Chereads / Relic of the Stronghold / Chapter 113 - Wings of Celebration (26.5)

Chapter 113 - Wings of Celebration (26.5)

"Jesus, he really is desperate if he's hired that many girls to be around him," Kaedan scoffed, "Though that's probably the only way he could have gotten them to be near him."

Elliot tugged Kaedan's arm, "Empty couch to the right. If we keep walking around, we'll end up drawing attention."

Hyunwoo hummed, "I think we already may have. He's looking at us."

Xander turned back, looking over to Julian. As he followed the man's gaze, he realized Hyunwoo wasn't entirely correct, "He's not looking at us, he's looking at one of us specifically."

Kaedan also turned back, "Are you serious? Does he actually have a thing for older people?"

"What—Me?" Elliot almost whirled around but Xander grabbed his arms, "He's looking at me?"

"Yes, he's looking at you, do you want to get even more of his attention? Keep going and don't look back at him," Xander hissed.

When they finally sat down, they were surprised to see Julian had stood up and was making his way over to them, "Oh, fuck," Kaedan muttered, "Xander, make out with me."

"What—" The brunette didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before he was practically manhandled so he was on Kaedan's lap. He didn't question it, just simply leaned in to kiss Kaedan.

Kaedan pulled away just enough so he could speak but not enough so that anyone could tell what they were doing, "He'll recognize both of us if he sees us, just keep making out with me and he'll ignore us. If he recognizes us, we're screwed."

"Okay, but we could just stay like this, couldn't we? My hair covers both of our faces," Xander whispered back.

"I also just kinda wanna kiss you," Kaedan replied honestly and Xander rolled his eyes before pressing his mouth against his husband's.

"Seriously? They're just gonna do that and leave us to deal with that bastard?" Elliot muttered.

Hyunwoo nudged Elliot's hand, "Move your hand off your leg," He hissed, "If we don't look like we're doing something, we're going to get caught. I'm going to put my head on your lap, stroke my hair or something," He knelt down, sitting on the ground and doing exactly what he had said, gingerly placing his hand on Elliot's thigh.

"I couldn't help but notice you and your…Companions walk in," The pink-haired man looked up to see Julian standing over him, "You're quite a gorgeous thing yourself, why don't you come and join me?" He held out his hand to him

Elliot hummed, "I wouldn't want to leave my lovely companions here, now would I?" He leaned down to trace the side of Hyunwoo's face with his finger.

Julian tilted his head, "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course, I do," Elliot raised an eyebrow, "What kind of person doesn't know who their future king is?"

"And yet you still refuse me?"

"I haven't refused you, Your Highness," Elliot leaned forward, "I simply think it would be rude to leave those that I have come with."

Julian looked at Xander and Kaedan, "Well, it seems that two of your companions seem to be doing quite alright on their own. And this one," He knelt down to get a closer look at Hyunwoo. The brunette looked up at him through his lashes, a soft yet sly smile on his face, "Quite a pretty one you've got here, hm? Bring him along as well," With that, Julian stood up and turned on his heel, heading back to the large divan he had been sitting on before.

As soon as his back was turned, Hyunwoo moved off of Elliot as the older man stood up and helped him to his feet, "Kaedan, Xander, we're going over there. Keep an eye on us and intervene if you feel something is wrong. Hyunwoo," He looked at the younger man, "If anything feels wrong, if you feel uncomfortable at any time, just grab my wrist and squeeze it. I doubt he'll care since he already thinks we're together," Hyunwoo nodded in agreement.

The two of them moved towards the divan, Hyunwoo hooked his arm into Elliot's leaning on his shoulder, "Keep the act up, he's not the only one watching us. There are guards everywhere. If they suspect at all that we're lying, we'll get found out immediately," Hyunwoo muttered.

As they stepped up to the divan, Julian sat up from the woman's lap he'd been laying his head on and gestured for her to leave, "I see you've decided to join me then," He said, looking between Elliot and Hyunwoo.

"He's a little bit shy, it took some convincing," Elliot said, tilting his head towards Hyunwoo, who gave him a small smile, immediately changing his posture and presentation to fit what Elliot had said. It was almost amazing the way Hyunwoo could act.

"Good job on convincing him, then," Julian nodded, "You, come and sit here," He gestured to Hyunwoo, who followed demurely and sat on the divan next to him. Julian laid down, placing his head on Hyunwoo's lap, "Perfect. A lovely view," He grinned.

Elliot cleared his throat, "Where would you like me, Your Highness?" He asked, his eyes flitting over to Hyunwoo to make sure the younger man was alright.

Julian's smile didn't fade, "I want you on my lap."

It took Elliot all of his self-control to not slap that child silly. Yes, he was calling him a child, this kid was younger than Hyunwoo!

"As you wish, Your Highness," He said through barely gritted teeth, moving forward and swinging a leg over Julian, settling on his lap. He felt hands on his waist, which then slowly felt their way up his body, touching him. He didn't like this, but it wasn't like he hadn't done things like this for missions before. Although, he had never had to deal with someone a whole decade younger than him.

Hyunwoo watched his face, giving him a look of concern. Subtly, Elliot shook his head. He could keep this up. It was just touching, he had already prepared himself for something like this.

"You're beautiful," Julian said, squeezing Elliot's hip, "How old did you say you were, hm?"

"I never said, Your Highness," Elliot replied, "But I am thirty years old."

Julian raised an eyebrow, "I'd expected you to be older, but I didn't think you were thirty. Oh, well," He grinned, "That's not a problem for me. Not a problem at all," Elliot had to try really hard to hide his grimace.

Yup. Kaedan was right. This kid had a thing for older people.

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat, "My Lord, how about he and I switch places for a little bit?" Hyunwoo asked, quietly but firmly.

"Oh? Don't tell me you're getting jealous?" Julian laughed, his tone was a bit mocking.

"A little bit," Hyunwoo pouted, "I don't like it when a handsome young man won't pay attention to me," Elliot had to admit, Hyunwoo was really good at this. He'd definitely taught him well.

Julian cursed under his breath, "Fuck, you talk real sweet, don't you? Alright, come here. I want him over here now," Julian sat up as Elliot got off of him. As the man wasn't paying attention, Elliot made eye contact with Hyunwoo, silently asking him if he was sure.

At Hyunwoo's nod, he hesitantly sat down where Hyunwoo had been sitting before as the brunette situated himself on Julian's lap. Just as they had before with Elliot, Julian's hands started wandering the moment they were within reach of the man.

"So, how old are you, then?" Julian asked, twirling a piece of Hyunwoo's hair around his finger.

"I can be however old you want me to be, My Lord," Hyunwoo simply replied, leaning forward so his hair trailed against Julian's body, causing the man to shiver a bit, "What would you like me to do? I can do whatever you want, all you have to do is relax and not worry about a single thing, do you understand? Just don't think about anything and let your mind go blank."

Julian let out a sigh, "I thought you said he was shy. He seems like a natural at this," He said, but his voice sounded…Softer. Further away.

It took Elliot a moment to put together what was happening and when he did, he almost let his shock show on his face.

Hyunwoo Kang was trying to subconsciously dominate Julian Rowlock.

And it was fucking working.

The only thing that Elliot could think in that moment as he watched Hyunwoo manage to put Julian under with gentle and deft touches was, I don't know who the fuck he learned that from because it definitely was not me.

"That's right, just close your eyes and let me take care of you," Hyunwoo said, his voice still just as soft and yet commanding as he gently pressed on Julian's neck, "You're so vulnerable right now, you know that?" There was almost a slight mocking tone in his voice, "You'd do whatever I said, just to be good for me, wouldn't you?"

Julian hummed, and even the noise he let out was slightly warbled, as though he couldn't manage a coherent thought. 

"What was that?" Holy shit, was Hyunwoo bullying him? Not that he didn't deserve it but when they came over here, Elliot was not expecting to get Julian in a state like this at all, let alone it being this easy.

"Yes, I'll…I'll do whatever you—" Julian's words were cut off by a loud explosion and the sound of screaming and confusion, "H—Huh? What's going...What's going on—" He seemed to be struggling to speak and shaking slightly. 

It took Elliot approximately three seconds to realize what had happened. Julian was forced into a subdrop, which Elliot knew could be a horrible feeling. Good. Julian deserved that.

Hyunwoo didn't hesitate, "Knock him out, now!" 

Elliot immediately pressed the heel of his palm down against Julian's windpipe, pushing down long and hard enough until Julian's eyes rolled up into his head. He watched Hyunwoo pull out the knife tucked into his jacket but shook his head, "No, we can't kill him. If we kill him, the crown goes straight back to his cabinet, it has to be Mina."

Xander and Kaedan rushed over to them, "We need to go, the explosion was Chaewon, Risále, Val, and Nia!"