Icing on the Cake Chapter 7

Answering a question no one had asked, Cheriot winked his right eye at Yuri. A brief flicker of displeasure crossed Yuri’s white brow, which had returned to an expressionless state. Just as he was regaining his composure, his pheromones rippled at the sudden irritation. Sensing it, the other two turned their gazes toward Yuri.

“Surely a wink isn’t forbidden too?”

“Alphas who enjoy being winked at by other alphas aren’t exactly common.”

Alexei answered on Yuri’s behalf.

“Even if it’s by an alpha this handsome?”

Alexei responded to the brazen retort with a dismissive silence, then continued his explanation.

“According to Heather, the client is in considerable danger. He’s made a rather large group his enemy, and his life is supposedly at risk.”

With a face that looked nothing like someone in danger, Cheriot nodded.

“That’s right. So I was looking for someone to resolve this situation. Heather heard about my need for a capable fixer and introduced me to you.”

Hmm. Leaning back against the chair with his weight, Alexei crossed his arms and asked.

“Wouldn’t this be something you could take to the police? If anything, being a celebrity would get it handled even better, wouldn’t it? Or you could expose it to the media.”

“There are complicated circumstances with that…”

Cheriot leaned his upper body toward the table and propped his chin on his hand. Tapping his cheek with his long, white fingers, he spoke.

“I have a trust. The conditions are strict, so I haven’t inherited it yet, and one of those conditions is not creating any scandals. To be precise, scandals that ’cause social trouble and bring disgrace to the family name.'”

A trust, he said.

Having never taken an interest in celebrities’ private lives, Yuri naturally hadn’t known that Cheriot Gutnight came from a family with separate assets to inherit. The concept of a trust, which he’d only ever heard of in movies or books, made Yuri realize once again that this man was fundamentally alien—someone who would never have crossed paths with his own life. It would have been better if they had lived without meeting, each behind invisible yet clearly erected walls, but somehow such a being had set foot near this gutter.

Well. Come to think of it, it wasn’t that strange. Alexei was no longer in a situation like his own. He had an occupation he chose willingly, and his inherently good-natured friend was expanding his standing with outstanding skills. So this was bound to happen someday. The only problem was that Yuri himself was caught up in it.

“However, if I were to ask the police for help, it might lead to a situation where I end up violating that condition. If I have to explain to the police why this happened, the news will inevitably get out. Even just going to the police station would have paparazzi on my tail.”

While Yuri was lost in thought, Cheriot continued his explanation. At the somewhat vague explanation, Alexei raised one eyebrow.

“Does that mean you’ve done something that ’causes social trouble’?”

After a moment’s silence, Cheriot put on the same innocent young man’s expression he’d shown earlier. It was the face of a big, puppy-like creature.

“I swear, I had no idea.”

“This isn’t giving me a good feeling.”

“Truly. If I had done something truly foul, someone as righteous as Heather wouldn’t have introduced me.”

Heather, their acquaintance, was a journalist who exposed corruption and crime, someone who bravely dug into cases even when her own life was at risk. Given her upright character, she probably wouldn’t have brought a genuinely bad person, but somehow Cheriot’s words made the listener quite uneasy. Yuri, who had been listening silently, opened his mouth.

“Explain.”

The quiet words landed heavily. It was a voice threatening enough to make most people flinch, but Cheriot turned his head to look at Yuri. Seeming pleased that Yuri had spoken to him, he curled the corners of his mouth slightly and finally revealed why he had come here.

“Please listen without prejudice. So… the person I’d been seeing for a few months turned out to be the lover of the head of a notorious criminal organization in British Columbia. In other words, I was having an affair with a criminal’s partner.”

Trash.

Not someone utterly beyond association, but not of good quality either. Even Heather couldn’t always meet only decent people. Yuri assessed it calmly, then glanced sideways at the old alarm clock on the table. Realizing he had wasted the preceding 20 minutes listening to this useless story, he suddenly felt hungry. Come to think of it, he hadn’t eaten anything all day.

“The other person told me this over the phone just the other day. While confessing the truth, they said their lover had put people out to kill me. In fact, even before coming here today, it was dangerous. I went out for a quick jog, and when I came back, there were several men in the apartment lobby who looked like obvious criminals. That’s why I ran out without even grabbing bus fare.”

Alexei, who had been listening with a deeply furrowed brow, uncrossed his arms. Having similar thoughts to Yuri, he too checked the time and then answered Cheriot in a grim tone he hadn’t used in a while.

“I understand it’s a dangerous situation. But… we help people in genuine distress, not clean up the mess from your own stupid mistakes. It’s unfortunate about the trust, but you’ve made plenty of money from your playing career—how about being content with that?”

Fortunately, Alexei seemed to have judged that this job wasn’t worth taking on as well. Relieved, Yuri was about to rise from his seat and prepare to send Cheriot out, when a voice, cold and subdued unlike before, rang out.

“I’m not trying to protect the trust for the money.”

His white face, completely devoid of smile, stared straight at Yuri and Alexei. The gentle, sparkling green eyes had turned cold, like an evergreen tree in a biting wind. Following his subdued voice, Cheriot’s pheromones, which had been faintly surrounding them, surged aggressively. The scent, which had only been vaguely present due to the suppressant, rapidly grew thick and intense.

Displeasure, old anger, heavy emotions ill-suited to the man’s appearance—all churned together in the pheromones. It felt like the scent of rain-soaked wind, the kind one might smell in a stormy forest. Cheriot, having erased his smile, carried a quiet, overwhelming presence like a beast standing firm in a gale.

The unexpected side of the man they had only seen as frivolous cast a tension over the living room. His primal alpha wariness sharpened, and Yuri’s expression hardened as well. His blue eyes beneath thick brows fixed on Cheriot, ready to strike at any moment. Alexei also uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on the table, poised to respond to any contingency.

For a few seconds, a quiet silence held at that neither-late-nor-early evening. It was Cheriot, who had initiated this situation, that finally eased the acute tension. Slowly leaning his upper body back against the chair, he softened his icy expression and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

“So how about cutting me some slack, considering I have my own circumstances too? I’ll guarantee a satisfactory success fee. Like Alexei said, aside from the trust, I have plenty of money from my playing career.”

As Cheriot’s expression relaxed, the thick pheromones that had filled the room also gradually subsided. He had seemed to come here thoughtlessly, acting foolishly, but it appeared he had his own story. Not that it would dramatically change Yuri’s assessment of the young celebrity.

…Still, it would be better to hear the story through to the end.

Recalling the saying that no one lives without a story, Yuri reflected on having judged the man too narrowly. Though the man himself wasn’t entirely blameless for leaving that impression.

“Hmm.”

Alexei began, then glanced aside. When their eyes met, his friend jerked his chin toward Cheriot as if asking for Yuri’s opinion. Yuri nodded.

“Let’s hear it all the way through and then decide. But why did you come to us? With a good fee, there are plenty of people who’d handle anything.”

Alexei asked, as if genuinely puzzled, and Yuri felt the same. Hearing that, Cheriot grinned and answered.

“Heather said you were good people.”

Yuri squinted at the unexpected reply.