Since they have been spending a lot of time in the car discussing those shocking matters, it was no surprise that they were ultimately late for the party.
The moment Asakura and Sato entered the restaurant, they were greeted with loud shouts and laughter. They advanced slowly through the tables, and eventually reached the place where their friends were sitting.
“Ah, the main characters are here at last!” Rintarou cried out the instant he saw them, his face beaming with delight.
“Finally! You two are late!”
Kota furrowed his eyebrows. His eyes contained suspicion as he glanced between Asakura and Sato. From the intensity of his stare, it was pretty clear that he was imagining something steamy had happened between the couple.
“We were about to start eating without you.” Keita said calmly. He had the same aloof and almost disinterested attitude as always.
“Seeing how you two were so late, we thought you weren’t coming anymore.” Rintarou interjected with a teasing smirk.
“We apologize for being late. An unexpected event happened.” Asakura replied casually, while pulling a chair for Sato. Afterwards, he pulled one for himself, taking a seat next to his lover.
“Hmm, I wonder what kind of event caused you to be almost two hours late.” Kota probed teasingly.
One of his elegant eyebrows was raised in a challenging manner, and his face clearly expressed all the naughty thoughts that were running through his head like rampart horses.
Knowing him so well, there was no way his friend didn’t understand the meaning behind that look. Asakura scowled at him. He was in no mood for those kinds of jokes at the moment.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Subaru.” He snapped.
While Asakura spiritedly replied to everyone, Sato was simply showing a perfunctory smile, while keeping strangely quiet. It wasn’t that he was upset, but that his emotions were still unstable.
Before they left the car just now, Asakura had asked if he wanted to give up the party and go straight home, but Sato refused. He knew just how much the man had wished to celebrate with him the final day of shooting. All their friends were gathered as well, waiting to have fun together, so he couldn’t let all those efforts be in vain.
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 stared at this strange gathering and felt his temples pulsing slightly. For a moment, he wanted to take Sato and go home. Just like Sato, he was also feeling the aftereffects of the earlier emotional turmoil.
Subaru’s low voice coming from somewhere close eventually brought Asakura back to his senses.
“What happened? Sato doesn’t look too good. And if I look closely, neither do you.”
Asakura sighed and shook his head.
“It’s a rather long story.”
“There is booze and I have time. Perfect conditions for hearing this so-called long story.” Kota prompted.
And to prove his point, he poured himself and Asakura each a glass of whiskey. Then, he leaned back in his chair with the air of someone waiting to hear something very interesting.
Glancing at Sato, and seeing that he was currently chatting with Keita and Rintarou about the movie, Asakura heaved a deep sigh. He slowly told Kota what had happened.
From the stalker who kept following Sato around, to Asakura’s uncle sending Muro and Shun as bodyguards, Asakura told his friend everything. The only thing he held back was the conversation he and Sato had in the car. That was something private and no one, except for them, needed to know about it. Furthermore, Kota already knew about the Ikemoto family, as well as Asakura’s connection with them. So, there was no reason to mention that either.
During the time Asakura spoke, Kota had listened attentively. He either frowned or raised his eyebrows in response to the story. When Asakura finally stopped, Kota let out a quiet whistle.
“You weren’t joking when you said it was an unexpected event. So, your uncle finally couldn’t hold back any longer and decided to attack?”
“More like he decided to move his pawns forward. After thinking about it, I am quite sure he had sent Muro and Shun to me with a reason.”
“Maybe they are spies.” Kota made a conjecture.
“Those two idiots? It’s already lucky enough if they don’t land themselves into trouble the moment they step out into the streets.” Asakura scoffed, raising his glass and taking a sip.
After he swallowed, he kept the glass raised, staring at the amber liquid in a daze. When he spoke next, his voice got even lower than before.
“Besides, my uncle would never dare to use them for such a dirty thing like spying on me. He knows their character all too well.”
“You baffle me, Ryuu. Are you cursing them for being stupid or praising them for their loyalty?” Kota snickered.
Asakura remained quiet. Remembering Shun’s words from earlier, a melancholic smile pulled at his lips.
Those two men were indeed loyal to a fault. Ever since that fateful day when he had saved them, they have been following him like two dogs on a leash. When he left the Ikemoto family home, he had hoped they would free themselves of this burden they called debt. Apparently, they did not, and instead stubbornly pursued any means to achieve what they wanted. Even if that meant they had to follow Uncle Shibata for a while.
‘I guess I should also praise them for their perseverance. After all, they were able to stand living in that house with my uncle for so long without murdering anyone or without getting off-ed themselves.’
***
The next day Kyosuke left for Osaka, and Sato found himself with a clear schedule. Wanting to take advantage of the situation and spend some time with his lover, Asakura also took a day off from the company. He then hauled Sato to his apartment, keeping him close like a dragon coveting a treasure.
“Is it really alright to miss so many days of work?” Sato asked worriedly the moment he reached Asakura’s apartment. He wasn’t complaining about the time spent together, but he didn’t want Asakura to encounter trouble.
“I’ve already sent Tachibana a message. He and Kota-san should be able to handle things there for a day.” Asakura replied rather dismissively. He was currently being too preoccupied with dragging Sato into the bedroom to realize what he had just said.
“Kota-san?” Sato muttered. The name sounded very familiar to him.
‘Does he mean Suzumori Publishing’s Chief Editor, Kota Subaru? But what does that person have to do with Asakura’s company?’
While Sato was mulling over such things by himself, he and Asakura were already going through the door of the bedroom. In his daze, Sato didn’t even realize when Asakura had taken him to the bed, and was now trying to lay him down gently. While doing so, Asakura didn’t forget to answer his lover’s question.
“Mh, the CEO of Nozomu Financial is Kota Subaru’s older brother, Kota Shinji. His father owns Suzumori Publishing, where Keita published his novels.
This information successfully jolted Sato awake.
“Eh?!” he let out a gasp of surprise, his mouth opening slightly.
Seeing an opportunity to finally attack, Asakura went straight for the kill. He leaned forward and captured Sato’s lips.
As soon as they made contact, both their bodies were electrified. A moment later, Asakura deepened the kiss, licking and nipping at Sato’s mouth with a searing passion. Before Sato could catch his breath, they were already laying down on the large bed in the master bedroom.
Asakura pushed himself down, hovering over Sato while continuing to kiss him longingly.
There was no need for words between them. Their passionate caresses and hot lips spoke volumes about the feelings they had for each other. With mutual love and yearning, they proceeded to roll around the sheets until the sky turned from bright blue to dark purple.
By the time they stopped, it was already evening, and they were both thoroughly spent.
Asakura shifted his position so he could better accommodate Sato’s body next to his own. Their frames seemed to be molded together, forming a single being. Sato’s head was placed on Asakura’s chest, and the two remained like that for a long time, enjoying the peaceful quietude.
A/N: Like I said in the announcement, there will only be one chapter for this weekend’s update. I hope you won’t mind this rather short chapter. 
Next weekend there will be another single chapter release due to the evaluation I am having at work. My entire work place is going to be evaluated, so it’s kind of a huge thing. Everyone is a bit stressed, and I couldn’t bring my mind to focus much on writing or editing.
See you all next week! Until then, I wish you all a wonderful week ahead! Also, don’t forget to keep your fingers crossed for me this week!
Tysm for the chap. Best of luck for your work, author san!
Arigatou! Everything went well in the end at work. Thank you so much for your wish and thoughts! <333
i hope everything went well!
thanks for the chapter <3
It did! I hope I will be able to continue bringing more chapters now that things will be settling down.
<333
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
💕💕💕