“Long time no see, Sato.”
The overly familiar voice sent jolts through Sato’s body. His breath remained caught up in his throat and it took all the strength he had not to stutter when he spoke.
“T-Touma. Yes, indeed it’s… it’s been a while.” Sato smiled weakly, clutching the script he was carrying to his chest as if the feeble papers could protect him. When he spoke again, his voice trembled slightly. “You look… good. How have you been?”
“Busy. Lots of work.” Touma replied casually, returning a bright smile.
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard that you just finished filming a drama.”
“Oh, you know about that?” Touma laughed, rubbing the back of his head, trying to look modest but failing to contain the prideful spark that rose in his eyes. “It was a fifty-episode historical drama. I’m telling you, having one of the main roles wasn’t easy.”
“No, I can imagine it wasn’t.” Sato smiled softly.
“But I guess you will know all about that now that you have been given this role in Director Mayama’s movie. I look forward to working with you. Let’s make a wonderful piece together.” Touma said brightly, reaching a hand out.
Sato swallowed the bitter feelings that threatened to leak out of his chest and took the other man’s hand. The moment their skin touched, he felt his body trembling and his knees almost buckled. That hand, which was so familiar and which had once touched him so gently, was now nothing more than a stranger’s hand.
Consumed by a whirlwind of emotions, Sato felt he was on the verge of breaking. What he was most afraid of, though, was that Touma would notice his discomposure if he stayed there any longer. Thus, he took a deep breath and tried to pull back his hand.
However, to his surprise, Touma refused to let go. His fingers were clasped tightly around Sato’s hand, while his eyes roamed freely across his face.
Being stared at in such an assessing manner eventually made Sato flinch and goosebumps rose on his skin. There was an overbearing feeling behind that stare, one that shocked Sato. Just like an animal caught in a predator’s hungry gaze, Sato found himself with no other way out but to lower his eyes. To him, those penetrating eyes were like needles piercing his skin. He could almost feel the sharp stings drawing blood. He hoped to at least hide the blush that was crawling from his neck upward.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Asakura-san!” he cried out in surprise.
This unexpected arrival caused the already flustered Sato to become even more rattled. His eyes stared at the man in a daze, barely comprehending what was happening around him.
“If you’re done here, we should go. I have a surprise for you.”
“Eh? Surprise? For me?” Sato repeated dumbly. He looked like a child who was trying to learn new words but failing miserably.
“En. But we have to go now if you want to be back in time for the table reading. I suppose your little reunion is over, right?”
That last sentence was directed at Touma.
During this short exchange Touma stood still, watching quietly. He saw the way Asakura touched Sato’s shoulder and the very familiar manner they talked to each other. His eyes moved slowly from Asakura’s hand to his face, assessing the man with a peculiar expression. Their eyes soon met and the two men stared each other down for a short moment. This showdown caused the pressure in the air to drop suddenly.
All this while Sato had been struggling to reboot his stunned mind or else he would have found it difficult to breathe in the sizzling atmosphere.
“Ah, yes. Yes, I’m done here.” he finally succeeded in shaking himself off from his stupor.
His words were spoken in a low voice, yet they managed to break the tension that was beginning to reach dangerous levels. He tried to move, but something stopped him. That’s when he realized his hand was still being held by Touma. Without wanting to make a scene in front of Asakura, he exerted a bit of force and pried his fingers away from the man’s tight hold.
This movement, together with the loss of Sato’s warmth, provoked Touma into action. He frowned and took a small step forward.
“Sato, we are not done here. I want to talk to you.” he said, staring confidently into Sato’s eyes.
“I…” Sato began nervously, his eyes nervously shifting to the side.
He felt muddle-headed, unable to understand what was happening. What reason would Touma have to speak to him now? Wasn’t he already over him? Wasn’t he happy now? They were now simply colleagues, acting several scenes together. Was it really necessary to get involved with each other to this extent?
Before Sato could sink further into his confused thoughts, Asakura stepped forward as well. His eyes narrowed dangerously, while his aura seemed to be infused with a menacing hue. When he addressed Touma, his voice was colder than the freezing air in winter.
“I’m afraid that whatever you have to tell him will have to wait. There is an important guest who is currently waiting to meet with Sato-kun. I’m sure that, as a fellow actor, you understand the priorities, don’t you?” Asakura finished, his lips curving into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
As soon as he was done speaking, and before anyone could react, he grabbed Sato’s hand and hauled him away.
As Touma watched them leave, a dark expression settled on his otherwise handsome face. His eyes narrowed until they became two slits, and crease after crease appeared on his pale forehead. Seeing Asakura and Sato’s clasped hands generated a violent tremor to course through his entire body. He let out an angry ‘Tsk’, clenching his hands so tightly into fists that his nails left deep marks inside his palms.
While Touma was boiling in anger, Sato was being pulled away without a chance to resist. He soon realized that he had no idea where Asakura was taking him.
“Uhm, Asakura-san…”
Sato made a feeble attempt at asking where they were going. However, there was something peculiar about Asakura’s aura, which made him falter. He didn’t even struggle to free his hand. The man was currently exuding such a powerful, menacing feeling like the killer aura of an angered beast.
As if sensing Sato’s hesitation, Asakura finally slowed down his steps. He turned his head to glance at Sato from the corner of his eyes and seeing him so visibly affected, caused Asakura to feel a small twinge of guilt. Surely, he had scared Sato with his earlier behavior, but it was unavoidable. The moment he saw Touma touching Sato and refusing to let go, his body had moved on its own. He even had to exercise all of his self-control not to punch the other guy out of the building.
It didn’t matter that Touma was chosen to be an actor in the movie. All that mattered in Asakura’s mind right now, was to keep that person away from Sato as much as possible. Obviously, this plan was flawed, since he couldn’t do anything about the moments when they had to film scenes together. But he could, at the very least, be able to keep them apart while offscreen.
With those thoughts in mind, Asakura kept a tight hold on Sato’s hand until they finally reached their destination.
The room they entered was a small conference area. They were on the same floor with the table reading room, just on the opposite side of the building. The only furniture present was a large table, with chairs around three of its sides, while a single, solitary chair was placed on the fourth side; the boss’s chair.
Asakura led Sato towards the closest place, gesturing for him to sit down. Afterwards, he turned around to leave.
“Wait here for a moment.” He threw over his shoulder.
A second later, the door closed behind him, leaving Sato all by himself.
While sitting there alone, gaping at the spot Asakura had just disappeared through, Sato felt his chest tightening. Feelings of consternation and apprehension threatened to overwhelm him. He didn’t like this and even thought about getting up to leave.
However, before even a minute had passed, Asakura was back again, this time followed by two men.
A/N: And yes, you were all right to suspect it was Touma 
Now, would you be able to guess who Asakura wants Sato to meet?
It should be Keita and Rintarou, right? I can’t think of other people… 😄
Thank you for the chapter 💜
Mhhh 🤭 Someone sure has good intuition 😌
💜
Touma is disgusting! after doing what he did, he expects Sato to what? fawn all over him and love him still? gross
thanks for the chapter <3
Yep, he doesn’t realize that once you do something like that, you might have to live with the consequences.
<333