Icing on the Cake Chapter 22

“Should I kill him?”

Yuri considered the knife hidden in his sleeve, weighing his options. The man had clearly fired a gun at Cheriot—an unmistakable intent to kill.

But…

This wasn’t the kind of thing Cheriot wanted. He’d come to Alexei precisely to prevent unnecessary violence.

If he let this man live, others would soon follow. He’d seen Yuri’s face too—he’d testify. That would put constraints on Yuri’s actions in protecting Cheriot. Someone would recognize him.

Through long experience, Yuri knew well that fleeing while keeping someone alive was far more difficult than killing them. Especially when the opponent was someone who didn’t hesitate to shoot, the risk multiplied. It wasn’t about him getting hurt—the problem was that the people he spared never repaid the favor.

While Yuri deliberated, the man finally lost consciousness. Slowly releasing the pressure from his arms, the man slumped to the floor with a dull thud. Swallowing a ragged breath behind his lips, Yuri stared down at him for a moment, then searched his pockets just as he’d done in the room, finding and pocketing the man’s phone.

Without so much as glancing at the CCTV camera above his head, Yuri removed only the magazine from the gun on the floor and kicked it into the corner. He didn’t want to give them any unnecessary ammunition when the police came to investigate.

A few seconds later, the elevator arrived at the lobby. Swallowing his exhaustion, Yuri straightened his posture, wary of whoever might be beyond the doors. As they slid open, there stood the tourist couple he’d encountered earlier. From the bags in their hands, they seemed to have made a trip to the nearby 7-Eleven.

“…Huh?”

The man and woman jumped back in surprise. Yuri gave them a brief glance, then slowly picked up the suitcase lying scattered on the floor. Stepping over the fallen man as he exited, he offered them some advice.

“You should call the police. He was drunk and causing a disturbance.”

Since a gun had been fired in a high-end hotel anyway, the police would have to be called. Better to have it done by uninvolved parties—Yuri decided to use them. The startled couple dashed toward the reception desk, steering clear of him.

Meanwhile, the other elevator doors opened. The moment Yuri spotted Cheriot stepping out with urgent movements, he felt a wave of relief. At least he had enough sense to follow rather than bolt down another route.

“What the hell was that?”

Cheriot whispered, closing the distance quickly.

“Exactly what you saw. We don’t have time for this here. We need to leave now.”

“I get that, I get it, but…”

Yuri grabbed Cheriot with his free hand. The moment he applied force, a burning heat seared through his upper arm. A familiar sensation—this was what it felt like when a bullet grazed you. He’d thought he’d dodged it, but the man’s shot must have nicked him.

As they half-ran through the lobby, the couple who’d been talking to the reception staff turned and seemed to say something. The woman had gotten her wish to spot Cheriot, but given the circumstances, she didn’t seem to have the presence of mind to care who he was.

Hurrying their pace, Yuri exited the hotel, cut through an alley, and reached the parked car. He quickly opened the back door to toss in the suitcase, then opened the passenger door. Cheriot climbed in immediately, and Yuri started the engine as soon as he’d closed the driver’s door.

Neither Yuri nor Cheriot spoke for a while. Yuri drove aimlessly, maintaining an inconspicuous speed. Deciding that heading north on Highway 1 was the right call, he drove east for now. After nearly an hour of driving in silence, the city had disappeared and a landscape of nothing but forest began to unfold.

Constantly checking the rearview mirror for any tailing vehicles, Yuri finally allowed himself to breathe a little easier. No one was following. It seemed the men who’d come to the hotel were all there was for now, and even if a report had been filed, the police would prioritize arresting the armed suspect caught in the act—buying them time. There were no cameras in the hallways, and if only the elevator footage was checked, Cheriot’s presence wouldn’t necessarily be exposed.

“Did you avoid the elevator CCTV?”

As long as he hadn’t looked directly at it himself.

“What?”

Cheriot, who’d been silent the whole time, finally spoke. Yuri gave him a brief glance—he seemed unharmed.

“I asked if you looked up in the elevator.”

“…No. I’m on the run, aren’t I? I know how to avoid cameras.”

Following Yuri’s gaze, Cheriot turned his head toward him as well. The green eyes that had been perpetually filled with distaste ever since Yuri had revealed his identity had returned to something gentler, like when they’d first met. Perhaps even a little frightened, a little uneasy. That was understandable—this wasn’t something an ordinary person would ever experience.

Yuri didn’t really know what to explain first, since he didn’t have much information himself. Then Cheriot furrowed his brow. Startled by the sudden change in expression, Yuri paused. What’s bothering him now? But before he could finish the thought, Cheriot leaned his upper body close.

Is he going to hit me?

People thrown into shitty situations like this often acted irrationally. And to be fair, Yuri bore some responsibility too—if he’d properly controlled Cheriot from the start, no one would have posted his location on social media.

But what came out of Cheriot’s mouth was completely unexpected.

“You’re hurt, aren’t you?”

Before Yuri could react, Cheriot’s hand touched his cheekbone. As warm body heat spread over his chilled face, the throbbing pain belatedly rose to the surface. But Yuri was startled not by the pain, but by the warmth—he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

It had been a long, long time since anyone had touched him like this. Since his mother, who used to stroke him in the distant past, had passed away, no one had ever touched him this way.

…Alphas sure do some embarrassing things to each other.

To Yuri, having his face touched was an excessively intimate act. Something even family members rarely did—a stranger had just done it to him. The warmth definitely brought a certain sense of relief, but the feeling itself was so foreign that his body stiffened. Yuri subtly turned his head, naturally dislodging Cheriot’s hand.

“Don’t make a fuss.”

In Yuri’s book, “injured” meant serious wounds. If he could sit and drive without issue, it was far from serious—he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Get some sleep. We’ve got a long way to go.”

Consciously releasing the tension in his hands gripping the steering wheel, Yuri tried to focus ahead. But Cheriot wouldn’t let him go.

“The passenger is supposed to sleep, not the driver.”

With that retort, Cheriot unbuckled his seatbelt. Turning on the interior light, he looked at Yuri’s face illuminated in the glow and exclaimed in shock.

“What the hell happened to your face? Pull over. Pull over now.”

The hand he’d just shaken off reached out again, this time gripping Yuri’s chin. The grip was too strong to ignore—Yuri frowned. As he’d noticed earlier, Cheriot was deceptively strong for his delicate appearance. Thinking that he might actually lose in sheer physical power, Yuri twisted his chin away.

“Stop bothering me and let go.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you saw your own face.”

Cheriot pressed his fingers near Yuri’s cheekbone. A dull pain radiated through the thin skin beneath his touch, making Yuri narrow his eyes.

“See? You’re in pain.”

Even without checking, he knew the area he’d been hit had bruised and discolored. There were no cuts, so it seemed like an overreaction—but at this rate, they might have an accident, so Yuri decided to pull over.

“Fine, let go. I’ll stop when we reach a shoulder.”

Highway 1 had almost no shoulders, mostly consisting of roads carved through steep mountains. Cheriot pulled back with a displeased expression, crossed his arms, and began staring at Yuri with unblinking intensity. The piercing gaze kept nagging at him, so Yuri drove for another five minutes before pulling into a clearing to stop the car.