The photo shoot continued without any notable issues.
Zane sat in the car, head pounding like crazy from having to change a total of four outfits in the span of three hours.
“Are you really dating those boys?” Because Michael had driven there, they split up and agreed to meet at the hospital.
Jane sat beside him in the back, while Ella was responsible for the driving.
“No.”
“Oh, good!” Jane finally felt the tension in her body disappear.
She had been wondering about how to deal with this situation if they really were dating.
“I’m not saying that dating them is wrong.
It’s just…that Oliver kid…”
“What about him?” Zane’s ears instantly perked with interest the moment the protagonist was mentioned.
“I don’t know how to explain this.
There’s something…ambiguous going on between them.” She secretly glanced at Zane’s expression.
“Anyways!
You said all that to annoy that pretty boy.
Understood.”
If Jane had to be honest, when she heard Zane declare them to be his boyfriends, she had begun to worry about how easy it was for someone else to be touching said persons.
She watched them carefully.
Sure, they lingered around Zane, but when Oliver was near, it was almost as if they couldn’t say no to anything that the other person demanded.
If this were her significant other, she would have felt terrible about the unnecessary skinship.
As they were leaving, she overheard the sweet voice gently coaxing the two handsome men, hoping to be sent home, and wanting them to eat and drink at his place.
That type of flirty, coquettish body language was uncomfortable to witness.
If there was really something going on, it was better that Zane knew about the potential cheating beforehand.
She was planning on warning Zane about the oddness of their interactions.
But now that he denied being in a relationship, the worry was gone.
“They will be my boyfriends in the near future.” Zane thought that he should come clean about his intentions, so she wouldn’t find their presence jarring in the future.
Even if Zane himself didn’t think much about how to label their relationship, he knew that it was better for the sake of completing the mission.
Zane had been thinking about what the system said about the chance of the male leads’ relationship with the protagonist bouncing back, especially now that he was experiencing it firsthand.
Shit.
What the fuck did I do in the past three months?
He honestly didn’t know.
His mind could only recall two main things being his modeling career and the school paper on the ruins.
Now he understood the high failure rate of hosts.
He had once glanced at what the other departments were up to, but in the end, Zane was only interested in his job specifically.
A very one-note person was what Zane was to the core.
I should pay more attention when I get back.
“You like them?
Romantically?” The worry that had just left returned instantly.
Even Ella, who listened from the driver’s seat, felt complicated about this. This story is hosted at g.com.
Do I?
Zane didn’t know either.
He liked seeing their faces.
There were times when they made his heart beat, but he was certain that it was because he felt embarrassed.
[…] Silas stared blankly at the host, wondering if it should knock some feelings into that hollow brain.
“Well…talk it out with them.
Make sure whatever is going on between Oliver and those two is dealt with first, okay?” Jane sighed.
She didn’t push for an answer when Zane looked unwilling to talk.
She knew that the boy next to her had spent his entire childhood and youth working nonstop to provide for his brother after becoming an orphan.
With no adult around to guide him, it was understandable if he found himself in a complicated relationship.
The conversation ended there.
It was only a few minutes later when they reached the hospital, where all three of them made their way in to visit the little boy.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
[Are you nervous?]
[He won’t notice.]
You’re not helping!
Ella was the first to enter, followed by Jane, then Zane.
The wall was covered in artwork that looked almost professional, if not for the awkward lines in some of the paintings.
This room had been occupied by Kyle ever since the car accident that took their parents’ lives.
At the time, the original Zane was in cram school waiting to be picked up.
It had been four years since.
The car accident had caused near-fatal damage to Kyle’s chest.
If it weren’t for the timely artificial heart replacement, he would have long gone cold alongside the parents.
Because of his young age, he was kept in the hospital for 24/7 monitoring until a suitable donor could be found.
The small head turned toward their direction, and for the first time, Zane felt his heart ache at the sight.
Fuck.
I didn’t really want to come.
“Zane!” The child scrambled off the bed, but was quickly stopped by Zane.
“Are you crazy!?” He wrapped his arm around his younger brother, gently pushing him back on the bed in fear that he might accidentally tug on one of the attached cords.
“Hehehehe.
I really missed you!” After a few laughs came the tears.
Zane awkwardly sat beside him, allowing the kid to bury his head in his chest as he sobbed.
“Why didn’t you come see me!?”
“Sorry…” He gently rubbed the soft head of hair, eyes glancing at the other two women who were also crying.
“I’ll come every day if possible…”
[Pushover.] Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Shut it!
“Happy Birthday, Kyle,” Zane whispered.
“I brought you cake and stuff.”
“Really?” Those teary eyes looked up at his brother.
He could have sweets, but it was limited to a few times per year.
“The doctor said that you can eat the entire thing.” The cake he bought was a little bigger than a cupcake, barely enough for two people.
“Awesome!” Zane couldn’t explain the relief he felt when the tears finally stopped and was replaced with a bright smile.
“Hi there!” Jane bent down to the child’s eye level.
“I’m Jane, a friend of your brother!
I got you a gift!” Kyle had seen Ella, but this was the first time he had seen Jane in person.
“You’re the person on the phone?” Whenever he felt lonely, he would ask the nurses to call Zane.
At times, he would hear Jane in the background, and at others, she would speak directly to him.
The four chatted happily for a good thirty minutes before Ella and Jane took their leave.
Zane’s earlier worry that the boy would notice that he was someone else disappeared, but now that it was just the two, he started feeling anxious again.
“You keep looking at the door…” Kyle spoke softly, almost a whisper.
His eyes fell to his hands, playing with them nervously as he secretly glanced at Zane a few times.
“Do you want to leave, too?”
Shit.
“I’m staying with you until you fall asleep.” He hadn’t meant to make the little kid anxious.
Zane awkwardly brushed the back of his neck.
“There are two more people who should be here…”
At least they said they were coming.
Zane suddenly felt annoyed.
Are they still with Oliver?
[Does Master want to see?]
See?
You mean, I could have seen what they’re up to this entire time!?
[You never asked.] The system shrugged.
“Sorry for being late.
The traffic was bad.” Michael waltzes in at just the right time, breaking the tension instantly with his timely appearance.
“Are you Kyle?”
The younger child looked nearly identical to Zane.
So much so that if the boy were older, he would have been mistaken for Zane’s twin.
“A mini Zane?” Clyde also shared the same line of thought with Michael.
“Your friends?” Zane glanced at the small grip on his clothes.
A never-before-seen gentle smile graced his lips, stunning both of the men.
“My lovers.”