Chapter Text
The glass-domed atrium gleamed with chrome and light, a temple of innovation. Holographic displays hovered above exhibition booths, showcasing prototypes of self-driving drones, AI-assisted surgical tools, and solar-powered engines. The air buzzed with the low hum of conversation—investors, inventors, and academics mingling in clusters, champagne flutes catching the light as deals were made between handshakes.
Tiger was in his element. Dressed in a dark tailored suit with his family crest cufflinks catching the glow of the LED strips, he stood with a semicircle of shareholders and investors. They laughed at his dry jokes, nodded in agreement at his assessments of upcoming mergers, and asked his opinion on patent valuations. He carried himself like a natural leader—confident, charismatic, and sharp as the tools he so loved to buy for the people closest to him.
But halfway through answering a question about scalability in electric transport, Tiger’s eyes wandered. Across the atrium, past the flashing holograms of circuit blueprints and prototype models, he saw him.
Duenao.
The boy wasn’t even dressed to dazzle—just in a neat, open-collared shirt and a jacket that looked more practical than luxurious. And yet, Tiger thought, the whole showcase dimmed around him. Duenao wasn’t networking like the rest; he wasn’t approaching booths with calculated questions or rehearsed lines. Instead, he walked with unhurried curiosity, pausing at each invention as though he could dismantle and reassemble it in his mind with a glance. His hands stayed in his pockets, his expression hovering between interest and quiet amusement.
Tiger’s lips quirked. How did Duenao always manage to look so at ease in rooms full of people clawing for status?
“Excuse me,” Tiger said smoothly, cutting off the polite argument between two investors about venture scaling. He handed his champagne flute to a passing server, ignoring the slight disappointment in the circle of shareholders. “I’ve just spotted someone I need to catch.”
And without waiting for their response, he slipped away.
The crowd parted easily for him—Tiger moved with intent, the kind that made people glance over shoulders to see who was worth such focus. He found Duenao lingering near a booth displaying a modular exoskeleton for industrial lifting, tilting his head as if assessing the welding quality.
“Now this,” Tiger drawled as he came to stand at his side, “is a miracle.”
Duenao blinked, then smiled, easy and unforced. “And what miracle would that be?”
“That you’re standing here alone,” Tiger said, folding his arms, his grin tilting more private. “No little entourage of yours trailing after you. Where are the others? Typhoon, North, the lot of them?”
Duenao chuckled, a low sound that made Tiger’s chest tighten. “Busy. Or probably at the café, knowing them. North might even be on a date with Johan right now.” He shrugged lightly, the movement as casual as his words. “They didn’t need me tagging along today.”
“Mm,” Tiger hummed, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “So they left you to fend for yourself at a tech showcase? How cruel of them. Do they even realize how many people would kill to corner you here?”
Duenao laughed again, softer this time, shaking his head. “I doubt anyone’s here to corner me, Phi.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Tiger leaned in just slightly, lowering his voice so only Nao could hear over the background noise of the event. “Some of the people I just left would circle you like sharks if they knew half the things I suspect about you.”
Duenao tilted his head at him, curious but not alarmed. “And what do you suspect?”
Tiger didn’t answer right away. He let the question linger, enjoying the sight of Duenao’s raised brow, the way his lips quirked like he was already amused by whatever Tiger might say. Instead, Tiger glanced at the exoskeleton prototype. “That you already know how this works better than the people trying to sell it.”
Duenao gave a half-smile, neither confirming nor denying, just tucking his hands deeper into his pockets. “You give me too much credit.”
Tiger’s grin widened. “Not possible.”
Duennao didn’t linger too long at the exoskeleton booth. He gave the staff a polite nod before continuing his walk, hands still tucked neatly into his pockets, steps unhurried. Tiger fell into stride beside him, his presence deliberate but not heavy.
He didn’t speak at first—he simply matched Duenao’s pace, the contrast stark. Where Tiger moved like someone used to commanding attention, Duennao moved like someone who never needed to prove he belonged anywhere.
Halfway down the row of glittering displays, something caught Duenao’s eye. He slowed, then stopped in front of a booth showcasing a sleek, cylindrical device—polished steel interlocked with transparent tubing, where faint blue light pulsed like a heartbeat.
Duenao leaned in slightly, tilting his head the way Tiger had seen him do when staring at a puzzle only he could solve. “What’s this one?” he asked the staff behind the booth, his voice polite but curious.
The representative brightened, eager to have someone’s attention. “This is our latest prototype for a self-sustaining cooling system designed for long-haul electric engines. It cycles heat through a compressed hydronic loop, reducing thermal wear without external ventilation. We’re projecting it could extend engine life by fifteen percent once perfected.”
Duenao listened without interruption, eyes sharp but expression deceptively relaxed. He didn’t frown, didn’t nod excessively like the investors Tiger had been speaking to earlier. He just… absorbed. When the staff finished, Nao murmured a quiet thank-you, gaze still fixed on the blue pulse inside the tubing.
Tiger, who hadn’t taken his eyes off him, finally broke the silence. “Why that one?”
Nao blinked once, then turned his head to him. “Why are you so curious about what I’m curious about?”
Tiger smirked at the quick retort, but there was a flicker of something in his gaze—because he could tell Duenao wasn’t deflecting. He was teasing.
And then, with a grin that shifted his whole face from composed to dangerously alive, Duenao shrugged. “I’m an engineering student, Phi. Curiosity is normal.” His eyes returned to the device, glinting under the booth’s light. “Besides, I know North and I could probably dismantle this and put it back together in half the time it took them to build it.”
It wasn’t arrogance, rather, it was certainty. A statement of fact, spoken with the ease of someone who didn’t need to prove anything to anyone.
Tiger’s laugh rumbled low in his chest, more fond than mocking. “You don’t even sound like you’re joking.”
“I’m not.” Duenao finally looked back at him, grin widening. “That’s the fun part.”
Tiger found himself staring longer than he should, pulse skipping in a way no investment pitch had ever managed.
Duenao lingered in front of the device, eyes following the steady pulse of blue light. After a thoughtful pause, he asked the staff in that calm, even tone of his, “Is this piece up for auction, or could it be purchased outright?”
The representative brightened immediately. “It’s available for purchase on the spot, sir. Delivery can be arranged as early as tomorrow morning, along with the full technical specifications and warranty.”
Duenao hummed, the sound soft, like he was already considering how he might tear it apart in a lab.
Tiger chuckled, stepping forward with the confidence of someone used to swiping problems off the table with money. “Then I’ll buy it for you,” he said easily, almost like it was the most natural thing in the world.
But before the staff could even blink, Duenao turned to him and shook his head. “No. I can pay for it.”
Tiger froze for a fraction of a second, caught off guard by the flat refusal. His brow arched, sharp and incredulous. Pieces at events like these weren’t pocket-money purchases. Even for someone of his standing, each prototype came with a price tag steep enough to make investors negotiate in back rooms.
He studied Duenao’s face, expecting hesitation, a crack in the calm façade. But Nao only brushed it off, his expression smooth, almost amused by Tiger’s reaction. “Don’t look at me like that,” he said lightly, turning back to the staff. “Please process the purchase under my name. Delivery details will be arranged after the event.”
The representative blinked, then scrambled to nod, clearly recognizing a serious buyer when he saw one.
Tiger, meanwhile, stood slightly behind, hands in his pockets, watching. Watching as Duennao—his quiet, self-possessed engineering student, spoke with the same unhurried ease he always did, but this time about a transaction that would make most people’s heads spin.
It unsettled Tiger in the strangest way. Not because he felt undermined—but because for the first time, he realized Duenao didn’t need him to play benefactor.
And, infuriatingly, Tiger thought, he liked that far too much.
The representative cleared his throat delicately, tablet in hand. “Would that be cash or cheque, sir?”
Duenao blinked, momentarily caught off guard. “You don’t do cards?”
The staff member winced with an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately, our system isn’t set up for card transactions during the showcase. It’s strictly cash or cheque.”
Tiger’s lips curved before Duenao even answered. He could already see where this was going.
“Cash or cheque,” Duenao repeated, the corner of his mouth tugging as though weighing the inconvenience. He slipped a hand into his jacket pocket, clearly ready to handle it—
—but Tiger had already pulled a sleek pen from his inner pocket, scrawling his signature across a waiting slip the staff had prepared. In one fluid motion, he tore the cheque and handed it over.
“Here.” His tone was final, practiced, the kind of authority that closed deals before the other party realized they’d agreed.
Duenao’s head snapped toward him. “Suer.” His voice carried a note of sharp protest. “I told you, I can pay for it.”
“I know.” Tiger’s gaze didn’t waver, steady and infuriatingly calm. “And you can. Just pay me back later, if it bothers you so much. But for now—” he gestured at the staff, who was clutching the cheque like it was gold, “—let me handle it.”
Duenao sighed, shoulders lifting with reluctant acceptance. He looked at Tiger for a beat longer, as if testing whether he’d relent, but Tiger’s expression was immovable. Finally, he exhaled, resigned. “Fine. But I’m paying you back.”
Tiger’s grin returned, slow and satisfied. “I’ll hold you to that.”
As the staff scurried off to process the purchase, Tiger slipped his pen away and glanced at Duenao again—watching the way annoyance lingered in his expression, tempered with something Tiger thought looked suspiciously like amusement.
The staff returned a moment later, beaming as they presented a slim folder and digital pad. “If you could just sign here, sir, we’ll arrange for the delivery tomorrow morning. Please confirm the address and any handling instructions.”
Duenao nodded, flipping through the details with practiced ease. He signed without hesitation, before handing the pad back. “That’ll do.”
“Thank you, sir. We’ll be in touch for confirmation.” The staff bowed slightly and moved off, cradling Tiger’s cheque.
Duenao, however, didn’t linger. As soon as the formalities were done, he slid his hands back into his pockets and turned toward the exit, weaving through the thinning crowd of guests and flashing holograms. His pace was unhurried, but there was finality in it—a quiet declaration that he was done with the event.
Tiger fell into step a few paces behind before calling out, “Heading back to the dorms?”
Duenao glanced over his shoulder, eyes steady. “Yeah.”
“I’ll drive you.” Tiger’s tone left little room for argument; it sounded more like an offer phrased as fact.
But Duenao only shook his head, the faintest smile tugging at his mouth. “No thanks. I can handle myself.”
Tiger slowed, watching as Duenao turned forward again and continued toward the glass doors. He didn’t look back and didn’t hesitate. He just slipped into the flow of people leaving the showcase as if he’d never been part of Tiger’s orbit at all.
And Tiger, rooted in place, found himself watching the retreating figure with a mix of frustration and fascination.
Most people leaned on him, gravitated toward his presence, sought his approval. And Duenao? He walked away without so much as a second thought.
Tiger let out a quiet laugh under his breath, though there was no humor in it—just the thrill of a challenge sparking in his chest.