Page 29 of Saint

“I’ve got it all,” Yejun replied, hitting the button that would take him up to the fourth level. He’d lost track of time at his studio and had texted the older guy asking if he was anywhere near the Club House. Beck had come through and picked up all of the documents they needed, handing them off to him on campus since he was scheduled for an afternoon class anyway. “Thanks again.”

Beck had called him because he’d realized he’d forgotten to hand over one of the copies, but it wasn’t important enough for Yejun to turn around and get it, or tell the others to make a stop themselves.

Since they’d claimed Nix as their fourth, they each needed to sign a specific form. He still had three with him, so he’d just wait on signing his and submit it later. No big deal.

“Actually,” Beck said as the elevator came to a stop and Yejun stepped out into the hallway, “I’m planning on being at West’s match tomorrow night. How about I hand it off to him then?”

Yejun shook his head. “You really have to get over this crush, man. I wasn’t going to say anything since our talk at the hospital but—”

“I know.” Seeing as how Beck had grown up the same way Lake had, he was also good at masking his emotions when he wanted to, so it was hard to tell if the guy felt sad or not. “I missed my chance. If I hadn’t known before, last night would have opened my eyes to the truth.”

Last night, when West had stuck to Nix’s side like a protective bodyguard. Any chance he’d had to touch the Firebird, he’d taken, smirking at anyone who dared allow their gaze to linger on their fourth a little too long.

Not the reaction Yejun would have had in his place, but then, the two of them were very different.

Yejun was realizing that he was far more possessive than he’d ever considered himself to be.

West, however, seemed to have enjoyed the attention. He clearly got off on flaunting Nix, waving in the members’ faces that he was claimed and untouchable. He’d figured out what Lake and June already knew.

Nix was special. Worth protecting.

And Yejun had royally fucked up.

He entered the office and shut the door behind him with a bit more force than necessary, going straight for the desk to the far left, where he dropped the paperwork. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Beck replied. “Especially since you only partially mean that.”

Yejun grinned and shrugged even though the other guy couldn’t see, spinning around to perch on the edge of the desk as he waited. “What can I say, Nix is a good guy.”

“Yes, he is.”

“I’m glad that he’s ours.” Even if that meant Beck had his heart broken in the process. He liked the older man and all, but it wasn’t like it was Yejun’s fault Beck had never grown a pair and confessed to West. “Since you’ve already come to terms with it being over—”

“It never really started,” Beck reminded, but Yejun grunted.

“Yeah, yeah. Can I ask you something?”

He sighed. “You’re wondering why I never told West how I felt.”

“It just doesn’t seem very like you, to back off when you want something.” Although, now that Yejun was thinking about it… “Actually. When was the last time you actually even wanted something?”

What Yejun meant was it didn’t seem like a former Demon to give up on something they wanted, but when he stopped to really consider it, Beck was different from the rest of them.

“Can I tell you truthfully?” Beck surprised him by saying.

“That’d be preferable.”

“Getting turned down by one of the current Demons would only get a laugh out of my father. That is the opposite of what I want.”

Beck was always thinking up ways he could screw Hendrix over, Yejun knew that, but still…

“Take it from someone who also has controlling parents,” he said, “don’t base every decision you make off of how they’ll react. Sometimes it’s worth just taking your own happiness into consideration.”

“Have you spoken to yours about Nix yet?”

He clicked his tongue. “Just my sister. Briefly.”

Yerin was the original owner of this building and several years his senior. She was currently running the Starlight Museum of Modern Art on the other side of the planet, and only made a few trips back home, usually for major Essential events. Due to the age gap, they were never extremely close growing up, but as they got older, they’d developed somewhat of a friendship.

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