Music enlivened the surroundings of the grand ballroom. The harmony of young people dancing in colorful clothes was in tune with the melody. Kian stood at the edge of the dance floor, glass of wine, distracted. Even though Leo was next to him, he didn't look in his direction. Leo had sensed it, the darkness in Kian's aura seemed to hang over his head like a dark cloud.
Just then, a girl stood in front of Kian with a bright smile. "Will you dance with me?" - she asked. Like his usual self, Kian accepted the girl's offer instead of rejecting it.
"Of course," he handed his glass to Leo, who was standing next to him, looking confused at his response.
The girl laughed, and the two entered the dance floor hand in hand, and Kian took her by the waist and began to move to the rhythm of the dance. The reason he took up the dance was to get away from thoughts of Leo.
Kian's closeness with the girl, touching her and harmonious movements made this relationship feel different to Leo. He watched them, a sudden heaviness fell on his chest. Despite the laughter around him, the only thing he could hear was the rapid beating of his heart. He did not understand why Kian dancing with another girl bothered him, why he did not enjoy their dance.
"Can you dance?" Lucy's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and brought his attention back to reality. "My school in England had a prom every month. I dance really well," he replied with a confident tone.
"Then you would be the perfect dance partner for me," Lucy suggested with a small smile on her face. Their energies matched from the moment they first met, and it was a sign that the dance would be perfect. Looking towards the stage, he extended his hand and invited Lucy to dance, and Lucy smiled and accepted, taking Leo's hand.
Even though Kian was dancing with a girl, his mind was completely on Leo, and the way Lucy took his hand and walked towards the stage seemed to snap something inside of Kian. Kian let go of the girl he was dancing with, thanked her for the dance and left the stage, the sound of Shostakovich's waltz echoing around and Leo and Lucy entered the stage.
Leo placed his hand gently on Lucy's waist and they began to dance lightly and confidently. The nobleness and delicacy of the movements were as flawless and neat as the flapping of a bird's wings in the air. The smiles on their faces showed that they both enjoyed the dance. Every step and movement caused the eyes of the other guests to focus on them. While dancing, Leo seemed to forget everything and was lost in the notes of the music.
They were so engrossed in the dance that they didn't even notice the time passing. After the dance was over, they left politely. Leo returned to his lost thoughts during the dance-Kian. Leo scanned the room, trying to find Kian, but Kian was nowhere to be seen.
As Leo entered the mansion, he felt the music playing behind him slowly fade away. The halls of the mansion were almost empty as everyone was in the garden. After entering the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror, wiped his sweaty forehead and tidied his hair.
At that moment, the door opened and a tall, thin boy entered. From the moment he entered the room, his eyes were on Leo, which made Leo uncomfortable. Seeing the boy winking at him, Leo collected his thoughts and asked: "Are we familiar?"
"I'm Tom," he said, extending his hand in greeting.
"Leo," he replied, taking Tom's hand and squeezing it tightly.
"I know," Tom said cautiously, his tone laced with confidence and sarcasm.
Leo frowned, not expecting that sentence to come. "I don't understand."
Tom leaned against the door, scanning Leo with his eyes. "Hmm… you caught my attention from the first time you walked in. I did some digging; I realized that we have common interests."
"Leaving aside the fact that it is pointless to investigate me, what's common?" Leo's voice was a little serious and a little worried.
The boy's smile widened. "I'm just as interested in fighting as you are." He threw several quick punches in the air as if punching someone invisible in the air.
Leo finding the boy's actions ridiculous. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but…" he started, but Tom wouldn't let him finish his sentence.
"Are you looking for Kian? He was in the room with me. I can take you to him, Follow me," he said, without waiting Leo's response he left the WC.
Leo followed him, thinking that it is not a bad idea to find Kian. They climbed stairs leading to a quieter corridor upstairs and finally reached the entrance of the room. Tom pushed open the door and Leo saw five boys sitting around a round table surrounded by different couches in a large room.
As Leo followed Tom in, Tom slammed the door shut behind him and closed it with key. The room fell silent and Leo could feel the boys analyzing Leo from head to toe. The darkness and negativity in the air weighed down on Leo. But Leo, undeterred, put his hand in his pocket and glared at them.
As he looked at the boys carefully, he realized that he had never seen any of them before, and the confidence in each of them was familiar to him. The aura he feels on Kian- power, wealth and more.
"The boy Joe was talking about," Tom said, landing with a fast motion on the sofa.
Leo inhaled deeply, trying to understand what kind of situation he is in. "Can we meet?" he asked with a confident tone.
From across the room, the boy step forward to Leo, an enigmatic aura radiating from him. He was broad-shouldered, tall, with a firm gaze.
"Let me introduce myself," he said a voice that was both deep and friendly. "I am Eric Helsman. For more information, you can search about me on the internet."
"Well… thanks for the introduction, but I'm quite confused. What is this situation?" he asked, his tone remaining polite and posture unyielding.
"I watched your fight with Dragon," Eric said, his eyes shinning with admiration. "You are quite strong for a bookworm. My friends and I were really impressed. We want a fight again."
Leo's brow furrowed. "Wait a minute… I understand you want me to have a street fight?"
"$100,000. If you win, that amount will be yours," Eric offered.
"That's a considerable amount... for a moment I almost decided to accept it but I will have to decline your offer," he replied, with a sly smile on his face.
"Why? ... you have more when Kian is with you?" Eric's question darkened the atmosphere.
Leo's stability shook for a moment. "What does Kian's money have to do with me?" he shot back, irritation sparkling from his eyes.
The room filled in laughter. "Either you are too naïve or too cunning," Eric said, amusement sensing his tone. "Money and power are the reasons that you're wagging tail around Kian, right?"
"Wagging tail?" Leo said, he felt that people in the room saw him as a gold digger who sell his body to Kian.
"Don't tell me Kian didn't take anything from you in return for the house, car and luxury that offered you," Eric continued, his voice was playful as he was enjoying making Leo feel useless. "Honestly, if it were me, I would do the same. It's worth every penny of your face and body," he laughed cruelly.
Leo felt the his head was boiling he couldn't control his feelings. "What are you kidding me? I'm friends with Kian!" he shouted.
Laughter started once again. "Friend? Kian and friendship? "You've made us laugh. Kian won't take a sip of water if it isn't useful. You're too innocent to think he sees you as merely a friend."
"Alright, I'll offer you more," Eric challenged, looking at Leo's eyes. "You're fun, and most of all, I like you. Tell me what you want, and I can give you more—I'm generous. Since Kian chose you, I believe that you deserve it."
"I don't want to listen to your nonsense, give me the key," Leo replied in an annoyed tone.
Tom stood up and said, "Either come get the key, or get Kian to come and save you." Everyone started laughing.
A boy from the couch laughed in a sarcastic tone, "Perhaps while he was alone in the room, let's find out what Kian found in him," and stood up and walked in front of Leo.
Tom and the others stopped when they saw Leo start to laugh. Leo's expression had changed. Leo looked up at them.
"There probably isn't a camera in the room, right?" he asked.
"Do you think you can handle us? You can't, there are six of us here," said Tom, in a confident way.
"We won't know until we check," Leo said, kicking the boy in front of him in the stomach, and the boy fell to the ground. As he stood up and tried to hit Leo, Leo threw a flying kick and knocked him to the ground. When the other boy sitting on the sofa approached him and tried to throw the punch, Leo dodged the punch and threw two punches in a row.
"Next," he said, looking at the other three. Eric was watching him cross-legged on the sofa.
Tom threw the key in front of Leo. "Take the key, you can go," he said, and he gasped with excitement.
"For some reason, I'm in a good mood, I don't want to go," Leo said, taking the key from the floor and putting it in his pocket.
"Either come get the key or get someone to save you," Leo said and smiled. One of the boys picked up a vase and threw it at him, Leo dodged it, jumped and kicked the boy. When he turned around, the other boy punched Leo, and Leo got angry and threw him on the ground. He glared at Eric again, and as he was about to walk towards him, one of the boys on the ground got up and tried to punch him. Leo held his fist in the air and bloodied the boy's nose with his forehead. Tom had long asked Harry to come quickly. Leo turned Tom around, grabbed him by the throat, and pinned him against the wall. "Tell me again, what was your plan for me?"
"How dare we'll... destroy you," he said, grabbing Leo's wrist. At that moment the door opened and Harry and Kian entered. Both were surprised to see the sight. There were 4 injured people on the floor, one of whom was pinned by Leo against the wall, while Eric was smiling at Leo. Kian looked at Eric intently and met his gaze.
"Calm down Leo, I'm here," Kian spoke softly as he approached Leo. Hearing Kian's voice, Leo let go of Tom's throat. "Annoying," he said, looking at Kian.
"What happened here?" asked Harry.
"They said I was very pretty and wanted to have fun with me. I didn't turn down their wishes either, but it seems that I am the one having the most fun," he said with a smile. Kian kept his eyes on Leo. There was one thing he understood. This was no ordinary Leo. It was Leo who was different, his views, his behavior on this fight. But Kian didn't know what to do because he had never faced this Leo before. Leo took the key out of his pocket, threw it on the floor, and left the room without looking Kian.
Kian followed him and he reached out and grabbed his arm, his voice a low and concerned. "You have wounds on your face and hands. Come with me." Without waiting for his answer, he pulled him into nearby room.
There, he turned and faced Leo, who was staring at Kian with a intense gaze. Leo's gaze was far away from his usual warmth, replaced instead by a coldness that made Kian feel weak. It was as there was no soul in Leo's body. Kian tried to reach toward Leo's bruised cheek, but Leo's hand shot up, blocking him.
"What happened?" Kian asked, his voice steady but filled with concern.
"The thing I feared most was that people would think I'm taking advantage of you," Leo replied, looking at Kian with a sadness in his eyes. "I wanted to be your friend, to not use you like the others, but today I faced something worse."
Kian felt an ache his heart as he heard Leo's words. "What exactly did they tell you?"
"They think I sold you my body," Leo said, the pain sensing in his voice.
Kian flinched. The breath he held become tight in his chest, and he bowed his head, anger washing over him. After a moment, he raised his head again. "You already know that's not true," he said, his usual confidence was almost disappeared.
"I've got it all wrong," Leo admitted painfully. "I thought we were close friends, but I learned that Kian Elgard doesn't make friends with anyone if he doesn't want in his bed."
"Leo, listen to me," Kian said, his frustration was uncontrollably.
"Shut up!" Leo yelled, his voice trembling with anger and sadness. "I wanted to remember any moment when you called me a friend, but I couldn't. Have you ever seen me as a friend?"
"Never," Kian replied, the honesty was only choice for him at that moment. "I've never seen you as just a friend."
"Why? Have I not proved myself worthy of being your friend?" Leo's voice rose, without any emotion.
"Because friendship doesn't satisfy me," Kian responded, his face darkened.
"What?" Leo's brow furrowed in shock.
"From the very beginning, I've made it clear that I'm interested in you. It's never been a secret. Everyone around us knows it except you," Kian said, his tone becoming sharper.
"So you were only thinking about how can you throw me into bed while we eating, playing and talking about our life?" Leo shot back.
Realization slapped Kian: Leo was losing control. "You don't think I could really have feelings for you, do you?" he asked, in pain.
"I don't want you to have feelings for me," Leo countered, the sadness sensing into his eyes. "I don't think I can reciprocate. Let's stay apart for a while." He tried to turn away, to leave the intense atmosphere of the moment behind.
Kian's sharp and deep voice didn't allow him to go away. "Listen to me, Leo. It's too late for you to walk away from me. Do you think I can sit back and watch you walk away unscathed?" His voice grew louder. "I've told you so many times—I will not leave your life, and I will not let you leave mine. I don't want you to love me or fall in love with me right now. I just want you to accept me and my feelings. Is that too difficult?"
"Are you trying to keep me in your life by force? Will that make you happy?" Leo's voice trembled.
Kian turned back sharply, his frustration was out of control. "Damn it!" He took a breath, composing himself as he faced Leo again. "You can't leave me. I don't care what anyone else thinks. I would pay any price to keep it from happening. Don't force me to hold onto you like this. It'll only end up hurting both of us."
In that moment, Leo felt a realization washed over him. He had become so accustomed to Kian's kindness that he had forgotten the Kian Elgard was a person of danger and power, but until now, Leo had only experienced the gentle side of him. The person before him now was different.
"You said you would never hurt me," Leo whispered.
"What abou you ... you promised you wouldn't run away again," Kian replied, the desperation sensed in his voice.
"I'm not running anywhere. I just need time to think," Leo said.
"What are you thinking? How you'll find an excuse to push me out of your life?" Kian pressed, his voice trembled with frustration.
"I'm thinking about my feelings for you," Leo shouted.
Kian frustrated. He hadn't expected that. "We're staying here tonight. Think until tomorrow," he replied, his tone becoming soft slightly.
"Kian, you're trying to control me," Leo said, with a annoyed tone.
"I don't trust you. You've been with me all the time, but I still don't trust you ... I don't believe you'll choose me over others. I can't let you walk free when you might erase me because of someone else's opinion."
At that moment, Leo realized that he had no other choice but stay. He could turn his back and leave the room without fear, he could repel anyone who came in front of him. But things were stopping him from walking away – sadness in the eyes of Kian and trembling tone of his voice. He felt as if he would leave Kian in the dark if he turned away. And he had neither the courage nor the confidence to do so.