cale. He accepted the idea of Cale liking the wild beast back even less. Yes, wild beast!

Was this…jealousy?

“Is something wrong, Council President? Are you not feeling well?”

It was Cale´s worried sounding voice that brought Alberu back to earth. He immediately looked at his slightly shaking hands, but it wasn’t something just anybody would notice. Cale smiled in a friendly manner and gave Alberu a cloth. Alberu stared at it like a madman before taking it without knowing what to do with it.

“No, no, I am fine. Don´t worry.”

Cale nodded.

He remembered his condition started. It was almost four years after his mother died, after he lived four years through hell, that he felt how his body was getting weaker and how he didn’t have an appetite anymore. He was still stunned at how he was able to hide his illness from everyone for two whole years.

Back then, his hands had been shaking because of the immense stress he had. But that didn’t mean anything, especially since Alberu really seemed to be fine.

Cale nodded once more before he got up from the table.

“It was nice talking to you, but I´ve got to go as I promised someone that I´d call him.”

“Ah Cale, after afternoon school, come to room 109, we are having our book-club meeting there every afternoon after school.”

Cale nodded at Rosalyn´s request and then went off to call his scary butler. Who knew what Ron would have done if he hadn’t called that moment.

~

– Hello young master-nim. It is good that you are calling this butler of yours.

Cale shook his head but Ron couldn’t see it.

“Yes, I just called to inform you that anything is fine and I am perfectly healthy.”

– What did the young master-nim had for lunch today?

Oh, that was what he had forgotten. Of course, how could he have forgotten about lunch? Probably it was because he didn’t eat very much in first place.

“Eh, the food that Beacrox packed into the paper bag.”

Cale slightly panicked. He didn’t want to lie to his butler, but he had no choice. He still remembered everything Beacrox put into it as it was one sandwich and three cookies. He had eaten two cookies for breakfast. He simply had to give his sandwich to someone. Maybe Choi Han would want it?

– Young master-nim, when you come home you will still need to eat dinner.

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Cale was thankful that Ron believed him, but honestly, Ron didn’t. He knew that there was no way that Cale ate Beacrox´ food without someone telling him to. He simply didn’t want the young master to feel anxious as they had their own memories when he did that.

“Ah Ron, I´ll be coming home a little bit late as I was welcomed to join the book-club. Though I don´t really know how long it is.”

– If this is what young master-nim wishes for, this old man here shall wait for your return.

“Yes, yes, thank you very much Ron.”

– And young master-nim…

Before Cale could stop the call Ron managed to say one last thing.

– Please eat at least the third cookie.

Cale sighed but agreed to it. At least Ron didn’t get angry with him for lying. After the call ended, Cale put away his cell phone and took out the book he was currently reading. It was a rather old roman called “To Kill a Mockingbird” and was written by the American novelist “Harper Lee”. He read the story as his mother loved classic literature. He read lots of books, and this one was recommended to him by lots of readers in an internet-book-forum.

Cale sighed as he continued to read the story. It was a good read, just as the unknown readers said. It was difficult to read as a first classic novel, but it was a good story as of now.

Cale sat down at the seat next to his locker and read the book while eating the last cookie. He was a very fast reader as he was able to memorize every single line after just looking at it for a second. He didn’t really understand what his mother liked about classic novels, but he liked the old and respectful language used in them.

He could feel himself getting sleeping and the dizziness which had disappeared during the day started to reappear. Cale sighed but ignored it as he continued to read the book. How bad could it get after all?

Chapter Text

The answer was very bad. Cale sat in his English class as he couldn’t concentrate at all. He played with the thought of sleeping but decided against it, as far as the headache and the dizzy feeling didn’t get too bad.

After that happened, he simply placed his head on his arms and went to sleep. It didn’t take him long as he had gotten very little sleep during the night. Alberu who sat right next to him as well as Choi Han, who sat right behind him both, noticed the sleepy redhead and that he was currently asleep.

Their teacher wasn’t someone who would wake a student as the woman in her early fifties respected the student´s tiredness. Probably she would still tell the principal, but she wouldn’t wake Cale up. Now, would she?

To their bad luck this was exactly what the teacher did, she normally respected it, but as Cale was new at their school he couldn’t be tired after simply one day, now could he? And the other teachers surely went easy on him, now why would she have to go easy on him as well.

The teacher stopped right in front of Cale´s desk. She looked down on the redhead who had a strange breathing-pattern. It was not very constant and pretty irregular. But, it wasn’t her problem, not at all.

She let her book fall on his desk after what Cale woke up immediately. He looked a little bit panicked around the room only to see the snickering students with not the least bit of pity for him. Words couldn’t describe just how thankful he was that no one pitied him.

“Cale Henituse, I know my teaching is boring, since it is late in the afternoon, but I´d respect it if you don´t sleep in my classes from now on. Next time I see you sleep, I´ll send you to the principal, understood?”

Cale smiled. He knew all of her teachings already and if he was to go to Eruhaben he would be able to sleep on the blue couch in his office! How nice would that be? Cale was too tired to think about the fact that this was his first day as he just wanted to go back to sleep.

“Madam, could you please send me to the principal then?”

Now the class was laughing. Not about Cale but about the surprised expression of the teacher. Cale looked around only to see how Alberu shook his head and Choi Han stared at him in admiration.

The teacher then sighed.

“Are you that desperate to sleep?”

Cale just nodded while hoping that she would send him away.

“Fine, I guess you can sleep. But next time try to stay awake, understood. These grades are yours after all.”

He was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t sleep on the very comfortable looking couch in Eruhaben´s office but he was still very thankful that he at least got to sleep. The very moment his head touched the desk he fell once again asleep, this time he didn’t even wake up as the students laughed loudly at him.

Alberu looked somewhat sorry for the foreigner as he really got even more interested in the boy. When he looked at the sleeping face of Cale that was directed in his direction he couldn’t help but wish to see it more often. It looked so peaceful and so damn cute!

Choi Han just stared at Cale´s small back and wondered whether his family was truly rich. After all, truly rich families wouldn’t just let their son get this this, now would they?

The teacher was somewhat shocked at the young one´s behavior, but she would speak to Eruhaben. The principal seemed to understand the students best after all.

~

“Should we really wake him?”

Choi Han looked at Cale´s pale face. He didn’t question it before, but even for a Korean guy Cale was extremely pale. His skin color was almost white. Maybe it had something to do with him being this thin? After all he didn’t really seem to be healthy.

“Didn’t he promise Rosalyn to go to the book-club meeting?”

Choi Han flinched but nodded anyway. The classroom was empty as the students had already been dismissed five minutes ago.

“Alright, I´m gonna wake him.”

“Okay, I´ll do it.”

The two boys said at the same time. As they noticed it, they stared at each other hatefully. They had of course some problems with each other, but it was a pretty cliché-thing.

Lastly, it was Alberu who won the staring-contest and got the chance to wake up Cale. First, he shook Cale´s body lightly before he shook him more violently. Cale then finally woke up and looked confused at his surroundings, only to be met by a pair of azure blue eyes and blonde hair (IK he is a dark elf, but for the sake of the story pretend it to be his real appearance. PS: Dark Elf Alberu is the best!).

“Hello sleeping beauty; how was your sleep?”

Cale remembered talking to the teacher and telling her that he would go to sleep anyway. He was a bit embarrassed, but he would never go back on his word.

“It was acceptable I guess.”

Alberu chuckled as Cale answered nonchalantly. He especially liked the sight of the redhead´s ears turning slightly red.

“That sounds fabulous.”

Cale nodded and stretched his arms after he yawned. He then got up and faired his goodbyes. He had to go to room 109, just as he´d promised Rosalyn.

“Ah, Cale-nim!”

It was now Choi Han who called out for him. Cale turned around and looked towards the raven haired boy who smiled innocently as he used the Korean typical honorifics. He looked Korean too.

“What is it?”

“What dorm room do you have? So we can visit you after the club activities.”

Cale smiled. He didn’t even notice it as he was just feeling happy. They spoke about visiting him in his personal space. Normally he would be unfazed, but the only friend who had ever visited him was the one who caused the incident in his last High School. It wasn’t really the friend´s fault but everyone gave him the fault.

Cale was happy. That meant the two boys saw him as friends, didn’t it?

“23B.”

Choi Han´s whole face brightened up.

“Really?! That´s good, my room is right opposite as it´s 23A!”

Alberu snorted. His room was on the same floor as Cale´s, but it was pretty far away in comparison to Choi Han´s.

Cale nodded as his expression returned to his usual stoic expression. He then left the two boys alone and headed towards the room 109.

~

Rosalyn smiled smugly as she looked at the two individuals who entered the club room not too long ago. Then her gaze shifted to the redhead who was focused on the book he held in his hand and completely obvious to the fact that the two most popular boys of the school entered such a boring club just because of him. The two boys had finished their own club activity earlier in order to get here.

The book club members, who mostly consisted of girls and some guys who had crushes on these girls with the exception of Cale, Taylor and the innocent Jack, were very surprised to say the least. Taylor who sat next to Cale gave off an odd vibe as he looked at the two boys instead of his book.

His trance was broken due to Cale pulling lightly on his sleeve.

“But if White Fangs mother is half-wolf, doesn’t that mean that he´s quarter-wolf and not a complete dog?”

Cale asked the question with such seriousness that Taylor immediately felt the urge to answer.

“He can still look like a dog, even while being a quarter-wolf.”

It was Jack who answered Cale´s question. As he and Cale were both reading the book ´White Fang´ he understood where Cale´s question came from. Taylor was a bit angry that he wasn’t the one to answer Cale´s question even though Cale had pulled his sleeve.

It was such a cute move that he wanted Cale to repeat it.

“Hm, but this doesn’t make such sense. Why is he beating up dogs only because of his viciousness?”

Alberu saw an immensely cute pout on the redhead´s face. He openly stared at Cale´s focused face while the tips of his ears were slowly turning red.

“It does if you think about all the things that happened to him and that he had to experience.”

Jack answered nonchalantly and looked up from the book and instead focused his gaze on Cale as well. Lots of the club members started to get interested in this conservation and looked up from their books, though most girls looked at the two popular boys sitting next to each other across from Cale and instead next to Rosalyn.

“But I don´t think this is enough to become like this.”

Cale still didn’t look up from his book and turned the page, he didn’t even notice the pairs of eyes on him. Rosalyn chuckled lightly but no one noticed.

“He lost his mother! I think this alone is reason enough.”

Jack, who was normally on the quitter side, was starting a discussion. That was very unusual behavior from him and those who noticed it looked at Cale with amazement. They often tried to start a discussion with him, but Jack mostly held himself back. Though sometimes, he was eagerly arguing with them.

“Are you saying that losing one´s mother is enough to beat people up?”

Cale turned the next page as he still continued to read. He was calm and focused on both the story and the discussion with Jack. Jack let out a sigh and finally closed the book.

“No, but animals feel differently.”

Cale shook his head at that.

“So what you are saying is that animals feel emotions more than humans? Does that mean that the death of your dog´s mother is more shocking for your dog than the death of your mother is for you?”

Alberu stared at Cale with amazement. He thought about the debating club that was led by the vice council president Paseton. He would have been interested in the new student if he was here.

“No, that isn’t what I am saying. I am just stating that animals have more extreme reactions.”

Cale turned another page as he continued to read the novel.

“So now you are telling that animals aren’t as far as humans with their emotional stability and thus react more extreme? And due to that it is normal for them to hurt others because of their feelings and emotions?”

Jack, who finally realized that this was exactly what he had been saying, let out a defeated sigh.

“Kinda.”

Cale nodded his head as he pouted once more. This time anyone who was looking at him found it to be the most adorable thing they had ever seen.

“Then this still doesn’t make sense to me – Just beating the shit out of people because they feel neglected. Why is this described so viciously?”

Jack finally nodded as he shared the same opinion.

Cale finally shook his head once more and closed the book with a sigh. His sight was slowly but surely getting blurry and he started to feel dizzy again. He should have eaten lunch even if he didn’t feel hungry. He then looked at the clock, almost five o´clock in the afternoon. There were only two minutes remaining until the book club was over for the day.

“This book doesn’t make too much sense. Why would anyone want to read a book with such strange focuses?”

Before Jack was able to respond, Alberu let out a chuckle. The redhead´s gaze slowly shifted to the council president and the president of the martial arts-club.

“Oh, I didn’t know you two were also attending the book club?”

Choi Han lightly blushed and looked away. He didn’t want Cale to think of him as someone who got embarrassed easily.

“No, no, we are here just because we wanted to make sure that you feel comfortable. As I am the student council president after all and Choi Han is very worried about the well-being of new students.”

Cale who was so dense that he didn’t even notice the slightly red tips of Alberu´s ears nodded and then put the book back on the shelf which was standing right next to him so that he didn’t even have to get up.

“As you can see, I am very comfortable and well. You shouldn’t have wasted your time here and could´ve just asked me, you know?”

Alberu smiled at Cale while Choi Han simply nodded still not meeting Cale´s eyes. Rosalyn, who had been friends with Choi Han since middle grade, was extremely confused. She had never even once seen the raven haired boy blush. Did that mean that Choi Han had finally fallen in love? And not with a woman but a man instead? Did that mean that he was gay like her?

Yes, Rosalyn was gay and in a happy relationship with her classmate Witira, the student vice council president´s older sister. Ever since meeting this girl who had joined in her little brother´s debate club she knew that she was the one Rosalyn wanted to spend her days with. And lucky enough, Witira felt the same way.

Being gay was pretty common in this elite school, so students weren’t afraid of outings. This was a concept the current principal Eruhaben had created. As he himself wasn’t gay or bi he couldn’t understand what students who were bi or gay were going through. As such he had created an environment which would tolerate it no matter what.

Rosalyn´s gaze then shifted to the student council president. She almost laughed. She saw his red ears and the expression he had on his face when looking at Cale. As her favorite genre was romance and she was quite experienced in that field she could smell a love-triangle coming.

And honestly, she rooted for the council president as she found that Choi Han wasn’t the perfect match for this calm and collected young boy. She looked at Cale whose red hair that had the color of blood was much more authentic and better looking than hers. It was kind of funny because she didn’t think that red hair looked beautiful but Cale´s hair…that was something else.

He kind of had the mimics of a fallen angel or something like that. His handsome face that exceeded the word handsome and beautiful altogether was angelic.

“I´ll keep that in mind.”

Cale nodded and faired his goodbyes with everyone as he attended to leave the room. To his surprise, Choi Han and Alberu followed behind him. Cale looked at them with question marks above his head.

“Do you want to accompany me on my way to the dorms?”

Cale didn’t really ask them and it was more a question of whether or not they were following him. Choi Han who wanted to answer honestly and fall for this rather obvious trap was silenced by Alberu.

“We just thought we could show you a better route than there is on the map. But we can also go if you don´t want us to be here.”

Cale shook his head.

“There is no problem with you being here. It´s just that…never mind.”

Alberu was interested in what Cale wanted but couldn’t say but didn’t dare to ask. As he saw Cale´s peaceful, happy smile he didn’t even want to ask anymore as he wanted to protect that smile instead.

Choi Han walked up to Cale with his innocent looking face and handsome smile started talking about how he had discovered the shortcut and how he saw Alberu using it before him. It was quite a funny story to listen to as it was full of jokes and mocking. It was something Cale was not familiar with, that was the reason for him laughing louder than anyone before.

Even though both boys didn’t know it, this was something Cale had desperately needed in his life. Real friends who didn’t treat him like a handicap just like the one friend he had in his last school.

Cale felt at ease, just like when he was with him back then before the incident.

Chapter Text

Ron stared at the three boys in front of the door. He then looked at Cale´s flushing face and listened to his fast breath. He also observed how the other two boys laughed at his puppy like young master-nim while still being careful with him. He then smirked.

That was exactly what the young master-nim had wished for – a new start where everyone would treat him like a normal guy who was perfectly healthy. Still, the old butler couldn’t help but frown at the same time as he was very worried about his young master´s health. He didn’t want him to have any problems or something similar to that.

“Good evening, young master-nim and welcome back. I see you brought your friends over?”

Cale nodded out of breath while being supported by an amused Choi Han and a smiling but worried Alberu. After all, the blonde had never ever seen a boy who got this out of breath when running a very short route.

Still, he found it to be adorable. And in all honesty, he liked how the redhead needed to be supported by him. The Choi Han-part could be cut out in his mind. Really, who was forbidden to have day-dreams?

Ron eyed Cale´s new friends. He wouldn’t let them become his friends if they were corrupted even in the slightest! His benign smile changed into a small one as he scanned the blonde boy who didn’t even look at the old butler anymore but instead focused his gaze on the out of breath redhead. The raven haired boy on the other hand stared openly at Ron.

“Yes, they are my new friends.”

Both boys froze as they heard how Cale called them his friends already. Especially since the boy didn’t look like an affectionate person who made friends easily like Jack.

Ron smiled gently at his young master as he was happy that he had found friends just as he had wished. As Ron was Cale´s personal butler and kind of raised the young boy he knew that Cale had wished for friends very much. Even before he fell sick, he didn’t have any as he had been taught at home before middle school. It had something to do with his emotionless appearance and his cold actions.

He had been a misunderstood child ever since his mother died. It was strange how the normally affection seeking child got cold. Ron, who had witnessed all of this, had felt his heart ache.

But now, when he looked at the young master who had a faint smile and a gentle expression on his face, he couldn’t help but feel relieved and happy – even though he didn’t like the raven haired boy.

“Will young master-nim´s new friends be staying here?”

Ron lightly bowed as he moved away from the door so that the boys could enter. Cale just wanted to shake his head, as Alberu already answered.

“Yes, if that´s alright with the young master?”

Cale looked up. As both Choi Han and Alberu were taller than him he had no other choice when he wanted to look at them. He felt his cheeks warming up and immediately looked down again. Alberu had to hold his chuckle in.

“Y-yeah, it´s fine, I guess.”

Ron smiled his usual benign smile and nodded after the boys entered. He´d have to call his son Beacrox later and tell him about how the young master already found two friends. He felt happy to see that Cale didn’t have to struggle with rumors this time as he did last time.

“So are you someone of noble blood that you have a butler here who always calls you young master-nim, Cale-nim?”

Choi Han was really curious. He looked around Cale´s dorm room, or rather dorm-apartment. It wasn’t bigger than his or Alberu´s, as every student owned a three-room-apartment, but Cale´s seemed livelier than his. Maybe it was because he didn’t live alone and instead has a butler and two kittens?

The first room was an open living room which went over into an open kitchen. The kitchen was rather small and so was the living room, but the big blue couch together with the wooden side table on the light grey carpet and the comfortable looking chairs made it seem like a real apartment instead of a school dorm. Of course this was all Ron´s work as he had been here the entire day decorating Cale´s apartment where he would also be staying. Though the old butler was very displeased with the small kitchen and the small fridge which was only half as big as the fridge the Henituse family had.

In the corner of the living room stood a tall cat tree where the boys saw a silver kitten lying. A red kitten was already running towards the three boys as he wanted to welcome the young boy back home.

Cale smiled as he crouched down in order to pat Hong, the red kitten. He was the silver kitten´s younger brother and more affection seeking than her. Still, Cale loved both of them very much. Three years ago, as he was walking down the streets; he had found the two of them on the street and adopted them since then.

The kittens loved Cale very much.

“So you are a cat-person?”

Alberu smiled as he crouched down next to Cale he wanted to pet Hong as well but instead got to pet the silver kitten. Cale smiled as he nodded.

“Yeah, I like them better than dogs.”

Choi Han snorted and Cale turned around while Alberu ignored it.

“Don´t you like cute puppies, Cale-nim?”

There was hurt in Choi Han´s voice and Cale frowned at that.

“I don´t exactly dislike them, I simply prefer cats, that´s all.”

Choi Han then nodded as he smiled his typical innocent smile. He observed how Cale carried the red kitten on his arms as he turned around to Ron. Ron smiled gently and pointed with his chin in the direction of a white door.

Next to the white door was the floor, where another two white doors were located. One was probably the bathroom while the other was the butler´s room, or Cale´s study. They used the third room as a study, but they didn’t know about Cale. Cale then approached the white door, which lead to a small room with a wide bed that stood in the middle of the room. The bed stood on a marine colored carpet which looked very expensive. A wooded closet stood in the corner of the room, as well as another cat three. Between the cat tree and the closet was a big window located. There wasn’t a desk but instead a bookshelf which was filled with all kinds of different novels.

Alberu smirked. This was exactly how he had imagined Cale´s room to be. The redhead would probably study in the living room. Cale placed Hong on his bed and On, the silver kitten, who followed him into his room, jumped up as well.

“What do you want to do? Are you hungry or something like that?”

Alberu chuckled.

“You don´t have many friends, do you, Cale?”

Cale´s body stiffened up but he soon relaxed his muscles. He didn’t want to make his new friends feel uncomfortable.

“Not really, no.”

Choi Han looked like a kicked puppy and sniffed.

“Cale-nim, I´m going to beat up everyone who didn’t respect you properly!”

Cale laughed as he sat down on the bed as well. He looked up towards his two new friends and shook his head.

“No need, I´m simply not good at making friends. Though I did have one friend, but our relationship is a bit complicated due to family matters.”

Alberu nodded as he understood what Cale meant. Just like Cale, he was the son from a wealthy family of noble blood which originated from Germany and immigrated to the UK in the 20th century. He knew that all different kinds of people felt uncomfortable around him as he was the heir to inherit his family´s business and fortune which was by far too much to ever spend.

He would also become the CEO of the Crossman cooperation, a company which specialized in producing tableware. It didn’t sound like much, but it produced the most sold tableware there was, and even expanded into other regions like France, Germany, Spain, Italy and even the USA and Japan. They were planning on opening some shops in China as well, but they didn’t know whether it would be a good idea due to the travel expenses. Also, even though the company wasn’t unknown in Japan, they sold fewer items than in Europe – though they were still above average.

“This friend of yours, do you still call him from times to times?”

Alberu looked at Choi Han. He found the question insensitive as Cale lived now in Great Britain and wouldn’t get that many chances to see this friend of his let alone call him. School would keep him very busy and now he even had new friends.

“No, I do not. He died.”

Choi Han immediately regretted his question and looked apologetic at Cale who simply shrugged it off. Even though he looked calm on the outside, he wasn’t calm at all. He felt how his heart was beating too fast and he wanted to vomit. It was an accident. He wasn’t at fault at all, but he still blamed himself. After all, he didn’t say no to his friend´s idea even though he knew that it was dangerous. He also remembered how he landed in the hospital instead of dying – all thanks to his friend who rescued him last minute and died with a relieved smile on his face.

Cale shivered and shook his head while he looked at the silver kitten. Her big, golden eyes looked worried as she stared at him and meowed.

“Sorry to ask…”

Cale then looked up and smiled to loosen up the sudden gloomy atmosphere in his room.

“There is nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t know and it is only fair if I tell you. It isn’t like it´s a big secret that he died.”

Alberu nodded as he also smiled brightly. His reasons were different though, as he wanted to cheer Cale up. No one would be fine after talking about death and the fact that Cale did this so calmly meant that he was even more shaken on the inside.

“Alright, let´s change the topic. As we are your friends now, don´t you want to tell us about the reason for your school transfer?”

Cale smiled as his two new friends sat down – Choi Han sat down on the carpet while Alberu sat down next to him on the bed. Hong jumped down to Choi Han because the young kitten pitied the raven haired boy.

Cale smiled as he continued to pat the silver kitten´s head. On purred and closed her observant golden eyes while lying down on Cale´s lap.

“Hm, there is no too special reason to that. I simply didn’t want to stay in my old High School because everyone treated me a bit…strangely. It is because I´m from a wealthy family and because of my father´s influence. But yeah, I somehow managed to convince my father to let me go to a school in the UK.”

Alberu nodded as he was interested in Cale´s reason for transferring to Roan Academy as well. He exchanged looks with Choi Han who looked at Cale with excited eyes, like a little kid waiting for his mother to tell him a bedtime story.

“Why the UK?”

This time it was Cale who chuckled. He was a bit embarrassed but he wasn’t a liar.

“It is because of my mother.”

Alberu got very interested. He had looked at Cale´s mother´s pictures – Violan Henituse looked nothing like him. And even his father Deruth didn’t have any resemblances to his son. Could it be that Cale was an adopted kid? Or even worse, an illegitimate child?

He restrained himself from asking that question, as he didn’t want Cale to feel awkward or strange around him.

“How come? Isn´t your Mom Korean or did she want to study at Roan Academy?”

Choi Han´s impudent question made Alberu a bit angry. Why was he so tactless? Cale simply shook his head.

“No, she was born here, in Manchester. And she also wanted to study at Roan Academy, but didn’t exactly get in.”

Alberu was a bit confused. Violan Henituse was Korean. She was born in Sokcho-si in the Gangwon-do province. Google even said that she only visited France with Deruth to celebrate their marriage.

Now that Alberu thought about it, they god married after Cale had been born. Could it be that Cale´s mother and Deruth were divorced?

“So you wanted to study here to make your mother proud, right?”

Choi Han really resembled a child. He patted Hong as he looked at Cale with big eyes. Alberu found Choi Han´s behavior to be odd. He had never seen the normally rather laid-back boy getting all excited as he usually behaved coldly towards everyone besides his friends. That was also one of the reasons why some girls had extremely huge crushes on him.

Cale shook his head. Not really. It was just his excuse so that his father didn’t enroll him into a private academy that was acquaintance with him so that he would have been getting special treatment and care. He also wanted to go as far away from his father as possible. Deruth hadn’t been a caring father towards Cale before he got sick and instead of taking care of his only son, he had neglected him because Cale looked too much like his late mother. He also had found himself a new family and a new wife, not soon after having another child, Cale´s little sister Lily.

Only after Cale´s extreme condition had been noticed, had he started to act like a proper father again. Still, Cale didn’t like him that much.

“Not really. I think my Mom wouldn’t care what I do and be proud no matter what. I just said so in order to get a free pass. Else, my father wouldn’t let me study aboard.”

“Oh.”

Choi Han seemed disappointed but Cale didn’t care. It was the truth and he always told the truth as he remembered his mother telling him to never ever lie to anyone. It didn’t matter if he hid a part of the truth, as long as it was the truth. Cale smiled faintly. He didn’t remember his mother´s voice, nor did he remember her face. He had seen how his father had put all of his mother´s pictured away and hid them somewhere he didn’t know. Jour Thames´ portrait was covered by a dark blanket and no one was allowed to look at it. Their old family picture was the only thing that Deruth had ripped out of anger. That as the moment he had gotten the call from the foreign hospital so Cale hadn’t seen it.

Cale shuddered as he remembered these ugly memories. His father was – in that aspect – a crazy lunatic.

“I heard you got 100% in every test.”

Alberu swiftly changed the topic and Cale nodded, his stoic expression was once again on his face. Alberu didn’t like that face and favored the smile Cale had had just now.

“It isn´t anything too special, the questions were pretty easy. I mean, some of them didn’t even require thinking.”

Choi Han and Alberu stared at Cale as if he had two heads.

“What are you talking about?”

Cale shrugged.

“The entrance exam, what else? Especially the chemistry exam, it was the easiest. The math exam was doable as it and it alone required a bit of thinking.”

“Wow…”

It was Alberu who said that. He managed to get 79% on the normal entrance exam and thus was guaranteed to enroll in Roan Academy, but he found it extremely difficult. Choi Han, who only got a 36% and only managed to enroll due to his exceptional talent in martial arts, widened his eyes.

“Are you a genius or something?”

Cale chuckled and shook his head. It wasn’t lying if he believed that he wasn’t a genius.

“I don´t think so. I simply memorize everything and have a good idea of any subject. Moreover, I don´t think that it is difficult once you´ve understood it.”

Alberu was speechless. The redhead was indeed a genius.

“You really are…”

Alberu stopped himself from saying useless things. Cale just smiled at him with a so innocent smile that Alberu wanted to pray for the angelic teenager.

“Hm, but I am bad at sports. I have no stamina, as you´ve seen before. I´d like to blame my weak body for it, but truth is that I simply am bad at sports. And I´m talking about really, really bad.”

Choi Han nodded his head.

“You really have a very weak body. Please take care of yourself more.”

Cale smiled. If they knew that his weak body was even weaker than it seemed because of his anemia, they would surely start to act like his past classmates.

“Yeah, yeah, no one´s perfect.”

Hong meowed and Cale chuckled as the red kitted jumped back on the bed to get petted by him. The kittens really loved him.

“Anyway, do you want to stay for dinner? I can´t guarantee that it´ll be tasteful as my cook is in our residence, but Ron can cook too.”

Alberu and Choi Han nodded. The blonde smiled while the martial arts-club president had a confused expression on his face. As he didn’t come from a wealthy family and enrolled thanks to his talent and also intellect a bit, he didn’t know that such wealthy families had more than just one or two servants. Well, the Henituse family had over two hundred loyal servants; hundred in their Residences in Korea and the other hundred were distributed all over the world in their different Residences. Even the Crossman family hadn’t that many servants but that´s not what´s important here.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Cale nodded as his stoic and cold expression was once again seen on his face. It was odd seeing it for his two friends, but they also saw the happiness in his eyes. They were relieved that he was happy.

Chapter Text

Alberu Crossman looked at the stack of papers in front of him before his gaze shifted towards his father, Zed Crossman, the current head of the Crossman family as well as the currents CEO of the cooperation.

“Father…”

“No need to say anything. These are just the papers you asked me for and I prepared them, son. You can just burn them if you don´t need them anymore.”

Alberu sighed as his gaze fell on the picture of a beautiful woman that resembled Cale as if she was his twin sister. She seemed happy with this wide smile of hers and the white teeth that were visible due to her smile. She wore a green pullover and beige pants with black boots. Her blood red hair was being played with by the wind and she tried to pin it down with her right hand. She was truly the very definition of beautiful.

“Yes, thank you very much. Then, I´m gonna go, I have an appointment with my friends.”
Zed Crossman nodded and left his son alone in his work space. It was a big room on the second floor in the Crossman villa that was just a ten minute ride away from the Roan Academy. Alberu sighed as he put the stack of documents inside his folder and then pocketed it inside his backpack. He and Choi Han were determined to find out more about Cale and Cale´s family situation, especially since both boys noticed their small – well, rather huge – crush on the boy.

Together with Lock and Rosalyn as well as Witira and Paseton who became Cale´s friends during the last month as well, they started to investigate. They even went as far as to request information about Cale´s mother, Jour Thames, from Alberu´s father Zed Crossman.

Alberu felt a bit guilty as they hadn’t even asked Cale about any of this, and did it kinda behind his back, but they just needed to know. As he really had an appointment with his friends and Cale, he hurried over to his driver and drove back to Roan Academy.

It had already been a month since Cale enrolled. It was currently Saturday and the friends decided to go watch a movie and then go to a restaurant and eat. Of course it had been a lot of work as they had to convince Ron to let Cale go.

They still couldn’t understand why the old butler had been against it. In the end they succeeded and they had never seen Cale look so happy before. Definitely worth it.

Alberu ran to his apartment and put his rucksack there. He changed his clothes as he was currently wearing a suit, and changed into a comfortable hoodie and normal jeans. As it was the end of October already and they had the whole next week vacation, they didn’t have a deadline to when they had to come back. Actually, the teenagers planned to “kidnap” Cale and make him stay with them in Choi Han´s dorm.

Alberu looked smug as he thought about meeting with Cale. He felt his heart beat faster. They usually only saw him in formal clothing, even when he was in his dorm. As they had told him to wear something comfortable that wouldn’t attract attention, he was excited to see him in casual clothing.

He remembered his mother´s picture. Jour Thames looked so good in casual clothing! He hoped his friend looked like that as well.

As Alberu arrived by the school gate, where the friends decided to meet, he got greeted by Witira, Rosalyn, Lock and Paseton. Even though Choi Han was there too, he didn’t greet the Council president at all, just as usual before Cale got involved in their lives. He was also the only one who was missing.

“Do you have the files?”

It was Choi Han who asked without looking at Alberu.

Alberu snorted.

“Of course, who do you think I am?”

Rosalyn smiled at Witira who simply shook her head. The two girls then chuckled lightly. They knew that Choi Han´s and Alberu´s relationship was ruff and they had been very surprised as they saw how the two boys acted around the redhead.

“So?”

“Haven´t read them yet, just as we discussed. But Jour Thames is definitely his mother. I saw her picture.”

Rosalyn didn’t know that name and looked at Witira who was able to remember almost every name. The blue haired girl nodded her head as to say that she knew that name.

“The Thames family is a family of noble blood. It is said that they were once acquaintances with Queen Victoria in the 19th century or something like that. But I don´t know about the family, if I remember correctly, the daughter got married to another man and accepted his last name and the heir died with his wife.”

Alberu nodded as this made sense. Just as he wanted to say something else, he was interrupted.

“Hello everyone, I hope I am not too late?”

Cale chuckled lightly as he looked down at the floor to hide his embarrassment. The others stared at him and honestly, they couldn’t move for a while. Cale didn’t wear his usual clothing and instead wore jeans, which was all too well known to them. Their gazes shifted to Alberu who looked like a proud parent.

“What? He said he didn’t have a pair of jeans and only had jogging pants, so I gave him mine.”

The black jeans were too big for Cale and thus he had to wear a belt. Still, the long jeans looked very good on him. Cale sighed. He needed to go shopping with Ron.

“Oh Cale, change of plans.”

It was Paseton who said it.

“Before we go to the movie, how about we go shopping and find you normal jeans which actually fit you?”

Cale sighed. He wanted to decline, but Choi Han, who looked at him like an abandoned puppy, prevented his words from coming out. The redhead felt uncomfortable whenever he went shopping, especially since the assistants there always looked at him as if he was a super model. Or they pitied him because he needed to go to the children´s section. Yes, children´s section.

Cale brushed back the strands of hair which escaped his pony tail and then nodded.

“Fine, we can go.”

Alberu smiled at Cale as he approached the redhead and laid his arm around the smaller male´s shoulder.

“Any wishes for a shop?”

Cale shook his head which made Rosalyn get all excited. She and Witira exchanged looks before big smiles appeared on both their faces. Cale felt his back getting cold. He looked up to Alberu who simply smiled innocently.

~

Cale stared at the crowd of people in front of him before he looked up at Choi Han. Choi Han shrugged and pushed the poor redhead forward towards the simple looking shop in the corner, there where the origin of this big crowd of people was. Alberu, who thought that Cale looked like a scared bunny, had to hold his laughter, although even he couldn’t help it and smiled.

“This is it. What do you say Cale?”

Witira noticed Cale flinch and smiled. Yes, she had had the same reaction as her girlfriend took her here last year.

“It is…big.”

Now Alberu couldn’t help it and laughed while trying to stay serious.

“Stop laughing, it really is big!”

Cale had a cute pout on his face. He really resembled a tiny animal like a bunny. Choi Han looked at Cale and felt himself smile. Cale was really something else. Cale then sighed as he shook his head and went to Paseton. He left the two idiots called Choi Han and Alberu behind by themselves, though he didn’t care.

“Hahaha, so you finally decided to walk with someone normal.”

Cale didn’t answer as he simply stared at the big building in front of him. He was shocked. How could someone need such a big shopping mall? Yes, he remembered how in Korean lots of shopping malls were even bigger than this place and had bigger shops for clothes, but in Korea there lived much more people than here.

Paseton sighed.

“Don´t be too shocked, the inside is much bigger than the outside looks.”

As he saw Cale´s shocked face he laughed as well. Lastly, Alberu and Choi Han won Cale back before Rosalyn and Witira had the chance to take him away from them.

The teenagers then entered the mall. Lots of people looked at them but the friends ignored it. They were here to buy Cale comfortable clothing and nothing more, nothing less.

“Okay Cale, what size do you have?”

Cale thought a bit before shrugging.

“S? M? Something like that?”

Rosalyn shook her head.

“I think it´s more XS, Cale.”

Cale sighed before he nodded. Yes, he looked more like XS – in woman´s clothing probably S or M if he was lucky.

“Alright, what do you need? Jeans, do we need hoodies or shirts too?”

It was now Witira who thought about their shopping list. Cale just wanted to shake his head as Alberu nodded.

“You guys haven’t seen his closet. He needs everything.”

Cale stared at Alberu. It was true that he didn’t have comfortable clothing aside from pajamas. As his normal clothing had stayed behind in South Korea…

Witira and Rosalyn looked at Cale with pity while Lock smiled cheerfully. Paseton on the other hand shook his head in disbelief. Choi Han sighed while Alberu nodded with a dramatic expression. He laid his arm around Cale and pulled him nearer to him.

“Well, not everything, don´t exaggerate it. It is true that I don´t have many comfortable clothes, but that isn’t a reason for us to buy many things, seriously.”

Witira and Rosalyn immediately shook their heads.

“No, no, Cale. Alberu got a point. We need to buy you lots of clothes so that you don´t have to wear the same things whenever meeting with us. So we need Jeans, hoodies, normal pullovers, we better also buy some shirts and warm socks as well as a better jacket than that.”

Cale looked at his dark brown coat.

“What is wrong with my coat?”

Witira sighed.

“We´ll buy something more modern which suits your hair and eye color more. That´s fashion.”

Cale sighed as he gave in. Choi Han smiled. When he met Rosalyn and went shopping with her for the first time he had been also overburdened.

“Okay, on the first floor is business clothing, so we´ll go to the second floor where boy´s clothing is. First, we´ll look for normal jeans and hoodies and after we´ll look for the jacket on the fourth floor. If you see a good looking shirt, take it with you so that Cale can try it out. Sound good to you?”

Rosalyn had sparks in her eyes as he said that while Witira silently sighed and nodded her head. Alberu grinned and so did Paseton while Lock and Choi Han started to pity Cale. Cale looked away from them as he couldn’t stand these pitying gazes at all.

The friends agreed on Rosalyn´s proposal and quickly went to the second floor. As they were six people excluding Cale, they quickly split up and looked around the second floor. Cale was left alone with Lock who smiled at him and shrugged his shoulders. The first year was so much taller than him, but Cale ignored it. He wasn’t used to people being taller than him as he wasn’t small for Korean standards.

“How much do you think I have to try on?”

Lock smiled in an apologetic manner.

“Honestly, I have no idea. I´ve never seen Rosalyn this fired up and even Choi Han seemed to be determined to find as many clothes as possible. Since I don´t exactly know the council president any better than you, I don´t know what he´ll do but since he likes you I think he´ll return with many clothes as well.”

Cale sighed. He looked around the mall and found a normal looking pair jeans next to a purple hoodie. He approached it with Lock following behind him.

“I think this would suit you.”

Lock got a bit surprised at Cale´s sudden statement and looked at the purple hood. It was indeed a nice color and it looked good in combination with his light grey hair and the silver blue eyes.

“Yes, I think so too.”

Cale nodded satisfied and gave Lock the hoodie in the biggest size there was. As Lock was very tall there wouldn’t be a problem with it. Lock smiled.

“You know that we came here for you? Wouldn’t you prefer to pick out your own clothing?”

Cale let out a deep sigh.

“Haaa, if I was to pick out clothes I´d just have to try on even more clothes. I bet the others come back with over fifty things.”

Lock chuckled.

“Probably.”

“Let´s just wait and chose some things for them.”

Lock nodded as he agreed with the redhead. He had learned over the past month that Cale was the very definition of selfless, even though he himself didn’t think so.

Lock and Cale then began to look for clothes which would suit their friends. They found a light rose pullover with a cute bunny which would really suit Alberu for the council president, a yellow hoodie with an angry dragon on it for Choi Han and a dark blue shirt with the ocean on it for Paseton. For the two girls they found a couple´s hoodie, one was white while the other had a cream color. Both had a cute animal – the white hoodie a panda while the cream had a lion motive – which completed each other’s sentences: “I love-“ “-you <3!”.

Lock, who was carrying all of these clothes, hid his smile as Cale seemed to be ready with his shopping. He wandered towards some seats for the two boys to wait for the others.

The first one to arrive was Paseton, followed by Choi Han. Both of them had at least ten clothes. They looked at Lock and Cale who were sitting on red seats. Choi Han immediately ran towards the redhead and smiled at him.

Cale had his eyes closed but opened them as he noticed someone look at him. It was Choi Han. Honestly, the poor teenager almost had had a heart-attack as he looked at the mountain of clothing in Choi Han and Paseton´s arms.

“Oh God, please don´t tell me all of this if for me.”

Lock pitied Cale but still nodded his head.

“It probably is, Cale-nim.”

Cale sighed as he once again closed his eyes. He heard Paseton chuckle.

“You don´t have to buy it if you don´t like it, Cale-nim.”

This time it was Choi Han who said it. He looked at the clothes that Lock was holding and smiled.

“If it´s just your clothes that you like, why not buy just them?”

This time it was Lock´s turn to laugh.

“Choi Han, these are for us. Cale has chosen these hoodies for us.”

The tall boy then handed a yellow hoodie to Choi Han who couldn’t even answer anymore and a blue shirt to Paseton.

Cale sighed as he closed his eyes once again, this time to escape Choi Han´s ready to cry face.

~

Cale stared at the real mountain of clothes before him. The assistant came by but after Alberu and Rosalyn told her the situation she nodded and let the friends be. Cale felt like crying. Never in his whole life had he seen so many clothes in one spot before him. Rosalyn and Witira looked especially proud. They had assorted the different clothes and put all the pants, hoodies, shirts and pullovers into different piles.

“…Do I have to try all of them?”

Paseton nodded and looked at Cale with pity. Yes, he pitied the poor boy who became the new victim of his sister and her girlfriend. Even worse, the council president participated in this whole ordeal.

Cale slowly took out one jeans and one hoodie to try out first. He already knew that this would take a whole while.

A whole hour later Cale came out of the changing cubicle with slightly red cheeks and messy hair. He wore once again Alberu´s black jeans and Alberu´s white hoodie which looked especially good on him. He stared at his friends who looked satisfied. They were already discussing which clothes were the best and which he should definitely buy. All of them had agreed on the black cargo pants, the white wide straight jeans and the marine pullover with the two cat motives. They also already decided that the wide dark blue jeans together with the sienna hoodie was a perfect combination for Cale and also a must buy.

During Cale´s fitting, they noticed how almost everything looked good on Cale but wide jeans fitted him especially good. Still, the grey jeans were also pretty good and together with the cream colored pullover another perfect must-buy combination.

Cale finally sank down on the seat which Lock reserved for him and closed his eyes. He was hot and wanted to exit the building as fast as possible, even though he would have to go and chose a jacket first.

After another ten minutes where the sun had gone down, the friends finally decided on the twenty clothes which they´d buy for Cale. Cale, who didn’t know that his friends already decided to pay ignored it and finally stood up. He had cooled down and was ready to continue shopping.

Rosalyn was still just as excited as before as the friends went to the fourth floor. Lock and Choi Han carried all of the must-buy-clothes while Cale tagged along without anything but Rosalyn and Witira´s purses. He was tired and didn’t know if he still wanted to go to the movie, but as he promised them to do so, he definitely would.

The search for a jacket went by very quick, as all of them almost immediately agreed on a black coat which looked much more modern than Cale´s current coat. Honestly, it looked really good and even Cale who didn’t know anything about fashion didn’t think it was bad.

“Where is the check out?”

Alberu shook his head at Cale´s question.

“Nah, don´t bother. I´ll pay.”

Cale wasn’t as stupid to decline free money. He knew Alberu and also knew that Alberu was similar to him. He wouldn’t expect anything in return if he didn’t ask for anything.

“Fine, if you say so.”

Alberu nodded. He was thankful that Cale didn’t beat around the bush. The friends then went to the check out and paid for all of Cale´s clothes. It was a really big sum of money, which was too high for simply clothes.

Even Cale had never seen such a high sum of money being used for clothes.

He simply sighed. He didn’t even get the chance to choose as his quickly shushed him. But he couldn’t really hold it against them, as they didn’t mean any harm at all.

The friends then left the shop and looked up into the dark sky. It was just five pm, but it was already dark outside, a sign that winter was coming. Cold wind blew outside and played with people´s hair.

“Movie theatre?”

Alberu smiled while suggesting that. The others nodded in agreement. Every one of the friends group was carrying one bag full of Cale´s clothing, though Cale alone was carrying the hoodies he had chosen for each of them. It was fine as all of them liked their hoodies.

Soon, they arrived at a movie theatre. Some new films were playing and most of them were romantic movies, which not even the girls wanted to watch. Lastly, they decided to watch a horror movie that was only allowed for sixteen years old and above. They were a bit worried for their friend Lock as he was just fifteen, but no one questioned him as he was the tallest of them.

They then watched the film.

Let´s just say that horror movies weren´t something for the friend´s group, especially not for Cale and Lock.

God, if Ron found out that they took his precious young master into this movie, he would definitely behead all of them immediately and forbid them to continue being friends with Cale.

Even after they left the movie, Cale and Lock were still shivering while looking around them. As Alberu accidently let his phone fall, Cale even jumped up. The blonde smiled apologetic and Cale just nodded but he didn’t stop being on edge. He and Lock exchanged gazes before they moved tighter together.

“Never again horror movies, remember that, yeah?”

Witira nodded at Rosalyn´s question. She looked back at the two shivering boys. She felt sorry and guilty. The two of them didn’t deserve that.

“How about we all do to this Korean barbecue which just opened? I bet this will make you stop thinking about the movie.”

Cale immediately shook his head.

“No, nonononono! Are you crazy? Such things always appear in Korean restaurants, didn’t you pay attention?!”

Alberu who walked right next to Cale looked at the redhead with concern. It didn’t sound like him. He wouldn’t be so panicked whenever talking to others. This simply meant that the film was really horrifying for him.

Rosalyn let out a deep sigh followed by a sad smile. She looked at Choi Han who simply shrugged. Both of them watched some horror films with Lock and even though he was mostly afraid his reaction now was ways much more present than usual. They didn’t even know how to calm the two scaredy-cats down.

Paseton sighed. He had slept during the movie and thus didn’t really understand what was so scary. Of course the fact that he could sleep during such a horror movie was proof alone that he could watch horror movies and laugh at them.

Choi Han and Alberu also didn’t get scared. The couple in their group even got amused by the movie as they were horror movies fanatics.

“Fine, how about we go to Burger King or McDonalds? Five Guys?”

Alberu let out a sigh as he nodded.

“Yes, what do you think, Cale? Lock?”

Cale tried to calm his breath and so did Lock, but it didn’t really go as planned. In the end, both boys just nodded. Better eating in a crowded place instead of an almost empty old Korean one.

~

It of course didn’t go as planned, as the McDonalds they were currently sitting in, had almost zero guests. Only an old man some tables behind them. Cale was shivering even more as the lights of this McDonalds didn’t work properly and flickered every so often. Even worse was the fact that it was cold inside the building and they could hear the wind howl.

“If I get a heart attack after today, all of you are at fault.”

Cale´s voice was quiet and shaking. Paseton finally smiled apologetic as he noticed that this fear seemed to be permanent. He felt sorry for Cale and Lock as well.

Alberu simply sighed and laid his arm around Cale´s shoulder in order to pull him nearer to him.

“C´mon, this isn’t going to happen, I promise. And besides, you have us on your side, so what´s the worse that´s going to happen?”

Suddenly, the McDonalds door was being pushed open with such a loud crush that Cale fell from his chair and pulled Alberu down with him. Meanwhile Lock was hiding under the desk.

Paseton couldn’t hold it in as he started to laugh not noticing that the man who just entered was approaching their desk.

“Oh my God, Cale, Alberu, are you two okay?!”

Rosalyn as well as Choi Han jumped up from their chairs and immediately approached Cale and Alberu who were lying on the floor. What they didn’t know was that even though Alberu was frowning, he was very happy inside. Somehow, he managed to make Cale fall on him instead of on the cold floor. He then slowly sat up while helping Cale do the same thing.

“I´m never going to watch a horror movie with you again.”

Alberu nodded as he helped Cale stand up properly. Just as Cale was back on his own two feet again, he almost fell down once again as he saw his loyal servant who stayed behind in the Henituse Residence. Beacrox was standing right behind Paseton who was still laughing at Cale and Alberu´s fall.

Witira hid her smile as she knew that troubles were awaiting Paseton. They got to know Beacrox two weeks ago as Ron suggested to them that it´d be nice to visit the Henituse Residence in Manchester.

“Young master-nim, are you alright? Are you not feeling well? Shall I call my father?”

Beacrox was very worried about Cale as Ron had told him that the young teenager went out with his friends today. He had seen Cale and his friends walking on the streets and had followed them as he noticed that Cale was shaking. He didn’t intend to scare the Cale to his death.

Cale cleared his throat while he still clung on to Alberu´s sleeve without noticing it.

“Eh y-yes. Every-t-thing is f-fine.”

Now Alberu´s inner happiness waved him goodbye as his concern took over. Cale never, and I mean never ever stuttered.

Beacrox had a complicated expression on his face before he gave Alberu and Choi Han his famous death glare.

“What exactly did you do to the young master-nim?”

Witira gulped.

“We watched a horror movie after going shopping?”

It was Paseton who answered fearlessly but it still sounded like a question. Beacrox raised his eyebrow as he observed Cale´s behavior more and more before he sat down next to Paseton on the free chair. He then put on a pair of white gloves with which he wiped a part of the desk. He then nodded as it seemed to be clean.

“And what horror movie did you watch?”

Paseton shivered while Alberu sighed and placed the still shivering Cale back on his chair and sitting back down next to him. Choi Han and Rosalyn also returned back to their seats and continued to wait for their order.

Meanwhile Lock slowly looked up from the desk and shook his head: “Something scary! Don´t ask, it´ll just remind us!”

Beacrox sighed as he could see that the children (Cale and Lock) were on the verge of crying. Yes, he was able to see such a thing as he had seen how Cale grew up. He still remembered the old days when a four year old Cale came visit him in the kitchen together with his mother and called him ´Hyung´.

Beacrox cared deeply for the redhead. As his father Ron regarded the young master as his second son, he was practically Beacrox´ younger brother. And yes, in Ron´s opinion he´d do anything for Cale. After all, he had filled in the father role for Cale after the young boy was abandoned so coldly by his real father.

Beacrox recalled the affection with which Ron had talked about Cale. And honestly, he had it too.

He could read Cale´s emotions rather well.

And thus, he stared everyone beside Cale and Lock down.

“Ho, if my father finds out you guys are dead meat.”

Beacrox then took out his phone and enjoyed the panicked expressions of Paseton, Choi Han and Alberu. He didn’t really plan to call his father because of this matter, but rather to ask whether Cale had already taken the pill and if not if he should give it to him as he was already here.

“Are you calling Mister Ron?”

Beacrox nodded at Rosalyn´s question.

Cale imagined the vicious lock in Ron´s eyes and flinched once more. This butler of his would probably forbid all contact to his friends because of this.

“Hello father, I call because of this special matter which has to do with the young master-nim.”

“Yes, exactly. Has he taken it already?”

“Shall I give it to him then, I am currently with him.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

Beacrox then put his phone away. He looked at Cale and motioned with his eyes for him to accompany him. Cale finally remembered that he still hadn’t taken his pill and stood up with his shaking legs. Just now he finally noticed how his hand had been clinging on Alberu´s sleeve.

“We´ll be right back, as this is a private matter. Please wait here for the young master-nim´s return.”

The teenagers nodded as they watched Cale following behind Beacrox. They brushed it off as there was nothing too suspicious.

At least everyone except Alberu.

He simply couldn’t forget the conservation Beacrox had. Has he taken it already? He was clearly speaking of medicine or something like that, wasn’t he? Alberu thought about it for a bit more. Cale´s exceptionally weak body and the extra care of his servants towards him. The two kittens who were always around him even though cats behaved differently under normal circumstances.

He´d have to ask Cale in private about this matter. After all, he had all rights to know it.

Meanwhile Beacrox took out the pill as well as a bottle of water and a handkerchief. He then held it on Cale´s nose and sighed. Cale´s nose had started bleeding, showing just how stressful this situation was to him. He didn’t have nosebleeds very often, only then when he was extremely stressed.

Beacrox sighed as he also wiped away a bit of Cale´s blood. Too bad the blood didn’t stop that fast.

“Young master-nim, you have to take care of yourself more, just like you promised my father.”

Cale nodded. He didn’t want Beacrox to worry about him.

“I´ll keep that in mind. Excuse me for worrying you like that.”

Beacrox let out a deep sigh as he put the handkerchief away and lightly lifted Cale´s chin to check whether his nosebleed had stopped or not. To his luck, it did stop.

“It´s alright. Do you want to talk about the movie? I´ll listen, promise. And I won´t tell my father.”

Cale smiled like a child. That´s one of the things he did sometimes as his childhood had stopped with the death of his mother when he was six.

Beacrox felt relieved to see that smile.

“There were these strange alien beasts that suddenly appeared and do you know what? Their origin is the human´s foul side. They look so ugly and then they even ate humans!”

Cale cringed and frowned while he shivered once again. Beacrox nodded with a serious expression. He had learnt early from his father that children´s fears had to be taken very seriously, even if it was just a ladybug.

He had also seen how Cale´s mother had taken every of her son´s fears very seriously when he came running towards her, no matter what time it was. And Cale was still a child, no matter how adult like he looked or acted.

“Yes, that sounds very horrible. I understand why you fear them.”

Cale nodded and Beacrox finally handed him the pill and water bottle. Cale´s expression turned odd as he hated the taste of this pill. Soon he drank water and swallowed the pill with the same sour expression as when he drank lemon tea. He felt lightheaded and a bit dizzy, but it´d go by as always.

He then headed back towards his friends together with Beacrox, who then faired his farewells. Of course he first promised the friends-group that he wouldn’t tell his father about the horror movie.

Chapter Text

Cale was sitting on his marine colored couch while he had placed his feet on Alberu´s lap who was currently busy writing a report on his computer while Cale continued to read “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Choi Han sat down on the carpet while he was busy doing his homework on the side table. Ron observed the three boys as his gaze shifted towards the two girls and Lock sitting at the dining table and doing their own homework or studying. Even though it was the first Monday of their fall vacation they were still studying with the exception of Cale, but what did you expect from an elite school?

Beacrox was cooking and backing cookies in the kitchen as he had come over today.

Cale turned the page only to see that it was the last one. He sighed. He didn’t want to stand up and take another book. He still had to read though. Just as Cale wanted to stand up, Alberu held his feet down. Cale sighed. He didn’t want to crash the silence as he liked it very much.

He then simply stretched himself and tapped on Choi Han´s shoulder. Choi Han turned around and looked at Cale with his typical Cale-expression. Yes, he had a special Cale-expression (yes, the innocent-kicked-puppy-expression) as he only looked at Cale like that.

He took Cale´s book out of his hand and gave him “White Fang”, the other novel Cale was reading at the same time. Cale nodded thankfully and opened the next book to continue reading. Honestly, he didn’t like the novel at all. He didn’t understand what the author wanted to say with it and he thought that a normal quarter-wolf-dog wouldn’t react like that at all.

Cale sighed his typical displeased sigh and Alberu finally looked up from his computer.

“Is something wrong?”

Cale sighed once again as he frowned even more.

“This bullshit doesn’t make any sense!”

Cale then closed the book and looked at Alberu. Alberu shook his head. If Cale didn’t like it, then he literally hated it and had no problem showing it. But there wasn’t much that Cale didn’t like.

“Wanna talk?”

“You are busy, I can wait.”

Cale leaned back and let the book fall on the floor. He didn’t care about this bullshit of a book and ignored Rosalyn´s stare. She didn’t stare at him because she was against his actions; it was just that she was happy to see that Cale was a normal human being as well who found some things bad as well. Probably because he didn’t understand it.

Ron approached his young master-nim and lifted the book before placing it on top of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Choi Han glared at the old butler as the two of them couldn’t stand each other at all.

“Young master-nim, would you prefer to read “Pride & Prejudice”? Your mother really loved this book back in the days.”

Everyone stopped immediately what they were doing. They remembered their meeting yesterday as they discussed the matter of Cale´s mother. And yes, they found out a lot – actually too much.

~ Yesterday ~

Alberu sat down on the floor where all of the files were lying openly. It was only him, Choi Han, Lock and Rosalyn here as Witira and Paseton had to visit their family today.

“Hm, she really resembles Cale-nim.”

Choi Han stared at the picture of Jour Thames. There were a bunch of them actually. Some were taken when she was still a kid (which made Cale´s friends start to imagine how Cale looked like as a kid), some when she was already older. But there weren’t any pictures were she looked older than late twenties, what was strange.

“Not only resembling. She looks like a female version of him. This is so cute!”

Rosalyn stated as she looked at the photo of a maybe four or five year old Jour Thames.

“She was a really cute kid. Do you think Cale-nim was a cute kid as well?”

Lock asked as he looked at the picture Rosalyn was practically staring.

“Of course, what do you think?!”

Alberu sighed as the answer was pretty clear and Lock just asked stupid questions.

He then continued to read the summary of all the information. Her age was strangely enough 28, what made no sense. After all there was no way she got pregnant with 12. Alberu sighed as he took out the hospital records of Jour Thames. A broken arm in 1992, as she was seven; a broken rib and wrist fracture in 1996; a second broken arm in 2001 and a pretty long list of injuries in 2013. After that there was no other record in Great Britain.

Alberu took the list with the Korean hospital records but soon gave it up as he couldn’t read Korean. He could speak but he couldn’t read it sadly.

“Alright…she was born in 1985 and her last record in the UK was in 2013. It is stated that she is 28. That doesn’t make any sense! She should be 38! Is this a misprint or what?!”

“Eh, Alberu…this could make sense.”

Alberu looked up at Lock´s statement.

“What do you mean?”

Lock then handed the student council president another file which he had read. It was a file full of newspaper names and their article names. All of them had something to do with the words “accident”, “Jour Thames” and “Death”. Alberu stared at the many articles before he bowed down in order to get his phone.

He then googled ´Jour Thames Death´ and surprisingly enough there plopped immediately news articles up.

“Is his mother…dead?”

“This would explain the lack of photos after her late twenties and the missing hospital records after the year 2013. Even her Korean records are missing.”

Choi Han put down the Korean records. He suppressed his smile as he found out Cale´s birthday due to these records – the 8th November 2006. It´d be soon his seventeenth birthday.

Alberu started to frown. He remembered how Cale had talked so casually about his mother as if she was waiting in Korea for him. But this woman was supposed to be dead? Then why didn’t Cale seem the least bit affected?

He looked at the news article and clicked on the first one to pop up; it was an article that was posted on the 17th June 2013, apparently five days after the woman´s death.

Alberu started to frown even more. How come he had never heard of such a tragedy?

“What is it Alberu? What are you reading?”

It was Rosalyn who asked as she put away Jour Thames pictures. Cale looked so much like his mother; both of them looked like fallen angels.

“I read about the cause of the accident – apparently it was a car accident caused by a gas-tank-explosion. Also, three other cars crashed into hers, though they managed to live. But what I don´t understand is…wasn’t this the time Cale visited Manchester?”

Rosalyn gasped. Could it be…?

“Before you ask, no, there isn’t any information on a child being with her. Nothing at all.”

Rosalyn sighed.

“But that doesn’t mean anything. Cale´s father could´ve used his influence to silence this incident, this could be the reason why we don´t know much about it.”

Alberu continued. Choi Han nodded. He had read Jour Thames achievements and honestly, he was amazed by the woman.

“Alberu is right. There´s no way we wouldn’t know anything about her as she was something like a holy woman. She often helped orphans and also donated lots of money to charity organizations. There´s also this thing that she was like a fashion icon. Do you know this strange scarf to a shirt or skirt trend? She was apparently the one who started it.”

Rosalyn stared at Choi Han who usually didn’t care for any of such matters. This just meant that Cale really meant something to him.

Alberu nodded.

“Don´t forget that she was rather well known back in the days. There is simply no way that the citizen would let it slide if she just died. They probably would force her family to bury her in the UK.”

Rosalyn frowned as she looked at the picture that Alberu was a secret fan of. Jour Thames wore beige pants and a green pullover. The wind was playing with her blood red hair while she smiled and seemed really happy.

She couldn’t believe that it were always the good people who had such shitty destiny. She was at least happy that Cale was healthy (if they knew, they would surely cry).

“But she was buried in Korea and there wasn’t much fuss made over it. I guess that the news weren’t allowed to announce her death openly and only idiots would google ´Jour Thames´ Death´.”

Choi Han continued. Rosalyn sighed. She didn’t want to hear it. It was bad enough as it already was.

“Didn’t people wonder why she stopped donating stuff?”

It was another one of Lock´s innocent questions. Alberu shook his head.

“She didn’t stop. Or rather, I think that her former husband still donates in her name.”

Choi Han got angry as Alberu answered Lock´s question so nonchalantly. Deruth Henituse had no right to do that.

“So Cale´s mother is dead? Like really dead-dead?”

The others nodded at Lock´s last question and they started to pull the files together in order to burn them. They also burned her photos, as it made no sense to leave them be as she was already dead.

~ Today ~

The friends looked at Cale in a shocked and slightly panicked manner which made him raise his bows questionably but he still brushed it off.

“Just because my mother liked reading it doesn’t mean that I like it as well, Ron. And besides, I already read it like ten times?”

Ron chuckled as he nodded at Cale´s statement. Indeed, Cale had read “Pride & Prejudice” too many times now; he could even recite almost every page.

Alberu sighed.

“Do you want to read over my report?”

Cale frowned, as he thought that Alberu wanted him to do his work for him. Cale sighed as he knew that he had not really a problem with helping his friends, and Alberu seemed really tired.

“Fine, I can do that if you want.”

Alberu then handed Cale his computer which Cale accepted immediately. He then started to read the ten pages over and corrected small mistakes, as well as rephrased some sentences so that it sounded much better and not like a machine had written it. Cale typed very fast and surprised his friends by doing that. Ron chuckled at Alberu´s stunned expression.

Beacrox smiled but turned around so that no one could possibly see him smile. Cale sighed and shook his head as he had to rephrase a whole paragraph and shorten some other things. Alberu gave too many details which weren’t needed. Cale who didn’t even know much about the topic wrote a much better and more interesting report than Alberu.

After twenty minutes he was done with what Alberu needed almost two hours for.

Cale shook his head and stretched his arms.

“You can read over it. If you don´t like it, just change it back. I´m going to sleep, wake me up later. Good night.”

With that, Cale cuddled himself into the couch and closed his eyes without changing the location of his feet which were still placed on Alberu´s lap. Alberu read over his report and he was beyond surprised. He read it a second time and smiled happily. This was truly something else.

Just as he wanted to thank Cale for reworking his report, he noticed that the redhead had already fallen asleep. Alberu smiled softly, something he didn’t notice he did, and shifted his gaze back towards his report. He saved it in his files and then opened the browser in order to inform himself or different books which might interest Cale.

He smiled as he understood that Cale had a thing with older novels. He just wanted to look at Ron, as he noticed that the old butler stood right in front of him with a thick blanket for Cale. Alberu smiled. That´s right, they didn’t want Cale catching a cold.

“Robinson Crusoe”, the first English novel from the year 1719, it sounded nice and anyone knew it from the title. But there was no way Cale hadn’t read it. “The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great”, it was a novel written around the year 1743 by the father of the English Novel. It sounded interesting and Alberu hadn’t ever heard of it before. Call him ignorant, but he didn’t even know of the name “Henry Fielding”.

There were so many historic novels as well as really old novels that he began to wonder whether a person would be able to read all of these in his or her life. Certainly not.

Alberu smiled as he read even reader´s reviews of some old novels. He even got interested in “The female husband”, a book that told the story of a woman living as a man. It sounded fun. He´d have to ask Cale about it. Just as he wanted to continue his research he heard Cale mumble something in his sleep and felt him slowly turning his face towards the couch and away from Choi Han. Alberu smiled. Cale looked so cute.

His feet were also extremely light.

Choi Han let out a deep sigh as he leaned back against the couch. He finally finished his homework and thus looked up at the sleeping Cale and the blonde council president. His gaze then shifted to Rosalyn and Lock as well as Witira who were busy studying. Only Paseton wasn’t busy and he locked eyes with him while pointing with his chin in the direction behind Choi Han.

The raven haired boy then turned around, only to see Beacrox looking at him with this death-stare and Ron smiling as benignly as always.

Choi Han then looked in front of him at the two books that were lying there. He took “White Fang”, the book Cale seemed to hate with a passion, and started to read the dark story. Yes, he kind of understood why the story wasn’t good. He looked once again up to the redhead whose face he couldn’t see but instead his messy red hair.

He smiled gently at the sight before closing the book and putting it back. It was a boring story, Choi Han could tell. Well, not really. Choi Han didn’t like reading books and found the fewest books good.

“Young master-nim-”

The benignly smiling butler was immediately pierced with many gazed as he attempted to wake up the sleeping Cale. Ron brushed it off like the professional he was. On and Hong also entered the grand room as they exited Cale´s room where the two of them had been sleeping while the friends were learning in order to no disturb them. After all, they weren’t shameless kittens.

“Meow~”

“Meowww~”

Alberu chuckled lightly while Choi Han shook his head.

“Young master-nim, wake up. It´s time for dinner.”

Suddenly, the friends looked up at the clock above them. It was indeed already seven pm and time for dinner. Alberu sighed. Really, he had almost no sense of time. And apparently Cale had been sleeping for over two hours already. Time really went by quickly.

On and Hong jumped up on the couch next to Alberu and meowed so that he´d let them walk over his lap so that they could go to Cale. Alberu controlled himself not to chuckle and lifted his closed computer to create a path for the kittens.

On was the first to quickly jump by, followed by her little brother Hong. Alberu then put the computer away and observed how Cale´s butler and his kitten tried to wake him up. In the end, it was thanks to Choi Han who unintentionally let the books fall off the table, that Cale quickly jolted awake.

“Hm? What time is it? For how long was I asleep? Did you have to wait? Sorry.”

Cale´s friends found the drowsy Cale to be extremely cute. His blood red hair was a mess but it kinda still looked good on him. And his half-open, half-closed eyes made him seem so vulnerable.

“No prob. You are a pretty deep sleeper, aren´t you?”

It was Paseton who answered as he didn’t seem to be as effected as the others from Cale´s appearance. Cale nodded and rubbed his eyes awake, though he failed. He still felt sleepy and just wanted to close his eyes to continue to sleep. Alberu shook his head as he slowly stretched his arm to Cale who took it without thinking. Alberu smiled mischievously before he pulled Cale towards him, making Cale widen his eyes.

Ron stared at the boy with not exactly an evil gaze – and that was a good thing, honestly.

“Let´s eat dinner, yeah?”

Cale simply nodded without answering much. He looked at Alberu´s big hand in comparison to his. The blonde´s hand was warm as well…

Chapter Text

It had already been some weeks since vacation were finished and the exam period had started. As Christmas-Holiday was coming in merely four weeks, all students were excited to go home and celebrate with their families. Well, most of them at least.

Cale stared at the blank white board while supporting his chin with his hand. He didn’t even listen to the teacher properly, but the old man let it pass as Cale was his favorite student of all time. Yes, he liked Cale even better than the principal Eruhaben.

Cale was thinking about whether he would have to return to South Korea or if it´d be okay for him to stay here in Manchester. After all, his father hadn’t called him yet, which maximized his chances for staying here. And even if his father would call, he had a good excuse – My body feels especially weak, I don´t think I can fly over 14 hours right now…

It wasn’t like he was lying as he felt himself getting even more tired around these days. His nosebleeds were more present and even Ron looked more worried than usual.

Cale sighed. As long as he wouldn’t bleed in front of his class mates, it was alright. As he was now seventeen he should also be more careful with others knowing about his condition. The redhead shook his head and finally started to pay attention. It wasn’t like he needed the lessons, but still. Better than thinking about his broken relationship with his family.

He still remembered too clearly how his father had ignored him after his mother´s death and how he looked at him as if he was a cockroach. Yes, he looked disgusted by his own son. Cale sighed once more. He didn’t even know how many times he had sighed today.

The lesson continued without him having to answer the teacher´s question and he was honestly really thankful for that. After they were dismissed before the school bell rang, Alberu immediately went to Cale and stared down at him. Choi Han wasn´t in class today due to the martial arts-club participating in a martial arts-competition with all different elite schools participating, so it were just him and Cale here.

“Why do you look so down today? What are you thinking about?”

Cale frowned as he shook his head.

“Nothing too important, just ignore it.”

Alberu raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

“Nah, don´t wanna. Just tell me.”

Cale shook his head once more.

“It is some stuff that had something to do with the coming vacation, happy?”

Alberu wasn’t happy with just this much and raised his index finger.

“Tell me just one thing that´s bugging you but very detailed and I´m going to tell you one big secret. What about it?”

Cale sighed.

“You know that I´m not interested in stranger´s secrets. That is such a stupid idea Alberu, even for you.”

“So you are admitting that something´s bugging you? What is it?”

Cale slapped his hand against his forehead. Yeah right, Alberu wasn’t stupid as he was also extremely smart. There was a reason why he had been the top of the class before the redhead transferred. And Cale fell right into the trap Alberu had set for him.

“Well, I don´t exactly want to go back to Seoul.”

“And why?” //We´re gonna burn the whole house down//

Cale sighed once more as he shook his head.

“Just the typical things, you know; family problems and all this stuff.”

Alberu´s mind got complicated. Didn’t Cale like his family? What was the reason for that? Cale let out an empty sounding laugh.

“Yeah, something stupid, I know.”

“Don´t say such bullshit, Cale. This isn’t something stupid but a serious problem. Don´t you want to talk about it?”

Cale looked at Alberu. Honestly, he was beyond stunned. The blonde boy with the beautiful azure eyes was indeed trustworthy and Cale knew that he could trust Alberu with anything and he wouldn’t tell the others. If Cale was to tell anyone of his friend´s group about his condition it probably would have been Alberu.

“Hm, maybe. As I said, it is nothing too serious. Don´t worry about it.”

Alberu didn’t believe the redhead, it was easy to tell. The student council president then shook his head. It was currently one pm so they still had time before the next set of lessons would start from two pm to four pm.

After they were free to go to their dorms, as today weren’t any club activities.

“Listen Cale, please tell me. I don´t like it if something´s bugging you. You can tell me literally anything and I´ll listen. I promise I won´t tell anyone.”

Cale looked at Alberu as if he was crazy before he closed his eyes for a short period of time.

Alberu observed every one of Cale´s every so little movements which didn’t look like much but actually could have a deeper meaning to it. Just like when Cale closed his eyes. This meant that he was tired and wanted to get it over with.

“Fine, I don´t want to go back because of my father. He treats me different than a normal person.”

“And why´s that?”

Alberu, who thought Cale was finally ready to tell him about his mother´s death, got a bit excited. But what came out of Cale´s mouth shook him to his deepest core.

“Probably because I´m trash? Just saying.”

“Cale Henituse, you´re many things but you are definitely not trash! Take it back immediately!”

Alberu was so shaken that he felt like causing a scene. Cale just shook his head. He remembered how his friend died just so he didn’t have to. It´d have been better if he died, as he´d finally be able to reunite with his mother. Nobody in this world cared for him anyway and he was a sickly kid with a weak body. Honestly, Cale wondered how he hadn’t gotten sick yet as it was already freezing outside. Contrary, his friend was rather popular, had a healthy body and pretty good grades. He was also a talented athlete as he was one of the school´s fastest runners. He had had his whole life ahead of him while Cale could just die whenever he fell down the wrong way or forgot to take his pill trice in a row.

Cale frowned as he thought about the different outcome. Probably his friend still thought of him as some weak person who needed protection. He was trash for not choosing to ignore his now dead friend.

“Cale?”

The redhead closed his eyes and leaned back.

“Haaa, what did I do to deserve this?”

Alberu stared at the skinny boy who looked even paler than usual today. His hands were slightly shaking. Normally, Alberu would just shake it off, but today he was even more attentive than usual.

“Cale, are you getting sick?”

Cale let out a laugh-like loud as he shook his head. He wasn’t getting sick, he had been sick this entire time.

“Would you treat me any different if I was sick?”

Alberu stared at the younger boy who still didn’t open his eyes. Was he crazy? Of course he would treat Cale differently! He´d take him to bed immediately and use his student council president position to get away with it. But something told him that this was the wrong answer. He looked at Cale.

Weak body, pale skin, shaking hands. He then remembered the incident which happened some weeks ago, as they all went to the restaurant after watching that scary movie (which still caused both Cale and Lock nightmares). Cale had to take something – probably medicine.

Could it be that Cale was sick? And he meant the sick-sick instead of the ill-sick.

“Depends. If it´s nothing too serious which isn’t life threatening, why´d I treat you any different? Though I´d still be more cautious around you so that nothing will happen to you.”

Cale finally opened his eyes and stared at Alberu. Alberu loved these reddish-brown eyes of his. The only thing he wanted to do right now was to pull the redhead in for a hug and finally confess his feelings which he had been feeling ever since day one.

“And if I told you that I had a sickness you wouldn’t tell the others, would you?”

Alberu looked at Cale who was very serious right now. He was speaking hypothetically, so why did it feel like he wasn’t?

“I surely wouldn’t if you tell me not to tell.”

Cale nodded his head and finally stood up from the chair to go to the cafeteria. Just as he wanted to open the door, Alberu´s hand stopped him from doing so.

Alberu who was still in a state of chaos due to the sudden questions about Cale´s health was certain: Cale was indeed not healthy. His sleepiness, his weak body, his overly cautious servants. It all indicated that he had to deal with a serious illness.

“Just tell me the truth Cale. Are you sick?”

Cale stared at Alberu with shock in his eyes.

Alberu chuckled lightly.

“It´s not that difficult to find out, you know? Just answer the fucking question, I need to know.”

Cale turned his head away from Alberu, who was pinning him against the classroom door. It was certainly a strange situation, but both boys had other things in their minds. Cale could feel Alberu´s hot breath and he could also tell that Alberu´s heart was beating extremely fast as of now.

Though he didn’t have the right to tell, as his heart didn’t beat any slower.

“You have to promise not to tell the others.”

Alberu looked at Cale and simply nodded.

Cale closed his eyes and stared at Alberu´s chest instead of in his eyes.

“I have iron deficiency anemia.”

Alberu stared at Cale and searched for his brain for this disease.

“You mean when you don´t have enough blood cells?! That disease, that increases the risk of you getting cancer or complications that can affect your lungs and heart?!”

Cale simply nodded after sighing once more. His friend sure knew a lot about something like anemia.

Alberu couldn’t exactly believe it, as even though anemia wasn’t as well-known as leukemia, diabetes or ischemic heart disease, it was still a critical condition. It wasn’t as life-threatening but it still affected one´s life severely.

The blonde teenager looked down at Cale who still didn’t look him in the eyes. Alberu then slowly lifted Cale´s chin, so that he had to look him in the eyes.

“Cale, did you really intend to not tell anyone? What if you suddenly faint in front of us and none of us knows that it could actually be something life-threatening for you?”

Alberu let out another deep sigh.

“As you wish, I won´t tell anyone, but in return I want you to come to me whenever you aren´t feeling well. And I´m serious, else I´ll tell the others.”

Cale then nodded. Alberu wanted to let go already, as Cale asked a question.

“Now tell me the secret you promised.”

Alberu smirked.

“Do you really want to know? I thought that a stranger´s secret is not of any interest to you?”

Cale pouted like a child which made Alberu chuckle. He truly knew how to act cute around the other, even though he didn’t do it intentionally.

“Fine, I´ll tell you if you look at me like that.”

Alberu breathed in before he finally said what he wanted to tell Cale since forever.

“I like you.”

Chapter Text

Cale stared at Alberu as if he was crazy. Alberu still smiled innocently while brushing his blonde hair. ´I like you´ was what Alberu had told Cale. Cale, whose brain had stopped working, didn’t know what to do next, let alone what to say.

“Is this a joke?”

Alberu stopped smiling like a lovesick fool and looked at Cale´s reddish-brown eyes with such a serious expression that anything that differed from it even in the slightest didn’t look serious at all.

“No. I am serious, Cale. I really like you. I…fell in love with you.”

Cale turned his head away and looked at the wooden floor of the class room. He had heard lots of love confessions during his life, especially from the girls. They never felt real and he always rejected them calmly. So why was his heart beating so fast right now? Why did he feel his face getting all hot? Why couldn’t he look Alberu in the eyes?

“I don´t care if you reject me. But please, don´t cut ties with me. Please continue to treat me like always and-“

“How can you say that? How could I treat you normally knowing that you like me?”

Cale was starting to feel his heart aching at Alberu´s attempt to brush this whole ordeal off as if it was nothing serious. He couldn’t exactly understand his own feelings right now, but he knew that he indeed did care for Alberu in a special way.

“What do you mean? Does it feel awkward to you?”

Alberu tried to smile but he couldn’t hide the hurt in his eyes. Cale, who finally looked Alberu in the eyes, felt his heart ache. Alberu, on the contrary, felt something warm rising inside him as he saw the pretty hard blush on the redhead´s cheeks. He leaned forward, not caring about anything.

Cale who saw that didn’t flinch as he slowly closed his eyes. Alberu smirked before he leaned further and further and further…until his lips almost touched Cale´s. He could feel Cale´s fast, hot breath. He couldn’t believe his own actions right now and thought that he was dreaming.

He felt lightheaded and finally connected their lips.

What started as an innocent, shy kiss soon turned into a wild fight with their tongues which Alberu obviously didn’t lose. He laid his hands around Cale´s slim waist and pressed the smaller male against the classroom door. Cale wrapped his hands around Alberu´s neck and let his college block and pen fall down. None of them noticed it though.

After some seconds that felt like hours they had to separate their lips to not suffocate. Both of them panted hard. Alberu stared at Cale´s face, who once again turned it away from the blonde male. He saw how Cale´s cheeks were extremely red and how his chest was lifting and sinking faster than even his own.

He couldn’t help but smile. He had kissed the boy he had fallen for! A relieved emotion overflowed him and he felt so happy and excited. The discussion from before was forgotten and Alberu could only think about how Cale´s red lips had the taste of something sweet. Like cherries.

Although, he too had tasted a sour taste which reminded him of lemons. The sour taste came from Ron´s lemon tea which he served to Cale every chance he got to do so.

The boys still hugged and didn’t move away from their positions. They ignored the loud shouts from the floor outside the door as the classrooms didn’t have windows and they had nothing to fear. Also, they were blocking the door right now…

“…I…”

Cale couldn’t say anything else and looked up at Alberu who finally smiled a sincere, happy smile instead of the mischievous one. The redhead felt stupid as he could see Alberu´s affection for him through his gaze. How could he be so dense?! Cale felt selfish for not wanting to let go of this happy feeling that Alberu´s presence caused him. He wanted Alberu to stay with him. He knew it was a selfish wish but as he was already trash…

No, it was even too selfish for trash like him to have such thoughts. Cale remembered his friend´s death that he had caused and all of these happy feelings disappeared immediately. He couldn’t look Alberu in the eyes and instead stared at the other´s chest. He also took his hands back and used them to lightly press Alberu away from him, though the other didn’t budge at all.

“You can´t love me.”

Alberu was perplexed. What did Cale mean with that? It was obvious that Cale also had feelings for Alberu, or else he wouldn’t have accepted the kiss, so why did he say such bullshit?!

Just as Alberu wanted to ask, Cale explained already.

“I really am trash. You remember this friend of mine from my old High School and how he´s dead? Do you know that I killed him? It is my fault that he died!”

Alberu´s grip around Cale´s waist tightened up. No matter how often Cale would repeat this, he didn’t believe him. He had known Cale for a little over two months now and it was enough for him to tell what kind of person the redhead was. It was the little things that Alberu observed, how he looked at his friends and how he always kept his words. Cale wasn’t the type of person to intentionally kill someone.

“Stop spitting such bullshit, Cale. I am certain that you aren´t the one at fault.”

Cale was shocked. Alberu didn’t even ask what had happened that day and simply contradicted his words. There was also no doubt in his words, it was really as he said; he was certain of it.

“B-but…”

“Whatever happened, I just know that you are innocent. You don´t have to tell me. And honestly, I don´t care. I know what kind of person you are. And I fell in love with you. There´s no way I´d stop loving you just because of your words.”

Alberu then pulled Cale into a hug which the redhead didn’t expect at all. It was a tight embrace that was exactly what Cale had needed. He leaned against his blonde friend without thinking about anything.

After some minutes of complete silence, Alberu had a proposal.

“You know, if you let me become your boyfriend, I could take you with me during the holiday…”

Cale looked up at the smug looking boy with the once again mischievous smile on his lips. But what could he do? It wasn’t like he didn’t want to have a relationship with Alberu.

“If you phrase it like that…”

“Hm, then let me rephrase it. Would you like to be my boyfriend, Cale?”

Cale looked at Alberu before he nodded with an extremely red face. It felt a bit awkward, as this was his first relationship. Not that Alberu was any more experienced than him…

Alberu smirked as he felt Cale nod and answer quietly with a yes. Honestly, he was only this composed on the outside. And even there he couldn’t hide the big, lovesick smile of a fool.

~

Choi Han stared at Rosalyn with a shocked expression while the girl chuckled. He couldn’t believe the words that came out of her mouth. Cale and Alberu were dating?! What had happened here?! He had been away for just one week! One freaking fucking week!

“…How did that happen?”

Rosalyn let out a deep sigh as she shrugged.

“Don´t ask me. I just remember how one time, the two of them were late and as we went to look for them, we found them kissing in a classroom. Totally romantic if you ask me.”

Rosalyn chuckled as she remembered Cale´s red face. She also remembered how Alberu was worried about Cale because his face was blushing so much. It was really worth looking for them. Well, ever since the two of them were a couple. And not just some couple, a really cute one at that.

She would have never imagined that Alberu had such a cute side to him.

“Damn it, I knew he had a crush on Cale-nim!”

Witira, who listened to the friend´s conservation, let out a deep sigh before she handed Rosalyn her tea. They were currently at her dorm and Choi Han came in to speak with Rosalyn.

“At least you know now that Cale likes him better, so your friendship isn’t awkward because you didn’t confess to him.”

Choi Han stared at Rosalyn who simply laughed.

“Choi Han, it is obvious that you have a crush on Cale! Only he doesn’t notice because he is so innocent and dense!”

Choi Han shook his head, even though he knew that his friend got a point. What if he confessed before Alberu and Cale said that he didn’t like him back because he liked Alberu? Their friendship would have gotten so awkward that they were better off not knowing each other. This way, he could still be with Cale – even though it wasn’t exactly the way he wanted it to be.

“And…do they all this couple stuff…you know what I mean, this stuff you and Witira do?”

Witira snored while Rosalyn simply smiled this wicked smile that gave the raven haired boy the chills.

“Why don´t you ask them yourself? Or just wait and see until Monday, I´m sure you´ll be surprised.”

Choi Han stared at his red haired friend before he shook his head and left Witira´s apartment. It was already bad enough that he just found out that Cale was in a relationship with Alberu out of all the people, but now he had to get from the girl´s dorm back to the boys dorms at the other end of the campus.

Choi Han grumbled things to himself that only he understood. Rosalyn and Witira observed him from the window and chuckled as they saw how his hands were shaking. The day after the weekend would definitely be worth looking for. At least for the two drama-loving girls.

~

Monday arrived fast but slow at the same time. It was fast for those who didn’t want it to come but slow for those who desperately awaited it, like Choi Han.

First thing in the morning he did after waking up, was rushing over to Cale´s apartment where he waited for him to come out for school. It was something he and Alberu usually did every morning, as Cale was usually pretty late.

After twenty whole minutes, Alberu walked up to him with a bright smile. He waved at him without saying anything and just waited in front of the wooden door with the number 23B.

“We won, the martial arts competition I mean.”

Alberu nodded as he had already been informed about the results. Honestly, it wasn’t unexpected. He had seen how scary Choi Han fought and pitied those who went against him.

“And…did something happen here while I was gone?”

Alberu snorted as he looked at Choi Han who was similar in height as him.

“Of course, but I assume Rosalyn already told you?”

Choi Han turned his head away and looked at the apartment door from his redheaded friend. Alberu then let out a deep sigh.

“Well, the Christmas Festival is already next Friday and we plan on making some kind of competition for the students to participate. Hm, what else? The school band agreed to play songs, the single clubs are all preparing their stands and the principal agreed to free food. Ah, before I forget, I have a boyfriend now.”

Choi Han stared at Alberu who talked with him in his casual voice as if there was nothing special about it, especially the last part. He got angry, but before he could say anything, the door opened and the redhead for whom he had been waiting exited his apartment while his loyal servant looked after him.

“Have fun in school today, young master-nim.”

Cale nodded and waved his hand, he didn’t behave different from usual right now. Choi Han noticed the affectionate gaze Alberu had while looking at Cale and the slightly red cheeks of Cale. He was certain; it was better that way. His and Cale´s friendship was still intact.

“Morning. Good to see you again, Choi Han.”

Choi Han smiled his usual type of smile in return. He just wanted to return it, as Alberu laid his arm around Cale´s shoulders and smiled. He honestly did it unintentionally as he was really happy about Cale finally being his boyfriend. The redhead couldn’t help but get red cheeks as he looked down on the floor.

“So, you plan on helping today again?”

Cale chuckled as he shook his head.

“If you´re talking about me being present while you, Paseton and the rest of the student council prepare the festival, yes, I plan on helping today again.”

Choi Han couldn’t help but smile at the description of Cale´s help, but he still felt jealous of Alberu. It could´ve been him. Still, he´d be there too, as he was a part of the student council as well, as absurd as it sounded.

“Well, as long as you´re there with me, you´re a lot of help to me, sweetheart.”

Alberu winked as Cale shook his head while chuckling at this statement. Choi Han couldn’t help but think that the two of them were kind of a cute couple. He then smiled. As long as Cale-nim was happy, he didn’t have a problem with it – at least not that big of a problem. But if Alberu ever was to hurt the little redhead, he´d learn the true meaning of fear. Not only Choi Han thought that way.

“Wow, you´re such a gentleman, Alberu. Really, how come there aren’t hundreds of girls following behind you right now?”

Alberu shook his head in amusement. They started walking their usual way to school leisurely. Choi Han followed behind them and listened to their conservation with a smile on his lips.

“Oh my, you are right! Where have all of my fans gone to?”

Alberu gasped in played surprise while pretending to look for his girl-fans.

“Look behind ya, I can see Choi Han following you almost everywhere.”

Alberu chuckled as he shook his head. Choi Han, on the other hand, felt disgusted. He only followed behind the couple because of Cale! For goodness´ sake, he hated Alberu!

“And since when is Choi Han a girl?”

Cale pouted and crossed his arms in front of his chest while turning his head away. The grey scarf he wore was blown into his face by the wind and he looked extremely cute. Alberu sighed at all of his boyfriend´s cuteness.

“Stop teasing Cale-nim.”

Alberu chuckled once again as even Choi Han interfered in their conservation. He then nodded.

“Never mind that; what do you think about going to London?”

Cale looked at Alberu with a frown on his face. London – England´s capital and the biggest city in the UK, a city with lots of people living in it, almost 10 Million.

Manchester was already big enough for Cale, he wasn’t that interested in visiting big cities, even though he lived in very big cities as of now. London was a bit…different.

“Are there any different options?”

Choi Han looked at the couple with question marks above his head.

“Hm, so we aren’t going to go to London.”

“How about we just stay here?”

“No can do that. What about we go to a different country? Maybe Europe, French or Germany? Or we go to the eastern lands?”

Cale let out a deep sigh.

“Just tell me that you want to go visit Seoul, really Alberu. I don´t have a problem with it as long as we don´t tell my parents.”

“That isn’t a problem at all, really! I just want to visit the places where you went to when you were a kid.”

Cale´s shoulder stiffened up a bit.

He visited lots of places with his mother, and after she died he went around with Ron and visited all kinds of places when he wasn’t at home. He wasn’t at home often, as there was his father who refused to see him. And after, he visited the karaoke bar rather often with his dead friend. Hm, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad going there with Alberu.

“We of course don´t have to, of you don´t want to.”

“Hm, we can do it.”

Alberu was a bit surprised, but he felt happy that Cale was ready to go to Seoul as he had wanted to visit the capital of South Korea for a long while. And he was even ready to share things from his childhood with him. But of course they wouldn’t go to Cale´s home!

“Sorry, but I can´t follow, could someone explain please?”

Choi Han looked at the couple confused. Alberu immediately nodded.

“Cale and I decided that we´ll spend the holiday together and we wanted to travel somewhere that´s not Manchester. But we don´t want it to be in England but I tried to persuade him to go to London. So right now we decided on Seoul, as you´ve heard.”

Choi Han nodded.

“Cale-nim, doesn’t your family miss you?”

“Hm, not really.”

Cale had now his usual stoic expression on his face as he answered Choi Han with a cold and emotion-void voice. It gave both boys who listened to him the chills, as they weren’t used to Cale´s cold voice like that. Yes, he often had an emotionless expression or a frown on his angelic face, but usually his eyes were different. They gave away his every emotion rather well.

“Let´s change the topic. Will we spend new year’s there as well?”

Cale thought about it and didn’t answer immediately. Alberu smiled as they approached the school building in peaceful silence without forgetting the question. Cale thought about how Seoul always made a big deal out of new year´s as there were lots of fireworks. He remembered how back in the days, when his mother was still alive, his family watched the fireworks from their balcony. He always got red cheeks because of the cold and his mother always had to cuddle him, even though he wore his winter jacket, a scarf and a hat.

“If you want to, we can.”

Alberu sighed in relief and nodded at Cale´s response with a smile. He knew that it meant more to Cale than he showed on the outside.

“Now that´s that out of the way, we can focus on planning the school festival, don´t you, Cale?”

Cale just hummed in response and ignored his boyfriends excited mumbling on what they needed to organize. The only thing he heard was that there was lots of work ahead of him.

Chapter Text

Cale stared at the stack of paper work in front of him and honestly, for the first time in his life, he hoped that he´d faint. Ron smiled as he put down another stack of papers on Cale´s desk. Alberu tried to smile and put his hand on Cale´s shoulder to give him a feeling of comfort. Paseton and Archie, who sat next to Alberu laughed while Choi Han, Taylor, Eric, Gilbert, Amiru and Witira looked sorry for him. After all, they were sitting in Cale´s apartment and making him help them without him even being a student council´s member.

“…You never said anything about me having to do paperwork.”

Paseton and Archie now started to laugh even louder and Witira smacked them on the back of their heads.

“Be silent.”

Ron smiled benignly at them while his in his eyes laid a promise that he wouldn’t forgive the students for laughing about his young master-nim´s fears.

“…Well, you did say that you would help us.”

Cale now turned around to look at his boyfriend. His face looked like he was ready to cry.

“And you said that my presence alone is enough! You never said anything about paperwork! And there´s so much of it, dammit!”

Cale´s kitten On and Hong meowed this moment and approached the student council sitting at Cale´s desk. Witira immediately lifted the red kitten while his older sister ran to Cale.

The silver kitten practically begged Ron to lift her on Cale´s lap and Ron did that with his usual benign smile.

“Not now, I´m busy.”

Cale waved his hand at Ron´s gesture as he took the first pack of papers form the stack. These was the stack with the title Expenses. He then quickly turned the pages and overflew all of the given expenses and their reasons. The redhead then took a pencil and started to cross out some of the expenses.

Alberu sighed as he saw how his boyfriend started to work. The other council members looked at Cale with confused expressions on their faces. They wanted to ask him what he was doing, but didn’t dare to because of his scary butler. Choi Han, Witira, Paseton and the redhead´s boyfriend were the only ones who weren’t confused because of his behavior as it was normal for him.

Cale then let out a deep sigh as he put the paper down. He took a good look at the student council, then his gaze shifted back to the expenses and he shook his head in disappointment. Their management was horrible, even if they were just students. They threw money out the window as if it was trash.

“Alberu…”

The redhead looked at his boyfriend who wasn’t able to suppress his smile.

“…I should´ve known.”

He then handed the papers with the expenses to his boyfriend and looked into the program of the evening; the welcoming ceremony was at 7pm, the band played at 7.15pm. After, the stands of single clubs opened at 7.30pm while the big competition that was a fighting competition (not only physical but also mental fighting) started at 8.20pm. At 9pm, the band played once more, this time with some famous singers who were invited to join the school festival. At 9.20pm a so called “couples-event” would be starting and at 9.30pm a fortune teller would tell students their future if they gave him ten bucks. All events would go on until midnight while food was being sold the whole evening. At midnight the last big event was starting; a big quiz about trivial things that even kindergarten kids would know.

The quiz was Eruhaben´s idea, as he thought it was fun to make a one hour long quiz to start a Saturday, the first day of the holiday. Of course, students were free to go earlier, but the winner of this quiz would get a special prize. Also, teachers were free to participate as well.

Cale sighed. The program wasn’t that bad, but the main event (the quiz) was extremely lame. Even though there was a mysterious prize involved, many students would´ve gone home already.

“We have to change this a bit…”

Ron smiled benignly as Archie wanted to say something against Cale´s mumblings. Archie immediately changed his mind. Witira shook her head and looked at her brother´s amused face. She remembered how Paseton proposed to change the program as it was lame and how everyone started to argue with him, while Alberu only said that all of them would have to wait and see what Cale would say. To their misfortune, Cale shared Paseton´s opinion.

“How about we start with the quiz right after the welcoming ceremony, then everyone can still think straight and will actually try to win this quiz. And we´ll have to cut it down to half an hour, honestly, who wants to do a quiz for a whole hour?”

The others nodded in agreement while Alberu just patted On who laid on his lap. Cale wrote something down on the program paper and continued to speak his mind.

“After the quiz, at 7.45pm, the stands will open. So the students will have time to look around. But we shouldn’t let them wait for the competition, so I think 8.20pm is still fine for the competition to start. At the same time, for students who don´t want to participate, we should let the band sing at 8.30pm. Band members who want to participate in the competition are free to participate in the first ten minutes as it´d be bad if they´re unhappy. The band will play their songs for half an hour instead of just fifteen minutes. After, they still can join this fighting competition. The couples events and fortune teller should both open at 9pm and the band should play with these famous singers at 10pm. The fighting competition will take till midnight, so we should be fine with everything else. Also, cut the decoration down, one Christmas tree is enough, we don´t need many all over the place. Instead, make it a big one. Also, we don´t need light all over the place, as some events like the club-stands are inside the school building. The only events outside are the concerts, the opening speech and some of the stands. As the fighting competition is inside the gym, we don´t need these lanterns there, though we could use some fir tree branches to decorate it more beautiful.”

The student council members stared at Cale in shock. He was right; they were too focused on decorating anything instead of using their brains for once. But Cale still hadn’t finished yet.

“Also, these guards, you should choose more of them and make them work in shifts, or else they won´t be able to enjoy this festival.”

Alberu smiled as he nodded happily. Having such a boyfriend was really something else. He leaned forward and kissed Cale on the cheeks in front of everyone, what caused the redhead to blush. The others couldn’t help but think of this as cute.

“Alright, we´ll change the program and decoration as well as the guards accordingly. Anything else?”

Cale sighed at Gilbert´s statement. He then took another pack of papers with the title “Room Layout” and started to read it. The others each noted the changes he had spoken of down while Alberu was still busy patting Cale´s cat.

“First of all, why does the Drama-club get such a big room for the couple´s event? And why does the cooking club need another room beside the cafeteria? The food stands on the outside make sense, but why are they in the last corner of the campus? We also have to change the location for the book and debate club as they aren’t as important as the theatre or art club. Especially since having a debate isn’t as fun as making your own sculptures or watching a stage play that other students have created themselves.”

The others eagerly noted down everything that Cale said. Ron smiled as he went to the kitchen to prepare lemon tea for the young master while everyone else would get normal tea. He also put the pill stealthily inside the cup, just like his young master-nim had ordered him to do.

“We also have to do something about this fighting competition event from the martial-arts club.”

Choi Han looked at Cale with his typical puppy-like look. Cale just shook his head and let out a deep sigh.

“We have two options for that. One; we make a live recording that will play all over the school in free class rooms so that students can watch it. Two; we record it and upload it on the school homepage the next day. Personally, I think going with the first option will be better.”

“But Cale-nim, there are some students who can watch it live from the gym!”

Choi Han looked at Cale as he didn’t understand what Cale meant. This event seemed to be fine in his eyes. Cale shook his head.

“Yes, some students. But what about the others? There are approximately fifty seats. We await around eight hundred guests as some of the students bring their families as well and only eight hundred tickets were sold. What about those who want to watch it as well?”

Choi Han looked down. He didn’t think about that. Alberu´s smile grew bigger with each second passing by. Ron then came back and handed everyone their tea while giving it especially careful to Cale. Cale frowned as he could smell the smell of his pill. He hated it. Alberu looked at him with a questioning look, but the redhead simply shook his head at that.

His work wasn’t done yet. He put down the “Room Layout”-papers and took the “Participants” pack. Cale took a sip and his frown deepened, what the others misunderstood as him finding new mistakes in their work.

Actually, this was probably the only stack of paper that Cale didn’t say anything against as the division of people and shifts was all right, the only thing they´d have to do was to adjust these to the new times.

Cale continued to help out the student Council the whole evening with their preparations and plans. They even went as far as staying until eight pm without noticing. It wasn’t until Ron threw them out (actually he accompanied them with his benign smile to Cale´s entrance) that they finally disappeared and left Cale alone. Alberu was the only one who wasn’t thrown out as he had a special position…

“Hey Cale, did I already say that you are a super-genius?”

Cale let out a deep sigh as he took a look at the left paper stacks. There were only two of them that he hadn’t looked into yet and honestly, he wasn’t eager to. One was about the security of this festival, in other words the help of the police and the school´s own security system. The other was about the special guests, like politics or owners of business organizations, and possible dangers that might occur due to them attending the festival, like an assassination attempt or a kidnapping. After all, this school was an elite facility, even though “normal” students were attending it as well.

He really didn’t want to look into the two of them, especially since the latter was the thickest pack of documents out of all these papers.

“Are you hungry? We can order pizza-“

Cale shook his head and pointed at Ron who was smiling benignly while placing a plate full of sweets in front of the boys. Of course, the loyal butler had already prepared a meal for his young master-nim. Alberu sighed, as Cale´s boyfriend he should´ve known.

~

The days went by rather fast and soon, the last Friday before the Christmas Holiday arrived. It was a very cold day and a thick layer of snow covered the ground.

The first two lessons of the day were cancelled, so that the students could start preparing some things for their club stands for the Festival, although contrary to the plans of the principal Eruhaben, many students used this as a chance to sleep longer.

Cale was of course one of those many students. He was slacking off and enjoying his little more sleep as someone who wasn’t Ron was knocking on his door. Not his dorm door, his room door. Cale, who was of course too lazy to get up and do anything, decided it´d be best not to do anything so that the banging would just stop on its own.

Little did he know, that even a while after the knocking stopped, his boyfriend who had spent the night here in the living room, wouldn’t give up that easily. Of course Alberu was familiar with Cale´s love for slacking off every chance he got, but he was still worried. Especially since Cale wasn’t as healthy as he seemed to be.

In the end, it was Ron who managed to open the door and dragged the poor redhead out of bed. His butler smiled benignly at him while Alberu stared at him with an evil look.

Cale gulped as Alberu didn’t even once look at him like that before. Though, the evil glare was soon forgotten as the couple ate breakfast that Beacrox, who came over for the day, prepared. Of course he planned on using the day to clean up the young teenager´s apartment, as he did a very good job in cleaning things.

Ron handed the two boys lemon tea and Alberu couldn’t help but grimace at the sour taste. He looked at Cale, who seemed to be used to the sour taste and drank it without problem. The old servant also handed a white pill to the redhead. Alberu had seen it several times already, but he still found it strange. After all, his boyfriend needed the iron in that pill to survive.

“Say, today you´re not one of the guards, are you?”

Alberu shook his head and put another cookie on the plate of the redhead. Cale pouted but couldn’t do anything against it, so he simply accepted it.

“Why are you asking?”

Cale just shrugged as he didn’t want to show his hidden intentions. After all, he just wanted to make sure he´d spend the festival with Alberu. Alberu smirked, as he knew it but still asked so shamelessly. Ron gave him his vicious look that scared the shit out of the blonde, even though Ron seemed to like him and accepted him as his young master-nim´s boyfriend. That still didn’t mean that he approved with each of Alberu´s actions.

“Just because.”

Alberu smirked and shook his head. He put away his fork and locked eyes with his beloved.

“What would you say if I were one of the guards?”

Cale pouted even more now, it made him look really cute. Alberu liked his boyfriend´s pouting face. He really wanted to cuddle with his boyfriend right now. Cale turned his head away and looked at Beacrox who shook his head in a disapproving manner.

“I´d not wait for you and enjoy the festival with Ron and Beacrox, of course.”

Alberu couldn’t explain why, but he felt jealous all of a sudden. Why did his Cale say that? He didn’t even think about asking him about his shift! Alberu didn’t like that one bit.

“But you aren´t a guard, so there´s no need to.”

The blonde just stared at his boyfriend. He was perplexed. Just what did he just hear? He glanced at the brown haired cook who didn’t even look at him, before he noticed the dark red cheeks of his loved one. He then had to suppress a chuckle. Of course, what did he expect? Cale wasn’t someone who would do the typical lovely-dovely talk. Just fact that he still said that Alberu wasn’t a guard was pretty much showing his affection towards the taller male.

“Young master-nim, you should eat more.”

In the end, it was Ron who ruined their moment (that was actually just a moment for Alberu and extremely embarrassing for Cale). Alberu stared at the old benignly smiling butler. He really didn’t understand whether he was on his side, or not. And honestly, it was very difficult to tell.

“Mm-hmm.”

Cale put the cookie Alberu gave him inside his mouth and ate it. Crunching noises could be heard, they made Alberu smile. At least Cale ate something. He noticed how the redhead didn’t eat very much and how Ron and sometimes Beacrox (every time he was there) tried to feed him more and more. He was happy that Cale was eating properly.

“So, what time are you done with your book club things?”

The blonde took a sip from his sour tea. He managed to not grimace this time. Cale smiled faintly as he knew that his boyfriend tried his best not to make a strange expression.

“Hm, I think Rosalyn said something about being done at five? Maybe I can go earlier though?”

Alberu smiled as he nodded his head.

“I´m done at four, I can come and assist with the preparations, how about it?”

Cale shook his head, as he didn’t like that idea one bit.

“You are aware that you´re the student council president, right?”

“But before that, I am your boyfriend, you know?”

Cale shook his head, but didn’t say anything against or for it. Still, he couldn’t hide the smile that graced his cherry lips or his blushing cheeks. In the end, he agreed to Alberu coming to help him after he was done with his work.

~

Alberu sat in front of the student council members. He couldn’t help but think that if Cale was here, everything would have been better. The long talks about the guard´s shifts and how everything should go according to the plans they had made together with Cale´s help – okay, it was mostly Cale and them taking notes of everything he said.

He, as the president, had to pay attention to their every so little problem and find solutions as well as approve of theirs if they were decent enough. Actually, he simply waited for the time to go by and for the bell to finally ring, allowing him to join his boyfriend.

“We talked about making one of us the one in charge of the guards, someone who takes care of the change of guard-shifts and someone to whom the guards can report abnormalities like fighting students. So, who is the lucky one who wants to do it?”

Archie immediately snorted and shook his head. The white haired kid was known for his recklessness, he was the one who caused the most fights. No one really knew how or why he got into the student council, but they knew better than to put him in charge.

“Well, Paseton, how about you or Witira?”

The two siblings shook their head.

“I´d like to do it, but we have to be with our family, I hope you understand.”

The others nodded; the two siblings were after all the kids of the king of a very small island. Their father was…somewhat a hard ruler and cared a lot about family.

“Okay, who doesn’t have to be with his family or is okay with it?”

Alberu sighed as no one raised their hand. He knew that even though his family came, he didn’t have to be with them. His only duty was to be with Cale. He cried internally but knew that Cale wouldn’t have a problem with Alberu being on such a duty. The redhead would probably accompany him…

“Fine, if no one´s willing to do it, I guess I will take it over.”

Everyone smiled as they nodded in satisfaction. It was clear to most of them since the beginning, the Crossman Family did have power, but it wasn’t like Alberu himself had many duties. Also, his family didn’t expect much from him.

The council continued discussing small things and ended their meeting as the bell rang and announced that it was four pm. Alberu hurried over towards room 307, one of the smallest classroom rooms. Even though the book club´s room was 109, the council ordered them due to Cale´s advice, to have their stand in room 307. No one was really disappointed, as the book club only offered free books and some handmade bookmarks.

Alberu didn’t knock and entered the room with his usual smile. He noticed how Rosalyn worked hard to make everything look good and how Taylor and Jack helped her. But he didn’t see Cale. Where was his boyfriend?

“Oh Cale-nim! Please Cale-nim!”

Alberu shivered and recognized the voice of the probably craziest student there was. He turned his head towards the corner where the couch was standing, only to notice how his boyfriend and the madman were standing on opposite sides.

Clopeh Sekka was trying to make Cale do something and the student council president didn’t stand for it one bit. Just as he was about to approach the two, a girl giggled and shook her head.

“Don´t mind them, president. Clopeh just tries to make Cale do something cute!”

Alberu frowned and shook his head. No one was allowed to try to make Cale do something cute besides him! A very strong urge to protect what was his overcame Alberu and he had to work hard in order to not shout at Clopeh right here and now.

“Oh please Cale-nim, no one else is as smart as you so no one else can do it! Oh please! Just put it on!”

“No. I already said many times that I am not interested. Damn it, why aren’t you leaving me alone?”

Cale looked around the room to search for help and his eyes finally locked with his boyfriend´s. Cale smiled happily as he had found his rescue – someone who looked very pissed right now.

Alberu approached Clopeh and put a hand on his shoulder while he smiled. The smile didn’t look the least bit friendly. Clopeh raised his brows as if to say what can you do against me, huh? Alberu worked hard to not punch the crazy student this instant.

“Clopeh, I think that´s enough. You should leave my boyfriend alone, don´t you think?”

Clopeh raised his eyebrow even higher now. His gaze shifted towards the redhead, then back to the blonde boy, until he finally seemed to have accepted it. He lifted his arms and stepped back.

“Fine, I just wanted to make him do some advertising so at least someone would come to our stand.”

Alberu ignored the madman and instead walked past him to the amused redhead. He looked smug, rather happy in the blonde´s eyes. Alberu put his hands around Cale´s slim waist and couldn’t help himself but kiss the other on his forehead. Cale, who was a bit surprised at first, tried to not be embarrassed that much, but failed. His red cheeks were prove, that every so little romantic move from Alberu´s side affected him greatly.

“Sorry I´m so late, I couldn’t get here sooner.”

Cale just nodded. He did not do or say anything against Alberu´s hands that were placed on his waist and held him firmly in position. Their lips were merely some inches away from connecting. Just as Alberu wanted to kiss Cale on the lips, the redhead turned his head away to look at Rosalyn. Of course, he had been too dense to notice Alberu´s intention.

“Do you still need help with the banner or the posters?”

Rosalyn had a genuine smile on her lips as she nodded her head and pointed at the direction of the bookshelves with her chin.

“You can hang up the blue banner right above the door, but be careful not to fall. Also, you can hang up some posters on the blackboard or so.”

Cale nodded and Alberu released him. He stared at Cale while he took the banner and five posters from the desk.

“Alberu, can you take the ladder?”

Alberu nodded and observed how Cale also took a staple, probably to attach the banner and prevent it from falling. The redhead looked extremely out of place with all this stuff in his hands. Alberu didn’t say anything as he took the ladder and exited the room, following his beloved.

“Put it down right here, and take that. Also, hold the ladder, so I don´t fall.”

Alberu was a bit hesitant and wanted to propose that he could attach the banner above the classroom, but then again, he weighted much more than Cale and was unsure about whether he would harm Cale as well in case he´d fall. In the end, he thought that Cale being the one to climb up the ladder was a much safer option for the cute redhead.

After Cale attached the banner, the couple went around the school and hung up the posters; one was placed right by the school entrance, another was hung up on the blackboard while the other three were spread around the school halls. It was a calm task and the two boys handled it very well. By the time they returned to room 307 the rest of the book club members were done with all the tasks. As Cale wasn’t needed this evening, he and Alberu were free to go and spent their time as they pleased before the festival would begin.

Alberu opened the door to his apartment that was located some doors away from Cale´s. The couple settled on coming here because Alberu had to make some calls, before they´d head over to Cale´s apartment. There were two big reasons for that; one: Cale had two kittens that he loved very much and he didn’t want to leave them alone for too long, two: Cale´s apartment looked much more welcoming than Alberu´s strange one.

Cale sat down on Alberu´s brown couch and took a pillow that he hugged while Alberu walked in a circle. Cale noticed every so little detail and couldn’t help but think about his boyfriend´s handsomeness. With his golden blonde hair and the azure blue eyes, the light skin that didn’t seem pale like his own, Alberu was truly something else. Of course the boy was too dense to understand that he himself didn’t look bad as well, but that´s another story.

“Yes, yes.”

“Mm-hmm, that´s exactly what I´m saying!”

“Damn it! You know what?! Do what you want, don´t bother me with your petty problems!”

Cale chuckled; Alberu seemed to get angrier with every passing second. He couldn’t help but laugh about how Alberu tried to hang up several times already, but simply couldn’t. He was talking to his father – normally someone would expect him to be respectful and all that, especially since his father was Zed Crossman, the CEO of the Crossman Cooperation, but he talked to him as if he was dealing with a cockroach. Honestly, Cale could understand him.

“Yes, I promise that I´ll introduce you to him.”

“Haaa, no, he won´t spend time with you, you crazy old man!”

“No, I won´t give him the-“

“…”

Alberu looked at Cale and simply sighed, as he sat down next to him. He literally let himself fall on the couch. The blonde glanced at Cale in an apologetic manner as he turned on the speaker. Soon, the voice of Zed Crossman could be heard across the room.

“Cale, can you hear me?”

Cale stared at Alberu who didn’t dare to meet his eyes.

“Eh, yes sir, I can.”

“Ho, your English really does sound flawless, as if you were born here.”

Zed really did sound very impressed by his son´s boyfriend.

“Mm-hmm, I get that a lot, thank you.”

Cale felt very awkward, especially since it was his first time talking to the father of his boyfriend. He really didn’t know how to deal with such a situation at all.

“So Cale, I just wanted to invite you to our home on Saturday. I know that you and Alberu plan on flying to Seoul on Sunday, so I don´t know if you have time. But could I ask you to please spare some. After all, I am very curious as to how the boyfriend of my son is and what kind of person he is.”

Cale was confused, wouldn’t they meet this evening? As he asked the question out loud, Alberu´s father laughed.

“But of course! I just think that a more appropriate meeting would be a lunch with the whole family. Don´t you think so too, Cale?”

The redhead indeed understood the thoughts of Zed Crossman and nodded, though his boyfriend´s father wasn’t able to see it.

“Yes sir, you are indeed right.”

Zed laughed after hearing Cale´s response.

“You don´t have to talk so formally with me, child. After all, my son´s boyfriend is pretty much family!”

A smile started to grace Cale´s lips. Alberu, who finally decided to look at his love, smiled. He loved Cale´s smile.

“Thank you, sir.”

Zed Crossman laughed even louder.

“So is that a yes?”

Cale´s smile got even bigger.

“Yes, indeed.”

“Good, very good – then let´s eat lunch all together tomorrow! Alberu, is there something your boyfriend can´t eat?”

Alberu sighed as he shook his head.

“No father, he can eat almost everything. But don´t cook anything with pebbles or spinach, Cale doesn’t like eating that.”

“All right, so be it. See you later, and it was nice finally hearing your voice, Cale!”

Before the redhead could respond, his boyfriend already hung up on the phone. It was the moment Alberu felt a chill and feared turning around to face his beloved.

“I can explain-“

In the end, Alberu was scolded for the first time by his boyfriend, but he knew that Cale wasn’t actually angry. The thought about Cale scolding him for real and being truly disappointed with him or angry at him made him crouch in fear all the more.

Chapter Text

“Good evening everyone, I am glad to see so many familiar and new faces this evening! I am deeply honored to be able to welcome all of you, my dearest students, as well as your friends and families, to this Christmas Festival! I am Eruhaben Temples, the principal of this humble academy and will just thank the Student Council for preparing such a fancy event before I´ll begin with the rest of my speech!”

Loud applause could be heard and Cale elbowed his boyfriend. Alberu chuckled as he hugged Cale from behind and put his chin on his head. They were standing in the big crowd of people who have assembled in the school court to listen to Eruhaben´s speech. The blonde principal continued to talk about all the hardworking students and how all of them deserved to have such an event.

Meanwhile Cale tried not to freeze by the cold temperatures outside. It was snowing once again – and this time, it was more like a big snow-storm that was just a little bit slow while falling from the sky. The beautiful lanterns illuminated the snow and made it look even more beautiful.

Alberu hugged Cale even tighter as he felt the smaller male shiver. He couldn’t understand how Cale could still freeze with all these clothes Ron made him wear – as well as his layers of scarfs. He wore a cute Ushanka, a Russian hat that was made for extremely cold temperatures. Honestly, with the red nose and pink cheeks Cale looked adorable. He had gone beyond cute and the only thing Alberu wanted to do was to cuddle with him, to hug him, to kiss his red nose, and to never let go.

“Now, I won´t bore you out of your mind with my speech; but I´ll try to make you use your brains one last time for the year – I have a funny quiz up my sleeve. The one who gets the most answers right, will win a prize!”

Eruhaben continued to talk about his quiz and explained how it worked: It was actually more like a bingo game, where one called out the answer and then shouted his name. As not everyone – of course – was willing to participate, those few who wanted had gotten a free pass to do so.

Contrary to their plans, Cale and Alberu wouldn’t participate. As tempting as the prize Eruhaben offered was, Alberu didn’t want Cale to get sick and Cale was clearly freezing. It´d be better to head in; or at least take some hot drink. As everything was free, the food and drink-stands were flooded with students. Alberu smiled and hugged Cale in the same position they had been standing during Eruhaben´s talk. Cale put his hands on Alberu´s arm. Even though the redhead wore gloves, they didn’t seem to help much.

“We´ll stay inside.”

Alberu made a quick decision. It was simply too cold outside. And besides, the band would play really loud so they would definitely hear it. Besides, all fun events were inside the school building either way. Also, they would be able to observe the fighting competition from one of the rare fifty spots.

“Astatine! The rarest natural occurring element is Astatine!”

The shouts of the students who participated in the quiz got louder and louder. Cale leaned against Alberu and listened to Eruhaben´s praising. Alberu chuckled.

“If you want, you can already head inside. I can wait alone.”

Cale snorted. He lifted his head a bit more, but wasn´t really able to see Alberu.

“As if, you´re just going to cry if I actually leave you here alone.”

Alberu chuckled and just shook his head, but he didn’t say anything against Cale´s statement – as it was true. He really would cry to Cale because he would have had left him.

The continued to stay in line until it was finally their turn to order. Cale of course ordered warm tea while Alberu stuck to hot coffee. It wasn’t like he really liked coffee, it was just that he didn’t like the hot chocolate they were giving and preferred coffee over tea.

After ordering drinks, Alberu also ordered some cookies, just in case Cale got hungry. While he carried all their food, Cale hugged himself while quickly heading inside the school, Alberu followed him even quicker. It was a funny sight to watch the student council president, who never sprinted besides in PE, follow behind his boyfriend quickly. It really showed his love for Cale Henituse.

Sometime later, they arrived in the gym, where Choi Han and Archie, as well as some other martial art club members prepared some things for the fighting competition.

As soon as the raven haired teen laid his eyes on the freezing redhead his serious and calm expression changed to a puppy-like one. But he frowned as he saw the thin male shiver in all those layers of clothes.

Alberu noticed Choi Han´s stare and honestly, he didn’t like that. He was aware that Choi Han had feelings for Cale, but he should at least be more discrete about it. If Cale hadn’t been so dense, who knew what would have happened? But Cale was way too honest, loyal and dense to try anything, and just besides, Alberu could read him like an open book, Cale didn’t have those kinds of feelings for Choi Han.

The gym was pretty empty, as the fights would start at 8:20pm, and it was merely eight. Still, there were a few students with their families, occupying the few seats already. To Alberu´s dismay his family was amongst them. He made eye-contact with his father and immediately regretted it as the tall, blonde man who wore a formal business suit ascended from his chair an approached the Council president with open arms.

Cale looked at Alberu who simply shook his head, finally understanding the situation. But it was too late to run away now.

“Ho, ho, Alberu! You don’t even greet your old man these days!”

Alberu rolled his eyes and put his free hand around Cale´s waist. It still felt as slim as ever, even though Cale wore a long-sleeved pullover, three of Alberu´s winter hoodies and his fat fur-coat (as well as several scarfs and his Ushanka).

Honestly, it was a wonder that his boyfriend still managed to look this boney and skinny while wearing all those layers. And not to forget his pants! He wore pantyhose under his thick thermal leggings – which he wore under Alberu´s fattest sweat pants (that was the warmest pants in the couple´s closets).

Zed Crossman eyed the thin boy. He, of course, didn’t know how boney and skinny Cale usually looked and with all those layers of clothes Cale looked like a healthy looking, normal weighting boy, who was still on the thinner side. His eyes would most probably fall out if he saw how he usually looked.

“Nice to finally meet you as well, Cale!”

Cale nodded and stretched out his hand to shake hands with the tall man. Zed laughed at that and of course shook it – a firm and strong handshake which made Cale´s wrist and hand hurt. He quickly pulled back and looked up at Alberu, not able to see his face as the blonde was staring at his father. Zed laughed.

“It was just a handshake, it wasn’t even that strong! Calm down! It´d be better if you accompany me, your mother and siblings are all waiting, we have two seats for the two of you!”

Alberu simply nodded and carefully pushed Cale forward. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. The couple sat down between Zed and a blonde boy who looked extremely displeased. He stared down at the gym until Cale sat down next to him.

The boy was fairly younger than Alberu, probably thirteen or fourteen. He wore a grey blazer, his coat wasn’t with him. In his hands was a turned off phone. The very moment he locked eyes on Cale, a smile appeared on his lips, though it didn’t seem to be the least bit friendly.

“Hey, aren’t you hot?”

Cale turned around, genuinely confused. Alberu already readied himself to step in, he was way too overprotective over his boyfriend, not that Cale would notice though…

“Uh, yeah, why? Can´t I?”

Robbit, that was the name of the blonde sitting next to Cale, snorted. Just as he wanted to mock the redhead, someone put a hand on his mouth. The hand looked feeble yet firm, it had long, red nails.

The next moment, a woman in her early twenties looked at Cale while smiling gently. Contrary to her immature younger brother, she was excited to meet her little brother´s boyfriend.

“Sorry, he doesn’t have any manners, his name is Robbit. I´m Giselle by the way! Nice to finally meet you Cale, I´ve heard a lot of things about you.”

Cale smiled awkwardly and nodded, ignoring the strange feeling in his chest. He´d rather have Ron by his side right now, or Beacrox.

Giselle laughed, but shook her head in a gently manner. She then swapped seats with Robbit, ignoring his complains.

“So, I´ve heard countless things about you, is it true that you are the smartest?”

Cale shook his head, elbowing Alberu who immediately stepped in.

“Giselle you…Haaa, I told you, he´s extremely shy.”

The redhead immediately averted his gaze, glaring at his boyfriend.

“Shy, huh? Who said I was shy? I´m not shy!”

Alberu shook his head. Of course Cale was not shy but rather played any of his achievements down, but that wasn’t something he would tell his siblings, he would rather have them find out for themselves. Though he indeed would prefer them not finding out, as them finding out would presuppose that his siblings would spend time with Cale and he didn’t want that happening.

After all, he had four siblings; Robbit and Giselle were on the friendly side. Alberu was the second youngest son, Giselle the only daughter and third oldest child. He also had two older brothers, one of which was also here tonight. His oldest brother was almost 27; he was the present one and his name was Austin.

Austin was a laid-back guy, someone he didn’t mind. He wasn’t really there, always busy with his own stuff, though he had been there for Alberu whenever he needed it. Still, he disliked many things and had strong opinions about everything, so winning him over was almost impossible if you weren’t his wife.

Alberu´s older brother by seven years (he was 24), Charles, contrary to Austin, was a little bitch. Forget having a bully at school and imagine having the devil two doors to your left. Charles, the man who was as mature as a genius three year old could wish to be, loved making fun of Alberu in the council president´s early childhood (until he turned fourteen and transferred to Roan Academy).

Charles did everything from picking fights, taking his food, blaming him for his own mistakes to spitting on the younger´s face, almost flushing his face in the toilet, ruining his homework and destroying the boy´s phone.

Truth to be told, every time someone else who wasn’t Charles talked shit about his younger brother, Charles would go and beat him to a pulp. It was somehow his way of showing love, even though Alberu will never find out.

“Don´t worry, I certainly won´t mind! So Cale, I gotta know since Alberu never calls or anything; who confessed first? And the more important question is when!”

Giselle had this excited shining in her eyes and Cale flinched. Alberu strengthened his grip on his boyfriend´s waist before he leaned a bit more forward.

“That doesn’t concern you, dipstick.”

Cale rolled his eyes at his boyfriend´s childishness and then smiled at Giselle a bit more confidently than before.

“A little over a month ago I think, Alberu didn’t let me exit the classroom and then confessed in there, though he needed pretty long to do it.”

Giselle laughed while Alberu mumbled something not even Cale understood.

“Wow, I never would have imagined that Alberuri would confess first! He has always been so easily embarrassed!”

Cale smiled while looking down. He ignored the strong grip around his waist while he enjoyed the memories of Alberu´s blushing and flushing face filling his mind. It was funny how often he got to see that expressed whenever there were just the two of them. He actually really liked it.

“Tsk, could you stop squealing for a second, you are annoying!”

Robbit looked as uninterested and annoyed as ever, though he actually found it stunning how Alberu had been the first to confess his feeling; after all his brother wasn’t a stranger to him. Cale Henituse, that boy must be more amazing than he seemed to be.

Robbit glanced at Cale as discretely as possible. He had bloody red hair that seemed to be natural, something he knew was unique. He had also nice eyes, a rather elegant facial form- now that he looked at Cale who was probably the same size, if not a little bit smaller than him, he was pretty good looking, even handsome.

He quickly decided that he´d need to get that thick coat off of him, so that he could see his body – of course just to decide just how much more handsome the teen could get.

“Alberuri, why are you so grumpy? Aren´t you happy that Cale and I have such a nice bond with each other? Wait, are you jealous?”

Alberu almost laughed but didn’t. He shook his head, ignoring Cale´s innocent look.

“Stop calling me that you crazy bi…Haaa!”

Cale let out an incredibly cute sounding chuckle. Alberu´s father, who had been listening in to their conservation, as well as Austin, exchanged glances. With a bright smile on his face he let out a heartfelt laugh.

“Now, now, let´s all get along! These fights will begin in a few moments, so let´s not argue and behave everyone. Cale, I think you still haven’t met Austin?”

Cale stared at his boyfriend with a gaze that said “Austin? How many more siblings do you have?!” but in the end still looked towards the blonde male with the casual brown eyes which looked extremely beautiful. He looked to be older and there was also a golden ring on his finger, indicating that he was not single.

“Hey. I´m Austin, Alberu´s older brother.”

Cale nodded before stretching out his hand awkwardly for Austin to shake.

“Uh, I´m Cale…Alberu´s boyfriend? Nice to meet you?”

Austin nodded his head though a slight smile (one that could be mistaken as something else) graced his lips, one that only his siblings could make out.

Do you know the feeling that you get when you meet someone and just know that you will like him or her, no matter what they do? Alberu´s siblings and even his father were all experiencing that feeling right now. Cale just had something about him that made it impossible for others to dislike him. Even the so cold Austin wasn’t able to withstand the young male´s charm, though Cale didn’t even try to get all of them to like him at all.

“Nice to meet you too.”

After that short conservation Austin quickly averted his gaze before he could start to stare at Cale. He liked the guy his brother was in love with – no; actually, he liked him very much. It was just a feeling, but he had the impression that Alberu was all over heels in love with Cale while Cale didn’t seem to love Alberu any lesser. It was nice to see that Alberu was in such a healthy relationship, especially since he recalled all those close calls Giselle had made in her early dating years (even though Alberu was nothing like his sister).

“Good, now that everyone knows you, you won´t be that much of a stranger at lunch tomorrow! Hahaha! Only Charles, then everyone will know you! Okay, I don’t want to prevent you two from having fun, but it´d be nice if you could watch a bit of this competition with us?”

Alberu let out an annoyed sigh then the couple exchanged looks. Sure enough, they agreed and proceeded to watch the first four fights in the competition, which took half an hour combined together. After that, Cale and Alberu left. For that, they had two reasons: Firstly, they had to patrol, make sure everything´s well just in case, and secondly, Alberu wanted to go to the couple´s events.

Though they never really made it that far…

Chapter Text

“Cale~”

Alberu tried getting his beloved boyfriend´s attention for the twentieth time that evening but got straight up ignored by Cale who was still holding hands with him. Alberu smiled at that, but decided that Cale not talking to or with him was more importantly than such a cute gesture.

He could also see Cale´s boney fingers and still thin looking arm. As the two boys were indeed inside the school building where it wasn’t that cold anymore, Cale had taken off his coat and Ushanka and left them with Choi Han in the gym.

“Sweetheart~”

“Love~”

“Bunny~”

“Honey~”

“Dear~”

“Darling~”

“Gorgeous~”

“Beautiful~”

“Kitten-“

Alberu stopped for a second, finally getting Cale´s attention. The redhead looked up at the excited looking blonde. Alberu looked extremely excited and happy for someone who was being ignored by his boyfriend…

“Kitten~, that sounds so good! Kitten~…Kitten~, please stop ignoring me!”

Cale rolled his eyes at that nickname, but honestly, he didn’t mind. It sounded strange, yet it didn’t feel awkward. Also, it felt special in some way.

“You don’t even get why I ignore you.”

Cale let out a frustrated sigh and attempted to pull back his hand, but Alberu´s grip was firm and strong, yet it didn’t pressure Cale at all.

“Of course I do kitten, you are angry at me because I didn’t tell you that I had so many siblings or that they would come tonight.”

Cale rolled his eyes at that – this was not the reason he was angry at Alberu and ignoring him, and to be completely honest, it was very far from it.

“No you idiot! That is totally wrong. I am angry at you because-“

Alberu´s eyes lit up.

“…because…?”

“Oh my fucking god, it´s because you firstly told your family I was shy, secondly because you totally pulled the ´overprotective boyfriend´ there and thirdly because you acted like, I don’t even know who acts like that!”

Alberu was tempted to contradict Cale, but he couldn’t. He knew that he technically didn’t do anything wrong and Cale was just frustrated and taking it out on him – he could see it in Cale´s eyes that he wasn’t truly angry with him – so Alberu decided to simply nod and apologize, and to tell the truth, he meant it.

Both of them knew that he actually apologized for pulling Cale into that awkward situation.

The redhead let out a deep sigh and let Alberu finally hug him. It wasn’t like he wanted to be in such a mood, Cale just was.

After the couple kind of reconciled, they continued their patrol, this time with much more talking than before. That is until a student came running from the staircase, extremely sweaty but not from running.

Before he could slow down, he bumped into Cale, falling and throwing Cale to the floor as well. Alberu immediately reacted, and would have caught his boyfriend if he had been a second faster. Cale ended up falling as well and even thought it did hurt (like any fall would), it wasn’t anything major.

That is, for him. To Alberu the fact that someone even dared touch and harm Cale was unacceptable. He looked at the student who quickly stood up until recognizing Alberu. On closer inspection the council president could make out his name – Harold Westminster, a third year.

“No running in the hallways.”

Alberu´s voice was deeper than usual due to all the suppressed anger in there. The blonde immediately helped Cale up, putting an arm around his waist and pulling him towards himself.

Harold immediately started shaking and looked behind him the whole time.

“There´s no time, council president! We´re all gonna die here – and soon!”

Alberu was left speechless, contrary to Cale. With a cool head he immediately started to ask questions.

“What do you mean? Is there something wrong? Tell us what the problem is, Harold.”

Harold stopped shaking for a few seconds until he finally managed to say something.

“There has been a mistake! A mistake in our chemical calculations!”

Alberu immediately knew what was happening. He recalled how the president of the chemistry-club has asked him whether they could use a certain, explosive substance and Alberu had allowed it if certain calculations for safety-reasons were made. After all, that chemistry project was extremely unique and something the world hadn’t seen yet – though right now it was a dangerous situation.

“What happened? What mistake?”

Alberu listened to his boyfriend asking questions while he himself couldn’t speak right now.

“You don’t get it! You don’t get it at all! There is a fucking bomb that could go off any second now-“

Right after Harold said that, a huge explosion went off. The students were currently in a side building that was built in in the main building, it was connected to the main building by a fifteen foot passage. That special building was just chemical and biological as well as physical labs, so if it were to be lost it wasn’t that major of an issue. And since the main building had an expensive security system for such extreme cases, neither Alberu nor Cale were worried about the main building.

What they were worried about were their lives, the life of Harold and every single student that was still in here.

“Harold, is there anyone up there?”

Harold quickly nodded, his shaking was getting worse, nevertheless he didn’t even stutter once.

“Yes, most of our club members are already out of the building to call 112 (fire force), only I and Larissa are left to make sure other students get out of here on time. She is down the other stair case!”

“Okay, good job! Go down and tell every student you get across to evacuate immediately and then go tell the principal what´s up, understood?”

Alberu finally managed to think of a terminally solution. Cale nodded in agreement and Harold quickly continued his escape from the building.

“The explosion came from the direction of the second stair case, Alberu.”

The blonde nodded.

“Alberu, we should go there and look, quickly.”

This time, the council president shook his head.

“No, I will go there and take a look. You will go down and wait there.”

Cale snorted and took his boyfriend´s hand.

“Don’t joke, now´s not the time. I´m coming with you, no matter what you say.”

Alberu let out an unamused laugh and took Cale´s face in his hands, then looked him deep in the eyes. Oh god, those gorgeous red-brownish eyes looked amazing, he could get lost in them anytime. There was no way Alberu would allow Cale, the love of his life, to go to a dangerous place with him! For that Cale was simply too precious.

“Cale, this is dangerous. I´d rather go while knowing that you are alright and well than thinking about your condition the whole time. Also, your body is too weak to go, what if something happens?”

Cale rolled his eyes, took Alberu´s hand and attempted to pull his boyfriend forward, but with no luck.

“You don’t understand! If I don’t go with you, you´ll still think the whole time about me, wondering if I made it out uninjured or not! And what do you think about how I feel? Do you honestly believe I´d just let you go in there by yourself? Do you even think about how that would make me feel? I´m coming with you, that´s it – whether you like it or not. So hurry up, or else it will get even more dangerous.”

This time, Alberu gave in. He didn’t change his opinion, but accepted his boyfriend´s. He quickly followed the smaller and tinier boy; they were headed to the other staircase. The whole time they went there they heard and saw nothing suspicious, that is until the celling collapsed behind them and yellowish-orange flames erupted on the third floor of the lab-building.

“Fuck!”

Now their escape route had been blocked, at least for this floor. Both Alberu and Cale were tense now, Alberu immediately pulled Cale closer. In case of an emergency, he had to make sure that Cale would get out uninjured! At all costs!

“We have to continue! We must find Larissa and rescue her immediately! Alberu, are you alright? If now, I´ll-“

“You WILL NOT go alone!”

Cale instantly nodded as this was the first time his boyfriend had raised his voice against him. Usually, he would have reacted annoyed and sassy, or yelled back at him. But this was a stressful situation, for both of them. They could actually lose the life of a young girl here, something both of them wanted to prevent from happening.

They continued to rush over to the other staircase and found themselves lucky that nothing else happened after the celling break. They quickly searched the second floor, and after they found nothing continued on the first floor.

The moment they arrived there, was the moment both knew that they were fucked.

In front of them was a crowd of young students, crying and extremely afraid of the situation. In front of them were boulders blocking the way, and to top this off, on top of them was a black liquid that looked easily flammable.

“Shit.”

Alberu looked down at Cale who had no eyes for anything but the black liquid and shocked crowd. A few people heard him swear and turned around – all in all there were a total of about fifteen students in here, excluding the council president and his boyfriend.

“Look! It´s the council president!”

Upon hearing that, a girl in a while lab coat made her way to the back, her long, black hair was tied up in a messy bun and her red glasses made her look like some lab worker out of an American apocalypse movie.

“Alberu Crossman! Why are you here? Wrong question, how come I didn’t see you? Are there any other students?”

Alberu shook his head, stepping forward to block Cale´s view.

“No, we are the last ones left. We´ve been searching for you Larissa. Can you tell me what is happening right now, your partner Harold didn’t explain it that detailed?”

Larissa peaked behind the blonde´s back for an instant but then quickly came back to reality. She nodded with a professional expression and made sure to talk a bit quitter.

“We made a mistake in our calculations. As you know, we wanted to produce an easily flammable liquid with that you can paint something that you can then light on fire. Well, we kind of failed to make it just flammable, so that it´s more like a bomb now. If it gets enough oxygen, it sets itself on fire and is easily explosive.”

Cale stepped forward upon hearing this, leaning against Alberu´s side casually.

“Wait, are you saying that whenever this gets a certain amount of oxygen it sets itself on fire? Can´t you put it out with water or is it water resistant?”

Larissa looked at the small male who had a casual and calm expression on his face, even while he was faced with such a dangerous and anything but usual situation. Nevertheless, she nodded.

“Yes it is. We kind of thought that it would be funny and unique to let it burn for about four hours, for 34 ounces…”

Cale nodded while he casually assessed the situation. He then finally looked up to Alberu, a straight expression on his face. A small smile appeared on his lips that looked more sarcastic than any of his expressions before. The very moment Alberu laid his eyes on that smile, he knew what Cale would say.

“We are fucked.”

It was too dangerous to go back to the first staircase as on the way here the couple had noticed this black liquid being spread all over the floor (however that might have happened didn’t concern them for the time being). They were also aware that there was too much oxygen here so it was only a matter of time until the black liquid would erupt in flames.

“Not entirely.”

Cale frowned at Alberu´s calm statement. Just as he wanted to reply and contradict him, Alberu cleared his throat, getting the attention of the other fourteen students standing and crying in the hallways. He looked outside the window.

Even though it was pretty dark, he could see the red-blue sirens driving down the highway. Even if the building was to be lost, the student´s lives were top priority. The council president´s gaze fell upon the white window. They were on the first floor, so it wasn’t high at all (well, it was still ten feet tall, but as the second floor was almost double of it, it was fine). It was all thanks to the staircase and the fundament of the building that didn’t even have a basement!

“What are you talking about?”

Cale´s voice was quiet and only Larissa and his boyfriend were able to hear it. Alberu winked and then looked at the few students looking at him.

“Okay everyone, I am well aware that you are afraid right now, but I need all of you to stay calm and listen, can you do that?”

Few of the students nodded, the others remained quiet so Alberu took it as a yes. He then let out a small sigh and continued.

“So I guess you were informed about the situation. We don’t know when this liquid will start to catch fire, so I will talk quick. Right next to me is a window. It is ten feet above the ground. Down there are a few bushed that don’t have leaves, but will still catch your fall. What I want all of you to do is to jump out of the window. I promise that you won´t get hurt too much.”

Immediately some students protested, but it was too late. An especially hysterical girl standing next to the closed window quickly opened it and then jumped out with a loud yell. A few seconds later a loud sound was hurt, followed by relieved crying. For a second Alberu thought that this was it, but the girl actually didn’t walk away.

“IT IS SAFE! IT HURTS BUT IT IS SAFE! JUMP DOWN! HERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE AND THE PRINCIPAL TOO!”

Not long after, another girl followed her example, then another student and then another. All of them shouted something after they safely (more or less) landed on the ground. Some landed more safely than other, one boy even broke his left foot, but in comparison to being burned alive it was nothing. Larissa was the “last” one left with the couple.

She wanted to go last, but both Cale and Alberu wanted to know that everyone was in safety before they would jump. Just as Larissa wanted to jump out of the window, there was now a life net with a few firefighters waiting, the black liquid caught fire.

The sudden eruption of flames shocked not only the couple, but also Larissa to the core. Instead of jumping out, she fell sideward, in the direction of the flames. Alberu immediately reacted and attempted to catch her arm, but failed. It was just a matter of a split second, but he wasn’t fast enough.

In the end, Larissa´s shirt caught fire and she quickly took it off, now only standing there in her bra. The burning lab coat and green pullover were now forever lost.

All three of them were heavily breathing, finally anxiety was filling the room and they realized that they weren’t fast enough. They had given too much time for everyone to overcome their fear and take their time to jump out, leaving trouble for the three of them.

“Fuck, what do we do? Cale, jump first. Now.”

Alberu pushed Cale towards the open window, but Cale refused to jump. It came as far as to Alberu already lifting Cale to throw him out of the window as Cale tried to do anything that came to mind to prevent himself from leaving before his boyfriend. Even though he didn’t show it, he was afraid. He wasn’t afraid of dying, no, he was afraid of Alberu dying.

“Hell no! Let Larissa jump first, she just wears a fucking bra!”

“And you fucking are as healthy as a dying man!”

“Shut up! That is precisely right, and because of that you and her need to jump before me!”

“Didn’t hear the saying rescue the old and dying?”

“I´m neither old nor dying, fuck you!”

“Oh, I will, after you are down there!”

While the two boys continued bickering like an old couple, Larissa took her chance and pushed both of them out the window. The very moment Alberu felt her hands on his back it was too late. While the couple was falling, the blonde felt a sense of relieve overcoming him.

He realized that he was glad that both of them made it out. He looked up and hoped to see Larissa´s sad face, but was greeted with a half-naked woman jumping down as well, a few inches away from the couple.

Wow, maybe one person at a time was indeed too slow and it was possible to go way faster. On the inside he was laughing at himself and his irrational thinking in such a situation before happiness was overflowing him. On the outside he looked as stoic as ever.

Sometimes, logic was illogical and irrational and just doing something obvious was better choice.

Chapter Text

It was a bit after Alberu and Cale left, that Choi Han laid eyes on the gold haired boy with the sassy attitude. Robbit Crossman, he knew the boy rather well due to him having to meet him during school festivals. As he was often with the council president, he was also around his festival.

Choi Han hated Robbit with a passion. Sometimes, he just wanted to slap him in the face as hard as he could, so that it would leave a mark on his cheek for a week or two. If he could, he would also give him a high five, with a chair, in the face. Maybe then, when his bleached teeth would fall out, his mean words wouldn’t be understood anymore.

He had a blank personality, maybe because he had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. As the youngest son of Zed Crossman, he had it all and didn’t need to have “character”. He had the looks and so Robbit thought he didn’t need more. It was just someone who acted up because they were too spoiled for their own good.

But this wasn’t the only reason Choi Han couldn’t stand him; he was incredibly discriminating against anyone who even looked a bit different.

“Oh man, have you seen yourself lately? Have you already thought of going to the gym? I think you also need to change your diet, Sarah.”

“Hey, look at that woman! She wears a headwear! Ew, she looks so ugly!”

He was the purest racist of them all without even noticing that he was a racist. Of course people couldn’t say anything against that little bitch, and whenever they did complain to his father, Robbit suddenly knew how to behave himself.

Choi Han hated such fake people. And especially rich fake people who had no idea whatsoever.

Just as he was internally complaining, the fire alarm went off and the building´s self-extinguishing watering system turned on, raining down on the currently fighting students and all the viewers.

A panic went through the crowd and everyone hurried to get out as quickly as possible. The same could not be said for Robbit who got up because his family told him to. Choi Han could see his mouth moving, he certainly was complaining about the “annoying noise and water”.

Choi Han cracked his fists, and then quickly headed back towards his rucksack. He took Cale´s and Alberu´s coats with him. He didn’t worry about his friends, he was certain that they wouldn’t be where the danger was. At least he hoped that he was certain.

~

That thought was thrown overboard as soon as he laid eyes on all of the rescued people out of the burning lab building that was currently being extinguished. He could see a feeble looking boy cuddling with a taller, blonde guy. Around the both of them was a silver blanket-like foil to warm them in the cold weather. He could also see blue and orange-reddish hair standing next to them.

Choi Han immediately approached the two couples standing there with Paseton.

“What the hell happened?”

He was too shocked to maintain his puppy like behavior right now and Cale, who wasn’t used to Choi Han behaving like this, flinched. Alberu let out a sigh and only hugged Cale tighter.

“What could´ve happened? Use your brain for once, Choi Han. We were caught up in the fire, what else?”

Paseton, who usually would´ve laughed about the council president´s dark humored joke, crossed his arms in front of his chest. He shook his head to indicate the seriousness of the situation.

“This is not funny Alberu, stop making bad joked about it. Not even Paseton laughs.”

Rosalyn looked up at Witira who stared at Alberu with a difficult expression. Her beautiful features didn’t get ugly from the frown on her angelic face. Her blue curls still looked stunning, just like her everything. Rosalyn knew that she had a beautiful girlfriend, but this was already on the level of gorgeous and godly.

“Well, nothing bad happened, now did it?”

Cale let out an emotionless laugh and looked up at his boyfriend.

“Are you serious right now? Nothing bad happened? You compared me to a fucking old and dying man.”

Alberu rolled his eyes.

“Touché, you told me to go fuck myself.”

The couple continued to proceed with a staring competition while Paseton tried his best to hold in his laughter. While he still didn’t think that the situation was funny, he thought that the couple´s insults were hilarious. He couldn’t have ever imagined that Cale would say ´fuck you´ to Alberu or that the council president would compare his boyfriend with an old and dying man, though he could understand why. After all, Cale was in the extreme underweight range and his boney body didn’t look the least bit healthy; just like an old, dying man´s.

“Boys, calm down. This isn’t the time to argue you-“

“Oh no, this is the only time to fucking argue. You wanted to throw me out the shitty window!”

“Because you wouldn’t jump out of there yourself!”

“You pushed me!”

“I just wanted you to be safe!”

“You still fucking pushed me!”

“And you still told me to go fuck myself!”

“And what? You freaking yelled at me!”

Alberu was hurt, but didn’t let it show. Cale on the other hand, was extremely frightened. He didn’t care if his words were harsh, he also didn’t care what the others would say. The fire, the stress, the many people and the boy that wanted to push him out before he even thought about himself – it was all too similar to Choi Jung Soo´s death.

“Cale?”

Cale was looking down on the floor now, ignoring his boyfriend´s soft voice that sounded like he had calmed down and came to a realization. Alberu also sounded very sorry, like he knew that he had done something bad and regretted it deeply.

Cale ignored it and didn’t look up until his boyfriend softly lifted his chin, only to softly gasp. Cale then finally stopped thinking about the past, letting the memory go – for now.

“Is something wrong? Why did you gasp? Are you feeling unwell?”

Alberu shook his head and quickly wiped away Cale´s philtrum (for those who don’t know what that is, it is the area above the lips but under the nose, I even googled it), then kissed him on the forehead.

“Cale, are you feeling alright? Are you feeling nausea or a headache? Are you dizzy?”

Cale was honestly confused at that and looked up at Alberu who had a sad smile on his lips. It was true that he was feeling a bit dizzy, but that was due to the fire and the short lack of oxygen.

“No?”

Alberu sighed and looked around. He wanted to go and ask for a handkerchief or napkin as he was already handed one from Rosalyn. She had a worried expression on her face, something that confused Cale even more than the questions just now. But then, as Alberu gently pressed the handkerchief against the redhead´s nose, he finally understood.

He probably had a nasty nosebleed right now.

Cale didn’t have those often, as mentioned, but in stressful situation it was common for him to have rather strong nosebleeds that can actually persist up to twenty minutes. If that would be the case though, Cale would need to go to the hospital, but this nosebleed didn’t really hurt or felt serious.

“The tissue is already all bloody. You sure that you´re alright Cale?”

Paseton, for once, actually managed to be serious. He was genuinely concerned for Cale. It wasn’t like he never had a nosebleed, but the ones he had weren’t even half as strong as Cale´s. The description that blood was pouring down was literally a hundred percent true, in this case.

“Uh, I think so?”

Alberu´s grip around Cale´s waist tightened.

“What do you mean ´You think so´? Cale-nim, this is serious! You can´t downplay your health like that!”

Cale shook his head. It was literally normal for humans to have nosebleeds from time to time when they were stressed. Him having anemia was worsening those nosebleeds and lessening the required amount of stress that was causing nosebleeds, making it easier for Cale to get bad nosebleeds like this one whenever he was especially stressed.

“It will go away in five minutes, maybe ten. Can I please have another tissue?”

Alberu sighed while Paseton handed him another handkerchief. Choi Han was stunned by his friend´s calm demeanor and reaction. No way in hell would he let Cale downplay such symptoms like this! If he had fallen down, he could have a concussion! He also acted very confused, another symptom for having a concussion! Furthermore he wasn’t standing on his own two feet but leaning against Alberu! Bam, another sign of concussion!

“Cale-nim, you should go and let the paramedic check you out. What if it is something serious?”

Rosalyn and Witira agreed with Choi Han, after all getting a checkup couldn’t hurt. Then the friends would know for certain if Cale was seriously injured or if it was just a meaningless nosebleed.

“If Cale says that it will go away, why not wait and see? If it doesn’t go away in ten minutes, he will go get a checkup. If it really isn’t something serious like he says, we shouldn’t disturb the paramedic. They are hardworking and have their hands full with other students right now.”

Alberu smiled at Cale´s cute expression that he had on his face after listening to his boyfriend´s little speech for him. After all, Alberu was aware of his condition, and like the overprotective boyfriend he was, he did his research on anemia and what it could cause. Even if he found the nosebleed disturbing and unhealthy looking, he was also well aware that it was most probably caused by the stress Cale felt and that it would most probably go away.

Choi Han wanted to contradict him, but then took a look around. It was true, there were only seven paramedics and all seven of them had their hands full. Two of them already drove away with the boy who broke his leg, so only those seven were left.

“If you say so.”

Alberu nodded and continued to cuddle Cale while holding the handkerchief against his nose. The following ten minutes were filled with ruining ten handkerchiefs that had to be changed every minute. In the end, the nosebleed did not go away, leaving not even Alberu at ease. Especially since he could feel Cale´s weight distribution. If he somehow had been standing on his own two feet before, he was now fully leaning against Alberu´s chest.

“Ten minutes are over.”

Paseton announced that while looking at his phone. The ten minutes had passed very slow for Cale´s friends, but they were finally over now.

“Good, I´m calling a paramedic.”

Alberu nodded at Witira´s statement and she left with fast steps. Rosalyn searched her bag for another handkerchief, but she didn’t have any left. Instead, she offered a normal tissue.

Alberu took everything that he could get.

“Cale-nim, are you still feeling fine?”

“Yeah, Choi Han is right. How come you can bleed that heavily and feel fine?”

Cale looked at Paseton and Choi Han and simply shrugged.

“Dunno a bit dizzy maybe…”

Not short after that, and before the others could reply, a paramedic arrived following after the blue haired beauty. It was a middle aged woman who looked genuinely concerned for Cale.

“My gosh! You foolish boy! If you have a nosebleed like that you come to us immediately, don’t wait ten minutes! What about all the blood loss?”

The paramedic shooed everyone but Alberu a few feet away.

“You, he is leaning against you, isn’t he?”

Alberu simply nodded while the paramedic let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head.

“Okay, then please follow me to the car. He needs to sit down so that I can properly figure out why his nose is bleeding.”

Alberu nodded once again without a word and followed after the paramedic. As soon as they were down, he helped Cale sit down on the patient bed.

“Okay, now take the tissue away. I need to see how much he´s bleeding.”

Alberu looked hesitant for a few seconds but then did what he was told. Cale´s nosebleed wasn’t anything like the ones he had before or had seen on TV, this seemed to be surreal.

The paramedic shook her head and quickly took out something that looked like a 3D bandage then made Alberu press it against Cale´s nose.

“Tell me boy, are you feeling dizzy? Like you´re going to vomit? A headache maybe or does anything hurt?”

Cale nodded.

“A bit dizzy maybe, but no pain anywhere.”

“Alright, that´s a good thing. Do you have any illnesses, allergies, something important that I´d need to know? Or have you often such nosebleeds?”

Cale shook his head. Alberu rolled his eyes at that.

“Yes he does. He has iron deficiency anemia. And those nosebleeds are a common sight if he´s stressed.”

The paramedic nodded.

“You know, having anemia is nothing to be ashamed of. It just helped me know that this probably is indeed nothing major. Being caught in a fire is a traumatic experience and very stressful so this is your body reacting to that. Your dizziness is just the result of the blood loss. It will calm down in a couple of minutes, so just stay here. If it doesn’t stop in five minutes, we might have to go to the hospital though.”

Alberu nodded and the paramedic smiled. She then left to help others, leaving Cale and Alberu alone.

“You know she´s right. Having anemia, as I told you many times already, is nothing like having a handicap. It just makes people be more cautious around you.”

Cale rolled his eyes.

“You can tell that someone else. As my father told my previous school my condition everyone but Choi Jung Soo treated me like I was some guy in a wheelchair. Hell, even Jae Dong Suk who is actually in a wheelchair wasn’t treated like me!”

Alberu sighed. He recalled Cale complaining about the situation in his old school a lot to him and honestly, he didn’t mind. But he also knew that the single reason for him being treated like that was because his father´s influence.

“But you have friends now. You know that I don’t treat you any differently than the others.”

Cale snorted and looked up to see his boyfriend´s handsome face.

“Tsk, you compared me to a dying, old man. You would never compare the others to one.”

Alberu let out a laugh at that.

“Firstly, I said old, dying man. Secondly, I did that because of your boney frame and incredibly weak body, not because of your anemia. And thirdly, both of us said things we usually wouldn’t have said: remember telling me to go fuck myself?”

Cale groaned at that. The couple continued to talk for the following five minutes and just like the paramedic said, the nosebleed actually stopped. She quickly returned to do a checkup and then let the boys return to their friends that had been worried sick.

Cale´s dizziness was still present, but the paramedic guaranteed that it would disappear if he slept for a while.

After two more hours, the firefighters somehow managed to extinguish the devilish fire and the students returned to either the dorms or to their homes with their parents. Alberu and Cale returned first as Cale needed the rest (and Ron would kill Alberu and everyone else if he wouldn’t return Cale). After all, words traveled fast and news about a fire even faster.

About halfway to their dorms, the couple encountered the butler already coming their ways. Contrary to his usual expression, Ron looked stressed and there was no trace left of his benign smile. He resembled a worried father, more than Cale´s father ever did.

“Young master-nim! What happened to you! Are you alright? Why is your face- Young master-nim have you had a nosebleed?!”

Cale simply nodded, too tired to reply. Alberu smiled and explained the situation to the loyal servant. Ron nodded understandingly and returned with the couple to Cale´s apartment. Unlike usual, Alberu was actually allowed to spend the night with Cale, in Cale´s room, on Cale´s back, right next to the redhead.

It was a big think over which Alberu was more than just happy. He was literally overjoyed.

When he fell asleep, he was hugging Cale like his life depended on it while the smaller male used his chest like some sort of pillow. Honestly speaking, Alberu wanted to spend his nights like this forever.

He gently placed a kiss on Cale´s forehead and surprisingly even got a kiss back from his drowsy boyfriend. The two kittens On and Hong were obviously also lying with the couple and even though neither Alberu nor Cale could see it, they were smiling, feeling happy for the couple and especially Cale, for him to find someone to love him like Alberu did.

Chapter Text

Ron Molan, back in South Korea he was known for being the best servant and most trusted subordinate of Deruth Henituse. Even though he was over the age of sixty, his body worked just like a young person´s and he didn’t act like an old man at all.

Beside all that, he was also the scariest servant. Contrary to his son who seemed to be only having one expression on his face, he had a variety of benign smiles that scared other servants.

The older ones, who had been serving the family for over twenty years, still recalled the feeling of relieve as Ron had been chosen to be the personal butler of the back then unborn Cale. It was decided right after Jour Thames´ pregnancy had been found out and it would be an understatement that everyone was happy.

But with this happiness and utterly joy they began to doubt their master´s decision. “What if he inures the baby?” “He is so strange; I bet he is an assassin trying to kill the unborn child?” “Why does the master trust him so much?” “I don’t think he is who he pretends to be…”

Such rumors became well-known amongst the servants and later even Deruth and his wife. Ron and his back them ten year old son Beacrox were also aware of the rumors, but just shrugged them off. What did it matter after all?

But that quickly changed after Cale Henituse was born on the 8th November in the year 2006. As Cale´s personal butler, Ron was allowed to accompany the little family to the hospital and was the third person to hold the incredibly light, sleeping newborn.

The first thought that went through his mind wasn’t that the child was unhealthy or anything, it was that the child looked adorable. Ron didn’t even know that he had such a side to him, but the very moment he laid eyes on Cale Henituse he was certain that he would not only be his most trusted subordinate but also always there for him.

And he had been fulfilling that silent, unspoken promise.

Ron looked at his sleeping young master-nim and the blonde boy who was all over the redhead. If he didn’t know better he would almost call his love for Cale an obsession. Sadly, he knew better.

The old butler observed the two sleeping boys. It was already morning, almost 10 am, but he didn’t want to wake the two up. He was aware of the lunch they had promised the Crossman Family, but he knew that the experience from last night cut deep and both boys needed the sleep. After all, there had been a reason he and his son allowed the blonde boy to sleep in their cherished young master´s bed.

Contrary to the butler´s thoughts; Alberu wasn´t sleeping anymore but rather awake, and for not just a few minutes. The problem was that he couldn’t get out of bed without waking the redhead sleeping in his arms – and that was something he certainly didn’t want to do under any circumstances.

The fact that it was currently snowing outside didn’t help the fact that Cale would wake up if the couple stopped cuddling. If he recalled correctly, today would be a thunderstorm in Korea and people didn’t know if it would go by or last for another day or two. Actually, it worried Alberu.

He and Cale had booked a direct flight from Manchester to Seoul (which was almost 11 hours) and the blonde had heard enough stories of planes crashing because of storms. But since Ron and Beacrox were there to accompany them it couldn’t get too bad…could it?

He let out a deep sigh which lead to a small motion from the figure using his chest as a pillow. A smile graced Alberu´s lips. A few seconds later, he felt a slight pressure on his chest, coming from Cale´s hand that helps him push himself up into a sitting position.

He looked at Alberu with his typical sleepy look. His gorgeous red hair looked like it had a bad hair day the day prior. A chuckle left the blonde´s mouth, immediately getting the younger´s attention.

“Huh?”

“It´s nothing, don´t worry Cale. You just look cute right now.”

Cale frowned at that but didn’t respond. Instead, he looked around, not used to having Alberu in his bed. The confusion quickly turned to awkwardness, then embarrassment and lastly to calmness.

The redhead wasn’t used to this, but this was certainly not bad. He found the presence of his boyfriend comforting, especially after everything that happened last night. Cale gladly accepted his boyfriend lying down next to him.

After some more minutes of cuddling, the two boyfriends decided to get out of bed. They were quite shocked as they looked at the time, it was almost eleven. In just a bit of a hurry (actually a lot more than just that) they got ready for their lunch with the Crossman Family.

Especially Cale was in a hurry as it was the “first” official meeting with his boyfriend´s family. Also, he got told that he didn’t get to meet all of Alberu´s siblings just yet and still missed one, and a pain in the ass at that.

Ron naturally helped his puppy-like young master-nim get ready as per usual, as it was this cold Cale couldn’t just go with a suit and instead had to rely on an extremely warm, cream colored pullover that he took from Alberu as well as some baggy-style winter pants in black which he put on over his thermal leggings.

Alberu, on the contrary to his usual style, chose extremely, what Cale would describe as “inappropriate” clothes. A light rose colored pullover with a cute bunny motive which was exactly the one Cale had chosen for him in the shopping mall, and a pair of casual, dark grey sweat pants.

As he got to see Alberu´s casual attire, Cale almost laughed while Beacrox sure had his fun. Nevertheless, Alberu was determined to go like this and even Cale didn’t manage to convince him from doing otherwise. It was even so that Alberu tried to convince his boyfriend on wearing something more casual, though Cale was used to these clothes.

In the end, the two boys left their dorms a little past twelve without eating breakfast and with Ron to accompany them towards their “uber”. Actually, it was just an employee from Deruth Henituse who was also Cale´s driver prior. The dark skinned driver, just like last time, was leaning against the pitch black car which seemed to be the man´s soulmate. He had a nice and calm smile on his lips and immediately bent down upon seeing the young master.

His smile though grew even bigger after seeing the blonde boy following the redheaded student with an in-love-smile.

“Good morning young master-nim.”

Cale nodded at the driver. He vaguely recalled that the man was called Will. After Will stood straight up again, he got a good look at the young master´s pale face. Even though the man couldn’t see Cale´s entire body, a gut-feeling was telling him that the boy had gotten even sicklier than the first time he had seen him. Nevertheless, not even one comment left his mind and he continued on like every other day.

After Will opened the doors for the two teens to sit in, he closed them and turned towards the benignly smiling butler.

“Where should I bring them to and when should I be there to pick them up?”

“You should bring them to the Crossman property opposite from ours in the outskirts. Be there two hours after you´ve dropped them off. In case they want to return sooner they´ll call me and I´ll call you.”

Will nodded. Contrary to what others may think, he was taking his job incredibly serious and didn’t want to make even a single mistake. He quickly bent down in front of the butler, then sat down in the driver´s seat even quicker. Soon after, he drove away.

Ron remained standing outside, watching the black car get smaller and smaller until it vanished behind a corner. He had a smile on his face which was sad as well as excited. Too well did the butler recall the incident with Choi Jung Soo and how his puppy-like young master-nim had shut down completely. The old man also had a very present memory of how the young boy had behaved after losing his dear mother. It was terrible, especially since Ron was in Manchester back then as well.

How many years was this now? Almost eleven, huh? How fast time actually ran.

It was supposed to be a nice, adventurous trip. Deruth Henituse wasn’t able to accompany his wife and son but Ron was there. No way in hell would the powerful man let his weak wife go on a trip with a tiring child alone without any help! Ron was, naturally, delighted by this. He adored Cale and wanted to help Jour Thames.

It was the 7/17/2013 (for the European people – and me: it´s 17.7.2013, American dates go month-day-year) that was the day of disasters. Back then, Jour, Cale and Ron had arrived three days prior in the Henituse Residence in Manchester and while Ron remained at the residence, Jour took her son to show him all the good things and take him on little adventures with her.

Said day was just like that, after having pancakes for breakfast, they made a trip to the “Sea Life”-Aquarium and had a fun time watching the fish. Ron recalled getting lots of pictures from the weak woman who mostly took photos of her young son watching the different fish with amazement. Ron still had every single one of those.

It was the way back that caused the lives of the Henituse Family to change for ever for the worse. It was said to be an accident, a gas-lack or technical problems. Neither the police nor the press were entirely sure though Ron knew that such an accident didn’t happen by “accident”.

Two cars crashing into one while only one person, the one who sat in the back with her son, the opposite site to where both cars crashed in, died? Ron made a fist with his hand as he recalled how the police just shrugged it off as an unfortunate coincidence.

If this was a coincidence, then everything in this world should be called a coincidence and-

“Father, what are you doing? It is cold.”

Ron turned around at his son´s words. He didn’t sound worried, but if he hadn’t been he wouldn’t have come down. Ron didn’t even notice how the time flew once again. Still, he was too caught up in those bad memories of the past. Actually, it weren’t just memories. It was the source of the young master-nim´s problems; the sickness, trauma, even former depression. It was the cause for the relationship between him and his father to break. But most importantly he lost his mother that day. He watched her die without understanding what was happening.

The accident had happened right in front of the gates of the Henituse Residence. As Ron had rushed outside, almost twenty seconds after the crash, Jour was already dead, hugging her silent son who was shaking all over his body. If the ambulance had gotten there even half a minute later, Cale would have most certainly died.

The young boy still had a scar on the left side of his abdomen as a permanent reminder of this unfortunate “accident”.

“Father? Is something on your mind?”

Once again Beacrox snapped his father out of his memories. Ron turned around and shook his head.

“Don´t worry about such an old man dwelling in old memories. You better check the young master-nim´s suitcase again in case he forgot something.”

Beacrox nodded; suspicion in his clear gaze. Nevertheless, he left to do just that, after all he regarded Cale as some sort of little brother. Ron sighed and sat down on the soft couch.

If only he was able to turn back time; he would´ve prevented Jour from going out or at least have tagged along.

The old butler still recalled how Cale had been in a coma for three days and his father didn’t even bother to come visit him. The incurably stupid man, no, such an existence couldn’t be called a man; or a human at that – the incurably stupid wanker (something like a jerk, it just sounds fancy) didn’t even get his ass up to fly to England. He just ordered for people to bring back the corpse of his dead wife.

About his son he didn’t even lose a single letter. He didn’t have a son at that moment. He had a wife, a dead wife.

Ron swore that he would someday kill the stupid wanker someday because of his behavior back then and honestly, as a retired assassin, it wasn’t a difficult task at all. The only problem was that his precious young master-nim would be an orphan then, having lost both his parents. Such cruel things weren´t manageable for the assassin.

The old man still recalled how his son had booked a flight as soon as he had gotten a call from his father. He booked a direct flight, even if it was the most uncomfortable one and asked the uber to drop him off in the hospital right after he got out of the airport.

He was also the first to hug Cale after the back then six year old child woke up, no idea that his mother was no more.

It was the 7/21/2013 (21.07.2013), Cale had asked for his mother, why she wasn’t with him. That was also the moment he realized before anyone could tell him. Cale Henituse, contrary to his back then childish and mischievous behavior was a quick-witted and extremely smart child: it wasn’t even going far to call him a genius that he obviously was. The six year old put one and one together – his mother wasn’t here with him even though she was always with him, he was in the hospital and his side hurt and the last thing he recalled was that he was in the car with his mother.

“Cale…she wanted to visit her parents for a while. She won´t be coming back too soon.”

That was probably the first time the old butler had called his puppy-like young master-nim by his name. Cale who had come to the realization even before he was told had a blank look in his eyes. Actually, it was beyond scary to see a six-year old kid have such dull eyes and such a blank expression on his face.

After that day, everything seemed to go downhill for Cale Henituse, but everyone noticed too late. His childhood ended the moment Ron had spoken his name. His mischievous and childish behavior was no more and he became serious; behaved like an adult should. While the adult behaved very much like he should have behaved. Shutting down and ignoring his son, pretending he didn’t even exist. After all, Cale “looked too much like his mother” for Deruth´s taste and the man couldn’t “bear the sight, seeing his son resembling his dead wife that much” as “he was the reason for her death” because she wanted to show him Great Britain and the places she grew up with.

Deruth Henituse; he was a douchebag à la finest.

Honestly speaking, the man did not deserve a Cale while Cale deserved a caring father.

Deruth Henituse wasn’t such a father.

First, Cale somewhat met Deruth when walking in their grand mansion, tried to smile at him even though it was incredibly difficult for himself. After a while, he didn’t even try anymore. And after half a year, his room was moved to the end of the mansion, the floors that Deruth would never put his foot on.

That was probably the last straw…

“Father, are you sure nothing´s the matter? You look troubled. If something´s on your mind, you can tell me.”

Ron smiled a real smile as he looked up at his son. He nodded, then shared his honest opinion.

“I just thought about the past and how Deruth Henituse is the biggest scumbag of them all.”

Beacrox remained silent for a split second, then nodded and sat down opposite to his father.

“Father, Deruth Henituse is worse than a scumbag. He is inhumane, a monster. Not even a black widow eats her children.”

Ron laughed and shook his head, recalling that the black widow is a rather cannibalistic spider, but he didn’t say anything against his son´s statement.

“You are right, you are right.”

Beacrox nods.

“It is good that Cale has finally found someone who is useful and loves him for who he is. I doubt Alberu will hurt him.”

Ron nodded once again. His son was right. Alberu Crossman. That boy was very good for his young master-nim. He actually managed to heal him to some extent. Don´t think the observant butler and his son hadn’t noticed. Lately, the young master-nim seemed to have a whole lot more energy and willingness to do things. He also smiled more often and didn’t seem to have that many nightmares. Furthermore Cale was extremely comfortable around the blonde male.

Of course neither one of the father-son-duo had not noticed the obvious chemistry between the two love-birds. Both Ron and Beacrox started to smile, knowing that things had to go better now. Only the anemia and eating-disorder had to be cured, but that didn’t seem to be as far away as before.

Hopefully the lunch with the Crossmans would go well.

Chapter Text

One sentence prior: The lunch with the Crossmans did not go well.

Cale stared at the corner in front of him while Alberu stared at his asshole of a brother, both ready to get into a fight. Zed Crossman stared at the on the floor lying food, then lifted his gaze to look at his bitch of a son.

Giselle chuckled awkwardly and tucked her elbow into Austin´s ribs. Robbit didn’t even look at the drama in front of him and simply continued to play a game on his phone, or whatever thing a teenager of fourteen years of age could do on a phone.

“Who wants cake?”

~Two hours and twenty-one minutes earlier~

A little past 12, the gates of the Crossman Residence opened. Contrary to the Henituse Residence, this wasn’t even that big, only as big as their Residence in Manchester. To Cale, it was surprising as he was used to those grand, elegant mansions while every house owner wanted to show off their wealth.

Still, the Crossman Family´s Residence was no joke. Even if it was incomparable in size to the Henituse Family´s Residence (honestly, which family was comparable?), it was astonishing. Alberu smirked knowingly.

The mansion was completely white, yet it didn’t have as much as a single dirt-stain on its façade. The roof was made out of midnight blue bricks. The snow on it made them look even more magical. But the house in itself wasn’t the impressing part – it was the beautiful garden around it, you could compare it towards those mystical manhwa-gardens of fantasy web-novels.

There was even a (frozen) water-fountain!

Back in South Korea in the Henituse Family´s main residence the garden was just a piece of green grass without as much as flowers. Okay, there was also a table and a few chairs in case one wanted to diner outside. Naturally Cale would fall in love with such an amazing made garden.

“Close your mouth my dear, else some insect will fly in there.”

Cale looked up at Alberu, lastly decided to show him his tongue. Contrary to the redhead´s expectations, Alberu leaned forward and kissed his boyfriend. Actually, he had waited the whole time just to do that, after all he couldn’t just openly kiss Cale in front of his overprotective butler and cook nor in front of the driver who seemed to report everything to the scary butler.

“Huh, you were right about that.”

Alberu who didn’t get the joke turned around after hearing someone erupt into a fit of laughter. The very second he laid eyes on whoever it was he rolled them, putting his arm around his boyfriend´s thin waist.

“Father…”

The teen wasn’t able to hide his annoyed voice, but the older man didn’t seem to even notice it. Zed nodded and approached the couple. He then, instead of just a simple handshake, hugged Cale and patted his son on the shoulder.

“Yes, yes, I am happy to see the two of you here as well. I have been waiting for you! Come on inside, it is incredibly cold out here!”

With big steps and an even bigger grin stuck on the man´s face, he approached the main door of the mansion. Contrary to its modern style, the door was in a dark wooden color, but it didn’t look bad at all.

After entering the warm house, the three of them quickly took off their coats. Cale was a bit hesitant at first, but Alberu quickly pulled his coat down without the redhead being able to do anything against that.

“Ho, have you been on a diet or what?”

Zed´s joke wasn´t funny and he quickly took it back, taking the death-stare of his son and the floor-stare of his son´s boyfriend very serious. ´Nothing will be said about how he looks and especially his weight´, the man noted himself.

“Don´t listen to him, kitten. That old man is spouting bullshit once again, nothing really new.”

Cale rolled his eyes at that, but finally looked up at Alberu, a thin smile gracing his cherry lips. He had already been well aware of his thinly appearance, and of course others would naturally make comments about it. It wasn’t like he could stop those people from saying anything about his appearance as well.

Zed cleared his throat after the sudden change in moods and instead changed the topic as quickly as he could think of another one.

“Well anyways, your trip is tomorrow, huh? I heard there was a snowstorm near South Korea, are the two of you still flying.”

Just as Cale was about to answer, Alberu let out a disappointed sigh.

“Father, Cale is my boyfriend and not some neighbor. Let´s talk in the lounge instead the foyer, like proper hosts.”

Zed Crossman´s cheeks turned red and he quickly apologized and turned around. For a moment he had felt like a normal father of a usual seventeen year old kid who got to know the boyfriend of his kid. He had completely forgotten (or ignored) the manner-part he usually did with all his “class-guests”.

Faced with the back of the tall man, Cale gave Alberu a sharp glare that the blonde countered with his incredibly big smile. The redhead rolled his eyes and just quietly followed behind the business man in normal, typical British clothes.

The entrance that should be called “foyer” instead was big, bigger than most large rooms in normal people´s houses. Its floor was made out of Wenge-wood (almost black wood, it´s a pretty rare wood and very expensive) and on it laid a blue-greyish Indian carpet. Its looks alone made it clear that this wasn’t just a simple rug one could buy in any store. The walls were part-made of wood and an amazing wood-work-design while the upper part was in a simple, medium light shade of cyan-blue (#8c97a9 I really did search for a f*cking color and the search took me five f*cking minutes and I don’t f*cking regret a single second) – all in all the room looked fancy and fitting for such a famous and rich family´s manor-foyer.

Cale didn’t have long to look around as he was pushed forward by Alberu to follow Zed who led the two of them to the Lounge. Even if it was referred to as “Lounge” by Alberu and his father, one could barely call such a large room a lounge. It had light marble floor and light white walls, filled with amazing art pieces which were all greenish-grey-blue in color. In the middle of the room stood a large, white couch on a fluffy white carpet and next to it stood a glass desk as well as a few more white seats.

The room gave off a calm aura though everything in it screamed ´expensive´ in another language.

Cale didn’t even want to step onto the marble. He recalled how the Henituse Residence never looked like this, it was all a bit dark and more “classic” instead of modern, so Cale wasn’t used to this at all. Nevertheless, Alberu pushed him forward once again, onto the big couch that stood on the white, fluffy carpet.

Zed just nodded and sat down in one of the large armchairs opposite to the couple. He then looked up at the celling where a fancy chandelier was. This one didn’t really look that much different from the one´s Deruth used in his Residence so Cale wasn’t that shocked.

“The others will arrive soon. Let us use this time to talk about, um, let me call it the ´taboo-themes´ for this evening.”

The ends of Alberu´s lips curled up as he really liked the direction this conservation seemed to be going. He nodded in acknowledgement and leaned back, pulling Cale´s feeble body with him as his arm was still around the younger´s waist.

“Well, first of all his weak appearance, looks, body and all around that topic.”

Zed nodded, he was listening to Alberu even though his gaze was stuck on Cale. “Weak appearance” was quite the underrating word to use for that sickly and pale person in front of him looking at his son. Even though the large, beige colored pullover and those baggy black pants didn’t let Zed make out the body shape of Cale, he could see his incredibly thin ankles and wrists every so often. Or the clavicles that were very well visible since the pullover was big on Cale.

“I understand I will prevent that topic from coming up.”

Alberu smiled.

Zed Crossman.

That was the name of a very funny man.

He was the CEO of the TBC, tableware cooperation, one that was already many generations old. He was also someone who despised tableware.

In his early adulthood he had tried to become a detective, lawyer and then actor. When he first entered Harvard University he had changed that to wanting to become a musician, wedding planner and then photographer. He lastly ended up in the position of secretary for his father until he got the CEO position, at least which had been the plan.

Instead of becoming the secretary, his younger brother who was still in college had taken over while Zed stayed in America instead of returning to Great Britain. He was in his mid-twenties back then and had a quite trouble making mindset. His childhood, more like teenage-hood dream of becoming a prideful and justice person came back and he went to police school. Quickly he became unmotivated and gave up, then returned to Manchester just half a year later.

As an actor who played the role of a police officer.

The film quickly failed after a few dramas with the actors, also Zed Crossman. The man had then tried to become independent, stand on his own two feet without the financial support of his family.

With twenty-seven he had gotten himself a job at a small business as a business manager but quickly got bored. He resigned. Went to police school in Manchester once more and gave that up as well. After, he met the woman of his dreams, had two children then a divorce with thirty-three. The third child, a girl, came a year later through an affair while the mother quickly left without even telling him her real name. With thirty six, Zed fell in love with an amazing woman, Alberu and Robbit Crossman´s mother. He had married her ever since, until the very end – until their divorce three years after their “second” son´s birth.

She left and he was alone but never got married again.

With forty-five he was a father of five and also a single man with no interest in money. That was also when he finally took the CEO position from his father as a last gift for the dying man.

In all those years where he had been a “wild spirit” he had gotten experience in many different ways and aspects of life. Many necessary that people usually don’t get at all, like insight and a deep understanding of people.

Zed had also learned to become a man of his word.

If he said that he would not mention Cale´s body at dinner, then he wouldn’t. That much trust Alberu did have in his father.

“Good. You also have to prevent Charles from doing bullshit.”

Cale rolled his eyes at his boyfriend´s suddenly vulgar speech and vicious sounding voice. He didn’t know who exactly Charles was besides the second oldest son of the family, but he didn’t really think he was as bad as Alberu was making him.

But contrary to the redhead´s expectations, Zed Crossman had a very serious expression on his face as he shook his head.

“My dear son, you know just as well as I do that Charles does whatever he wants.”

Alberu rolled his eyes and his grip on Cale´s waist tightened. Cale frowned, not understanding what was upsetting his beloved boyfriend so much. He knew that Alberu disliked Charles very much, but Alberu didn’t quite tell him the reason for that just yet.

“Mh…”

Alberu was thinking about something and did not respond to his father´s response. Cale sighed and loosened Alberu´s grip to lean forward.

“Sir, if I may say, please don´t do anything too special. It is just a-“

“-a family-gathering.”

Zed Crossman smiled as he helped Cale out and Cale nodded thankfully for that.

“Yes, as it is just a family-gathering.”

Zed sighed and mirrored his son´s action of leaning back. His gaze was still on Cale, even as he opened his mouth to speak to his son.

“Ha, Alberu you´ve got someone very special and interesting. I can tell why you want to protect him so much and I will give my best to assist you.”

Cale was very much speechless after that but ignored this iffy feeling he was getting after seeing Alberu´s light smile. It was an honest smile he quite liked about the blonde.

“Father, what bullshit are you spouting now?”

Zed laughed but he knew that Alberu was thankful to him; he simply couldn’t exactly say it. Their relationship was not complicated, even if it seemed to be. Alberu simply disliked his father´s character and talked incredibly rude to him, but Zed was used to this with all of his children, at least most of them.

“Hahaha! I just said that I really like your boyfriend! If you aren’t good to him, I´ll punish you and take Cale in as my own! Hahaha!”

Alberu just rolled his eyes at that and put his arm around Cale´s shoulder to pull him closer to him. Of course Cale didn’t believe Zed´s words, but to Alberu, who knew his father very well, those words were like not sharp kitchen knives. Because he knew; Zed Crossman was very serious about this, even though he was taking so casually and laughing.

He kissed Cale on the forehead before turning his head back around to his old father. The man who was already in his mid-fifties had a very sharp gaze, and very calm looking eyes with a friendly and somewhat pleased and happy (pleappy or happeased? Jokes on me, they´re bad) expression on his not mid-fifty but mid-thirty looking face.

“I will never be anything but very good to him.”

Cale rolled his eyes as this was the only thing he could do. He did not dare disturb the conservation between his boyfriend and his father, not because he wasn’t allowed to, but because he knew how rude it was. He also wasn’t afraid to do it; he simply didn’t want to be rude in front of such an important person, though he mainly was too lazy to continue the conservation if he indeed did disturb it.

“Hahaha! Of course my son! I trust you very much with Cale! After all you were very good with Bongo!”

Upon hearing that name, Cale´s resolve not to take part in this conservation quickly dispersed to nothingness and he sat up straight, ignoring the apologetic smile on Alberu´s face as Cale turned towards him.

“Did…Did your father just compare me to your dog?”

Bongo Crossman had been a German shepherd that belonged to Alberu in the past. He was a very good dog who already passed on a couple years ago (three to be exact). He was gifted to Alberu when he turned six and wanted a pet, back then Bongo was already five years old.

Bud Alberu really did take very good care of Bongo, though he sometimes did overfeed the dog when he was younger.

Zed Crossman looked a bit dumbfounded. He had hoped to open a new topic with Cale asking who Bongo was, but it seemed that his son had already shared pretty much everything with Cale.

The old man cleared his throat, once again embarrassment making itself known in his red cheeks.

“Uh…”

Before he could actually answer, Alberu chuckled. Contrary to Cale he saw right through his old man and knew what he had wanted to achieve. Would he tell Cale? No way in hell.

To Alberu, Cale seemed to like his old man a bit too much (of course he was a too jealous boyfriend for his own good, and overprotective not to forget). So he would just feign ignorance and pretend not to get it either!

“Don´t be like that. You know how much I loved Bongo.”

Alberu´s chuckles did not quiet down and Cale pouted his extremely cute, super human pout that would win against whole armies. Even the “immune” Alberu´s eyes couldn’t help but widen at his boyfriend´s cuteness. Of course, Cale had no idea that his expression had that kind of impact on the world surrounding him.

“Mhpf! So you´re telling me you love me as much as you love your dog.”

For the first time in his relationship-time Alberu heard “the” question he always heard on social media about (though there it was famous as the question “would you still love me if I was a worm?”). He quickly shook his head.

“No, no, of course not, kitten. I love you much more than Bongo.”

He really did love Cale more than the German shepherd; even though there weren’t that many reasons for that. It was just…Cale. Cale was Cale. And Cale being Cale was enough to make Alberu forget his name, his identity and everything around him and just focus on this redheaded beauty gracing him with his presence.

Cale continued to pout, but quickly stopped after Alberu kissed him passionately.

This was also the last time he kissed Cale before the doors opened and six people entered the Lounge, following behind a black and white clad butler.

Alberu couldn’t help but frown. If that wasn’t an unwelcome surprise he didn’t know what was.

Chapter Text

Those six people were naturally the Crossman Family, Alberu´s four siblings and his sister in law as well as the boyfriend of his sister. To say that they looked stunning would be an understatement as each and every single one of them was breathtaking. Even though it was rather cold outside, Giselle wore a dark purple cocktail dress with thin straps and purple platform pumps similar in color. She looked astonishing, no questions asked, but her outfit was quite skin-showing and more for another kind of event…and at another time…

The moment she noticed Cale and her younger brother staring at her, she flashed them a smile and let go of her boyfriend´s hand to quickly go greet the fresh couple of the family. That was also the moment Cale and his boyfriend noticed the 10 inch heels (20cm) that Giselle wore. It was a red pair of platform pumps only seen worn by celebrities or drag queens. No wonder she seemed so tall all of a sudden.

“Cale! Oh my god, you look as stunning as the day I met you! Did you go on a diet? You didn’t have to! You certainly need to gain some weight! Did Alberuri not take good care of you at all?”

Giselle then sat down on the free side next to Cale while waving her boyfriend over with her hand. Not soon after, a tall, blonde man with light brown eyes (sorry, I don’t remember Valentino´s eye color, please forgive me!) walked over and bowed down in front of the two teens, ignoring the other four people who were walking to take their seats.

“Good evening, congratulations. May I please excuse Giselle; you know how she behaves…”

Alberu nodded and quickly pulled Cale closer to himself. The blonde man smiled at that action. He had never imagined that Alberu would become romantically active, but the longer he looked at Cale, the more he could understand.

Cale was beautiful. Nothing like he had imagined. He thought of a handsome young man, not someone…frail and fragile! But hell, even he couldn’t help but think that the redhead looked cute, and he and his soon-brother in law made a cute couple.

“My name is Valentino Caro, it´s nice to meet you.”

Cale nodded at that and shook Valentino´s outstretched hand.

“Pleasure to meet you. My name is Cale Henituse.”

Valentino had a genuine smile on his lips as he nodded and then sat down on the couch next to Giselle, of course he didn’t forget to greet Zed first.

After that, everyone was seated. Cale saw that Robbit wasn’t on his phone this time; he was sitting on the armchair next to his father, now having a look of disinterest on his face. On the small sofa next to the young boy was Austin. Instead of looking cold and distanced like last time, he had a soft expression on his face and a smile on his lips. But he wasn’t really looking at Cale and Alberu but at a short, black-haired beauty.

Contrary to Giselle who seemed to mistake the season, the black haired beauty wore a long-sleeved, warm looking black dress with boots. Her black eyes were, contrary to Austin, focused on Cale. As soon as the two of them locked eyes, she smiled and bowed down slightly.

Cale could tell that she was Asian, maybe even Korean.

“Hello, my name is Mary Crossman. It is nice to finally meet the boy whom my husband is so worried about.”

As soon as she said that, Austin´s expression changed and he looked incredibly embarrassed, making almost everyone laugh. The same couldn’t be said for Cale, Alberu, Robbit and the disrespectful looking boy sitting on the last armchair on Zed´s other side.

Even though he had blonde hair as well, his wasn’t as golden as Alberu´s, or as white as Giselle´s. His looked a bit browner and his eyes weren´t brown or blue but green. Quickly Cale could tell that that man was the person Alberu was so worried about. Charles Crossman.

Suddenly, Cale and Charles made eye contact and Cale quickly looked away. Charles sure was scary…upon making eye contact.

“Robbit, Charles, introduce yourself as well.”

Robbit rolled his eyes at that and let out a dissatisfied groan.

“But dad, I already know Cale! There´s no need for formalities anyways!”

Zed sighed and instead looked at Charles. A strange smirk appeared on the twenty-four year old male at that moment.

“Heh, you met before? Without me?”

At that, almost everyone rolled his eyes. Just as Giselle wanted to reply, Alberu shook his head and let out a laugh.

“Yeah, and what about it? Be thankful that father invited you this time, I wouldn’t have.”

Cale lightly punched Alberu´s tight at that disrespect and smiled apologetically. He didn’t know Charles but trusted Alberu´s judgement. Nevertheless he couldn’t let his boyfriend be this disrespectful as it showed bad manners.

“Sorry for that, he didn’t mean it, right?”

Another punch in Alberu´s ribs through Cale´s elbow followed.

“…Right.”

Alberu´s response sounded faker than Kim Kardashian´s ass (sorry, had to make that joke).

Charles sighed and leaned forward. He was someone who loved bullying the weak and using his power to toy around with them. He had a bad personality, a bad character. He was someone who would become a minor villain, as he was too arrogant for his own good. Not to forget how he dropped out of college and boosted his ego by spending his daddy´s money with women.

“Heh, you seem like a good kid. Cake Hevenuse was it?”

Giselle rolled her eyes and looked at the slowly starting to shake Alberu. Cale let out a deep sigh and plastered his best fake smile on his face, making Zed scoff. Nevertheless, the man was amused by the new family member´s behavior (because in his eyes, Cale was already family).

“No, it´s Cale Henituse. I guess you have a bad memory?”

Charles had a similar smile on his face.

“No, I just don´t want to remember insignificant things, that´s all.”

“How convenient, yet you remembered this lunch.”

Charles shook his head, leaning back in his seat.

“I guess you´re not as lame as the kid you´re dating, Cale Henituse.”

“Yeah, I´m lamer.”

At that, Zed Crossman couldn’t help but laugh. Charles smile looked even strainer than before.

“Ho! You sure know how to talk! I knew my boy had some good taste! Now, now, let´s all be friends and go to the dining hall and eat already.”

With that, Zed Crossman got up and left the room, followed by everyone but Alberu and Charles. Cale sighed as he was dragged by Giselle away from his safe-place aka his boyfriend.

Alberu, for once, was thankful for his sister who seemed to have grasped the situation for once – or simply wanted to have Cale all for herself, who knew? Fact remained that she was helpful for once.

“Hey, what do you think you´re doing?”

Charles put on the most innocent and clueless expression in his inventory.

“What do you mean? I just want to know who you´re dating, what is so wrong with that?”

Alberu scoffed. Hell no, anything that involved his older brother by seven years meant chaos and couldn’t be something good. His brother was a player, a bully, someone who was the very definition of snob, jackass, douchebag and anything else in that field.

“Stop trying to insult my boyfriend.”

Charles Crossman let down his innocent and clueless expression and exchanged it with an evil smirk that would make people think he was the devil reincarnate. Alberu was already used to that expression that his older brother put on each and every single time his crazy pea brain planned some crazy shit.

“Your boyfriend? How possessive you already are, my good brother.”

Charles then got up and walked up to Alberu. The two of them were similar in height with Charles only being a good inch taller than his younger brother. He put an arm on the Council President´s shoulder and got pretty close to Alberu´s ear with his lips.

“But you already know that you can´t have shit in this world. Remember what happened to that mutt?”

Upon hearing that name, Alberu slapped his brother´s hand away and pushed him some feet back. He then looked at him with the firmest look he had ever had. Charles Crossman – whenever he had heard that name in the past he had been afraid and had shivered. There were many reasons for him to do so, especially since Charles Crossman had been Alberu´s bully ever since he was little. Maybe it was because he had been daddy´s favorite or just because Charles wanted to pick on someone and it couldn’t be Giselle (as she was a girl and even Charles Crossman respected Giselle) or Austin (as he was older and hence held more authority than he ever would). And Robbit was the youngest…

But hearing that name didn’t have the same effect on Alberu anymore. Maybe it was because he grew up – or it was simply that Alberu had no reason to be afraid. Instead, he got angry upon hearing that threat, as it wasn’t an empty threat. There had been indeed a reason his German shepherd had died so early. It was naturally not him overfeeding the dog, nor because of old age.

“Hands off of Cale. If you try to do something I promise that you will regret it.”

Charles smiled evilly. Alberu had to suppress the desire of punching him in the face with all his strength.

“Does that kid mean that much to my grown up little brother, huh? I guess I should put in extra effort in destroying him then.”

Just as Charles wanted to walk off, Alberu held him back by his sleeve. Just as Charles turned around, he was met with a fist in his face, actually being strong enough to make him stumble backwards and having a nosebleed.

“Oh man, that felt good.”

Alberu shook his right fist with a pleased expression on his face.

“Hey you, yeah, you cockroach lying on the floor like some poor beggar. Don´t mistake me for the same loser I was back then. I´m – as you said – all grown up now. Being grown up means I have some assets up my sleeve. If I were you I´d think thrice before stepping onto the Titanic as you planned to.”

Charles let out an emotionless laugh after hearing Alberu´s first threat. He then got up as if nothing happened while trying to stop his nosebleed.

“You´ve gotten so brave, calling me a cockroach, huh? Cale Henituse, that kid really means everything to you it seems.”

Alberu rolled his eyes and walked past his older brother as well as greatest enemy and bully, of course not without bumping into him. Before he finally exited the lounge, he stopped in his tracks, turning around to look at Charles one last time.

“He does. Try to change that, cockroach.”

Alberu exited the lounge without looking back. He also didn’t hear Charles´s empty laughter following his departure.

“That kid, I think he truly grew up…and he also grew up way better than me, huh?”
Alberu also did not hear the last sentence of Charles before he followed the rest of the family, of course not before stopping his light nosebleed.

~

Nevertheless, there were certain indications that Alberu had punched his older brother: be it the blood on the man´s shirt or on Alberu´s fist that he quietly wiped off in front of his family members. Cale sighed and shook his head, knowing that it was a good thing that Alberu finally got to punch that bastard of a brother in the face.

Zed cleared his throat and looked at his watch. It was five to two pm, meaning that the servants would start to bring the meal in five minutes. Five minutes he would have to deal with this depressing atmosphere. Just as he wanted to say something to lift it, Austin already did.

“You two plan to head over to Korea tomorrow, right?”

Alberu looked up from his handkerchief as he nodded at that.

“Yeah, we booked a morning flight so that we would at least arrive at the same day.”

Austin nodded, looking at his wife of two years. Mary was, just like Cale thought, indeed born in Korea. Upon hearing the new topic, she smiled friendly and involved herself in the conservation.

“It´s a thirteen hour flight from here, you have to be two hours earlier in the airport. When is your flight?”

Cale looked up from his fingers and stared at Alberu instead. Yeah, when was their flight again? And what did Mary mean with them having to be there two hours earlier? Wasn’t their flight alone like super early? When would he have to get up on a Sunday because of this?

“Our flight is at 9. We booked a straight flight and should arrive at 10.”

Mary nodded her head, approving of the decision the couple made. That was until she noticed the desperate and frantic expression on the redhead´s face. Contrary to what she was thinking, Cale was madly calculating the time he was going to be thrown out of his comforting bed, be it by his loyal butler or his crazy boyfriend. They would have to be at the airport at 7 (such an ungodly hour for real), meaning he would have to get up at…six?!

Why wasn’t he told so beforehand?

Why was he finding out just now?

How could this be?

He wanted to go sulk in the corner and cry to his heart´s content!

Alberu who was probably the only one who knew what was going on in his boyfriend´s head right now, tried to hide his totally in-love smile. Instead, he put his arm around the younger´s shoulder and pulled him closer to himself. He then leaned in to kiss Cale on his forehead, but was a few seconds late as Cale turned around and looked at him with a panicked expression. Alberu couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“You knew!”

“Yeah, I did.”

“You´re…I have no words for you!”

“If you´re feeling better, Ron and Beacrox knew too.”

After hearing that, Cale pouted and murmured the word “traitor”, making Alberu laugh. The blonde then turned his attention back to the table. By this time, the atmosphere calmed down and his family members were having their own conservations, though his father´s focus was still on him and his boyfriend.

“Cale, what do you think about steak?”

After hearing that question Cale looked up with a nonchalant expression as if nothing were the matter in the first place.

“Sir, what do you mean by that?”

Zed Crossman let out a laugh, but nevertheless returned to his smiling expression.

“I want to know your take on steak or is that too much to ask for?”

Cale frowned but nevertheless shook his head.

“It´s steak, what should I think about that?”

Alberu rolled his eyes at that. His father was, even if he was one of the most famous business men all over the world, an idiot. He also had no idea how to do small talk with his family, naturally because he was used to talk about politics, economy or the latest news.

“Do you like steak?”

Cale nodded his head, not truly understanding what his boyfriend´s father tried to achieve by asking that question.

“Good, good.”

Robbit let out a loud sigh and looked at Cale. He was sitting next to his father and Charles whom he didn’t mind at all.

“Hey Cale, don´t mind dad, he´s just really bad at talking to normal people like us.”

Cale smirked at that. He didn’t expect Robbit to behave this friendly, and he sadly mistook that sentence as an attempt of Robbit to be friendly.

It was true, Robbit wasn’t as bad as Charles, but he was by far a bad person and someone who would never be friendly on his own accord. He had, as earlier mentioned a blank personality and nothing like a character and was discriminating with no ends.

“But well, he´d especially bad at talking to people like you. Let me ask you something, are you playing sick or something? Or is white skin a new trend? And why are you so skinny? Are the 2000 back already? I thought we were going more in the normal weight range direction-“

Robbit couldn’t end his sentence as his father put an arm on his shoulder to not let him continue that one-sided speech. As it was indeed humiliating, it was only humiliating himself and not Cale. While Cale did think it was incredibly rude of a fourteen-year old to talk like that to him, he wasn’t truly insulted. He was a bit ashamed of his body because of his under-eating and unhealthy looking skin. Nevertheless he didn’t look the least bit touched.

“Please Cale, forgive my son. He´s still young and has a lot to learn.”

Cale simply nodded at Zed, his usual stoic expression plastered on his face. He always had this kind of expression whenever he wasn’t with Alberu or his friends but with other students or people he greatly disliked or didn’t know. For him to have this expression at an occasion like this meant that Cale didn’t feel welcomed here. Maybe it was due to Robbit.

Alberu wanted to strangle him and punch his younger brother in the face as well. Contrary to his father he knew that Robbit was damn well aware of what his words meant and would do.

“…Anyways! The food should be here- ah, it´s here alright!”

While Zed Crossman was talking, his servants were entering the dining hall with nine plates of orange-reddish soup. Cale, who was used to eating the traditional Kimchi Stew, a typical Korean dish, sighed and looked at Alberu, who was frowning. Upon noticing his boyfriend´s stare he simply shrugged and smiled, ignoring that strange feeling he was getting.

Mary was also looking at her husband who was as clueless as her.

And as if this wasn’t surprising enough, Zed Crossman was the most confused out of the entire bunch. He was certain he ordered traditional Mulligatawny (a classic British soup) but how come the dish served was something he had no idea of what it was. Nevertheless the business man smiled with a confident smile. He would have to talk to the head chef later on.

~

It actually would have been better for him to question why he was being served those strange dishes to begin with and should have gone up to the head chef to begin with.

Because he would have regretted not checking it up by now.

After the Kimchi Stew as the first dish, another traditional Korean dish was served as the main course. It was Dakgalbi (stir-fried spicy chicken). And then the dessert was served. It all seemed too normal if one didn’t look at Cale who wasn’t really eating the dishes. As Cale also didn’t seem to be all too interested in the dessert, a demonic smile appeared on Charles´s face. While his family members frankly ignored Cale and his habits, he of course didn’t.

“Hey Cale, I already noticed the whole evening that you weren´t eating the dishes. Yet, our head chef extra prepared those traditional Korean dished for you. He learned how to cook them and how to make them tasty. It took him the whole night and morning.”

Cale put his chopsticks down (which were served with the main course) and looked at Charles who sat opposite to Alberu. While he looked untouched, he was actually feeling bad for his behavior. It was just that he couldn’t force himself to eat too much. Also, Alberu said that it was alright with him as long as Cale would eat something. Sometimes, Cale didn’t eat at all, others he could eat a whole meal and Alberu was thankful to his boyfriend that nowadays he always tried to eat at least a little bit without leaving out meals. And he wasn’t just thankful, he was also very proud of him.

That was exactly why he made eye contact with his father upon hearing his brother talk.

“Cockroach, watch your tongue.”

As Alberu openly insulted his older brother, Robbit broke out in a fit of laughter, so did Giselle and even the friendly Valentino. Only Zed, the serious Mary and her serious husband Austin remained calm, though each of them had their own way of being amused or proud.

Cale, contrary to all of them, looked at Alberu. He was thankful that he was butting in. Even if he was good with words, there were certain things the redhead didn’t want to talk about. Alberu gifted him a genuine smile and then once again concentrated on his older brother by seven years.

“Wow, getting brave little bro, already insulting me when our family is present.”

“Tsk, don’t act all innocent. Stop indirectly insulting my boyfriend.”

Charles scoffed and put his fork down, instead putting his elbows on the dining table and leaning on his hand.

“How am I insulting your boyfriend, huh? I just told him that I noticed how he didn’t finish his dishes, what´s so wrong with pointing that out?”

There was this glint in his eyes that was telling his family members that he didn’t mean what he was saying and just wanted to fight, or rather humiliate Cale.

“Well, then stop pointing things out, Charles. I think it´s unnecessary.”

Giselle nodded at her boyfriend´s statement. She smirked, knowing that he was already used to Charles being…well, Charles being Charles. She recalled the time when she introduced Valentino to her family, it´s already been two years ago. Back them Charles had focused on humiliating Valentino and he didn’t exactly know how to deal with it either.

Now that she thought about it, the only ones who weren´t picked on by her elder brother were herself, Robbit, Austin and Austin´s wife, Mary. Even as Austin had introduced the shy Mary, Charles had been rather respectful while speaking to her. Maybe it was because even if Charles was Charles he still respected Austin and hence the people Austin loved, with the exception of Alberu.

“I fairly disagree.”

Charles sighed and pointed at Cale.

“If he isn’t hungry, he should have said something.”

Now it was Zed Crossman´s time to let out a tired sigh. He had already been prepared for his son´s bad behavior, but it was still uncomfortable for him, especially since he had taken a liking to Alberu´s boyfriend and wanted Cale to feel home here.

“Charles, it is not a problem. If he doesn’t want to eat, then he doesn’t have to eat. This is a family lunch, so behave like you promised.”

Charles shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

“But father, don´t you find it strange? Cale is incredibly thin-“

“Not another word!”

“-Let me speak, as I said-“

“I said not another word!”

Charles stopped and sighed, then pointed directly at Cale while looking his father in the eyes without breaking eye contact.

“Is he trying to kill himself by starving or what?”

He spoke to quick so that Zed couldn’t even stop him from saying that. As soon as Charles said that, the other family members put their forks down and looked the man dead in the eye with the exception of Cale.

Alberu then simply got up, took his plate that was full of all sorts of Korean side dishes then threw it at his asshole of a brother who shouldn’t have said something like that to begin with.

And not soon after he had done so, Giselle did it as well, followed by her boyfriend. Austin quickly pulled Mary backwards to protect her from the ongoing food-war while Zed Crossman simply stared at his half-eaten plate, thinking about what exactly went wrong, or rather when it all had started to go wrong. Was it because he had left Alberu and Charles alone for too long? He always knew that the two of them would cause problems whenever they were seen together.

The food-war continued until almost every dish was broken and food was lying on the floor or sticking to the walls. Zed pitied the servants who would have to clean this mess up…Never mind that, he wouldn’t make servants clean this up. It was obviously Charles´s fault for saying something so improper to Cale. As punishment he would make his second son clean this up!

Now he only would have to calm everyone down.

“You stinky cockroach, I knew you were planning something the whole time!”

After that, Alberu jumped on the table to quickly cross over to the other side of the room. It truly looked like a scene out of an action movie (or like the one scene from Pirates of the Caribbean where Jack met the King in the 4th movie…).

“Woah, slow there, I was just saying! Does you getting so mad mean he tried to do it!”

Of course Alberu shook his head and tried to punch his brother´s face. He was certain that Cale didn’t try to kill himself, ever! This was simply his brother insulting his boyfriend in all ways possible.

His family members had similar thoughts. Cale Henituse didn’t seem to be the type to just give up on live like that. Additionally, he also seemed quite righteous and strong.

Well, that was what he seemed to be.

Who said that he actually was?

The situation escalated quickly. Alberu was now fully fighting with his elder brother and surprisingly even winning while continuously calling him cockroach. Mary and Valentino tried the two of them but failed at the approaches. Zed Crossman stared at the on the floor lying floor, still asking himself what was actually happening. Would Cale ever visit them again? Would he invite them to his graduation? When he and Alberu would first move in together? When the two of them would be engaged? To their wedding?

He may think too much ahead of time now, but he was seriously wondering if the redhead would still invite him as he knew for a matter of fact that his son wouldn’t.

In the meantime, Robbit had pulled out his phone and was going through his social media accounts, a look of disinterest on his face. He took a few pictures of his brothers fighting, but that was it. He then concentrated on his phone once again, not paying much attention to what was happening around him.

Giselle forced a big smile on her face as she elbowed her normal older brother who had gone to the kitchen only to come back with a big cake. He had a similar smile on his face.

“Who wants cake?”

Chapter Text

It would be an understatement to call the lunch with the Crossmans a disaster.

Half an hour later, at 3pm, Alberu and Cale were guided to the foyer and handed their coats. Zed accompanied the two of them while his children and the partners of his children stayed behind.

Alberu didn’t look at his father, and when he did his look was a scaring one. He also didn’t let go of Cale´s hand, he tried to show him that he was there, yet Cale didn’t speak to him even once after the whole fiasco happened. But Alberu couldn’t exactly be mad at him because of that. He still recalled the ugly things that asshole of a brother dared to say out loud in front of his frail, redheaded love. He also noticed how Cale completely shut down after hearing that.

No way in hell would he ever take his boyfriend back here after all of that happened.

“Hahaha, what can I say? Come again?”

Zed´s laughter sounded extremely anxious and fake. Alberu rolled his eyes at that.

“We certainly won´t, thank you very much, father.”

Usually, Cale would have elbowed Alberu and told him to apologize, but he didn’t. Instead, he clung to Alberu´s hand and pulled him forward, to quickly leave that godforsaken building and the devilish person in it.

Alberu quickly followed him, not looking at his father. Zed let out a sigh. He should have known better. His son was…very misbehaved. Maybe it was because of the little attention he gave him, or because he simply didn’t know what to do since he had it all. He would have to talk to him, and additionally cut his monthly pocket money. It wasn’t like Charles worked anyways.

Zed watched how his son and Cale left his mansion as quickly as they could. He then let out another sigh and shook his head. Nevertheless, he too had noticed Cale´s state change after Charles mentioning him trying to commit suicide.

He didn’t seem like the kid who would try to do that, but on the other hand, Zed didn’t really know Cale. There were also a lot of things Zed didn’t know about people. Yes, he could assess certain typed of people, but that didn’t mean that he knew everything about them. What if Charles´s mindless talk about that topic triggered the redhead? And before their trip to Korea nonetheless!

After standing in the foyer with the doors open and cold wind as well as snow entering his home, Zed decided to go back. He had no choice but to teach all of his children a lesson. Every single one of them misbehaved in some way, be it the food war. They shouldn’t have thrown anything but talked like the adults they were. He could understand why Alberu did it, after all Cale was his boyfriend and “responsibility”, he had the right to get angry on Cale´s behalf. His other children didn’t have that right. They should have stayed put and argued with words, as he had taught them so many times before.

Zed Crossman then headed back inside, letting his servants close the door.

~

At the same time, Paseton let out a tired sigh and looked at his older sister. Witira looked as fancy as ever. She was clothed into a fancy and especially heavy sapphire blue dress that was decorated with diamonds and all sorts of fancy and expensive blue gems. She was also walking in rather high high-heels so that Paseton seriously wondered how Witira didn’t fall down and didn’t break her neck.

It was a very good question, as her heels weren’t as high as others, but still 8-inch heels.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but think of his sister as elegant. Her wavy blue hair was as beautiful as ever and her elegant make up made her look like the most beautiful super model there was. He was a bit afraid of all the boys that were going to approach his elder sister even though it was common knowledge that she was in a relationship with Rosalyn Breck, the daughter of the CEO of Magic World.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Witira had a generous smile on her face, but she was actually annoyed. Paseton was too, though. Once again their father had made them attend a social event out of nowhere. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Archie´s family was participating as well. Archie was actually their cousin and alright and all, but his younger brother was a real pain in the ass. Not to forget that that little pain in the ass was friends with Robbit Crossman, Alberu´s little brother.

And to say that trash is drawn to trash…Robbit and Flynn, Archie´s little brother, weren’t just friends, they seemed like soulmates. They shared anything, be it their father´s most secret secrets.

“I´m just feeling sorry for all those young men who are going to try to flirt with you.”

Witira smiled but it didn’t seem like an honest smile. Paseton sighed and straightened his black suit. How much he hated social events, even if he was good at socializing. He would rather be with Choi Han or even the lovely dovely couple Cale and Alberu! Hell, such events drained him to no end and it didn’t help that he had Witira´s looks.

“Hahaha, you should be sorry for those poor girls that are going to get rejected by you.”

Paseton rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like he rejected all of them, just the ugly ones or the ones with bad personality traits. He was actually searching for a good girl that he could flirt with…and maybe more.

Just as he was about to tell his sister that, someone approached him from behind and patted him on the shoulder. Paseton quickly turned around, quite in shock to be honest, only to see the smirking Archie standing there. His whitish hair had now a bluish-grey touch to it: seemed like he had dyed it once again. His natural hair color was actually blond, but that wasn’t light enough for Archie.

“So, the snake is out of the cage, we can´t do anything.”

Witira pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. Arche smirked even more and leaned on Paseton. The dark grey suit that he wore looked good – it would have looked even better if he had worn it like a normal person.

“Well, let´s just avoid everyone after father gives his greetings. We can go to the garden, it´s winter so probably no one´s gonna be there.”

Witira rolled her eyes.

“Really Paseton? It´s snowing, what a stupid idea.”

Paseton let out an even louder sigh than before. Witira was nice and all, but having her as an older sister and having to spend time with her all the time didn’t appeal that much to him. Sure, she was a good big sister, but honestly, who wanted to stick with their older sister all the time?

“Fine, then let´s hide in one of our rooms.”

Witira rolled her eyes but didn’t say something against it, which meant as much as that she approved of her brother´s idea. Archie put his arm around Paseton and pulled him closer. His smirk could be called evil.

“Hey, this is like a charity event, isn’t it?”

Paseton turned around to look at Archie only to see that demonic smirk of his. He got a bad feeling but decided to ignore it for now. Archie, even though he was someone who was his friend, had a rather strange personality. He loved fighting and playing pranks on others, and that smirk that was plastered on his lips didn’t mean something good.

“Yeah?”

Archie´s smirk got bigger.

“And who loves charity events? Come on Witira, you know her.”

Witira frowned but seriously thought about the options. There were a lot of people who “loved” charity events, mostly because their social status and influence grew, not to forget their public favor. But was there even someone who truly cared about charity?

“Ah!”

Archie´s smile got bigger.

“Yeah, I saw her, seemed like she wanted to surprise you.”

Witira´s genuine smile quickly turned bright and her annoyance vanished, getting replaced by excitement.

“No way, she didn’t text me! I have to go greet her immediately!”

And with that, Witira quickly left the two boys alone to go greet Rosalyn who had come to this charity event with her family mostly because she wanted to surprise her girlfriend who had been complaining about having to go to a social event because of her father. Rosalyn sure was full of surprises.

“You really just had to do that?”

Archie shrugged his shoulders and sat down on one of the chairs that stood next to him. Paseton sat down next to him.

“Well, their communication is strange.”

“What do you expect from girls, honestly?”
Paseton rolled his eyes and put out his phone, even though he shouldn’t have. If Witira had been there he wouldn’t have taken it out, but now that she wasn’t, there was no one to punish him for doing that. Archie smirked.

“See, it was a good move.”

Paseton just hummed and put his phone back in his pocket before anyone was able to see it.

“I wish we were anywhere else but here.”

Archie nodded his head.

“That council president is truly lucky; his father doesn’t force him to do shit like this.”

Paseton sighed. He wanted to have a dad like that too, but he knew that even Zed Crossman had his faults. There simply didn’t exist a perfect person, well, not even Cale was one.

“Anyways, we should meet up with everyone in the end of the vacation, what do you think?”

Archie looked at Paseton and smirked. He too missed his friends from school and would rather be with them than here.

“Didn’t the council president go on vacation with his beloved? Hahaha!”

Paseton rolled his eyes but agreed to Archie´s half-question, half-statement. Where did the two of them go to? It was somewhere in Asia…ah, Korea!

“I wonder if the two of them will turn into a newer version of my sister and her girlfriend…ugh!”

Archie laughed at Paseton´s disgusted face.

“It´s not like they´re that bad. Sure, they show a lot of affection, but they don´t kiss in front of us, be happy with that.”

Paseton pretended to vomit and quickly laughed it off together with his cousin. Nevertheless, he sure hoped that it wouldn’t come to them eating each other´s mouths in public…or worse.

“Yeah, they´re not too bad, yet.”

“Hahaha, you think our stoic Cale would ever kiss that council president in public? He´s way too shy to do that!”

“Cale´s not shy.”

Paseton frowned.

Yes, Cale blushed rather easily, but that didn’t have to mean that he was shy. Well- it could mean that he was shy, but it didn’t have to mean that he was shy. Oh god, Paseton was already too caught up in Cale´s innocent charm so that he felt the need to protect that friend of his every single time.

Now that he thought about protecting Cale, he thought about the school festival that happened the past Friday. It sure was quite the hassle with the fire breaking out and everything else happening on the school campus. Cale had had quite the persistent nosebleed back then…

“Anyway, when exactly should we try to sneak out?”

Paseton smirked upon hearing that. It was now his time to have that evil smirk gracing his lips.

“Best time would be right now, actually.”

Archie laughed at that, but nodded. He too didn’t need to sit here and do nothing if he and Paseton could sneak out and hide in one of this mansion´s nice rooms. As this mansion was Paseton´s home and not some foreign building, the two of them could actually find a room where they could play video games or watch a movie…or two.

“What´s the plan?”

Paseton pointed at the balcony a little bit farther down the hallway.

“Since this is practically the first floor, we can jump down and get in through the servant´s door. Then we can sneak onto the third floor, there´s nobody there anyways.”

Archie nodded. This plan sure sounded good and doable, especially since Witira wasn’t with them. And even if she would have agreed to it, in her high heels in was simply impossible to jump down, hell, even jumping was impossible for her.

With their mind made up, the two cousins quickly walked down the hallway, seemingly going to the balcony to get some fresh air. The two to three guests that they met on their way there were greeted friendlily and as soon as they reached the empty balcony, the two of them started to snicker and quickly jumped down.

Even though it was snowing, it was only a little bit. With Paseton in the front and Archie behind him, the two teens quickly duck so that they wouldn’t be seen through the windows in the first floor. Luckily, next to them were some bushes, making their escape possible.

As soon as the two wouldn’t be able to be seen from the ball hall´s windows, they ran towards the servant´s door and quickly headed up the stairs to the third floor where they found a big, cozy room. Both of them smirked and took of their wet jackets.

“Easier than anticipated, to be honest.”

Paseton nodded and smiled at his efficient plan.

The two of them were currently in one of the many guest rooms of the mansion. A big king sized bed stood in the middle together with two night stands. There was also a table and a chair as well as a closet in the room, and not to forget a big 4k TV.

Jackpot.

“Nice, go close the door!”

Archie nodded and quickly locked the door with the key so that no one would be able to enter, even if they wanted to. Paseton smirked at that achievement and took of his shoes to jump on the cozy bed. Archie did the same from the other side of the bed.

“So, what are we gonna watch?”

Archie shrugged and took out his phone.

“Horror film, a comedy or do you perhaps prefer one of sis´s k-dramas?”

Archie smirked as he showed his phone to Paseton who was teasing his cousin.

Paseton immediately stopped his teasing and broke out in laughter. But that laughter quickly quieted down before it erupted once again. Archie was in a similar state and just chuckled.

“What the fuck happened there?”

Archie almost chocked on his salvia as he heard Paseton´s reaction to the photo he had just shown him.

“Right? I wonder myself, what the actual fuck?”

“It looks fun though, fun to me. Hahaha!”

Paseton couldn’t help but laugh and Archie soon laughed as well.

“Look at all the food laying on the floor, oh my fucking god!”

“Right? And look at that cockroach´s bleeding nose!”

“Yeah right, he´s beaten black and blue, Alberu finally stood up for himself huh?”

“Yeah that´s so- wait, Alberu stood up for himself?”

The laughter of the two boys quickly quieted down and they stared at the picture once again. Even if it only featured Alberu on top of his elder brother Charles Crossman beating the older black and blue with an unseen (probably outraged) expression, it showed how he beat the older up.

And if there was one thing Paseton and Alberu knew about the dear Council President it was that he didn’t beat up anyone, especially not for himself.

“Wait, weren’t he and Cale supposed to have lunch with the Crossmans today?”

“Now that you say it…yeah, they were…”

The two cousins continued to silently stare at the photo on Archie´s phone, forgetting that they were actually supposed to be down there on the charity event.

But honestly, this was by far more important.

Especially since this photo wasn’t private but the number one picture on social media platforms.

“Wait, is there a video?”

As soon as Paseton asked the question, both him and Archie searched for “Crossmans fighting” or “brothers beating each other up” and quickly found results.

When clicking on the TikTok video both of their jars dropped.

Yes, yes, that video and those photos were definitely taken at the Crossman family lunch where Alberu had taken Cale.

“Well, shit.”

Chapter Text

It was early morning of following day that Alberu woke up due to his phone refusing to shut up. Well, more like the people calling him refusing to stop calling him even if he didn’t take their first, like ten calls. Groaning Alberu tried his best in not waking up his boyfriend who once again used his body as a pillow. Well, he couldn’t say that he disliked it as he practically begged him to do it so he could sleep once again with Cale on one bed instead of the couch.

Don’t get him wrong, the couch was nice and all, but if he had the choice between it and his boyfriend he would always chose the latter without hesitation.

Alberu stretched his body and somehow managed to reach his phone without waking up his boyfriend. He smirked upon finally reaching his phone without waking up his beloved and somehow even managed to swipe the accept button. He groaned as he saw that it was just four am. He still had a full hour of sleep, unlike his sleep-deprived boyfriend who had double of his amount!

“What?!”

Tired people were known to be incredibly sensitive and irritable.

“Dear council president, you have a problem it seems.”

“What the fuck? Who´s that?”

Paseton sighed and handed his phone to Archie who was currently sitting next to him. Archie shook his head, not wanting to explain the current situation to their beloved council president. Alberu got annoyed and was about to hang up as Paseton nodded.

“Well, the photos are online.”

Alberu was confused. By now he already recognized that it was Paseton calling him, seemingly with someone else listening in. So what photos was that punk talking about? And at this hour?

“Are you crazy? Haaa, you´re driving me nuts, call me in the morning, good night.”

Just as Alberu was once again about to hang up, Archie yelled at him to stop. Alberu let out a devastated sigh.

“What the hell, hurry it up, Cale is still sleeping, damn it!”

“The photos that someone took at your lunch gathering are out.”

Probably this was a bad dream, wasn’t it?

Yeah, there was no way in hell Paseton was calling him at this hour just to inform him about some photos. Yeah, paparazzi always lingered around the Crossman mansion, but he made sure that none of them got even half a glimpse of Cale. Besides, photos of him got leaked all the time; there was nothing too outrageous about that.

“What the fuck? You call me cuz of that?”

“I don´t think you understand, Alberu. Those aren’t just photos but also a video. But if you say it´s nothing…”

Alberu sighed. They truly were calling him at this ungodly hour because of something like paparazzi. Hell, were they really his friends? What if they would have woken up Cale, huh? He was certain he told them that their flight was very early in the morning anyway.

“Well, did you win at least?”

This time, it wasn’t Paseton who talked but Archie who asked the question.

´Won´? Huh?

Won what?

They weren’t on some funfair or anything like that were they were playing-

Fight.

He fought his brother.

All of a sudden, all sleepiness vanished and Alberu sat straight up, carefully getting out of Cale´s grasp and leaving the room. After he quietly closed the door, he was finally able to half-yell.

“What the fuck got leaked?”

“Hahaha!”

Alberu had never wanted to punch someone as bad as he wanted to punch Archie right now, with the exception of Charles, but he punched him so…

“Shut the fuck up, just tell me or Cale and I will never come back!”

That empty threat actually worked against the two cousins on the other side of the phone and their laughter quickly stopped.

“Your fight with your older brother got leaked. The way you were on top of him and so on, I´ll send you the pics. Also, there´s a TikTok video going around- Just watch it.”

Alberu nodded, even if the others weren’t able to see it. After that, he hung up and waited for Paseton to send him the photos and video, though it was Archie who was faster.

The very first reaction the dear council president had was a flushing face. He had never felt this embarrassed before. The way he sat on top of his older brother and slapped him across the face – not to forget that satisfying second punch in the nose~

He had no words for it.

The way the food was laying on the floor, untouched next to the broken porcelain of the former plates…the way his and his brother´s clothes were dirtied with all kinds of food…the way he resembled an unpredictable, angry animal-

He couldn’t think of anything.

His mind was blank, he was honestly speechless. What the fuck- There was no way Robbit would have published these embarrassing photos, was there? Heck, he didn’t even think Charles would stoop that low if it wasn’t him who got beaten up.

As embarrassing as these photos may be, he was thankful that there wasn’t any trace of Cale. No red hair, no strange and narrow back, nothing. It was just him beating up his older brother, lying on food-soaked floor…

“Fuck!”

Yeah right, this shit was fucking embarrassing for someone as prideful as Alberu. If he got his hands on the person who leaked this, he would sue them! Hell, he would beat them up like he had beaten up Charles that noon!

“…”

Alberu now eyed the link to the TikTok video Archie sent him together with the photos. The caption was “Family fight – Alberu C. beats up his older brother!” nothing too promising. It would probably be the same as the pictures, so did he really have to watch one of his most embarrassing moments again?

As if those photos hadn’t been enough already…

Nevertheless, Alberu took a deep breath and clicked on the link. Honestly, he shivered quite a bit while doing so. He wasn’t so sure if he could handle the embarrassment from this. He would have to wear a hat or something for the trip so that people wouldn’t recognize him.

How many Koreans watched British people? Not many, right?

“Haaa, at least there isn’t anything on Ca-“

Alberu stopped talking as soon as the video popped up. 769k likes already, even if the video was uploaded about four hours ago, not to mention the nearly 4 million views it had. But that wasn’t exactly what shook Alberu so dramatically.

It was more because he saw the empty and cold face of his lover on his phone and it wasn’t from one of the pictures he took of him. Ah, Cale looked… Depressing. Empty. Not like the kid he knew.

What were even worse were the comments.

“OMG who is that cutie?”

“Hook me up!”

“LoL, Crossmans fighting and everyone just focused on that kid, but he´s really good-looking!”

“Could we appreciate how he just sits there and enjoys the fight?”

“Lmao, who is that tho? He is with the Crossmans, so someone famous?”

“Hahaha, I wanna kiss him sm!”

The comments that were supposed to center around the fact that Alberu beat his older brother up was going on and on about how cute, good-looking, handsome and innocent Cale was. Hell, even the top comments were all about his boyfriend! Don´t get him wrong, he wasn’t jealous (maybe a little bit as those punks didn’t deserve to see someone like Cale) but he really tried to keep the attention away from his beloved.

Especially since he knew how much Cale hated that attention.

“I´m going to kill you! Robbit, more like rabbit!”

Alberu was especially devastated about how the people called Cale out and said that he was just watching the fight. Couldn’t they see Cale´s expression? Sure, he was good at hiding it, but couldn’t the people see the agony in Cale´s eyes? The pain hidden in those reddish-brown orbs? Were they morons?

The blonde couldn’t help it and finally threw his phone across the room. He heard the loud ´thud´ as it landed on the carpet in front of the couch he had been supposed to sleep on. But there was no other way. This- Alberu was way too angry. He couldn’t help but feel like this. How the freaking fuck did this video got leaked? How the fuck did that moron of a brother not think about Cale?

What the fuck was happening?

Alberu was Zed Crossman´s son and due to that rather famous. When he turned fifteen, there was an incident that involved him in London. People recognized him, took pictures of him and put them on the internet. He was a handsome, good-looking, young teen, almost at a supreme level. People were drawn to his appearance. What could he do? He was the son of probably one of the most successful business tycoons and also handsome? Count the media in!

The incident was when Alberu got served the wrong coffee. Some annoying pedestrian (I am not sorry for calling him that) that sat at a table filmed Alberu ordering and getting his coffee and how he kindly explained that the Green Mocha Latte wasn’t something he wanted to drink but rather an Iced Americano.

While the worker also didn’t act nicely, he got so many hate comments due to that stupid dude posting that video. Almost everyone took the handsome guy´s side, even though there weren’t any sides to side with to begin with!

Back then the worker got fired from his job, even though he gave Alberu the coffee he had wanted for free, but that part was of course cut off from the posted video. Alberu didn’t want to remember how embarrassed he felt when that was posted back then, and how bad he felt for the worker.

But this was certainly so much worse!

This video was about Cale!

About Cale, the love of his life and the person who he cherished the most!

Heck, this was such a stupid situation… He had no words for it!

“Haaa…”

Alberu ended up sitting down on the couch and picked up his phone. Truly, what was he supposed to do now? The video that he was certain Robbit took was embarrassing, but that wasn’t the worst about it. Cale Henituse, the person that the world knew nothing about, not even who he actually was, let alone his face, his existence got leaked.

Now that he was thinking about it…could Cale leave him because of this?

Cale was a person who was rather laid-back and didn’t care about the faults of others as long as they tried. He was someone beyond selfless and someone without who Alberu couldn’t imagine to live on. But he was also someone who detested publicity with a passion.

Was his relationship in trouble because of someone like Robbit rabbit?

Alberu massaged his temples and proceeded to let his mind wander around, not noticing the person that was watching him while leaning against the door.

Cale took a deep breath.

Actually, he had wanted to scold his boyfriend for waking him up, but Alberu seemed to be stressed out. He debated for a rather short time on what to do and ended up quickly and quietly approaching Alberu. He then sat down on the couch next to him and hugged him.

Luckily, Cale was no one who cared about social media. Actually, he didn’t even have TikTok or Instagram. He thought that his boyfriend was in that state of mind because of the failed lunch with his family.

Upon feeling someone touching him, Alberu quickly looked up only to see Cale. His thoughts immediately stopped and he focused on his boyfriend´s beauty. If someone truly deserved the name beauty king or queen or whatever it was Cale Henituse!

His blood red hair was gorgeous and his reddish-brown eyes had a certain depth to them, making it impossible to look away. Alberu got caught up in those very eyes once again, like he usually got.

“Don´t worry, I´m not angry at your family. And I also don´t hate them, or you. I could never hate you.”

Cale snuggled more against his sturdy boyfriend and quickly got cozy. The long hoodie that he wore (that was actually Alberu´s) served as a blanket for him in the rather warmed up apartment. Alberu let out a deep sigh as he heard that misunderstanding.

“It´s not that…”

Cale didn’t look up and just nodded, not truly understanding why Alberu was feeling this way if it wasn’t because of his…strange family.

“What else is it? You can tell me, remember.”

A slight smile graced the redhead´s lips. It sure was nice having someone like Alberu. Alberu nodded and then took a deep breath. He would have to tell Cale sooner or later, and it´s always better to do it sooner.

And so he did. He explained the situation to his beloved boyfriend.

~

“Oh my god, have you seen that video, the one with the handsome boy?”

“Which one do you mean? There are too many boys like that out there…”

“I mean the one that went viral yesterday! The one with the two fighting brothers or whatever they were!”

“Oh! I know which one you mean! Yeah, I have!”

The airline baggage handler smiled a strange in-love smile and heaved a heavy sigh. She was at least forty if not older. Her red lips looked horrifying and the black wart a little up her lips did not help her appearance look any better.

Her colleague was a young woman in her late twenties with equally red lips and blonde hair, though she didn’t look the least bit horrifying. The two of them continued to converse on the topic of the viral video as four strange looking men approached them.

It was early in the morning, nearly seven am, yet someone was already here it seemed. But those four people were extremely suspicious. Two of them wore sunglasses and fat coats, not to forget the strange hats they were wearing. The other two were only wearing long coats but one of them was smiling benignly and the other had an extremely stoic and expressionless expression on his face. The four of them seemed not only suspicious but incredibly terrifying.

The two men without the sunglasses approached the blonde woman with four suitcases to hand them over. Without even asking a question, they paid extra for the weight limit, then returned to the other two men standing behind them.

After these people left, the two airline baggage handler exchanged confused glances. Just who on earth were these strange people?

If they learnt that those strange people were the very people that they just saw on the video with the exception of two they would have laughed.

But they actually were and sure hoped that others would have a similar reaction to their appearance.

Chapter Text

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Screeeeeeeeech.

“Father.”

The man who had been working since forever, who didn’t even recall when the last time that no paperwork was on his desk was, looked up at his second son.

The barely fourteen year old teen looked worried, that would be a first for him. Even if he worried a lot, he didn’t actually look worried. The very same teen had an urgent expression on his face now.

Having no other choice, the working man sighed and waved his hand for his son to enter and close the door behind him.

“What is it?”

“It´s about hyung, look!”

Without further ado, the teen handed his phone to his father. His father received it carefully and let the video on it play. He didn’t understand what his son meant at first, after all it were just two boys fighting with each other, until he spotted a certain person.

“Ah, Cale!”

His second son nodded at that statement.

“Yes father, it appears to be hyung.”

The working man and father of three children finally looked up from the phone and instead stared at his son.

“What is this? Is he seeing someone from the Crossman family?”

The boy shrugged, not knowing better. His elder brother, respected hyung, had broken contact with all of his family. It wasn’t just that he didn’t accept their calls or texts, it appeared that he wanted to entirely cut himself off form them. It hurt his younger brother, Basen Henituse, and his younger sister, Lily Henituse, very much.

“It´s Christmas soon, huh? Didn’t Hans say that Beacrox left the mansion? And they aren’t in Cale´s apartment either… Could it be that my son is finally visiting his home alone?”

Deruth Henituse, Cale Henituse´s father, had a very happy expression on his face. Basen who was watching his father shrugged, not knowing better. He couldn’t tell what his brother could and could not do. For that, he didn’t know him too well.

“Basen, was that it?”

Basen nodded and left the office of his father after bowing down. After all, he was currently in his father´s office in the middle of Seoul and he had to follow his work etiquette.

After his son left, Deruth Henituse called in his secretary. After even his secretary left, he couldn’t concentrate on his paperwork and instead looked out of the vast glass wall.

How could he not get excited if he was probably going to see his son very soon?

~

It was already evening and past eight o´clock that Cale finally woke up from his slumber. He had the window seat next to his boyfriend Alberu. And the isle-seat went to the reliable and incredibly loyal butler Ron Molan. His son was seated on the isle-seat next to his father, and like fate wanted, also next to a lovely-dovely couple.

The flight would still be two hours, even a little longer because of the aggressive snowstorm coming their way. Apparently, the flight got one whole hour longer. And not only that, but since about ten minutes ago the signs for the belt light up and the pilot told them about possible turbulences coming their way.

“Hm?”

Cale was still sleepy and leaned on his boyfriend´s shoulder while he yawned. To Alberu that sight was his all and the blonde couldn’t hide his smile while looking at Cale´s incredible cuteness and innocence.

“What time is it?”

Alberu smiled and looked at his phone. It was a little past eight but it didn’t matter so he just shrugged. Cale had a sly smile on his lips as he closed his eyes once again. Right, Alberu Crossman was someone who could read him like an open book and knew him best amongst every person he knew.

Just as he was about to fall asleep again, he heard the stereotypical ´ping´ that forecasted the captain´s announcement. Alberu frowned as the last captain´s announcement had just been ten minutes ago. Ron had a similar expression on his face and looked at the sleepy young master-nim that he was serving. His puppy like young master-nim wasn’t just someone he served, no, to Ron Cale Henituse was like a second child, no, like a grandson.

He couldn’t help but want to spoil him each second.

“Chhhh- Krrrrrrrrrrr, here´s the captain, I´m here to announce that our, chhhhhhh, I repeat, our engine is frozen. Chhhh- Krrrrrrrrrrr, additionally we´re lost, I repeat chhhhhhh, lost.”

The very second that announcement was made, panic broke out and many passengers were filled with fear. One thought was on most people´s blank mind: ´Air plane crash.´

The same was for Ron and Beacrox who immediately looked at the two teenagers. While Cale´s expression didn’t change, probably because he didn’t fully hear or understand the announcement due to his sleepy and drowsy state, Alberu had a blank expression on his pale face. Contrary to his beloved boyfriend, he had heard it very well. While the announcement was repeated in Korean for the Korean passengers, Alberu pulled Cale tighter to himself. That was when he felt it – the turbulences were getting worse and worse.

The seventeen year old teenager couldn’t help but look at the old butler next to him, but contrary to his expectations, Ron had passed out.

“I guess he is an old man after all, huh?”

Cale looked up and frowned. His sleepy and drowsy state quickly disappeared and he noticed the tense air in this plane. He then heard a woman´s loud yells about how she didn’t want to die.

That was all he needed to understand the situation – and the last part of the Korean captain´s announcement. His cold and calculating gaze headed to Beacrox only to see that his hyung-nim stared at his feet while slowly shaking.

´Ah.´

He then remembered.

´Beacrox-hyung´s mother died because of an air plane crash.´

He didn’t notice until know, but Beacrox had beads of sweat on his forehead and his breathing was irregular. He seemed to have a panic attack. To Cale, who had never even once seen Beacrox upset or anything like that, the sight was shocking and he unconsciously couldn’t avoid looking at the cook.

´Ah, what about Ron…´

He slowly looked past Alberu to see the old loyal butler passed out clenching his own clothes.

´He´s very healthy usually, it must be painful to him.´

Cale then tried not to look at his two servants. Contrary to his thoughts, Beacrox wasn’t having a panic attack but an argument with himself. His mother didn’t die in an air plane crash but because of one, it was because the plane crashed into the building next to her workplace, but that was already a long time ago. His mental state was because he disliked their current situation.

It wasn’t guaranteed that they would crash, but the chance that they would was about 70 to 80%... He was worried about his father and Cale, thus having a mental breakdown. The young teen and his father had still a long life ahead of them, they couldn’t die! And that punk that his dongsaeng was dating couldn’t, no, mustn’t die as well or else Cale would be sad.

There was a final rumble going through the plane.

That was the second every single passenger knew just how fucked they were. The chance of a crash went up from about 75% to 100% that instant.

~

“Basen Henituse!”

As soon as Basen heard that shout he tried to make himself smaller or even hide under the desk, but he wasn’t fast enough. Soon, a well-built woman entered the kitchen. She had tanned skin contrary to Korean´s beauty standards and blue eyes. Her brown hair was tidily tied up in a bun without even a single lose strand of hair. Her make-up was equally perfectly done and she wore a short, grey pencil skirt with a white blouse and black tights.

That woman´s name was Violan Henituse, Deruth´s second wife and Basen´s beloved mother.

The usually calm and neutral woman had now an angered expression on her face as she observed her beloved son crouch down in fear. He should be afraid!

“You told your father?!”

Basen looked at his feet and slowly nodded his head. Violan started to get a headache. She recalled the past evening.

Her husband Deruth had seemed happier than usual, even after he had worked overtime for his company. While he would usually be exhausted and wouldn’t want to do anything other than eat and then go to bed, that evening was different.

Deruth had proposed to eat out and who was she to decline? Her children had asked her a while to eat out with their father and she was feeling bad for always telling them that it wasn’t possible. But now Deruth himself wanted to eat out!

The restaurant was a fancy one and the mood of her usually tired and overworked husband was delightful. He laughed that evening more than over the past year! Her hypothesis was that something good must have happened for the company for him to feel that good and have so much energy.

The last time he was like that was the evening Cale got out of the hospital and wanted to drop out of school. To Deruth those news had been everything he had wanted to hear the past year ever since Cale started to go to school. He was an incredibly worried father after he neglected Cale after his first wife´s death.

But then his mood changed after Cale announced that he wanted to go to school in Great Britain… and yeah, ever since her husband had been smiling less and less. But she couldn’t be angry with the poor child because she knew just how much Cale needed that new life. Contrary to her husband who only looked after Cale´s wellbeing after his standards, she was able to see what that child truly needed.

Honestly, in the first few years she failed to notice the child´s needs as well which made her angry with herself. How could she not see it back then? But she was able to get better at reading Cale, even though it was still fairly difficult.

She shook her head.

The past was in the past and right now wasn’t the past but the present.

“Basen Henituse, my dear son, why on earth did you tell your father?”

After their dinner yesterday and after Basen and Lily went to their rooms to go to sleep, Violan had asked Deruth the million-dollar question: Why are you so happy?

Deruth had laughed and wasn’t able to hide that big, childish grin on his lips. Violan smiled upon seeing that childish side of her husband.

´Cale´s coming back! Hahaha! My son´s coming back for Christmas! He certainly missed me! Hahaha!´

After that, Violan´s mood was destroyed. There was one thing she was certain about: Her oldest son, the one she didn’t give brith to but still thought of as her own flesh and blood, would never, and she meant even if he would have to die if he wouldn’t go, visit his family out of his free will. There were way too many bad things that had happened in this house – in this city.

Deruth´s neglect.

The social abuse.

His isolation.

His depression.

Him developing anemia.

Choi Jung Soo´s death.

And finally, his own father´s ignorance.

Never on earth would Cale return to Seoul out of his own free will – or rather return to spend Christmas with his family.

That was why she was so angry, not at her son, but at Deruth. Okay, maybe a little bit at her own son as well, as he had told Deruth about Cale possibly returning to Seoul so that he could spend Christmas together with them.

Basen was still young and wouldn’t – no, he couldn’t – understand what had happened to Cale. Because if he did, he would have never told Deruth anything about Cale, no, he would have avoided that topic!

Violan massaged her temples as she looked at her son, not able to hide her disappointed gaze. Basen was still attached to Cale, very much so. He still thought that Cale just went abroad to study and would later on return with that stoic expression of his.

He hadn’t been there.

Nobody had actually been there.

But Violan had seen the results of her husband´s ignorance and neglect. And Violan could not forget it.

“Mom, I thought that father would like to hear it! He seemed down lately and now look: He went out with us yesterday even after work! Isn´t that wonderful?”

Violan couldn’t help but shake her head.

“My dear son, your brother will not visit us. Why give your father false hopes?”

Basen frowned at that. He looked like a child arguing with his mother over vegetables he didn’t want to eat.

“Mom! He will visit us, you´ll see! Hyung-nim hasn’t visited us in forever, so now´s the time he will!”

Violan sighed and sat down on the bar stool opposite to her dear son. She then pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. Basen couldn’t help but think that even one didn’t see it immediately, his mother seemed tired.

“Basen, darling, don’t you feel happy for Cale?”

Basen furrowed his brows and looked confused at his mother´s sad smile. He didn’t understand that question at all. Why should he feel happy for Cale? His hyung was abroad, where his family wasn’t with him, so how could he feel happy for Cale? He must be lonely!

Violan, who immediately noticed what the problem was, drove her hand through her perfect hair.

“Darling, your older brother is happy, so if he is happy shouldn’t you feel happy for him as well?”

Basen´s eyes widened in shock. To him it was unimaginable how Cale felt happy without him, Lily his mother and his father around. It was because Basen was still young with his barely fourteen years of age. Sure, he was already a bit old, but still a child at the same time. He didn’t understand the ways of this world because his sight was still small. That was why he thought that everyone felt similar to him. His rich friends sure did, but that didn’t mean that the world was a wonderful place to each of its people.

“But how can he be happy without us?”

Violan´s sad smile was visible once again and she shook her head. Her son sure had a lot to learn ahead of him.

“Darling, he has Ron. And Beacrox.”

Basen frowned even more and shook his head.

“They aren’t his family! Hyung-nim needs us! How can he be happy with servants?”

Violan sighed and massaged her temples once more. It was harder to talk to Basen than usual since he admired Cale a lot and would be hurt if he was to find out that Cale didn’t require him or the Henituse family in order to achieve happiness. His sight was narrower than she thought.

“Ron isn’t just a simple servant to Cale, and Beacrox as well. Did you know that Ron looked after Cale his whole life? And that Beacrox is as much as Cale´s hyung-nim, hm?”

Basen shook his head and listened to his mother. Violan smiled.

“I didn’t tell you up till now because you´re still young, but after Cale´s mother died he had a very hard time.”

Basen nodded at that not new information. He was already aware of Deruth´s neglect, though not at the brutal level that it actually happened.

“Mom, I know that! Father was sad and hyung-nim was sad as well, but that doesn’t matter!”

Violan who praised her son´s openness and goodwill just as much as his kindness shook her head and lightly punched her son in the back of his head. It wasn’t a strong punch and nothing that Basen felt. It was just the action that counted to show just how disappointed she was in Basen´s answer. And not just disappointed, but enraged.

“Darling, don´t ever say that something doesn’t matter. It matters very much, even.”

Basen had his head hung low and nodded at his mother´s soft scolding. Even though her words were rather harsh, her voice was gentle. He still didn’t dare look her in the eyes because he couldn’t bare the disappointed gaze with which she looked at him.

“Basen, I cannot tell you what exactly it is that happened in Cale´s life, but let me tell you that he is now much happier that he is in Great Britain. Do you want to upset him? Because you will if you force yourself on him.”

Basen finally dared to meet his mother´s soft gaze. He couldn’t help but think that she wouldn’t lie to him and slowly nodded his head.

“If…I let him go…will he…come back?”

Violan´s sad smile returned and she simply shrugged.

“Who knows? Maybe.”

Basen then nodded. Maybe was enough for him, for the time being.

Just as both of them were about to get up and out of the kitchen, Lily entered with her IPad in her hands. She had the news on it and was looking for a snack.

-The flight HG 1985 is currently missing. It seems that due to the snowstorm in its way, the pilot decided to fly around it but the plane tower failed to locate the plane´s position so far. As soon as we have more information-

Violan frowned. What idiots were ready to fly on a plane in a snowstorm in first place?

“Lily, please come here and let your mother listen to the news.”

Lily nodded and handed her IPad to Violan who then looked at the reported who seemed to listen in on someone talking in his headset. His expression turned strained and he frowned.

He then looked back in the camera, but quickly looked down at his feet. He cleared his throat.

-We received urgent news about the flight HG 1985; it seems that the plane crashed near Dalian, in China. More information about possible survivors is currently unknown but there are many paramedics on site to look for survivors. Additionally, the son of the Crossman cooperation seemed to have been on that flight.

Violan´s eyes widened.

A plane crash where someone of the Crossman family was involved! It was shocking news. But even more shocking news was that the flight was headed to South Korea. She recalled that Basen said that Cale wanted to visit. What if he hadn’t been wrong? What if-

Violan shook her head.

It wasn’t possible.

Yes, it was not possible.

She heaved a sigh and smiled at her healthy children. She then left the kitchen with an ominous feeling.

Chapter Text

Looking back at it, Violan felt helplessness.

She was currently in her house´s vast library, going through the family records. Actually, she did that once every month since she only worked part-time and didn’t know what else to do. Going through the records helped her remember everything that happened in this family, even if it made her more than just feeling upset.

Carefully Violan patted the fat record that was from six years ago. She couldn’t help but have an expressionless expression on her face. That was the time she and Deruth met and got married, the time that everyone, including the servants, ignored Cale´s needs. That was also the time in her whole life she probably regretted the most.

Violan recalled how she tried to get close to Cale and how Deruth prevented that from happening. Back then, she thought it was for the best as well; how could she dare to tell a child mourning for his mother´s death that she was the new woman in his father´s life? Right, she couldn’t and wouldn’t dare do that.

But that also meant that she helped Deruth neglect Cale, one way or another.

Once Violan was finished, she continued to sit on the comfy armchair with a cup of hot coffee. Her thoughts circled around the crashed airplane; she couldn’t help it but let that problem bug her. The ominous feeling from a few hours ago was still present, it actually got even worse. It reminded her of the past and she disliked that greatly.

Four hours passed since news got out early in the morning. The flight was supposed to land early in the morning in Korea, actually at eight, but somehow ended up crashing into the ocean. The passengers either died from the explosions or got swept up into the ocean. Korea sent out a search time since many Koreans were on that flight coming home for holidays. And China also made up its mind to help. Plane crashes weren’t too common nowadays, resulting in this one being a big deal and getting on the news in less than two hours after the crash.

Violan sighed and decided to think about something else, yet her thoughts continued to wander around the flight HG 1985. After debating for a few more minutes, she got up and headed into Deruth´s home office. Since Deruth was out and worked in his work office she wasn’t disturbed by him.

After sitting down in the big chair she pulled out her husband´s work phone and his phone number notebook. Soon she found the right number and made a call in the Henituse mansion in Manchester.

-Hans Bucket of the Henituse family speaking, how may I help you, Sir, Ma´am?

Violan smiled a bit after listening to the butler´s calm voice. She knew that Hans had been a very good choice to put into the villa in Manchester.

“Good morning Hans, I called you to find out where my son went off to. Please answer me honestly.”

-But of course Ma´am! The young master decided to visit South Korea with his boyfriend.

Violan frowned. Boyfriend? Cale had a boyfriend? That was new to her, but of course she felt happy. If he had a boyfriend that meant that he had someone who cherished him. Cale wasn’t someone stupid enough to have a toxic boyfriend, and even if; she trusted Ron and Beacrox to take care of that.

On the other hand, she also felt a bit disappointed. Not that her son was gay, no way, but that he didn’t tell her. But she could also understand why he didn’t.

But her mind quickly went blank.

“Hans, tell me immediately which flight they took!”

Violan´s voice was shaking; it was very unlike her for something like that to happen. Hans also knew that.

The butler was frowning on the other side of the line, not sure what was currently happening. He quickly looked up the flight.

-The flight is HG 1985, Ma´am.

Violan´s whole body started shaking and she let the phone fall down. If she hadn’t been sitting, she would have fallen over from shock.

-Ma´am? Is something the problem?

…

-Ma´am?

Violan didn’t answer.

Ah, she should have trusted that ominous feeling as always, it never lied to her. It was like her sixth sense of some sort.

She couldn’t pick up the phone again and simply sat there, a blank and shocked expression on her face. She recalled what the news said.

´It is very unlikely for passengers to have survived that crash. The possibility lies by 0.5% for more survivors to be found.´

Her son was just seventeen he was too young to die!

He was still a baby!

Hell, he was even smaller than that!

He had so much to see!

So much to live for!

Why was life so unfair?

Why didn’t karma serve?

What the hell happened to this world?

Why did bad things only happen to Cale?

He didn’t deserve that, he was a good boy.

Violan´s current state was so chaotic that the usually sharp woman didn’t notice someone enter the office until that person said something.

“Mommy?”

Violan looked up to see the smart six-year old girl. She had gorgeous chocolate brown hair and pale skin (yeah, Korean beauty standards…if their name´s not Korean, at least their appearance a little bit…). Her big, brown eyes stared her down and would usually make her smile, but the current situation wasn’t one she could or would smile, even if she could.

“Mommy, are you sick?”

Violan stood up with shaky legs. She approached her daughter and patted her head.

“Not now Lily, I have to think.”

Her mother´s unusual behavior and shaking body bugged Lily. She looked how her mother exited the room and disappeared into her own room, the one she shared with Deruth. Lily looked up at the family portrait, the one where her oraboni was also present. She frowned.

What could cause her mother to have a reaction like that? She had never seen her mother react like that. Lily decided that the best course of action was to tell Basen about what happened, her older brother always knew what to do.

With her mind made up, Lily went to look for Basen with a relieved smile on her face. She knew that Basen would find a solution, no matter what.

~

It was dark and cold.

There was a certain pressure in the air – or maybe it was even real pressure pressing down on him.

There were also sirens.

They were loud and reminded of the arrival of the police, or paramedics.

A coppery, iron-like smell was in the air.

It was oddly similar to blood…

Ah.

Cale suddenly recalled a similar situation as the one he was currently in.

It was already over ten years ago.

A loud bang followed by quite a lot of explosions.

Then there also was the copper smell of blood in the air with a certain pressure in the air that couldn’t be described.

Then there had been sirens.

And not to forget the agony.

Eleven years ago, on 12th of July in the year 2013, there had been an accident in the streets of Manchester. That accident had involved Cale Henituse and his dear mother Jour Thames. In that accident, Jour Thames died while Cale Henituse ended up on the brick of death, but thankfully managed to survive due to immediate help of the paramedics. His mother died.

The situation Cale was in right now, oddly reminded him of the past. His fast heartbeat, irregular breath, chaotic mind.

´Ah.´

Cale looked up, his sight wasn’t quite clear, but it was enough for him to see the person who was on top of him.

´It´s just like back then.´

On top of him, shielding him from any possible damage was his beloved boyfriend Alberu Crossman. The teen didn’t seem to be conscious. Cale found it difficult to stay conscious as well and ended up closing his eyes, even as he tried his best to stay awake.

The last thing he heard was loud calls and even louder sirens.

´I don´t want it to be like back then.´

“Cale Henituse!”

Cale snickered as he hid under his mother´s blanket. Jour, of course, knew where her precious son was, but pretended not to.

“Oh my, my precious baby, where are you? Ron, have you seen Cale?”

The old butler who couldn’t hide his smile at the cuteness of the mother-son interaction shook his head, pretending to be sad.

“Miss, I must say that I don´t see him at all, it seems that he has disappeared.”

Jour pretended to be shocked and then slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, carefully avoiding the places Cale was hiding.

“Oh no, but what should we do now? Should we call Deruth for him to some and find Cale?”

Cale snickered once more. To him, Deruth coming here meant that the absolute force was coming. The young, six year old child then recalled his mother´s words. ´Your father is very busy, but he will always make sure to come for you in case it is urgent.´ The young boy then decided that it wasn’t too urgent for his father to come and quickly showed himself to his beloved mother and dear butler.

He laughed while his mother and Ron pretended to be shocked at his sudden appearance. Hour then pulled him into a tight hug while the young redhead continued to laugh about how he scared the two adults looking after him.

“Haiyaa, how did we miss the young master-nim? He must be very skilled at hiding.”

“Yes, yes, I almost called his father. Hahaha.”

Cale had a proud expression on his face and a big smile that honestly only made him look even cuter than he already was. Jour smiled upon seeing the happy expression on her only child´s face. She was incredibly happy if Cale was happy.

“Baby, do you want to eat pancakes for breakfast?”

Cale´s eyes immediately lit up even more than before and he nodded fiercely. Ron, who observed the two couldn’t help but want to take countless pictures, but he didn’t have a camera near him.

“If I may excuse myself, I will tell the chef to make pancakes.”

Jour smiled as she shook her head.

“There´s no need Ron; Deruth isn’t here so I can make them myself. Baby, do you want mommy´s homemade pancakes?”

Cale practically started shining and nodded while yelling a positive answer. Full of energy he jumped on the floor and ran around the first floor in the Manchester Henituse mansion. Jour and Ron smiled at the child´s incredibly cute behavior.

He was a bit small for his age which upset him, but his mother promised him that he would end up growing taller than everyone else in the end. This gave him hope. His mother would never lie to him, after all.

“Miss, may I assist you?”

Jour smiled. She was the one who begged Deruth into making Ron her son´s personal butler. It was because Jour knew that old man. Unlike herself, he was a native Korean citizen, yet they were similar in many ways. She also knew that Ron was ready to do everything for the people close to him.

“While I wouldn’t mind, don’t you want to watch Cale running around?”

Ron couldn’t hide the happy smile which was usually only a benign smile. Only when he was alone with Jour and Cale could he show his true smile and also his honest emotions. He then nodded and followed Cale´s loud voice.

Jour watched the butler leave.

Yes, this was right. Cale was the most important person in her life, there wasn’t anything that she would think of was more important than her child. He deserved everything the world had to give and more. She was disappointed in herself that she gave him her weak physique, one more reason for her to protect him.

Jour then finally got up and headed downstairs, beginning to prepare her son´s favorite breakfast, also known as his mother´s homemade pancakes. He didn’t get to eat those often, especially since Deruth hated it if his dear wife went into the “dangerous kitchen” to cook with “dangerous ingredients and kitchen utensils”. That was one of the few things she disagreed on with Deruth.

While it was true that she had an incredibly weak physique and sickly body, cooking wouldn’t endanger her in any way. That was why Cale could only enjoy his mother´s homemade pancakes whenever Deruth was on a business trip or here in Manchester, where Deruth wouldn’t accompany them because of his work.

With a bright smile Jour started cooking. She was an amazing woman, she was good in everything. She could paint, dance, sing, was smart and incredibly talented. She was an incredible cook and an even better mother for her child. While she did spoil him a lot, she did teach him even more, making it so that her spoiling didn’t really influence him at all. Jour also taught Cale humbleness and kindness. Before all, she was an incredibly proud mother; that was probably what she would describe as her biggest achievement in life.

“Ron! Ron! Look at this! Don´t I look like a ghost? Hihihi!”

Jour smiled upon hearing Cale´s excited voice. Her child was her everything. Even if the doctors told her that it was impossible for her to get pregnant, she proved them wrong with Cale.

She recalled the depressing time she had to go through. About half a year after her marriage, Deruth and Jour tried to get pregnant and after it didn’t work, they went to visit a doctor. The doctor told that a pregnancy was dangerous for Jour and that it probably wasn’t possible. But it was.

Cale was the blessing in her dim life. He was the colors, the brightness, the everything.

She smiled upon remembering those old memories. Yes, while Deruth didn’t want her to become pregnant, they somehow did become pregnant. And even though Deruth wanted her to abort the child, she didn’t, and ended up getting the best life one could ever hope for.

The amount of love she had for her little sunshine couldn’t even be put to words.

“Mommy, mommy, look! Aren´t you afraid of me?”

Jour looked down at the small child pulling on her dress. While Deruth would usually shake his head and pull Cale away from his mother´s expensive clothes like most of his servants, Ron smiled and patted Cale´s head. Jour nodded her head.

“Oh and how afraid I am, but I know that my little baby won´t hurt me.”

She then crouched down and kissed her son on the forehead, making him giggle. Yes, that was everything she needed to hear. If she could, she would make that sound her ringtone; that would guarantee that she would never miss even a single call.

Cale then nodded and put the white bed sheet down. But instead of not cleaning it up after himself, he handed it to Ron with a bright expression. Jour smiled. Her little sunshine was perfection itself.

Forget those ugly baby pictures on the internet, she had Cale´s baby pictures! Muahahaha! That was everything anyone could ever ask for!

After a few minutes, the pancakes were ready and Jour handed a plate to each Cale and Ron then prepared one for herself. She didn’t forget to pour a lot of chocolate on Cale´s pancakes, just like he loved it. She smiled as he dug in and got chocolate all over his mouth, cheeks and even nose. While he wasn’t a chaotic eater, he was still a child.

This time having a camera, Ron quickly took a picture of Cale eating and of Jour wiping Cale´s mouth with a handkerchief. The old butler smiled. He was already excited for the day in the aquarium “Sea Life”, well; at least he was excited for Cale. He wouldn’t be able to accompany the two of them because of a task Jour asked him to do for her.

After breakfast Jour made Cale put on clean and cute clothes. Usually, six year old children from rich families were picky with everything, yet Cale gladly put on anything his mother gave him. He was too good for this world.

After that, Jour and her son left. The butler smiled and observed the two of them get into the uber, then turned around and got ready to do his task. After a couple of hours of going through some old records of the Thames household, he suddenly got an ominous feeling. The old butler´s sharp eyes immediately looked outside the library window. After all, he was no former assassin for nothing. The second he did though, his eyes widened and the book with the records fell on the floor.

That was also the moment two cars crashed into a single one. The car was the one that was headed towards the Henituse mansion.

That was the car where Jour and her son were.

Without losing a single second, the old butler threw all the books in his way over, he ignored his surroundings. He felt helpless. It was a different feeling than when he lost his wife because of an airplane crash, it was more doomed.

Maybe it was because it repeated itself, maybe it was because of something else, but Ron got faster and ended up being on scene at the same time as the paramedics, police and firefighters.

The moment he saw the state of the three cars, the moment he saw the fire and the rumbling engine, that was the moment he lost hope. He staggered and then fell onto the ground. There was no cry, no yell.

No cry and no yell meant no survivor.

Yet, there was a survivor.

Ron didn’t know how long he had been sitting on the ground, yet he suddenly heard loud yells coming from the paramedics. Then, as he looked up, hope returned to his empty eyes. He saw Cale. And even though he was full of blood, the sharp assassin could see Cale´s chest moving. He was breathing.

If he was breathing that meant that he was alive.

And if he was alive, that meant that he didn’t die.

And that was all the old assassin butler needed, for now.

It was because he knew, if at least Cale survived, everything was alright.

It was because Cale was Jour´s everything, so if she was to survive while her everything was to die, she wouldn’t want to live on.

But if Cale survived, there was a certain chance that his mother survived as well. Ron stood up once again and looked around, that was until he once again fell down on his knees.

Ah, maybe he had hoped a bit too much.

Chapter Text

The coppery stench of blood was replaced by an even worse stench that smelled like a chemistry project gone wrong. It was the stereotypical smell of a sanitizer and its stink was all over this white-walled, white-floored and white-celled place. On closer inspection, this place resembled a hospital out of old movies.

The six year old redhead, who had just woken up, looked around. He attempted to sit up, yet he failed miserably. But instead of falling back, someone suddenly hugged him tightly. His first thought was that it was his mother hugging him, yet this hug felt different from the ones she gave her son.

His second thought was that maybe his father may have come. He didn’t know how his father hugged him; after all he usually spent all of his time with his mother while his father was busy with work. He didn’t get hugged by his father very often, maybe when he had been a baby, but those times were impossible for him to recall.

But this third and last thought was that Beacrox was hugging him. His strong hyung-nim, who was barely eighteen himself, was here. Beacrox Molan, Ron´s son, who usually had a rather stoic expression on his face, was a great hugger. Cale enjoyed Beacrox´ hugs. The older always hugged him, and even his stoic expression softened whenever he was with the small child.

“Hyung-nim?”

Beacrox hugged Cale only tighter after hearing the small child addressing him formerly. He couldn’t help it.

Three days ago the cook had received a call from his father. It was a little past midnight and had woken him up from his peaceful slumber, yet that peaceful slumber quickly turned into a nightmare as soon as he heard what his old man had to say.

Cale´s mother was dead.

Cale was in the hospital.

Back then, it wasn’t clear whether the young child would survive or not. Ron had told his son everything that had happened after the accident, including the car crash. While listening to his father, Beacrox already got out of bed and looked for a plane ticket for the following day and thankfully found one. Without even needing to think, he bought it. He didn’t care that it was economy class and one of the worst middle seats at all.

The only important thing was him heading to Manchester.

After Ron was done explaining, he laughed a shallow sounding laugh. Beacrox frowned upon hearing that cruel and empty laugh. It gave him the chills all over his body.

´That wimp of a man won´t come to visit. Ha! That jackass doesn’t want to see his son!´

There was no need to name that wimp of a man who wouldn’t come to Manchester.

It was Cale´s father, that was what annoyed Ron so much, and it honestly didn’t annoy Beacrox any less.

The following night Beacrox arrived in Manchester. He didn’t bother to search for a stay for the night and immediately called for an uber to go to the hospital. And ever since, he and his father waited for the young boy to wake up.

It took Cale three days and two nights to do so. And hence, he ended up in this situation, getting hugged by Beacrox. Beacrox Molan was someone who wasn’t good in psychological things, the same went for emotional things, but he cared very much for his young dongsaeng and was ready to do anything he could to support him.

Cale, on the contrary, didn’t understand why Beacrox was hugging him so much. His hyung-nim´s hugs weren´t rare, but they weren´t that tight nor that long.

Just when Cale was about to ask why he was here and where his mother was, a sharp pain went through his left abdomen and he got all dizzy all of a sudden. Not soon after, nausea followed, yet he couldn’t throw up.

Ron, who was the first to notice the child´s worsening state, quickly pulled his son away and checked on Cale´s condition before he slowly pushed him back in a lying position. Beacrox jumped up and ran to search for a doctor, not caring about how he looked like.

Ron had similar thoughts. It didn’t matter, what mattered was that Cale needed immediate medical attention!

About two a minute after his son ran out, he returned with a doctor and two nurses. They checked Cale´s condition only to sigh.

“It seems to be nothing, maybe it´s just because of the accident and the unusual environment.”

Ron nodded and observed the little child who was like a second son, so grandchild, to him. His son immediately sat back down on the chair next to Cale and continued to hold his hand, not caring about anything else.

Ron too wanted to hold the child´s hand, yet he didn’t dare do so. The small, frail hand looked as if he could break it by even putting the slightest of pressure on it. The rest of the following day and night went by fast and silent. Neither Ron nor his son actually did anything or recalled anything. They were pretty much caught up in a haze. They didn’t even remember what the nurses brought them to eat.

On the following day, Cale woke up rather early. While Beacrox was still sleeping, his father sure wasn’t. He immediately sat down next to Cale upon seeing the little child wake up. Now that he looked at him, he resembled his late mother more than just a lot. He looked like a younger and male version of Jour Thames.

Cale looked up at Ron. The pain in his left abdomen was better than the day before, yet it was still rather hard for him as a child to bear that kind of pain, especially since he wasn’t used to it.

Cale had been the best-protected child there was. For him, even falling down was difficult to do. It was partly because of Ron and his mother looking out for him, but mainly because he was a very cautious child. He also looked out for himself because his mother told him that his body was very important.

So this kind of pain that Cale was currently experiencing was rare. No, because it was rare, it was unbearable.

But the young child ignored it. He looked away from Ron, around the room. It was strange and extremely unusual for him not to see or fell his mother. Where was she? Had she gone to the toilet or did she wait outside with his father? He was in a hospital after all, so his father must´ve come from Seoul to see him. Yet, he doubted it. His mother would have stayed with him by his side, even if his father would have waited outside.

Trying to not think about how painful it was, Cale sat up and looked at Ron. He then asked the question Ron had begged god not to be asked.

“Ron, where´s mommy?”

Cale´s childishness was still there. The old butler felt relieved at first; that was until he saw the childish expression disappear from the young boy´s face, being replaced by a blank expression. His bright eyes suddenly seemed dull. That was when Ron noticed that Cale already knew the answer to his question, or at least thought of it as a possibility. The old man´s heart suddenly felt heavy and his chest felt tight. He immediately recalled what that feeling represented: Sadness. He felt sad, sad and bad. Cale´s mother was dead. She immediately died upon getting hit with another car.

It was because there had been a steel pipe that went through her. Well, it was directed at her son, so she had no other choice but to get in front of Cale and protect him. Even if it would cost her life, she would do the same countless times over and over again.

“Cale…she wanted to visit her parents for a while. She won´t be coming back too soon.”

Ah, he was right.

There wasn’t much change in Cale´s expression now that Ron let the bomb go off, yet he disliked it. For some reason it looked like Cale was hurt even more now than if he had been crying. His empty, expressionless face would cause nightmares to Ron, the old man was certain. Seeing the precious child he had seen grown up in such a state…

Yes, it definitely was so much worse than if he had been crying.

Ron couldn’t help but have his head down. He also put his hand on top of Cale´s smaller, frailer one. There was one thing the adults wouldn’t have ever imagined.

While Cale sure was Jour´s everything, Jour was Cale´s everything.

Though he was still a child and probably had difficulties expressing his needs, one thing was consistent: He was always with his mother. He loved her the most; she was the most important person in his life. And that person died.

How should he feel?

He wanted to cry, hide under his blanket and cry, yet he couldn’t. Was he a bad person because he didn’t cry? It wasn’t that he couldn’t, more like that he mustn’t. He couldn’t allow himself to cry. Even though his mother told him it was okay to cry if you feel sad, and that it wasn’t just okay but necessary, Cale didn’t want to. It was because she said that you will feel better after crying. But Cale didn’t want to feel better. He couldn’t allow himself to feel better.

He was a terrible person.

He was certain that he was the reason why his mother died.

Ron, who was left with a spacing out, empty-looking Cale, couldn’t control his shaking and expression for once. Never on earth could he have imagined that Cale would be in a state such as this.

It tore his heart apart seeing that child in a state such as this.

~

A few weeks later, Cale was finally released from the hospital. Without going back to the Henituse mansion he and his two reliable servants headed to the airport for an immediate department to Seoul. He didn’t want to stay in Manchester for any longer than he needed.

Everything went by in a daze after Cale´s thoughts about his mother dying were confirmed. Contrary to his expectations though, his father didn’t come to visit him in the hospital. He didn’t bother asking Ron or Beacrox about it, but he had his own suspicions.

Getting past luggage control.

Getting past airport security.

Getting on the airplane.

Flying away.

Their arrival in Seoul was as spectacular as anything other in their lives. Nobody waited, nobody cared. To Cale, this just confirmed his suspicions. His father, he prioritized his work over him, always.

“Young master-nim, will you please get on the car?”

Cale didn’t say anything and just got on the car, sitting down next to Beacrox while Ron closed the door and took the passenger seat. Both he and his son observed Cale, but there was nothing worth mentioning besides his empty expression, the same he had these past few weeks.

When Cale arrived at the Henituse mansion, his father didn’t greet him even though he was home. The servants, on the other hand, looked at him with their pitying gazes. To Cale, who usually smiled at the servants and had fun with them, those gazes disturbed him to the core. He didn’t want that they looked at him. He didn’t want that they pitied him. He didn’t need their pity.

His heart hurt and he tried to stop looking at the servants.

He also ignored the servants´ quiet mumblings about his mother´s death.

He soon heard a loud beep but decided that it wasn’t worth mentioning. It was better for him to listen to this noise instead of the servants´ words.

The funeral of Jour Thames-Henituse was held a week after Cale´s arrival. There were many people there; Cale couldn’t even recognize a single one out of them. His mother usually spent all her time with him and only went out once a month to meet her friends. Since she didn’t want to bore Cale, she left him with Ron.

Maybe that was the reason why so many women crowded around him, looking at him with those ugly, pitying gazes. Cale´s breath quickened and he averted his gaze, not to look at any of these women. Those gazes turned to strange ones, ones that would cause him to have nightmares.

Without a second thought, Cale turned around and walked away, instead going to his loyal servant who made sure that no one was able to approach Cale.

The women frowned while they looked at each other.

“He looked so cute before.”

“I know, right? And have you noticed how he didn’t even cry?”

“Oh and how I´ve noticed this! His mother just died and got buried, yet that child didn’t even lose a single tear for her!”

“That must be the real reason why she didn’t take him with her to any of our gatherings; she must have been ashamed that she bore such a spoiled and unloving child.”

“Look at poor Deruth! You can practically see how much he cried for our Jour, his eyes are so read, I can´t belief that he also has that brat of a son to deal with.”

“You are so right Ly Sha, and Jour always told us that he was a little angel!”

“Oh my, we should talk somewhere else ladies, that old butler of that little demon is already looking at us!”

Upon hearing that comment, the women quickly averted their gazes and escaped somewhere else. While Cale couldn’t have heard their conservation because they were so far away, Ron sure did. And he hated listening to them dirtying his young master-nim´s name and making his life even harder, even after knowing that he has such a father like Deruth, but of course outsiders wouldn’t know.

Cale and Ron were also the first to go while Deruth stayed there and stared at his dead wife´s gravestone until it started raining late in the evening. The funeral started at nine in the morning, yet he had been there standing and staring at his dead wife´s gravestone for over ten hours.

Maybe it was because he couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening, maybe it was because of something else, but he didn’t quite believe that his wife was gone. It was because he couldn’t believe it. If he believed that his wife was gone, he would have to accept it. And if there was one thing Deruth Henituse didn’t want to do, no matter what happened, then it was to accept that his wife was dead.

After that evening, Deruth started to avoid Cale at all costs. Whenever he saw the young boy, he quickly turned around and walked away.

That game went on for three months, after that Deruth didn’t even accidently met Cale anymore. It was because the young boy quickly realized that his father didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

Time passed quickly and Deruth´s pain became less and less. About nine months after Deruth lost his first wife, he met a young woman who already had a very young son who was merely four years old. Her husband left her for another, yet she wasn’t sad.

Deruth met her as she sent him a job application for the position of designer. After having a private job interview, both of them noticed that they had an odd chemistry, duh deciding to give it a try and leave it be if it wouldn’t work.

That way, a new chapter started in not just Deruth´s, but also Cale´s lives.

Chapter Text

The changes in Cale´s behavior that didn’t stop even months after his mother died soon became something the servants of the Henituse estate became used to. They ignored Cale just like he ignored them and did their best not to approach him, no matter what. It wasn’t just because they felt awkward being around that child, but also because of the head butler that was also the young boy´s personal butler.

With each passing day, Cale seemed to become colder and colder and more distanced. He spent less time with Ron and Beacrox – actually, it was rare to see him in the kitchen nowadays.

While Ron and Beacrox couldn’t stop worrying about the young child that was only eight years old, they were also busy. Busy with wedding preparations. Ron, as the head butler had no other choice but to busy himself with Deruth´s fairly idiotic wedding plans. Of course it was simply his own opinion, but for someone who was supposed to mourn for his dead wife´s death so much, Deruth had a bit too much fun with that new woman of his.

Ron, of course, didn’t dislike Violan at all. She was a wonderful woman, she looked gorgeous, had an amazing intellect and seemed kind enough, but Deruth didn’t deserve her. Also, she couldn’t rival Jour Thames-Henituse in any way to him.

Maybe it were just old feelings he had because he spent so much time with Jour and Cale, but his loyalty, even though it should lie with Deruth, was with Cale.

“Ron, could you wait for a second?”

Ron wanted to frown but controlled his expression as much as he could. Instead, he smiled benignly at the woman standing in front of him with a small smile. While he had some sort of a smile on his face as well, his eyes were sharp and cold. Violan´s smile didn’t disappear, even though she noticed.

“I wanted to ask you about Deruth´s son.”

As soon as Violan mentioned Cale Ron´s benign smile became a bit thicker while his eyes got even colder and sharper. Violan couldn’t meet the butler´s eyes any longer and looked at the painting on the wall instead.

“What do you want to ask about, Ma´am?”

Violan frowned a bit. Ma´am, that title sounded like something one would address his superior.

“Ron, please call me Miss.”

Ron didn’t react at that, which made Violan sigh.

“Well, Deruth still didn’t introduce us and I haven’t seen him around at all. I just wanted to know…does that son exist?”

Ron´s benign smile disappeared upon hearing that incredibly rude question. The question wasn’t actually rude, but it sounded rude to Ron, who was there as Cale almost died with his mother.

“He lives here as well, Ma´am, if that´s all-“

“He lives here?”

“Yes, Ma´am.”

Violan frowned at that. During her and Basen´s stay in the Henituse mansion they haven’t even once seen someone else besides Deruth who lived here. Of course the servants didn’t count. Violan who was told that Deruth indeed had a son by Deruth himself, wondered whether that son of his had died together with his first wife and that the boy´s existence had been a delusion of Deruth´s. But now that she learned that he was indeed real- it made her feel iffy.

“How come I haven’t seen him?”

Ron´s benign smile was back, though it looked a bit bitter.

“He doesn’t go outside of his room lately, Ma´am.”

Violan´s frown deepened.

“How come?”

Ron shook his head, signalizing that he didn’t know or didn’t want to answer. The old butler actually knew the reason; the young child still mourned the death of his mother and the arrival of a new woman and a new boy who seemed to be the woman´s son made him feel replaceable. Actually, Cale probably thought that he and his mother had been replaced by his father, and to speak honestly, it pretty much seemed like that.

“How old is that child?”

What Violan actually wondered this time was how old he must be for Deruth to not care that much about that boy. Violan had her suspicion that he must already be in his late teens or even an adult, yet her intuition told her that this wasn’t the case, thus making her feel even iffier than before.

“He´ll turn nine on November the 8th.”

Violan stared at Ron thinking she had misheard the old butler. Did he say nine? He surely meant nineteen or something like that, right?

“Pardon?”

“He´s currently eight years old, Ma´am.”

Violan was silent for a while, not knowing what to do say or think.

“…And you said he isn’t coming out of his room?”

Ron simply nodded with his typical benign smile. Violan frowned even more.

“What does Deruth say to this?”

Somehow, for a split second, Violan swore that the butler´s eyes turned to diabolic crescent moons, but only for a split second as his gaze soon returned to normal. It happened so fast that she distrusted her eyes.

“He doesn’t say anything to this, Ma´am.”

Once again Violan didn’t know what to do, say or think.

“Ron, please guide me to that child´s room.”

Ron raised his eyebrows.

“That child´s name is Cale, Ma´am. And I must decline, I cannot guide you there.”

Violan frowned once again as she shook her head. She must see Deruth´s son at least once, especially if he was so young! Hell, he was only three years older than her own son!

“Ron, I must meet that child.”

For the first time Violan had seen, Ron rolled his eyes and showed his true emotions which were mostly annoyance and distaste.

“I´m afraid I must decline, no matter the reason Ma´am. My young master-nim doesn’t want to meet you. You must respect his wishes as well.”

Yes, Cale´s wishes practically didn’t exist anymore. While he usually would have many wishes, especially at the age he was at, his only wish was to be alone. Heck, he even said that he didn’t want any servant coming to him with food and that he would take care of it himself.

While Ron wanted to ask for the reason, he didn’t get an answer, though the answer was rather easy if one carefully thought it through. Any servant besides Ron and Beacrox stared at Cale with those ugly expressions. While they smiled in the young child´s face, they spoke about him behind his back. He disliked those two-faced snakes, they made him uncomfortable.

“Ron, please. Only this once, if you let me meet Cale only this one time I won´t ever ask you to meet him again.”

While Violan´s voice sounded like usual, her eyes were pleading him to do it which made Ron incredibly uncomfortable. He truly was attempted to introduce Violan with the hoped that Cale would like her and her personality, yet a bigger part of him wanted to protect Jour´s everything at all costs. He couldn’t bear to see Cale being hurt, not even one more time.

Too bad for him that this was the only the beginning of Cale´s suffering.

“…If the young master-nim isn’t willing to see you, you will have to leave, Ma´am.”

Violan´s eyes shone brightly and she nodded her head. One was able to see that she was delighted. Ron let out a tired sigh and then led Violan to the north wing of the Henituse mansion. It was the farthest away from anything and the nearest to the kitchen. Even though it was just like the other parts of the mansion, Violan couldn’t help but frown. It seemed oddly cold, it didn’t matter that everything seemed clean and just like everything else.

After a few minutes walking around through the vast mansion, Ron stopped in front of a tall, fancy wooden door. While children around Cale´s age usually created signs to mark their rooms as their own, Cale did not have something like that.

“Young master-nim, it is Ron. May I enter?”

Even though the old butler didn’t hear a response, he opened the door nevertheless. Violan, who was standing behind him, couldn’t hide her frown and the displeased look in her eyes. She followed behind Ron and entered into the dark room.

Usually the rooms of children were colorful and full of toys. One would have had difficulties walking around since Lego stones or small cars would be lying around, yet Cale´s floor was clean. There wasn’t even a single toy lying around on the floor, let alone was the room colorful.

Violan wouldn’t and couldn’t go as far as to call the room dark, yet the room seemed cold and unwelcoming. The walls had a simple yet complex grey color while the floor was simply wooden. There was a small, wooden bed next to a big window-balcony and a small closet. Next to the closet was a door which probably guided to the bathroom. There was also a table and a chair, as well as a bookshelf. There were no signs of toys or anything else in this room, let alone pictures of family members or something like that.

While looking around, she noticed that the room appeared to be empty. On closer inspection she could see that it didn’t only appear to be empty, but indeed was empty. Ron let out a deep sigh and knocked on the door that seemed to be the bathroom door. This time, they heard toilet flushing and soon after a small boy exited the bathroom.

Contrary to Violan´s expectations, the boy didn’t appear to be healthy, nor did he look like an eight year at all. Let´s just say Cale didn’t age well, as he still looked the same like two years ago, no; he actually got a lot skinnier. But his cuteness and innocence still accompanied him with each step he took. Well, he maybe grew taller by half an inch, or so…

Cale also didn’t greet the new person or Ron he decided to ignore both of them. Ron was already used to his young master-nim behaving like that and decided to ignore it like he always did. Violan on the other hand frowned and looked at the aged butler.

“Excuse me, are you Cale?”

´What a dumb question to ask, way to go Violan!´

The tidy woman scolded herself even though she appeared to be calm.

Cale then turned around and looked at the strange woman for the first time. It wasn’t his actual first time as he had observed her walking around in the garden with a little boy, but she didn’t have to know that.

Up near Violan seemed…scarier. Sure, she looked wonderful and stunning, but to Cale who disliked people, she was scaring him. The strained expression on her face, the strange look in her eyes – it made the young boy think that the woman was disgusted with him. Cale wanted to get this over with as fast as possible so that that woman got out of his room.

He nodded his head and walked away, hoping that Violan would get out now.

“Oh.”

Cale ignored the woman just like he did with everyone else. He walked towards his bookshelf and took out one of the thinner books, then put it on his desk only to ignore it and sit down on his bed.

Violan cleared her throat while she looked at the incredibly sickly child. He was so thin and his skin was even paler than Korean girls! This was at such a large scale that he seemed to be dying.

Who knows?

He mentally was dying.

“So you´re Deruth´s son? I haven’t introduced myself yet, for that I want to apologize.”

Cale didn’t react to anything she said. Ron´s heart hurt and his chest once again felt tight. He still recalled the lively child from a few years ago and it hurt him to see Cale in a state like this. To him, this was the worst. He started to want to push Violan out of the room, ignoring her high status. And if he was to get kicked out, he would take Cale with him.

“Um.”

The atmosphere was getting extremely awkward with Violan being the only one talking while Cale continued to stare at the dark grey carpet in front of his bed.

“I will marry your father soon.”

Violan cleared her throat again. She found it extremely difficult to talk to Cale right now. There was a pressure she couldn’t quite define coming from that small and young child.

“Well, I live here now as well. Ha, ha.”

It just got more awkward than before.

“Well, I just wanted to introduce myself, tell you that I am here…if you need help or want to talk about something. I also have a son! The two of you could play or do something together, if you want to.”

Violan tried to smile her best smile with the best effort, yet Cale didn’t even turn his head in her direction. Violan heaved a sigh and looked at the strangely silent butler. Contrary to usual, Ron wasn’t smiling.

After he affirmed that Violan finished what she wanted to say, he stared at her with the coldest expression she had ever seen. There was an unsaid disapproval in his gaze, it wasn’t even hidden.

Ron made sure that she saw that, he wasn’t a good at controlling his expressions for nothing. Afterwards Ron approached Cale and crouched down in front of the small child. What looked like nothing important was actually very important. As a former assassin, Ron noticed even the slightest of changes from the child´s usual expression, and hence could read the redhead incredibly well.

Too bad it wasn’t well enough, as he would later find out.

But he did see that Cale seemed to be especially tired today, hence he pushed Violan out of the room and closed the door after. There was no reason to disturb Cale when he was about to go to sleep.

That visit left Violan feeling incredibly iffy. Furthermore, an ominous feeling made itself known in her stomach, making her uncertain about just anything. She was incredibly worried for Cale and simply felt the need to just do something. In the evening, after lulling Basen to sleep, she made her way to Deruth´s home office. While she would usually knock and then enter carefully, she bashed the door open.

Deruth gave his fiancée quite the look after that action.

“Violan?”

Violan took a deep breath and approached her future husband with light but fast steps. She stopped right in front of his desk and looked down on him.

“I just met your son.”

Deruth frowned upon hearing that. His son – that could only mean one person; Cale. And Violan met Cale? Even after Deruth practically didn’t see Cale for good two years? As impossible as it sounded, Deruth didn’t disbelieve his wife. He knew that she wasn’t one to lie.

“And?”

Violan´s eyes widened upon hearing Deruth´s nonchalant response to her telling him that she met his son. She didn’t have any words left for him.

“And? You honestly ask me something like that, Deruth? Your son, Cale, he looks sick! Have you seen him lately? When did it start? And how come you haven’t admitted him to the hospital?”

Deruth rolled his eyes, not understanding the urgency of the situation. To him, Cale was already old enough to be responsible for himself; furthermore he had Ron look after him, at least partly. To the still jealous Deruth Cale was the least of his worries.

“He´s fine.”

Violan gasped in shock. Deruth was such a responsible and caring father towards Basen; she definitely didn’t expect him to have such a cold side towards his own kid! She didn’t continue to converse with her future husband and instead went to sleep in one of the many guest rooms for the night, it was her first time sleeping separately from Deruth.

After that day, Violan attempted to visit Cale alone, but somehow it always failed. Either Cale didn’t let her in, or the caring butler was with him and noticed her attempt.

While she simply couldn’t forget Cale and the child´s wellbeing, her wedding day was in a few weeks and she also had to split her attention for Basen and wedding preparations. While she did have doubts about Deruth and his persona, she couldn’t stop herself from getting married. It wasn’t just for Basen so he could have a caring father but also for Cale. She was convinced that he needed someone who was there for him and she would gladly take that role.

Too bad that her convictions weren’t as strong as they should have been.

The wedding came fast. It was a lovely Friday in early spring in the year 2015 that was the day Cale had to exit his room. It wasn’t out of his free will, but rather his father “forcing” him to come.

The eight year old child had his head down the whole ceremony and stayed back in the back rows, not to draw any attention on him. He also held his loyal butler´s sleeve the entire time, not letting go with his slightly shaking hand. He wasn’t noticed, not even by the humble Violan now Henituse.

The ceremony ended quickly and the freshly married couple together with the young Basen made their way to the after party. They rented an entire indoor hall which was decorated magnificently. Too bad that the young Cale wouldn’t get to see it, as the young child decided that he was tired and only wanted to head home.

Ron frowned at the low energy level of the now nine year old child. Usually children were very energetic around Cale´s age, yet he had the energy levels of an old man.

Maybe that should have been enough to pay a visit to the doctor, yet the old butler didn’t think much of it.

He sent his son to go home with Cale. He would have gone himself, but he wasn’t allowed to excuse himself from the wedding, yet his son could. Ron was also more than just aware of how much his son missed the young child and just how much he wanted to spend time with Cale.

Whether Cale was present or not, it didn’t make a difference in the wedding at all. His father didn’t notice him when he was there, and he also didn’t notice that he wasn’t. His full attention was on his new wife and new son.

To the former assassin-butler it looked like Deruth had completely stopped mourning for his dead first wife, and Deruth actually had. It was his new chapter and he had finished with the last one. There was no need for something from the last chapter of his life to accompany him to his new one.

The wedding was grandiose and almost everyone was enjoying it besides a few older servants who noticed their first young master-nim´s absence. They were still the most loyal ones besides Ron, but sadly they were also much older and would have to retire in a few years.

The wedding cake was tasty and most of the guests had fun.

Violan looked gorgeous and Deruth did too.

In the end of the day, after the rush of the party disappeared from people´s veins, Violan got a clear head. She looked around to look for a certain redheaded child, yet she didn’t see the person she looked for.

Frowning, Violan approached the head-butler who was guaranteed to have the answer to her questions like always did. She also quickly found the benignly smiling butler who was cleaning up the mess a few of the guests ha made.

“Ron, did you see Cale?”

After hearing his puppy-like young master-nim´s name out of the freshly married woman´s mouth, Ron looked up and tried his best to show her the vicious look in his eyes.

“The young master-nim left earlier, Ma´am. He was feeling tired.”

“Ah.”

After that, Violan had once again an ominous feeling in her stomach, yet she decided once more to ignore it.

If she hadn’t ignored it, maybe things would have ended up differently.

Chapter Text

And like that, time flew by. By the time Cale had gotten ten years old, another family member was born, a little girl called Lily. Most of the servants and attendants were all over it and just how cute the little girl looked.

With the birth of Lily Cale´s existence was pretty much overshadowed completely – no, it had gotten forgotten. Even Violan´s attention was on her small daughter and she hadn’t the time to look out for Cale.

Like that, another year passed without Cale actually meeting the new family member. By the time he turned eleven, Cale didn’t even leave his room anymore. That was also the time he started to feel extremely sick tired and dizzy. It wasn’t uncommon for him to have a nosebleed that refused to stop for a few minutes or for him to pass out while studying.

Ron also visited less and less lately as he was busy with the tasks as head-butler and not to forget his babysitting work for Basen. Naturally the old Butler disliked the task of babysitting Basen given to him by Deruth, especially since he was the personal butler of Cale, yet had no time to spend with the redhead.

A few times Ron even thought about quitting and taking Cale away with him and Beacrox. He wasn’t poor and had enough money to last him two life times.

“Ron, you know my hyung, don´t you?”

One day, all of the blue, the little Basen who was already nine years old asked about Cale. Ron tried his best to maintain his friendly expression for the innocent child. He didn’t dislike Basen, he was great, yet he wasn’t Cale. And the spots in Ron´s heart were already filled with his own twenty-three year old son, the little redhead he looked at like his grandson and the dead Jour Thames. There still was a bit space, but Ron reserved it for his son´s and later also Cale´s own families in case they wanted to have a family.

He liked Basen, yet he didn’t want to be with him all the time like his task made him do. Instead, he wished to be with Cale.

“But of course young master Basen.”

Basen frowned.

“But how come I haven’t seen him even once, huh? Does he hate me?”

Ron let out a deep sigh. He crouched down and pulled the toy car away. He should have done that with his innocent and cute Cale and not with Violan´s son.

“My young master-nim does not hate you, young master Basen.”

Basen frowned even more and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The action made him look like a spoiled child that didn’t want to eat his vegetables.

“Why doesn’t he come play with me then? I always invite him!”

Ron let out another sigh that was stored deep inside of him. He recalled always handing Cale Basen´s play-invitations. Deep inside of him he just wanted to get his young master-nim out of that cold and dark room, yet Cale declined each one. At least he didn’t ignore Ron any longer…

“My young master-nim is very busy with his studies, young master Basen.”

Basen pouted at that.

“Mom said that no matter how hard you study you should always make some time to play!”

Ron smiled at that. Yes, yes, those were very wise words that he was sure he had heard from Jour before. She always made sure to tell Cale not to study too hard, no matter the circumstances. But there was no Jour anymore who could stop Cale, and his father was busy with work (in Russian there´s this saying” Ушами хлопал” which means as much as clapped his ears, but it´s a saying for didn’t do anything and I failed to translate it, so I bring it in as a side note because it is one of my favorite Russian phrases…).

“That is a very wise advice, young master Basen.”

Basen shook his head at that.

“But Ron, if it´s such a smart advice why don´t you say that to hyung? Didn’t his mom tell him?”

Ron´s gaze turned cold but he tried his best to hide it. He reminded himself that Basen was still a child and didn’t understand the hidden meaning behind those words. Ron spent much time with Basen, enough for him to know that he was kind and didn’t mean it the way he said it.

“My young master-nim wants to study very hard.”

“Ah.”

“So he doesn’t have much time to play.”

Basen looked at his small feet before he looked at Ron once again.

“Isn´t it lonely, studying alone?”

Ron smiled his benign smile.

“But of course, young master Basen.”

Basen´s eyes then light up, as if he had an idea.

“Ron, can we go visit him? That way he doesn’t have to stop studying but can have fun with us as well!”

While Ron usually would have declined because he knew that his puppy-like young master-nim preferred to be alone by himself, he couldn’t do it. It was because he had to use every single chance he got to visit his puppy-like young master-nim.

“But of course we can; what a wonderful idea.”

Basen´s smile widened by a few inches, just like children getting what they wanted on Christmas.

“Thank you Ron!”

The butler also had a very real smile on his lips and nodded, then led Basen to Cale´s room. The whole time the two of them spent walking Basen summed happy melodies and had a cheery attitude. Maybe his puppy-like young master-nim needed to hear that and needed someone who would act that way around him?

After a few minutes, the old butler arrived in front of Cale´s usual wooden door. Just like all the other times Ron payed Cale a visit, he knocked on the door and waited for the teen to open it or say something near the lines of “Come in”, yet there was no such thing.

Ron sighed and simply opened the door.

Basen´s smile got a bit smaller and the excited look in his eyes dimmed down a little upon entering the incredibly cold room. It wasn’t just cold in colors and design but also in temperature. Ron frowned and looked around. It was late fall and almost winter, yet the balcony doors were wide open without his puppy like young master-nim being on the balcony. Instead, Cale was sitting on his desk and solving math questions.

He wore a simple dark blue pullover and brown pants as well as thick socks, yet Ron´s frown deepened upon seeing the red cheeks and nose of his young master-nim. Hadn´t the windows been open, Ron would have thought Cale had a fever, which he indeed had, thus opening the windows.

After closing the windows and turning on the heater, Ron turned around to look at the small boy. He was older than Basen by three years, yet only taller than him by maybe an inch. Furthermore Cale was incredibly skinny. So skinny that the butler wondered whether he was eating at all.

“Young master-nim, I´ve come accompanied by young master Basen today.”

Cale stopped solving the math problem and looked up at Ron. After Ron saw Cale´s incredibly pale skin the old butler couldn’t help but frown. How come Cale´s skin tone changed for the worse in less than a week?

It actually was a month, but the old butler failed to notice due to Cale mostly sleeping whenever Ron came to visit.

“Hyung-nim?”

Cale stopped looking at Ron and instead looked at Basen. Contrary to him, young Basen had chubby cheeks and looked as healthy as a child could possibly look. He had a rosy skin tone and healthy looking skin. He also didn’t seem to be too thin like Cale.

After Cale didn’t say anything, Basen felt incredibly awkward. This was the first time he was meeting Cale and he looked nothing like he had expected him to look like. Instead he looked like one of the children in the hospital where Lily was born. Boney, sickly, feeble and weak, that was how Cale looked like to him.

“Um, do you perhaps want to play?”

Cale sighed and looked back on his math problem as it had more importance than conversing with his father´s favorite son. At least he could get smarter through solving the math question. What could he get out of talking to Basen or playing with him? The only thing would be that Ron would notice his condition and that he would force him to go to the hospital, it was something he didn’t want to happen at all.

“No, I have to study.”

Basen smiled again after hearing his hyung answer. A new kind of hope flashed through his eyes and he approached Cale to look at what the older boy was doing. Basen didn’t understand anything, there were numbers on top of a short line and under that line was another number. It looked complicated (fractions).

And there were also numbers that were separated by a comma (decimal numbers).

“You can´t study all the time, hyung-nim! Let´s go out and play instead!”

Cale shook his head.

“I haven’t finished my work. And I am tired. Please go and play by yourself.”

“But-“

“Young master Basen, it´d probably better if we leave now. Young master-nim, I will come visit you in the evening again.”

Cale simply nodded at that. He then averted his full attention on his math problem and didn’t even notice how his loyal butler left with Basen. And he honestly didn’t care. After a few more minutes, Cale noticed how he was getting dizzy again. He sighed and walked with the last bit of his strength to his bed to lie down and not simply pass out on the desk again.

~

That very evening, Ron was pulled aside by Deruth himself as he was on his way to visit his puppy-like young master-nim as he promised.

“Ron, how is Cale these days?”

As soon as his employer spoke the name of his puppy-like young master-nim, Ron froze. That name – he hadn’t heard it in years from the man standing in front of him. Swallowing his pride, Ron turned around to look at the tall, sturdy built man. He wasn’t skinny and looked healthy. Even if his skin was a bit pale, it was because he didn’t go out and spent his days in his office. His paleness didn’t look unhealthy or sickly. Furthermore his brown eyes seemed full of energy, not to forget his lively posture.

He was the opposite of his son.

Ron would have loved to snort at that man, maybe even spit him in the face and pull out his hidden knife.

“Why are you asking?”

Ron´s voice was half snorting, half seriousness. Deruth furrowed his brows upon hearing the voice the usually reliable butler was talking with.

“I am asking because he is my son.”

Ron almost laughed, but managed not to.

“Why don´t you ask him yourself, sir? I am headed there right now.”

Deruth did not say anything and silently followed Ron. Ron would have loved to prohibit Deruth from meeting Cale, yet he was in no position to do so.

After a few seconds, the two grown men arrived in front of the wooden door. It was Ron´s second time that day knocking on the door, and once again he didn’t receive an answer. Contrary to his usual behavior though, the old butler shook his head dramatically.

“Sir, I suppose we try again tomorrow. As you can see, the young master-nim isn’t answering the door.”

Deruth nodded his head. As it wasn’t seen at all that he was visiting his son, he couldn’t tell what to do in situations such as these. Was he supposed to enter? Was he supposed to wait?

“Alright, please take me with you tomorrow when you visit Cale.”

Ron had no other choice but to nod while maintaining his benign smile. He watched the business man turn around and walk away. After Deruth disappeared behind a corner, Ron was finally able to enter the dark room. Cale was lying in his bed while his table lamp was still turned on.

The old butler let out a deep sigh and looked at the young child´s math solutions. Surprisingly enough Cale had managed to solve quite many math questions, though he stopped at the one with the fractions and decimal numbers. On closer inspection Ron was able to tell that it was the very same math question he had been solving hours ago when he had visited with Basen. His puppy-like young master-nim must have been very tired, yes, yes.

Ron turned the lamp off and closed the open curtains. He then exited the room, not to disturb his young master-nim.

Sleep was very important for children, just as important as food. Hence children had to sleep a lot, especially someone with the energy levels the same as Cale.

Early in the morning the next day, as Cale was already awake and sat on his desk studying English this time instead of math. Usually the boy would have gone and studied Korean, yet he had more fun in learning a language with strange letters that were very unlike the ones he used in his life.

That morning, Ron entered the young boy´s room to wake him up unlike usual (only because he finally had some time for the redhead), and following behind him was the man with the worst father award of the years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, he was the only man who won this award six years in a row, continually beating any other “contestant”.

“Good morning, young master-nim.”

Cale simply nodded, not looking up from his textbook. Next to him stood an old computer which wasn’t up to date at all. Deruth frowned upon seeing his son use such an old thing. He made a mental note to buy his son a couple of new gadgets for his birthday in a week,

“Young master-nim, sir Deruth has accompanied me today.”

Upon hearing Ron saying that, Cale stopped looking at his text book. The pen in his hand fell down and made a mess out of his paper sheet, but the child didn’t care. He turned around to look at his father. It was the first time he had actively seen Deruth in years where the latter also looked back at him.

Deruth couldn’t help but frown, the Cale in front of him looked nothing like in his memories or pictures of the child. Sure, Deruth didn’t expect for Cale to look like he did about five years ago, yet he also didn’t think Cale would look like this.

He cleared his throat and simply decided that this was Cale´s way of coping. He didn’t think much about it; after all he was here for another reason than Cale´s looks. He was aware that his son didn’t appear to be healthy, but he was confident that in case that this was something serious, Ron would do something.

He was here because his wife never failed to mention Cale lately. And he as Cale´s father, who was done with his mourning for Jour, was also ready to accept Cale back in his life again. He did resemble Jour, but it wasn’t as much as he did when he was a little child. Maybe that was because of his almost white skin and dull eyes, as well as his incredibly skinny body.

“Ron, would you please give us a few minutes?”

Deruth looked at Ron with a stare that didn’t allow the butler to say “no”. After all, it was an order and not a plea. Having no other choice, Ron excused himself and exited the room, waiting outside. Deruth didn’t exactly say where he would have to go so…

Back inside the room, Deruth finally looked around. The room he gave to Cale after his first wife´s death seemed colder. The grey color of the walls annoyed him and the absence of colors made him think of this being the room of a depressed teen and not his own son.

Hahaha, how funny it was.

His son certainly was no depressed kid, especially since he was so young. Deruth was sure that his son probably didn’t even know the real meaning of depressed. Well, what can I say? If one was an asshole all along, he wouldn’t change, no matter what. The fact that Deruth was here only because Violan mentioned Cale was proof enough. He honestly did not deserve to have a wonderful child such as Cale, and to tell the truth, he didn’t deserve to have children at all.

“Cale, I know this must be quite a shock for you, to see me again…after all this time, but let´s just skip the tears.”

Cale didn’t respond and just stared at his father. His dull eyes creeped Deruth out and he quickly averted his gaze and cleared his throat. It was obvious that Deruth didn’t see Cale as his son anymore and just pretended.

It was all just for show, for Violan probably.

“Well, anyway, you have a very nice…room. Yes, very beautiful.”

The room still creeped Deruth out, as much as Cale´s dull eyes did. The worst father of the year award winner then frowned and flashed an obviously fake smile.

“The reason I came to visit you is that I am ready to let you be part of my life again, so you should stop only living in your room. I don´t care that much about what you do, so just come eat with my family once a day.”

My family, Deruth clearly didn’t see Cale as a part of his new family.

The smart Cale of course understood that much as well. While he usually would have just turned around and ignored Deruth, he couldn’t. He stared at his father´s back.

´Ah.´

He finally understood why he couldn’t look away from his father.

´It is because I still believed that he loved me. I am stupid for listening to mom.´

Deruth heaved a sigh, it was as if he was signaling for Cale that he was starting to get annoyed with his lack of answers. Deruth then turned around. The sight before him then made him freeze.

The crimson color that was so typical for blood was dripping down the little child´s chin. Deruth had never, in his entire life, seen a nosebleed like that. And he certainly wasn’t able to deal with it.

Contrary to a normal person, he took a few steps back and exited the room. Luckily Ron stood there and noticed that something seemed to be amiss.

If it weren´t for the butler´s quick judgmental skills, who knew what might have happened.

The nosebleed stopped after five minutes. While Ron proposed to go to the hospital, Deruth shook his head. It was because he wanted to “look like a good father” and listen to an eleven-year old´s wishes, as Cale definitely didn’t want to pay a visit to the hospital.

That incident quickly ended up as a “one-time-thing” and even Ron calmed down a little.

Still, it was the adult´s fault for being so lacking that Cale ended up getting incredibly ill.

No, it was Deruth´s fault.

It was his entire fault.

Anything that happened to Cale…

…his depression, anxiety, eating disorders, illness, sickness, weakness, just everything…

…it was all Deruth fucking Henituse´s entire fault.

And no one could say anything against it.

Because it was the truth.

The only one who still, after all these years failed to give a shit was the one responsible; it was because that fucking man still lived in his own delusion. He still thought that he did everything right. He still failed to see how his son´s condition was his fault. He was such an incapable parent; he was the worst of the worst, the one who truly was befitting of the title as ´trash´.

Yet, at this point in Cale´s life, Deruth wasn’t the only one feigning ignorance. And that also went on for a few more weeks. Maybe it all would have ended up differently if Deruth realized that Cale should at least get checked up, just for his son´s – no, Deruth did not deserve Cale – safety.

Chapter Text

Cale´s twelfth birthday was, contrary to his previous five birthdays, a grandiose one. It was literally one of the biggest parties the Henituse family had ever hosted, including Deruth´s second marriage.

While the morning was rather calm and the lunch uneventful, Cale was forced into a suit in the evening. Ron wasn’t able to smile a single time the whole day, whereas he would usually smile the whole day.

The joyful occasion turned to a dreadful social event that had to be attended. Cale looked at his reflection in the mirror. He had already gotten used to his incredibly pale skin and his dull eyes, yet his new eye bags started to freak him out. He turned his head to look at Beacrox. Somehow the cook managed to leave the kitchen to head to Cale´s room.

Beacrox had a stoic expression on his face, just like he always did, yet Cale could see the displeased look in his eyes. It was very clear that Beacrox disliked the current situation, and he wasn’t the only one.

Cale, for the first time in years, flashed Beacrox a smile. It was small and seemed crack, yet Beacrox´ eyes light up at the sight.

“It would be stupid to ask how I look, wouldn’t it? Please just tell me that I don’t resemble a dead fish.”

While Beacrox knew that it was just a joke, there was nothing to laugh about. It was because Cale indeed resembled a dead fish, especially with those dull eyes of his. Beacrox, as a cook, was used to those foggy dead fish´s eyes. They were always dull and dead.

“Of course not, young master-nim.”

Cale then nodded and sighed. He felt dizzy. He recalled the conservation he had with his father in private after he had eaten lunch with his “family”.

´Father, please excuse me for the evening, I don´t think I will be able to attend your party.´

Deruth had snorted and shaken his head in disapproval.

´Cale, my son, this isn’t my party but yours! So of course you have to attend it! I will not excuse you this time!´

Cale had shaken his head and tried once again.

´Father, I am not feeling well.´

Deruth still refused to excuse his first son from the event which was usually something that should have been created in order for Cale to have fun. Yet, it somehow turned into a dreadful event.

Originally, Violan had proposed to throw a birthday party to Cale. It was one night where Lily was calmly sleeping so that Violan was once again thinking about Cale. After hearing that, Deruth practically enforced this party on Cale, who would always prefer to spend his birthday alone. Well, not entirely alone, but without a big celebration.

He had been that way ever since he was little, yet Deruth wouldn’t know.

It was because Deruth knew nothing about Cale, absolutely nothing.

“Well, I guess we could stall for some time until someone comes to pick us up.”

Beacrox nodded and observed how Cale sat down on his bed and started reading an old looking book. On closer inspection Beacrox was able to tell what book it was: “The Count of Monte Christo”.

A/N: (I actually read that book for real and didn’t just google its contents, it is amazing, tho also a bit slow. But it doesn’t disappoint, I definitely recommend it for every classic-literature-lovers, he, just a quick author´s note, sorry to disturb the story)

The book was rather complicated than to read and comprehend it at Cale´s age, yet Beacrox knew of Cale´s genius and his incredible intellect. He was also aware that the reason Cale read it was his late mother.

After a few minutes of silence passed, Cale put the book away. Beacrox carefully watched Cale´s swift movements. The boy seemed incredibly tired, and not just that. His hand was slightly shaking. Beacrox frowned as he noticed that.

“Young master-nim, are you perhaps feeling unwell?”

Cale, who lied down on his bed, didn’t sit up as he answered.

“Maybe… a… little.”

Cale sounded out of breath. It was easy to tell that he had difficulties breathing. Beacrox immediately got up and put his palm on the younger´s forehead. Unsurprisingly, Cale was burning up. Beacrox´ frown deepened. He disliked where this was going. Furthermore, this condition wasn’t something that appeared out of nowhere.

“Young master-nim, you must have been feeling unwell for a while for it to worsen like this. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Cale turned his head to the side and shoved Beacrox´ hand away so that he could no longer feel the little child´s temperature.

“It…doesn’t matter. Father…said… Haaa, why is this so…difficult…Father said that…it didn’t…haaa…matter.”

As soon as Cale finished his sentence, Beacrox stopped frowning. Yes, the expression Cale´s hyung had on his face couldn’t be described as an angry or enraged expression as well.

“Young master-nim, it sure does matter!”

That was also the moment Beacrox threw all left goodwill for Deruth over board and entered the pique of his hatred for that son of a bitch. How could a parent, no, how could an adult tell a child that his wellbeing didn’t matter? Parent or not, that was the very definition of irresponsible!

After a few more minutes in which Beacrox had taken a towel, wetted it in cold water and put it on Cale´s forehead to relieve the pain a bit, Cale shoved that away as well and sat up straight. By now he wasn’t just shaking a little bit, no, now he was trembling.

“Young master-nim!”

Cale ignored Beacrox´ terrified yell and got up. At this time, as a rather smart yet naïve child, he strongly believed that his father was right. Right now there were countless people downstairs celebrating his birthday, even if he didn’t want this. As the one whose birthday this was he had the responsibility to be down there and not here. That was also something his father made him understand, more or less.

“Let´s go hyung-nim.”

Beacrox was left speechless. That child, he wasn’t stubborn. He was simply someone who didn’t want to disappoint the person who was his father, no matter what. Nevertheless, as an adult, Beacrox simply could not allow Cale to get away with this. He couldn’t bear to see his dongsaeng endanger himself like this, he still recalled his father telling him about Cale´s nosebleed a bit more than a week ago.

“Young master-nim, I fear that I cannot let you go. Cale, please, you obviously aren’t feeling good!”

After Beacrox´ rational statements weren’t efficient enough, he started with pleading and begging, but it all wasn’t heard, or rather ignored, by the twelve year old child.

“Hyung, please stop. You can stay here alone if you don’t wish to accompany me.”

After sighing one last time and shortly closing his eyes, Beacrox followed his young master-nim downstairs, to the loud noises of the uncomfortable party. Even though he was attempted to go and tell his father about Cale´s current condition, he couldn’t let Cale out of his sight. It was by far more important to keep an eye on the boy.

~

The party went on like that.

There weren’t any incidents besides a woman spilling wine on her white dress and not getting the stain off of her expensive clothing. It was quite funny, actually. She had laughed with a handsome gentleman and accidently spilled the wine over her breast. Her “innocent” expression immediately turned into a furious one and she started to make some drama until Violan had come herself and resolved the situation.

At 8pm it was finally time to cut the cake. That was also the only real time Deruth needed Cale to appear on this party. He hit his wineglass with a golden fork to get the attention of his party guests and smiled a benevolent smile. It was naturally fake and only a mask in front of his guests.

“If I may, today is my son´s twelfth birthday! It is a joyous occasion and as a proud father I want to introduce my boy to my guests! Cale, will you please come here?”

Cale, feeling more than just a bit uncomfortable, staggered to his father and smiled an extremely strained smile. After all he couldn’t let his father look bad in front of a crowd that big.

Cale, now being older, wouldn’t have come out in first place now. Also, he wouldn’t have joined the party to begin with. But that had nothing to do with the Cale from five years ago.

Deruth laughed upon seeing his son staggering and shaking.

“Hahaha! Don´t be so nervous Cale! This is your party, after all!”

Cale nodded, yet he failed to control his shaking body. After that, everything happened rather fast. He was handed a big knife that felt incredibly heavy all of a sudden. Maybe it was because it was a fancy looking knife made out of real and heavy gold. His father spoke some words that Cale failed to understand and then a big cake was carried over to the place where the father and son were standing.

Yet, before the cake even arrived, Cale´s dizziness got on a whole new level and his surroundings started spinning around. He tried his best to stay conscious, yet he passed out in front of all those people with his vision turning black all of a sudden.

Actually, it wasn’t all of a sudden.

It was bound to happen – with how exhausted and stressed Cale had been lately it was a wonder how he still hadn’t passed out. It wasn’t like this was his first time passing out either, it somehow became rather common, yet for the people around him it was the first time seeing it happen.

Panic erupted in the large hall and Deruth immediately crouched down to look whether Cale was awake. Stupid bastard, he could have caught his falling son if he hadn’t been so shocked and had quicker reflexes.

“Cale!”

Deruth looked up after hearing that shout coming from many different directions.

After he did, he could see his wife giving her child to her mother and lifting her long dress to run faster in those uncomfortable high heels which she always complained about. From another direction Cale´s loyal butler and his son approached Deruth, looking more than just worried. Deruth sighed and lifted his son.

His stupid small brain only had one solution for this problem:

“Please calm down everyone, Cale must have been overly nervous, causing him to pass out.”

Those stupid party guests attending Deruth´s first son´s birthday party which was actually Deruth´s event visibly calmed down and nodded. After all; “how could a father not know what was wrong with his child?”

Only the three people running towards Deruth and Cale seemed to disagree.

“Deruth! Cale fainted! It can´t be just because he is nervous!”

´Also, Cale doesn’t seem like the type of child who would get nervous over something like this! Look at his pale skin! Deruth, Cale looks sick! Cale is sick! Please, let us take him to the hospital, please.´

Violan did not speak her mind. She couldn’t embarrass the father of the child she wasn’t the mother of in front of the whole crowd by saying he didn’t know his child, even if it was true.

Ron seemed to have different thoughts. Without even asking, he took Cale out of Deruth´s arms, ignoring the man´s awkward expression.

“We should get him checked up in a hospital, even if it looks like nothing.”

Deruth laughed a fake sounding laugh and drove his hand through his hair. He then let out a deep sigh.

“Ron, I think you´re exaggerating quite a bit. Cale was obviously nervous just now and I think the attention being on him was too much. Trust me, I am his father, I know him.”

The guests nodded their minds while Ron stabbed Deruth a million, no, billion, times with his gaze while looking at him.

´You don´t know him at all, you wimp. You don´t know anything about young master-nim, you don´t even fucking care!´

The butler, just like Violan, couldn’t speak his mind.

“Please bring him to his room. He will wake up in the morning, you will see, hahaha.”

Ron swiftly, with the child in his arms, turned around and waked out without answering the man who was supposed to be the father of the child in his arms, of his grandson of some sorts. He walked so swiftly and fast in an enraged state so that he failed to notice how his son and Deruth´s wife quickly followed him.

“Ron, please tell me the truth, Cale didn’t pass out because of nervousness, did he?”

Violan was sitting on Cale´s chair while watching how Ron took off the young boy´s shoes and put him to bed, not to forget how careful and full of love his movements seemed. It was as if he was looking for his own child.

The butler hummed and left the answer to his son.

“Ma´am, Cale was feeling unwell before. Most probably he passed out because of his exhaustion.”

“Ah.”

Violan nodded her head. She could see the many textbooks on Cale´s desk together with the many paper sheets full of the child´s solutions.

“Deruth still should have taken Cale to the hospital. What if it is something serious?”

Ron froze in his tracks.

Maybe it was because he didn’t want to believe it or because he believed it that he tried not to think about that possibility at all, he didn’t know.

“Ma´am, that wouldn’t be very likely.”

To hell with ´that wouldn’t be very likely´!

That was exactly the case!

Yet, the adults around Cale agreed to Deruth´s stupid judgement and Ron´s ignorance and ignored the matter pretty much.

Cale woke up in the next morning and he seemed fine. He studied, ate lunch with his family members and studied again, and then he went to bed.

The following day passed just like this.

So did the day after that.

And the day after that day.

~

A few days after Cale´s birthday, Cale stopped coming to the family meals. First, Violan and Deruth decided to give him some space; that is until they heard reports of Cale suddenly passing out in all possible places.

It was during Thanksgiving, Ron and Beacrox were tasked to accompany Basen to his first real errands. Of course the task simply had to befall Cale´s personal servants, but that was all because of the stupid as fuck man.

Cale was walking down the floor when he suddenly fell down. It wasn’t that he tripped or anything, he passed out. And too bad it was Violan who was walking a few steps behind the redhead so that she had noticed the whole ordeal happening.

After that incident, she ignored Deruth´s excuses and took Cale, after he gained consciousness on the next day together with Ron and Beacrox, to the hospital. Deruth stayed behind, babysitting his son and daughter.

No one, especially not Ron, would ever forget the look of the doctor that day.

It wasn’t a gaze a usual doctor would have had. While doctors usually seemed sad whenever they were delivering sad news, this one, Doctor Joo Ho-Shik was enraged. He stared at the three adults standing next to Cale who was sitting on the bed with seemingly fire in his eyes.

“Are you the ones responsible for that child?!”

Violan gulped and nodded while Ron was frowning. Cale looked up at the doctor and as soon as Joo Ho-Shik felt that child´s gaze his whole demeanor changed and he smiled friendlily.

“Then please, let us speak outside.”

Violan nodded and was accompanied outside by Ron while Beacrox decided to stay behind with Cale. Cale looked at his black shoes as he whipped with his legs. It was a rather childish action that was very untypical for him, the only thing that showed his nervousness.

“Hyung-nim, do you think it´s serious?”

Cale didn’t look up which honestly, it broke Beacrox´ heart. Judging by the gaze of the doctor, yes, it seemed to be something serious.

“You won´t need to worry, Cale.”

Cale finally looked up and flashed, once again, a bright smile.

´Ah, he´s finally starting to smile again! It´s already his second smile this week!´

While Beacrox had a party inside his head because of Cale´s smile, Ron couldn’t help but sit down outside of the room.

Joo Ho-Shik stared him and Violan down to nothingness.

“You call yourselves adults, huh?”

Violan´s hands were shaking and she hid them with her tights. Joo Ho-Shik shook his head and continued to stare the two irresponsible adults down, not caring about the numerous nurses and patients giving him strange looks.

“Do any of you know when that child has last eaten? Huh? No? Of course you wouldn’t know, since not even I can tell through all the tests we have taken!”

His angry voice turned into a quiet yell.

“And in his personal information stands that he´s twelve? He looks like an eight year old kid!”

Ron couldn’t lift his chin as he didn’t dare look the doctor in the eyes.

“And you told me you brought him here because he passed out all of a sudden, huh? And it wasn’t his first time at that? No wonder by his test results!”

Ron finally looked up at the scolding doctor. He didn’t care; Joo Ho-Shik could scold him all he wanted. What was truly important were the test results!

Joo Ho-Shik noticed this and heaved a sigh.

“The two of you are trash. I don´t care what you say. That child, he is seriously ill. It wasn’t a condition he was born with but rather one he got through malnutrition and stress. That alone of course shouldn’t be enough to cause the illness that boy has, but with the lack of responsible adults I have a good idea of what could have caused it!”

The doctor shook his head, then got angry all over again.

“That child! Have you seen him! He is a skeleton with skin, with white skin around his bones! He looks like a dead fish! His eye bags rival the nurses with the night shift after they haven’t slept in days!”

The doctor took a deep breath, then started once again with his scolding. By now numerous listeners had gathered to listen to the doctor´s words and all of them were thankfully normal people who naturally started to worry for the child that was the topic of this conservation.

“He looks done! Done with everything! I bet because of your neglect he has severe mental problems as well!”

Numerous murmurs went through the worried crowd. Joo Ho-Shik ignored it and simply sighed. He then turned around and shooed the many onlookers away, making them successfully leave. He then sighed once more and got all serious.

“That child has developed anemia. That isn’t something that happened all of a sudden but had to be developed over the years. To top it off, it is in its latest stage, iron deficiency anemia. That means that he had a lack of healthy red blood cells due to iron deficiency.”

Violan looked up. Ron was silent, more because he was frozen in his tracks and unable to form any sentences at all.

“W-what does that mean?”

Joo Ho-Shik scoffed at Violan´s stupid seeming questions.

“That means that child´s happy life is over. He has to swallow tasteless and bitter pills thrice a day, has to pay a visit to the hospital at least once every two months, has to watch out with that feeble body of his-“

“I wanted to ask what anemia causes!”

Joo Ho-Shik rolled his eyes at that rude question, but he could understand it. That meant that that woman did care at least a bit about that pitiful child.

“Woman, you will have to get used to how that child looks right now, at least to his pale skin. He will have a much weaker immune system, and his energy levels will be lower than just low. He will feel often fatigued, dizzy or lightheaded. Headaches will become his every-day life and it will cause chest pain, heart pain or trouble breathing occasionally. If that child is especially stressed he will have heavy nosebleeds or faint. Having anemia is no joke. It´s truly a miracle that the likes of you have noticed it now. A little bit later, let´s say a month, and that child wouldn’t be treatable anymore.”

“Ah.”

Violan´s body slumped over and she hid her face behind her hands. Meanwhile Ron continued to stare into nothingness. Joo Ho-Shik sighed and shook his head at that, then poked the old man, causing him to look up.

“Hey you, follow me so I can give you the pills. You seem to be the one who is the most responsible out of y´all.”

Ron nodded and followed without questions.

Joo Ho-Shik then explained how everything worked in detail until Ron understood it perfectly.

And that was how Cale was diagnosed with anemia.

Even though he now had a sickness, everything seemed to become better and he even smiled more often. Not to forget that he stopped feeling depressed all the time and started eating again, bit by bit.

Too bad that state wouldn’t last forever, yet everyone enjoyed the years everything seemed to be fine, especially Cale.

Ron was also happy, as he got to be with Cale at any time, just like when Cale was still a little child half his current age. Ron couldn’t help but smile at the happy memories of young six-year old Cale. The redhead had been such an angel, and he still was.

With a smile the butler looked into the future, hoping for the best.

~

He had never hoped for an airplane crash.

Chapter Text

Beep. Beep. Beeeep. Beep.

The strange beeping sound was the only thing that was heard.

It naturally annoyed Cale, forcing him to open his eyes and take a look around to look at the origin of the noise. It was quite the task to open his eyes, but the redhead managed to do it. Upon opening his eyes, Cale was able to see a dim light room. It was an incredibly small room that seemed as simple as a room could be. The walls seemed to be made out of cheap material and there wasn’t even a real wall, as Cale´s bed was only separated from other patient´s by blue curtains.

After a bit of time that Cale spent staring into nothingness, the teen tried to sit up. He didn’t feel any pain and instead only a certain numbness. He was rather used to that numbness as it was caused by painkillers, one thing he was all too familiar with.

The moment Cale thought about painkillers he recalled the reason that he woke up, it was the beeping sound of the machine next to him. And such a machine that measured his heartbeat could only be found in a hospital.

Cale looked down on his body. There were a few tubes on his left hand and on his right arm. After understanding his current situation, he decided to lie down again and think about the reason for him being here. Did his anemia act up too much without him noticing? But he had been rather relaxed lately, well if one didn’t count the Crossman lunch.

He felt tired and wanted to go to sleep again. Since he didn’t see the others he thought about them waiting somewhere else, he wasn’t too worried at first. Just as he was about to fall asleep again, it hit him.

The reason he was in the hospital; it was the airplane crash!

As soon as Cale thought about it all thoughts he had about sleeping disappeared and he quickly got up from the patient bed, pulling out the many tubed in his body. He didn’t care; his top priority was to look for Alberu, Ron and Beacrox. He was used to hospitals and all this stuff related to that, but the others weren’t!

Additionally, what should Cale do if they weren’t fine?

Without a second thought, Cale opened the curtain and looked around. He could see many strange faces he had never seen before, some were still seemingly sleeping and in a rather bad state while others were already smiling and laughing. Cale didn’t have time to look at those people as he started to walk around and look for a familiar face. He ignored his staggering and the pain that shot through his body each time he took a step. He similarly ignored the wet feeling dripping down his chin.

“先生！躺！你在干什么？!” (Translation: ´Gentleman! Lie down! What are you doing?!´)

The woman was obviously talking in Chinese, yet Cale couldn’t be bothered less. He did understand some words due to him having an interest in the Chinese language, but he decided not to care. He simply must, no; he needed to find Alberu, Ron and Beacrox. He needed to see the state the three of them were in – whether they even had survived.

Cale shook his head.

They must have survived.

The woman who had yelled at him quickly approached him and stopped the young redhead. He looked western, yet the woman didn’t know how to speak any other language but Chinese. She was obviously a nurse in this hospital.

“我需要你躺下，你流鼻血了。你明白吗？” (Translation: ´I need you to lie down, you have a nosebleed. Do you understand?´)

Cale looked at the nurse and decided to ask her about his friends.

“我正在寻找我的家人。没有看到他们就无法休息。” (Translation: ´I am looking for my family. Can´t rest without seeing them.´)

The woman nodded her head. Even though Cale´s pronunciation wasn’t the best like his English and French pronunciations, it was understandable enough for the woman to comprehend the teen´s intentions.

“他们看起来怎么样 ?” (Translation: ´How do they look?´)

Cale immediately started explaining how his boyfriend, his loyal butler and his reliable hyung-nim looked like. After he was done explaining their looks to the best of his Chinese abilities, the nurse´s eyes light up, as if she had an idea upon who it could be.

She made managed to make Cale lean on her and then slowly started to walk into the direction Cale came from. Not forgetting the teen´s nosebleed, the nurse gave him a nosebleed-tampon (they actually do have something like a nosebleed tampon in the hospitals!) and then guided him slowly towards the patient bed next to Cale´s.

With her free hand she opened the curtain and showed a still sleeping Beacrox. Besides a few scratches he looked fine and peaceful. He didn’t have any broken ribs and just light crash injuries. The nurse explained how he had the best of luck to survive a crash that brutal without any injuries.

Cale´s whole body slumped over in relief. The nurse smiled understandingly and helped Cale walk towards the next patient bed, opposite to Beacrox´.

There, peacefully sleeping, laid an old man with grey hair and light skin. He was even snoring a bit. The nurse chuckled as she felt the relief that went through Cale´s body as he laid eyes on the grandpa.

“你不用担心那个老人。他刚刚摔断了右臂，不过很快就会痊愈。他已经脱离危险，已经从昏迷中醒来，现在正在睡觉。“ (Translation: ´You don´t have to worry about that old man. He only broke his right arm, but it will heal soon. He´s out of danger and has awoken from his coma and is sleeping now.´)

Cale sighed and nodded. A lot of his worries were taken off of him as soon as the nurse went through the details and made sure that the teen in her arms understood that none of his family members were injured. Lastly, the nurse guided Cale towards the last patient bed where Alberu was lying on.

The best for last, wasn’t it like this?

Contrary to Cale´s expectations of seeing a sleeping and incredibly injured Alberu, Alberu was indeed awake. He was looking around disoriented and didn’t even notice Cale approaching him. A few tubes were on his arms and his heart monitor was making a consistent sound. Cale thanked god that for once someone he loved and cherished actually survived.

“那个先生好像醒了。那我就不打扰你们两个了。” (Translation: ´That mister seems to be awake. I won´t bother you.´)

The nurse carefully helped Cale sit down on a chair that would usually be reserved for doctors. She smiled friendlily and ignored Alberu´s confused stare. So did Cale as he responded to the nurse in his “lacking” Chinese.

After smiling again, the nurse headed back to look for the other patients; the bright smile on her face seemed unwavering. Alberu stared at Cale, before he quickly jolted forward and hugged his beloved boyfriend. At first, Cale couldn’t help but flinch, but quickly patted his beloved boyfriend´s back. Alberu mumbled some not understandable things to him but Cale decided to not pay too much attention to it.

After a long while, Alberu finally let go of Cale and looked at his boyfriend. The first thing he did after hugging him was checking whether he had any injuries. While Cale did have a bandage wrapped around his hand and wrist, he did not feel any pain, nor did he have difficulties moving his hand. Alberu himself seemed to be in a much worse state, as his whole body was wrapped in those white bandages.

“Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell? Pain anywhere? And don’t you dare lie to me. And what is that thing in your nose?”

Cale hid his small smile and shook his head. Alberu was alive and seemed fine and that was all Cale had asked for.

“The painkillers are doing their job, you jerk. And those are there because…”

Alberu lifted his brow, then smirked mischievously.

“Nosebleed?”

Cale rolled his eyes, nevertheless he couldn’t contradict.

“Yeah, I had a nosebleed.”

Alberu smirked and shook his head.

“Well, those things sure look funny. Like tampons, but for noses. Who knows? This is China- ah! Since when can you talk Chinese?! And why didn’t I know?”

Cale stared at his boyfriend with furrowed brows. He didn’t know that not knowing Mandarin was the norm whereas knowing “a little” Mandarin was rather unusual.

“I know a little bit, it´s a pretty interesting language.”

Alberu rolled his eyes and sat up even straighter than before. Cale noticed how Alberu didn’t move his legs at all. Getting an ominous feeling, Cale stared at Alberu, making him look away.

“Hey, are you alright?”

The blonde council president chuckled and nodded.

“Yep, I´m fine, and I mean the real fine and not yours. I broke my leg tho…and fractured a few of my ribs, but as you said, the painkillers are doing their job. Hey, we should ask them for these painkillers, they´re next level medicine.”

Cale couldn’t help but chuckle. If Alberu was talking so much, there couldn’t be much wrong with him. And besides, Cale himself felt fine, hence these painkillers from China truly were some next level medicine.

“I wanna live in China now.”

Alberu broke out in laughter and shook his head.

“You wish! We´re staying in Great Britain!”

The couple looked at each other for a few seconds until they broke out in laughter once more.

“You sure? China is great.”

“Yeah, great for people who can speak their language. Do you know what I had to do to understand what happened? They called for some national Chinese-English translator and his pronunciation was garbage [the brits would say rubbish, omg I´m sorry, I couldn’t resist! Ik my “joke” is loser-like…]! He ended up writing my diagnosis down!”

To prove his statement, Alberu turned his body in the direction of the little nightstand standing next to his bed and shoved a paper sheet in Cale´s face. Cale shook his head. He didn’t have such linguistic problems anywhere, as he was able to speak not only English, Korean and “a little bit” Chinese, but also French and a bit Russian. Honestly, he himself would say that Russian was his weakest language since his pronunciation was off. If Alberu was to hear him speak tho, he wouldn’t think that way at all.

“You´re right. While I could teach you, you´re dumb.”

Cale grinned while Alberu playfully hit Cale´s shoulder. It didn’t hurt and made the redhead chuckle. He then got off the doctor´s chair and sat down on Alberu´s patient bed which was by far more comfortable than the chair.

The two of them spent some time in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other´s presence until the nurse that helped Cale get here came back with two men accompanying her. One looked like a doctor while the other wore a suit – ah, it was Alberu´s favorite translator.

“Hello, I am Chao Ming [name meaning: the surpassing bright] and will be your translator.”

The man bent down in a 90° angle, showing his deep respect.

“红头发的先生会说中文。“ (Translation: ´The gentleman with red hair can speak Chinese.´)

Chao Ming looked at the nurse, obviously surprised. Cale smiled awkwardly and shook his head before he responded, shocking not only the translator but also his boyfriend once again.

“我不太会说话。如果要求不过分，请用英语继续。“ (Translation: ´I´m not very good at talking. If it isn´t too much to ask for, please continue in English.´)

Chao Ming couldn’t help but smile as brightly as the nurse. He then looked at the doctor who didn’t seem the least bit surprised, but well, what could he do?

“You speak very well.”

Cale shook his head, ignoring Alberu´s proud face.

“It´s really not much.”

After admiring Cale´s Mandarin knowledge, the doctor quickly explained Cale´s state. While the translator really did talk well, Alberu still had trouble understanding it due to the heavy Asian accent. It sounded rough and hard, but Cale thankfully explained the parts his boyfriend failed to understand. It was good Chinese practice for him either way.

Later that day, both Ron and Beacrox woke up and got their test results back. It seemed that Cale and his companions truly were lucky this time, Cale honestly deserved to be lucky every once in a while.

Time flew by and three days after everyone woke up, they were released from the hospital. They were four of thirty-eight survivors and each of them had rather light injuries, which was major luck already.

After picking up a wheelchair for Alberu instead crutches, they left the cramped building to go out into the city of Dalian. Due to the crash, their entire luggage, including their personal documents, was lost. Their passports, their credit cards and their clothes.

But the four of them didn’t realize that until they were standing outside the hospital with clothes the nice nurse handed them.

“Um…I think we have a problem.”

“You think so?”

“Tsk, I think Alberu is right…”

“If the young master-nim agrees, there´s no need for this Ron to disagree.”

Yes, yes indeed. The four of them did have a big problem that they were currently facing.

~

That problem wasn’t one that could be resolved quickly. Not only didn’t the four traveler not have their personal documents like their passports and identification papers, they didn’t have any money on them, let alone have a phone.

“I think we´re fucked.”

Cale ignored Alberu and walked next to him without giving him the attention Alberu obviously needed. Ron smiled upon noticing the displeased expression of the boy´s face while Beacrox couldn’t even look at it, due to him pushing Alberu´s wheelchair forward.

“Wait, where are we even going?”

It wasn’t Alberu´s first, second or third comment, hell, it wasn’t even his fifth or sixth but his twelfth! He was uselessly annoying and acting out of character, even though the doctor guaranteed that Alberu didn’t have a concussion.

Cale sighed and stopped to look at his boyfriend. Wasn’t it his job to be annoying?

“We are going to the police station.”

Alberu frowned after hearing that. He didn’t understand why they were going to the police station but he couldn’t say anything against it.

The rest of the short walk passed pretty quietly without useless commentary coming from Alberu. The blonde council president was looking around, of course often staring at his boyfriend´s small back. Dalian was similar to Manchester in some ways, yet it also looked foreign with those convenient stores around almost every corner, not to forget the Mandarin signs.

Once again Alberu was witnessing his boyfriend being amazing. Honestly, as Alberu first got Cale´s application sheets from the principal Eruhaben; he had frowned and thought of that boy as a snob. Actually, he didn’t even think he was a snob, he thought he was an absolute arrogant douchebag, the very cliché of a loved rich kid.

Alberu, who had grown up poorly, even though his family was rich and even though he had a loving parent, had disliked the perfect seeming applicant with the 100% he got on the application exams. Due to Cale applying so late, his exams were even trickier than the usual ones in which Alberu scored 97%. That alone was an impossible and incredible achievement, yet here was that strange kid who beat him.

To put it simply, Alberu had felt a certain disdain against that kid.

Then, he had met Cale for the first time when Eruhaben had accompanied him to his poetry class in room 203. That very room was the one the two of them had their very first kiss in. A small smile appeared on the blonde´s mouth as he recalled the memory of the day he got to meet Cale.

Even though he had seen Cale´s picture before, the redhead looked even more special in person. More innocent and cute than handsome, though he was surely handsome as well. Cale was what would be called perfection, if one ignored his thin frame and stature.

After that time, one could call it love on first sight.

Alberu didn’t even notice how he fell in love right then and there. As he saw Cale spending time with Choi Han and his group of friends he got jealous. When he overheard that Cale was about to join the book-club, Alberu got envious. While observing the redhead with their other friends, Alberu felt the need to pull the small redhead´s body closer and kiss him.

That “game” went on for a couple of months until, one day; Cale seemed to be feeling unwell. That was also the day the two of them started a relationship.

Looking back on it, it was probably one of Alberu´s favorite days. He finally was allowed to kiss, hug and look at Cale like he wanted every time he wanted. It was probably the best decision he made so far in his whole life. He recalled his nervousness as he asked Cale out. He also recalled the emotions going through his whole body while kissing the other boy.

He wanted to feel those emotions again. Maybe he should kiss Cale later.

Yeah, he would have to do that.

Suddenly, Alberu noticed a change in his surroundings. He immediately looked around and understood that he had been spacing out for a while since they had arrived at the police station.

“Ah.”

Cale who was currently talking to the police officer in his excellent Mandarin ignored Alberu while Ron leaned down and smiled his benign smile at the teen.

“How can I help you?”

Alberu shook his head and quickly averted his gaze back to Cale.

Ah, that was the love of his life standing there discussing things in a language he couldn’t understand. Cale´s expression was stoic and serious while the police officer smiled awkwardly and nodded, then had an expression of pity on his face.

“What are they talking about?”

Cale clicked his tongue and put his hands on his hip. Alberu couldn’t help but think that his boyfriend looked extremely hot looking like that. So hot that the teen had to turn around and faced the vicious look in Ron´s eyes rather than looking at it any longer. Damn, Cale´s waist was so small and thin? How was this even possible?!

“The young master-nim tries to get us to South Korea, or at least asks to make a call.”

Alberu looked up at Ron as he had changed the direction of his gaze to the grey wall. He finally noticed the bitter expression on the old man´s face.

“Do you speak Chinese as well?”

Ron rolled his eyes at the boy´s dumbness but decided to not talk about it.

“No, the young master-nim told me what he was going to discuss in advance.”

“Ah, but why do you look so bitter then?”

Ron laughed a hollow laugh and even though Alberu couldn’t see it, Beacrox clenched the grips of the wheelchair (or however you call these things! It´s late and I am tired T^T!!!!).

“It is because the young master-nim has to contact his family to get us out of this situation and into South Korea.”

“Oh.”

Well, shit?

Forget bad, this was the worst possible outcome!

Alberu recalled how much Cale wanted to avoid his family, and even though he didn’t know why, he respected Cale´s decision. Forget respect his decision, Cale´s wish was his order and Cale´s plea was his law.

That was how much he was in love with the redhead.

Yet, he was the very reason Cale had to do what he wouldn’t do out of his own free will: Contact his family.

Alberu couldn’t help but feel bad and guilty.

But he couldn’t help but feel a little, a tiny bit, excited as well.

Well, honestly, who wouldn’t? He would get to meet his boyfriend´s family, of course he was excited.

Too bad he didn’t know that it wouldn’t end up going too well, even worse than when Cale was meeting his family.

Chapter Text

The atmosphere in the room was icy and incredibly uncomfortable.

While Deruth seemed to be in a very good mood, his wife and children weren’t.

Violan felt shivers running down her spine after she recalled the conservation she and Deruth had in the afternoon. Cale would be coming tomorrow.

For some reason she feared the presence of her step-son and his “friend”. Her guts were telling her that something big was about to happen and with time; she had learnt to trust those gut-feelings of hers.

Her children on the other hand were quick witted and immediately noticed their parent´s strange moods upon entering, hence weren´t in the best of moods themselves.

“Mommy could you please pass the salt?”

Violan didn’t even smile as she passed the salt to her daughter. Basen frowned as he noticed that happening. His only hope was that this mood would soon vanish; he also wanted his normal father back instead of such a strange smiling figure who seemed to be in the best of moods.

It was all because of the conservation the couple previously had.

A few hours earlier, after lunch, Violan got a call.

It was no other than her husband telling her the good news of his son´s visit.

Violan, who had been thinking that Cale might have died, couldn’t describe the relief she felt going through her veins. Then she asked her husband how he knew.

´Cale called yesterday evening and asked me for help, so I send a few people to pick him and his people up. I just felt the need to inform you since he´ll be arriving in the morning.´

Violan had never seen her husband fulfill such a shameless act. How could he not tell her that Cale was safe and alive? How could he leave her clueless? How could he sleep next to her the whole night, kiss her in the morning, eat her breakfast and laugh with her before work while knowing it all along? How dare he?!

´Oh, I just thought about it, but Joo Ho-Shik will also come by in the morning, he hasn’t seen Cale in such a long time and wishes to check his condition- ah, he also wanted to give him some pills! Hahaha!´

Violan didn’t know what to say; therefore she simply walked out of the room and ignored Deruth until now. She also didn’t plan on stopping ignoring her stupid, self-centered and arrogant husband anytime soon.

Basen and Lily exchanged looks and quickly finished their dinner to head up the stairs. Both of them were unaware that in the morning a very important person to them would be arriving.

~

At another place, two pilots looked at each other and sighed as they stared at the seemingly pitch black sky. They then looked outside the window of their vast cockpit only to see a black car approaching their plane.

It wasn’t their plane exactly, but the private jet they were instructed to fly here and then back to South Korea on their boss´ command. Naturally, their boss was no other than Deruth Henituse who had instructed them to pick up his first son.

Both pilots were rather fresh in the company and hence didn’t know that Deruth had another son since nobody ever spoke about Deruth having three children.

“Baek Khan, you should rest first.”

Baek Khan looked up at the man who was hired after him yet was by ten years older than him and hence his senior.

“It´s okay Mr. Lee, I am still full of energy. Furthermore, this is very important. Mr. Henituse instructed us to be especially careful since his son´s plane just had a crash landing.”

Ming Lee sighed and shook his head while checking a few things.

“If he were my son, I´d get him on a ferry and not a plane, tsk.”

Baek Khan had a sad smile on his face as he nodded his head. His wife had blessed him with a son a few months ago and he couldn’t even think of not picking his son up himself if something were to happen to him, even if he were to be busy. He had no understanding towards Deruth Henituse who was seemingly incredibly happy about his son´s arrival in Seoul. Yet, he didn’t come pick him up himself, nor did he arrange a ferry for him, but instead a plane while his son had just survived a plane crash.

What kind of father must someone be to do something like that?

“I wonder, we haven’t heard about this first son, Mr. Henituse really likes talking about his children, so why didn’t he ever mention his eldest?”

Ming Lee scoffed and looked at his coworker´s face. He then shook his head. Baek Khan was still young, in his early thirties and had a lot to learn. Yet, he could understand where he was coming from.

“I´ve heard from my friend that a year ago the boss had been acting rather strange for a while, that was also the time he stopped talking about his eldest son, how was his name again? Ah! Cale! Cale Henituse! Right, that was what the young man was called!”

Baek Khan listened attentively to his coworker talking.

“That doesn’t sound Korean, Sir?”

Ming Lee laughed and nodded his head.

“I guess you don’t talk with the elder folks?”

Baek Khan embarrassedly scratched the back of the head.

“No, Sir, I don’t.”

Ming Lee shook his head to show him that it didn’t matter whether he was talking with the elders of the company or not, since Ming Lee was.

“Well, I have a friend, actually my hyung, who has worked in the company for over twenty years now! He knows a lot about everything, naturally also our boss. He told me that Miss Violan is our boss´s second wife. And the young Basen isn’t his actual son.”

“No way! He talks about him so much, how can he not be his real son?!”

Ming Lee scoffed and lightly punched his coworker in the head.

“Baek Khan, Baek Khan, you still have lots of things to learn, tsk. To our boss, Basen is his son! Anyways, our boss´s first wife is said to be a beauty, an absolute goddess! My hyung-nim has seen her once! She´s from England even. And with her, our boss had his first child, the little Cale.”

Baek Khan had his mouth wide open. Upon seeing that, Ming Lee couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Haiyaa, but that´s nothing! His first wife got in a tragic accident eleven years ago and died an unfair death. Her son must´ve suffered quite a bit since my hyung-nim told me that our boss spent most of the time, including holidays, at work.”

Baek Khan, who was a father himself, shook his head in disapproval. No matter how much he loved his wife, which was more than just much, he couldn’t even think of letting her death make him a work alcoholic. His responsibility as a father was to suppress his own pain so that his son, Jeon-Yi Khan could lean on him. A man who wasn’t willing to sacrifice his all for his child was no man in Baek Khan´s eyes.

Ming Lee had similar thoughts. Even if he didn’t have a son, he was the father of two wonderful daughters. He had lost his wife to cancer a few years ago and couldn’t even think about remarriage. A man who remarried as quickly as his boss did was no man. And a man who let his child suffer couldn’t even be described as human. The mid-fifty year old man shook his head as he knew the story of the first son of the Henituse family very well.

“What happened then?”

Ming Lee sighed and continued the story he had heard from his reliable friend who had been working in Deruth Henituse´s Company for almost twenty-one years now.

“A year ago…that was when our boss had started acting strange because he stopped acting cheery and became very…depressed-looking. I don’t know what happened exactly, but my hyung-nim told me that his son had tried to kill himself.”

“WHAT?!”

Ming Lee quickly calmed his junior down before the crew they were flying with could notice anything. Of course the overly rich man couldn’t just leave it to sending two pilots and a private jet to his son, no, he also had to send four flight attendants. Seriously, some people had too much money on their hands.

Baek Khan quickly regained his composure and looked at his senior who had actually started to work later at the company than he had.

“How- w-what happened?”

Ming Lee shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“Like I said, my hyung-nim either doesn’t know the details or didn’t tell me. But after that, our boss´s son asked to study abroad and since early spring traveled there to attend some boarding school.”

Baek Khan nodded and smiled.

“Does that mean that he planned on visiting his family?”

Ming Lee shrugged. From what his hyung-nim had told him in was rather unlikely, but that wasn’t something he had to tell the hopeful Baek Khan. His hyung actually seemed to dislike their boss for his actions and he wasn’t someone to dislike anyone.

“I don’t know. What I know is that our boss seems like a shitty father.”

Baek Khan immediately looked serious once again and nodded his head fiercely.

“And how shitty! Who sends his son on a trip on an airplane after he had experienced an airplane crash! From what I´ve heard it was the recent crash!”

Ming Lee nodded his head after hearing his coworker complain the same way he had done in his thoughts. Yes, yes, their boss could do all the good deeds there were, yet the two pilots would still look at him like a shitty person since he disregarded his son like that. And not just his son as they were informed that the son of their boss traveled with some people, and naturally those people had experienced the crash as well.

“Yes, yes, so let´s fly to the best of our abilities!”

Ming Lee nodded and then averted his attention back. It seemed that it was just on time as one of the four flight attendants entered the cockpit to tell him that the passengers were seated and that the plane could start if they had gotten the permission from the tower.

And like that, both Baek Khan who was excited to do his best for both his family and boss´s son, and Ming Lee who just tried not to let the plane crash again, started their tenth flight together.

~

Meanwhile Cale had a rather bad feeling.

He looked up to see one of the flight attendants smiling a strained smile. It was a rather old woman whom he was certain had seen him before, yet he couldn’t recall seeing her.

But that wasn’t the problem – not at all actually. He looked at his boyfriend who was looking outside the window. He was the only one who was still awake since both Ron and his son had been incredibly tired and were currently asleep, even before the plane had the chance to take off.

“Psst!”

Alberu immediately looked over and saw Cale looking up to him with a desperate look in his eyes. The blonde immediately stopped smiling upon noticing how uncomfortable Cale seemed and made him room to cuddle, which Cale immediately, without hesitation, accepted.

“What´s up?”

Alberu chose to speak in English since it didn’t seem that Cale wanted the purely Korean-Chinese flight attendants to find out. Unsurprisingly, those flight attendants didn’t even listen to the boys´ conservation since they were only looking at Cale and pitying him.

“…Nothing, just feels kinda awkward…”

Alberu scoffed at Cale´s “nothing” and hugged him even tighter. One of his legs were broken but his hands worked quite fine.

“Is it because of that woman?”

Cale rolled his eyes because of Alberu´s obviousness, yet he couldn’t hide that small smile. It felt incredibly good to have someone who knew you well enough to grasp even the smallest of hints. And Cale was even more thankful for having Alberu. He honestly didn’t feel like he deserved to have someone like that, especially after what had happened to Choi Jung Soo…

“Psst! She can speak English- I think…?”

Alberu let out a chuckle at his boyfriend´s cuteness and shook his head.

“Yeah, for sure, that´s the reason she´s part of the Korean-Chinese crew?”

Cale shrugged.

“I don’t know what my father might do since he knows you´re from England, perhaps they´re all Korean-English-Chinese-speaker?”

Alberu let out a laugh at that.

“Yeah, don’t tell me everyone from Korea is as talented in languages as you.”

Cale shrugged and hid his face in his boyfriend´s chest. Both of them were wearing not their own clothes but somehow Alberu´s shirt still smelled like Alberu – one of the safest places for Cale to be in.

Alberu simply sighed and petted his boyfriend´s head while not letting said old woman out of his sight.

Said woman truly was the definition of old. She was surely over her retirement age. She was incredibly small, maybe about 5 feet (152cm) tall and had short, curly, grey hair. Additionally she had incredibly big, fat, red glasses that seemed a little too big for her face. Yet, she seemed like a really sweet old lady. On her name patch Alberu could tell her name was Seol-Hee Ah. He didn’t know much about Korean names, but the name sounded lovely. (Name actually means ice and hope translated, also bright and shining, really beautiful tbh.)

Seol-Hee Ah didn’t seem terrifying, strange, cringe, stalker-like or bad at all. The youth shook his head one last time and then looked back down at his cute boyfriend who had fallen asleep over the short period of time he wasn’t looking. A relieved sigh Alberu wasn’t aware was in him left his lips and his whole body relaxes automatically.

Ah, he had been incredibly worried about Cale since he could feel how tense his boyfriend was all day long; and yesterday too, since he would have to visit his family while he stated he didn’t want to visit his family at all costs.

Alberu had worried over Cale since the teen didn’t sleep well last night, not to forget he had taken some Chinese pills instead of his “real ones” due to them getting lost.

“Young man.”

Alberu flinched and immediately checked whether his boyfriend was woken up, but no, he was lucky. He then looked in front of him to see the old flight attendant called Seol-Hee Ah. She smiled a friendly smile and Alberu smiled back. She sat down in the seat opposite to Alberu and at that moment, the plane finally started to roll down the lane.

“We´re taking off now, young man. How are you feeling?”

´Cale was right, they can speak English, goddamn it.´

Alberu smiled awkwardly after he managed to not speak his mind and slightly bent his head since this was the least respect he could pay to Seol-Hee Ah, an elderly person. He then decided to speak in Korean to honor her even more, especially since his Korean was at a really good level (which even his boyfriend acknowledged who was usually extremely picky with everything).

“I am feeling fine, Ma´am.”

Seol-Hee Ah nodded her head and seemed to be content with the boy´s answer. She then looked at Cale and her gentle smile changed a bit. It seemed…to become sadder.

“He´s not just a simple friend for you, young man, am I right?”

Alberu couldn’t help but blush lightly and nodded his head.

“I am his boyfriend, Ma´am.”

Seol-Hee´s smile became brighter once again and she seemed cheery all of a sudden.

“That is very good! Very, very, very good! Young ones should always follow the true path of love! My husband and I had a friend who also loved her friend back then but didn’t dare to say it so she became unhappy. That is very good when you talk about feelings! It is very important!”

Alberu nodded and smiled. Yes, communication was the key to a healthy and long-living relationship.

“Ma´am, I am not Mr. Henituse´s son.”

Seol-Hee rolled her eyes without losing her cheery expression and quickly chuckled.

“Haiyaa, who said you were? You look nothing like that old scoundrel or like the beautiful Miss! Your boyfriend does look like the beautiful Miss and thankfully nothing like that darn scamp (a worthless fellow, also like a rascal, but worse). Haiyaa, the young people nowadays, always assuming everyone´s after money.”

Alberu immediately got embarrassed but Seol-Hee just smiled and seemed okay with it.

“I just think it´s not good for someone who was in a plane crash to get on a plane so soon, Haiyaa.”

The blonde council president couldn’t help but smile now. He didn’t expect people to be so friendly out of nowhere. On the other hand, Cale always talked good about the Korean elderly and how Alberu must respect them.

“My name is Alberu Crossman, Ma´am.”

Seol-Hee chuckled and nodded her head.

“Yes, yes, I know that! My granddaughter has shown me a video where you fight your brother a few days ago! Hahaha, it´s good that you weren’t the one who was being beaten! Back in my days, boys always fought, that lies in their nature!”

“Uh, yes?”

Seol-Hee nodded her head, seemingly content with the boy´s answer. She then continued to talk about her family.

“You know, my granddaughter is a very beautiful child. She´s a bit older than you with her twenty years and still doesn’t have a boyfriend. Can you imagine how devastating it is? Haaa, I don’t have that much time left, and she´s not even looking for a boy!”

Seol-Hee shook her head in a disappointed manner.

“But look at you! Such a handsome man! The two of you look very good together! I wish that you stay together as long as I and my husband stayed together!”

A smile appeared on Alberu´s lips as he nodded and listened to the old woman´s talk. During their three hour flight the two of them conversed for about half of it, the other half was spend silently. Nevertheless, Alberu could find out that Seol-Hee had worked for almost forty years for the company, even before Deruth had taken it over. She knew many things; and also many things about her boss. He also found out that she didn’t like Cale´s father, which made him smile a bit.

She had shown a similar reaction to him as Cale did, but well, what could he do now? A sly smile appeared on the blonde´s face as he looked down at his peacefully sleeping boyfriend. He honestly hoped that everything would go smoothly, and if not, he would have to force it to go by smoothly.

A new kind of determination was visible in the soon eighteen-year old´s eyes as he thought about the many things he would do if Cale wouldn’t be feeling well in his own home.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but be excited once again. He wondered if Cale had felt the same when meeting his parents, but knowing Cale probably not. The smile on Alberu´s lips was one full of love as he continued to think about his beloved boyfriend.

Chapter Text

Cale Henituse was the son of the multi-billionaire Deruth Henituse and the fashion icon Jour Thames. Those two people met a while back in summer of 1993 when Jour was only fifteen years old and about to enter the prestigious boarding school Roan Academy in her hometown Manchester.

She was an incredibly beautiful woman and the daughter of two very proud and loving people. Her mother, who was always incredibly supportive and her father, who was incredibly protective of her, were two dream parents and Jour´s only idols.

She had lived a normal life if one didn’t point at the Baron´s castle she lived in. Until middle school, she went to a normal public school and she also had normal friends. She was incredibly beautiful, she had full crimson hair that was nothing like the usual “red” hair which was actually ginger. Her pale skin in combination with her feeble body made her look like a literal Disney Princess.

Naturally someone with the looks of Jour Thames gained a certain popularity in school. But not only that but also her personality were popular. She was kind, understanding, helpful, always listened and an especially good friend.

She was someone who was liked by everyone without even doing anything. Contrary to everyone´s opinion of her looking like a shy introvert, Jour Thames had been a literal trouble maker in middle school. Especially her best friends knew about that. She was the very definition of a rebel. Her laughter sounded like a dying pig and her behavior was worse than the ones of thugs. She lived for horror movies and loved a bit action.

Sports were her best subject and even though she had a weak body she always won in games fair and square.

Not to forget that Jour always threw “secret” parties whenever her parents weren’t home. She also had many boys waiting for her with which she not just kissed to say the least. Her current boyfriend in summer of the year 1993 was a boy a year older than her called Ben. Bed Roger.

He was a tall, blonde boy with handsome features and nice, green eyes. He was also the complete opposite of the outgoing Jour Thames and a rather shy introvert. That was what the redheaded girl loved the most about him. Actually, contrary to the four boys she had dated before Ben, she actually thought that this relationship might become something long-term.

Her parents, as always, were supportive of her decision. Even her father, who usually hated her habit of changing boyfriends, liked the new kid. Ben was nice, kind and everything he could wish for. But it didn’t matter because the boy actually liked Jour very much. So much that it was obvious to people who hadn’t seen the couple even once before; he blushed whenever she smiled or even looked at him, and he had always that dumb, love-sick smile on his face.

Then, he broke up with her.

Jour never found out why Ben decided to break up with her when things were this good and she had no other choice but to believe that he no longer loved her. But that was actually wrong. The real reason was yet to uncover. It was something that would ruin Jour if she was to hear it.

Ben broke up with her in the end of August and only a few weeks later her parents died. Jour Thames´ behavior changed completely and she stopped going out. Her life- it destroyed her. She didn’t have someone she loved anymore when she needed it the most. Little did she know, Ben came by each and every single day with flowers and wanted to greet her, yet didn’t dare do so because he was caught up in the delusion that she hated him.

Time passed, so did summer break.

In the last week of summer break, on a Monday, Jour decided to head out. She went to her secret favorite place, an old bridge in the middle of seemingly nothingness, and watched the landscape.

That was when she met her future husband.

At the time where she had lost all hope, a ray of sunshine appeared in front of her.

Deruth Henituse was two years older than her and approached the girl whose tears were streaming down her red cheeks seemingly endlessly. He pitied her; that was the reason he approached the beautiful girl.

“Hey.”

Jour couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden statement and quickly turned around to see a handsome, tall teenager standing in front of her. He had chocolate brown hair and even darker brown eyes. He was quite handsome, though not quite comparable to her previous boyfriend Ben. Jour quickly wiped her tears away with her sleeve and put on a small smile.

“Heyyy…”

Deruth chuckled and shook his head, then leaned on the bridge´s railing while looking and the beautiful girl standing there and crying quietly.

“You know, if you don’t feel like it, you shouldn’t smile.”

Jour looked confused at first, yet quickly stopped smiling and looked away from the teen.

“I´m not from here…so if you want to, you can tell me what´s bugging you so much.”

Lies.

Jour wouldn’t have to tell that strange teen for him to know.

But she wasn’t aware of that and foolishly continued to speak to him. He looked trustworthy but wasn’t.

“If you´re not from here, where are you from?”

Deruth smirked and told her.

“I´m from South Korea.”

Jour frowned upon hearing that answer. South Korea was quite far away from here. Why would someone come from so far away to Manchester?

Deruth who immediately understood what Jour might be thinking, smirked and shook his head.

“No need to be so suspicious. My father´s here for business and he took me along, for I have to improve my English language skills…blah, blah, blah.”

Jour chuckled upon hearing that.

“Well, you sure have a rather heavy accent, but not too bad.”

Deruth shrugged and the two of them continued to converse for a short while. It was because both of them still had other things to do other than standing there and converse. Yet, it felt nice. Jour started thinking about other things that the loss of all her loved ones and Deruth managed to ignore the actual reason he was here. While it was true that Deruth´s father had some business to attend, he didn’t take him along because Deruth had to improve some language skills, but rather because Deruth asked him to.

But that is a story for another day.

“You know, I have to go back in two weeks, let´s meet up here tomorrow again at the same time, if you want to.”

Jour looked up at the teen who stared at her with a similar gaze as Ben had. She then smiled and nodded.

“Okay, let´s do just that.”

That was how the parents of Cale Henituse had met. It seemed like fate had connected them, yet it didn’t.

But that is also nothing we should tell for now.

The important thing is that Jour Thames soon moved to South Korea and started a relationship with the man who seemingly rescued her from the hard time she went through. Ben Roger watched it all happen, though he also mustered up the courage to tell Jour not to move. Yet he wasn’t heard by the teenager who was blinded by her greenness and foolishness.

Today, Ben Roger was a successful author.

And coincidentally, he was in Seoul for a fan-meeting.

~

Alberu looked around the crowded streets, then back to his boyfriend who didn’t seem to be lost at all. The blonde council president had difficulties following his great boyfriend around and blamed it on his crutches. He should have stayed in his wheelchair and let Cale do all the difficult work.

He, his beloved boyfriend as well as the Molan father-son duo arrived late at night, or rather early this day, at the airport in Seoul. They weren’t greeted by Cale´s father or family members and only a chauffeur who bent down to show his deepest respect. There were also a few (actually, a lot) bodyguards clothed in black following them around and making sure they were safe.

Then, after an hour of a silent car-ride in which Cale managed to fall asleep again, they finally arrived at the Henituse mansion in Seoul. Beacrox carried the now fully asleep Cale. Both he and his father were extremely thankful that Cale was currently asleep and that he didn’t have to see this cursed building for now.

“Sirs, we´ve arrived.”

Ron only nodded and pushed Alberu´s wheelchair forward with his not-broken left arm. Alberu couldn’t help but let his jar drop. Hell, this mansion that was Cale´s home was probably thrice, no, five or six times as big as his own mansion. It was so big that the Crossman´s mansion felt like a normal one family-home in comparison, so much that Alberu wondered whether his father even owned a real mansion or just a large house.

Yet, the vast mansion in front of him felt cold for some reason. Maybe it was because it didn’t have a garden in the front yard (or back yard for that matter) or because it was made out of black stones that looked even darker in the night, but it didn’t feel the least bit welcoming and rather like an enemy base he was about to enter.

The young council president got the chills and looked up to see his carried boyfriend in Beacrox´ arms. Cale´s face looked so peaceful while he slept; it wasn’t his first time noticing that. Alberu frowned. He didn’t expect Cale to grow up in such an environment. All of a sudden, he started thinking about Cale´s childhood.

His mother died early but that didn’t exactly mean that he had a bad childhood – yet he had a complicated relationship with his family, which might indicate a bad childhood. Alberu didn’t want to ask Cale about such a personal topic and promised himself to ask either Ron, Beacrox or someone else late when Cale wouldn’t be around.

“Hey boy-“

Alberu looked up to see that Ron wasn’t even looking at him, yet he was certain that he was talking with him (because, who else was there to call ´boy´?). Furthermore he was currently talking in English and it was almost enough to be called a whisper.

“You should watch out while being here. I don´t care about you, but the young master-nim does, very much so. So be careful. And watch out for him too.”

Alberu frowned upon hearing that warning and immediately accepted it. He didn’t ask why, it was because he knew Ron was a very thorough man who didn’t say needless and useless things. If the old man told him to be careful and watch out it meant that this Henituse family wasn’t as simple as it seemed to be.

He was then pushed into the incredibly cold looking mansion.

That was how he arrived in Seoul in the early morning. Right now he was out with Cale who had wanted to show his boyfriend around Seoul even before they could eat breakfast. The couple was alone without any supervision; the reason Alberu had chosen those cursed crutches to not make his beloved work.

It was because he had noticed the slightly shaking of Cale´s hands and his strange demeanor when he was inside the mansion he had grown up in.

Cale stopped in front of a Boba Shop with many different Bubble Teas inside. He turned around to look at where Alberu was and noticed that his boyfriend was rather fast in crutches. He wasn’t good in sports for nothing.

“Hey, do you want to try something good?”

A smile graced Alberu´s lips and he couldn’t help but nod. It was just so he could see the shine in Cale´s reddish-brown orbs that always appeared there whenever he got something he wanted. It was something Cale was probably unaware of, yet it was a not uncommon sight for his “better” half.

Cale pushed the door to the Boba Shop open and waited for Alberu to pass through until he let go. He looked around the small shop. The walls were still peach-color with many different sized Boba-cups with eyes on them. Not to forget the pastel color-colored chairs and tables which allowed the customers to sit down and drink their Bubble Tea.

“Have you ever had Bubble Tea before?”

Cale pulled back a violet colored chair for Alberu to sit in. Alberu immediately took it and put his crutches next to him. He then watched Cale sit down gracefully until he answered his color.

“Not really.”

Cale couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Wait, how long have we been together now?”

Alberu didn’t even have to think about it.

“Next Friday it´ll be a month.”

Cale shook his head in disbelief.

“And I didn’t introduce you to my best friend all this time?”

It was just a joke, yet Alberu decided to play along with it, as always. Cale was happy and he had no reason to ruin it, especially since he noticed how much Cale was on edge this morning.

“How could you? Who is that best friend that I don’t know about yet?”

Cale chuckled and blushed slightly, resulting in Alberu getting even pinker ears and cheeks. Cale Henituse, Alberu had one hell of a cute, sweet and perfect boyfriend. What did he do to deserve someone like Cale? Nothing, he didn’t deserve a perfect angel at all! He simply stole him before anyone else could get him!

“Well, then let me introduce you. Since you didn’t have Bubble Tea before, do you want me to surprise you with a flavor or do you want to pick one yourself?”

Alberu didn’t even need to think once again.

“Just surprise me.”

Cale nodded with a rare happy smile on his cherry lips. Oh man, how much did Alberu want to touch those cherry lips! Hell, he wanted to pull Cale over this instant and kiss him until he died. And even then, he would somehow manage to come back and kiss this dream of a boyfriend again and again and again!

He watched Cale turn around and go to the counter to order. He couldn’t help but gulp. Had Cale´s waist always been this small and thin? Had his hair always been this gorgeous? Had his walk always been this gracious? Had Cale always been such an angelic being? Hell, what did Alberu ask himself, huh? Of course! Cale was the very definition of perfect!

Whoever decided to open the dictionary to look up the word ´perfect´ would find Cale´s picture there! Alberu was convinced that this was the truth, oblivious to reality. Had he always been this lovesick?

Was lovesick even a term Alberu could still use?

He doubted it.

With each passing day Alberu fell for Cale again and again in so many ways than he had thought to be possible. It was amazing. Alberu felt like a drug addict – he was addicted to Cale Henituse and wouldn’t be able to even spend a single day without him.

The blonde´s heart started to beat faster all of a sudden and he flushed.

´I want to marry him.´

And how much Alberu Crossman wanted to marry Cale! He wanted to make him his and his alone. Don’t get the blonde wrong; he wasn’t possessive, just a bit too overprotective over Cale. No, that wasn’t the right term too.

Let´s just call Alberu Crossman a lovesick fool that wasn’t actually a fool and meant each and every single thought very serious?

Who knew that in the far future, it wouldn’t just be a faraway dream anymore?

“Alberu?”

Alberu flinched and looked up at the love of his life – no, at the essence of his life – looking at him worriedly.

“Is everything okay? Are you feeling pained? I have a hyung who´s actually a doctor, if you don’t feel well we should pay him a visit. You know what? I don’t care, we´ll pay him a visit wither way.”

Cale just continued talking worriedly while Alberu listened to his boyfriend and his majestic voice. Cale should ask for money just for people to listen to him.

Cale who misinterpreted his boyfriend´s dazed state as something bad (not one of the many symptoms of lovesickness) shook his head worriedly. He didn’t want Alberu to become sick or hurt. Maybe it was because of his traumatic past of his habit of playing his own health down; he got even more worried than before.

“You know, we can just leave and-“

“Hey kitten?”

Alberu ignored Cale´s worried state and looked him straight into those beautiful, reddish-brown orbs. Hell, if they weren’t it South Korea where public kisses were seen as something bad, he would have leaned over and kissed Cale right now. Yet, he could only take the younger male´s hand.

“I love you.”

Cale´s brain stopped working for a few seconds. Tell yourself what you want, but Alberu Crossman had never told Cale that he loved him before. He always showed it, yet he didn’t tell him before. Now he did. It was because Alberu had felt a need to make it clear that the thing he felt for Cale wasn’t like but love.

Hell, the like-stadium in his lovesickness had been over one week after they started dating.

Cale stared at his boyfriend with big, widened eyes, not able to even think properly. Alberu had a gentle smile on his face. He actually didn’t need Cale responding, he just wanted to tell him that he loved him. Yet, Cale did respond.

“I…Saranghaeng!” (Saranghaeng is like saranghae but in a cuter way, both means ´I love you´ in Korean in case you didn’t know. It´s okay if you didn’t, I just thought it would be cute if I added it here…)

Cale changing his language mid-sentence and almost shouting his response out with a fully red face was the cutest thing he had ever done. Alberu couldn’t help but stare at his beloved boyfriend struggling to come to his senses and failing at calming down his crazy blush.

That was probably the moment he knew that there was no other but Cale in his life.

He didn’t care whether it sounded selfish, possessive, idiotic, naïve or whatnot, it was just that Alberu Crossman freaking, fucking, ducking loved Cale Henituse.

The Boba Shop owner was the only person other than the cute couple who heard the two of them confessing to each other like that. A smile appeared on her lips. She remembered her husband´s confession twenty years ago and couldn’t help but be in a better mood. He wasn’t working today because he was helping their only child, a cute daughter, moving into her new apartment.

She made sure to tell her family about those lovely-dovely couple when she was done with work later. With an even brighter smile than before the old lady brought the two boys their Bubble Teas and made sure to comment on how good they looked together.

Of course she also chose to take out the special Valentine´s Day cups for the two of them.

Chapter Text

“Rok Soo! Hey Rok Soo! Come look here!”

“Tsk, stop calling me that, that´s not my name.”

“Hahaha, but it has a really suiting meaning!”

“Meaning my ass, just call me by the name my mother gave me.”

“But that would only be half as much fun!”

“Tsk, why are you even sitting here, huh?”

“The weather´s nice- Hey Rok Soo, did you want to have this view all for yourself?! Is that the reason you try to send me away, eh?”

“Haaa, you´re annoying. Just shut up for once.”

“Hehe, no can do! I still have to tell you about the novel I´m reading!”

“Please don´t.”

“It´s about that guy who murdered his whole family because he thought they betrayed him, but they had been protecting him the whole time, he simply didn’t know! Well, not that that´s important right now-“

“Choi Jung Soo.”

“Yes~?”

“Just eat.”

Thud.

There was a loud sound, followed by a pained groan. Cale looked up only to see his old, dark room that didn’t even have a source of light since the moon was hiding behind dark clouds today. On closer look, Cale could see that it was snowing heavily. The teen sighed and rubbed his hurting side while sitting up. He didn’t land on the cold floor but his grey carpet.

“How strange…”

Cale couldn’t help but think about what had woken him up so suddenly, surely it must have been some kind of bad dram, yet he couldn’t recall anything at all. It was as if he blanked out while he usually wouldn’t. The redhead sighed and stood up, taking his phone that had been lying on the counter. It was almost six am, an “ungodly” time in the redhead´s opinion.

“What…”

He shook his head, trying to recall the smallest of details about his dream, yet he couldn’t even guess what it was about. In the end, he blames his strange mood on his room. It was the very same room where his life had started to go downhill, no matter how fancy and expensive the furniture in it was.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to get any more sleep (that is if he stayed here), the redhead put on his slippers and exited this godforsaken room which held way too many negative memories in it. Even if it didn’t seem believable, there had actually been a few positive memories, which turned into bad ones as well…

The teen calmly walked down the dark floor of the top floor, then turned left and walked down the stairs. He walked towards one of the guest rooms in which he knew he would find his boyfriend. He took a deep breath, then opened the not locked door.

Upon entering, Cale immediately noticed how the room seemed to be much more welcoming than his own – it was one of the simpler guest rooms. While it was still dark, Cale used the flashlight of his phone to look around the large room. The walls had a welcoming, English Red (Reddish-Brown) color and there was a midnight blue carpet lying on the ground. The bed was a modern; queen sized one made out of dark wood. The other furniture of the room, the desk, chair, closet and night stand were all held in a similar style and wood-type. There was also a small, orange couch in the corner of the room in front of the vast window. It made the room have that modern something.

Yet Cale had little interest in the room in comparison to the teen soundly sleeping in the queen sized bed. While Cale didn’t want to wake him up, he kind of felt a bit strange and recalled how his dear boyfriend´s task was to be there for him at all times.

Hence, Cale walked towards the bed, and started poking Alberu´s shoulder.

Once.

Twice.

And then thrice.

There was no response whatsoever. The redhead sighed and started shaking the peacefully sleeping blonde boy who was a bit older than he was. After Alberu didn’t wake up again, Cale saw no other choice than to ´gently´ roll him on the ground. With a swift motion and little force (actually quite a lot), he managed to push Alberu down on the ground, immediately waking him up. A satisfied smile was gracing Cale´s cherry lips.

Alberu, on the contrary, seemed confused at first, as to why he was on the ground all of a sudden, before he noticed someone shining a flashlight in his face. While he was startled at first, he quickly came to the conclusion that it couldn’t be someone other than Cale Henituse. His beloved boyfriend was very satisfied with his work and sat down on the now empty yet incredibly warm and comfortable bed.

The matrass was softer than his own one and it was also bigger. He had a small bed, just enough to fit a single person. It was because while his room was big, it was simple. His father hadn’t cared for him back then, resulting in him having strange furniture which was useful but not anything other than that.

But Cale didn’t care. He disliked his matrass, his bed, his carped, his nightstand, his whole closet, the cursed desk and the uncomfortable chair – he hated his grey and colorless walls, his large window and the vast yet cold bathroom. He disdained his room, the mansion that once had been his home, the awfully empty garden without any flowers and this awful place all in all. It couldn’t be helped, people tended to not like the places where bad things kept happening to them.

“Hey.”

Alberu was still after he heard his boyfriend so casually talk to him. He was silent for a moment before he stood up and sat back up on the bed, of course without forgetting his blanket.

“I love you Cale, I really do, but what are you doing here in the middle of the night, huh?”

The redhead crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head.

“It´s almost morning.”

Alberu sighed and moved closer to his beloved boyfriend and first love ever.

“Heh, don’t be smart with me, you should already know that that won´t up well. So answer me now why you´re awake and not asleep.”

Alberu got into a comfortable position and not soon after, pulled Cale down to lie with him. The redhead let out a tired sigh and cuddled more with his boyfriend. He couldn’t help but feel protected and safe, even in this awful place. A small smile appeared on his lips and he closed his eyes while breathing in the unique scent of fresh cookies mixed with various flowers; it was a smell unique to his boyfriend.

Alberu heaved out a tired breath and watched his boyfriend closely. The little light coming from the sky was enough for Alberu to make out the details of Cale´s face; hence he started to softly trace Cale´s facial contours. He had a lovely face, full, cherry lips which had a nice rosy color and he had long and full eyelashes. He had a sharp jawline and was handsome, yet in a more feminine way.

For some reason, it made Alberu smile.

He was the only person in this world who knew all of Cale´s secrets – at least he strongly believed so. The smile on his face got bigger as he noticed how Cale seemed to be falling asleep. While the blonde wanted Cale to get the sleep he deserved, he couldn’t let him off the hook so easily.

“Babe~ why did you come here so early? And more importantly, why did you wake up at this hour?”

Cale mumbled something inaudible, making Alberu sigh once more. The blonde pulled his beloved closer to his own body, slightly shaking him for him to finally wake up, and to his luck, he also succeeded.

A grumpy Cale was now looking up at him with a rather cute pout on his face.

“I´m waiting.”

Cale rolled his half-open eyes and shook his head.

“You´re evil Alberu, you´re not even letting me sleep anymore!”

Alberu chuckled and shook his head, going through the redhead´s hair with soft and slow strokes.

“Mh, I´m evil.”

Cale just nodded his head.

“Now tell the evil man why you came to him~”

Cale rolled his eyes, yet couldn’t help but feel the need to tell Alberu. It was because he knew that Alberu was someone he could tell anything, be it his past or whatnot- well, maybe not all of it, but a part of it.

“If you need to know that badly, I had a strange dream I can´t remember and then I couldn’t fall asleep again.”

Alberu nodded his head and placed a kiss on his beloved´s forehead. It was a love-filled one that came from the depths of his heart. Alberu was a good listener and probably the best boyfriend that existed – someone who came out of a kitschy romance novel. While he did get jealous easily, he was head over heels in love with Cale and would do anything for him. So he naturally knew his cute boyfriend the best and could tell that even if Cale himself didn’t immediately notice it; that the fact he couldn’t remember what the dream was about was bugging him.

The blonde council president let out a sigh and hugged Cale a bit tighter, making him relax immediately.

“Do you maybe have an idea what it was about?”

Cale took a moment to think before shrugging.

“Not really. But it´s kinda giving me mixed emotions, it´s like making me happy but feel awkward and strange at the same time; it´s like the feeling you get when you´re certain you´ve forgotten something and come back to like, your house burning.”

Alberu chuckled at the strange comparison but quickly stopped after receiving and acknowledging Cale´s sharp gaze.

“Well, that doesn’t sound too good.”

Cale nodded his head.

“Yeah, it´s strange.”

Alberu shook his head.

“Hey, maybe it´s just a feeling? Let´s see if it goes by.”

Cale nodded his head and snuggled more into Alberu´s chest, then closed his eyes.

“You know, you´re a really good boyfriend.”

Alberu let out an amused laugh at that and shook his head while tracing Cale´s facial contours again.

“I know.”

A smile appeared on Cale´s lips, showing that he was amused.

“You´re so humble, huh?”

“Yep, I know that as well.”

After a few seconds of silence, the couple chuckled about the rather funny situation. Their laughter stopped after a while and the two returned to a comfortable silence.

“Hey Alberu,”

“Mmh?”

“Thank you.”

Alberu was now going through Cale´s soft hair and stopped for a short moment, too less for anyone but him to notice. He then shook his head.

“There´s nothing to thank me for.”

Cale didn’t think so.

To him, Alberu was like his savior.

The knight in white, shining armor – though for Cale it´d probably be golden armor.

The one who pulled him out of the dark, depressing hole Cale had been sitting in for over half a year, Alberu managed to pull him out of that. He also managed to make Cale feel safe, comfortable, protected. Cherished, loved. And happy. Cale was finally able to truly feel happy around Alberu.

Who knew what would have happened if Cale hadn’t gotten the chance to meet the blonde boy? Or his other friends; Choi Han, Paseton, Rosalyn, Witira, Archie and Lock. Jack, Taylor, Gilbert, Eric and Amiru too.

Back then, when Cale first moved into town, he slept in, often also not waking up before noon and standing up even later. He didn’t have anything to look forward to, or anyone to talk to. Of course there were Beacrox and Ron who tried to be always there for Cale, but both of them could not replace friends – or Cale´s mother. Back in the day, Cale would always stay home; the only time he would go out would be to take a short stroll in the garden.

He also felt strangely empty and a bit emotion-devoid, emotionless. He would read books all the time to get his mind off of things that aren’t exactly…good or healthy. He didn’t like reality, hence found a way out in fiction. The historical novels his mother used to love always bored him, but in the memory of her, he would force himself through the many pages and countless words. After a while, he would come to enjoy it either way.

Yet, fictional novels were probably his only way out; his weapon in the war against reality.

Now, he didn’t need this weapon anymore.

He wasn’t alone anymore.

Reality didn’t seem so dangerous.

And it was all thanks to Alberu.

So hence, Cale just needed to thank him.

“…there´s plenty.”

Alberu shook his head.

It was because he still didn’t know the whole truth.

But really, who did?

No one did.

It was because the whole truth wasn’t meant to be discovered.

Everyone had their secrets.

Some were simple and others were not.

Someone cheated on their partner and couldn’t bring themselves to tell their partner, another lied about being busy to cancel plans, someone else didn’t pay their taxes and another person killed someone.

That was the way the world worked.

Cale´s personal secret(s) tended to be a bit more complicated, as not even he himself was aware of his it.

But now he didn’t have to face it all alone.

Now he had someone always standing behind him, supporting him.

In Cale´s opinion that deserved thanks.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Cale was startled at first, but quickly caught himself and looked up at Alberu. The blonde had been observing him thinking about his life deeply. Cale flashed the older a smile and shrugged.

“Nothing special, really.”

Alberu just hummed and placed another kiss on the top of Cale´s hair. It was a romantic action that made the younger blush. Contrary to his drowsy state from before, he was now awake and more aware of his surroundings than ever.

While he did feel embarrassed that he had come to Alberu, he couldn’t deny that he would do it again. He was seeking the affection, the love, the protection; just anything that Alberu provided him at any time, no matter what. Maybe it was because of his broken childhood, maybe because of something else, but Cale just needed to be with Alberu in order to be happy.

Alberu felt the same way, actually, maybe even a bit more.

It was precisely because he had a “rather normal” childhood that he knew that the thing, this connection, that he and Cale shared, was special.

“Hey Cale,”

The redhead shifted his position so that he was able to look at his boyfriend for a longer amount of time than just a few seconds in which he would destroy his neck. Alberu couldn’t hide is smile.

“I´m the one who should be thanking you.”

“So thank you.”

Cale was left speechless while Alberu took this chance to kiss his boyfriend before he pulled him closer into a hug. Cale´s head (with those red, flushing cheeks) was resting on Alberu´s chest while the blonde´s heart was beating in a comfortable beat.

“And now sleep. It´s still too early.”

Cale did as he was told – for once – without complaining – which was very unusual for the teen – and closed his eyes. Alberu felt victorious and patted his boyfriend´s back in a comfortable silence.

It didn’t take long for Cale to actually fall asleep, and when he did, Alberu was quick to follow.

Chapter Text

“Hey newbie, what was your name again?”

“Tsk, my name is Cale.”

“Hah, that doesn’t sound the least bit Korean at all! What to do, what to do? Hey! From now on you´re Rok Soo!”

“You can´t just change my name like that.”

“Well, I don’t care! I just did, didn’t I? Hahaha! Hey Rok Soo, Jin Mun´s throwing a party today, wanna tag along?”

“Tsk, I don’t want to.”

“Haha, I´ll take this as a yes!”

“I said I don’t want to.”

“Well, you don´t really have a choice, do you? I´ll pick you up at seven!”

“Choi Jung Soo!”

“Hahaha!”

“Tsk, why are you doing this, we´re not even friends?”

“Well, I wanna be your friend, so I am your friend.”

“Haaa, you´re giving me a fucking headache.”

“What did I just hear? Oh my god! Rok Soo, you´re cussing!”

“Shut the fuck up, you´re fucking annoying!”

“I try to be, thanks! Hahaha!”

“Tsk.”

“So anyways, just be ready at seven, else I´mma barge in.”

“Choi Jung Soo!!!!”

~

Cale was once again sitting in his room, plainly letting time pass by. He was looking at his exercise book which was almost full. Other kids his age and even older were having vacation right now.

The fifteen-year old sighed and put his head down on his desk to rest.

He felt frustrated and alone.

He was sooo alone, isolated from other kids his age.

He didn’t have even a single friend, not even a single one in his entire life up until now. Of course there was the crazy Lee Soo Hyuk, the adult-son of the best friend of his mother, but he was currently overseas for some stupid ass film. It was frustrating, especially since Lee Soo Hyuk was more like an older brother or even parent figure than a friend. After all, there was a ten year gap between them, not the best of conditions to make friends your age.

“Haaa.”

Even if Cale didn’t look like it, he wanted to have at least one friend. Was that really too much to ask for? He always recalled the words of his mother.

´Cale, my dear, remember that you have to find at least one friend, okay? That friend could be annoying, but make sure to always keep him by your side.´

Back then, ten years ago as he was told that, Cale had frowned and replied that he didn’t need friends since he had his mother. Well, where was she now? While she did tell him that he still needed to find friends, she had reassured him that she´d always be there for him. She wasn’t.

Not that Cale really blamed her, he just missed her dearly.

Now, ten years after that advice and nine years after Jour Thames´ passing, Cale was especially lonely.

Maybe it was simply because he was bored?

The young teen didn’t do much but read and study all day long, often also reading Chinese, English, French and even Russian books instead of just Korean. One could go as far as to say that he had mastered several other, difficult languages in such a short amount of time to the point he could officially move to that country.

But well, his studies were all off the charts. If he was to attend a normal school he surely would be the top student and-

Cale quickly stood up and practically ran out of his room; for once there was a cheery and excited expression on his face that was too rare for him these days.

The servants that he was quickly passing by all had different reactions to the joyful seeming redhead. While the older ones who really liked him felt relieved that their red gem was finally going out of his room and seemed delightful, the newer ones were confused as to why the young master of the Henituse House was behaving so strangely to his usual behavior.

Yet, Cale did not care and quickly walked down the stairs to get to the second floor, the floor he was certain he would find his personal butler on. After all, today was a Friday, meaning Ron would have to patrol and make sure the house was cleaner than a newly bought and made car. Not even a single dirt particle would be tolerated.

Cale quickly passed by the rather scared looking servants, certain that Ron had been there already. His whole face brightened up as soon as he spotted the tall butler in his black butler´s suit glaring at a wooden desk that stood in the midst of the floor with a telephone on top, mostly for decoration purposes.

“Ron!”

The old man looked up upon hearing the excided sounding yell. He didn’t quite believe his own ears at first, yet that voice was undeniably his puppy young master-nim´s. His usual benign smile was replaced by a true smile as he saw how cheerful the young teenager seemed. He shook his head and approached Cale with his usual soft expression on his face. For the servants, it was like watching a horror movie. Never had they seen the head butler have that kind of expression on his face. He looked like he would swallow up the young Cale at any moment, making some of the younger and newer servants shiver. The older ones who had been here ever since Jour Thames died, on the contrary, had soft expressions as well.

There was a bond between Ron Molan and Cale Henituse that was unique to the both of them. It was similar to the bond a parent had with their child.

“What is it, young master-nim? How may this old man be helpful to you?”

Cale came to a halt and looked up at Ron who was smiling at him with his once again typical benign smile. Yet the old butler couldn’t help but let his eyes soften. Maybe it was out of his control and he simply didn’t acknowledge it yet.

“Ron! I just had the best idea of my entire fucking life!”

Ron shook his head upon hearing the coarse language Cale had picked up in some of the fantasy novels he had been reading. If Ron ever found out which scumbag had written that Chinese book he would make sure to hunt them down and make them pay.

“What is it, young master-nim, if this old man may ask?”

Cale´s bright expression became even brighter. Surely he could blind someone if that person looked directly in his eyes.

“I want to go to school!”

The smile of the old butler crumbled and he furrowed his brows.

“Pardon this old man, but did the young master-nim just say he wants to go to school?”

Instead of answering properly like he usually would have done, Cale simply nodded excitedly, looking just like the teen he actually was for once.

“May I ask for the reason?”

Cale nodded his head once again.

“I can tell you later!”

Ron accepted that and observed the small redhead. Cale who for once didn’t notice the old man´s gaze, started to smile over both ears. Ron couldn’t recall the last time he had last seen Cale smile this contently. He had a good poker face, better than the one of most adult´s actually, so that it was difficult for even Ron to tell what he was feeling.

Cale had to mature too early; hence his life had been difficult. Learning to become an adult early was crueler than most people imagine. He had been robbed of his childhood, resulting in him eating up most of his emotions, gobble them up and never, not even once, let them out. Seeing Cale this happy, looking like a child; to Ron who felt like Cale was like his own second son, it felt like one of the happiest times in years. It was a privilege he got to have.

“Alright, alright, young master-nim do you want me to ask the family head for permission?”

Cale stopped smiling and shook his head.

“Not directly… I was gonna tell Violan-nim since father tends to be, well, you know him.”

Ron only nodded, keeping the benign expression on his face. Else, his killing intend may have shown. He replayed thousands of ways in his mind of how he would take that scumbag´s life. What parent on crack would let their child suffer so much? What parent in hell would abuse their child mentally so much? What devilish demon that became a parent would let their child not trust them more than their step parent?

Ron did not understand.

He lost his wife as well. He had a son as well. Back then, Beacrox had already grown up but that didn’t mean that it hurt any less. He still didn’t chicken out of his job as a father. Yes, his partner, the love of his life may have died, but that was nothing in comparison to what his son, Beacrox, had been feeling at that time. That woman that died, the love of Ron´s life, she had been his mother. The bond between a mother and her child, it was so much stronger than the bond between two lovers.

While it would be a lie to say she wasn’t Ron´s entire world, she was the reason Beacrox existed. It hurt him even more than Ron that she had died. So Ron would have to push his own feelings back and support Beacrox. That was what a responsible, loving and reliable parent would have done.

Cale´s situation was worse than theirs back then. Not only was he only six years old, his father also pushed him away, put him at fault for his mother´s death and abused him mentally to the point where Cale didn’t see him as a father anymore.

“Yes young master-nim, I understand. May I ask what you plan on saying?”

The smile on Cale´s face reappeared. He was probably the only person in the whole world who was this excited about school at that age. Ron wanted to chuckle, but kept his neutral and unjudging expression on his face while maintaining his benign smile.

“You sure you have time, Ron? I mean isn’t today your inspection day?”

Ron shook his head, then glared at the servants standing around him.

“I´m sure Beacrox would be thrilled to take over.”

Cale´s expression brightened and he nodded furiously.

“Okay! Let´s go bring him, then I can tell you everything in detail!”

Ron nodded and with one last glare at the poor servants, he walked away.

“Haaa!”

The twelve servants heaved sighs of relief after they saw how the cruel old man disappeared around the corner with the young master. They exchanged glances. While Beacrox was only half as scary as Ron (but still plenty of scary), he was double if not triple as thorough as his father.

“Han Tae, we won´t get out of here, will we?”

Sung Han Tae shook her head and made sure to tidy up her clothes to not attract Beacrox´ usual judgmental gaze. She then smiled at her cleaning partner, both getting ready for the approaching doom.

At the same time, Cale excitedly opened the kitchen doors. The team of the four cooks under Beacrox´ watch immediately turned their heads and bowed down to greet Cale immediately after. The redhead sighed and approached the only cook who did not bow down to smile at him.

A bit taken back, Beacrox looked at his father for help only to see how Ron had a content expression on his face. No, it would be more fitting to call it a happy expression. He seemed delighted for some reason.

“Hyung-nim, I have such a good idea!”

Beacrox frowned but listened to the teen talk.

Fifteen years.

That was how old Cale was right now.

At that age he still used to call Beacrox ´hyung-nim´.

“What is it?”

Cale seemed proud of himself as he stole a bag of chips from one of the shelves. While both father and son didn’t want to confess it, they felt proud that Cale was at least eating something, be it a bag of unhealthy chips.

“Well, I wanna go to school.”

Cale opened the bag and started eating the spicy flavored chips. Cale loved a bit of spice (or even a bit more than just a bit) in his food.

“To school?”

Cale nodded his head and looked at Beacrox with a gaze that said ´Isn´t that obvious?´.

“Why´s that?”

Ron cleared his throat, gaining his son´s attention.

“That is what the young master-nim will tell me, so I need you take over my inspection on the second floor. Make sure everything´s tidy.”

Without a word or noise of complaint, Beacrox nodded and took off his cook´s apron. He then exited the kitchen, not without patting Cale on the head though.

“Young master-nim, would you like me to send the others away?”

Cale shook his head.

“It´s fine, they´re already on it.”

Ron nodded and the two of them waited until the four cooks quickly walked into another room to leave he head butler and his favorite child alone.

“Young master-nim, may this old man ask why you want to attend school all of a sudden?”

Cale nodded his head and swallowed the chips he had in his mouth. He then tilted his head to the side and shrugged.

“Well, I don´t have any friends my age. It´s boring. And I´m also staying in my room all the time. Also, school doesn’t seem like a bad idea, and if it is, I can just drop out or something.”

Ron nodded his head, a strange smile on his face.

´Friends, he wants to have friends.´

“That´s a good reason to go to school, young master-nim.”

Cale nodded his head, feeling extremely proud of himself.

“Yes, I think so too.”

Ron shook his head, then sat down next to Cale.

“I´m certain the Madame of this house will approve of this.”

Cale nodded his head. Ron always addressed Violan as Madame while he used to address his mother as Lady. It was just a small, little detail Cale had noticed over the past few years and it was something he had learned to truly appreciate.

“I sure hope so.”

Ron nodded and sighed upon seeing how nervous Cale seemed, even if he only noticed because of his slightly shaking hands.

~

A few hours passed by, and soon, it was time for dinner. The Henituse family had a very strict dining plan and they usually all ate at seven pm together. Ever since Cale had been diagnosed with anemia, it was very important to Violan to see him eat every single meal, yet she didn’t manage and had to be happy with just seeing him eat dinner. From time to time though, she also forced him to go out for lunch in addition to the dinner.

“So Basen, what did you do today?”

Deruth was looking proudly at his second, non-biological son who was sitting on the seat next to him. The brown haired boy puffed his chest proudly and picked up a cooked carrot to eat it.

“Well, I was out with my friends. Dodori had the best idea; shooting arrows, so we did that!”

Deruth nodded his head, trying to recall who Dodori was. He smiled as he recalled Basen bringing home a pink haired boy with afro-hair and dark skin who still managed to look incredibly handsome. Deruth was sure he would become a handsome young man in the near future. Dodori was also the son of one of Deruth´s business partners, Mila Gong.

“Did you have fun?”

Basen nodded his head and continued to talk about his eventful day that he spent with Dodori and Nam Woo Jun, two students with whom he attended school together.

In the meantime, Cale was waiting for his chance to tell Violan about his intention of finally going to school as well. He found it a bit difficult to simply interrupt the conservation between his biological father and step brother. To him, it felt disrespectful and simply not right.

Violan Henituse on the contrary, couldn’t care less. She sighed and shook her head while observing her eldest son not looking up from his plate. The sight of it made her sick, especially since she had discussed with her husband to include Cale more. He seemed to have forgotten about that.

“Cale, dear, and how was your day? Did you read something fun today?”

Cale finally looked up from his plate, an elegant smile gracing his lips. Violan smiled too.

“I just reread Gone with the Wind today.”

Violan nodded her head and cut her steak with graceful motions of her hand. She then looked up at Cale again.

“And?”

“I just stayed in my room…”

Violan nodded her head once again, the smile not disappearing from her lips. Deruth and Basen had stopped their conservation and had started to silently listening in on the conservation Violan and Cale were having.

“Is there something else? It feels like you want to talk to me about something.”

Naturally, Violan had been informed about Cale´s idea of visiting school previously as Ron knew better than anyone else how difficult it was for Cale to actually speak his mind in front of the man who was called to be his father.

“Um, mother, I was wondering whether it was possible for me to attend school from this year on.”

Cale was speaking calmly and there was no trace of his inner chaos and nervousness. While his hands were slightly shaking, he blamed it on his anemia. Usually, his poker face was perfect. And so was it today.

“School?”

Cale turned his head to look at his father. Upon making eye contact, he quickly looked away and back down on his plate.

“Yeah, high school…”

Deruth didn’t really understand Cale´s desire to go to school.

“Aren´t you being home taught? Are the teachers doing…something? Are they bad teachers? Should I fire them?”

Cale shook his head. He probably had the best teachers anyone could ever wish for.

“It´s not like that…I just want to get out of this house more.”

Deruth frowned even more, understanding even less.

“Why is that? We have everything here, a movie room, and a garden, an indoor and outdoor pool. We even have a whole library that has more books than most. Why would you want to leave?”

Cale took a deep breath as he shook his head this time.

“It´s-“

Before he could explain himself, Violan cleared her throat, getting her husband´s attention immediately. She smiled softly as she shook her head.

“Deruth, if Cale wants to go to school, he shouldn’t have to explain himself, don’t you think?”

Deruth furrowed his brows and frowned, not understanding where his wife was coming from at all. Violan sighed and then smiled once again at Cale.

“Dear, if you wish to go to school, you should go to school. And if you want to quit again, then you can quit. We´re here to support you.”

Cale felt his heart jump a beat as he listened to Violan´s calm and kind explanation. He felt happy and blessed to have someone as nice and kind as Violan. Of course Deruth´s second wife could never replace Jour Thames, yet she could help lesson Cale´s longing for her for a bit.

“Thank you.”

Violan let out an amused laugh.

“There´s nothing to thank me for. Ask Basen.”

Cale looked at his step brother who was silently eating his food. Upon feeling Cale´s gaze, Basen looked up with a bright expression on his face.

“School is really boring!”

Cale smiled as well and nodded his head.

“I guess so.”

After all, he didn’t go to school in order to learn.

He was going to go to school in order to get some friends.

The family dinner was probably one of the most peaceful the family has ever had. It truly was different from usual for once.

Chapter Text

“Eomma, I´m heading out!” [엄마

is the Korean way to address ones mother.]

A raven haired boy with a bright expression was looking towards the kitchen table where his mother was sitting; drinking her usual dark coffee out of her extra-large coffee mug that he had bought her for mother´s day a few years ago. A bright smile appeared on his face upon seeing his usually nagging mother sitting quietly there, not punishing him for going out with friends instead of studying.

“Be home early!”

The teen had already closed the door by the time his mother had given her response. The woman in her mid-forties let out a sigh and shook her head. Her light brown hair was already turning grey on the roots; she would have to dye it sometime later that week. Her clear, light brown eyes were closed now that her eldest son was out – once again.

Today was the last day of holiday before break was over and school would begin.

And what was her oldest son doing? Instead of studying like his older sister or younger brother he was fooling around with a bunch of just as useless boys! While the thought made her quite angry, she decided to let her husband handle her son.

“Jin-Ah.”

Speaking of the devil. A smile appeared on her face as she saw her husband walking into the small yet comfortable and love-filled kitchen. He was wearing his formal business attire. He worked in a major company that was producing all sorts of soft-drinks.

“Tsk, how can you go looking like that, huh? Tae Woo, do you want your peers to think you only own one set of suits?”

Choi Tae-Woo started smiling and shook his head as he approached his wife and kissed her on the forehead.

“No my love~ I want to make them jealous that their wives can´t make it so that they can continuously wear the same business suit the whole week without being smelly.”

Tae Woo then sat down and took a sip of his wife´s hot coffee. He scrunched up his face and flinched upon the strong taste. Choi Jin Ah couldn’t help but sneer at him.

“Tsk, you do this every morning. Shouldn’t you already know how much you dislike my coffee?”

Tae Woo shook his head and openly stared at his beloved wife. He still loved Jin-Ah just as much as when he had first laid eyes on her – no, even more than back then. There was an unexplainable connection the two of them shared the very moment their eyes had met. Maybe it truly was the legendary red string of fate.

“But I know that you don’t ever let anyone else drink or eat your things. It´s a way I can make sure you won´t fall out of love with me.”

Jin-Ah couldn’t hold her chuckle in and shook her head. She was already forty-three years old, and out of those forty-three years she had been married twenty-four. How could she not be in love with her husband?

“You´re getting old, Tae Woo.”

Even though her voice was harsh, the soft and loving expression on her face was enough to speak for itself.

“You say that, yet you´re smiling.”

Jin-Ah rolled her eyes and took another sip of her coffee while looking out of the wide kitchen window. She could see how her son was with the two neighbors´ kids. She shook her head in disdain.

“Tsk, that troublemaker…”

“Hahaha!”

Tae Woo of course immediately knew whom his wife was talking about. He followed her gaze only to spot his oldest son having fun with two of his friends. The three of them didn’t go to the same school; hence spend lots of time outside of school together. Yet, the two boys, the twins of the neighbors, would soon move to Daejeon, since their grandmother had passed away and they had to take care of their grandfather.

In times like these Tae Woo was thankful that both his and his wife´s parents lived here in Seoul, even though it were the outskirts.

“What´s so funny, huh?! So you want to sleep on the couch tonight, I see!”

Tae Woo had no other choice but to immediately apologize. He would do everything, literally anything, not to sleep on that cursed couch of theirs. It was an old couch handed to them by their parents when the couple first moved in together. It had been there when his wife got pregnant, when they changed diapers and when their kids hid chocolate in their poorly ventilated house in summer. Hence it was a naturally not all too clean couch and more of a disgusting one.

“Sweety, anything but the couch~”

Choi Jin Ah had just one weakness, and that was her husband. Her husband looking at her like a hurt puppy made her immediately forget her anger and she calmed down.

“God, you won´t sleep on that couch, Tae Woo. I love you too much to make you do that.”

Tae Woo smiled while his wife got up and gave him a plate full of rice with some toppings. It were the leftovers of yesterday´s dinner, yet it was the tastiest thing to Tae-Woo. He quickly finished breakfast, then continued to stare at his wonderful wife. While she had lost her thin figure with the slim waist from when she was in her twenties and thirties and had gained a few pounds, she was the most gorgeous existence to him. A lovely smile made its way to his lips without him noticing.

“Tae Woo, don’t you have to get to work?”

Tae Woo quickly got back to reality and shook his head.

“Ah, yes. I´ll talk with Jung Soo later sweetheart.”

Jin Ah nodded her head and stood up to give her husband a kiss.

“Do that.”

Tae Woo nodded and then quickly got out of the house, leaving his wife and two remaining sleeping children alone at home. While he made his way to the car that was parked at the end of the road since his little house did not have a garage, he quickly scolded his oldest son to listen to his mother more. After all, he had to keep his promises with the love of his life.

Choi Jung Soo smiled brightly as he started to run away from his father with his two friends, pretending not to hear what he had to say. There was joy written all over his face while doing so.

Choi Jung Soo.

That was the name of a boy who was the second child of a happily married couple that had lived together for forever. He had an older sister that was two years older than him, and a younger brother, who was three years younger. Being the middle child usually came with being ignored by his parents – at least others thought so. Actually, it was the opposite. As the middle child, his mother prioritized him since he was such a troublemaker compared to his two siblings.

Choi Jung Soo was a good kid. He got along well with anyone at school and was popular with everyone, especially the girls. He was good looking with his stylish raven hair and even darker eyes. His sharp jawline and muscular body made him look “manly”. He was a bit tall for his age and always wore a smile on his face. It was because he was happy.

His parents did a very good job raising him.

That was, why Choi Jung Soo couldn’t stand unfairness. Maybe that was the reason he was friends with everyone, no matter where he went. Such a friend as him, that was what everyone wanted. [Designed after one of my best friends who sadly moved away (we still in contact tho, so no worries!) T^T]

Choi Jung Soo was smiling and laughing, forgetting about the following day completely. No need to mention that his mother had to kick him out of bed for him to finally go to school.

~

“Tsk, I´m sooo~ tired!”

Choi Jung Soo who laid his head on his desk looked up to see his close friend Park Jin Mun. Jin Mun was a tall boy with grey dyed hair that was styled in one of the trendiest styles. The k-pop-idol wanna-be also had the audacity to use blue contact lenses instead of his usual glasses (with which he still looked hot by the way).

He was one of the most handsome boys in the whole district and the “perfect” boyfriend, wasn’t it for his obsession with K-drama and Manhwa. He was also quite obsessed with his looks, working out and such. Still, the girls liked him for that quite a bit.

Choi Jung Soo nodded his head and punched his friend lightly in the shoulder, ignoring the pained grunt coming out of the younger´s mouth. He still remembered how Jin Mun had been bullied because of his glasses as he had very poor eye sight. There had been a time, where he had been worried sick for Jin Mun, yet it had turned out that he was worried for nothing. That punk was quite handsome these days, it wouldn’t be impossible to become a k-pop idol like he had always wanted – well, if it wasn’t for his poor singing voice.

“Oi why are you smirking like that again, huh? Jung Soo~”

Choi Jung Soo glared at Park Jin Mun and he shut up after seeing that scary gaze, yet he didn’t completely give up upon annoying the older boy.

“Jung Soo~ if you look at me like that, what will the newbie say, huh? He´ll forever be afraid of you and never get close to you!”

Upon not hearing a reply, Park Jin Mun let out a laugh.

“Well, I guess he´d be scared either way! Hahaha, but hey, have you heard the rumor about him?”

Choi Jung Soo stopped staring at his friend as if he was looking at a monster and was back to his puppy like gaze.

“I don’t really believe in rumors, but what is it?”

Jin Mun had a knowing smile on his face, yet answered nonetheless.

“Well, I overheard the girls talk about the newbie being from a renowned family, someone from a really rich one. They also talked about him being from the Henituse Family, the one from Henituse Cooperation.”

Choi Jung Soo, who slept during politics and economy classes, raised his eyebrow. Jin Mun let out a deep sigh at his friend´s lack of education. After all, almost every Korean who was even slightly interested in economics knew about Deruth Henituse´s cooperation that was like Korea´s number one out of all the different ones in all aspects. It was also the one with the best paid workers by far.

“You just have to know that they´re like the richest family in Korea.”

Choi Jung Soo nodded, understanding the simple terms his really smart friend was using. Contrary to his playboy-ish looks, Park Jin Mun was quite smart. He sighed as his friend was a really stupid guy. It wasn’t that Choi Jung Soo was stupid, he was actually quite smart, yet due to him never listening and sleeping in classes – well, you can see the results right here.

“And?”

Jin Mun shook his head in disappointment.

“Another rumor said that the newbie´s sick. Meaning, his really rich family will pay extra attention to our school. And since I know how stupid you are, let me explain it to you. The Henituse Family paying extra attention to us means that we´ll have even better chances at succeeding in their cooperation! Or get some experience by working for them for a week or so!”

Choi Jung Soo rolled his eyes. He was not interested in such materialistic things like his dear friend. Little did he know Jin Mun wasn’t done just yet; he put a devilish smile on his face.

“Oi Jung Soo, you still don’t understand? If we befriend him-“

“Shut up, Jin Mun. You´re annoying.”

Choi Jung Soo stopped looking up at his friend and put his head back on his table, attempting to sleep. He knew at heart that his friend wasn’t a bad guy. While he had a materialistic personality, he was a good guy and not really greedy. He was also aware that Jin Mun was worried about his future and just talking to feel more secure about it.

That still didn’t change the fact that it pissed Choi Jung Soo off.

People weren´t means for an end (it´s a German saying ´Mittel zum Zweck´ and I´m not sure whether that English translation is right, so here a brief explanation: It means [here] like a tool to secure one´s future/position). Choi Jung Soo disliked treating people like objects, no; he despised it and hated those who did it.

´It´ll be hard becoming friends with him, huh?´

Choi Jung Soo did not notice how the other popular kids in the back of the class were talking about the newbie, a strange expression written all over their faces. On closer observation one could tell that it was fear and greed.

Soon after, a shrill sound, also known as the school bell, rang through the hallways and everyone sat down on their assigned seats. It was the first day of their high school year, yet everyone was oddly calm. It was because Raon High School was a renowned school, known for bringing out countless academics. Who graduated from here was practically guaranteed a good life.

Of course this didn’t apply to everyone.

After a few minutes, the doors to the classroom opened and a middle aged woman entered the room. Her raven hair was tied up in a bun that was fixated by countless red needles. Her thin glasses and narrow eyes made her look even stricter than she already appeared to be.

In the woman´s hands was a document file and two books – one regarding the class and one for her teachings. The document file was about the new student, handed to her by his “worried sick” father who wanted to make sure that nothing was to happen to his boy. She found it annoying to kiss a person´s ass just because he was rich. The only reason she still accepted it was for the child´s sake.

She had seen Cale Henituse.

He was a kid that needed support. Support that his family wasn’t able to provide for him. She had met him, seen the excited look in his somewhat dull eyes. They had started sparkling as soon as she mentioned that there wouldn’t be any restrictions as far as he wasn’t in grave danger.

The woman sighed and put down her sheets on the teacher´s desk. She then looked at the twenty-seven children attending her class. Add one more, the one who was standing outside waiting for her to call for him, and that would make twenty-eight teens she was responsible for. She had never really liked children, but found the need to educate them to become mature enough for life.

“Good morning class.”

The twenty-seven children returned her greetings immediately. She nodded her head. Yes, those teens weren´t as uneducated as in other schools.

“My name is Yoo Sang Hun and I´m your homeroom teacher for the next three years.”

Yoo Sang Hun then looked at the door behind which another pupil of hers was standing, anxiously staring at the door, waiting to be called in. She didn’t know why, but she already favored the kid.

Maybe it was because she had been there when the principal met his parents. She had seen the distant look in his eyes whenever his father tried to be every so friendly with him. She had also noticed the awkward movements of his family members which signalized how distant they truly were. A normal father wouldn’t have hesitated before putting a hand on his son´s shoulder, nor would a normal son have flinched. Neither would a normal mother –be in stepmother in this case – struggle to comfort her child.

“As you´ve heard the rumors, this class will have an unusual addition. Before I´ll call him in, I will inform you that he had a serious illness, so be careful around him and watch out for him. He doesn’t seem to be very self-aware, so I´d be thankful if all of you could watch out for him.”

The before quiet class erupted in quiet whispers, talking about the rumors that had already been spread, even though it was the first day of the new school year.

Yoo Sang Hun sighed but let the kids he kids. After an additional minute, she quieted them down and called the newbie in.

The door opened rather slowly in comparison to when the homeroom teacher had entered; maybe it was because of the newbie´s nervousness and thus shaking hand. Then again, it was his first ever day in a real school and classroom.

With his head down and eyes looking at the plain, brown floor, a small figure entered. Narrow shoulders, a slim waist. He was tall, yet not too tall, maybe an inch or two taller than the average woman? He was also awfully pale, as if he hadn’t ever been outside before – or sick. Then there was his red hair – it had the same crimson color as blood. It was tied up in a lose ponytail and didn’t look too long, yet it looked really nice.

The boy´s reddish-brown eyes were sparkling with joy, yet there was a certain distance in them, a coldness that Choi Jung Soo had never seen before. He finally looked away from the window and back to the thin boy who was standing strangely confident in front of his peers.

“Good, introduce yourself before you sit down.”

The boy nodded and bowed down, respectfully at the 90-degree angle. He then looked up again and introduced himself.

“Hello. My name is Cale Henituse and I´m honored to be here.”

Many students started to chuckle upon his overly respectful and quite hilarious introduction, yet they couldn’t help but feel drawn towards him.

“It´s nice that you are here, Cale. You can sit down there, next to Choi Jung Soo. You see the free seat in the three row? The one besides the window? Yes, go there. We´ll continue with the introduction of the class. We´ll come back to you later.”

Cale nodded his head and quickly sat down to the seat between to a handsome, raven haired boy and the window. It was his first ever time sitting on a wooden chair in such a “small” room. Every single inch of it seemed to be used. There was excitement going through him right now. He couldn’t exactly describe it, but Cale felt thrilled. He looked forward to meeting every single one of his classmates and eventually become friends with them.

Well, at least that was his plan.

Chapter Text

To keep it short, his plan failed.

No matter how many books Cale had read that gave advice on how to make friends and improve social skills, he still ended up being the awkward one when he approached other students and tried to befriend them.

It was already the end of the day, and Cale still hadn’t managed to even talk to anyone. As there were no group projects, no partner works or other things, Cale also didn’t get the opportunity to kind of introduce himself to the other kids. Perhaps it was because it was his first time in an actual school, or rather a public place with normal people, but Cale failed to notice the hidden stares the girls were giving him and the hesitating boys, trying to speak to him.

In the end, none of them actually dared to.

No one, but one person.

“Was it Cale?”

Cale looked up. The bell just rang, announcing the end of the day and most of his classmates already exited the door. Yet, the boy in front of him didn’t seem in a hurry like the others. His raven hair and dark brown, almost obsidian eyes made him look common, yet his extremely handsome face and tall built let him shine and stand out even in a bunch of handsome guys.

He looked to be quite popular. Cale recalled how he was on the lazier side, not that it really mattered.

The redhead then nodded as he got up from his chair.

“Yes. Who are you again, if I may ask?”

The raven haired kid couldn’t hold back his chuckle as he shook his head.

“Oi, I know you´re from a rich family, but why do you speak like we´re in the 19th century? Don’t ya know slang? Street tongue? The language of the youth today?”

Cale frowned. What was wrong with the way he spoke? He spoke just like other people would. And what did this guy mean with slang, street tongue and language of the youth today? Wasn’t it all the same in the end?

“Pfft, you look confused as fuck. Anyways, I´m Choi Jung Soo, but you´re welcomed to call me Jung Soo~ so…Do you have any plans right now? Cuz if not, let´s go out!”

Cale´s eyes widened in surprise. Never would he have imagined that anyone would come up to him and ask him to go out! This was a good thing, right? Yeah, while this Choi Jung Soo guy seemed suspicious, he didn’t give off the vibe of a bad guy and seemed friendly enough.

“Um, where to?”

Choi Jung Soo smirked. He then shrugged a confident expression on his face.

“Wherever the wind brings us to, naturally! How about going out for Tteokbokki?” [Tteokbokki is a Korean street food snack made primarily of chewy rice cakes and fiery, funky gochujang chili paste.]

He was cheerful and obviously happy. On the contrary, Cale was confused. Choi Jung Soo immediately noticed it, even though Cale was excellent at controlling his expression. For some odd reason, the raven haired boy could tell. He smirked and put his hand around Cale´s neck to pull him closer to him.

“You don’t know what Tteokbokki is, do ya?”

Cale frowned and looked up at the way taller boy. He then shrugged. He had never really been out after he turned six and stayed at home. Even then he didn’t eat many things, and most of the dishes he did eat were not Korean but rather British.

After the redhead didn’t answer, Choi Jung Soo smiled and dragged Cale out of the now empty classroom, a cheerful yet devoted expression on his face. Cale got a strange feeling, yet chose to ignore it for now.

“H-hey, what are you doing?”

Choi Jung Soo grinned like a little boy about to receive candy.

“The obvious thing, of course! It can´t be that you´ve never had Tteokbokki before, so naturally you have to eat it! Don´t tell me you´ve never gone out with friends like this before, huh?”

Cale shrugged and looked down, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. Choi Jung Soo immediately noticed, yet only laughed it off, quickening his and hence Cale’s steps. And so what if this shy redhead had never been out with friends before? Wouldn’t this make it even more fun?

Cale had no other choice but to comply with Choi Jung Soo’s actions, well, what could he do even if he did want to stop? He was much weaker than the taller boy and hence had no chances of stopping both of them. But soon enough, Cale stopped his little struggles. Jung Soo led him to a back alley market or something like that. Everything was so close together…everywhere were people…everywhere was everything!

The redhead felt uncomfortable. He was in a place that he did not know with a stranger who was smiling so crazily. He was being left with no choice than to follow this person, than to follow Choi Jung Soo.

Yet, that feeling of discomfort immediately vanished as if it hadn’t been there to begin with, when a bowl of Tteokbokki was placed in front of Cale. The simmered rice cake smelled unfamiliar but not bad. It was red and had an odd substance, but oh well, Cale wasn’t one to waste that much food.

“C’mon, try it!”

Cale eyed the Tteokbokki suspiciously before he picked up the chopsticks. He looked at Choi Jung Soo and the way he ate the traditional Korean meal with a happy expression. It must be good then, no?

“Hey-…wait, what was your name again?”

The redhead rolled his eyes as he ignored the annoying Choi Jung Soo who broke out in laughter once again after seeing Cale’s reaction. Honestly, Choi Jung Soo knew Cale’s name, he memorized it from the moment he first lay eyes on the redhead, but that didn’t have to mean that he didn’t have to tease him. Especially since the name ‘Cale’ didn’t sound the least bit Korean.

Choi Jung Soo made sure to think of a new, Korean name for his new friend. He would also have to spend quite a bit time with this social awkward person that did not even know anything about Tteokbokki. Choi Jung Soo doubted that Cale had ever been out with friends before, let alone had friends.

The sad truth about rich people was that most of them had only fake friends or no friends at all – at least his father used to tell him that. And while he had never believed those words, after all, rich people had money and hence had it all, he had no other choice after meeting Cale. This person, he did not look like the type of person to have a friend, let alone many. But at the same time, he didn’t appear like a rich snob either…

A loud sound made Choi Jung Soo break out of his thoughts. He looked up – then couldn’t help but break out in a loud fit of laughter. Cale’s face had turned red and he was breathing very quickly as he was grabbing the water bottle to relieve the spice that was burning his mouth. Well, Tteokbokki was a spicy dish; perhaps Choi Jung Soo should have warned him.

Then again, if he did warn Cale in advance, he wouldn’t have been able to see this kind of expression on the frail redhead’s face. Now that Choi Jung Soo was thinking about it, didn’t his friend Park Jin Mun say something about Cale being sick in addition to him being from a wealthy family…?

“Hey, wait, I didn’t kill you with the Tteokbokki just now, did I?!”

Choi Jung Soo, who didn’t just sleep through politics and economy classes but also through biology and almost any other class that wasn’t sports or Korean (just because their teacher was a prick), was leaning over the table to take a closer look on the still coughing Cale.

The redhead shot him a glare and pushed away his hand.

“I feel pretty dead.”

The sarcasm was obvious; at least it would have been obvious to anyone other than Choi Jung Soo. The Korean boy panicked as he looked around in a hurried manner, trying to find a waiter before he remembered that he owned a phone!

Quickly pulling it out, ready to dial the number of the emergency line, he was stopped by yet another hand that was the same that had pushed him away before. Cale was frowning while looking at this annoying boy.

“You’re worse than Ron, I swear. It was a joke, don’t you know jokes?”

Choi Jung Soo, putting his phone away again, couldn’t help but let out a nervous chuckle. He did understand jokes, it wasn’t a problem, but what was, was the kind of jokes he understood. And such dark jokes like ‘I feel pretty dead’ were not the kind of joke Choi Jung Soo wanted to understand, let alone hear.

“Well, I wouldn’t want the newbie to die while spending time with me, duh.”

Cale rolled his eyes at Choi Jung Soo’s sassy reply. The two of them quickly returned to the silence from before while Cale tried to eat the Tteokbokki again. It was too spicy, it was impossible for him to eat it!

Seeing the redhead’s struggle, Choi Jung Soo let out a chuckle.

“Oi you truly have absolutely no idea about the traditional food of the country you live in, huh?”

Cale, rolling his eyes, pushed back the bowl of the unfinished Tteokbokki, or rather he pushed it towards Choi Jung Soo who quickly took it and began to eat it without asking any questions.

“Well, I didn’t go out too much.”

Choi Jung Soo smirked.

“That’s no excuse tho.”

Pointing with his chopsticks at Cale, (which was an incredibly rude action already) Choi Jung Soo smirked.

“But it’s nothing unfixable.”

Cale raised his brows at this boy’s ominous way of saying things. Choi Jung Soo, fully aware that he got Cale’s attention, smirked as he continued while eating Cale’s unfinished Tteokbokki.

“Give me one month.”

Chewing the food in his mouth, then swallowing, the raven haired boy continued.

“Then you’ll be as Korean as I am.”

Cale snorted at that thought, not believing it at all. But then again, he was currently socializing, was he not? It was a good thing, right? Did this strange Choi Jung Soo count as a friend? He probably did, did he not? And if he was suggesting to spend a whole moth together…

“Fine, I’ll give you the month.”

Choi Jung Soo couldn’t help but laugh at Cale’s serious demeanor. It truly felt like the redhead was closing a business deal and not a simple proposal to spend some time together.

“Alright, but I’m very expensive rich boy~”

Cale, unable to hide his amusement at Choi Jung Soo’s obvious attempt to make him pay, smirked. He let him continue nonetheless, willing to do as he was asked – something that didn’t go as Cale had anticipated.

“Meaning you better cherish me for the rest of your days~”

Cale quickly controlled his expression and rolled his eyes.

“You should built a temple with that money of yours and give it to me~”

Another eye-roll followed as the redhead listened to Choi Jung Soo’s incredibly bad attempts to…Cale did not understand what Choi Jung Soo was actually trying to do while spouting bullshit like that.

“No, even better, buy a castle and write my name on it, hahaha!”

Cale let out a deep sigh while listening to Choi Jung Soo’s words once again. That was how their afternoon and even evening ended. Naturally, Choi Jung Soo ordered another bowl of not spicy Tteokbokki for Cale to try, since he did want the new boy to experience the great taste of traditional Korean food.

It was a good decision, given that Cale actually really liked it.

~

And just like that, months passed by. The rumor that Cale was sick turned out to be the truth, making most of the redhead’s classmates act careful around him, as if not to hurt him at all costs. They treated him overly nice, almost as if he was a handicapped person – something Cale could stand about as much as the pitying gazes of the servants when his mother had died. The stares the students were giving him were reminding him of that time.

Yet, there was one student who was different compared to everyone else, being about to cross the line between friendly and shameless. That very person was currently sitting on the floor of the roof terrace while looking down into the school yard. His raven black hair was getting blown out of his face by the strong wind. It was the beginning of fall already, six months ever since he first met the frowning redhead who was quietly enjoying his meal – hoping that he wouldn’t get disturbed by this annoying person again.

While Cale’s intentions had been to make friends and become close to Choi Jung Soo after meeting him, his opinion quickly changed. Choi Jung Soo was a very outgoing person who tried to drag him anywhere as long as it meant for Cale to get away from home. Not once was he responsible for the redhead (unwillingly) skipping classes.

“Oi Rok Soo!”

Cale rolled his eyes at the silly nickname Choi Jung Soo had come up for him one day with the excuse of his name not sounding “Korean enough”. While Cale didn’t really care, it annoyed him to no ends, especially with the way Choi Jung Soo said that new alternative name of his.

“I know you really don’t wanna to come after what happened last time, but Park Jin Mun is throwing a party again tonight. How ‘bout you come with me, eh?”

Cale rolled his eyes, recalling the events that happened last time when he followed Choi Jung Soo’s plea to attend Jin Mun’s party. Park Jin Mun was one of Choi Jung Soo’s close friends. The two of them had been very close with each other before Choi Jung Soo decided to be Cale’s full-time…whatever it was that he tried to become. Still, Park Jin Mun wasn’t angry as he noticed the redhead’s situation, thus always asked Choi Jung Soo to invite the redhead to his parties.

And at one point, Cale agreed to come.

Little had to be said about this party that was closer to some sacrifice ritual with young teens dancing around as if their clothes had been light on fire and swallowing alcohol as if it was their life essence.

Naturally, Jin Mun’s party hadn’t been the least bit like that, but to the anti-social Cale to whom this had been his very first party, it sure seemed that way. Teens were all laughing hysterically, telling the worst jokes possible while trying to flirt with any living creature in a three foot radius – including Park Jin Mun’s dog Sin-Ah.

There was no way Cale would go back to that place and watch people do all kinds of shabby things all over again. But of course, his stoic face didn’t reveal a thing about his true thoughts and emotions. He simply shook his head at Choi Jung Soo’s plea.

“You can go by yourself too. You’ll be sixteen soon, so give me a rest, alright?”

Choi Jung Soo smirked as he pointed at Cale.

“Oi Rok Soo, I ain’t the only one, hehe. You have the same birthday as me, ah?”

Cale, who hadn’t even told Choi Jung Soo about the date of his birthday, frowned as he put down his lunchbox. The suspicion he had in his mind was confirmed as Choi Jung Soo continued to dumbly name the source of his knowledge.

“Ron said something about having a party together, hahaha! So let’s get you used to normal parties for.”

Cale couldn’t even be angry at Ron for telling Choi Jung Soo about his birthday, not after hearing the old man’s hopes. Ron was someone who was always worried about Cale, even if he didn’t always show it. Ever since the redhead was officially diagnosed with anemia, the old servant couldn’t help but do so. Not after all the years he failed to notice his young master-nim’s health becoming worse and worse.

“I still have no intention of going. You can go by yourself, no one’s stopping you.”

Choi Jung Soo turned fully around to look at Cale, sitting down on the cold floor in a lotus position now. He had a pout on his handsome face which made him look like a little brat complaining to his mother about something so casual; it could only be described as ridiculous.

“Duh, you’re stopping me if you don’t wanna come with me.”

Cale rolled his eyes, but continued to stay firmly. There was no way he was going on a party after seeing masses of teenagers vomit on the lane with green faces – or after the uncontrollable fights that broke out after everyone was drunk enough.

The redhead himself naturally didn’t drink – he wasn’t allowed to and Choi Jung Soo had been instructed to make sure that the redhead truly didn’t drink, as if Cale’s words alone didn’t make that clear.

“You can go with Park Jin Mun; I’m not the only person you’re supposed to be spending time with.”

Choi Jung Soo let out a dramatic sigh as he pretended to experience a heartache. He put his hand on his chest and tightly grabbed onto the fabric of his jacket above it.

“Rok Soo, your words that are sharper than Baek Jong Won’s [a famous Korean Chef] knives~ Ouch~”

Letting out a deep sigh while rolling his eyes, Cale decided to ignore Choi Jung Soo’s senseless words. He took out one of the cookies in his lunchbox, handing it to the boy sitting down in front of him, before taking another one for himself.

“You know, most people would be ecstatic to spend time with me, yet you treat me like some annoying nutjob!”

Cale stopped nibbling on his cookie as he raised his brows. He was looking down on the person that was calling himself his friend and ignored that very boy’s puppy-like eyes.

“Probably cuz you are a nutjob, Jung Soo.”

Said nutjob grinned brightly as he finally got up from the cold concrete floor of the roof terrace and sat down next to Cale. Swallowing the cookie he was given in two bites, Choi Jung Soo put his arm around the redhead who tried to move away from this crazy person, but without success.

“Oi Rok Soo, let’s make a bet if you don’t want to go at all, yeah?”

Cale did not want to make a bet, but if that was the only way to shut up his supposed friend he would gladly do it.

“What is it?”

Choi Jung Soo had a sly smirk on his lips as he pointed towards himself.

“We’ll get the results of our biology class back today. If I score above 80, you’ll come with me to the party, yeah?”

Cale let out an amused laugh, not believing the words that were coming out of Choi Jung Soo’s mouth. He really thought that he scored above 80 in a class he never studied for, let alone was awake in? Good luck, heh.

“Fine, as long as you stop annoying me with that party.”

Choi Jung Soo nodded fiercely as he held out his hand, a confident smirk on his lips. Cale felt iffy after seeing that expression on Choi Jung Soo’s face but decided not to give it too much thought. Achieving high scores in biology was difficult as is, so he was confident that Choi Jung Soo would lose this bet.

Happy about the calm he managed to get, Cale relaxed and pulled out one of the old, historical novels he was currently reading, completely unaware of his silent friend’s genuinely joyful expression.

~

Three hours later, when the biology exam results were handed to the class, Cale regretted his bet with Choi Jung Soo though.

There, in second place, right after himself, came Choi Jung Soo with a 97.

Goddamn, Cale really regretted agreeing to that bet of his!