“ I leave the young master in your hands for one night and you manage to almost get him killed?!” Grey fumed as he nervously paced around the hallway. 

 

    “I-I am sorry, Grey. I was taking Atlas to safety and when I came back he was nowhere to be found!” Ryan tried to defend himself, looking as guilty as possible.

 

     “And what about you??” Grey turned his anger towards Lay who was sitting on one of the chairs in the waiting room, his head leaned against the wall behind him. He received quite a few blows and the raging headache was only getting worse with all the noise Grey made. 

 

      Ignoring how Grey absolutely dropped his usual politeness, Lay let out a deep sigh and said, “I was as busy as everyone else trying to fight off the bastards. Kai was with me the whole time and then we got separated. I found him only after the situation got calmer but I already reported it to you, Grey,” he explained, trying to be as patient as he possibly could as he wanted to be considerate of the situation. 

 

     Grey was obviously gravely worried about Kai who was currently in the emergency room with the doctors. 

 

     “Didn’t he say it was just a scratch??” Atlas who was just silently observing the situation the whole time finally spoke up, earning a menacing glare from all three of them. 

    “Of course he would say that,” Ryan retorted and rubbed his face in frustration, his knuckles bruised and bleeding. He got his portion of fighting when he was trying to make his way through the club searching for Kai. “He always makes light of things.”

 

     “You speak as if you know him better than anyone else,” Lay pointed out bitterly, not able to keep his mouth shut. 

 

    “I definitely know him better than you,” Ryan hissed without caring that Lay is basically his superior. 

 

     “I wonder how you came to that conclusion,” Lay scoffed as he folded his arms, face filled with arrogance. 

 

    “Am I missing something here?” Atlas raised his eyebrows when he caught wind of the new drama unfolding.

 

    “Shut up, Atlas,” they both snapped in unison. 

 

     Grey let out a frustrated groan as he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, mumbling something under his breath.

 

       “Why are you even here, huh?” Ryan refused to let go of the matter as he pierced Lay with his eyes full of rage. 

 

     “Probably because I care about, Kai,” Lay replied with a stern expression. 

 

    “And can we talk about why he keeps calling him by that weird nickname?!” Ryan threw his hands in the air. “How come he knows that?”

 

     “Ryan has a point,” Atlas agreed and turned to Lay with a curious look. “Why do you call Caelum by that weird name?” 

 

     “As far as I know he came up with that when he was in hiding so how is it possible that you know about it??” Ryan pressed.

 

    “And why do the two of you seem so close?” Atlas added another question that was like a nail being pierced through Lay’s head. 

 

    He took a deep breath and got ready to defend himself when the door of the emergency room flew open and the doctor came out, cutting off the heated conversation.

 

    “Doctor! How is he?” Grey rushed to the doctor hastily. 

 

    “He’s stabilized now. He lost a lot of blood so he had to get a transfusion, but apart from that we stitched his wound up and he just needs to rest,” the doctor explained. “Don’t worry though, he’s going to be alright,” he assured them when he saw their concerned expressions.  

 

     “Can we go see him?” Lay stood up from the chair with hopeful eyes. 

 

     “He’s still unconscious and as I said he needs to rest. It would be better if all of you went home and came back in the morning,” the doctor stated before he excused himself and left to tend to another patient. 

 

     Grey let out a sigh of relief as he watched the doctor walk away before he turned to Ryan. “Escort Master Atlas and Mr. Sullivan back. I will stay here to watch over him,” he ordered with a stern tone, not allowing any objections.

 

    “I’ll be back tomorrow morning,” Lay announced and without further ado turned on his heel and left on his own. 

 

     “Something is definitely going on,” Atlas murmured as he shook his head. 

 

     “Please let me know when he wakes up,” Ryan pleaded with Grey, his eyes still filled with guilt. 

 

    “Of course. Now go and get some sleep, both of you,” Grey demanded with a firm expression although his eyes were more warm now that he was assured that his young master was going to be okay. 

 

    Ryan nodded and with a last glance towards the emergency room door he headed out of the hospital together with Atlas following his steps. 

 

    “And now to the more horrifying task of the night,” Grey mumbled to himself and pulled his phone out of the pocket of his pants. 

*** 

    The next morning Kai finally pried his eyes open and was immediately welcomed with a bright light that caused him to whimper in discomfort as he shielded his face with his hand. That was when he noticed the tube that was inserted in a vein on his forearm. As he blinked, trying to get used to the brightness of the room, he scanned his surroundings with his wary gaze and realized he was in a hospital room. 

 

    “Good morning, young master.” A sudden voice echoed through the room, causing him to wince in surprise but he relaxed as he saw Grey who was sitting on a nearby sofa.

 

    “You look rough,” Kai noted when he noticed Grey’s pitiful state that was far from his usual neat look. His suit jacket was tossed on the armrest of the sofa and his tie was loose while a couple of the top buttons on his shirt were undone. The glasses were laid on the conference table so Kai was able to see the fatigue set deep in his eyes underlined with dark circles and his exhausted state was topped with his ruffled hair that was usually carefully styled.

 

    “Same goes to you, young master,” Grey returned the teasing remark but soon his face grew more serious. “How do you feel?” 

 

     “Like I finally got some proper rest,” Kai chuckled and attempted to sit up so he could reach for the glass of water on his nightstand but hissed in pain when the wound on his stomach immediately responded to the sudden movement. What were the odds that he got stabbed to his already bruised side so it only doubled the pain he felt with even the slightest movement.

 

     “Please lay down, young master,” Grey reprimanded him as he stood up and helped Kai to drink. “Be careful of your stitches.”

 

      “That will leave a nasty scar, huh?” 

 

    “I think that’s the least of your concerns, young master,” Grey noted and pulled out his phone that announced a new message. 

 

    Kai only furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but didn’t get the chance to ask for elaboration when he heard the sound of someone’s footsteps approaching. 

 

      “Good morning, sunshine.” Lay entered the room with a dashing smile although it didn’t quite reach his eyes that were filled with exhaustion and concern. “Hope you got enough of your beauty sleep ‘cause we are in for a shit storm,” he commented as he took a seat on a chair next to the bed and sipped from his black coffee that he got from a vending machine in the hallway. Despite Grey’s objection’s,  Lay ended up coming back early in the morning to wait with him until Kai wakes up. 

 

    “What do you mean?” Kai tilted his head and raised his questioning gaze to Grey who was still focused on the screen of his phone. 

 

    “We got our cover blown,” Lay replied with a shrug, trying to seem as nonchalant as ever but he shifted uncomfortably when Grey shot him a quick glare. 

 

     “Not like you were trying to hide it in the first place,” Grey murmured but didn’t seem too concerned about what Lay was saying. “He’s here,” he sighed and shoved the phone back into his pocket. “Excuse me for a moment, young master. I’ll be right back.”

 

     Kai wanted to object but he was left staring at the empty space where Grey stood just a moment ago as he heard the sound of closing door, signalling he will have to wait for his answers. 

 

     “So what happened?” Kai again turned to Lay, fidgeting with his hands nervously. 

 

    “Well after you got injured and scared the shit out of everyone, we rushed you to the ER,” Lay explained. 

 

    “Who’s we?” 

 

    “Me, Grey, Ryan and Atlas. So basically the whole team.”

 

    “Perfect,” Kai rubbed his face and took a deep breath. “I suppose you didn’t manage to keep your composure.”

 

    “Of course not! I was worried sick about you! You left a pool of blood under you, our secret relationship was the least of my concerns.” 

 

    “Our secret relationship,” Kai chuckled, amused by the way that description sounded. “So I guess we have some explaining to do?”

 

    “You bet you have some explaining to do!” 

 

    Both Lay and Kai turned to look towards the door at the man who just barged into the hospital room, eyes blazing with anger. 

 

    “Ashton, please. You need to calm down that was completely unnecessary I-“ 

 

    Grey was hurriedly trying to hold back the tall man while he held one of his hands on his flushed cheek. 

 

     Kai, who was still partially in shock from the sudden reunion, was about to ask for an explanation but he didn’t get the chance when Ash closed the distance between him and Lay and swung his fist at him. 

 

    Lay let out a pained groan as his whole body turned under the force of Ash’s punch.

 

    “Grey, I owe you an apology. You definitely didn’t deserve the slap compared this fucker,” Ash growled with eyes filled with satisfaction as he watched the black haired man rubbing his jaw. 

 

    “You slapped Grey?” Kai’s eyes widened with shock. “Why??”

 

    “Because I told him I am going to kill him if you get hurt! And look at you! It’s not even a month since you left and you’re already laying in a hospital bed!”

 

     “It’s just a scratch,” Kai tried to ease his mind.

 

     “Just a scratch my ass!  Should I go and ask the doctor? You realize I am a doctor too, right?” Ash folded his arms as he pierced Kai with a warning stare, making it clear that he won’t be having any of that bullshit. 

 

    “The doctor said he’s going to be alright, Ashton. Young master just needs to rest,” Grey tried his luck with the man who was pacing around the room as he tried to calm down. 

 

     “How did this even happen?! And why the fuck is he here??” Ash gestured towards Lay who was still too stunned to speak and didn’t even dare to look at Kai’s best friend. 

 

     “Which question should I answer first?” Kai asked with a careful tone. 

 

     “Don’t try to be smart with me, you little shit.” Ash pointed at his friend with a threatening glare. 

 

    “I am just trying to-“

 

    “I don’t care, Kai! Just give me the answers before I punch you as well!” 

 

    “Hey! What’s going on here??” 

 

     All the eyes turned to Ryan who just entered the room with a flabbergasted expression as his confused gaze darted between the people present. 

 

     “Who wants to punch Caelum?” He asked with a frown. 

 

    “Just the person we needed here,” Lay muttered under his breath when he spotted the man he wished to see in a pool of blood after what he’s done to his precious Kai. 

 

     “And what are you doing here?” Ryan fumed when he heard the man speak and was about to make his way towards him but was stopped by Grey who grabbed him by his shoulder, shaking his head.

 

    “I think I have the right to be here,” Lay tried to defend himself, taking advantage of Ryan’s temporary restraint. 

 

    “You think?!”

 

    Ash was about to charge at Lay once again but halted when Ryan pointed at him and asked: 

 

    “Who even is he??”

 

    “Well excuse you.” Ash folded his arms as he glared at Ryan, displeased with the arrogant expression on the bodyguard's face. “Kai, don't you wanna keep your dog on a leash or something?”

 

    “How does some kind of an intruder dare to call me a dog?!” Ryan snapped and fought his way out of Grey’s grasp as he took a couple of quick steps towards Ash, stopping only a few feet away.

 

    “Who are you calling an intruder? I am his best friend!”

 

     The tension was rising and filled the air with suffocating pressure that was just a ticking bomb waiting to detonate. 

 

    “ENOUGH!” 

 

     All the people in the room jumped in surprise and turned to the young man laying on the hospital bed. 

 

     “All of you will either get the fuck out or keep your mouth shut! I am getting a headache from all the stupid noise,” Kai growled as he rubbed his temples with a deep frown forming on his forehead. 

 

     “My apologies, young master.” Grey, who was not even at fault, gave Kai an apologetic look. 

 

    “Sit down,” Kai ordered as he looked at each one of them with his eyes filled with irritation and watched them as they all took their seats. “Now before I start all the explaining, I feel like I should introduce you all-“ Kai gestured towards Ash first, “this is Ash, my best friend. He was the one who took me in when I was on the run.”

 

    Ash just gave them a small wave but he was far from being his usual enthusiastic self.

 

    “Ash, meet Ryan, my head bodyguard.” 

 

    “Don’t you wanna add a ‘useless’ head bodyguard?” Ash uttered sourly, earning a murderous glare from the man in question. 

 

     “Stop it, Ash,” Kai reprimanded his friend, followed by a deep sigh. “And I think all of you already know Talay here.” Kai nodded his head towards Lay, who sat next to the hospital bed with an unreadable expression. 

 

    “So that’s his real name?” Ash raised his eyebrows. “Talay?”

 

    “Wait, you know him?” Ryan frowned in confusion. 

 

    “I know him as Lay. The asshole who broke Kai’s heart,” Ash replied with a loathing tone. 

 

    Both Grey and Ryan blinked a few times, trying to process the new information that was just thrown in before they turned to Lay who just sat there in silence, lips tightly pressed together. 

 

    “Mr. Sullivan, what is the meaning of this?” Grey asked for an explanation. 

 

    “Mr. Sullivan,” Ash mocked Grey’s words childishly but averted his gaze when he was met with Kai’s disapproving look.

 

     Lay cleared his throat before he replied, “Me and Kai here have a history.”

 

    “That’s an understatement,” Ash sneered. 

 

    “Look, Ash. I know you’re pissed and you have every right to be but-“

 

    “Oh I don't need to have your permission to want to smash your face,” Ash retorted. 

 

    “ASH,” Kai once again called his friend’s name to point out his comments are unnecessary. 

 

    “Why are you even protecting him, Kai? Hm? Why is he here by your side when he left you behind already??” Ash demanded his answers, refusing to be the one reprimanded for the way he was behaving since he felt there was a clear reason behind his approach to the situation. 

 

    “He did what?” Ryan cut into the interrogation with raised eyebrows. 

 

     “Oh don’t act so offended by something you did as well,” Lay countered sharply. 

 

    “You told him about that??” Now it was Kai who was the victim of Ryan’s angered glare. 

 

    “About what?” Ash joined in, not appreciative of being left out. 

 

    “Grey, kick them all out,” Kai ordered his secretary, clearly done with the endless bickering as his headache intensified with each word. 

 

     “Yes, young master.” Grey stood up and gestured towards the door. “Please, gentlemen. Young master needs to rest.”

 

     “Don’t you dare to pull this card on me, Kai.” Ash refused to budge. 

 

    “Then fucking behave! I am through with your guys’ immature behavior. If you want to know what’s going on then sit down and keep your mouth shut,” Kai repeated with a chilling tone. 

 

       All of them recognized that Kai’s patience was wearing thin and so they all accepted their defeat and remained silent. 

 

     Kai waited for a moment in case someone would decide to start something again but when he saw how they patiently waited for him to speak, he let his tensed shoulders relax and began to come up with a proper explanation. 

 

     “I refuse to share the details of my history with Lay as it's no one’s business. All I will say is that we have a history and we decided to proceed with our relationship when we met after I came here.”

 

    “Wait, so it means you’re giving me a chance?” Lay turned to Kai with hopeful eyes. 

 

    “Wasn’t that clear already?” Kai raised his eyebrows.

 

    “I mean… it’s different when you actually say it out loud,” Lay pointed out, ignoring the shivers running down his spine caused by Ash’s piercing glare, the butterflies in his stomach were much more intense.

 

    “Well I am making it clear now,” Kai announced, not minding the looks the other’s were giving him. For once he decided to bet on his own heart in hopes he would find his happiness. 

 

     “You have no idea how happy I am right now,” Lay whispered softly and stood up from his chair only to move next to Kai onto the bed, giving him a gentle peck on the cheek. 

 

    “Save that for later,” Kai mumbled when he could no longer bear the way they were watched and cleared his throat. “Now that you got some clarity of what’s going on between me and Lay I might also explain what happened last night.”

 

    “I think I am going to be sick,” Ash mumbled under his breath.

 

     “I am with you on that,” Ryan agreed but shut his mouth when Kai gave him a warning look. “Sorry.”

 

    “Alright, I’m gonna let Kai off the hook for a second,” Ash let out a deep sigh and turned his attention to Grey. “I want an explanation from you, Grey.”

 

    “Yes, Ashton?”

 

     “Where were you when Kai got hurt?”

 

    “As I previously mention in the text, I was dealing with some business regarding master Cassius’ disappearance,” Grey replied obediently, not minding the accusing tone of Ash’s voice. He understood that Ash was only worried about his best friend’s well being and he had the right to point fingers at him since he was the one who promised to protect Kai at all costs. 

 

     “And you, Mr. Head bodyguard?” Ash looked at Ryan who seemed much less understanding and grimaced with clear offense. 

 

    “I was protecting master Atlas.”

 

    “Who’s that?” 

 

    “My cousin,” Kai answered Ash’s question.

 

    “You have a cousin too?” 

 

    “Trust me, you don’t want to meet him.” Lay smirked when he thought of the unhinged youngest member of the Villarreal family.

 

    “I don’t trust you an inch,” Ash hissed, still not willing to bury the hatchet.

 

     “Ash, I don’t need anyone’s protection, I was doing fine on my own,” Kai tried to defend himself.

 

     “Says the one in the hospital bed with a needle up your vein,” Ash grunted. 

 

    “Grey?” 

 

    “If you’re going to ask him to kick me out again, you should know I refuse to go anywhere ,” Ash cut in hurriedly. 

 

    “No, I wanted to ask what he got from the meeting with the Morgans,” Kai explained calmly.

 

    “Actually not much, young master,” Grey sighed. “But they did prove their innocence.” 

 

    “So we’re back to square one.” Kai ran a hand through his messy hair, clearly frustrated.

 

    “It’s impossible for him to vanish like that though,” Lay commented with a deep frown as he chewed on his bottom lip in thought. “There’s really no trace of him. My sister tried and wasn’t able to find anything either.” 

 

    Kai scanned the faces of everyone present without truly knowing what he was looking for in their expressions as they all seemed deep in thought, wearing signs of frustration and confusion at the same time. It seemed like no one was able to make sense of the situation. But his eyes stopped on Ryan who was just staring in the empty space in front of him, mindlessly fidgeting with his phone in his hands. 

 

    Kai observed his behavior as he commented, “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was just some kind of a stupid stunt that my brother came up with.” 

 

    “That’s impossible!” Grey immediately jumped from his seat, refusing the possibility that his master would do such thing. 

 

    But Ryan remained silent. He was showing no signs of wanting to immediately defend his boss and try to persuade him that he would never leave them in the dark like that.

 

    Lay stood up from the bed as he began to pace around the room, processing his thoughts. “It wouldn’t be the first time he would pull something like that. He’s not the most trustworthy person.” 

 

    “I think you’re crossing a line here, Sullivan,” Ryan thundered. 

 

    “Trust me I’ve known him long enough to know that he’s an asshole who doesn’t care about other people's feelings when he has a goal,” Lay thought out loud. “Hence the way he cut me off when he wanted to protect Kai after he came back from the boarding school.” 

 

    “Wait, you know his brother as well??” Ash asked, surprised how Lay was entangled with Kai’s life more than he would’ve ever expected. 

 

     “Of course we used to be best buddies,” Lay grinned. 

 

     Throughout this whole exchange, Ryan sat in silence with lips tightly pressed together, forming only a thin line with his fists tightly clenched and Kai didn’t let it slip that his behavior was quite peculiar. He could sense the tension that was building up inside of Ryan and just needed a little bit more to provoke him into losing his grip over his own emotions. 

 

    “Somehow I doubt Kai’s brother would waste his time with you,” Ash commented, unaware that he was only adding fuel to the fire. 

 

    Lay shot a glance at Kai as if he wanted to apologize for his previous comments but when he saw the direction Kai’s eyes were pointing, he also noticed Ryan’s state and they exchanged determined looks. After nodding, he let out a deep sigh and decided to play along with their unspoken plan, already regretting his next words.

 

    “More like I wasted my time with him.” Lay made a sour grimace. “The endless amount of energy I wasted on that friendship when he still ended up kicking me aside the moment I wasn’t needed. If Cassius Villarreal could be described in any way it would be a selfish and heartless man who doesn’t know the worth of people’s love.” 

 

     It was as if someone removed the pin of a grenade. Kai could almost hear the clicking sound in his ears as he watched Ryan’s expression turn dark and didn’t even notice when he managed to spring out of his seat. The next he saw was Ryan grabbing Lay by his collar and pushing him against the wall. 

 

    “Take that back, you bastard!” Ryan screamed into his face, his voice shaking with anger. 

 

     Kai felt a bit guilty that he let that whole situation play out but it was necessary for him to gather more hints for the theory that was slowly forming in his mind.