"Hit a power pole?!!!"
Austin half shouted after his father explained the accident that happened to him a few hours ago. The two were stunned in the doorway when they found Monsieur Segre looking fine with a white bandage wrapped around his head.
"Do you know? You've made me so worried!"
"Ahaha sorry." His father laughed softly as he sat on the white hospital bed.
"Your assistant said you had a collision that broke your bones." Austin was relieved that his father was okay.
"It wasn't my bones that broke, it was an electric pole. I was going to the airport to pick up an old friend and former colleague who lives in Hong Kong."
It was Kenan's turn to ask, "Didn't you send someone to pick him up?"
Monsieur Serge shook his head. "As an old friend, I wanted to pick her up myself." He sighed. "But things didn't go according to plan," he said, shaking his hand that wasn't attached to an IV.
Shortly after, the sound of knocking on the door diverted the three people in the VIP hospital room.
"Come in!" said Monsieur Segre to someone outside.
In walked a middle-aged man and a young woman trailing behind. The middle aged man—Gavin Wong—was an old friend and former business partner of Monsieur Serge's who had spoken earlier.
"How are you? I'm really sorry, if I had known this, I wouldn't have mentioned my arrival before arriving directly at your place," Gavin Wong regretted once he reached his friend, Serge Keano.
"Don't be like that, none of this is your fault. It was me who was so eager to drive to the airport that I didn't realize the brakes had failed," Serge said with a bland laugh.
There was a noticeable change in expression on Austin's face. He asked himself, how could his father's car brake? In fact, every car is always checked before use.
The four people there didn't notice Austin's worried expression because their attention was drawn to Gavin Wong and a sweet young woman.
"Good evening, Uncle. I brought some fruit for you." said the woman who had been quietly waiting for the conversation of the men in front of her to finish. Placing a basket of apples and oranges on the table, she bowed slightly in salute.
"Irena? You ... Irena Wong?" Monsieur Serge looked at her with a surprised expression. She simply nodded with a smile. "Ten years on, you've become a much more beautiful girl."
Irena was taken aback, but it wasn't Monsieur Serge's compliment, it was the two men who were simultaneously staring at her—after Irena had set down the fruit basket. Disguising her annoyance, Irena gave a faint smile. Austin was addressed first.
"Long time no see, Austin." A symmetrical smile appeared on Irena's lips.
Austin smiled back slightly. "Yes, it's been a while. How have you been?" he asked back.
"Okay," Irena replied with a casual shrug—just a second until surprise colored her expression when Irena's round eyes caught the figure she had missed quite a bit. "Kenan?"
While Kenan himself did not expect that Irena still recognized him.
"Miss Irena—"
Before Kenan could say hello, the woman rushed towards him, hugging him tightly.
Suddenly Kenan was stunned with his mouth slightly open, both hands raised in the air between wanting to hug back or not. Beside them was Austin who widened his eyes.
Silent, Kenan's face was confused, especially when his bead stared at Austin who was grabbing Irena from behind, then his gaze shifted to Kenan. Kenan responded with a pitiable expression. Asking Austin not to make that kind of expression. However, Austin, who was already blindly jealous, didn't understand the meaning of the expression Kenan directed at him.
Before settling in Hong Kong, Irena went to school with Kenan and Austin. Not only a school in JIHS, Austin also held the status of Irena's lover. However, it seems that Austin has forgotten that fact. Either because he often changes women, to the point of forgetting who he has dated, or his jealousy of Irena's closeness to Kenan.
Compared to Irena hugging Kenan, it was nothing. It was nothing compared to the warm kiss on the toilet that Kenan had given her at that moment, when they were reunited after a long time.
The girl's father saw Kenan's uncomfortable expression and immediately reprimanded his daughter. "Irena, let go of your hug! Don't you know you're making Kenan uncomfortable?"
Irena sighed, then let go of Kenan with a heavy heart.
"So, he's the young man you told me about?" her father asked Irena.
She nodded slowly as she tucked her hair behind her ear, her lips curled into a sweet smile.
Monsieur Serge looked at Gavin Wong and his daughter. Immediately, his old friend offered an explanation. "My daughter used to talk about Kenan. She said he was a kind, handsome and intelligent man. Irena also said that Kenan often helped her with complicated problems during school." The father of Irena said it proudly without caring about his daughter who looked away.
Irena was embarrassed, of course. However, she blinked as soon as she caught Austin's unpleasant expression and Kenan's uncomfortable look. Every now and then the man would glance at Austin as if hinting at something.
Irena pretended not to notice, while in her heart all kinds of questions were coming up about what had happened between Kenan and Austin over the past ten years.
Austin, who couldn't stand the situation, said, "I need to use the restroom." His eyes looked at Kenan, then he grabbed the man's wrist. "Come with me!" he pleaded, pulling Kenan forcefully. Whenever he managed to eliminate the distance between Kenan and Irena, Kenan inevitably followed Austin out of his father's hospital room before taking the time to say goodbye before leaving.
"He's a polite boy," Gavin Wong smiled.
*
The sound of "clack" was heard as the tip of the wooden stick poked the black ball after a few moments of aiming, rolling quickly then hitting the yellow ball number five. the yellow ball also rolled although not as fast as the black ball and ended up falling into a small hole in the corner of the table.
"Bravo!" A man clapped his hands. While the man who had successfully shot the ball in his game of billiards smiled slightly.
"No need to clap, it's like you're seeing my great game for the first time," said the tall, handsome man with dark brown hair, who had managed to poke the ball into the hole.
"Brandon, how is it? Is Austin reachable?" asked Felix—the pool player—to the man who had been sitting on the gray sofa playing with his phone. The other man—Farrel—just stared, waiting for an answer. A black shirt with a dove—colored tie and pebble pants gave him the elegant look of a rising actor.
"The phone's offline." Brandon chuckled, his eyes boring into the screen of the phone he'd been swiping at to call Austin several times.
"I can't believe it, how could he not show up for the first time."
Farrell snorted rudely, seating himself on the pool table as he stared at Felix. The one he was staring at rolled his eyes lazily.
The pool stick slung over his left shoulder, approaching a table not far from the pool table, Felix poured vodka into a glass and took a sip. Letting the liquid flow down his throat before saying, "For the first time, you say? Didn't she not come to our gathering before?"
"You mean after the graduation party? Seriously, that was a long time ago." One eyebrow raised to glance at the man.
Felix replied, "And now he's doing it again. I know he's a busy man, but there's no way he doesn't have a little free time."
"Maybe he's too busy with his wife." Farrell chuckled half—snickeringly, turning his gaze to Brandon. "Oi, Brandon, are you also going to be busy with your wife after you marry that woman named Shofie."
Brandon chuckled in displeasure. "No kidding! If it wasn't for my parents, I wouldn't be married to that woman."
"Really, but you get jealous when she gets close to other men." Farrell said casually, accepting the bottle of wine Felix handed him after he asked for it without speaking.
While Farrell sipped his wine straight from the bottle, Brandon spoke up, "Jealous? Seriously," He inwardly laughed.
"That Austin, he became even more of an asshole after getting married." he continued.
"You mean ... he played with other women behind Helena's back?" Felix guessed. "That's not surprising." He threw the pool cue on the table and hit a few balls until some of them moved.
Brandon smiled wryly. "Not with women, but with men."
Farrell kicked the pool table. "I knew it, sooner or later he'll actually become gay hahaha." he laughed sarcastically.
"Do you guys remember Kenan?" asked Brandon, his expression serious as he looked at his two friends in turn.
Farrell and Felix looked at each other.
"That stupid rabbit?" asked Felix.
"Who else, the son of Yahya Pradipta." Farrel confirmed. "What's wrong with him."
Brandon chuckled. "You guys are missing a lot of news." Again, Farrell and Felix looked at each other for a moment. After a short pause the man finally announced, "Kenan is back..."
Immediately laughter interrupted his words, "That's it? Just saying that the dumb rabbit is back, your expression is that serious?"
"Monsieur Serge, the CEO of the Hotel Leon Company who accepted him back and gave him an important position in the company."
In an instant, Brandon's words silenced both of them. Ignoring the serious expressions of his two friends, Brandon continued, "Even after ten years, his position as the adopted son of Serge Keano has rightfully changed. Also now, he has become his son's mistress."
After Brandon told them, the room was suddenly quiet.
[]