The moment Leansei's eyes locked onto the several pairs of eyes staring back at him with an intense blur of different emotions, his frantic paranoia and distressed survival instincts evaporated, replaced instantly by absolute shock and confusion.
"What on earth are you guys doing—" Leansei couldn't even finish the question. Corshe violently lunged forward, throwing his arms around his neck to bury him in a suffocatingly tight, desperate hug. In the background, Rell, Perial, Revin, and Xeilin swarmed the entryway, an overwhelming wave of pure, raw concern written across their faces. Lean let out a sharp, quiet wince as his muscles protested, the soreness from the severe punches and kicks he had endured during the street ambush flaring up against the pressure of Corshe's embrace.
' What in the world is happening here? ' Leansei's mind short-circuited, his thoughts spinning in a confused circle. ' I have zero memory of arranging a massive party or group gathering at my own private condo tonight. '
Acting on pure instinct to secure his secrets, his fingers relaxed, letting the heavy semi-automatic pistol drop deep back into the bottom of his leather bag. He smoothly zipped the compartment shut, placing the dangerous luggage carelessly onto the corner console table to get it out of sight. With his hands finally free, he gently flattened his palm against the back of Corshe's head, noting with a heavy heart that the smaller boy was actively shedding hot tears against his blazer.
"Where on earth have you been?!" Perial demanded, her rowdy voice raising an octave as it echoed through the foyer. Leansei had never in his life heard her voice drop into such a frantic, fractured register, her eyes rapidly tearing up as she glared at him. "What exactly happened to you—"
"Wh-what—?" Leansei started to stammer, but before he could offer a single syllable of defense, Xeilin stepped forward and delivered a sharp, emotional punch straight to his shoulder. "Ouch!" Leansei cried out, stepping back as his bruised shoulder joint screamed in pain.
"You made every single one of us worry to death!" Xeilin shouted, her voice trembling violently with unshed tears. She paused mid-sentence, her eyes widening as she took a closer look at his face under the bright entryway lights. "Wait... is that a dark bruise blooming on your jaw?!"
Rell stepped into the light, reaching out to firmly tap Lean's uninjured shoulder as an immense, overwhelming wave of worry settled over his sharp features. "What the hell happened to you out there tonight, Kean? Why do you have fresh cuts and deep bruises all over your skin?!"
Corshe slowly let go of his grip, stepping back to wipe his face with his sleeve like a young boy who had just been brutally robbed of his favorite sweet snacks. He opened his mouth to berate his friend, but the words withered in his throat the exact microsecond he took in the pale, battered state of Leansei's body.
"I-I actually called a close contact of mine who runs a major news agency earlier," Perial confessed, her fingers shaking as she frantically tapped onto her smartphone screen, her voice stuttering with anxiety. "It's a friend of mine from the industry. I told her that the second the clock strikes 12:00 AM, I am going to call her back to officially list your name as a missing person across the networks. Please... just tell us what happened to you..."
Leansei turned his head sharply to the left as Rell chimed in, his voice tight and serious. "You know all too well that my uncle is a high-ranking cop in the municipal district. I told the group that one phone call to his office and a full forensic search team would be deployed to track your transit route if you weren't back across this threshold by midnight."
"I even sniff spent the last hour editing your p-picture to format a missing poster layout on my tablet," Corshe whimpered, his voice trembling as he looked up with incredibly fluffy, swollen eyes, proof that he had been crying heavily long before Leansei ever turned the doorknob.
"I even broke high-society protocol and explicitly called your brother and your parents at the estate to check if you had returned to the mansion," Xeilin added, her head dropping as she stared at the floorboards. "But they told us you hadn't checked in with them yet."
"And I called... someone," Revin muttered quietly from the edge of the room, his eyes darkling as he glanced toward the window. "Someone who possesses the absolute power to control things behind the scenes. At least... if the local police force proved completely incompetent in finding your location."
Leansei stood utterly speechless, his throat locking up as he listened to the frantic measures these people had taken. Hearing how deeply Kean's friends worried about him—or more accurately, how much they adored the boy whose identity he was stealing—sent a profound wave of crestfallen sadness straight through his chest. He felt like an absolute fraud, a shadow pretending to be a beloved prince.
' At the very least... for once in my miserable existence, I finally know what it feels like to have an entire circle of real, unmalicious friends, ' Leansei thought, a bitter lump forming in his throat. ' Kean must be the single luckiest guy on the entire earth to have these people fighting for him... these beautiful, loyal people that I am forced to leave behind the exact second my time runs out. '
"What exactly is going on?" Leansei asked softly, forcing his expression into a neutral mask to hide the deep sadness breaking across his gray eyes.
Perial swapped a telling look with Rell before stepping closer. "I originally called your personal line because I wanted to see if I could sleep over here at your condo tonight, but you completely failed to answer a single one of my calls. So, I panicked and phoned Rell, thinking perhaps you were hanging out at his place... but..."
"But I instantly figured out that something was profoundly wrong," Rell picked up the explanation smoothly. "So I dropped everything and drove straight to your condo complex, only to find Perial pacing the hallway, entirely worried out of her mind because your schedule never permits you to stay out late, and you have never ignored our phone calls like this before."
"The clock had already passed 10:00 PM, and you still hadn't crossed the threshold of your home," Perial added, her eyes scanning his face before gesturing toward the living room couch where Corshe, Revin, and Xeilin were clustered with anxious, worried expressions and slight, trembling smiles. "So we decided to break protocol and call every single one of your close friends to gather here."
' So... I was completely blacked out and trapped in that abandoned warehouse for over six hours? ' Leansei's mind reeled as he calculated the timeline. ' But wait... how on earth did they even manage to secure each other's private phone numbers in the first place? '
"How did you even know my other friends' contact numbers?" Leansei asked, turning his head to question Perial and Rell.
The two older mutuals slowly looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. Leansei shifted his gaze across the room, tracking the reaction of the others; Xeilin's cheeks instantly flushed a deep, embarrassed shade of pink, and Revin sharply turned his head to stare at the wall.
"You guys—"Leansei's voice cut off abruptly mid-sentence. As his eyes tracked past Corshe's shoulder, his vision locked onto two towering figures standing silently in the shadows of his kitchen island. They had been standing there entirely still, watching the dramatic reunion play out in absolute silence.
' W-what... what on earth are Xerchin and Beidhen doing here?! Trapped inside my own private condo?! '
"Why are they here?" Leansei whispered frantically, his posture stiffening as the raw tension returned to his shoulders.
Before he could demand an explanation from the Vcheroi brothers, Corshe leaned closer, a fresh wave of tears welling in his eyes as he inspected the damage. "Are you truly okay, Gawin? Does it hurt terribly?!" the smaller boy whimpered, reaching out a shaking finger to trace the raw, torn skin right at the side of Leansei's lips.
The physical mention of the injury snapped Leansei's adrenaline right back to zero. He idly licked the corner of his mouth, the iron taste of blood blooming on his tongue, and just like that, the psychological anesthesia vanished. A sudden, blinding wave of absolute soreness crashed over his entire body, the physical trauma of the punches and kicks he had taken from Master M's goons making his muscles throb violently, accompanied by a sharp, biting sting radiating from his torn lip.
In a fraction of a second, before Corshe's finger could make contact, a massive presence blurred into his personal space. Xerchin strode forward, his arm extending as he forcefully yet smoothly pushed Corshe out of the way.
The entire living room plunged into a dead, suffocating silence as the elite athlete stood directly over Leansei, his handsome features twisted into an expression of intense, raw, and unbridled worry.
"What exactly do you feel right now? Does it hurt?" Xerchin asked, his baritone voice dropping into a desperate, trembling register that Leansei had never, in his entire life, heard from him before. Xerchin's light brown eyes moved frantically, tracking across Lean's gray pupils, his bruised cheeks, his bleeding lips, his exposed neck, and his rigid chest, desperately checking every single inch of his skin to verify if he was truly okay.
' No... wait. Come to think of it, I saw his hands earlier when I first opened the front door, ' Leansei realized, his mind racing as he analyzed the memory. ' He was standing all the way back in the shadows, clenching his hands into tight fists, his face already saturated with deep worry... but he hadn't dared to utter a single word or walk toward me because of the harsh rejection I threw at him at the gala. So... what on earth broke his restraint just now? '
"I-I'm perfectly fine..." Leansei muttered, his throat dry as he sharply averted his gaze to look at the carpet. Xerchin clumsily scratched the back of his neck, taking a long, ragged breath as he tried to reel his roaring emotions back in, the bitter memory of their last conversation outside the restroom anchoring his boundaries.
Suddenly, a violent wave of exhaustion hit Leansei's nervous system. Kean's fragile, unconditioned body had reached its absolute physical limit, the remaining strength draining from his legs in a split second.
"Aghh..." Leansei groaned aloud, his knees buckling as the severe deep-tissue bruising from the ambush finally paralyzed his joints.
Before his frame could hit the floorboards, Rell and Revin lunged forward simultaneously, their hands securely catching his waist to support his weight. Across from them, Xerchin's hand snapped out to catch him as well, but his arm froze dead in the middle of the air. He sharply pulled his fingers back, remembering that Leansei had forbidden him from entering his life, reasoning that touching him now would only worsen his distress.
Together, Rell and Revin gently guided Leansei across the floor, lowering his battered body onto the soft cushions of the living room sofa.
Instantly, every single pair of eyes in the condo locked onto his position like a panel of judges. Leansei swallowed hard, his mind frantically scrambling to manufacture a sequence of believable excuses to explain the trauma.
' Should I tell them I clumsily fell down the concrete stairs at the train station? No... that doesn't account for a split lip and abdominal bruising at all...'
"What exactly happened to you out there?" Beidhen demanded, stepping out of the kitchen shadows, his signature smirk entirely gone, replaced by a dark, delinquent stillness.
Leansei kept his head firmly down, his fingers twisting into his clothes as he hesitated to utter a single word.
"Did those absolute bastar—I mean, did those disgusting, fugly creatures from the campus try to hurt you again, Gawin?" Corshe asked fiercely, his mind instantly jumping to the regular university bullies.
"Wait, what?! Who exactly are you talking about, Corshe?!" Perial barked, her protective instincts flaring.
Leansei sat in absolute silence. His mouth was completely empty of words; he was entirely left speechless.
' There is absolutely no way I can look these innocent people in the eye and tell them that I was ambushed, tied up with coarse ropes, and held at gunpoint inside a secure warehouse by a major underground gang waiting for the execution orders of their so-called master. '
"It's nothing..." Leansei lied smoothly, forcing his voice into a reassuring, calm tone to de-escalate the room's panic.
"Are you seriously trying to tell us that those cuts and raw bruises are nothing, Kean?!" Xeilin scowled, her voice dropping into a worried, defensive register.
"These marks are just from a simple—"
"Just tell me exactly who those bastards are!" Beidhen roared suddenly, his knuckles turning white as his temper flared. "I will immediately deploy our men and—"
"No!" Leansei interrupted hysterically, his voice raising a sharp, frantic pitch that instantly made the entire room shut their mouths in shock.
Realizing he had violently overreacted and shattered his detached mask, Leansei quickly took a deep breath, forcing a faint, reassuring smile onto his bleeding lips. "It's... it's really just a normal, everyday street fight. There is absolutely nothing for you guys to worry about. I am completely fine now. Maybe if I just secure a few hours of deep rest tonight, I'll be perfectly capable of attending our mandatory student council rehearsals tomorrow morning."
"Absolutely not! Who on earth told you that you are permitted to step foot on campus tomorrow?!" Perial scolded sharply, her fingers furiously tapping onto her phone to open her calendar. "You are staying right here in this condo to rest your body." Leansei's forehead knotted into a hard, frustrated frown as he glanced around the circle of his friends.
"But I can't just skip the session, Perial. We possess an incredibly limited amount of time to finalize the choreography and logistics for the acquaintance party," Leansei argued, his voice tight with administrative stress. "And besides... the university mock exams are right around the corner as well. I can't afford to fall behind."
Xeilin looked down at him, letting out a sharp breath as he shook his head. "It's perfectly fine, Kean. I can easily monitor all of the rehearsal sessions by myself tomorrow morning."
"And I'll make sure to take complete, detailed notes for you during the lectures!" Revin added aggressively from across the room.
Leansei tightened his jaw, leaning back against the sofa cushions. "I can't miss Mr. Luyel's advanced class."
"You can easily be granted an official excuse letter. I will personally be the one to state your case in the faculty office first thing in the morning," Revin argued smoothly, trying to ease the boy's administrative anxiety.
"No, you don't understand. Mr. Luyel explicitly stated on the syllabus that there will be absolutely zero special takes for the coursework," Leansei countered firmly, his voice cracking slightly against the pain in his jaw. "There is a massive long quiz scheduled for tomorrow. That is exactly why I won't be excused until I have personally finished that quiz."
The entire group minced their lips in unison, trading a heavy, defeated look as they stared at the stubborn boy. They couldn't even begin to convince him to stay securely at home to rest his battered body.
"Are you absolutely sure you're going to be alright, Gawin? I'm genuinely sure Mr. Luyel will understand the severity of the situation if we explain it," Corshe pleaded softly, his fluffy eyes full of worry. Nearby, Revin stood up from his seat, restlessly walking around the living room parameters while Perial followed close behind his steps to help him manage the room's chaotic energy.
"I'll be perfectly alright. And either way... I absolutely don't like my parents to find out a single trace of what happened to me tonight. So, none of you will say a single word to anyone outside this room," Leansei commanded, pitching his voice into a dead-serious register.
On the other side of the room, Revin managed to locate the condo's emergency medical kit from the cabinet. He spun around to bring it to the couch, but Beidhen suddenly shifted his large, athletic frame, blocking his path entirely with a quiet, delinquent stillness.
Leansei watched the chaos unfold, a sudden, unfamiliar wave of warmth blossoming deep inside his chest. For a brief second, he felt exactly like the cherished protagonist of a grand story. But the beautiful feeling withered away into a bitter ache the exact microsecond reality anchored his thoughts. He remembered that none of this fierce loyalty was actually meant for him—it was explicitly meant for Kean.
' Why on earth am I becoming such an incredibly selfish person? ' Leansei wailed silently behind his teeth. ' I'm falling in love with a life that isn't mine to keep. '
He was jolted back to reality when the cushions beside him dipped heavily. Xerchin had smoothly claimed the empty seat right next to his side, a fresh medical kit resting in his large hands. Across the room, Perial was loudly reasoning over her smartphone, dialing her industry contacts to confidently state that the missing person report was completely canceled and that everything was fine now. Rell, Corshe, and Xeilin dropped down onto the carpeted floor together, crowding around a laptop screen as they frantically pretended to analyze the student council's decoration lists to look busy. Meanwhile, Beidhen and Revin had quietly slipped away into the kitchen corridor, nowhere to be found.
Leansei once again felt a violent, rapid thud smash against his ribs. His heart beat so frantically it felt as though it were desperately trying to bounce right off his chest cavity. A cold layer of sweat broke across his palms, and a heavy, suffocatingly awkward silence settled over the small space between the two of them.
Xerchin methodically unscrewed a bottle of Betadine, pulling a fresh cotton bud from the plastic tray. He slowly leaned his broad torso forward, bringing his hands closer to Leansei's face.
Panicking at the sudden proximity, Leansei instinctively tilted his head back against the sofa. Xerchin froze mid-motion, his piercing light brown eyes locking directly onto Leansei's pupils.
"Don't move. I promise you this won't hurt at all," Xerchin whispered, his baritone voice dropping into that soft, devastatingly dashing frequency Leansei had been desperately trying to erase from his mind.
' Th-that is status-confirmed not the issue here! The issue is your face! It is entirely too close! ' Leansei's mind reeled in a defensive frenzy.
Leansei sharply looked away toward the far wall, his ears turning a bright, burning shade of crimson as Xerchin's high-end, intoxicating perfume scent flooded his senses. He could catch the crisp aroma of fresh mint from the athlete's breath, followed by a sharp, biting sting against his skin as Xerchin gently, delicately tapped the medicated cotton bud directly over the raw cut on his lip.
Leansei tightly sealed his lips, physically holding his breath to stop himself from getting addicted to or missing the comforting perfume of the boy sitting beside him. He remained perfectly still until Xerchin finally pulled his hands back, signaling the treatment was complete. Leansei let out a long, ragged breath, desperately trying to calm the rapid, erratic hammer of his heart.
"Thank you for worrying about me... but I'm completely alright now. I feel perfectly fine," Leansei announced loudly to the room, trying his best to assure the group. The friends looked up, and seeing his stern expression, they realized they couldn't argue further, choosing to let him say and do whatever he pleased.
"The night is getting late, so you guys can head home now—" Leansei started to say, but the words died squarely in his throat. A sudden, freezing wave of panic hit his chest as he remembered the dark street ambush.
' Master M's goons... those idiots could easily still be tailing this building from the shadows. ' It would be a massive security vulnerability for his friends to leave the complex alone at this hour; he absolutely refused to let them get involved in a lethal underground conflict.
"Actually... why don't you guys just stay here tonight and, y-you know... have a sleepover?" Leansei blurted out smoothly, trying his best to play it cool. "It's much safer to just head back to campus early in the morning together."
"Are you absolutely serious right now, Kean?! We can actually stay?!" Corshe gasped in pure, startled excitement, his face lighting up.
"Yeah," Leansei nodded firmly. He knew there was zero chance of taking the invitation back now, especially since Corshe looked like his entire existence was riding on this overnight event.
"Awesome! Hey, can we order some premium beer and drink?—" Beidhen's rowdy suggestion was cut violently short as Corshe aggressively hurled the plush sofa pillow—the one he had been tightly hugging since he arrived—straight into Beidhen's handsome face.
"Absolutely not!" Xeilin and Corshe shouted in perfect, synchronized fury.
"Okay, okay! Chill out, you guys," Beidhen laughed loudly, raising his hands in defeat as he tossed the pillow back onto the couch.
"Uh, hello? Excuse me, but I am the only girl in this condo tonight," Perial interjected, resting her hands on her hips with a sassy look.
Corshe's eyes suddenly widened, twinkling with an intense, overwhelming wave of recognition as he stared at her. "Wait... hold on a second! Are you... are you actually the famous high-fashion model and rising star from the networks?!"
"And you're one of the VIP guest on the Xeloshi Show, correct?" Xeilin asked excitedly. Beside Perial, Rell merely cast a quiet, amused glance toward him.
Perial's features softened into a sweet, flawless celebrity smile, and she offered them a graceful nod. "Yes, I am!"
"This is absolutely amazing! Kean, I had zero clue you actually possessed an elite celebrity friend in your inner circle!" Corshe cheered, high-fiving Xeilin.
"Hey, what about me? I am just as amazing and charismatic as she is—" Rell tried to brag, but before he could finish the sentence, Perial snatched another pillow and threw it squarely into his chest.
"That was only for a single season, Rell!" she exclaimed, her face flushing as the others laughed.
Leansei slowly shook his head, a genuine, quiet smile touching his treated lips. The lively bickering filled the luxury penthouse with an incredible layer of vibrant warmth; it felt absolutely amazing to be surrounded by this kind of genuine energy.
"Anyway, you guys can divide yourselves among the rooms," Leansei instructed, gesturing broadly toward the short hallway. "Perial, you can claim the guest suite you usually use. The other primary bedroom which is mine, and we can easily arrange the extra bedding across the main living room floor panels." Perial nodded with approval, immediately turning on her heel to call her staff to coordinate her schedule for tomorrow.
"Count me completely in!" Rell cheered, throwing his jacket onto a chair.
"I'll quickly call my mom to inform her," Xeilin said, stepping out toward the front door to find a quiet space to talk, and Corshe bounded after her, pulling out his own device with pure excitement.
Meanwhile, across the kitchen counter, Revin remained completely silent, his head lowered as his fingers flew aggressively across his phone screen. Beidhen loitered nearby, leaning casually against the marble island, looking thoroughly relaxed as his eyes remained intensely, unmovingly pinned to Revin's profile. In the adjacent dining room alcove, Xerchin was pacing back and forth, a phone pressed firmly against his ear as he spoke in a low, hushed tone.
' Is he... is he actively calling to ask permission from Seleigh right now? ' Leansei thought, a sudden, bitter knot tightening behind his ribs. ' Wait... why on earth do I even care who he is calling? '
He aggressively shook his head to banish the thought.Leansei shifted his weight, turning a dry glance toward the kitchen island. "Aren't you planning to ask for family permission to stay out late too, Beidhen?" Beidhen slowly turned his head, casting a brief glance toward his older brother in the dining room before throwing Leansei a thoroughly annoying, wicked smirk.
"Xerchin is already securing the administrative permission for both of us right now, Prince. Besides... I know all too well that you badly want an excuse to spend more time with me tonight." Beidhen added, his eyes subtly darting back to Revin, who was still entirely absorbed in his typing.
Leansei frowned, his mind scrambling to process the chaotic signals. He couldn't decipher whether Beidhen was just throwing out his usual arrogant teasing, or if the delinquent was genuinely looking deadly gorgeous because his focus had been locked on Revin the entire evening.
' He is so incredibly annoying... but wait—why on earth is he constantly staring at Revin like that? Is there genuinely something complex going on between those two? No way... that's impossible, right? ' Lost in the romantic riddle, Leansei's gaze drifted back toward the dining room—and the timing was absolute perfection. Xerchin had just lowered his phone, turning his head around to face the living room.Their eyes locked in a sudden, frozen beat.
Leansei felt an immediate, exceptionally deep thud explode against his ribs, a powerful rhythm flowing directly into his chest cavity. Looking across the space, he couldn't deny the factual reality: under the soft interior lighting of the penthouse, Xerchin possessed an undeniably attractive and dashing look as usual.
The electrifying eye contact was abruptly shattered as the front door clicked open. Corshe bounded back into the room with pure joy, followed closely by Xeilin and Rell, their faces painted with bright, relieved smiles.
"The permission is officially granted!" Corshe cheered, throwing his arms into the air.
"Me too," Xeilin affirmed happily.
"Alright, let's get this legendary overnight sleepover officially started!" Corshe yelled hyperly, running toward the sofa.
Leansei slowly shook his head, a mixture of intense nervousness and pure excitement twisting inside his stomach. In his previous life, he had never once been permitted to experience a real overnight sleepover with peers; everything about this night felt completely foreign yet beautifully intoxicating.
As the hours ticked away into the midnight block, the ambient noise of laughter, clinking glasses, and chaotic campus gossip filled the penthouse. The overnight sanctuary had officially commenced. Under the safety of the locked doors, the metaphorical flowers of their youth began to bloom, and fresh, unmalicious bonds came to arise and shine beautifully under the moonlight. But outside the high-rise glass, the dark reality of the city remained unyielding. For some of the roses trapped within the timeline, the obstacles and hidden threats of the coming week meant they wouldn't be permitted to bloom as easily as the others.