Archive of Our Own

It was getting late, and Wise was walking to the metro station after having a meeting with his information broker.

The sun was setting, dying the sky red and most of the local businesses were closing shop.

Just when he was passing in front of the mall, a man struggling to stand from the ground caught his attention.

Wise extended a helping hand his way. “Sir, are you okay?”

Taking the proxy’s hand the man grumbled between his teeth.
“This is what I get for trying to help people. Damn she hits like a truck.”

“What happened?”

The man rubbed his head and strained to answer the question.

“There was this classy lady who looked a bit tipsy, her coat fell on the ground, and I tried to give it back to her, but she just tossed me to the ground!
She probably thought I was trying to hit on her or something…”

Wise looked at him with suspicion.

“I-I swear I’m not a stalker or anything! Look! Here is her coat, I was just trying to give it back!
You take it, I saw her walking towards the newsstand,”

The man pushed the coat towards him and stumbled away from the scene.

-

Evelyn was leaning on the guardrail, taking deep breaths in order to wear the adrenaline from the previous attack down.

Feeling a little frustrated she groaned and closed her eyes tightly.

Just an hour ago she had been accompanying Astra on a business negotiation, and as her bodyguard, the moment the suspicious businessmen tried to give Astra glasses of alcohol, she took it upon herself to drink most of them to keep her safe.

After that, Astra went to work on her music while Evelyn stayed behind.

Since it was extremely rare for Evelyn to ask for time off, Astra gladly accepted her petition, only regretting not having time to hang out with her.

Now Evelyn was drunk and alone in the middle of downtown, and a stalker just tried to get his hands on her.

Her mood was taking a plunge and started to think going out was a bad idea…

“Miss Evelyn…” A familiar male voice came out from behind her.

-

Her cheeks were flushed, and she was using the rail to support herself.

“Oh, it’s you…I thought you were that stalker from before.”

He looked at her awkwardly. “I don’t think that guy was a stalker.”

“Hmm? How do you know he wasn’t one? Are you, like, the stalker king or something?”

She looked at his hand and pointed at him.

“Look, you’re holding my jacket. If you are not a stalker, why do you have it?”

He just shook his head left and right and extended his hand. “Just put on the coat already.”

The tipsy bodyguard didn’t move though.

“Manager, my head is pounding…I’ve been out in the fresh air for some time now. Why does it still hurt so much…”

Wise came closer to her.

“Just how much did you drink?”

“I don’t know, it was during a business meeting…Plus, I’m not drunk! I’m totally sober, and I just dealt with a stalker.”

Giving up on trying to reason with her, Wise took another step forward with her jacket on hand.

Feeling the cold breeze on her skin, Evelyn tried to reach for her coat, only to stumble and lean closer to him.
She caught a whiff of his cologne, but before she could react, Wise quickly threw the coat over her shoulders.

The motion put him closer to her and she could see how his face was a little redder than before.

“Wait, isn’t this my jacket? Where did you find it? You are amazing!” The usually cold and reserved bodyguard closed the distance and gave him a wide smile he never thought he would see from her. “If only you could be around every day, then I wouldn’t have to worry about anything…”

“Haha, well, it was nice to see you Miss Evelyn…” The moment he was turning around, his hand was trapped between hers and was pulled to look at her once again.

Making an expression he thought was impossible to her she asked.

“Are you heading back? I don’t want to go back. I don’t want today to be over. Let’s grab another drink!”

Was Evelyn always this energetic when she’s drunk? She seems a lot more outgoing than before…

“A-Are you sure you want to keep drinking? I thought your head hurt.”

He looked at her making a pout at him.

“I want a drink! Look at me. I’m already like this. You’ve got to have a drink too!”

Wise thought seriously on making her stop drinking and go home, but something on her pleading face made it impossible for him to disappoint her.

“Alright, I guess a couple drinks wouldn’t hurt.”

Then, Evelyn proceeded to drag him around Lumina Square, looking for a nice and secluded local to drink something.

Sometime later, they settled down for a cozy bar tucked away from the main street, the place was half full and had a nice homey feeling to it.

They walked towards their table and Evelyn took the menu.

“Tell me, what do you usually drink?”

He couldn’t believe what he was about to say and even looked over his shoulder in hopes a wild Burnice wouldn’t manifest herself out of thin air.

“I-I don’t usually drink, but thanks to a friend I developed a taste for Nitro Fuel cocktails.”

Evelyn looked at him shocked and blinked a couple of times.

“I know I want to drink tonight, but I don’t think things will get that wild. How about a beer? Or some cocktails with soda, do you prefer rum, whiskey?”

“Hmmm, I’ll take a whiskey on the rocks, I’m not in the mood for something sweet yet.”

“Hmm, okay okay.” She made a gesture, calling the waiter and spoke trying to sound as sober as possible.

“Bring us one whiskey on the rocks, one with coke and two shots of tequila, please.”

“Of course, ma’am it will be just one minute.” The waiter took note of the order and left for the kitchen.

They exchanged some small talk until their drinks arrived, but before Wise could reach for his drink, Evelyn stopped him.

“Wait, let’s take these first.”

Evelyn slid one of the shots in front of him and raised her shot waiting to make a toast.

“O-Oh, I thought both were for you…”

“Nonsense, you are drinking with me tonight!”

It was a checkmate for him, if he didn’t go along with it he would definitely sour the mood… Then again, spending time with her really sounded like a nice idea. Maybe he just needed to stop worrying and go along with it, he just had to make sure to keep a good pace, after all, his main goal was sending her home safe and sound. The moment she showed indicators of wanting to stop or leave he would suggest stopping for the night.

Wise took the shot and with a small clink, both the bodyguard and the proxy drank the whole thing.

What followed were conversations with different topics like favorite pastimes, preferred movie genres and Wise was particularly curious about Evelyn’s taste in music.

He learnt that since they went shopping together, Evelyn took a liking to collecting moth-themed jewelry, it was an extremely unpopular design choice, but instead of discouraging her, made it feel more like a treasure hunt, and she learnt that he liked to walk around the city fixing broken Bangboo.

Resting her cheek on one hand, she showed her still newish collection to Wise on her phone.

At the moment she just had 5 pieces, she didn’t really care about the price, or the stones used on the design as long as it was moth-themed, she was scrolling through her photos and showed him the jewelry box where she was keeping her collection.

She was happily showing it to him, but after realizing something was missing, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Hmm, I don't see the one we bought together that other time.”

“E-Ehh!?” Evelyn realized what he was talking about and pulled her cell phone away from him, starting to tap rapidly on the screen.

“Umm…” She hesitated for a second but ended up sliding her phone towards him, with a single picture showing on the screen.

The piece he remembered was inside a red box, apart from the rest.

“Hmm, why is this one in a different place?”

She looked to the side, trying to avoid his face. Not that it mattered, because Wise was examining the piece carefully.
“T-This one is…special.”

“Ohh, really? Is it a limited edition or something? Or maybe a rare, uncommon gem?”

She laughed to herself with a mixture of relief and disappointment.

“Hahaha, it’s not always about the value or cut of the gem.”

…

The time passed and they found themselves talking about their work.

“So…tell me, how is it working with Astra?”

Evelyn perked up and looked at him with an amused smile.

“Ohh? You certainly took your time before asking about her, knowing you I thought you would shower me with questions about her.”

She made it sound like she was making fun of him, but the warmth in her voice was undeniable.

“Of course I’m curious, I was just having fun, and it didn’t feel like the right time.”

Evelyn took her drink and stirred it with her slender finger while she was looking for the right words. She really thought that as a fan, Wise was going to ask as much as he could about Astra, but she didn’t really expect the first question would be about her opinion.

“It’s…nice.” She kept her eyes on the glass and continued. “There was a time where I thought it would be impossible to live like I’m doing right now, and it’s all thanks to her. She’s like a bright light that pulled me out of that place…”

When she stopped, silence crept into their table. She looked up and saw Wise deep in thought.

“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to sour the mood… I-I think you might like to talk about her concerts or the celebrity life, right? L-Let me think… Ummm.”

“No…, it’s okay, I get it.”

She looked at him puzzled.

I haven’t known her for that long, but I understand why you think of her that way.

He took a zip of his drink and lowered his voice so only she could hear him.

“As you know…I’m a proxy, believe it or not, I’m familiar with the darkness of this city…”

For a moment, Evelyn’s body tensed up, after all, not long ago, she herself was a part of that same darkness he was talking about.

“Well, maybe I’m familiar with one of its dark sides, the Hollow side.”

She could guess where he was going, but nonetheless she listened attentively. Wise’s eyes were suddenly filled with sorrow and regret.

“The Hollows are responsible for the end of the world as we knew it, and even though New Eridu was able to prosper.
I’ve seen the impact the Hollows have caused on the people. Under the facade of a tranquil life, the fear of being devoured by a Hollow still beats deep inside each one of its citizens.”

“I’ve seen it firsthand, the Hollow is plagued by mementos and goodbye messages of the lives it claimed.”

“I-I think I know what you mean, because when I see Astra and listen to her music, I can tell…”

Evelyn managed to whisper her question.

“Tell what?”

“She brings hope to whoever listens to her singing, I think…I believe it’s the type of hope and determination that only those who have lost everything but managed to take it back from the Hollow’s jaws can give.”

She watched stunned as Wise described Astra to a T, did Astra already tell him about her past? Or was it a conclusion he reached through observation?

Evelyn thought back at some time ago when she discovered that Wise and Belle were Phaethon, at the moment since she didn’t really know whether she could trust them or not she felt that having that information could be used as a triumph card against them in case they betrayed Astra, but now, she realized she had underestimated the proxy’s observation skills.

Good thing that, after everything they went through together, she was completely sure she could trust him.

Still… him being so observant made Evelyn a little over conscious of her actions, and the way she was talking to him.

S-She didn’t have anything to h-hide, r-right?

Trying to get her mind out of that spiral she tried to change the topic back to Astra.

“M-Miss Yao is really amazing, isn’t it?”

…

Her question remained unanswered and looked at Wise tilting her head.

“Evelyn…Do you also call her Miss Yao when you are alone?”

-Pff…cough…cough…cough! -
Choking on her drink she looked at him exasperated. “W-Wha-What are you talking about!?”

His gaze was a mixture of curiosity and embarrassment, still, he kept his eyes on her waiting for an answer, but all Evelyn could manage was showing an extremely red face.

No longer able to bear looking at her, Wise looked away with a slight blush on his face.

“It’s just that…You guys are so close and have spent so much time together…that I was a little surprised that you still call her Miss Yao…” He scratched the back of his head and fixed his eyes on his drink.

But the proxy was not the only observant one, in Evelyn’s eyes she could clearly see what was happening inside his head.

He looked confused, uncertain, as if he had suddenly reached a realization that he couldn’t verify.

Evelyn didn’t have to be the expert investigator that she was to understand the reason for his question.

She could see it in the way the proxy talked to Astra, at the beginning, Evelyn thought that he was just another fan that got lucky enough to catch the singer’s attention. When Evelyn met Wise and Belle, her first thoughts were to be careful of the speed they gained Astra’s approval, after all there have been others in the past who wanted personal gains through a connection with the celebrity.

Her suspicions were short-lived though, after her investigation she found out that Wise was actually the legendary Proxy Phaethon, and all her initial suspicions became confusion instead.

She had read entire files with cases attributed to Phaethon, how they have been present in New Eridu since the fall of the old capital, that they have been escaping authorities all this time and rumors about their modus operandi.

What would Phaethon possibly want with a celebrity? They usually stuck with Hollow related works.

Until the last minute she held her suspicions and caution, until the day of the concert was sabotaged, and Wise risked his life to help Astra and her.

It was then when Evelyn started looking at Phaethon in a different light, he didn’t do anything against them when they were in their most vulnerable moment, so now she certainly felt that she could trust him, he was nice, attentive and felt nice having another pair of eyes looking out for Astra.

…A strange feeling started forming inside her chest.

She first thought that Wise looked at Astra with the admiration a fan would look at their favorite artist, but then, Astra who used to run around the city alone, visiting random places in search for inspiration started dragging him along her escapades.

They messaged each other after her rehearsals, hung out in her free time and more often than not, whenever Evelyn couldn’t find her anywhere, she could be found inside the video store.

She even started to talk more and more with the siblings after Astra formally introduced them to her.

Looking back, she never thought she would find anyone she could truly consider a friend after meeting Astra. She was her sole reason to live, she felt like she owed everything to her, and yet…After meeting the proxies she started paying attention to other things and to herself.

Now there were more things she cared about, more people… him included.

Just a couple of seconds had passed since he made his question, which he was obviously using to test the waters, trying to find out how close the two girls were.

Before she could answer, the thought of Wise and Astra becoming closer, crossed her mind.

Seeing them spending time together and growing closer, made a warm feeling fill her chest, but when she saw herself looking at the scene from far away, a pang stung her heart, and she felt something lodged in her throat.

Evelyn wasn’t a stranger to that first warm feeling, it was the same she always feels when she looks at Astra, and for better or for worse, Evelyn wasn’t as pure as the singer, the bodyguard knew very well the source of the pain in her chest whenever she thought of Astra distancing from her.

The thought of someone stealing the title of Astra’s “sole protector” made her jealous.

If it had been any “rich” boy or girl, or a regular fan, she would have just simply ignored their advances, after all, Astra didn’t have eyes for that kind of person.

Evelyn remembered all the times Astra called the proxy when on break, how she couldn’t stop talking about him when they first met, or how she particularly liked to tease him whenever she could.

Astra told her about all the times Wise helped her out inside the Hollows, when he protected her when Evelyn couldn’t.

Usually, she experienced jealousy as a mix of insecurity and fear of losing her place in Astra’s life, this time it felt a little different though.

She didn’t know if she hated the idea of not being the only one protecting Astra or if she liked the idea of having Wise working at her side.

-

Enough time had passed in silence and Evelyn finally decided to test the source of this complicated feeling.

If he wanted to know how close she was with Astra, she would take the opportunity to mess a little with him.

Allowing the alcohol in her system to give her courage, she closed the distance over the table and whispered in his ear.

“Oh? Are you sure you want to know what we do when it’s just the two of us…alone?”

Wise pulled back in shock and looked at the tipsy girl with a blush in his face.

Clearly enjoying herself, she stared back at him with an amused smile.
…
…

And there was that warmth again…

“I-I-I didn’t mean to…wait, are you two really…n-no-no, nothing, sorry!”

Incapable of dealing with the embarrassment, Wise buried his face in his hands and hunched over the table trying to make himself as small as possible.

A sweet giggle came out of Evelyn’s lips and a thought popped up in her mind.

-So, this is what she was talking about when she said teasing him was fun…-

Looking at Wise trying to disappear from the face of the earth, something compelled her to reach her hand towards his shoulder, when she realized what she was doing Evelyn stopped herself before making contact and pulled her hand back.

Should she really be doing this? Was it okay for her to explore that feeling?

She had only known him for a short while, and even though she was able to discover Phaethon’s identity, she wasn’t completely sure she truly understood him.

Sure, she had all the basic stuff down, he was a down-to-earth person, very observant and calculative. He carried the name of Phaethon with pride and in spite his legendary fame he had never used the technology to change Hollow exploration she had never truly abused that power.

Evelyn could remember all the people she “dealt with” in the past, and how the most fleeting amount of power could corrupt anyone.

If he wasn’t using that kind of power for personal gain, then, what was he truly after, and why hasn’t he told her? O-Or Astra?

She couldn’t help herself but think.
-I mean, I told him my identity, Astra and I have shared our objective with the Proxies. Why can’t they trust us? -

Regardless of that, Evelyn couldn’t help but want to put her trust on him. All her life she had only truly trusted Astra, but now that Wise was there with them, even if he was still hiding something from them, Evenlyn couldn’t help but wait eagerly for the day they could truly know everything about each other.

-

Finally peeking out from his hiding spot, Wise tried to compose himself.

“Miss Evelyn, please. Stop teasing me, it’s not good for my hearth.” He offered an embarrassed laugh and took another zip of his drink.

At that moment she felt another sting on her chest, it wasn’t fair...

“Eve…”

“What did you say?” Tilting his head he looked at her confused.

She finished what was left of her glass in a quick motion and pointed at him while slurring her words slightly.

“You call Astra by her name all the time, call me Eve too!”

“Ehh!? But…”

Evelyn tried to make a smooth, convincing voice, but all she could manage was making it sound like she was about to throw a tantrum.

“What? I thought we were close enough, or do you not want to?”

“I-It’s not that I don’t want to…”

Seeing her opportunity, Evelyn lunged over the table, putting almost half of her body on top of it.

“Then say it! Let me hear it.” With one hand she removed a strand of hair from her ear and leaned closer to Wise.

…

“E-Eve…”

Hearing her name, Evelyn leaned forward even more and rested her chin on her hand, showing him a wide smile.

“Yes, Wise…?”

He shot up from his seat and suggested with a completely flushed face.

“I-I think we had enough to drink. Sh-Should we stop for the night?”

Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t really in the mood to stop.

“No, do you have any idea how many chances I get to unwind?”

She wanted to shake him from his shirt, but instead she grabbed it tightly and looked him in the eyes.

“Come on, stay with me and let's order another round!” Then, her happy expression changed immediately. “O-Or… am I being too…pushy?”

Seeing her face so close to his, practically begging him to spend more time with her, shredded all the chances he had of denying her petitions.

Burning the idea that this night would not finish anytime soon in his mind, Wise decided to finally let go of his worries. If Eve wanted a night to unwind, he would accompany her to the best of his abilities.

Deciding his course of action, the next thing he focused was on making sure she didn’t drink herself to death.

He started asking for more water and snacks to fend off the effects of the alcohol, and what started as his attempts to convince Eve of going home to rest, turned into a fun night, filled with odd stories about their jobs.

-

As always, Eve talked about Astra and her work as bodyguard, Wise learnt more about the “celebrity life” and how some of the things that they did in public was rehearsed beforehand to make it a “discussion topic online”.

On the other hand, Eve listened attentively to some of Phaethon’s adventures. At the beginning, Eve was listening full of interest in his perspective as a proxy, at one point she started to think that as long as he was involved in a Hollow operation everything would be alright.

But then…

His calm and collected attitude was replaced by anguish and stress, Wise told her parts about the Bringer incident, how he and his friends were ambushed in the other ring, how he fell into the hollow and lost consciousness and that a friend had to give him cpr.

Without paying attention to her reaction, Wise laughed to himself.

“Pretty crazy, right? hahaha.”

But instead of laughter, two hands smashing the table could be heard and the figure of Eve shot up from her seat to look at him dead serious in the eye.

-

Was she hyperventilating?

A cold chill ran through her spine and her heart was beating abnormally fast.

She yelled, not realizing other clients were looking her way.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything!?”

Everyone in the bar looked at them and she quickly covered her mouth with one of her hands.

“S-S-Sorry, Sorry.” She bowed apologetically a couple of times and went back to her seat.

She lowered her voice so only he could hear her and continued.

“You were in that kind of danger, and you didn’t tell me!?What were you thinking!?”

Wise looked at her stunned, this was the first time she ever acted like that in front of him.

She saw the confusion in his face, but whatever filled her chess with that anxiety wasn’t done yet.

“You were in REAL danger Wise! You need to tell me these things so I can protec…”

Realizing what she was about to say, she shut herself up before she could finish that sentence and leaned back on her chair.

A wave of uncertainty washed over her body.

Since the moment Evelyn met Astra, she made her sole mission to protect her from anything. She gave her a purpose; she pulled her away from the darkness.

To Evelyn, Astra was a one-time-only miracle that had been granted to her.

The bodyguard belonged at the singer’s side, and she would spend her life protecting that light.

Then, why was she feeling the same pressure she always feels when Astra is in danger over the notion of this man being in danger?

Taking her silence as anger, Wise panicked and waved his hands in front of her.

“No, no no! It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you. All of this happened a little before meeting you guys!”
His answer didn’t help the situation though, Evelyn knew there was nothing she could have done, but it didn’t make her feel better.

“Next time anything like that happens, you need to tell me, okay?”

He raised his hands to the air as a sign of surrender.

“Okay, okay, I promise. Although if you ask me, I hope nothing like that ever happens again haha.”

She breathed deeply and relaxed on her seat… and in that moment all the alcohol left in her system hit her like a truck giving her a killer headache.

“Ugh…Ow ow ow, Wiseee, can we…ugh go get some fresh air, please?”

-

All those Outer Ring parties with Burnice had given him the necessary expertise to take care of an intoxicated person, he had paced himself, and drunk enough water, he was also fairly drunk, but he was confident he could take care of his friend.

Straightening himself, Wise stood up sluggishly.

“Good idea, let’s go outside.”

After paying their tab, both the proxy and the bodyguard decided to walk around the city’s downtown taking in the nightlife sights.

Neon lights flickered, casting colorful flashes into the sidewalk, the usually crowded street appearing almost motionless and empty now, few people wandered the street, either going home or looking for a place to unwind.

And now Evelyn and Wise were walking the drunkenness off, unconsciously huddling closer to the other in an attempt to ward off the chilli breeze.

She stopped for a second and started rubbing her temples. “Wise, this is not working. I need to lie down.”

-

Then, Wise offered her a helping hand but the moment she tried to grab it she missed completely and dropped her full weight on him.

“Woaah! Umm…Let me help you there.” Wrapping his arm around her back he walked her to a bench nearby.

“I think it would be best if we get you home asap.” He took out his cellphone and started to look for a contact.

“Hold on a second, I’ll call Astra…”

Standing up immediately, Evelyn snatched the cell phone from him.

“D-Don’t even think about it, she’s working on a new single, she can’t get distracted!”

Evelyn raised the phone as high as she could while Wise was trying to take it back.

“How are we going to get you home then? There are no taxis at this hour, and I can’t let you drive like that.”

She looked at him with a pout.

“And what about you Mr.? Don’t think I don’t see you swaying while walking, you are not in any condition to be wandering alone either. We just need to lie down for a while to sober up…”

While looking for a place out of the cold, the light of a nearby sign caught her attention and after grabbing his hand she told him to follow her.

“I’ve got an idea, come here.” Pulling him by the arm, they walked towards the light.

Soon they stood outside of a capsule hotel near Lumina Street, the service was automated and if they wanted to rest for a bit, they just had to get a ticket from a machine and open the door to the room.

Evelyn peeked inside the building, making sure no one was inside, after all, the possibility of being recognized as Astra’s bodyguard was very high.

“One or two hours should be enough, after resting a while I’ll be able to go back on my own.”

The plan was sound, and now Wise didn’t have to worry about keeping Evelyn outside in the cold until she felt better.

Barely standing for dear life, Evelyn got a ticket and stood in front of the room with Wise.

While Eve was trying and failing to unlock the room’s lock, Wise leaned on the opposite wall and took a deep breath, thinking on how he was going to get home after making sure Evelyn was safe and sound.

“I’m glad we found a place where you can crash for the night, I'll make sure to call you tomorrow morning to check on you.”

Raising his hand and about to wave her goodbye, the still intoxicated girl glared at him as if he had just said the most nonsensical thing ever.

“What are you talking about? You drank almost as much as I did, you need to rest too.”

For a moment he had completely forgotten how immensely physically superior to him the bodyguard was, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him inside the room.

“W-W-Wa-Wait, wait, Evely…”

Before he could yell her name, she lightly pushed him against the closed door and pointed a finger to his face.

“E-V-E!”

“E-Eve! Look, I’m doing fine, really! Just get some rest, I promise to contact you first thing in the morning.”

Like all other capsule-like hotel rooms, the space was limited and minimalistic, just barely enough to accommodate two people if they didn’t mind sacrificing a little comfort.

Finally sobering up completely after the shock, his mind started to work at normal speed.

First of all, he was worried about Evelyn, the best solution at the moment was letting her rest there, but he didn’t count with her insistence of him staying in the same place.

Honestly, he didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he was going to do anything inappropriate, but the idea of someone recognizing Evelyn and seeing her leaving a hotel room with a stranger (him) sent shivers down his spine, he didn’t want to bring any problems to his friend.

She apparently had other plans though.

“Hmmp! Hiaa!”

For a moment all he could see was the ceiling of the room and the feeling of his feet leaving the ground.

Next thing he knew, he was lying face up on the bed and Evelyn was crawling up the bed and lying next to him.

“I-I really think I should go, Eve.”

…

“Zzzz…”

“Huh?” Luckily for Wise, the moment Evelyn tossed him into the bed she plopped into the sheets and fell into a deep sleep next to him.

Her face was extremely close and for a moment he lost himself into her beautiful features.

“Shit, I better go now.” Putting strength into his arms, he tried to create some distance but immediately felt a tug on his shirt, only to find out that Evelyn had an iron grip on him.

“You have to be kidding me…”

He didn’t want to wake her up, but Wise really needed to get out of there for his friend’s sake.

Slowly but surely, he used his hands to free his shirt from Eve’s grasp and after a couple of minutes he managed to sit cross legged on the bed.

“What to do, what to do…” He crossed his arms and whispered to himself, mindful of not waking up his friend.

A rustling beside him pulled his attention.

The still sleeping girl tossed and turned on her sleep, he could see how her slim hand opened and closed grasping at empty air, as if she was trying to hold onto something that wasn’t there.

A sweet, almost needy voice came out of her.

“Astra…”

“Pfff, haha ha.” Wise couldn’t help but to laugh at himself.

What was he doing? The situation was making a mess out of his head.

At first, when he fell for Astra, he thought he actually had a chance with her after seeing the way she treated him, but that’s who she is; she’s sweet and kind, ever the optimist and whenever you are with her you feel her warmth in everything she does.

Along with Astra though, came Evelyn who wasted no time in making abundantly clear how important her role as the singer’s bodyguard was to her.

Everything Evelyn did, she did it for her; she was protective, and over all she was precise and stern when it came to her security job, she also had a strong sense of justice.

After talking with Eve that night, he realized that to her, Astra was the sole light of hope in her world.

He honestly thought that Astra wasn’t fully aware of it, but he knew Evelyn only had eyes for her boss.

And now here he was, getting in their way.

How could he even compete against the bond Evelyn and Astra had developed after going through so much together?

He looked at the sleeping girl for a solid minute and finally took a deep breath.
Steeling himself, and having made up his mind, Wise pulled out his cellphone and after looking for a contact number, he sent a message.

“I’m sure she won’t mind, I just hope Evelyn doesn’t get mad at me.”

-

Once again, the girl next to him started tossing and turning.

“Is she having a nightmare?”

An anguished expression was drawn on her face and for the second time, her hand was moving trying to grab something to no avail.

Wise looked at her with a warm yet dejected smile, he held her hand with his and with the free one caressed her head softly.

“Even in your dreams you are looking out for her, isn’t it, Eve?”

He put a little strength on the hand that she held tightly, hoping that the firm touch could reassure her.

He spoke in a whisper, more to himself than to anyone else.

“It’s okay Eve, you take care of Astra, this time I’ll take care of you…”

A sudden movement made him think he had woken her up, instead she pulled his hand towards her body.

Her lips trembled and held his hand tightly.

“Wise…”

“!!!!! “

He choked on a scream thinking he had woken her up and he was about to burst out of the room when a vibration on his pocket told him of a recent message.

“Almost there, 10 min tops.”

Wise typed back. “Got it, we are inside the capsule hotel, pod number 5, the door is unlocked, just be mindful of the noise.”

“...is typing back…”

He closed his cellphone without looking and after putting it away he resumed his attempts to get free of Evelyn’s iron grip on his hand without waking her up.

Not even 5 minutes had passed since he sent the message, and he started hearing a pair of fast and frantic heels stepping outside the room.

The noise stopped right outside the door, but they didn’t open for a while, as if the person outside wasn’t sure if they wanted to open it or not.

Soon enough the doorknob started moving and the door opened slowly.

From outside Astra Yao peeked timidly into the room while covering her eyes with one hand but still leaving a little gap between her fingers in order to see.

“W-W-Wise? E-Eve? What are you guys d-doing in a hotel a-a-at this hour?”

“...Astra.”

After hearing Wise’s voice Astra perked up and flung the door open stepping inside but ended up crouching and covering her face with both of her hands.

“W-W-W-Wait! Wait, don’t say anything! I-I n-need to get ready.”

After taking a big breath, the singer looked towards the bed, just to find Wise looking at her dumbfounded.

“Shhh, you are going to wake her up!”

Astra Yao looked at Wise, who was trying to free his hand from a sleeping Evelyn.

“What?”

…

After getting the gist of the situation, she deflated on the ground and laughed to herself.

“A-Ahh, hahaha, I get it.”

Wise had sent her a message asking Astra to pick Evelyn up so she could take her home.

He knew Evelyn would be completely against the idea of having Astra going through the trouble of picking her up, but he understood the singer enough to know that she wouldn’t mind it.

After all, what Astra wanted the most out of her friends, was being treated as an equal and being trusted as one.

“Soo… What happened?” She smiled at him while staring at the hand who had become a prisoner of her bodyguard.

After all she wouldn’t miss for the world to hear how these two ended up in this situation.

About to start fawning over Astra, Wise remembered his decision of not getting between Evelyn and Astra’s relationship anymore, so when he started explaining the situation he worried about giving her the wrong impression about Eve.

“I’m sorry, I was walking down Lumina square when I saw Evelyn. She told me she was on her way to a bar, and it looked to me like she already had a couple of drinks on her, so I tagged along to make sure she was okay.”

Astra looked at him with a frown on her face.

“Sorry, sorry I didn’t mean to get in the way…”

-Hmmp!-
“How do you guys get to go out and have fun without me while I’m cooped up inside my studio dealing with deadlines!?”

“Huh?”

“That’s so unfair! Next time we definitely have to go out with the three of us.”

Astra ignored Wise’s confused face and started thinking about it.

“Hmm, but being seen outside might be a problem, maybe I’ll just rent a private place to have a mini party, doing it in the video store is a good idea too, we can invite Belle as well!”

“Ummm…Astra?”

Astra snapped out of it and looked back at Wise.

“Eheem, so, tell me, how did all of this happen?” With a small blush, the singer pointed at the bed and the now numb hand trapped by Evelyn.

“W-Well, after deciding we had enough, we left the place to get some fresh air and chat a little, but she wasn’t doing so well, we then decided to look for a place to rest a little and ended up here. She fell asleep quickly, but I ended up like this and I didn’t want to wake her up by accident.”

He tried to raise his hand a little, but Evelyn pulled it back to her chest, unknowingly earning herself a deep blush in Wise’s face.

“Hehe, I see, thanks for taking care of her.” Astra beamed at him.

“Wait, are you not angry?”

“Hmm, why would I be angry with you?” She tilted her head at Wise’s weird question.

“B-Because I spent too much time with her tonight?"
Astra climbed on the bed and got close to his face, showing him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

“My two favorite people had a good time together; no way I would be angry about that! But hey, no leaving me out next time, you’ll make it up to me, right?”

Speechless, he could only nod at her request.

“Ah! No need to worry about waking her up though, she usually is a light sleeper, but when she’s drunk nothing can wake her up…It’s a secret okay? Remember not to tell anyone.” She winked at him and put one finger over her lips.

“Oh, okay, okay good to know.” Deciding to free his hand once and for all, he put enough strength and pulled hard, trusting in Astra’s words.

A small growl came out of the sleeping girl and a pout was formed on her mouth.

“Okay, now it’s time to get her home. Is your driver waiting outside?”

“Hahahaha, don’t be silly, do you think I’d call my driver, and tell him that I need him to take me to a hotel at 3 am?”

Wise blushed at the implication and looked away for a second.

Astra realized what she said, and a small blush appeared in her face.

-cough cough-
“No, I was pulling an all-nighter working on a song, so when I got your message, I took the car and drove here.”

“I see, I’m sorry for making you get all the way here.”

She clapped her hands together and smiled at him, then she pointed at the sleeping Evelyn and made a question.

“It’s time to go now, help me get her into the car.”

Knowing that she wouldn’t wake up, Wise was confident enough to move her without any issues.

Luckily for him, he had a lot of experience carrying his sleeping sister to her bed whenever she fell asleep on the couch downstairs.

He looped his arm around Evelyn’s back, resting her head on his shoulder and scooped her legs with the other one.

“Okay, I’m ready. Lead the way.”
After seeing Wise carrying Evelyn, Astra gave him a warm smile and whispered to herself.

“Hehe. Must be nice, huh?”

…

Wise closed the car’s door after safely placing Evelyn on the backseat, he let out a big sight and the tiredness of the whole ordeal started weighing on him.

“Well, this surely was interesting. It was nice to see you both today.” He tapped twice on the car’s roof and waved Astra goodbye who had one leg inside the car already.

“Wait Wise, where are you going?”

“Umm, home?”

“Nu-uh, get in the car, you’re coming with us.”

“W-Why?”

“Do you think I can carry Evelyn on my own?”

Embarrassed, he started scratching the back of his neck trying to hide his excitement at the idea of spending time with Astra.

“I… guess that makes sense…”

Once inside, on the passenger seat he nervously put on his seat belt while Astra did the routine checkup before starting the car.

“I didn’t know you drive, Astra.”

“I usually don’t, but this was kind of an emergency, so I just went for it.”

Wise shifted on his seat, slowly the car’s heater melted away his constant worry about keeping an eye on Evelyn.

-Yaaawn-
“I’m sorry for making you come all this way, I should have sent her home earlier.”

Keeping an eye on the road she answered with a side glance. “I told you already, no need to worry about that.”

“Okay, okay…” The comfy and luxurious seat, combined with the low rumbling of the motor were zapping away his strength.

Perhaps aware of it, Astra tried to keep the conversation going.

“So, tell me Wise, what did you guys talk about?”
Already nodding off, Wise did his best to answer the question, but his half-asleep state made him answer carelessly.

-Hmmm-
“...You…”

The unexpected answer shocked Astra in such a way that she looked away from the road to look at him anxiously.

“Huh!!?What do you mean ME!??”

The sudden scream pulled him off the land of dreams, he jumped on his seat and opened his eyes wide.

Not knowing if he had dreamt his answer or not, he invented something on the spot.

“N-Nothing much really, we just talked about work, some movies, pretty normal stuff, hahaha.”

The singer looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. “Uh-huh…Good to see you had a good time…”

A pregnant silence started filling the space between them.

Was she angry? She wasn’t usually this awkward.

“I’m actually pretty Jealous right now…”

Feeling a pang in the heart, he looked back at her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get in the wa…”

“My two favorite people were hanging out having fun without me, that’s not fair at all!”

“Uhmm, are you not angry?”

“Hmm, why would I be?”

“Well, that I was alone with Eve.”

Wise was expecting her to reprimand him and telling him that he should be mindful of people recognizing Evelyn, but instead she looked at him with a smirk.

“Eve?”

He swallowed silently and looked at her waiting for her answer.

“Hahaha, if anything, I’m angry I couldn’t be with you two there!”

…

Silence reigned inside the car while Wise was thinking of a way to control his emotions.

It might have been the drowsiness, or his desperation to have a clear answer, but decided to get a clear picture of their relationship, he risked getting thrown off the car into the night for a chance to get clarification.

“Astra…Can I…Ask you something? It’s kinda personal.”

Sensing the seriousness in his voice, she just nodded and waited for the question.

“What is your relationship with Evelyn?”

Astra looked back at Evelyn from the rearview mirror to make sure she was still asleep.

“She’s my best friend, my protector, my manager, she takes care of me, and I would practically be completely lost without her.” She spoke while offering a warm smile to Wise.

“I-I see, but I meant something a little different. A-Are you two…close?”

“Of course we are close, silly, we are practically living together, haha.”

“Nonono, that’s not it.” Mildly exasperated, Wise rubbed his temples.

-Why did I have to make it so awkward…-

“Okay, one more chance… Astra, are you two…intimate?”

Finally grasping the meaning of his questions, Astra jolted straight and looked back at him, her face completely flushed.

“P-Perv…”

He let out a silent scream and covered his face with both hands.

-Someone kill me please…-

Okay, I already hit rock bottom, nothing to lose now.

“What I mean is, I-I like you…very much, but after talking with Eve today, I had the feeling that there might be more going on between you two, a-and if that was the case I wasn’t planning on getting in the way, so…”

That was it, best case scenario, she would answer his question, and worst she would kick him out of the car, he was preparing himself mentally for everything.

She kept driving for a couple of seconds, surely thinking how to answer him.

To his surprise, she looked at him with the utmost seriousness, at least it wasn’t the face of someone who would throw him into the cold night.

“We are here, help me carry Eve inside, we can talk after putting her to bed.”

Without realizing, they arrived at an inconspicuous apartment building in a secluded high-profile section of New Eridu that looked like the kind of place Victoria Housekeeping’s clients would live.

Putting his sister-carrying skills to full use, Wise grabbed Evelyn from the backseat, crossed one of her arms behind his neck while the other grabbed was tucked to her chest and walked into the building along with Astra.

“Do you live here?”

Astra walked a couple steps in front of the pair and made a turn towards the building’s elevator.

She pushed the button calling it down and leaned her back against the wall, showing him a bright smile.

“Hmmm, not exactly, I can’t really say I live anywhere really. I sleep in different places for security reasons. I also spent most of my time in private studios working on my music.”

He stood in front of her and shifted Evelyn in his arms in order to balance the weight, provoking a low grumble out of the sleeping girl who snuggled closer to his chest.

A *Ding* was heard, and with a wink Astra invited him to the elevator.

“So, which category would this place be?”

“This is a mini studio that Miss manager here uses to trap me whenever I need to meet a deadline.”

Pouting towards Evelyn she continued with an addition of dramatic flair.

“Ohh, how cruel of her, leaving me working while she goes out to have fun!” Shaking her head left to right and holding her forehead with a hand.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her theatrics but remembering how he had suffered chasing Nicole down so she could pay her debt on time, he spoke. “Haha, well deadlines exist for a reason.”

With a gasp, she made a betrayed expression and put her hands on her waist, changing the target of her pout from Evelyn to Wise. “Hey, whose side are you!?”

After a good laugh, the elevator reached the desired floor and Wise followed her outside.

They walked in silence past some unmarked doors, and Astra put her finger on the intelligent doorknob, unlocking the door and going inside with Wise close behind her.

The room was a lot different than he imagined, when he thought of a music studio he imagined a luxurious place, filled with paraphernalia and high-end equipment.

Instead, the place was relatively small, definitely bigger than the first floor of Random Play but not as big as he had imagined.

The studio was a wide space, a small kitchen, a workspace, a pair of sofas and 2 rooms at the back, one of which he assumed was the bathroom. It looked simply, but at a closer inspection he realized that even though inconspicuous, every single item inside was of the highest quality money could buy.

Sitting on a single-person couch, Astra pointed at the three-people sofa in front of her.

“Take a seat, there should be enough space for Eve too.”

“Huh?” He made a motion with his head pointing at the door in the back. “Shouldn’t I put her to bed there?”

Realizing his confusion Astra cleared the misconception.

“Ahh, no, this place doesn't have beds, usually when working I have to pull all-nighters. This place in particular has a bathroom and a recording room. If I really want to take a nap, I just lie on one of the sofas.”

“Ohh, I see, not the best place to sleep, but I get it.”

Wise walked to the sofa and tried to lower Evelyn as gently as he could, but instead of letting herself slip into the comfiness of the luxurious sofa, her grip around his neck got stronger and an annoyed grunt came out her mouth, pulling him closer.

He tried lowering her from different angles and even shaking her off a couple of times to no avail, at the end he plummeted into the sofa, setting Evelyn down on his lap, still wrapped around his neck.

Finally surrendering to exhaustion, he allowed himself to sink on the luxurious furniture and let out a deep sigh.

Not a second later a sweet, amused giggle came from the other side of the room.

*chuckle*

Wise gave her a tired but content face. “I’m glad you are having fun.”

“hahaha” -cough cough- “So… about your question.”

He had almost forgotten he had spilled his guts earlier, and the nervousness he was feeling in the car returned to him. Having Evelyn so close after asking Astra if they were a couple wasn’t helping his situation.

“Y-Yeah.”

“What was your question?”

“Owww, come on Astra, don’t do this to me.”

“Haha. Sorry, sorry…I just want to hear it again.” Astra looked at him with a faint smile and stomach filled with butterflies only she could feel.

With a lot more conviction than his first attempt, he looked at her in the eyes.
“I like you, but after talking with Evelyn, it made me think that you and she might already be in a relationship, if that’s true I wouldn’t want to get in the way. So, I wanted to ask you if you two were dating.”

For her part, Astra limited herself to nod a couple of times with her face slightly red.

“I-I see, y-you certainly didn’t mince your words this time…”

She stood from the single couch and walked towards the bigger one, without making much sound she sat next to Wise.

Using her right hand, she fixed a strand of hair on Evelyn’s face.

She looked at her with such a loving face that it was enough for Wise to get the hint, he was about to stand up and leave when he felt a gentle touch on his leg.

The air caught on his throat, and that place felt like it was on fire.

The same face that was looking at Evelyn was now directed at him.

“You guys really love to complicate things.” Astra whispered softly.

Staring at the hand on his leg, he didn’t dare to look her in the eye.

“Wh-What do you mean?”

Scooting closer to him, she rested her head on his shoulder, taking his free hand on hers.

“I’m going to answer your question, but in turn, you’ll have to answer me honestly, okay?”

“I promise.”

…

“If your question is, if Eve and I are in a relationship, the answer is no…”

Wise immediately felt a sense of relief washing over his body, but then he thought about Evelyn and how deep her care for Astra looked to him, somewhere inside of him it felt wrong not having her feelings reciprocated.

“I see…S-So…”

A squeeze on his hand interrupted him.

“But I want us to be.” Astra raised her head to look at his eyes, looking for a hint of a feeling he didn’t even know he could have.

He didn’t know if he should be feeling deflated or relieved, all he knew was that the combination of tiredness and alcohol in his system wasn’t making things easier.

He held Astra’s hand firmly, afraid this was the last chance he could be as close to her.

Astra continued.

“Evelyn is the most important person in my life, she has helped and protected me. She’s strong and caring, and…she can look scary and serious but she has her cute side too!”

Catching herself getting a little overexcited, Astra lowered her voice to a whisper for the next part. She had to make sure Eve could not hear it.

She twisted her body so both of her hands could support her next to Wise’s leg and reached towards his ear.

“Honestly, I thought I would never again in my life find another person who shines as brightly as she does...”

Wise could see it very well, what those two had was something that had been eluding him since the Fall of the Old Capital, when the people who caused the cataclysm broke his family apart, and robbed him and his sister the place they belonged to, next to their teacher.

He realized earlier while talking to Evelyn, that if there was a place she belonged to, it was beside Astra, they belonged to each other.

The words echoed in his head. “There is no place for m-”

“Until I met you~” Astra finished her sentence, whispering but almost singing it in his ear.

Wise looked at her full of confusion, almost dropping the sleeping Evelyn from the shock.

Astra followed his reactions closely in order to make sure he understood her every word.

“Do you remember when I met you? I appeared in front of you hiding behind the body of a Bangboo; I told you someone was in danger and without thinking you did your best to save her life, then you helped me on my birthday, then again you helped me find Winter’s lost record and once more during my concert.”

She sat straight and looked at Wise with a frown on her face.

“In this business, I’ve met all kinds of opportunistic people, fanatical fans, corporate spies, gold diggers and more. Yet, all you ever took from me was a signed poster.”

“All this time I thought that meeting Eve was a once in a lifetime miracle, that never in my life I would meet someone as amazing as her.”

Astra took his hand with both of hers and squeezed it towards her chest.

“And now that I’ve met you, I won’t let you go.”

Fighting with all his might against the blush in his face, Wise struggled with the most pressing question.

“B-But what about Eve?”

Astra pouted and pulled at him with her eyes closed as if she were a little girl throwing a tantrum.

“She’s mine too!”

He let out a deep sigh and wished he had a free hand to rub his temples.

*Sigh* “You are not making any sense.”

“I don’t need to make sense, I want what I want, this might be the first time you hear this but, I’m quite the greedy person~”

At last, releasing his hand and standing up to stretch the tension away, she walked in front of Wise and Evelyn and made her question.

“So, Wise…I answered your question, now you have to listen to mine.”

“You like me, and I won’t let either of you go. My question is…What do you think about Eve? Do you like her?”

The weight of the person resting in his arms became more apparent than ever, he took away his eyes from Astra and looked at Evelyn’s sleeping face.

“You have to be honest, Wise, tell me what you think of her.”

A minute of silence went by and finally he came up with an answer.

“I…I don’t need to be a genius to understand where you are going with this question, but If I just tell you that I like her just to be able to spend time with you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.”

“I can’t do that to her, nor to you,... If I’m being honest, I don’t really know how to answer your question. I’ve spent so long being head over heels for you that I haven’t really looked at anyone else.”

Astra blushed at the unexpected comment but it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“Wise, just tell me your opinion about her.”

He thought back to earlier that day, to the time he spent with Evelyn, discovering a new side of her, how cute she acted when she was drunk, the way she had been holding onto him from the moment she fell asleep, but more than anything, he remembered the devotion she had for Astra.

When he started to talk. Astra kept silent and listened to every word, as if everything she had planned depended on that moment.

“She is an incredibly hard working person, she has an unbeatable sense of responsibility, she’s stubborn and stern, but incredibly loving and caring; especially when it comes to you. She doesn’t show it, but working so hard can take a toll on her, I don’t think she has too many chances to let out steam, when she finally lets go she can be pretty easygoing.”

Wise moved Evelyn softly, barely received a reaction out of her and he laughed silently.

“She can be a bit clingy when she’s drunk, and she can sleep through a storm.”

He turned to look at Astra once again.

“I like her determination, I think she’s very pretty and I enjoyed spending time with her…but I don’t know if I like her like I do you.”

Astra looked like she wanted to say something, in fact, she looked like she really wanted to say something.

She closed her eyes, formed her hand into a fist and it started to shake.

“I know, right!!? Eve acts super cute when she has her guard down, like when she has a cold or right after waking up. She works too hard for my sake and she never takes a break!”

Wise looked at her, wondering where all the seriousness of the conversation had gone.

Meanwhile the singer continued her ramblings.

“She would definitely look cuter in a dress, but you know. Every time she goes shopping, she buys things for me! Not that I’m not grateful, but she hasn’t gotten a new outfit in ages! It’s all business with her!”

“Umm, Astra?”

“Ehh? Ahh!”

Coming back to her senses, she coughed slightly on her fist and continued their initial conversation.

“Wise, I wanted to talk to you about Eve… I know you like me, and you know I like you, but I also like Eve, if she makes you feel in any way similar to what you feel for me. I want you to help me with her.”

It was a crazy idea, he had never been in that kind of relationship before, but what surprised him the most was Astra’s request.

“Help you with Evelyn, how exactly?”
Astra let off a tired sigh and gestured towards the sleeping girl with her hand.

“Have you seen how this girl treats me? Don’t get me wrong, she’s great, but we’ve known each other for years…YEARS, and she still calls me Miss Yao, or Lady Yao. No matter how much I try to make her treat me differently, she always looks at me as if I were something that shouldn’t be…touched.”

Images of Evelyn’s dedication to protect Astra rushed to his mind and he couldn’t help but to nood at Astra’s remark.

“I-I see your point, but how do I figure in all of this?”

Then she looked at him with a mixture of pride and jealousy.

“Well, since you are not me…She won’t put you on a pedestal, allowing you to wear down her walls for me.”

“I think you are overestimating my relationship with Eve, you are the person who matters to her the most, I don’t see how I can ‘wear down her walls’ at all.”

“Trust me, it will be fineee.” She smiled at him and started looking for something on a drawer near them.

“How do you know that?”

Taking a big blanket out of the furniture, she walked towards the pair and threw it towards Wise.

“Because, it is true that Eve can sleep through anything if she’s tired enough or drunk, but she would never fall asleep in front of others if she didn’t trust them.”

Images of Eve asking him to rest alongside her rushed through his mind.

“You should sleep here tonight, I don’t think she’ll let you go until morning.”

“Wait, are you not sleeping yet?”

Astra bent down and kissed the sleeping girl on Wise’s arms on the cheek.

“Haha, did you forget silly? I’m working on a song! And I just got tons of inspiration! I’ll work just a little more and I’ll go to sleep, I promise.”

“What about what you told me about Eve?”

She then grabbed him by his face and planted a kiss on his forehead.

“We can talk about it another time, you must be exhausted…”

Finally letting go of all the tension, he finally let himself fall asleep.

---

Gradually consciousness was returning to her, along with all her senses.

First was sound, she could hear the birds outside and a gentle warm breeze close to her.
Next, it was touch. She was warm, cozy and she didn’t want to get out of bed yet.
Third was smell, a nice familiar fragrance filled her nostrils, for some reason she couldn’t get enough of it. She started wondering if the people in charge of the cleaning used some kind of special detergent for the sheets this time and made a mental note for asking them about it later.

Thinking that she had to wake up soon, she hugged her pillow tightly and snuggled close to it one more time before leaving her bed.

She slowly opened her eyes, but instead of a pillow, all she could see were strands of silver hair and a familiar black shirt.

With her arms around his neck, she and Wise were sleeping under the blankets on a familiar sofa, then all the memories of the previous day came rushing to her head.

The way she acted, how she asked him to spend more time with her, the capsule hotel…well, her recollection only lasted until the hotel.

She felt the blood rushing to her face and her body temperature raised rapidly.

Her face flushed red when she realized her arms were wrapped around his neck and that she was sitting on his lap. She immediately tried to jump out of there but when she tried, she felt a thug from behind.

Immediately looking back she froze completely.

Wrapping her arms tightly around Evelyn, Astra Yao was hugging her from behind, snoring peacefully.

Evelyn found herself trapped, with nowhere to escape.

If she were to move now, she would definitely wake Wise up and Astra was making it extremely difficult to move for her.

Trying to think of ways to free herself from that deadly trap, she overworked her already hungover brain.

Moving slowly she rested her head once again on Wise's shoulder.

“I-I can’t…My head is killing me, I’m too tired to deal with this.”

It was too much to ask of someone who just woke up and she didn’t want to be awake to deal with whatever happened the previous night to end up in that situation.

The body warmth of the two people with her was slowly but surely pulling Evelyn back to sleep.

The professional bodyguard took the administrative decision of…going back to sleep. After all, no one could blame her for what she did while sleeping, right?

Little by little, so as not to wake up the other two, she timidly placed her hand over Astra’s that was resting on her stomach and snuggled closer to Wise’s neck, closing her eyes and allowing herself to drift back to sleep again.

All the while the very awake Astra smiled to herself and snuggled closer to her two favorite people.