《Kiss Me if You Can》


 Prologue

    ¡°Ah, hahh, ah, nnh¡­¡±


    Short, shallow moans repeatedly leaked out of his mouth. His brain shook and vibrated along with his mercilessly convulsing body, not allowing any thoughts at all. Weakly sprawled across the bed, Josh instinctively lifted his legs and wrapped them around the man¡¯s waist. He pulled him tightly toward himself with all that remained of his strength. The member that his bottom was chewing became sucked more deeply inside him with a tingling sensation.


    ¡°Hnnh¡­¡± Towering over Josh, the man spat out a deep moan between rough breaths. Supporting his own body with his arms, the man was pounding his lower body into Josh. Right away, the man shoved his arms under Josh¡¯s knees and pushed them up. Having folded Josh in half, the man violently thrust his rod into the lifted behind.


    ¡°Ahaack¡­¡± A lengthy yelp crawled its way out from the depths of Josh¡¯s throat. The man had no sympathy at all. He stacked his thick body on top of Josh, pressing him down and shoving himself in. The swollen, feverishly smelted member brutally slammed into Josh, who was crammed between the mattress and the man¡¯s body.


    He felt no such thing as pain. This was copulation. Since neither the man nor Josh had any sense in their heads, this couldn¡¯t be called intercourse. All that could be known was the weight of the man¡¯s member as it vigorously entered and exited Josh and the sweetness of the hole that frantically sucked it in.


    ¡°Ah, hngh, nnh, ahh¡­¡± Josh let out moan after moan as he embraced the man¡¯s head. He vaguely realized that his body was ready. Perhaps the man had noticed too; his movements became even more robust as he dug in. Every time he stabbed and left, he penetrated Josh deeper.


    ¡®More, stick it in deeper. Slam in me harder. In me, inside me¡ª¡¯


    ¡°Come in me, please¡ª¡± Josh was begging out loud before he had even realized.


    Finally, he rammed his entire rod into Josh and made it expand inside. A spot deep within Josh throbbed, and his scorching wet flesh bit tightly into the man¡¯s member.


    ¡°Nngh¡­¡± The man finally shuddered on top of him and came. His hot s*men glubbed into Josh¡¯s tract and filled his abdomen. An unholy amount of liquid heavily filled his guts, but the man¡¯s member was plugged tightly and completely into the hole and blocked most of the liquid from seeping out. What the man had spilled wholly filled and pooled inside Josh. He took in every last bit of the other¡¯s seed.


    Along with the s*men that spread throughout his whole body like a drug, the man¡¯s sweet pheromones poured into Josh¡¯s nose. Josh drooped his weak body, hammered on pheromones. As his consciousness began to drift away and his eyes started to blur, the man suddenly bit into Josh¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Ah!¡± he screamed as a chilling crunch echoed inside his ears. His distant consciousness returned momentarily.


    The man kept his member fixed inside Josh and violently sucked on his ear that he had just bitten. Josh trembled feebly in pain and shock.


    The man¡¯s voice trickled into his ears. ¡°You¡¯re all mine.¡±


    His low whisper sent shivers up Josh¡¯s spine. He instinctively clenched down there. With a deep moan, the man sank his teeth even harder into his flesh.


    ¡°Ngh, guhh¡­¡± Moans dribbled down Josh¡¯s lips, but the man didn¡¯t even flinch. He bit, sucked, and licked the bleeding ear for a long time before finally falling asleep, inhaling and exhaling with a regular rhythm.


    Josh only realized that the man had marked him many hours after his faded consciousness returned to him.


    ¡°Wait! Everyone, calm down. No, you can¡¯t come any closer! Hey, hey! Watch it!¡± The security staff had their hands full blocking the incoming crowd. They were much too used to controlling the fans in an event like this, but today was different from usual. Of course, they knew the reason, and they had been prepared for it. It was because of the top celebrity who would be arriving soon.


    He had received an incredible amount of attention upon his debut; it would not be over-exaggerating to say that he made the entirety of North America go wild. Since then, he had built a solid foundation of fans year after year. He was recently acknowledged for his good acting, and he was truly thriving at the pinnacle of his career.


    It was not difficult to spot someone who would say that they would do anything to be able to meet him just once in their life. In fact, there was one social media post that read that the poster would rob a bank just to draw his attention, which resulted in a brief unlaughable incident. With that being said, the news of his attending an event was enough to put the nearby area in mayhem. However, nobody thought that it could be this bad.


    The security staff who were hired for the event all had hoarse, metallic voices from shouting¡ªto the point where they were coughing. Despite their efforts, there was an influx of people all over the place who were trying to break through the barrier and shoot forward whenever there was an opening. They were out of their minds blocking the crowd that was pushing against them from the front, all the while watching out for the hyenas who were aiming for openings.


    ¡®I wish time would go faster,¡¯ all the security staff thought simultaneously. The invitees were turning up one by one, but the most important face had yet to be seen. They would much rather he come quickly, get some pictures snapped, and go in. Wouldn¡¯t that make things easier?


    Their desperate hope aside, more people began to join the crowd.

 CH 1

    ¡°Two hours of stay should be enough,¡± said Laura, the secretary, in a calm voice beside him. ¡°They wanted you to flash the wristwatch. I believe it would be enough for you to subtly sweep up your hair or something of the like. I heard that it¡¯s been designed especially for you, Mr. Miller. Do you like it?¡±


    Laura glanced toward him, trying to read the atmosphere. The man, who had been motionless until then, lowered his gaze for the first time and stared at the jewelry that wrapped around his wrist.


    The wristwatch was themed after the desert night. On top of the delicate craftsmanship that was characteristic of the brand, its elegant design drew the attention of the beholder. The brilliance of the diamond that circled the dial once every hour on the dot was especially eye-catching.


    He began slowly, ¡°It¡¯s not bad.¡±


    And that was all. Laura smiled stiffly. The man shifted his gaze back outside the window. He could probably see his reflection better than the landscape outside through the dark-tinted windows, but he would always fix his gaze at the window regardless.


    ¡®In all fairness, it must be a lot more entertaining to stare at his own face than the streets,¡¯ thought Laura. She had no choice but to accept the fact that he was a narcissist, and with a good reason to be one. She had been working beside him as his secretary for years now, but she still sometimes froze on the spot as if she had been electrocuted whenever she saw his face. Unfortunately, this was only applicable until this man showed his true colors.


    Laura was always grateful that he didn¡¯t waste his words; he sometimes even went an entire day without saying a word. If that weren¡¯t the case, she would have long since run away, unable to bear his temper.


    Chase, who was supporting the side of his chin with his hand as he leaned his head against the door, slowly closed his eyes. Thanks to that, Laura could admire his side profile to her heart¡¯s content. His pale face had a hint of exhaustion as a sharp shadow was cast along the elegant structure of his face.


    Even before she was hired as his secretary, Laura had worked as a secretary of another actress. Due to this, she had seen countless celebrities, but she had never seen a man as beautiful as him. His shirt was buttoned up all the way to the top, embracing his long, delicate neck. Contrary to his neat ensemble, however, he seemed somewhat disorderly.


    His fingernails that were planted atop his fingers, which were thrown carelessly across his thighs, were tidily trimmed. They suited his long fingers very well. When Laura had first met him, she had imagined his graceful fingers wrapped around her neck, suffocating her. Luckily for her, no such thing happened.


    There was nothing about him that wasn¡¯t pretty. Laura hesitated in using the word ¡°pretty¡± to describe him, but it was difficult to find a more suitable word.


    He let out a short sigh and opened his eyes. At the same time, Laura was pulled back to reality. The driver let them know that they were almost at their destination. Laura aside, even the bodyguard who was in the car with them grew tense. Now they had to protect this man from that pack of people. One wrong move and his life could be in danger. However, none of this could be helped.


    The car slowly began to decelerate, and the man opened his mouth. ¡°¡­¡±


    Laura couldn¡¯t register his soft voice. Assuming that he was talking to himself, she pretended not to notice as per usual. Chase didn¡¯t say anything else, either.


    The car slowed to a halt. The way the crowd was cheering outside was alarming. Laura took a deep breath as she waited for the door of the car to open.


    The bodyguard got out of the car first and quickly looked around before opening the door near where Laura was sitting. She exited as well and immediately stood to the side. People already knew who was about to follow suit.


    An unbelievably sweet scent mixed into the crowd. Simultaneously, the cheering noise grew multiple times louder.


    ¡°Chase!¡± the crowd howled.


    Just as Laura began to fear her eardrums would burst from the crowd¡¯s scream¡ªnay, screech¡ªhe finally showed himself.


    The man¡¯s blond hair fluttered splendidly under the showering rays of the Californian sun. He was six feet, five inches when standing tall, and the black tailcoat clung onto his slender body as if it were his own skin.


    He stepped onto the red carpet and looked around once. A flash of exhaustion ran across his face, but the man silently lifted his hand. His soft, blond locks entwined his long fingers, and the watch on his wrist was revealed. The obnoxious roar of camera shutters poured out as dizzily as the cheers.


    It only took Chase five steps along the red carpet until one of the security staff who was fending off the crowd gave in. The rows that were only just being held in place all collapsed at once.


    Huge Accident at V&A Jewelry Event.


    The cashier groaned as he read the article heading off of the newspaper that he had taken from next to the checkout counter. He didn¡¯t need to read the contents of the article underneath to know what it was about. The TV had already exhausted the details of this incident. Even the passersby in the streets, needless to mention the internet, were busy talking about what had happened. He didn¡¯t like that at all.


    Just then, a customer placed some items on the counter needing to be scanned. After glancing at the pack of gum, the bottle of water, and the male-audience magazine, the cashier began casually, ¡°Seems a mess. You know, what with Chase Miller.¡±


    ¡°Well, sounds like it,¡± the man replied curtly, looking fairly uninterested.


    As the cashier scanned the items, he began to yak as if he were waiting for it. ¡°So many people got injured. To be honest, I don¡¯t think people like him should be invited to the event. Don¡¯t you think? It couldn¡¯t have been difficult to expect something like this to happen. What¡¯s more, Chase Miller didn¡¯t even address the issue at all. And whose fault was it to begin with? Don¡¯t you think he almost enjoys watching people making a big deal about him?¡±

 CH 2

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really know much about pop culture,¡± the man lied aptly. It wasn¡¯t a complete lie, though; it was true that he wasn¡¯t well-versed in pop culture. Above anything, he just wanted to finish paying quickly and go home. Just in time, another customer stood behind him, glaring at the cashier. The cashier hastily finished processing the payment and looked up.


    The man was taller than he had expected. Moreover, the chest before the cashier¡¯s eyes was clearly tight and muscular, despite being hidden under the shirt. When he glanced at the man¡¯s face, which was positioned much higher than he had imagined, he jolted.


    As he widened his eyes and blinked, the man put the items into the plastic bags himself, said a simple word of farewell, and left.


    While the cashier blankly stared at his back, the customer who was standing behind the man began to complain, ¡°Why in the world did that take so long?¡±


    ¡°Did you see his face? The man who just walked out?¡±


    The customer stared at the cashier in awe. However, the cashier was still gazing in the direction where the man had disappeared toward.


    He murmured, ¡°He must be an alpha, right?¡±


    The cashier marveled once again, so the customer scrunched up their face and stared in the same direction as him. ¡°I didn¡¯t smell his pheromones.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s so good-looking, though. He has to be an alpha. He¡¯s pretty jacked, too.¡±


    ¡°Really? His back was definitely a sight to behold, though.¡± The customer belatedly took interest, but the man was already nowhere to be seen.


    The cashier finally came to his senses and sighed as he scanned the items. ¡®I hope he comes again,¡¯ he thought.


    *


    *


    ¡®I¡¯m never going to that store again.¡¯


    Josh gritted his teeth as he violently swerved in and out of the lane. Cars honked and curses exploded all around him, but he ignored them all and stepped harder on the accelerator.


    He was already 30 minutes late. Why did the cashier have to dawdle like that? He had stretched out what could have been done in 10 minutes by making useless small talk. Moreover, the topic brought up by the cashier was something that Josh would much rather avoid. He had already been hearing various things about Chase Miller for days, to the point where he was developing a headache.


    It was something that couldn¡¯t be avoided even if he had tried to. Wherever people gathered, everyone talked about him. The soft drink that was dispensed at a push of the vending machine button had his face stamped on it. Whenever he turned the TV on, the news talked about him, and a giant billboard of his perfume advertisement stood its post by the road.


    As long as he lived in this country, he could not turn away from Chase Miller.


    Josh caught himself from swearing violently out of irritation and barely managed to swallow it. Josh had gotten quite a shock when Pete had heard a bad word that Josh had said and innocently repeated it. Since then, Josh always took extra care not to even accidentally let any inappropriate words slip. However, days like this were certainly difficult to endure not swearing.


    He had to picture Pete¡¯s face and hold it in with all his might. When he finally arrived home, he genuinely almost cheered out loud.


    Josh skipped three stairs per stride and finally reached his home. As soon as he flung open the door, he called out for his child. ¡°Pete!¡±


    Pete, who was playing with the babysitter on the living room floor, turned his head and shouted back, ¡°Daddy!¡±


    ¡°Pete!¡±


    Pete reached his short arms out toward him. Josh promptly picked him up and showered his whole face with kisses. The satisfaction that welled up in his chest made it almost difficult to breathe. It felt as if the exhaustion that was piled up from the day¡¯s work was evaporating in a matter of seconds.


    Only after indulging in a touching reunion after five whole hours of separation did Josh acknowledge the babysitter with Pete still propped up in his arms. ¡°Thanks for your work, as usual.¡±


    ¡°No worries. Pete is such a sweet boy, and it makes things very easy for me.¡±


    He was a university student who was working part-time as a babysitter to look after the child in Josh¡¯s stead. Josh gazed down at the ordinary university student who was at least a head shorter than him.


    He smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m really in your debt. It¡¯s exams soon, isn¡¯t it? Do let me know if there are days when you can¡¯t work, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Josh. I¡¯ll try not to cancel anything. I¡¯ll see you next time, Pete,¡± said the babysitter simply as he held the child¡¯s hand.


    Josh paid the babysitter his daily pay, and he was finally alone with Pete. Pete loved climbing up Josh¡¯s shoulder and sitting on it; as usual, Josh began to prepare dinner with Pete on his shoulders.


    ¡°Wah, ahh, baah!¡± mumbled the child inaudibly, bouncing on his bottom. It was probably the theme song of his favorite cartoon. Needless to say, that was just what Josh assumed.


    Josh pecked the child¡¯s chubby calf and dexterously maneuvered around the small kitchen. He effortlessly grilled some steak and fixed up a potato salad, finishing off with some peas.


    ¡°No peas,¡± Pete complained in his baby seat in front of the table as soon as he spotted green on his plate.


    Josh began to cut the meat so that it would be easy for Pete to eat while saying, ¡°Peas are friends with potatoes. They¡¯ll only be happy if they go into Pete¡¯s tummy together. Because they¡¯re good friends, you know? You wouldn¡¯t want to say goodbye to Jason either, would you?¡±


    Jason was the puppy plushie that Pete liked very much. It was a pretty convincing attempt, but Pete didn¡¯t back down.


    ¡°No peas,¡± Pete grumbled.


    His stubborn pout briefly reminded Josh of someone. Josh jolted at the hint of the similar-looking but much older man¡¯s cold expression.


    But it was Pete who sat before his eyes, not that man. That man was not cute nor adorable like Pete. Moreover, Pete¡¯s face as he looked down at his peas in disappointment was incomparably lovely.

 CH 4

    In the end, Josh planted a kiss on the top of Pete¡¯s head and slid the peas that Pete had picked out into the blender, pulverizing them without a sign. He then stuck out the empty plate and announced, ¡°The enemy has been defeated!¡±


    ¡°Wawawawah!¡± Pete cheered excitedly.


    Pete happily sat and swung his legs back and forth. Josh loudly kissed the child¡¯s cheek and began to feed him dinner. Pete¡¯s mouth quickly became dirty with food. Without hesitation, Josh took out his handkerchief that he carried with him everywhere and wiped his mouth with his gaze fixed upon Pete. Watching his small hand firmly holding onto and using the fork could very well make his heart burst.


    Josh slowly paced around the living room with the child in his arms, waiting for him to fall asleep. When Pete had fallen asleep, Josh laid him down on the bed, loosely cleaned the house, took a shower, and finally, took out a can of beer.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± A content sigh trickled out of his mouth. He wasn¡¯t financially unchallenged, but he had no qualms about his life at all. Just imagining Pete growing up and leaving the house for university brought tears to his eyes, but this was something far off into the future. He finished the whole can and went to bed.


    *


    *


    When his phone ringtone ominously echoed across the room, Josh was deep asleep without even so much as a dream.


    ¡°Yes, hello¡­ Emma?¡± he answered, still half asleep, before jolting up at the sound of his little sister sobbing. He quickly glanced at the clock on top of the bedside table and calculated the time difference. It was 8 a.m. in the West.


    ¡°Oh, Josh, w-what do I¡ª¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen?¡± he urged.


    Emma replied between sobs, ¡°Mom collapsed, and¡­ and we¡¯re, we¡¯re in the hospital now.¡±


    ¡°What? Emma, don¡¯t cry¡­ and tell me slowly. What happened?¡± Josh¡¯s tone became harsher without him even realizing it. He could hear his sister blubbering on the other side of the phone. He forcefully shook his sleepily dazed head like a dog.


    He pressed on with greater urgency, ¡°Stop crying and tell me. Are you in the ER right now?¡±


    ¡°Y-Yeah, hnngh¡­¡±


    Emma began to sob again. She usually had no problem keeping things under control, so it was rare to see her like this. Josh felt his insides boil, but he didn¡¯t have a choice. Blaming the cruel circumstances for not being able to run to her and comfort her immediately, he waited patiently.


    After some stifling minutes, Emma finally managed to regain her breath and began to stammer out an explanation. Their mother¡¯s illness had worsened, and she had to be admitted to the ER. She also told him that her savings had run out due to the repeated admissions.


    When she had laboriously finished speaking, Josh asked a little more gently than before, ¡°Did you look into insurance?¡±


    ¡°I heard from them last time that they will no longer cover the cost of future onsets¡­ still, I¡¯m planning to pay a visit later just in case. I called work and let them know that I¡¯ll be taking time off. I¡¯m also going to look into getting a loan from the bank, though I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll let me borrow more¡­¡± Emma trailed off as she swallowed a ragged breath.


    She began again, ¡°Josh, I really¡­ really thought that something might happen to Mom. Her hands were so cold, and she wouldn¡¯t answer even when I called her name. Even her breathing was¡­ back then, I really¡­ nnh, hnngh¡­¡±


    ¡°Emma, Emma.¡± Josh raised his voice slightly and called out her name. Before his sister lost her cool again, he continued, ¡°All right, just calm down. Mother¡¯s okay now, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They took care of the emergency,¡± Emma replied, her voice still shaking. However, it was clear that she was trying her best to remain calm.


    Thinking about how terrifying it must have been alone made Josh want to fly over immediately. However, there was something else that he had to do first.


    ¡°What did the doctor say? Can she be discharged?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No, it looks like she¡¯ll be staying for a few days. They also wanted to run a few more tests¡­¡± After coughing out a faltering breath, Emma asked with a mellower tone, ¡°What do I do, Josh?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Josh said firmly. ¡°I¡¯ll make it work somehow. It must have been hard. Did you get some sleep?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± mumbled Emma feebly. The weight of her exhaustion suddenly carried over from the other end of the line.


    Josh deliberately asserted, ¡°You can rest assured. Now go get some rest. I¡¯ll call you again later.¡±


    Emma sighed deeply and replied very wearily, ¡°Yeah¡­ I should sleep a little. I¡¯ll leave things to you, Josh.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry and go. Careful on the road,¡± he added with concern before hanging up.


    A sudden cold silence took over. Josh sat blankly in the middle of darkness, summarizing the conversation in his head. No matter what, the situation was clear.


    They needed money.


    ¡°Hahh¡­¡± In the end, he wrapped his hand around his head and let out a deep sigh. However, he couldn¡¯t afford to stay absent-minded. Josh quickly recalled how much money he had on him at the moment. All that thought led to was a string of curse words.


    He was gravely calculating how much money he would need when he heard the child crying in the distance. He hurriedly got up and went to the other room.


    ¡°Daddy, daddy!¡± The child burst into tears as soon as he found Josh.


    Josh quickly lifted the child up from the bed. From time to time, Pete would wake up in the middle of the night like this and start crying. As always, the child leaned his small body tightly onto Josh.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right, Pete, it¡¯s all right,¡± Josh comforted him as he paced around the room. The sniffles soon diminished, and the child began to breathe deeply. Josh planted a kiss on Pete¡¯s head.


    The warmth of the child¡¯s body always managed to calm him down. Hoping that it would do the same this time, Josh took a deep breath of his scent. The characteristic sweet scent of a child seemed to soothe his anxiety a little. In the end, he stayed up on the couch with Pete in his arms.

 CH 5

    Josh knocked on the office door and opened it as he greeted, ¡°Hello, Rose.¡±


    Rose, who was filing her nails while sitting behind her desk, flinched. She soon beamed and said, ¡°Hello, Josh. As dashing as always.¡±


    Josh answered her usual flattery with a smile and let the subject pass. He had left Pete while he was still sleeping, so he was feeling a little down.


    ¡®Pete will cry a fair bit when he wakes up and sees that I¡¯m not there,¡¯ Josh thought. This happened every day, but it still felt bitter. He wished he could stay with the child until he was a little bit older, but life stopped him from it. Moreover, today was the babysitter¡¯s day off. Josh had left Pete under the care of Mrs. Robert¡ªtheir neighbor¡ªbefore the child was even awake. This made him feel even more guilty.


    Mrs. Robert, whose only source of income was her pension, adored Pete in place of her own grandson whom she couldn¡¯t see often. Although Mrs. Robert bought him toys and baked him cookies from time to time, Josh couldn¡¯t leave the child with the old lady for long. He had to finish his business and go back quickly.


    When Josh glanced toward Mark¡¯s office door, Rose stood up from her seat. Her cheeks flushed ever so slightly as she said, ¡°Boss isn¡¯t in yet. You¡¯re here pretty early, aren¡¯t you? Would you like some coffee?¡±


    Josh smiled to hide his disappointment. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Give me a second,¡± Rose said as she excitedly retreated into the break room.


    Sitting alone on the office sofa in silence made Josh somewhat anxious. He looked around meaninglessly before shifting his gaze onto the newspaper that was placed on the table.


    As he blankly stared at the face of the man who had taken over the cover page, Rose stepped out of the break room. ¡°He¡¯s the prosecuting attorney for the Davis Incident. Isn¡¯t he so good-looking?¡±


    She was talking about the murder incident that had happened in New York. The suspect was a wealthy alpha who, unfortunately, did not have a very good reputation. Those with money and power often became the public¡¯s target¡ªeven more so when the suspect was an arrogant alpha and the victim a powerless omega.


    However, what excited people the most was none other than the prosecuting attorney.


    Rose sighed in awe and placed a cup of coffee in front of him. Josh muttered a brief statement of gratitude and took the cup to his mouth.


    Rose, still unable to peel her eyes off the photo, murmured, ¡°I wonder if this man is an alpha or an omega.¡±


    ¡°Who knows¡­¡±


    Not transitioned betas, but alphas and omegas who manifested properly during their early teenage years were known to be very beautiful. There were some cases where this didn¡¯t apply, but 99 out of 100 times, they were recognizably handsome or pretty. People could tell that they were an alpha or at least an omega just by looking at them without smelling their pheromones.


    Even among them, a man this good-looking was rare. Even Josh had his attention stolen for a moment when he first laid his eyes on him. If he looked this good in the low-resolution newspaper photo, just how good-looking could he be in person?


    When Josh reached this line of thought, he fell into a brief contemplation. This man was too pretty to be called handsome and too beautiful to be called pretty. In any case, one thing for sure was that the man was a charmer¡ªenough to surprise people just from his photo alone.


    ¡°He couldn¡¯t be a beta, right? Well, I suppose it¡¯s not entirely impossible¡­¡± Rose, who had turned to glance at Josh, trailed off unconfidently. Josh must not have been the only one who didn¡¯t have a clue.


    In very rare cases, some betas were exceptionally good-looking. Thanks to this, Josh could somehow manage to hide his identity. Josh smiled as vaguely as always. Rose fixed her restless gaze onto Josh and quickly sat down beside him.


    ¡°I was really surprised when I heard that a good-looking man like you was a beta. I was so sure that you were an alpha,¡± she said, with a demeanor bordering disappointment.


    Josh had heard remarks such as hers countless times in his life. Things like ¡°I can immediately tell that you¡¯re an alpha,¡± or ¡°I can¡¯t believe a beta as good-looking as you exists.¡± Unfortunately, both of those statements were wrong.


    Josh was an omega¡ªone whose ear was imprinted at that.


    He had no particular reason why he should hide the fact that he was an omega save for his job. Regrettably, however, nobody hired omegas as bodyguards. Hence, ever since Josh started this line of work, he had pretended to be a beta.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to hide the fact that he was an omega. First and foremost, people always just assumed that he was an alpha whenever they saw him. On top of that, his pheromones had a faint scent. He had no choice but to take meds during his heat since it made the scent stronger, but ever since he was imprinted, even that became much weaker.


    He was confident that nobody would ever find out.


    Josh almost subconsciously fiddled with his ears, but he faked it and brushed it off. He would be in big trouble if anyone found out about the imprint. He could pretend that he was an alpha, but making up a sloppy lie would force him to lie once more about why he had pretended to be a beta all this time. In the end, everyone would figure out that he was an omega.


    His only remaining option was to do everything in his power to hide it. This was why he sometimes wore his bodyguard earpiece even when he wasn¡¯t working or went through the trouble of covering his ears in one way or another.


    ¡®I could very well be fired,¡¯ Josh thought to himself. He felt chills run down his spine and avoided Rose¡¯s eyes, pretending to drink his coffee.


    Rose, who had no idea about any of his internal turmoil, gazed sympathetically at him. ¡°How old is Pete again? Isn¡¯t it difficult raising a child on your own?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so bad, really.¡±

 CH 6

    Mrs. Robert couldn¡¯t hide her joy upon hearing Josh¡¯s offer. ¡°Would that be all right? Then, well, the bathroom lights¡­ and the bathroom sink, if I may. The water won¡¯t go down well¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll be right back with the tools.¡±


    Josh went back to his home with the boy in one arm so that the boy wouldn¡¯t cry. When he returned with the tools in his other hand, Mrs. Robert was preparing to bake cookies.


    ¡®Shoot. With how things are now, there¡¯s going to be no end to this,¡¯ he thought to himself, but he had no excuse to refuse.


    In the end, what started as fixing the bathroom lights ended with him tweaking with the living room chair. Pete, who was watching Josh work, had fallen asleep at some point out of boredom.


    *


    *


    When he finally got home with the boy in his arms, it was already almost dinnertime. Mrs. Robert had offered them to stay over for dinner, but Josh politely refused because it really seemed like there could never be an end to it. Instead, he was given a generous amount of freshly baked cookies to bring home.


    He noticed Pete, who had just opened his eyes, reaching for the cookies just in time to quickly take them away from his sight. ¡°Nope, dinner first.¡±


    Pete pitifully chased the drifting cookies with his eyes. Josh felt his resolve grow softer. Pete looked up at Josh with a sad expression.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± In merely three seconds, Josh let out a defeated groan. ¡®He may be my own kid, but how can he be so cute and loveable?¡¯ he wondered.


    He clutched onto his chest and handed Pete a cookie, which Pete accepted while bouncing on his bottom. Drool was pooling in Pete¡¯s mouth, and Josh wiped away an overflowing droplet from his lips with his thumb before hurriedly preparing for dinner.


    ¡®I wonder when Mark will get back to me,¡¯ wondered Josh. Even as he was feeding Pete, all he could think about was whether he would be able to take out a loan, how much savings he had left, and if there were any other places where he could borrow money from. Thanks to this, he was unable to stop Pete from dropping his spoon twice and had to take out new ones for him.


    It was just as they were finishing dinner, which spanned an entire two hours, that the doorbell rang.


    ¡°Hey, sorry ¡®bout the late visit.¡± Mark marched past Josh and into the house as soon as the door opened.


    Josh followed after him, his heart racing. Mark had visited much sooner than he had expected. Pete, who was sitting in the kids¡¯ highchair and dipping his cookies in a cup of milk for dessert, became wide-eyed at the sight of Mark who had waltzed in.


    Josh quickly approached the boy and kissed his head so that he wouldn¡¯t be shocked. ¡°Look, Pete, Mr. Mark is here. Why don¡¯t you say hello?¡±


    ¡°Hewwo¡­¡± Pete greeted hesitantly in baby talk.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Mark murmured and ruffled the boy¡¯s head before changing the subject. ¡°Let me talk to you for a bit, yeah?¡±


    As Mark directed himself toward the living room like he was used to it, Josh asked behind his back, ¡°How about dinner?¡±


    ¡°Already ate. You haven¡¯t eaten yet?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a big deal.¡± Josh had planned to have late dinner while the boy ate his cookies, but talking to Mark came first. It was none other than his boss who had visited, and at a late hour at that. Especially with what had happened during the day, Josh couldn¡¯t help but be nervous. Josh hid his nervousness and encouraged Pete to eat alone before following after Mark.


    ¡°Hahh¡­¡± Even after sitting down on the sofa, Mark didn¡¯t broach the reason for his visit right away. Josh intentionally sat a little further away from Mark as he waited for him to begin. The waiting time felt like forever, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to rush Mark.


    Josh continued to wait silently, glancing occasionally toward Pete. After a fair bit of time, Mark finally began resolutely.


    ¡°About work¡­¡± The boss sighed once again before continuing, ¡°there is one thing. Well, the compensation is decent and the conditions aren¡¯t bad. If anything, they¡¯re very good. You could get the entire amount of the money you need, and pre-paid at that. The client said that they could give that much for the down payment just fine, and the remaining payment would be given upon completion of the work. Since the payment will be divided, that¡¯s another good thing. There¡¯s nothing to complain about, really. The terms are great, but¡­ the client is who we have a problem with.¡±


    Who could it possibly be for him to beat around the bush so much? Josh stayed patient and merely glared at Mark¡¯s lips. After what felt like a sickeningly long time, Mark slowly opened his mouth. When he finally put the name out on the table, Josh understood why he had hesitated so much.


    ¡°Chase C. Miller. You remember him too, don¡¯t you?¡±


    The moment Josh heard his name, he forgot to breathe. Chase C. Miller. How could he ever forget that name?


    The chilling purple eyes that looked down upon him, the natural blond hair that glistened under the sun, the flamboyant beauty of his well-defined face features, and the slim, long, elegant body that had seized his heart. The number one hottest actor in Hollywood ever since his debut, the man who had not failed to be crowned the number 1 s*xiest man for multiple years now¡ªChase C. Miller.


    The Extreme Alpha who had imprinted Josh.


    The man who had impregnated him with Pete.


    ¡®What kind of bullsh*t¡­¡¯ Josh cursed in his head as he sat on his bed, clenching his hair. He had been like this for the past few hours since he tucked Pete into bed. No matter how much time had passed, however, his thoughts kept trailing back to the same conversation.

 CH 7

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound too appealing, huh? That¡¯s how we feel, too.¡± Mark¡¯s voice had trickled into Josh¡¯s ears from beyond his cloudy headspace. When Josh had finally forced himself to exhale, Mark had continued, ¡°It¡¯s actually been about a week since we got this offer, but I was thinking about turning it down because I expected nobody to want to do it. Oh, but the contract terms are really something. It¡¯s not often that you get this much compensation¡­ But after all, Miller cashes out like mad.¡±


    ¡®All he has is money and looks, so yeah, you bet. If only he were like 10 percent as kind as he was pretty, everyone would praise him like God,¡¯ Josh had scorned internally, remembering the joke of the street that God must have put all his effort into making Chase Miller¡¯s body and just screwed the personality out of exhaustion.


    When Josh kept silent, Mark had scratched his head vigorously. ¡°But, well, you know¡­ The work is a bit¡­ Yeah. And that Miller b*stard is real tricky to appease. I guess we¡¯ve got nothing to say if that pay rate was offered with all of that in consideration. Otherwise, why would he be contacting us all the way from the west coast? All of them over there must have turned him down. Money¡¯s good stuff, but Miller of all people¡­ I did contemplate on at least asking y¡¯all about it since the payment was so good. But since you told me that you¡¯re in need of money and fast¡­ The other work won¡¯t do you much good since the payment is down the ditch. If you accept the gig, the others might have an easier time making a decision, too.¡±


    Josh had taken a deep breath before asking, ¡°Did you let all the other members of our team know as well?¡±


    ¡°I called all of them about it before I got here. Just the overall gist of it. They said they¡¯d think about it.¡±


    Josh clearly remembered everyone cursing through their teeth when they had last taken Chase Miller¡¯s gig. Their receptiveness was both unexpected and remarkable.


    ¡®Did something urgent come up for everyone else as well?¡¯ wondered Josh.


    As Josh fell silent once again, Mark had added, ¡°It will be about six months if things get stretched out, and three months if not. If it happens to get extended, they¡¯ll pay you more accordingly. Well¡­ think about it if you¡¯re really in a pinch. The entire team will be going if it gets settled, of course, so don¡¯t feel too pressured.¡± Before taking his leave, he repeated, ¡°Think about it.¡±


    * * *


    Since then, Josh had been hopping between options, unable to decide what to do.


    Why did it have to be that man of all people?


    The answer was obvious. There weren¡¯t many people who were willing to pay such a large sum of money to hire bodyguards. Moreover, Josh desperately needed the money that was rotting in Chase Miller¡¯s safe. Unfortunately, that was what reality looked like. No matter how long he contemplated for, the outcome was already decided.


    As the sky hazily began to light back up, he finally managed to accept the one and only answer. It would just be six months at most. Once his contract period was over, he would refuse to extend it under any circumstances. He expected Mark to replace however many hands he needed after that.


    Josh waited until Mark¡¯s reporting hour to call and asked what he was most curious about. ¡°Did anyone else get back to you? How many people are confirmed to join?¡±


    ¡®There¡¯s no way that they all refused, right?¡¯ thought Josh as chills ran down his spine.


    To his relief, Mark replied promptly, ¡°Me, Seth, Henry, Isaac¡ªfour.¡±


    That was everyone other than Josh. As Josh¡¯s shoulders relaxed into a slump, Mark added, ¡°That Henry, apparently he gambled his money away again. I heard he lost everything.¡±


    He also continued by telling Josh that Seth¡¯s contemplation ended when he heard the pay, and that Isaac had lent Henry money which Henry had lost, leaving him with no choice but to join. ¡°Henry even poured Isaac¡¯s money into the gambling pot. In any case, Isaac¡¯s also partly responsible for being convinced by Henry¡¯s sweet talk.¡±


    Josh knew that it probably wasn¡¯t just sweet talk; there was likely some threatening involved as well. This wasn¡¯t the first time Isaac¡¯s wallet had been shaken empty after losing to Henry¡¯s vulgarities and threats.


    In any case, this worked in Josh¡¯s favor.


    Josh sighed bitterly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll come, too.¡±


    ¡°All right, five including Joshua.¡± The way he articulated Josh¡¯s name made it apparent that he was jotting down the name. He must have already been expecting Josh¡¯s answer; he didn¡¯t seem too surprised or overjoyed. Unfortunately, it was an unavoidable decision for Josh, too.


    Josh asked about a few important details like the date of departure, and they ended the call after concluding that the detailed contract would be sent over email. As long as he was paid the promised amount promptly, Josh really didn¡¯t care at all about the details of the contract.


    After the decision was made, everything else followed suit. Josh called his sister right away and let her know that she didn¡¯t need to worry about the money since he had gotten some new work. Thankfully, his work was about three to four hours away from where his mother and his sister lived. It seemed like he could leave the boy in their care and visit him every day he had off.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Pete, Josh. Mom¡¯s also ecstatic to have Pete here,¡± Emma said in a livelier voice.


    When Josh hung up, a sigh escaped his mouth. With this, the biggest issue was resolved.


    ¡®There¡¯s no way that man could find out about Pete, right?¡¯ Josh thought to himself.


    Josh became gravely buried in his thoughts. If the truth were to surface, he couldn¡¯t even imagine the aftermath. If he wanted to open up about it, he should have done so when he first knew that he was pregnant. It didn¡¯t make sense at all for him to confess now after all this time. How disturbing would it be to have his child suddenly appear before his eyes one day?


    Hiding it wasn¡¯t difficult. Just like everyone else, he would also think that Josh was a beta. Moreover, he would never even glance at a lowly bodyguard.


    ¡®After all,¡¯ thought Josh, ¡®he doesn¡¯t even remember imprinting me and sleeping with me.¡¯

 CH 8

    ¡°All of you belongs to me,¡± he had said.


    Josh remembered the words that he had forgotten for a long time. One corner of his heart ran cold, and Josh instinctively creased his brow.


    * * *


    Since Josh had to drop off Pete, it was decided that he would leave first before the rest of the team and join them later when they were starting work. Since he was about to meet his family for the first time in a long while, he also wanted to spend a few days with them.


    He thanked Mrs. Robert for everything and promised her to stay in touch. She didn¡¯t hide her disappointment as she tightly embraced Pete. After that, Josh pulled multiple all-nighters and barely managed to pack everything up before heading off to the airport.


    When he boarded the plane with a child in one arm and a small carry-on suitcase in the other hand, the stewardess¡¯ faces showed mixed emotions. They looked up at Josh¡¯s face and beamed, immediately saw the child in his arm and flinched, and put back on their customer service smile. This went on repeat.


    Josh sat the boy down on the baby seat and wrapped the boy¡¯s body cozily in a blanket. He gave Pete a piece of candy, which satisfied Pete enough to sit still without whimpering.


    As Josh loaded the luggage in the overhead bin, he glanced at the boy¡¯s face. His round, puffy, tempting cheeks that bobbed up and down as he sucked on his candy naturally reminded Josh of him.


    Was it because he knew that Pete was his child, or was it because Pete actually looked like him?


    It wasn¡¯t like Josh could ask anybody to confirm this. He had no choice but to force down his uncomfortable curiosity.


    The boy quickly fell asleep. As Josh wiped away the drool of melted candy from his mouth, he wondered, ¡®Would he recognize me? Does he even remember me?¡¯


    Josh subconsciously recalled what the man had said to him when they first met and knitted his eyebrows. Josh¡¯s image of the man inside his brain was always the same: a snobby narcissist.


    Most Extreme Alphas were pseudo-sociopaths, but those who manifested before puberty never got to experience the emotional rollercoaster ride of the so-called ¡°juvenile angst.¡± This resulted in a very high chance of them growing up to become psychopaths.


    In the case of Chase C. Miller, it was said that he had manifested past puberty. Thanks to this, he at least understood emotions; the only problem was that most of his emotions consisted of pure rage.


    ¡®Apparently, psychopaths can also feel anger,¡¯ Josh thought gruffly.


    After all, acting was only possible for those who had emotions¡ªor so he thought. Even the most beautiful of humans couldn¡¯t succeed as actors if they couldn¡¯t act.


    ¡®Actually, with his looks, he could just stand there without even acting¡­¡¯ Josh corrected himself.


    Josh recalled the chocolate advertisement that Chase had filmed when he was five. When the advertisement, Chase¡¯s debut work, was published, the entirety of North America went wild. Even now, that chocolate advertisement was still mentioned by people from time to time. The advertisement was that big of a sensation, and even Josh, who was just a little boy, had been enticed.


    He had been truly disappointed when he learned that the actor was a boy a few years later.


    Of course, Josh wasn¡¯t the only one who was disappointed. The boys his age who had dreamed of romance with the little girl were basically heartbroken on a national scale. At the same time, they had all learned the one truth in life: one¡¯s first love never ended in success.


    Even now, it would be the same. Chase didn¡¯t need to bother taking all that effort to memorize the script and act. It would be enough for him to just stand there.


    At one point, Josh had wondered why this man even bothered to maintain an acting career. However, that was until Josh watched one of Chase¡¯s works.


    Chase Miller truly delved into his act¡ªalmost scarily so.


    This was true even when he was just filming an advertisement.


    ¡°Oh my,¡± someone exclaimed softly.


    Josh looked up. The passenger who was sitting across from Pete was staring intently into the screen attached to the back of the seat. Through the reflection of the monitor, Josh saw the man that had been taking over his head alive on the screen. At that moment, he was taken.


    ¡®Yes, just like that,¡¯ he thought.


    A soaking wet man walked out of the fierce waves of the ocean. It was as if the god of the sea had taken human form and was gracing the earth with his presence. His long fingers that swept up his dripping hair, his deep purple eyes that stared directly into the camera, his lips that were curled into a faint, cold smile¡ªthere was no way that Chase Miller was a human like everyone else.


    Feeling his heart plummet, Josh felt a strong surge of emotion. Sadly, unless his brain was completely pulverized into powder form, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to forget that man until he died. His thrashing heart was proof enough.


    Somewhere along the line, the advertisement had ended and the screen had moved on to show something else. Josh, however, couldn¡¯t peel his gaze off of the screen.


    He would soon have to come face-to-face with the real deal. He wanted to delay that moment with all his might.


    He closed his eyes and kept them closed in an attempt to look away from reality, but the plane was zooming toward California with no care for Josh¡¯s wishes.

 CH 9

    ¡°Josh!¡±


    Emma, who was waiting at the airport for Josh, beamed and ran toward her brother as soon as she caught sight of him. Since Josh was holding Pete in one arm and dragging the suitcase with the other, he just let his little sister embrace his body without trying to hug her back.


    Emma took a few deep breaths as if to hold back her overflowing emotions before she looked up from burying her face in his chest. Their eyes met, and Josh was the one to smile first. Emma smiled back.


    It was their first reunion in multiple years. Josh greeted gleefully, ¡°You¡¯re as ugly as ever.¡±


    The touching reunion ended there.


    *


    *


    ¡°Can¡¯t believe nobody knows how annoying you are,¡± Emma repeated yet again, gritting her teeth.


    Josh stared ahead in disinterest, sitting in the front passenger seat. ¡°Merge now.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. I¡¯m the driver.¡±


    ¡°Step on it, God damn it, that car is zooming!¡±


    ¡°I said shut up! For the last time, I¡¯m the driver!¡±


    At the same time, Emma violently swerved the driving wheel. Having merged swiftly, she glared ahead and cursed under her breath. She looked like she was one unwanted piece of advice away from plucking the driving wheel and smashing it on Josh¡¯s head.


    Josh glanced behind his shoulder. Pete was anxiously rolling his eyes around. Josh smiled warmly and made a bird with his hands, flapping its wings. Pete giggled and clapped. All the while, Emma continued to swear softly.


    ¡®I¡¯m really back,¡¯ Josh thought to himself as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the rays of sun that showered over him.


    Act 4


    Josh finally joined back with his team after about a week. Until then, Josh spent time with his family, shopped for a few things for Pete, and prepared this and that in order to ready himself for his new work.


    The house that he had returned to for the first time in a while was truly a mess. He was asked swiftly to fix things all around the house, and he ended up hammering things all day. On top of that, he mowed the wildly overgrown lawn, pruned the trees, quarreled with Emma, and shooed away the coyotes a few times. Before he even knew it, his vacation was over.


    Although he had been spending time with Pete all day for the past week, having to say goodbye to his child made his heart ache. The boy, who refused to let go of Josh with tears in his eyes whenever Josh had to go to work, clung to Josh¡¯s leg yet again, tears rolling down his face. ¡°Daddy, Daddy¡­¡±


    Josh glumly picked up the child and held him in his arms. When Josh patted Pete¡¯s back, Pete began to hiccup. Until now, they could see each other in the evening even when they were torn apart in the morning. This time, however, things were different. Since the team took turns to take days off, it was possible that Josh wouldn¡¯t see Pete for as long as 10 days.


    Not knowing when he would be able to see Pete again, Josh was reluctant to leave. Josh held and comforted the child, stalling for almost 30 minutes.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be late, Josh. You should get going,¡± Josh¡¯s mother, who was watching them, reached out her arms.


    Josh accepted with difficulty the reality that could no longer be delayed. He tightly embraced the boy one last time and unwillingly handed him over to his mother. Pete immediately started screaming and flailing around. Josh turned away from the crying child, loaded himself into the car, and drove far away. His heart throbbed, and he thought he felt tears well up in his eyes.


    *


    *


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s the hardest thing in the world,¡± nodded Mark as Josh finally joined the team who were gathered in the restaurant for breakfast. Mark was already a father to three children.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that my oldest is all grown up now. When all three of them were wee babies, it was so hard to get my legs moving. Janet really had a hard time,¡± added Mark.


    Since the job warranted staying away from family like this for months at times, it was a relatable topic to anyone who had kids. Isaac and Henry, who were still unmarried, robotically munched on their pancakes without many reactions. Seth, who was living together with his long-term partner, was the same.


    ¡°Just coffee would be great, thank you.¡± Since Josh had already eaten, he just ordered a drink for himself. The waitress smiled and walked away. When she came back, she took out a great handful of cheap cream and placed them on the table. She shot Josh a secretive glance and left.


    Henry spat, ¡°Wear your damn ring, you cheating b*stard.¡±


    Josh merely smiled bitterly in return. Isaac, who had just poured a generous amount of maple syrup over his pancake, put a big slice into his mouth and said, ¡°You should tell us about the gig now.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were pinned on Mark at once. Mark looked around once. It was past mealtime, and there were barely any people in the restaurant. After checking that the staff members were gathered on one side of the restaurant chatting amongst themselves, Mark began, ¡°The officials got a word about a month ago, warning them about C getting K¡¯ed.¡±


    C stood for Chase, and K stood for kidnapping. It was part of the team¡¯s secret code. If the client was too well-known or someone whose information had to be kept especially confidential, the team had decided on a few secret terms in order to prevent words from being spread.


    Needless to say, anything regarding Chase C. Miller was top secret. Chase¡¯s code alphabet was C not just because it was his initial; it also stood for something else.


    C for Crazy.


    ¡°The FBI is looking into it, but there haven¡¯t been any direct clues. Of course, the informer¡¯s identity hasn¡¯t been found out yet, either. There are a few suspects, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Is it revenge?¡± Isaac asked, cutting Mark off.


    Henry, who was sitting right next to him, immediately criticized, ¡°You dumba*s, why do you even bother carrying your brain around? If this was about revenge, they¡¯d never be able to find a suspect. Anyone who knows that b*stard would 100 percent want to kill him.¡±


    He was right. Chase Miller was a superior being to the point where his mere existence could make people hostile toward him. One word shared with him, however, could easily turn that hostility into murderous intent. And nobody who was sitting around this table refuted Henry¡¯s statement. Even Josh just silently sipped on his coffee.


    Isaac also must have agreed as he pursed his lips. However, his expression showed his discomfort. It was no surprise. Henry¡¯s harsh language was difficult to get used to even after many years.


    Mark cleared his throat and continued.

 CH 10

    ¡°What they¡¯re assuming right now is that it might be the doings of either some extreme religious fanatics, a fairly large criminal gang, or a group of radical fans. Maybe it¡¯s all of them,¡± explained Mark.


    Extreme religious fanatics did a lot of wild, unexplainable things, so perhaps he was right. Radical fans also often tried to pull things like this. However, the other group of people was quite unexpected.


    ¡°Why a gang?¡± Seth asked before Josh could.


    Mark replied as if it were the most obvious thing, ¡°What do you mean why? For the money, of course.¡±


    As Josh thought about the unbelievable sum of money Chase got paid for his acting gigs and the huge wealth of the Miller Family one after another, Mark asked unexpectedly, ¡°Do you know how much an Extreme Alpha¡¯s sperm sells for?¡±


    ¡°Sperm?¡± Josh asked back before he could catch himself.


    At last, Mark turned toward Josh and nodded. ¡°Yes, the child of an Extreme Alpha that everybody wants.¡±


    Chills ran down Josh¡¯s spine as his thoughts automatically trailed back to Pete¡¯s face. He frantically took his cup of coffee to his lips in order to hide the fact that he had turned pale.


    Meanwhile, Mark continued, ¡°Word on the street is that three generations of your family could roll around in piles of gold if you just get your hands on the sperm of an Extreme Alpha. It¡¯s worth a shot for them. Besides, it¡¯s C¡¯s sperm. There¡¯s going to be a crazy amount of premium attached to it.¡±


    ¡°But Extreme Alphas can control their insemination, right? Even if they force him to do the thing, they wouldn¡¯t be able to get any offspring with it,¡± Seth pointed out.


    ¡°Under normal circumstances, that is. That¡¯s why it¡¯s so precious,¡± replied Mark. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s impossible. Y¡¯all know what happens when Extreme Alphas are unable to release their pheromones for a certain amount of time.¡±


    ¡°They go insane,¡± Josh replied automatically.


    Mark nodded. ¡°All they need to do is lock him up and leave him for a few days. There¡¯s no way for an Extreme Alpha who has lost their sanity to control their insemination.¡±


    Nobody said anything. The pheromones of an Extreme Alpha were the very thing that allowed them to perch on top of the social pyramid and gave them the power that they had. On the other hand, they were also a poison that attacked them when too much of it accumulated within their body. Due to this, it was normal for Extreme Alphas to regularly release their pheromones out of their body. This was the reason why the sweet scent that was characteristic of Extreme Alpha pheromones always lingered around them.


    However, this only temporarily delayed the accumulation of poison within their body. The ultimate and simple method of solving this problem was intercourse. That was what justified their promiscuity. Using their pheromones as an excuse to bang multiple partners a day¡ªthe sheer audacity and the lechery¡ªwas enough to cross many people who knew about this.


    At that moment, everyone recalled the frequent s*xual acts that they had all seen too much of while bodyguarding Extreme Alphas, and they all crinkled their faces and cursed softly. Josh was no exception.


    ¡°At least C doesn¡¯t host parties at his own place,¡± murmured Seth. That was their only comfort.


    Before they could get some relief from Seth¡¯s comment, however, Henry gritted his teeth and snapped, ¡°How many years has it been since then? You also only worked for three or four months that one time. How the hell would you know?¡±


    The mood around the table became gloomy once again. As many celebrities did, Chase Miller was also often surrounded by scandals during his acting gigs with the lead actress or someone else whom he was working with. Back when Josh was bodyguarding him, however, nothing much had happened¡ªperhaps because Chase had just finished his last gig and was resting.


    There had been countless rumors about how he had just broken up with somebody that he had been dating, supported by many photos of his supposed ex going on dates with other men. However, Chase himself seemed quite unenthusiastic. For over three months, he never went on a date with someone or to a party to expel his hormones.


    That was probably why Chase had completely lost it during his rut, resulting in such an accident with Josh.


    Josh tried to think about it with a cool head. If Chase had proactively discharged his pheromones regularly, Pete would not have been born into this world. Thinking about it like that gave him unexplainable mixed feelings, making his thoughts race.


    ¡®I wonder how he¡¯s been doing since then,¡¯ thought Josh to himself.


    Since he quit his job as a bodyguard, he had consciously been trying to avoid hearing news about Chase. Even if Josh tried to, in fact, it would have been impossible to dig around to find out about Chase¡¯s private life. Until now, Chase was much too far away. However, things were different now. Josh would be observing Chase 24/7 right before his eyes.


    A belated surge of curiosity washed over Josh. ¡®And I wonder how much he¡¯s changed,¡± he thought. He recalled the advertisement that he had seen over someone¡¯s shoulder in the plane. ¡®His attention-drawing looks are probably the same as ever.¡¯


    ¡°A g*ngb*ng party aside, his personality is the sh*ttiest of all,¡± grumbled Henry through his teeth once again. Everyone thought the same and ended up losing their appetite. After that, they all silently sipped on their coffee and got up to leave.


    * * *


    The huge mansion that Chase lived in was located at the innermost part of the country club, where the beach could be overseen. Walking down the stairs from the terrace led to the ocean. The entire area all belonged to Chase Miller, including the private beach. There were no other houses nearby, and all that could be heard was the regular splashing of the waves from afar.


    ¡°Welcome. We¡¯ve been expecting you.¡± The security team who had been in charge of guarding the estate seemed visually relieved when they spotted Josh¡¯s team and offered to shake hands. ¡°It¡¯s about time we took a break, but the vacation date kept getting pushed back. We were getting a bit anxious since we have our limits and whatnot¡­¡±


    Gammas were usually the ones in charge of bodyguarding Extreme Alphas. The strong pheromones of Extreme Alphas sometimes forced betas and alphas to transition into omegas; this made gammas, who couldn¡¯t smell pheromones at all and were therefore barely affected by them, truly suited to this line of work.


    But even gammas couldn¡¯t do anything about the pheromones that became absorbed through the skin. It was normal for them to receive regular shots to be rid of the pheromones that had accumulated in their bodies or take long-term leaves to take care of their bodies. This time, however, there seemed to have been an urgent change of plan.

 CH 11

    ¡°I ended up quitting the job, you see¡­¡± murmured the other team¡¯s head officer. His troubled expression spoke volumes.


    Mark replied understandingly, ¡°It must have been difficult finding another team to take over since gammas are the rarest of all.¡±


    ¡°That, too. If we end up transitioning, we could die or have years taken off our lives at the very least¡ªas you probably know already.¡± The team head sighed and continued, ¡°Worst case scenario, if you aren¡¯t able to find someone to take over, our team will be able to come back in six months. We¡¯ll be leaving everything in your care until then.¡±


    Josh¡¯s team had been in charge of guarding Chase for a similar reason a few years back. Back then, unfortunately, the gamma who was in charge of bodyguarding had transitioned. This forced the entire team on emergency leave, which created a security hole. Hence, Josh¡¯s team was urgently brought in as a temporary replacement.


    It didn¡¯t seem too different this time. Josh doubted that they would be able to find a team to take over in three months.


    Everyone else must have thought the same as Mark asked, ¡°In any case, we can assume a maximum 0f six months, right? We¡¯d rather have a clear date, too.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ well, it probably won¡¯t get extended. Maybe.¡± The team head nodded, leaving a leeway of possibility just in case.


    As Josh¡¯s team followed behind the team head, they continuously looked around to get themselves accustomed to the areas where they would need to patrol. This meant checking out for any particularly shaded areas or places where someone might be hiding, places where they could secure a clear view of the general area, and any routes that someone could take to sneak in.


    Just then, a woman met eyes with Josh and nodded in greeting. She was one of the team members of the previous security team who were now preparing to leave. She seemed quite restless as she walked by, busily talking about something with another one of her teammates.


    They would probably all be gone before afternoon came. All the team members that could be spotted¡ªwithout a single deviant¡ªlooked like they couldn¡¯t wait to leave this place.


    ¡®Ah.¡¯ A faint sweet scent touched the tip of Josh¡¯s nose. He didn¡¯t seem to be the only one who had smelled it; he could see the other team members flinch. The team head, who was a gamma, continued walking nonchalantly, but everyone else was wavering.


    ¡°God damn it,¡± Isaac cursed softly from behind.


    Everyone was an alpha other than Mark, who was a beta, and Josh, who was an omega. Even so, the temptation of the scent was strong to the point where even the alpha team members were bothered.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Josh?¡± asked Isaac, having seemingly noticed his peculiarity.


    Josh quickly replied, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a bit nervous.¡±


    ¡®Did I take my inhibitors?¡¯ he thought with his cloudy head. The only reason why Josh could hide his identity among his teammates until now was that his pheromones had a weak scent, and¡ªthanks to that, perhaps¡ªbecause he wasn¡¯t greatly affected by alpha pheromones. It was even more like that ever since he had gotten imprinted. Both before and after, Josh never felt inconvenienced by the fact that he was an omega as long as he was careful about his heat.


    Of course, this was all before he had smelled the pheromones of the very man who had imprinted him.


    ¡°All of you belongs to me,¡± the man had said.


    For the first time, Josh came to realize what that meant. It was flabbergasting to think that the man who had told him such could sway him like this despite not even remembering it.


    If he was affected this badly just from the lingering scent, he would have to take two, no, three times the meds as usual once he officially started working. Thanks to the imprint, Josh would be affected by that man many times worse than everyone else. He had already prepared himself for it, but he didn¡¯t think that it would be this bad.


    As Josh desperately tried to ignore the dizziness as they walked along, the team head, who was walking ahead, handed him something. ¡°They¡¯re candies that we like to eat. They should help dilute the pheromones that accumulate inside your body. I recommend that you eat those while you work. I personally can¡¯t really tell, but apparently, it stops you from smelling the pheromones because the scent of the candy is strong enough to mask the pheromones.¡±


    Everyone took candy from the team head¡¯s palm. Josh took three and put them all in his mouth at once. He was so desperate that he could even chow down the thin layer of plastic wrapping that covered the candies.


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re spicy¡ª¡± The team head tried to stop Josh, but he was too late. The tip of Josh¡¯s nose became rapidly sore and something flashed before his eyes. Tears welled up in his eyes for a different reason from before.


    As Josh coughed repeatedly, Henry glanced back and clicked his tongue. ¡°The hell are you doing?¡±


    Isaac, who was walking beside Josh, worriedly asked him if he were okay. Josh nodded with great difficulty. The inner linings of his mouth were basically paralyzed, but at least it cleared up his head.


    As they were getting a quick tour around the house from the team head, the team head received a message over the radio. He gave a short reply into his headset before turning around. ¡°Mr. Miller will be here soon. Let¡¯s all head over together.¡±


    Everyone busily followed after him as he quickly walked along. They were finally about to meet the man. Josh¡¯s heart thrashed about scarily, and not just because of the quick pace. Josh wondered over his irregular breaths, ¡®Will he remember me? How much has he changed? Will he be the same?¡¯


    ¡®How will I feel when I see him again?¡¯


    As they walked across the large front garden, the iron gate in the distance slowly parted, making a heavy sound. A black sedan emerged from beyond.

 CH 12

    ¡®In there,¡¯ gulped Josh.


    Suddenly, the sedan came to a halt. Everyone rushed toward it in wonder. It didn¡¯t take long for them to learn the reason.


    ¡°A paparazzi,¡± murmured Mark, almost to himself. When their quick walking pace turned into a run, the door of the sedan swung open. A man with brilliant blond hair slowly stood up.


    ¡®Ah.¡¯ At that moment, it seemed as if the entire world had stopped. Those few seconds felt like an eternity¡ªperhaps because Josh had forgotten to breathe.


    The first thing that entered his sight was a frigid blue. Beyond the aqua blue that reminded Josh of an ocean clearer than the sky, there stood the man.


    Not only had Josh never even imagined anyone wearing a suit of that color, but he couldn¡¯t have ever thought that anyone could look good in one. And yet, the man managed to do both. Moreover, he looked so exquisite in it that some guy who didn¡¯t know his place could even get the idea of trying it himself.


    His natural blond locks that were cleanly combed back, his long limbs, his tightly and coldly pursed lips¡ªhe, with his exceptionally pale skin, had everything to look as pure and innocent as an angel. In reality, however, staring at him made the beholder feel eerie as if a portion of their heart was being yanked out of their body.


    The reason for this was probably due to his wintry stare. He seemed like he was staring at something, but really, his gaze wasn¡¯t focused on anything. They were a pair of empty purple irises.


    He slowly scanned his surroundings with those eyes. His eyes seemed to have met with that of Josh for a split second; of course, it was just Josh¡¯s false impression. The gaze meaninglessly brushed past him and directed toward another direction, disappointing Josh.


    As Chase sighed and swept up his fallen hair, his face was full of weariness. When Chase looked up, Josh noticed that he had lodged a cigarette between his red lips that were slightly ajar. Chase took the hand that he had used to sweep up his hair to his cigarette.


    His well-maintained, rectangular fingernails that embellished the tips of his long and slender fingers entered Josh¡¯s sight. Red flames flickered ablaze, and the cigarette between his fingers tilted to one side. Its long, white body that had barely been inhaled escaped Chase¡¯s fingers and plummeted down.


    Chase¡¯s eyes suddenly became fixed on one point. Suddenly, he squinted.


    ¡°Mr. Miller¡ª¡± began the head of the previous security team as he walked briskly toward Chase.


    A series of camera shutter noises echoed sharply and abruptly. Everyone froze in shock, and Chase suddenly pulled his lips into a faint smile. For a moment, Josh thought he felt chills gushing over his heart.


    The man began to move his legs. Everyone held their breaths as they fixed their gazes on Chase. His body drew an elegant line as it moved gently and gracefully, as though swimming in the air. He stared intently at one point and only one point. Nothing else seemed to matter to him right now.


    As they stared at him, mesmerized, Chase¡¯s delicate hand slipped inside his blazer jacket. He pulled something out.


    Josh wasn¡¯t the only one who realized that it was none other than the Desert Eagle that Chase Miller often used.


    ¡°Get out of there, you idiot!¡± yelled Mark desperately. The old security team rushed in, shouting. Chase stretched out his arms.


    Josh thought he might actually faint. Chase took long strides toward the paparazzi, who was brave enough to still be snapping photo after photo without running off and pointed the muzzle at him.


    Purebloods born between an Extreme Alpha and an Extreme Omega¡ªthe Miller brothers and sisters, who were all Extreme Alphas thanks to these genetic workings, all had nicknames comparing them to different animals. The oldest of them, who worked as a lawyer, resembled their father the most and was nicknamed White Snake after their father.


    And the nickname of this man¡ªthe third child¡ªwas none other than¡­


    Bang!


    Mad Dog.


    A loud gunshot rang. The paparazzi dropped his camera and staggered before falling to the ground. Shards of the camera which were flying in all directions and the bright red color of the blood were frighteningly eye-catching. Chase didn¡¯t stop there. He walked toward the paparazzi, who sat pale-faced as he backed away on his bottom, and aimed the gun at him once again.


    Having witnessed the Mad Dog of the Millers once more, Josh felt deeply in his bones that this man had not changed at all even after all these years.


    ¡°What¡¯re y¡¯all staring at? Block him!¡±


    ¡°Please, no, Mr. Miller!¡±


    ¡°Run, you dumba*s!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing, backups? Stop Mr. Miller!¡±


    Everyone yelled out in panic. It was true chaos.


    ¡®F*cking hell,¡¯ Josh swallowed his curses and sprinted madly forward. Back then and now¡ªnothing had changed. While their task was to bodyguard that crazy b*stard who was shooting his Desert Eagle with one hand, they had to concentrate their entire force not on protecting that man, but on protecting the public from that motherf*cker.


    This time was the same. It wasn¡¯t Chase Miller who Josh and everyone else had to save; it was that shameless paparazzi.


    Bang!


    ¡°Argh!¡± Josh yelled out as another gunshot sounded. It was a good thing he was able to somehow fling himself at Chase to snatch the gun out of his hand, but he had burned his hand when he grabbed onto the burning muzzle.


    Isaac frantically yelled from behind Josh as Josh tossed away the gun, ¡°Josh! Oh my God, are you okay?¡±


    Josh desperately flapped his stinging hand as he turned around. The security team was surrounding Chase, trying their best to hold him back. Thanks to that, Chase¡¯s agitated hormones were messily mixed into other scents. This came as a relief to Josh.

 CH 13

    ¡°Ngah, ahhh¡­¡± The paparazzi, who was still collapsed on the ground, burst out in tears. The ground was soaked with his leaked bladder. His head was dripping blood from where the bullet had grazed him, and his pants were wet beyond repair. As the grown man sat frozen, his entire body trembling and him sobbing uncontrollably as if he had lost his sanity, Josh felt irritation well up within him. Unable to contain the pain, Josh clenched his own wrist and looked down at the paparazzi.


    ¡°What are you doing? Get out of here quickly.¡± His voice came out sharp. If the man stalled any longer before Chase¡¯s eyes, Chase would run even wilder. Even now, Josh could intermittently hear the bodyguards get smacked from behind him.


    Daring to photograph Chase Miller¡¯s private life meant that he was either a newbie who didn¡¯t know how things were in this business or a dufus who was blinded by money enough to throw away his own life.


    Once, a foul paparazzi who specialized in photographing naked bodies of celebrities had been caught trying to snap Chase Miller¡¯s bare body. He was rendered bedridden forever. Since then, Chase Miller was crowned the number zero celebrity to avoid among paparazzi. Of course, Chase never had to face any consequences for that incident. If anything, the public began to reflect on how they had an exceedingly voyeuristic interest in celebrities¡¯ private lives.


    However, even though he was on the verge of death, the man continued to tremble where he laid. Josh became both anxious and annoyed. He grabbed the man by his collar and yelled, ¡°Can¡¯t you hear me? Get lost!¡±


    The paparazzi finally came to and quickly crawled away, despite how unseemly the act. Josh subconsciously gritted his teeth. This must have been a learning experience for that man.


    At the very least, he must have learned that he should never poke at Chase Miller.


    The shattered camera was rolling around on the ground not too far from them. ¡®The price of the camera is nowhere near the price for saving his life,¡¯ thought Josh.


    He glanced at the pitiful state of the high-performance camera that cost upward to tens of thousands of dollars. A little scared now, he slowly turned around.


    Meanwhile, the scene had already been somewhat wrapped up. When the bodyguards noticed that the cause of the commotion had disappeared, they immediately stepped away from Chase. For the first time in a very long while, Josh came face-to-face with the man.


    ¡®This is driving me f*cking insane,¡¯ Josh cursed in his head, coming close to saying it out loud.


    Even without expelling his pheromones, Chase Miller looked like he could kill a man just by standing there.


    As the purple eyes characteristic of Extreme Alphas shifted onto Josh, that was how he felt¡ªand it wasn¡¯t just because of the overwhelming pressure.


    Chase¡¯s eyes, which always missed Josh¡¯s, were staring straight into him.


    At that moment, Josh¡¯s heart began to pound scarily hard. Fear and intense agitation filled him. There was no way that Josh could smell Chase¡¯s scent as he had instinctively held his breath, and yet he feared for his life. All of it was an infinite stimulation for Josh.


    This didn¡¯t stop at just his scent.


    ¡°You,¡± he opened his mouth for the first time. When Josh heard his voice, he was captivated. As Josh stared blankly at him, Chase smiled slowly¡ªa smile so unbelievably bright.


    ¡°Do you want to die?¡± he beamed.


    Nobody dared to say anything. Everyone glanced around, trying desperately to think of a way to avoid the situation from escalating. However, no such way existed on this earth.


    Struggling to roll the candy that remained in his mouth with his tongue, Josh replied, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why did you do that, then?¡± asked Chase, still smiling brightly. As unlikely as it seemed, his smile was as refreshing as that of a teenage boy. The way he slowly and nonchalantly bobbed his finger, however, was far from it. Josh gulped at the sense of foreboding that he may grasp his fingers around his neck any moment now. If he were to say one wrong word here, he might actually die.


    As ridiculous as it might have sounded, however, the thought of Chase Miller¡¯s hand taking hold of his throat was unbelievably alluring. If it weren¡¯t for Pete, Josh would have gladly offered Chase his neck. Josh had to roll his hands into tight fists to hold back his dangerous impulse.


    Thankfully, Chase¡¯s Desert Eagle was thrown sorrily on the ground far away from them. ¡®At least I don¡¯t need to worry about being shot to death,¡¯ Josh thought pointlessly as he desperately searched for an answer. In the spur of the moment, Josh blurted out, ¡°I was concerned that you might get dirty.¡±


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    Chase scrunched up his brows. The other bodyguards also stared at him as if to ask what kind of bullsh*t he was talking about.


    Feeling their gazes raining down on him in the silence, Josh quickly added, ¡°If you shoot from such a close distance, the blood will splatter on your face. Your suit will also get dirty¡­¡±


    Chase stared at him without a word, as if he was trying to figure out if Josh was being serious.


    Josh forced a smile. ¡°I assumed that you wouldn¡¯t want to be dirtied by the blood of a paparazzi.¡±


    The suffocating silence lasted for another few seconds before Chase finally opened his mouth.


    ¡°Bring it.¡±


    For a moment, Josh didn¡¯t understand what Chase was referring to. When he just stood there blinking, Chase scowled irritably and tossed his glance toward one side. There lay the Desert Eagle that Josh had thrown down.


    Having belatedly realized what Chase had meant, Josh quickly walked up to the item and picked it up. While he bent his torso forward, picked up the gun, and turned around to walk up to Chase, the heavy silence continued.


    ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ Josh exclaimed internally.


    He saw Chase staring down at him and forgot how to breathe. He held out the gun with a blank expression as if he had been enchanted. Chase brought his hand up. Josh saw Chase¡¯s hand grip the Desert Eagle. The next moment, Chase thrashed at Josh¡¯s head without mercy.

 CH 14

    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°Josh!¡±


    ¡°Jo¡ª¡±


    Mark and Isaac yelled as Josh tumbled to the ground before he could make so much as a noise. The landscape before his eyes spun and turned black. It was not until after that that he felt a twang of pain. Something viscous trickled down from the side of his head.


    His temple was soaked in a matter of seconds, and crimson blood began to drip. As Josh lay prone on the floor, Chase opened his mouth.


    He squinted downward and twisted one corner of his mouth as he said, ¡°Who do you think you¡¯re bullsh*tting, motherf*cker?¡±


    That wasn¡¯t the end of it. He tossed the gun into the air and caught it with his other hand. Right away, Chase aimed his gun at Josh. Everyone stood in shock as he opened his mouth.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we see if your blood splatters on me or not if I shoot from this distance?¡± he asked mockingly as he pulled the trigger without hesitation. Josh quickly pulled his head into his arms. The bullet only just grazed him. Everyone around them exclaimed in shock, trying to stop Chase.


    ¡°No, Mr. Miller!¡±


    ¡°Run, Josh! Quickly!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that, Mr. Miller¡ª¡±


    Chase gave no damn to their desperate attempts and pulled the trigger once again. Josh was sure that his head was going to be blasted away this time. No human in this world could run from a bullet.


    In the end, Josh decided to glare right at Chase. For a moment, it seemed like Chase had knitted his brows together. However, it was too late for him to stop¡ªif he had even intended to stop at all. He had already pulled the trigger.


    Click.


    A heavy sound slapped Josh¡¯s ears. Chase¡¯s face scrunched up, this time for sure. He repeatedly pulled the trigger, but all that returned was the despondent echo of the empty gun.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Chase cursed as he flung the Desert Eagle away. Small sighs of relief emerged from here and there. At least they didn¡¯t need to worry about him getting shot and killed by a gun.


    Chase seemed taken over by anger as he violently ruffled through his brilliant blond hair. Nobody dared to say a word. Everyone stared at Chase in silence, unable to even gulp. Even at this moment, Josh wondered why he couldn¡¯t peel off his gaze from this madman.


    Finally, Chase managed to somewhat calm his breathing and messily swept up the hair that had fallen down his face. His sharp gaze suddenly pierced Josh once again. In the next moment, Chase had marched up to him and kicked him hard without notice.


    ¡°Josh!¡± cried Isaac, his face as pale as death.


    Josh couldn¡¯t even groan in pain. He curled up as acid sourly burned the inside of his throat. His pulse pounded like a ringing in his ears, and his sight became taken over by a spectrum of colors that turned pitch black before finally returning to normal at a very gradual rate.


    Reclaiming his senses one by one with great difficulty, Josh¡¯s vision came last; he saw Chase turn around.


    ¡°Load it and put it away, you piece of trash.¡± He was referring to his Desert Eagle. He had sputtered those words to a nearby bodyguard with such indifference, it was as if he didn¡¯t care at all about what had just happened. He loaded himself back into his car.


    The security team, who had belatedly snapped out of it, scattered about. A moment later, the sedan with Chase in it rolled across the front garden toward the mansion.


    ¡°Are you all right?¡± Isaac finally rushed in and pulled Josh up to his feet. Josh couldn¡¯t bring himself to tell him not to worry. He placed his heavy hand on one side of his forehead. His hand quickly became drenched.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head in and get you patched first,¡± said Mark as he quickly led the way. Everyone followed after him in silence.


    *


    *


    Josh tossed himself onto the empty couch and finally let out a sigh. Isaac, who had let Josh borrow his shoulder to walk all the way here, exploded with anger. ¡°What¡¯s the problem with that son of a b*tch?¡±


    Josh pressed the bag of ice onto his throbbing head and slouched with his arm cradling his stomach without saying anything. Mark also clicked his tongue and shook his head.


    At least he had just been beaten, not shot.


    ¡°Why would you say something insane to a madman? Should¡¯ve seen that coming. If you had just said sorry and called it a day, you could¡¯ve saved yourself from being beaten up,¡± barked Henry as he fetched a new towel to apply pressure to Josh¡¯s wound.


    Josh smiled unenergetically. ¡°Yeah, I wonder¡­¡±


    Henry immediately smacked him on the back of his head. ¡°Why you smilin¡¯, huh? Giving me butterflies and sh*t.¡±


    ¡°Henry, don¡¯t!¡± yelled Isaac as Josh curled up more, unable to even let out a yelp.


    Mark, too, joined in and scolded Henry for once, ¡°Yeah, maybe avoid smacking him on the head for a while.¡±


    ¡°The stomach, too,¡± Isaac chimed in from the side. Fair enough, Josh felt as if his brain was bouncing off the sides of his skull like jelly.


    When Josh let out a groan, Seth asked, ¡°Do you really not need to go to the hospital?¡±


    Josh nodded quietly. He suddenly started to miss Pete like mad. If only he could kiss the boy¡¯s soft cheek and pull his small body into a tight embrace, he felt as if all of this pain would disappear. As everyone sat in silence, a series of knocks sounded from the door, and the previous security team head walked in.


    ¡°Would it be all right to continue the handover process? You know, it¡¯s almost time for us to leave¡­¡± he trailed off.


    He seemed to be looking away from Josh on purpose as he smiled awkwardly at Mark. Josh¡¯s team all kept their lips pursed in the face of inescapable reality.

 CH 15

    ¡°¡­¡±


    The diner, which was normally bustling with noise, was only quiet around their table. As they sat around the large table, hacking away at the stack of food in front of them, nobody spoke.


    ¡°I wonder where they¡¯re at now¡­¡± Seth murmured weakly, breaking the silence. He was referring to the previous security team, who had handed off their work and left with such freedom on their faces. The other members who had been considerate enough to stay a little longer to let them have their final meal from the outside world would also certainly and gladly be running off as soon as they returned to the mansion, happiness exuding from their entire bodies.


    Mark took a bite out of his beef hotdog and replied, ¡°Over the national border by now, maybe.¡±


    ¡°Must be nice¡­¡± Seth muttered to himself. Everyone could relate. In their heads, they had all bought a plane ticket to somewhere and were leaving the country. It didn¡¯t matter where, as long as they didn¡¯t have to see that man. Josh, in particular, had another reason to be desperate for this escape.


    ¡®God damn it¡­ No matter how pretty that b*stard is, he¡¯s just a lump of flesh like everyone else. I knew how big of a piece of trash that guy was, and I still got distracted at the moment.¡¯ As a matter of fact, Josh hated himself for it. ¡®Who knew I had this soft a spot for pretty faces?¡¯


    At the same time, Josh had to admit it to himself, no matter how hard it was to swallow the pill. He, too, was no better than a foolish teenage boy who had been rejected by a girl eating a chocolate bar.


    ¡°What would be a nice holiday location?¡± Josh murmured before he could stop himself.


    Mark joined, ¡°I always wanted to travel to Cuba. With a cigar, yeah. Sounds like a good a*s time.¡±


    Watching him smacking his lips already, everyone began to chime in with a dream holiday destination.


    ¡°The Amazon sounds nice, too. Like an adventure, you know?¡± Seth said quietly.


    Right away, Henry replied sarcastically, ¡°No hot water and no internet? Yeah, fun.¡±


    ¡®None of that man, either,¡¯ thought Josh to himself. No man looked like he belonged in the city more than he. It was difficult to even imagine Chase Miller splattered on the floor, basking in dust, all the while wearing a creased shirt. If it were only Josh, he would have been filled with the desire to move somewhere far away from the modern world, the Amazon, or wherever. However, Josh had Pete. He wanted to at least have Pete finish his formal school education.


    ¡°How about Alaska?¡± said Josh. Seth stared at him as if to ask why the heck he would want to move to Alaska. Josh added like an excuse, ¡°It¡¯s quiet. Not a lot of people, either.¡±


    ¡°Would be perfect if you¡¯re wanting to hole up in the middle of nowhere,¡± Henry replied as sarcastically as always.


    Seth added, ¡°Canada¡¯s pretty rural, too. Why bother going all the way to Alaska?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a bad idea. Just then, Josh remembered a detail that he had been forgetting. ¡°Isaac, you¡¯re from Canada, right? How are things over there?¡±


    Isaac, who hadn¡¯t said much until then, replied flatly, ¡°Dunno. It¡¯s been so long since I left. I¡¯ve even forgotten how to speak Canadian.¡±


    Everyone stared at Isaac. Isaac looked around in confusion before coming to a sudden realization, ¡°Right, they speak English there, too.¡±


    ¡°Why do you even bother keeping this on your neck?¡± criticized Henry, pointing at Isaac¡¯s head. Josh was about to suggest that perhaps Isaac had come from the French-speaking region of Canada, but he decided against it. Everyone knew that he had come from an English-speaking region.


    Someone must¡¯ve asked about quitting, as Mark replied, ¡°We can¡¯t quit unless you want to pay three times the down payment as penalty.


    ¡°Ughhh¡­¡± As soon as Josh heard Mark, a strained groan climbed its way up from deep within his throat.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we ask for more down payment? How are we supposed to work while getting beaten up constantly?¡± protested Isaac sharply.


    Getting beaten up wasn¡¯t the root of the problem for Josh anymore; the problem was the man¡¯s existence itself. If it weren¡¯t for that goddamn money, he would never have taken this job, to begin with.


    If this couldn¡¯t be avoided, why not at least get more money out of it?


    Everyone was tempted for a moment at Isaac¡¯s appeal, but Mark shook his head. ¡°Better give up on that. Don¡¯t you remember what the Millers¡¯ main line of work is? And don¡¯t forget their oldest son. It¡¯s that Nathaniel Miller.¡±


    Everyone, of course, knew that name.


    The Satan of the legal world¡ªa cold-blooded, stone-hearted vampire¡ªa devil lawyer who had yet to suffer a single loss.


    This meant that there was no route for escape.


    ¡°Y¡¯all should all stay out of his way so that you don¡¯t get hit,¡± advised Mark. Nobody said anything else until the end of dinner.


    * * *


    Everyone seemed ashen-faced when they arrived back at the mansion. It wasn¡¯t just because of the job they had lying ahead. Right now, they were about to go and introduce themselves to Chase as his new security team. The previous team head had remained here until the end just for this. Once they were to finish introducing themselves, he would happily fly straight out of the place.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, shall we?¡± the team head beamed as he turned around, contrary to Josh¡¯s team.


    Mark led the way, and everyone was about to follow when Isaac suddenly suggested, ¡°Why doesn¡¯t Josh go and rest first? He basically said his hello with what happened earlier.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes immediately became fixed on Josh. Josh felt awkward and was going to refuse, but Isaac was faster. ¡°He was hit on the head. He¡¯s not showing any symptoms right now, but it¡¯s probably better for him to rest up. So what if he misses the greeting? That b*stard probably won¡¯t even bother remembering how many of us there are, let alone our names.¡±


    That was true. Besides, Josh was probably just remembered as something like the bodyguard who got shot earlier and nothing more. Perhaps Chase had already even forgotten that he had hit someone. This realization left a bitter aftertaste in Josh¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Mark muttered in agreement with Isaac¡¯s statement. He seemed to consider the suggestion for a moment before nodding his head. ¡°Yeah, Josh, you should go get some rest first. If you start to feel worse, you should tell us right away. We¡¯re just going to familiarize ourselves, so it¡¯s really not a big deal.¡±

 CH 16

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t Mark just go alone to get acquainted as a representative of the whole team?¡± Henry let his black-hearted desire slip. He had murmured almost to himself, but his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.


    Unfortunately, the notion was immediately rejected by Mark. ¡°Only Josh stays back. Everyone else is coming with me. We gotta do what we gotta do.¡±


    Henry¡¯s face immediately turned sour, but he didn¡¯t say anything else. Thanks to them, Josh could go back to his room first and rest.


    ¡®Thank God,¡¯ Josh sighed when he finally managed to pull himself onto his bed. His head continued to throb, but it wasn¡¯t unbearable. He would rather have it be so painful, enough to wipe all thoughts from his head. Ironically, however, his injury wasn¡¯t that bad. What made his heart even more heavy was the fact that it had only been a day since they had arrived. He would have to last as much as six more months¡­


    ¡­under the employment of that mad dog, Chase Miller.


    Josh held his fork in one hand and inattentively flipped through the papers with the other. The appendix was almost five full pages long. He had been told to read it over and memorize it whenever he had time, but even Mark, their boss, couldn¡¯t have memorized all of this.


    ¡°I¡¯d be f*cking insane to do this. I didn¡¯t even go to college because I didn¡¯t want to read,¡± Henry had gritted his teeth and flung away the document that had been distributed. Nobody had said anything to him. The next day, however, he had been hit by a cell phone that Chase had thrown out of nowhere, which had ripped his forehead. Overnight, he had memorized the entire precautions by heart. Now, none of the members knew about the contents of the contract better than Henry. The article that he had breached was ¡°Do not walk in front of Chase Miller.¡±


    ¡°I was just walking!¡± Henry had burst out in frustration, but he was also within the ¡°five-yard radius¡± when he had crossed Chase¡¯s path. Everyone had to stay on edge under immense stress. The articles in the contract were truly absurd.


    ¡°What are we, housekeepers? Why should we be taking his meals up to him every mealtime?¡± Isaac had exploded.


    Mark had replied with a grave expression, ¡°It¡¯s not like we can leave him to starve. Just take a look around this place. There are no maids, no nothin¡¯. I heard that they all quit because they couldn¡¯t deal with his temper. You really think he could hire someone new? Even we¡¯re only here because there¡¯s nobody else to take over.¡±


    As frustrating as it was, nobody could refute it. As everyone on the team kept their mouths closed, Mark added, ¡°At least we weren¡¯t told to cook his meals. Apparently, there¡¯s delivery coming every other day, so we can just give it to him when it¡¯s mealtime. This isn¡¯t too much trouble now, is it?¡±


    The article on meals was pretty ridiculous, but it was still pretty cute in comparison to some other articles. The very existence of Chase Miller was a calamity to them. In just one week, Seth complained of hair loss, Isaac lost seven whole pounds of body weight, and Henry had to get his forehead stitched up.


    Josh had tried his very hardest to avoid running into Chase. Thanks to this, there was no particular incident, but he never knew where and when trouble could arise. After all, Josh was the first to get beaten up. He frequently revisited the document and diligently memorized the precautions.


    ¡®Had it always been this bad?¡¯ wondered Josh as he knitted his brows. It felt as if more articles had been added compared to a few years ago. He didn¡¯t remember exactly, but there hadn¡¯t been this many pages of tightly woven warnings.


    ¡®He must be getting fussier and fussier, being a worldwide celebrity and getting spoiled by everyone around him,¡¯ Josh scorned internally. In any case, he just wanted the gig to be over soon. In reality, however, it hadn¡¯t even been one month.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Josh groaned and flopped onto the table. He suddenly started to miss Pete. Perhaps he was napping right now. What if Josh asked to wake him up? He shouldn¡¯t, should he?


    Feeling anxious already, Josh pressed the call button on his phone. When the connection ringtone ended and Pete¡¯s voice came out of the speakers, Josh ended up loudly calling out the boy¡¯s name. ¡°Pete!¡±


    ¡°Daddy?¡± the boy yelled back, having quickly recognized the voice.


    Desperately holding back the temptation to return home at once and embrace his son, Josh quickly continued, ¡°Yes, Pete. Have you been well?¡±


    ¡°Daddy¡­ Yes, Daddy!¡± Unable to hide his excitement, the boy stuttered, ¡°W-When are you gonna come?¡±


    After hearing Pete¡¯s frantic question, Josh had to repeatedly roll his hand into a fist and open it back up in an attempt to hold back his surging emotions. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ How¡¯s Grandma doing?¡± asked Josh, changing the subject.


    The boy¡¯s voice sank as if he was deeply disappointed. ¡°Yeah¡­ I ate¡­ I ate scrambled eggs for breakfast, and Grandma put in peas.¡±


    ¡°Oh my,¡± chimed Josh empathetically as he comforted the boy. ¡°Good boys aren¡¯t picky eaters. If you eat well, you¡¯ll be able to grow really tall.¡±


    ¡°Like Daddy?¡±


    ¡°Taller than Daddy.¡±


    ¡°Whoa,¡± exclaimed the boy, ¡°will I be taller than Uncle Mark?¡±


    ¡°Even taller.¡±


    ¡°Whoa!¡± exclaimed the boy yet again, before quickly withering down. ¡°I no like peas.¡±


    ¡°Daddy will go defeat them all.¡±


    ¡°All of them, promise?¡±


    ¡°Of course. All of them.¡±

 CH 17

    As Josh continued to listen to the child babble on, he felt as if all of his stress was being blasted away. For a while, Josh listened to the child¡¯s directionless chatter, pitching in from time to time.


    ¡°Josh,¡± Seth called as he walked in. When Josh looked up, Seth gestured behind his shoulders with his thumb. ¡°You¡¯re up.¡±


    It was time for patrol. The time had come to hang up. Josh suppressed his disappointment and began his goodbye. ¡°Say hi to Grandma for me, Pete¡­¡±


    ¡°When are you coming, Daddy?¡± the boy asked once again before hanging up.


    Left with no other choice, Josh lied, ¡°If Pete eats all the peas and carrots without being picky, I¡¯ll come back sooner.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Really.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll eat anything. I¡¯ll be a good boy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Pete. Daddy will be there soon,¡± reassured Josh as he kissed into the phone. As he hung up with a kissy noise, he met eyes with Seth, who was still standing in the same spot. Puzzled, Josh asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Seth trailed off as he tilted his head sideways. ¡°You like your kid that much?¡±


    Seth had been living with his partner for a few years, but they had yet to get married. They didn¡¯t have plans for children, either. Josh smiled and gave Seth¡¯s shoulder a pat. ¡°You¡¯ll understand if you come to have your own kids.¡±


    Seth shrugged, still looking like he couldn¡¯t understand. As he took out a new plate from the cupboard and walked toward the stack of breakfast hotcakes, Josh turned around and headed outside. He was planning to walk around the entire estate, including the mansion, the annex, and the surrounding area.


    Patrols like this were basically just a formality. Even if someone were to somehow pass the gates with the automatic security system, it would be impossible for them to not be spotted by anyone while crossing the enormous garden and making their way to the mansion. As long as Chase didn¡¯t leave his house, there was nothing easier than guarding him on the estate. On top of that, the compensation was superior.


    The problem was that it was difficult to find someone willing to take the job despite all these benefits.


    ¡®Though it¡¯s thanks to this that I was able to take the job,¡¯ Josh thought to himself as he carefully looked around the huge mansion.


    The private beach that stretched behind the large 12-bedroom mansion could be reached via a set of elegant spiral stairs. The sand began right at the bottom of those stairs, but the beach was always empty. Today was no different; Josh scanned the beach, absent of a single human shadow, before turning around and heading toward the garden.


    Unlike the front garden which was well maintained, there was nothing much to see in the back garden. There was a helicopter resting alone in a spacious landing point, but Josh had never seen it used. Josh visited the personal gym, which had also barely been witnessed under use, the basketball court, and even the entertainment room, but there were no signs of people; only deathly silence lingered.


    ¡®¡­Huh?¡¯ It was at the large pool behind the building that Josh had found Chase. Lying comfortably on the beach chair and tanning his skin, he looked more peaceful than ever. The rhythm of his chest as it gently bobbed up and down made it seem as if he had dozed off.


    However, Josh¡¯s eyes widened when he witnessed this scene. The only things that Chase had over his body were his sunglasses and a tiny speedo.


    Josh suddenly felt a sharp ringing in one side of his head. He instinctively took a couple of steps back. Chase didn¡¯t seem to have noticed the presence of another human being yet. Only after disguising himself behind the tree did Josh realize that he had hidden.


    There was only one choice left for him, and it was to leave the place without getting seen by Chase as much as possible. He really wasn¡¯t in the mood for getting beaten up again.


    Josh carefully poked his head out. The man was, unfortunately, still in the same spot.


    Just as Josh confirmed Chase¡¯s presence, he despaired.


    Why did that man¡¯s looks have to resemble his ideal type so perfectly?


    The term ¡°ideal type¡± was supposed to be, as the name suggested, ideal, not real. Even Chase Miller didn¡¯t fit Josh¡¯s ideal type 100 percent. There was a bigger problem than the fact that he was a man.


    Josh wanted his ideal type to at least have the temper of a human, not that of a mad dog.


    Josh was seriously wondering how much it must cost to make a wax doll that looked exactly like that man when Chase abruptly got to his feet. Josh quickly hid in surprise. Holding his breath and keeping undercover reminded him of the time when he was in the army. With it came the memory of his comrade with whom he had escaped the grasps of death.


    ¡®Now that I think about it, he¡¯s also in California,¡¯ Josh thought to himself.


    Just as he came to the realization that it had already been years since he had last seen Dane, a sudden splash of water sounded from behind. Josh flinched out of reflex, but he didn¡¯t stand up. He habitually scanned his surroundings and remained still for a moment. It wasn¡¯t difficult to guess who had jumped into the water just now. He was planning to wait for his chance to bolt while Chase swam.


    Unexpectedly, however, only silence followed. Josh froze his body for a moment and listened carefully. He was concentrating every bit of his senses, but there weren¡¯t any movements.


    In the end, he couldn¡¯t wait any longer and cautiously poked out his head. He had a bad feeling about this.


    ¡®Huh?¡¯ After a split second of hesitation, Josh jumped up before he could even catch himself. He didn¡¯t see Chase anywhere. ¡®What just happened?¡¯

 CH 18

    Josh held his breath and quickly scanned the grassy area. He hadn¡¯t heard anything other than the loud splash when Chase had jumped into the pool. Was it not Chase diving?


    Josh quickly turned his gaze to the beach chair where Chase had been lying, but it was empty as expected. When he shifted his gaze back onto the pool, Josh found him.


    Chase had sunk deep into the water.


    He could have just been diving underwater, but he wasn¡¯t moving at all. Josh had seen something like this before¡ªsomeone lying face-down underwater¡ªback when he had worked as a pool lifeguard for a while. It was just before someone had been drowning to death.


    ¡°Mr. Miller!¡± Josh frantically rushed out of his hiding spot. He had shouted out loud for Chase, but there was no response. Josh called out Chase¡¯s name once again before concluding that Chase had lost consciousness.


    He had no time to even recall the don¡¯t do articles that were written in the contract. One wrong move and Chase would be dead. Josh¡¯s body moved before he could think. Without even bothering to take off his shoes, Josh jumped into the water with a large splash.


    With just a few strokes, Josh reached the middle of the pool where Chase was drowning. Even until then, Chase didn¡¯t move at all.


    Perhaps he had hit his head on the bottom when he dived. Thinking about all kinds of possible situations in his head, Josh grabbed Chase and pulled him toward himself. He was just about to drag Chase out of the water, hugging Chase¡¯s head with his arm.


    Suddenly, Chase opened his eyes. Their eyes met immediately, before Josh could even prepare himself. Josh blinked his eyes in confusion.


    Was he not drowning?


    A rough estimation of time told Josh that Chase had been underwater for at least a full minute. If Chase had been lying underwater like that even before Josh had noticed, it would have been much longer than that.


    However, Chase didn¡¯t seem to be out of breath at all. He merely scrunched up his brow, seemingly disgusted by the arm that was holding his head. Flustered, Josh let go of him. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Chase didn¡¯t say anything in response to Josh¡¯s speedy apology. All he did was stare. Josh awkwardly swept back his wet hair. The two of them stayed submerged in water, floating while staring at each other. Josh began to feel the weight of his drenched clothes. Thinking that he should get out of the pool, Josh frantically searched for his next words.


    ¡°Um, well¡­ I¡¯ll be taking my leave, then,¡± Josh smiled uncomfortably. Chase squinted. Josh couldn¡¯t understand what his expression meant at all.


    ¡®Am I allowed to leave?¡¯ he wondered as he blinked slowly in confusion.


    Chase abruptly opened his mouth. ¡°Do you really wish to die this time?¡±


    ¡°Pardon me?¡± Josh asked back, having not understood the meaning behind his question fast enough. Suddenly, Chase stretched out his arm.


    Josh wasn¡¯t even given the time to cry out. Chase grabbed Josh¡¯s head right away and rammed it underwater.


    ¡°¡­!¡± Water splashed in all directions with a loud splash. Gulping down the pool water, Josh flailed around. The intense rays of the Californian sun refracted in the water, hurting his eyes. However, what was more dangerous was Chase¡¯s hand, which was pressing down on him from above.


    Chase was over six feet tall and quite slim. He only had a moderate amount of muscles, so ¡°buff¡± wasn¡¯t a suitable descriptor for him. He had a slender body that looked incredibly gracious in a suit.


    Although Chase was taller than Josh, he looked like he had much less muscle mass than Josh. And yet, where did all this terrifying power come from? Josh felt as if he were actually going to die at this rate, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to escape Chase¡¯s grasp.


    Josh frantically reached his arm out. If he didn¡¯t drag this man underwater, he would be the one crossing the Styx. He desperately moved around to protect his own life. Just as the oxygen inside his body was about to run out, Josh felt Chase¡¯s arm on the tips of his fingers. Right away, he grabbed onto it and dragged it down.


    ¡°Pfah!¡± Josh finally shook himself free of Chase¡¯s grip and poked his head out of the water. He quickly tried to swim away in case Chase tried to attack again, but his body did not want to move as easily as he wanted it to. As Josh hastily cycled through his swimming strokes, Chase stretched his arm out from behind. Chase grabbed Josh¡¯s hair and Josh was dragged back down underwater.


    He gasped for air to no avail as his entire body was wrung out by the sensation of his lungs being bloated. Fear of death filled his head. He tried to escape, but Chase grabbed onto him and didn¡¯t let go.


    Josh¡¯s breathing became even more ragged due to terror. Watching Josh¡¯s face turn blue, Chase smiled coyly.


    Josh realized then that this man truly intended to kill.


    As this realization hit him, Pete¡¯s face flew by his eyes. Josh grabbed Chase¡¯s wrist with superhuman strength. Chase, of course, didn¡¯t budge at all. However, as Josh continued to apply pressure on his veins, his grip strength lessened. Josh took this opportunity to hastily rise above the water.


    Chase was still in the water. However, the bright sun and the clear water showed Chase¡¯s movements very visibly. Josh saw Chase swim closer and quickly backed away.


    ¡®Again, this motherf*cker¡ª¡¯ Josh cursed internally.


    Josh was confident in his swimming abilities. He desperately moved his arms faster than ever and swam toward the edge of the pool. He could spare no time for hesitation. He placed his hand on the ground and pushed himself up. Only after he had completely escaped to the ground did he feel relieved.

 CH 19

    ¡°Mmph, urgh!¡± Josh finally came to after heaving and coughing out some water a few times. He had no energy left in his body. His consciousness was hazy as if he had just come back from the dead. As he huffed and puffed, he turned around to find Chase still at the same spot¡ªas if he had never intended to chase him.


    Josh sighed and spat out a jagged breath. He could finally speak only after a few more coughing fits. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? Are you mad?¡±


    Chase didn¡¯t seem affected at all by Josh¡¯s aggressive outcry. In fact, he smiled. ¡°You touched my body without permission.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡± Josh had to clench his teeth to prevent a tsunami of profanities from escaping his mouth. Unable to do anything with his right fist, he swung it in the air before shouting back a moment later, ¡°I thought you were drowning¡ªdying!¡±


    Despite Josh¡¯s protest, Chase remained brazen. ¡°I never asked you to save me.¡±


    This time, Josh didn¡¯t hold back. Rage filled him to the brim as he howled, ¡°Then why the f*ck did you hire bodyguards? You should¡¯ve just died on your own, you f*cking nutjob!¡±


    Chase was still calm, despite Josh¡¯s explosion of rage. Sweeping back his dripping hair that had slid onto his face with his long fingers, Chase laughed briefly like usual¡ªmuch too calmly. ¡°It¡¯s not so easy to die, thanks to pricks like you who ruin the chance.¡±


    ¡°Oh, like me, the one you hired precisely so that I could ruin the chance?¡±


    At that moment, Chase¡¯s faze froze over like a mask. However, Josh couldn¡¯t care less about that right now. He punched the tree beside him hard. ¡°If you want to die, die where nobody can see you so that you succeed for sure! Motherf*cking son of a b*tch!¡±


    Josh once again yelled out ¡°F*ck!¡± before immediately turning around and storming off. His shoes must have come off underwater, as he could feel the grass under his wet socks. No sound came from behind him. He didn¡¯t care about what kind of face Chase was making, nor what kind of insane act he was pulling.


    Josh gritted his teeth and continued walking. He wished he could walk all the way to the other side of the Earth.


    * * *


    ¡°What did I say about not crossing him and saving yourself?¡± cried Mark as soon as he laid eyes on Josh, who was still drenched.


    Isaac asked worriedly, ¡°Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?¡±


    Josh simply nodded in response. He had drunk so much water, his innards were turning upside down. Just as he puked out some more water mixed with stomach acid, Isaac quickly placed a trash can under his chin.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Josh squeaked in gratitude, wiping away at his mouth with the back of his hand.


    Isaac, his face still dark, murmured, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Seth, who had been silently watching Josh roughly dry his hair with the towel that Isaac had fetched from somewhere, spoke up. ¡°Was there a term in the contract that allowed for violence against the bodyguards? I don¡¯t remember seeing anything like that.¡±


    Others aside, Seth was the kind of person to have examined the contract down to every word. Everyone stared with hopeful eyes.


    Mark replied, ¡°It says that any accidents that happen to us on the job are our responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Hah,¡± exclaimed Seth. Did this count as an ¡°accident¡± as well? There was no way for Josh to know, but Chase Miller¡¯s lawyer could certainly squirm out of it with all kinds of wordplay.


    They should never have signed the contract.


    As the same thought filled everyone¡¯s heads, Henry entered the room. ¡°What the hell did you do to end up like that again?¡± Nobody said anything to him as he clicked his tongue. Henry smirked and flopped loosely onto a chair. ¡°Gotta take care of your own body, you know. There has to be a reason for getting paid this much.¡±


    This time, everyone¡¯s eyes shifted to Henry. He oddly seemed to be in a good mood. Isaac asked quietly, ¡°You won some money?¡±


    Henry smiled widely and took out multiple 100-dollar notes from his back pocket. ¡°The cards were surely in my favor today.¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Mark cleared his throat. When he had gotten everyone¡¯s attention, he began, ¡°This is important. About C¡¯s schedule¡­¡±


    Everyone fell silent, feeling the seriousness in the air. Mark looked around at his teammates and continued, ¡°He¡¯s going to be out next week.¡±


    ¡°Out?¡± Seth asked back.


    Mark rubbed between his eyebrows as if he were getting a headache. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s not a sudden schedule¡ªit had been planned for a while. Gotta go get his costumes for the upcoming movie shoot.¡±


    Josh vaguely recalled hearing some things about it. The movie had an insane budget, and the novel on which the movie was based was an old series with a huge fanbase. Chase, who was expected to take on the role of the protagonist at first, ended up being cast as the antihero¡ªthe antagonist of the series.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to take extra care in bodyguarding him, then¡­¡± Seth muttered blankly. Everyone could relate. There were many protection systems installed in the mansion¡ªsecurity cameras, per se¡ªbut once they were outside, the bodyguards quite literally had to cover the entire area with their bare bodies.


    The biggest problem was Chase Miller himself. Having witnessed his countless moments of insanity, the entire team felt chills running down their spines.


    ¡°In fact, there had been an incident not too long ago,¡± said Mark, looking quite troubled. ¡°The perpetrator was someone from a religious organization with hostile ideologies toward Extreme Alphas. Keith Pittman was the victim of that terror.


    ¡°The, er, CEO of P Entertainment?¡± asked Seth. Pittman was the CEO of the production company in charge of producing the movie that Chase would be acting in. He was also an Extreme Alpha, and he was the very person who made Chase play the antihero rather than the hero, which had been the initial assumption.


    Mark nodded. ¡°So the word about C being threatened isn¡¯t just a bluff. Moreover, I heard that some fans got into the broadcasting company building where C was at last time. Heard it was mayhem.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ should we try using the Scrum framework?¡± Isaac suggested unconfidently.

 CH 20

    Henry gritted his teeth and spat, ¡°Just shut up and stay put, you idiot.¡±


    Isaac hadn¡¯t said anything that warranted such a harsh response, but he had certainly spoken without reading the atmosphere. Josh decided not to comfort Isaac. Seth, too, pretended not to hear them and turned away.


    Mark sighed and continued, ¡°We should first decide on who¡¯s going to bodyguard while C does their thing, and the rest will be surveying the building for a route¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll survey the area,¡± Josh grabbed for the opportunity quicker than anyone else. Mark nodded and selected Josh, Isaac, and himself as the surveying team, and chose Seth and Henry as Chase¡¯s bodyguarding team.


    ¡°Are you just trying to f*ck me over, Mark?¡± Henry protested right away, but it fell flat. Somebody had to do it, and it didn¡¯t matter to everyone else as long as it wasn¡¯t them doing the job. In the end, Henry was left with no choice but to accept his mission with transparent anger on his face.


    On the morning of the schedule, everyone seemed incredibly nervous. They needed to be on a many times stronger guard than their usual gigs. After all, the client had been receiving threats of kidnap and even death¡ªno matter how unreal it felt.


    Having witnessed him shooting a Desert Eagle with one hand and thoroughly punishing those who crossed his way, Josh didn¡¯t think Chase needed any bodyguarding. Perhaps the only reason why he had hired them at such a high cost was because he didn¡¯t want to deal with the lowly mortals or because he just wanted someone to beat up for fun. At the very least, that was what Josh, full of sarcasm, thought.


    Everyone was equipped with a gun in case of an emergency. Josh frowned as he carried out some maintenance on his Glock. Chase Miller looked like he could stab a person to death using a butter knife; why did he even bother carrying around that hefty gun?


    Swallowing his curses that were swimming up his throat yet again, Josh stood up. It was time to do some maintenance on the car as well.


    *


    *


    ¡°You put in a request for extra security?¡± asked Josh, slamming close the hood of the car that they were to be riding in.


    Mark let out a short sigh and nodded. ¡°Yes, though it was shot down with no mercy.¡±


    ¡°I assume it wasn¡¯t because of the cost.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Mark confirmed readily. ¡°Since it¡¯s so hard to find people who are up for the job, I was thinking about getting some guard dogs. I thought I was going to get hit. Who knew he¡¯d be so angry? He glared at me and I had to admit, he could literally kill with his eyes. Got cold feet immediately.¡±


    It was common to work with some trained aggressive dogs, but it was impossible in the case of Chase Miller. There were many things he didn¡¯t like, and dogs in particular threw him into a fit of anger.


    Mark¡¯s courage in even suggesting to use dogs was worthy of praise, even though it had resulted in clean failure. Mark grumbled, ¡°I don¡¯t get why he hates dogs that much. Isn¡¯t a dog supposed to be a man¡¯s best friend?¡±


    It was a mystery to Josh as well, but he had no way of knowing the answer. He just assumed that dogs were one of the many things that this fussy man hated. Instead of pressing on, Josh changed the subject and asked, ¡°Was that all that happened?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Mark nodded before quietly muttering, ¡°Who knows what goes on inside that b*stard¡¯s head? He¡¯d be asking some weird things, but he doesn¡¯t even care about the important stuff.¡±


    ¡°Asking weird things?¡± Josh asked in confusion.


    Mark nodded. ¡°When we first went to say hello, he wanted to check our team member profiles. I didn¡¯t think he would care about something like that.¡±


    ¡®Checking for criminal records or something, maybe?¡¯ Josh thought to himself, but Mark¡¯s answer was completely unanticipated.


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t saying anything, and then he suddenly asked if everyone on the team were alphas and betas.¡± As Josh stared intently, Mark continued nonchalantly, ¡°So I told him that you and I are betas and everyone else are alphas. After that, he didn¡¯t seem to care about anything else.¡±


    ¡°¡­Is that so?¡± Josh chimed in, pretending to be calm.


    Mark let out an airy laugh. ¡°A face like yours should be an alpha. Even C didn¡¯t seem to believe it. He asked if the one that he beat to a pulp was really a beta, twice.¡±


    It was something Josh had been told all his life, and Josh was grateful for this misunderstanding¡ªespecially at times like this. ¡°I like being a beta.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. With your face, what does it matter?¡± Mark smirked offhandedly as he lodged a cigarette in his mouth. Josh didn¡¯t say anything and continued to complete the final maintenance.


    Whenever Chase Miller went somewhere, there were at least 10 people who accompanied him. Aside from bodyguards, he had a personal secretary who managed his schedules and ran some errands here and there, a manager, some stylists, and sometimes even the secretary of the secretary. This time was no different; there were three vehicles in total, including a van, and this was after reducing the number of people involved as much as possible.


    It was also a part of Josh¡¯s job to examine all the vehicles one by one and check if there was anything out of place.


    ¡°One of the wheels looked like it was leaking air, so I changed it out. Other than that, everything looks good,¡± Josh reported indifferently.


    Mark blinked his eyes in amazement. ¡°Even a car that costs 100k-plus gets leaky wheels, huh.¡±


    ¡°Even a certain actor who¡¯s worth a couple hundred million has a crappy personality,¡± Josh blurted out without thinking.


    Suddenly, chills ran down his spine. When he hurriedly turned around, he met eyes with Chase, who was walking out of the mansion.


    It was the first time they had come face-to-face ever since that day, as¡ªunsurprisingly¡ªJosh went out of his way to ardently avoid Chase. After all, he did not want his life to be under threat again.


    Chase was dressed fairly loosely today with no tie. Two or so of his shirt buttons were undone, and a light jacket hung over his shoulders. As usual, an order-made watch glistened brightly on his wrist.

 CH 21

    Josh had once searched up the store since the brand had caught his eye.


    Remembering how he had given up on the whole idea after seeing that the watch cost more than his salary, Josh quickly took a step back. Chase must have heard what Josh had been saying behind his back, and yet he showed no particular reaction. He simply marched down the front steps and toward the car with no change of expression.


    With an unlit cigarette wedged between his lips, he roughly swept up his hair. He seemed to be in an irritable mood with his faintly creased brow.


    ¡°I had a very hard time dragging him out here. It¡¯s warfare trying to take him to work every time¡­¡± the manager complained between sighs to one of the secretaries in the distance. Josh furtively pulled out a candy from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.


    Mark held open the car door as Chase slid into the vehicle. Despite the fact that there was a considerable distance between them and Josh, a faint sweet scent tickled the tip of his nose. Josh desperately rolled his tongue around to melt the candy faster.


    Seth and Henry, who were responsible for bodyguarding, would be riding in the same car as Chase. Josh walked over to the car right behind the one Chase had gotten into and opened the driver¡¯s seat door as he buried Chase¡¯s lingering scent under the flavor of the candy.


    * * *


    The costume designer¡¯s office was almost two hours away by car. As they reached their destination among the forest of tall buildings, the tension in the air thickened.


    ¡°Hahh¡­¡± Isaac, who was sitting next to Josh, took a few audible deep breaths. With his face hardened as well, Josh stepped out of the car. He scouted the surroundings with his eyes before holding open the door of the front car. Mark got out first and looked around once before stepping aside.


    Before the man¡¯s body could be seen, his scent was the first to take over their surroundings. His unbearably sweet scent made Josh¡¯s heart beat as hard as ever, while simultaneously making Josh overcome with shame. He almost took his hand to the part of his ear that he had hidden behind his in-ear monitor. As long as he had the imprint, he would continue to have butterflies in his stomach, despite knowing that the man was but a large piece of trash.


    Feeling pathetic, Josh stared at Chase as he got out of the car. The man, who had a perfect shell at the very least, proceeded to stretch his back. Their eyes seemed to have met for a split second, but perhaps it was just a misperception;


    Chase walked past Josh and headed into the building.


    ¡°Wait, actually?¡±


    ¡°Is this real?¡±


    Exclamations of surprise echoed from around them. They were expected reactions of the people who had recognized Chase, and everyone including Josh quickly surrounded Chase. They hurried into the building, but there was already a crowd of people who were snapping photos everywhere.


    ¡®I have a bad feeling about this,¡¯ Josh thought to himself.


    As if he had read Josh¡¯s thought, Mark ordered, ¡°We better properly restrict the area. Check for any back doors or emergency exits that we could use to get out in the worst-case scenario.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll find the staff member in charge of management and ask if they have a blueprint of the building,¡± Josh replied promptly.


    Mark nodded. After assigning everyone with their respective tasks, he quickly paced after Chase. Even in that moment, more and more people were gathering outside the building.


    *


    *


    Obtaining the blueprint was easy. Thanks to the endorsement of the manager who had accompanied Josh, the management officer confirmed Josh¡¯s identity and showed him the blueprint. Josh quickly looked over the building through the screen and contacted Mark right away.


    ¡°The blueprint is saved on the computer in the monitoring room. I have it pulled up right now. Would you like to come and see it?¡± Josh reported.


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± replied Mark. ¡°Apparently, it will take them at least an hour from now to get things done. Check if there are any suspicious signs of activity throughout the building, including the emergency exits that are shown on the blueprint. Isaac, you start at the top floor and make your way down.¡± After ordering Isaac, who was with Mark, he told Josh, ¡°You heard me, right? You make your way up from downstairs.¡±


    Josh hung up and explained to the management officer about Mark before leaving the room. The rest of his task was simple. All he had to do was plan out an exit route for after the photoshoot¡ªwhich hallways to pass, how they should exit the building, where the car should be parked, and how they should get Chase into the car and to the mansion safely. After that, he just needed to head over to the monitoring room and share his thoughts with Mark.


    ¡®It¡¯s just trying on some costumes. Why does everything have to be so complex?¡¯ Josh grumbled to himself as he scrunched up his brow, but he already knew the answer. The act of leaving the mansion already put Chase at risk. As long as he didn¡¯t do anything insane, everyone would want to make that man theirs.


    Josh remembered the fact that Chase Miller was a narcissist, and he was convinced. Even he, who was often told that he was handsome or good-looking, felt very ordinary compared to Chase.


    ¡®That b*stard would never be able to love anyone other than himself,¡¯ Josh thought as he opened the emergency exit door and checked the stairs. He readily stepped in and skipped up two or three stairs at once. When he got to the next floor, he circled around the area once and checked that there was nothing special before heading back to the exit. He had done the same with multiple floors when he heard a familiar voice.


    ¡°Josh!¡± the person called. Josh instinctively looked up. Isaac was walking down the stairs toward him. ¡°Have you finished looking around? There wasn¡¯t much on my side.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh yes, roughly done.¡± Josh was just about to open the door to the next floor. Since he had run into Isaac, this was the final floor. Isaac quickly caught on and began to walk alongside Josh.

 CH 22

    ¡°I heard that they¡¯re checking anyone who enters the building quite thoroughly. Anyone from outside who is visiting the place today has already had their identity screened in advance. Everyone else is a staff member. We don¡¯t need to check everybody individually, do we?¡± asked Isaac.


    ¡°I guess not then,¡± Josh replied absentmindedly as he rolled the candy inside his mouth. He could faintly smell Isaac¡¯s alpha pheromones. It wasn¡¯t just thanks to the candy in his mouth that he was able to be so nonchalant about Isaac¡¯s pheromones; ever since that day, that man¡¯s pheromones were the only scent that could allure him. The only problem was that the scent was sweet to the point of torture, even though Josh was absolutely sick of that man.


    ¡°¡­?¡± Josh felt a strange sensation and looked up. Isaac was gazing down at him. Josh only realized that Isaac¡¯s finger had brushed against his hair afterward.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Josh asked, puzzled by his action.


    Isaac blinked his eyes in bewilderment and hurriedly replied, ¡°There was something on your hair.¡±


    ¡°Was there?¡± Not thinking much of it, Josh roughly brushed his palms against his head.


    Isaac stared at him for a little while before opening his mouth again. ¡°How¡¯s Pete doing?¡±


    ¡°Hm? Pretty good.¡± Josh¡¯s happiest hour of the day was calling Pete and hearing his voice before bed. Recalling the child¡¯s voice that he had heard even the night before automatically loosened the corners of his mouth.


    Following behind Josh, Isaac asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you miss him?¡±


    ¡°Of course I miss him, but I¡¯ve got no choice,¡± answered Josh as he opened the emergency exit to look around once before closing it again.


    As they walked along, Isaac asked again, ¡°When this gig is over¡­ will you be going to Canada or Alaska?¡±


    ¡°Who knows¡­ Why do you ask?¡± Josh finally looked up at Isaac.


    Isaac averted his gaze and mumbled, ¡°Well¡­ When will Pete¡¯s mom be back? Will your whole family be moving?¡±


    In that short moment, Josh had to work his brain hard. Should he lie? How should he lie? Should he make an excuse? Should he pretend not to understand?


    Just a few seconds had passed when he apathetically replied, ¡°That¡¯s something to think about when the time comes. It¡¯s still a faraway story.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Isaac trailed off unsurely.


    Was he worried that the team might be disbanded? Josh lightly pat him on the back and continued, ¡°It was just a hopeful comment kind of thing. Who knows what the future holds? No need to worry about it in advance.¡±


    When they had opened the door of the opposite emergency stairs, a sudden sound rang from Josh¡¯s earpiece. It was Mark.


    ¡°Where are you? Almost done yet?¡± Mark asked.


    Josh readjusted the earpiece that was fixed around his earflap and replied, ¡°Almost done looking around. Should I head over to the studio when I¡¯m done?¡±


    ¡°How about Isaac?¡±


    This time, Isaac was the one who replied to Mark. ¡°I¡¯m with Josh.¡±


    ¡°¡­Together? Well, whatever. Nothing special?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing special.¡± Josh turned to Isaac, who also gave the same answer.


    After confirming their replies, Mark announced, ¡°Change of plans. Both of you come down to the monitoring room.¡±


    He was referring to the security office where the monitors for the security cameras both inside and outside the building were located. Josh and Isaac exchanged looks of confusion.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit¡­¡± Isaac murmured to himself as he walked after Josh, who had set off first.


    Josh nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t have a good feeling about this.¡±


    *


    *


    When they opened the door and walked in, they quickly saw Mark staring at the monitor with a grave expression. Josh marched across the monitoring room and followed Mark¡¯s gaze onto the monitor.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Josh asked.


    Mark didn¡¯t give an answer right away. Instead, he asked back, ¡°Nothing much happened, right? How¡¯s the exit route? Everything looking good?¡±


    ¡°Yes. No suspicious objects or people¡­ yeah.¡± Josh saw Mark nodding and was about to explain the route that he had checked. Mark, however, stopped Josh by holding up his hand.


    He rubbed his creased brow and explained, ¡°They¡¯re almost done with C, but¡­ the fans are crowding outside like crazy. I heard that some people got injured from being pushed around, and someone got taken by an ambulance a while ago. We need some kind of measure.¡±


    ¡°Is it bad enough that we won¡¯t be able to leave?¡± Isaac asked nervously.


    Without a word, Mark shifted his gaze. Out of the many monitors, when they saw the screen that showed the outside of the building, everyone forgot how to speak for a moment. There was a massive crowd gathered outside.


    Josh turned pale as he muttered, ¡°Times Square on New Year¡¯s couldn¡¯t even compare to this.¡±


    Mark groaned. ¡°This is worse than it was a few years back. There are even more crazy fans now.¡±


    Everyone sighed. Isaac quickly asked, ¡°Do the security staff members here have a protocol or some other countermeasure? At this rate, things might become very serious if more people get hurt.¡±


    Mark nodded and replied in a serious tone, ¡°We notified the police, and they said that they will send their own security team. It seems like we only need to worry about two other entrances.¡±


    ¡°The west emergency exit might get swarmed over,¡± a staff member interjected hurriedly. Josh, Mark, and Isaac all shifted their gazes onto the screen at once.


    ¡°The hell is that, a wall of zombies?¡± blurted out another staff member, looking overwhelmed. It was just as he had said. The screen reminded them of a certain movie that had a scene with countless zombies climbing a wall all over the screen.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be calling SWAT instead of the police?¡± murmured Isaac, watching the people who were screaming to get into the building first. He was half-joking, but he was also being half-serious.

 CH 23

    All the while, the security guards had blocked them off once again. Behind them, they were frantically pulling down the thick barricade shutter that was used during fires. However, the crowd was already surrounding the building in thick layers.


    ¡°In any case, we better talk about what we should do. It¡¯s not like we can shoot all of those people,¡± Mark said worriedly. He turned to Josh and instructed, ¡°Go to the back. I¡¯m going to stay here and watch the situation unfold a little more.¡±


    ¡°Yessir,¡± Josh replied before quickly moving along. He could almost faintly hear the people¡¯s cheers¡ªwhich were more like howls at this point¡ªfrom outside the building.


    Act 8


    The meeting room was silent. Nobody dared to open their mouths. Chase, who had been brought to the meeting room after everything was done on his end, hadn¡¯t said a single word while he was being updated on the current situation. All he did was stay in his seat with a straight face.


    ¡°So,¡± Chase finally opened his mouth after the manager had finished telling him everything and there had been a long and heavy silence. ¡°We can¡¯t go back?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the manager began cautiously as if to read the atmosphere. ¡°The head of the security team is currently searching for a way. It seems like it would be difficult to get in the car and go back like the way we came. The building is completely surrounded¡­¡±


    The manager¡¯s voice gradually died down. Chase didn¡¯t say anything. His face remained as expressionless as a doll.


    Everyone was anxiously glancing at each other when Chase suddenly moved. All he did was stretch his hand out to the manager, but everyone who had been watching him at that moment all held their breaths together. Was he going to hit the manager? With the same exact thought in mind, everyone tensed up. Just then, the manager hurriedly pulled out a black metal case from their pocket.


    Cigarettes.


    Sighs of relief arose from all over the room as the tension eased. Chase silently lodged the cigarette between his lips and lit it ablaze. As he exhaled the smoke deeply, everyone nervously waited for Mark to arrive.


    ¡°Mr. Miller, would you like anything to drink?¡± asked the secretary, who had just been glancing at him until then.


    However, what returned was Chase¡¯s cynical sneer. ¡°What kind of trash are you planning to make me drink?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡± The secretary quickly stepped back. Silence settled into the room once again.


    Josh truly felt as if he were suffocating. To be with Chase Miller in a small, enclosed space like this¡ªthe scent of the pheromones that constantly poured out of him was driving Josh insane, and the tension added on top of it was killing him.


    ¡®Should I just say that I need to use the bathroom?¡¯ contemplated Josh, cautiously glancing toward Chase. Without warning, their eyes met. Josh froze in shock.


    He quickly realized that Chase could have been staring at him all this time. Of course, it must be a delusion. Strangely enough, however, he didn¡¯t look away.


    Josh didn¡¯t know what to do about the persistent gaze that continued to stay fixed on him. Chase¡¯s obstinate stare almost felt as if he were waiting for their eyes to meet.


    Josh gulped. The sound of his saliva rolling down his throat felt abnormally loud. Chase was still staring at him and his Adam¡¯s apple that bobbed wildly up and down. At that moment, Josh felt the nerves throughout his entire body sharpen, pricking on his skin, wanting to stab through.


    Just then, a knock sounded on the door, and Mark walked in. Josh finally felt the tension in his nerves relax. He sighed in relief, but Mark¡¯s expression didn¡¯t seem all too good.


    ¡°The barricade has fallen,¡± announced Mark.


    Henry let out a painful groan. Chase finally took his eyes off Josh, but he still remained unresponsive.


    Mark continued, ¡°It seems impossible to move right now. The police are in the process of dismissing the crowd, so if we wait a little bit¡ª¡±


    ¡°How long?¡± Chase¡¯s indifferent voice cut off Mark¡¯s sentence. Mark hesitated. Chase waited for a few seconds before asking again, ¡°How long do I have to wait?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Mark blinked, looking disconcerted. ¡°At least three to four hours¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hahh,¡± Chase let out a short sigh. At the same time, everyone shut their mouths. He creased his brow without a word. The faint scent of his pheromones slowly became stronger. He was irritated. It was getting very difficult to bear for Josh.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Seth quickly began, a beat earlier than Josh. Josh had missed the timing to speak.


    ¡°Do you have an idea?¡± Isaac urged on.


    ¡°The route that we planned out has no problem, right? We just need a way to get there somehow.¡±


    ¡°Getting there is the problem, dumba*s,¡± spat Henry, as if he had been waiting for it. Isaac glared at him in annoyance¡ªas rare as it was for him to get annoyed¡ªbut soon turned away his gaze.


    It happened all the time, so Josh casually pat Isaac on the back and intervened, ¡°So¡­ Mark?¡±


    Once everyone had settled down again, Mark continued, ¡°The police are trying to dismiss the crowd, but it¡¯s not easy. They think it would be the fastest for us to get out of here first.¡±


    ¡°But is there a way for us to get out?¡± asked Seth.


    Mark glanced toward the door, and the team members followed him outside. Josh could finally breathe freely. Only after they huddled into a circle in the hallway did Mark gravely continue, ¡°How about one of us act as bait?¡±


    ¡°Ugh, no¡ª¡± Henry was about to shoot down the idea right away, but when everybody glared at him at once, he immediately shut his mouth.


    Mark explained, ¡°It may be a clich¨¦, but it¡¯s a clich¨¦ because it works. Here, we add another trap. The first wave will be bait, and then we¡¯ll send out the second wave right away.¡±


    ¡°But the real thing will be¡ª¡±


    ¡°The third wave, yes,¡± Mark nodded. ¡°The first and second waves will drive away in different directions. Then, the crowd of fans will also split into two groups. They¡¯d expect one of the two to be bait, but they wouldn¡¯t guess that both of them are bait. Once things calm down a little, we take C and get out of here. Got it?¡±

 CH 24

    There was no better way. Isaac, who was standing by the door, quietly stepped aside. Mark cleared his throat and knocked on the door. When he opened the door to the waiting room, a sweet scent burst out from within.


    ¡°Mr. Miller.¡± Mark forced a smile and stepped inside first. Josh was the last to enter¡ªof course, with another candy in his mouth.


    ¡®I¡¯m gonna get diabetes at this rate,¡¯ Josh gloomily thought to himself, feeling his mouth growing dry. When he closed the door behind him and turned around, he saw Chase sitting alone among the well-built men who were standing around him. He had a cigarette in one hand and a paper cup filled with black coffee in the other, his face still as expressionless as a bisque doll.


    Mark explained the plan and finished off, ¡°¡­And that¡¯s what we came up with. If you have any other ideas, do let us know.¡±


    Throughout Mark¡¯s explanation, Chase was resting his chin on his hand without a word. Josh wondered if he was even listening properly. Chase scanned the bodyguards one by one with squinted eyes.


    Finally, punctuating every word, Chase asked, ¡°Who do you plan to use as my proxy?¡±


    Mark glanced at Isaac. ¡°Well, Isaac¡¯s stature is the closest to yours, Mr. Miller. And for the second wave, we¡¯ll have Seth¡ª¡±


    Chase followed Mark¡¯s gaze and stared at Isaac.


    ¡°No,¡± he spat. Everyone looked at him, stunned. With a straight face, Chase continued, ¡°He¡¯s ugly.¡±


    A cold silence fell over the meeting room. Isaac was certainly fairly ordinary-looking for an alpha, but he wasn¡¯t ugly. If anything, about three out of 10 people had about the same level of attractiveness as he did.


    Chase arrogantly pointed at Josh and Isaac, one after the other. ¡°Your face, your body. Make it work.¡±


    An exasperated sigh escaped Isaac¡¯s mouth. In his stead, Mark replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we cannot separate their heads from their bodies. You¡¯ll have to choose one.¡±


    Chase pointed at Josh and offered another simple solution. ¡°Then you, stretch your height right now.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ also cannot be done, unfortunately.¡±


    ¡°You incompetent motherf*ckers, what can you do?¡± Chase threw his coffee at the wall in response to Mark¡¯s firm refusal. The black coffee that was in the paper cup splattered gruesomely over the wall, oxidizing into a brownish-black stain. Even then, Chase didn¡¯t seem any less angry. He whipped his head toward Josh and gritted his teeth. ¡°Why do you have to be so short?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes instantly shifted to Josh. Chase had said the same thing when they had first met¡ªalthough Josh didn¡¯t expect him to remember.


    Before Josh could say anything, Chase snapped, ¡°How pathetic. Why the hell is that b*stard even here? Tell me, what can you do? What use do you have? If someone were to shoot me in the head, how do you plan to stop them being that short?¡±


    Including Chase, everyone was well over six feet. Aside from the fact that Josh, who was just barely six feet, naturally seemed shorter in comparison to everyone else, Josh could never understand why Chase expected him to sacrifice his own damn head to protect Chase¡¯s oh-so-glorious head¡ªboth back then and right now.


    ¡°Why not wear a helmet?¡± grumbled Josh.


    ¡°Josh!¡± Mark cried, frantically stopping Josh from saying his daring final words before getting brutally murdered. He hurriedly continued, ¡°There is no other way right now. If you have any alternatives, please let us know.¡±


    That was Mark¡¯s way of cushioning ¡°If you think you¡¯re so great, then you come up with a good idea.¡± Chase was silent for a moment. Mark planned to wait just three minutes before sticking it in his face if Chase couldn¡¯t come up with anything.


    As Mark glanced at the clock, Chase¡¯s lips slowly fell apart. ¡°The helicopter.¡±


    Mark jolted, and Josh blinked his eyes.


    While everyone remained frozen, Chase continued. ¡°There¡¯s a helicopter stationed here, isn¡¯t there?¡± he asked, shifting his gaze onto his secretary.


    She belatedly realized what he had meant and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll see to it immediately.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll come with you¡ª¡± Josh tried to seize the chance to escape the room after her. However, his little trick was quickly foiled.


    ¡°Stay right there.¡± Chase¡¯s cold voice echoed from across the room. Josh instinctively halted on the spot. He hesitated a little before turning around to find Chase sitting at the end of the path formed by his teammates who had each stepped to either side, just like the Crossing of the Red Sea.


    His piercing gaze seemed to be seeing right through Josh. He couldn¡¯t run away like this. Josh had no choice but to give up.


    ¡°¡­Yes,¡± Josh replied wearily. He closed the door once again and stood as far away from Chase as possible. Seth stared at Josh with pity in his eyes.


    ¡°Among you¡­¡± Chase opened his mouth. Everyone¡¯s eyes rested on him once again. Josh was flabbergasted by the fact that a single word¡ªno, a single gesture¡ªfrom Chase was enough to make everyone¡¯s stomach tighten up. However, unfortunately, he was no different. He wasn¡¯t in a position to pity anyone.


    ¡°Who knows how to fly a helicopter? Can all of you do it?¡± interrogated Chase.


    ¡°No,¡± Mark said.


    ¡®Oh, Mark, anything but that,¡¯ Josh pleaded in his head.


    However, Josh¡¯s desperate prayer didn¡¯t reach Mark. Mark went on, ¡°Josh and Isaac can, but Josh is probably better at it. Right, Josh? You used to fly helicopters when you were in the army.¡±


    Using Mark¡¯s words as the cue, Seth quickly jumped back. Josh¡¯s efforts were for naught, and he became completely exposed to Chase¡¯s gaze.

 CH 25

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    ¡®This is why I wanted to get out of here first¡­¡¯ Josh grumbled internally, feeling his nightmare come true right before his eyes. With no other choice, Josh raised his hand. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± Just like that, Chase had ended the conversation. Not long after, the secretary returned.


    ¡°Mr. Miller, there is only one helicopter on standby right now.¡± With a pale face, she continued quickly, ¡°The other helicopter is under maintenance, so it will take time. But the pilot is currently not on site. They said that it would take him at least two hours to get here¡­ and it doesn¡¯t look easy for him to try to get through the crowd to get into the building.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Chase stood up right away and looked straight down at Josh. ¡°Prepare to leave immediately.¡±


    ¡°Just a second. I need to check the helicopter before we leave,¡± Josh interjected hurriedly. Even if the helicopter had already gone through maintenance, it was a regular procedure for the pilot to examine it once more before takeoff.


    Mark nodded, agreeing with Josh. ¡°It won¡¯t take long. Right, Josh?¡±


    Josh quickly took the opportunity. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯ll be as quick as possible. If you could just wait here for a moment¡ª¡±


    However, all he got in response was a scoff. ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    The secretary quickly caught on and interrupted, ¡°We can all go together.¡± She turned her body first and whispered softly to Josh, ¡°Did you forget about the warning on the contract? Don¡¯t ever tell Mr. Miller to wait again.¡±


    ¡°You mean those warnings that forbid us from everything but breathing?¡± Josh exploded and whispered back sarcastically.


    The secretary nodded with a straight face. ¡°Exactly.¡±


    Josh said nothing more and quickly followed after her.


    * * *


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    As soon as they opened the rooftop door where the helicopter was on standby, a loud cheer erupted. Josh endured the deafening noise and walked¡ªbasically ran¡ªtoward the stationed helicopter. Breathing in some fresh air from outside enlivened him a little bit. He sat down on the pilot¡¯s seat right away and began to examine the instruments.


    Meanwhile, the other members excluding Seth and Isaac had urgently left to check on the situation. Chase was leaning against the wall, smoking his cigarette. He wasn¡¯t persistently staring at Josh like before, but his presence was still as intense as ever. Josh could feel the silent pressure just from Chase being there¡ªthat he would not let him live it out if Josh didn¡¯t finish quickly. Thanks to this, Josh moved his hands twice as quickly as usual.


    In any case, however, it was impossible to drag out the time too long. The cheers were getting louder by the second.


    ¡°They broke through!¡± With a desperate cry, Mark dashed out of the door. As soon as the door opened, the cheers became multiple times closer. Chills ran down everyone¡¯s spines. Chase, who had been very still as he leaned against the wall, took his back off the wall. At the same time, the throat-ripping screeches stabbed at their eardrums.


    ¡°Chase¡ª!¡± Josh saw the remaining four, including Mark, hurriedly closing the door and blocking it with their bodies. Josh frantically prepared for takeoff. If Chase were to be caught now, his flesh would be separated from his bones.


    Chase, who was walking toward the helicopter, turned around. He saw his entourage barricading the rooftop door with all their might.


    ¡°Get in, hurry!¡± Josh shouted desperately. Chase was the first to get in, and his secretary and the other staff members followed. Josh lifted the helicopter off the ground by a little, so that they could leave as soon as his teammates got in.


    Mark, who had been watching everything unfold, lifted off his hands from the door and yelled, ¡°Everybody run!¡±


    At the same time, everyone turned around and began to sprint. Mark quickly jumped in, followed by Isaac, then Seth.


    Thud! Thud! A series of heavy noises echoed, and the rooftop door that had just been holding on swung wide open. Through the open door behind them, a tsunami of people readily burst out with a cheer.


    It was the scariest sight they had ever seen in their lives.


    ¡°F*ck, hey!¡± Henry finally managed to reach the ground directly beneath the helicopter and frantically jumped up. All they had to do now was leave. Using his impressive jumping power, Henry grabbed onto the floor of the helicopter that was just taking off. However, this made the helicopter lose its balance and wobble.


    Josh hurriedly grabbed onto the control lever as Mark and Isaac quickly pulled Henry up. Just as Josh managed to regain balance and was about to rise farther up, the body of the helicopter tilted once again. One of the fans was trying to get onto the helicopter like Henry had.


    ¡°Ack!¡±


    ¡°Ngah!¡±


    Yelps burst out from all over the helicopter. Josh tried to fly the helicopter up regardless, but the weight had increased exponentially in a matter of seconds. A few more people had grabbed on.


    Josh cried sharply, ¡°What are you doing? Push them off!¡±


    Henry, who had got in last, was the closest to the entrance. He got up right away and blocked the man from climbing into the helicopter. Grabbing onto the open door, he was just about to push the man off.


    Suddenly, Chase bent his knee and kicked his long leg forward.


    ¡°Argh!¡± Kicked mercilessly at the back of his knee, Henry¡¯s leg gave in and he fell forward. With this, his body fell onto the bodies of the people who were hanging from the helicopter, and the force that had been weighing the helicopter down disappeared at once. The helicopter, now suddenly lighter, sprang upward from the resulting force.


    ¡°Henry!¡±

 CH 26

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    ¡°Holy sh*t!¡±


    ¡°Mr. Miller, what have you done?!¡±


    Everyone screamed in shock as they stared at Chase, visibly expressing disbelief.


    Josh opened his eyes wide in surprise and quickly moved his gaze downward. However, Henry was already buried in the gathering crowd and nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°What are you doing? Go,¡± spat Chase. Josh turned toward him in bewilderment. However, Chase remained shameless. ¡°Close the door and fly.¡±


    There was no choice. Chase, however, didn¡¯t even give the slightest room for hesitation.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Chase, his cigarette still wedged between his lips. ¡°I¡¯ll get off.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Everyone, not to mention the secretary, turned toward him in shock.


    But Chase wasn¡¯t joking at all. ¡°Wait for him and get him onto the helicopter. I¡¯ll get off.¡±


    ¡°What kind of nonsense¡ª¡± Josh shouted before he could catch himself. Chase huffed out a short bout of smoke and tossed his cigarette out the open helicopter door. The crowd clamored to catch the flying cigarette butt.


    ¡°Goodbye,¡± said Chase.


    ¡°Mr. Miller!¡± Everyone was stunned as they watched him get into position to jump off the helicopter. The fans screeched at the top of their voices, and everyone in the helicopter rushed to stop him.


    ¡°Go, Josh! Now!¡± Mark finally shouted, and Josh hastily drove the helicopter onto course. Behind him, the team was busy shutting the door and calming down Chase. When the commotion had somewhat settled down, everyone was a wreck.


    ¡°Hahh¡­¡± It was a rare occurrence for Seth to sigh audibly. Everyone else felt the same, but nobody could bring themselves to show it.


    ¡®Is there anyone in this world who has a sh*ttier personality than him?¡¯ Josh wondered profoundly, watching the setting sun in the far distance as he sat in the pilot¡¯s seat.


    * * *


    ¡°I quit.¡±


    It was the first thing that Henry said after finally coming back a few hours later, deep into the night, having driven back in the car that had been left behind. Everyone had somewhat expected it, so nobody was particularly surprised.


    The secretary, who had been waiting past her work hours, offered Henry a new term right away as if she had been expecting his announcement. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about what happened today, Henry. I¡­ can¡¯t guarantee that something like this won¡¯t happen again, but we will most certainly compensate you for all your hard work. We can sign an additional contract¡ª¡±


    ¡°I quit,¡± Henry spat, gritting his teeth. ¡°Do I look like a beggar to you? You think money makes everything okay? Thinking about all the sh*t I went through today because of that motherf*cker, even the entire United States wouldn¡¯t be enough. And you say what, compensation? How much f*cking compensation, huh? All you b*tches must be insane¡ª¡±


    ¡°Calm down, Henry,¡± Isaac stepped up and stopped Henry, whose emotions got out of hand as he began to uncontrollably spew out curses. In any case, the secretary was innocent; she was only here in place of Chase.


    Even so, Henry¡¯s anger was relatable to all. His well-kept face was scratched all over, bruises big and small were tinting his entire body red, and his hair was unkempt, looking like it had been pulled in all directions. Not only his tie but his blazer was also nowhere to be seen, and his shirt had been shredded into rags as it hung shabbily over his body. Even his oxfords¡ªthank God they hadn¡¯t been lost¡ªwere trampled on and creased; they would likely end up miserably abandoned sometime soon.


    He was truly a mess.


    Even a homeless man on a beach after a hurricane would look less pathetic than him. Everyone who laid eyes on Henry couldn¡¯t hide their sympathy. Stumped, the secretary turned toward Mark, but it wasn¡¯t like Mark could do anything, either.


    Of all people that could have gotten left behind, it was Henry.


    He had the worst temper out of all the team members, so none of the team members dared cross him. Constantly swearing aside, he would rush in and bite like a dog whenever poked even just a little. During the few years in which they worked together, everybody avoided going against his mood as much as possible. Chase had truly just stepped on a landmine.


    ¡°Please calculate my pay by the end of today. I¡¯ll be going back to Boston immediately tomorrow. If you don¡¯t make my returning plane ticket first class, I¡¯ll sue y¡¯all.¡± Henry gritted his teeth thunderously, turned around, and stormed right out of the living room. The secretary awkwardly glanced at everyone one by one.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work.¡± Isaac was the first to speak up. ¡°We all know that Mr. Miller doesn¡¯t think much of us, but we¡¯re doing our best. And yet, he ditched Henry because he couldn¡¯t wait just a few seconds. It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t know what was going to happen. Moreover, we would have been able to bring Henry onboard at the end, and Mr. Miller just went through the trouble of kicking him down. It¡¯s no surprise that Henry is so angry.¡±


    Isaac¡¯s complaint was calm, but completely reasonable. The secretary blushed and averted her gaze. ¡°I understand, of course, but it couldn¡¯t be helped at the time. You know it, too. If we hadn¡¯t left right away, Mr. Miller would actually have jumped off the helicopter.¡±


    Since it was their job to protect Chase, that was the one thing that had to be prevented. Ultimately, Chase had been threatening them. The fact that it worked and that they had to abandon Henry in the end was what made them feel most bitter.


    ¡°To be honest, I feel like I should have ignored him and not cared whether or not he got caught by the fans and became ground into a powder,¡± agreed Seth, who had been silent until now.