GCT 28

“Hey, Yohan, don’t be like that.”

“But still…”

Yohan had hoped Jun would just let it go, but Jun spoke while looking at Lear. It was because the sight of the two bickering in front of him was cute.

“To think Yohan is a shyer type than I thought. It’s really unexpected.”

“No, it’s not that…!”

“Back then, I think all you said was something like Mr. Crawford is competent at handling computers, but he’s a delicate being in many ways, so you wanted to protect him.”

“When did I ever say that!”

At Jun’s words, Yohan’s face reddened as he spoke. Then Jun spoke playfully, as if he found it amusing.

“It wasn’t exact, but you said something similar, didn’t you?”

“Th-that’s…”

Since it wasn’t entirely wrong, Jun couldn’t make any more excuses. Lear, who had been listening quietly, spoke to Yohan in a gentle voice.

“Did you?”

“Just, well. I said you were… somewhat helpful. That’s all.”

“Even setting that aside, I’m not really a delicate being, am I? You’re the one who’s more delicate, Yohan…”

Before Lear could say something unnecessary, Yohan reached out and covered his mouth. Then he smiled awkwardly and spoke to Jun.

“Haha. Jun, you’re too much. Shall we stop with the pointless talk and start planning our strategy for the conference this Friday?”

“Yes. But you two should order something before that.”

Jun called a server over and ordered some light beverages for them. In the meantime, Yohan removed his hand from Lear and gave his thigh a little pinch. Even so, Lear looked at him with a sly expression, as if he couldn’t care less. Yohan couldn’t bear to look at that shameless face, so he fixed his gaze on Jun and spoke.

“He said he’d add us to the attendee list so this guy can infiltrate the conference being held in Chula Vista.”

At Yohan’s words, Jun gave a slight nod and spoke.

“Are you going undercover?”

Lear answered in Jun’s place.

“Yes. So we’ve set it up so two people are a couple, and one is a server. To be honest, they call it a conference, but looking at the meeting place, time, and the reservation, it’s no different from a party. Everyone is bringing a partner, too. Anyone would think they were holding the Met Gala1) here.”

“Then…”

“Yohan and I are scheduled to infiltrate as a couple.”

Yohan frowned at the unagreed-upon story and looked at Lear. However, Lear shamelessly continued to voice his thoughts.

“I guess the point is to humor the buyers by pretending it’s a conference, rather than actually holding a boring one like this. Looking at the attendee list, they’re each bringing partners.”

Yohan interjected at Lear’s words.

“That may be so, but Shadow will be there. Even if you don’t know who he is, he knows who you are.”

Just from Yohan’s tone, it seemed like he was planning to exclude Lear and be a couple with Jun. Lear couldn’t stand to see that.

“It doesn’t matter. The place will be filled with people like Shadow anyway, if they’re not real researchers. Besides, with so many people, they won’t be able to attack recklessly.”

“But it’s still dangerous.”

“Didn’t I tell you? It’ll be fine.”

“……”

“The reason Shadow invited so many people to the hotel in Chula Vista is for his own security. We’re just going to use the stage they’ve set up.”

Even so, Yohan couldn’t help but be worried. For now, Yohan decided to keep listening to what Lear had to say.

“Well, whether they’re from Declan’s side or somewhere else, the businessmen who aren’t researchers will be obvious.”

“……”

“The fact that Shadow is a decrepit old man is something both you and I have guessed, but that bastard doesn’t care about the means to an end if it’s for his own benefit. He even recently hired a young, greenhorn hacker.”

“A hacker?”

Lear took out his phone, fiddled with something, and then placed it in the middle of the table. Yohan, with a thoroughly surprised face, stared intently at the photo on the screen.

“This guy is…!”

“Mike Ernest Fabian.”

It was Ernest, the one who dealt heroin when Yohan had gone undercover in Vasquez. He had definitely said he would quit the plug life as soon as he graduated. Yohan, who had never dreamed that Ernest would show up like this, was flustered. Had he known, he thought, he should have at least properly found out the guy’s major.

“He’s a guy I used to deal with. He always supplied me with top-grade Mexican heroin.”

Hearing this for the first time, Lear’s expression hardened. Yohan, still unable to comprehend the situation before him, looked at Ernest’s photo several times as he spoke.

“He said his lover was in that business. He just received it and passed it on to me… He said he’d quit as soon as he graduated… But this guy…”

Jun, who had been quietly listening to Yohan and Lear, spoke.

“Still, it’s a good thing your cover wasn’t blown, Yohan.”

At Jun’s words, Yohan scratched his head and spoke.

“An Asian dealer in a Hawaiian shirt… he probably didn’t want to get involved. Plus, I don’t use social media.”

“Ah…”

“And guys who do this kind of work usually don’t like to surface, and since he was already involved with Shadow, he might not have felt the need to get deeply involved with someone like me. He must have been tired enough with school and his lover. He was living a busier life than I thought.”

Just then, the server brought the drinks they had ordered. Lear took a sip of his coffee, then sighed and spoke.

“Well, it’s funny for me to say this, but… should I call that guy Shadow’s shadow? Even though he’s a freelancer, he’s filling in the gaps for Shadow. His skills are pretty good, better than I thought.”

Lear clicked his tongue once, took back the phone displaying Ernest’s photo, and continued speaking.

“He probably dug up and sold information Shadow wanted, or else he made money by taking on hacking requests on the dark web. And… he likely got into distributing drugs around college campuses or selling to dealers like Yohan. That was probably the power of love.”

“Because he could be disposed of by the gang if he couldn’t sell his quota?”

“That’s right. Well.”

Lear, fiddling with his phone, this time showed them an Instagram post. It was a photo of Ernest hugging his lover and kissing him on the cheek.

“Is that Ernest’s lover?”

“Yeah. The guy, whether he’s Ernest or Onion, hid his own information thoroughly. So I targeted his lover instead. Besides, people at that age aren’t good at hiding their relationships.”

Yohan was dumbfounded. He felt he had been too naive, far too naive. Then again, he had wasted his time in Vasquez, so it was only natural his senses would have dulled. Lear spoke as if to say it wasn’t his fault, but Yohan’s mood didn’t improve.

“So?”

“Targeting Onion would have taken too long, so I dug into his lover and found out he works closely with Vasquez. Since he handles mostly Mexican heroin and doesn’t touch candy, it seems his ties are deeper with Jamal’s side than with Kouri.”

“…In any case, he made a deal with Shadow through that route, is that it?”

Lear nodded. Yohan clicked his tongue.

“No wonder he wanted to be paid in Litcoin when he dealt with me… Plus, he said his lover was from Sinaloa.”

“If he’s from Sinaloa, he might be an illegal resident. He must have tried pretty hard to avoid getting involved with immigration.”

“Maybe that’s why he’s being blackmailed by Shadow.”

“Well, the probability of that is high… Declan has a tight grip on the top of this drug industry.”

Yohan, listening to Lear, twitched an eyebrow and complained to him.

“But, why are you telling me this only now?”

“That’s because for the past few days, Yohan, you were…”

“I get it. I get it. Stop.”

Seeing Yohan look at him as if he were holding back because Jun was there, Lear thought he’d better continue what he was saying before he got genuinely sulky.

“I found out while looking through O’Connell’s laptop. O’Connell had a nominee account in Liechtenstein and was receiving huge sums of money, so you could say it’s all connected.”

“There’s no way O’Connell learned to code, and if he secured his laptop that thoroughly…”

“Whether it was Shadow or someone else, he would have had him gather all sorts of information within O’Connell’s capabilities.”

“……”

“Plus, he could look after the backs of powerful people.”

Yohan clucked his tongue. It was truly, utterly sickening.

“But as O’Connell accumulated more and more, it must have become a burden for Shadow, too. He might have been eliminated to create chaos within Vasquez.”

“Well… probably.”

“And you found out all these incredible things just by looking ‘a little’ into O’Connell’s laptop?”

“That’s right. Onion was using Platypus2) and got caught red-handed by me. One of my hobbies is collecting hackers’ codes.”

Yohan made a face as if he didn’t understand Lear’s hobby. He didn’t say it to Lear, but it felt somewhat perverted.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s similar to collecting books.”

“Oh, really?”

“More importantly, isn’t it sexy that on top of these looks, I’m also amazing with computers?”

“Well… I’ll respect the hobby part.”

Lear chuckled at Yohan’s reaction and continued.

“Anyway… Onion had participated in a mock hacking competition as a freshman. So it was easy to find him. Well.”

“And?”

“For now, I’ve made it so Onion can’t access O’Connell’s laptop anymore, but I still have to keep untangling the complicated code. It’s going to take time.”

“What about catching Onion, no, Ernest, and making him undo it?”

“Even if we catch Onion and tell him to undo it, he won’t be able to. He wrote the code so shittily that even he would have a hard time touching it.”

As Yohan’s expression darkened, Lear spoke in a gentle voice.

“But just in case…”

At Lear’s words, Yohan’s eyes sparkled slightly. But the news that followed made him sullen again.

“I sent people to go grab Onion, but he had already taken a leave of absence from school and left the U.S. With his lovely lover, of course.”

“Ha, seriously. So that bastard really did go to college. He wasn’t lying about that, at least.”

Jun, who had been listening quietly to Lear and Yohan’s conversation, spoke with a worried tone.

“I don’t know much about that field, but then…”

“The Onion situation is annoying, but what can we do? Still, he tactfully got out of the way this time, so we’ll have to hope he doesn’t interfere anymore. I need to keep digging into O’Connell’s laptop. Since so many people are after it, there must be something incredible inside.”

Lear clicked his tongue once and continued speaking.

“I don’t know how the story drifted this far, but you don’t have to worry too much about the conference. Besides, since Onion left on a lover’s escape in the middle of all this… it’ll be very easy for us to change our identities and avoid Shadow’s eyes. It won’t be easy for him to find another skilled hacker in that time.”

“No matter what… you shouldn’t be the one, should you?”

“I know, right? It’d be weird for someone as handsome as me to play the role of a server, don’t you think?”

That was certainly true. One shouldn’t discriminate against people based on looks or secondary gender, but there was a common stereotype associated with an alpha like Lear. But even if that were the case, he still couldn’t understand why Lear had to be the one to step up.

“And I have absolutely no confidence in acting like a couple with someone I met for the first time today.”

Yohan let out a needless cough and glanced at Jun. Then Jun smiled and spoke.

“I’m fine with it. Seeing how you’re speaking, Mr. Crawford… you seem to have a plan.”

At Jun’s words, which suggested he should present his opinion, Lear nodded and continued speaking, as if to show Yohan.

“See? Yohan, Agent Harris says he’s fine with it, too. And given the industry, if someone gives us a suspicious look, we can just evade it by bringing up the human rights of alpha-beta couples.”

“That’s not bad. Oh, and you two look very good together.”

Yohan was flustered, not expecting Jun to say something like that. However, Lear’s mood brightened slightly at Jun’s words.

“Are you being serious? Jun?”

“Of course. No one will be particularly suspicious. There’s a certain vibe, you know? I guess you could say you look like a couple at first glance. At least, visually, it’s convincing.”

Yohan looked like he’d just heard something he shouldn’t have, but Lear wore a very satisfied expression at Jun’s words. He wasn’t particularly happy that Jun had suddenly appeared and gotten involved in this matter, but he thought that at least his eye for things was sharp.

“You’ve seen it exactly right. Anyway, the reason I specifically mentioned the server role for you, agent, is because you’re a former sniper.”

Lear said it nonchalantly, but Jun was slightly surprised. He had never even told Yohan that he had been a sniper during his military service.

The thought that Lear, a man skilled with computers just as Yohan had said, had already finished his background check was a little creepy, but he still understood Lear. There was a similar person in Jun’s circle as well.

“I’ll prepare the related equipment and give it to you separately, agent.”

“Well… sniping is a thing of the past for me, but if I can be of help, I should try anything.”

At Jun’s words, Yohan spoke to Lear.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“You’ve been sick. Besides, surprise?”

Lear’s words made Yohan’s expression turn to one of disgust. Unaware of Yohan’s feelings, Jun asked innocently.

“Yohan, were you sick?”

At Jun’s question, Yohan laughed awkwardly and his face reddened. He couldn’t bring himself to say he had been sick with body aches from accepting Lear’s rut.

“It was just, well… something like that happened. A kind of air conditioning… sickness, I guess you could call it.”

“I see.”

“Haha. Yes. This is California, after all.”

The quick-witted Jun decided not to ask any further. He had found it strange that every time he met Yohan, who he heard was a beta, he was covered in the scent of alpha pheromones. Well, only today had he realized who the owner of those pheromones was. Besides, if it was an air conditioning sickness, it was an air conditioning sickness; what was ‘a kind of’ air conditioning sickness? Jun thought that Yohan, despite his sharp appearance, had an innocent side to him.

Unaware of Jun’s thoughts, Yohan let out a sigh of relief at his colleague’s consideration and continued.

“Ah, anyway… let’s talk about trivial things like this later and discuss the operation.”

“Has any new information come in?”

“Other than what this Lear guy mentioned, it’s been so quiet it’s scary. As I mentioned last time, an unexpected entity has gotten involved. I don’t know if Shadow is aware of it.”

At Yohan’s words, Lear spoke.

“Shadow probably wouldn’t even think the SVR is involved.”

“But…”

“We also found out about them by chance. Besides, Shadow is most wary of me. He would never have predicted that Russia would suddenly target him and ruin his plans, right? Since he’s never been involved with the Russian side before.”

“Hmm…”

“Besides. Yohan, think about it. Shadow hasn’t made a direct move so far, just subcontracting to Onion. He was trying to take the information O’Connell had gathered in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances.”

“So you’re saying he’s only wary of you and our government, without even considering Russia?”

“Well, he can’t make everyone in the political and financial worlds his ally. And a rather difficult problem arose when he entrusted O’Connell’s security to Onion. Because Onion himself wrote code that he can’t undo.”

Explaining the code probably wouldn’t be understood by anyone and would likely diminish his own charm, so Lear spoke tactfully.

“So Onion probably tried to keep accessing it whenever he had a chance. Since the laptop disappeared and then suddenly reappeared.”

“Both Ernest and Shadow must have been quite anxious.”

“Right. Since they wouldn’t know who took O’Connell’s laptop.”

“But you said Onion went on a lover’s escape.”

“Yeah. But, Onion would have known that the data O’Connell collected was quite useful. Even if he was commissioned by Shadow, honestly, if he got his hands on it himself, he’d have many uses for it. Though it seems Shadow just treated Onion like a naive little kid.”

Yohan clicked his tongue.

“This is so annoying.”

Seeing Yohan curse, Jun, who had been listening quietly beside them, spoke.

“From their perspective, the laptop’s whereabouts have become unknown, and very few people can access the information, so we should see it as having bought some time. Thanks to that, the upcoming conference will be quite interesting.”

“Yes. Furthermore, the SVR, who will be uninvited guests at this deal, will try to ruin the transaction one way or another. For them, if they can decisively shake up Declan and the Paraguayan side, who are so deeply entangled with the political and financial worlds, they can turn the deal to their advantage.”

Jun gulped.

“Then…”

“They’ll probably try to crash the party quite violently. Besides, considering the venue and the guest list, it’s more of a party than a conference, isn’t it? For the SVR to make a move, there’s nothing better than sniping.”

“True… Shadow will likely be paying close attention to testing his new business that day, and for the SVR, a face-to-face confrontation would carry too much risk.”

Lear agreed and this time sent something to Jun’s phone.

“I’ve sent the blueprints for the transaction site via text. If Agent Harris looks at them, you’ll be able to immediately find a place where a sniper could hide to take a shot.”

“Well… that’s not difficult. The locations where you can hide your body and secure the best possible angle are obvious.”

Yohan got goosebumps listening to the two men’s conversation, and even wondered if the scale of this was allowed to get so big. It was to the point where he wondered if he needed to bring in Ethan Hunt from <Mission: Impossible> or James Bond from <007>.

If he couldn’t bring them, it felt like he would at least have to be possessed by their spirits. But on the other hand, he was a little excited at the thought that an opportunity to resolve the matter he had longed for all this time had finally arrived. He thought of Diane for a moment, but it wasn’t the time to be lost in memories yet.

“Just this is making my head and heart feel like they’re going to explode… Will we be able to catch both Shadow and the SVR agents?”

Jun spoke to Yohan as if to tell him not to worry.

“It won’t be simple… but it will be okay. We have Mr. Crawford, too. I’d say the momentum has shifted greatly to our side.”

“You’re quite the optimist for someone from New York.”

“Haha. It’s thanks to my family. And now that I’ve come this far, I have to accomplish something before I leave.”

Yohan pouted upon hearing that.

“That’s a real textbook answer. I’m jealous…”

Perhaps because it was something he himself couldn’t enjoy, Yohan had a longing for the construct of a happy family. Lear, who was not unaware of this feeling, wrapped an arm around Yohan’s shoulder and spoke.

“Jealous? Then should we go make a family right now?”

“Are you crazy?”

“We can do three in one go.”

Yohan took Lear’s hand off his shoulder with a disgusted look on his face. However, Lear spoke slickly.

“Well, yeah. It’s true that family planning is best done when it’s just the two of us. It’s fine. I’ll understand.”

At the sight of Lear spouting nonsense again today and winking, Yohan shook his head from side to side. And at that moment, Yohan’s eyes met Jun’s, who was in front of him. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Yohan, with a flushed face, needlessly stirred the ice in his drink with his straw, swoosh swoosh.

Jun barely held back his laughter at the sight of Yohan blushing and feeling needlessly embarrassed, and asked Lear.

“So now…”

At Jun’s question, Lear took a key card out of his pocket, handed it to him, and said.

“We should head to Chula Vista, right?”

“Right now?”

“As you please. Well, either way, it’s probably best to study up in advance. As you can see from the key card, I’ve booked the hotel where the conference is being held. To make it easy to get around. Of course, I wanted to get you a nice room… but given the circumstances. I’m trying to avoid any conspicuous behavior as much as possible.”

“Yes. I think so, too.”

At Jun’s words, Lear grinned and tapped the key card on the table with his finger, saying.

“Oh, and the registered name is Luke Meisel. Just in case.”

As soon as the name Luke Meisel came out, Yohan glared at Lear. He couldn’t believe that name was popping up here; was this a joke?

However, Lear ignored Yohan’s gaze and told Jun he’d see him in Chula Vista, as if it didn’t matter at all.

He felt this every time, but he wondered if Lear wasn’t in the top three for shamelessness in the whole world.

The hotel in Chula Vista where the conference was being held wasn’t as flashy as the ones in LA, but it was clean and quite large, larger than expected. It wasn’t a suitable venue for a conference, but well, the very idea of a conference being held here was funny in the first place. The intention was too obvious, you could say. The invited doctors were probably just playing the part of attendants for Shadow’s deal.

[You’re okay, right?]

[Avon]

[I’m worried because I haven’t heard from you lately]

[Please get in touch]

Yohan stood next to Lear, who had gone to check in, and sent a text to Avon. It was because, after the safe deposit box incident, he had no way of knowing if Avon was dead or alive. Of course, he didn’t think he was dead, but he couldn’t help but worry since he was a friend. On a whim, Yohan tried contacting him once more, but there was still no reply. Just then, Lear gave his alias to the employee checking the guest list, and as soon as Yohan heard the name, he lifted his head without realizing it.

“What?”

So shameless.

“Scott Turner?”

Yohan stared at Lear checking in with a dumbfounded expression. But Lear didn’t respond and calmly finished checking in under the name ‘Scott Turner’.

Anyone could tell it was a name taken from the famous buddy cop movie, <Turner & Hooch>. Specifically, if the person who made the reservation was playing the role of Turner, then that meant Yohan was Hooch, but the problem was that Hooch wasn’t a human, but a ‘dog’. However, Lear spoke with a shameless face.

“It’s fun.”

Lear grinned as he received the key card. Yohan followed Lear, who was getting into the elevator with a flabbergasted expression, and snatched the key card from his hand. At that, Lear stuck close to Yohan and said.

“I never said anyone was playing Hooch.”

“Do you have to say Hooch for it to be Hooch? You said Turner when you gave the name. It’s obvious… You bastard… You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

He had done it on purpose. Since he had already received the key card in advance, there was no need to go to the front desk and give his name. However, Lear wanted to see Yohan pouting, so he deliberately chose the path of earning his ire.

“Hey, Yohan. Are you sulking? But he’s cute. Hooch.”

Lear reached out and gently fiddled with Yohan’s chin, cooing at him. At that, Yohan scrunched up his face like an angry chihuahua and slapped his hand away.

“So is that why you insisted on giving your dog’s name to Jun, too?”

“My dog?”

“Luke Meisel.”

“Aah. You mean my son.”

Son? ‘Our’ son? When did I ever have a son that he’s attaching ‘our’ to it? How could he say such nonsensical things so naturally?

Yohan glared at Lear once with a baffled expression and got out of the elevator. And after seeing the room number written on the key card, he strode over, opened the door, and went inside the room.

Compared to the rooms Lear had stayed in until now, it was a very modest hotel room, but it wasn’t bad. Compared to Yohan’s now half-abandoned house, it was very nice since he’d met Lear.

“Luke Meisel’s room is right next door. Though we got here first.”

“I know it’s not the first or second time you’ve crossed the line, but still, isn’t this a bit much? Even if it’s your pet… to a person…”

“What about it? He’s not in this world anymore. But he was a good and cute boy. To say a name like his is a bit much. That’s so mean, Yohan.”

Not in this world anymore. Yohan looked at Lear with a slightly flustered face.

“What?”

“Hm?”

Yohan, recalling the photo of Lear that Aisha had sent him, was momentarily at a loss for words. It made sense; the Lear in the photo was very young, so the puppy in the picture would have long since gone to doggy heaven. The image of the kind boy Lear who loved his pet naturally came to mind. But how on earth did this Lear guy grow up to be such a bum? It didn’t seem like his family atmosphere was bad, aside from the father who was only one in name.

“No, I mean… I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be that sorry about.”

“I didn’t know he had gone to heaven. You talked about him like he was so alive.”

Yohan scratched his head and spoke with sincerity. At that, Lear’s expression hardened slightly, and he approached Yohan and said.

“Well, that can happen. But Yohan.”

“……”

“Is it enough to just say you’re sorry with a face that says you’re sorry to death?”

“Huh?”

“If you’re sorry, you could at least give me a kiss.”

“You… you want to use your son to get that?”

“I don’t think that’s something the person who was just denying my son should say.”

At the sight of Lear pressing close and thrusting his face forward, Yohan stepped back without realizing it. Then Lear reached out and started fiddling with Yohan’s Hawaiian shirt, his lips parting.

“Wh-what is it?”

Yohan, his face suddenly flushing, whipped his head away and pushed Lear with both hands. However, Lear didn’t budge at all; instead, the hand that had been touching the collar of Yohan’s shirt moved down and began to unbutton it one by one.

“Hey, we just got here. I’m tired…!”

Lear covered Yohan’s mouth just like that. Lear, who pushed his tongue between the slightly parted lips, gently swept over Yohan’s slightly tense tongue. And as he explored the inside of that mouth wildly, he began to touch Yohan’s body, which naturally followed his lead.

“Eumm…”

Their tongues tangled with each other haphazardly, to the point they were getting out of breath. As the kiss deepened to the point their bodies grew hot and their minds went blank, the two of them naturally took off their shirts.

While kissing and taking off their clothes, Yohan wondered if he should go to a sex addicts meeting hand-in-hand with Lear someday. It wasn’t their honeymoon, but it seemed like if their eyes met and the time was right, they would definitely press their bodies together. Of course, the real big problem was that he didn’t dislike this situation that much.

He was pretending to be led by Lear, who was leading him, and was grabbing Lear’s pant buckle and slowly trying to lay him down on the bed, just then.

Ding-dong—

Of all the times, why now? Was there someone coming to the room? Yohan, startled, pushed Lear’s chest away. And when he checked who was outside, it was none other than Jun standing there.

At the appearance of the unexpected person, Yohan whipped his head around and shouted urgently at Lear, “Clothes!” And before Lear could even answer, he picked up whatever was on the floor and put it on.

Lear was just as flustered by the sudden turn of events. He picked up the clothes that were messily dropped on the floor and threw them on haphazardly.

And the moment he opened the door.

“Um… y-you two…”

At Jun’s reaction, his eyes darting back and forth, Yohan finally realized that he was wearing Lear’s shirt and Lear was wearing his Hawaiian shirt. What’s more, the Hawaiian shirt Lear was wearing was so tight it looked like it would burst, and the buttons were done up all wrong.

“Uh, well… this is…”

For a moment, the urge to run to the window and jump out surged up, but Yohan held it in for now. It was because the big event was yet to come. If it hadn’t been for Shadow, he really might have jumped.

“What’s with you two?”

Just then, it seemed someone came out of the room next door and stood beside Jun. It was none other than Aisha and Deputy Chief Nasim.

“Seriously, what’s going on?”

Aisha’s mind raced at the sight of Lear and Yohan in front of her. In particular, the Lear she had seen in the photo was an unforgettable figure. Such a person was next to Yohan, and what’s more, he was squeezed into Yohan’s clothes.

“You two…”

Yohan coughed needlessly, tried to ignore Aisha, and spoke to Jun.

“Jun, why are you here already? And what’s with the Deputy Chief and Aisha, too?”

“I contacted the Deputy Chief, and he said he happened to have time… he said he’d help.”

Nasim added to Jun’s words.

“That’s right. Jun said the room was spacious, too. I thought three people might not be enough and it would be good to have a communication link set up, so I called Aisha… but I didn’t know this would be the situation.”

Lear clicked his tongue at the people making a fuss over nothing. At that moment, perhaps because he was squeezed into clothes that didn’t fit his frame, the few buttons that had been hastily done up burst, revealing his body.

“Gasp!”

“Hah!”

“Whoa!”

The reactions of the three were instantly focused on Lear, and all three couldn’t hide their surprise. It was because perfectly solid muscles had been revealed. Honestly, regardless of secondary gender or sexual orientation, his body was a feast for the eyes. A scene from <Magic Mike>3) unfolded before them, to the point where they were confused if this was Las Vegas or Chula Vista.

“My… bad.”

Lear didn’t think much of it, but Yohan did.

“Ha, fuck… Seriously. Ah… I mean…”

As soon as Yohan saw Lear, he put his hand to his forehead in despair. It seemed like he would be teased by Aisha for at least three years.

“We’re fine, Yohan.”

Aisha said, her eyes sparkling.

“Good body, good for the eyes, there was nothing bad about it.”

“Yeah. I bet. Of all people, in front of you, like this… Why the hell are you even here?”

It was Lear who was exposing his body, but for some reason it was Yohan whose face was flushed red and angry. Aisha, for her part, felt it was unfair.

“Obviously, I came because the Deputy Chief called me. After hearing that you were overreacting all by yourself. Using my precious vacation time, even!”

“What?”

At Aisha’s words, Yohan looked at Nasim. Then Nasim waved his hand and said.

“No, I came to help, is this something to get such a reproachful look for?”

“I didn’t say much, Deputy Chief. It’s just… I mean… is it okay for you to be here?”

“Of course I took vacation time, too. Leaving behind a naive branch chief who is being controlled by Shadow without even knowing what’s going on. More importantly…”

Nasim glanced at Lear, swallowed hard, and then spoke to Yohan.

“That’s the person you mentioned, right?”

Yohan didn’t particularly deny it. It was something they would find out anyway.

“It doesn’t seem very appropriate.”

“That’s…”

He didn’t know how things had gotten so twisted, but for a moment, Yohan was at a loss for what to say. It certainly wasn’t an appropriate relationship. The FBI and a key witness meeting. On top of that, the person who was to become a key witness was planning to catch Shadow through an undercover operation with him.

“Don’t worry. We’ll soon be in a relationship where there will be no problems.”

“Pardon?”

At Lear’s words, Nasim was flustered. It didn’t seem like something a half-naked man should say. What on earth did he mean by they would soon be in a relationship with no problems… At that moment, Nasim looked at Yohan. Yohan’s face looked like it was about to explode.

“You, what are you talking about?”

“The words of someone who wants to get terribly legally entangled?”

“……”

“I’ll do the real stuff after this is over, so don’t make that face. You look like you’re going to do something naughty in front of people.”

Nasim’s eyes widened as he understood the meaning behind the bickering between Lear and Yohan. No, would it be okay if they were terribly legally entangled? It would be okay, sure, but, no, I mean…

Nasim looked at Jun and Aisha, who had the same expression as him. Then Aisha coughed loudly once and said to Yohan.

“Handle the marriage issue well with your fiancé.”

Lear didn’t dislike the word ‘fiancé’ that Aisha used. However, Yohan was horrified by the bomb that was suddenly dropped.

“No, I mean. This is…”

“That’s enough. For now, the Deputy Chief and Jun will go to the next room, so go get dressed properly, Channing Tatum4).”

Aisha made eye contact with Lear once, gave him a thumbs up, and said.

“I don’t know how you made that choice, but please take good care of our Yohan.”

Yohan chirped about what she was talking about and why he had to be treated like that, but Aisha closed the door on him.

“Ah, seriously.”

Yohan, who had been staring at the tightly closed door, ruffled the back of his hair and then looked at Lear.

“What was that all of a sudden?”

Lear took off Yohan’s Hawaiian shirt that he was wearing and said shamelessly.

“I’ll buy you a pretty one to replace the one that got ruined. A Hawaiian shirt is fine, right? Should I get you a gold chain to match?”

“Am I DJ Khaled? Jeez.”

“It’s because I want to give you other things5), too.”

It wasn’t his style to wear a bunch of things hanging off him, but Lear’s comment was also ignoring his taste. Yohan pouted and said to Lear.

“I have my own principles about fashion, you know.”

“Ah… I see.”

At Yohan’s words, Lear looked him up and down. Then he smiled broadly and nodded as if he understood Yohan, and then spoke about what happened earlier.

“More importantly, Yohan. If meeting those people after what happened today makes you uncomfortable, it’s okay to quit the FBI. As if I couldn’t feed one of you.”

“Don’t slip your own wishes in there.”

“Tsk, you caught me.”

Yohan knew that Lear had enough wealth to feed not only him but also his family and his in-laws’ distant relatives, and still have plenty left over, but he didn’t feel like saying more. No, even now his face was burning and his heart was pounding like crazy.

“You, you…! You keep trying to gloss things over like this…!”

“You don’t seem to hate it, though.”

“That’s not it! What I mean is…!”

“It’s okay to look forward to it.”

Lear grinned, gave Yohan a peck on the cheek, and then headed straight for the closet. And from the clothes he had someone put there for him before coming, he took one out and put it on nonchalantly.

‘Look forward to what.’

Yohan still looked at Lear’s back with a dumbfounded expression.

‘Marriage isn’t the problem, we’re not even dating yet… Why are you acting like it’s so obvious, like everything is resolved… You crazy bastard.’

Lear’s words made Yohan feel strange. Of course, he had no intention of denying his feelings for him any longer. So, after this was all over, he planned to put Lear in the witness protection program, and once everything around him was perfectly sorted out, he would give the guy a proper confession once again.

But to drop a bomb like this instead of asking him out! As expected, he was a disagreeable guy. But why on earth did he have to develop feelings of affection for a bastard like this… Yohan lamented his own foolishness.

“Are you going to keep wearing that?”

“What?”

“Your clothes. They’re too sexy.”

Only then did Yohan realize he was still haphazardly wearing Lear’s clothes.

“This is…”

Lear pulled a T-shirt in Yohan’s size from the closet and handed it to him.

“Haven’t you shown off your boyfriend’s shirt enough in front of other people?”

“Get lost, you crazy bastard!”

Yohan hurriedly took off Lear’s shirt, threw it in his face, and changed into the T-shirt.

“Again, in that short time…”

As soon as they went over to the next room, Aisha, who greeted them, looked back and forth between Yohan and Lear with a suspicious expression and spoke with a doubtful gaze.

“You didn’t do it, did you?”

Yohan glared at Aisha with a face so scary it looked like he could eat her alive and threw a curse at her. It’s not like he was some animal in heat, what did she mean ‘did it’ in that short time. The one who was really in heat was right next to him. If she was going to curse someone, he wished she would curse Lear.

“Are you dying to get cursed at?”

“No, you know what they say, a thief who learns late doesn’t know the day is dawning. It’s just surprising that you got a boyfriend like that, Yohan.”

“What are you talking about.”

“You used to like women, didn’t you? And only betas or omegas… After you broke up with your girlfriend, didn’t you change partners pretty often?”

At Aisha’s words, Yohan cut her off.

“Hey, anyone who hears you will think I’m crazy for women. And my taste…”

Yohan glanced at Lear and then said to Aisha.

“It’s the kind of thing that can change as you live, you know?”