Page 30 of Saint

His sister had heard about their fourth and called him to ask about it just last week, and Yejun had confirmed he’d fallen for Nix. She’d congratulated him, but warned him about their parents plans. He’d ended the call shortly after to avoid discussing it further.

Yerin had accepted the match organized by their mother with another prominent family in the art scene.

Yejun had no intentions of doing so, especially not now.

He was mostly trying not to overthink it, since as soon as Lake took the throne, it would no longer be a concern. His parents might be able to speak up against them now, but they wouldn’t be able to say shit to the Emperor.

The door clicked a second before Lake appeared, and Yejun nodded at him in greeting.

“Gotta go, Beck.” He ended the call and pulled the earbud out, remaining by the desk as everyone poured into the room, paying extra care to Nix when he entered.

Nix was dressed casually, in dark gray jeans and a red polo at least a size too big for him.

Yejun was pretty sure it belonged to West, but he wasn’t all that interested in Nix’s clothing choices. He was trying to decide if the others had told Nix what they were all doing here, and how Nix felt about that.

The Firebird must have been taking pointers from Lake and Beck though, because it was impossible to tell based on his expression alone.

Didn’t help that Nix was also refusing to make eye contact with him.

“Is this it?” Lake picked up the envelope from the desk, then placed it back down and keyed in the code for the top right drawer of the desk. He pulled out a holo-pad and started setting up.

“Yeah, minus one page. No big. I’ve got it figured.” Yejun turned to Nix. “Are you ready for this?”

“Not like he has a choice,” Lake clipped, motioning for Yejun to move out of the way before he placed the holo-pad on the surface of the desk and pulled the paperwork out. He shifted through it, separating the documents so the pages they needed to sign weren’t mixed in with Nix’s, and then set that down as well. “Come here, Songbird.”

Nix didn’t hesitate, moving over and taking the pen Lake offered him. “This is it?” he asked as he bent and dutifully signed his name to all the places Lake pointed, not even bothering to read the contract himself. “I was expecting something…more.”

“You watched it last night,” West reminded. “Juri signed a bunch of bullshit, swore an oath, and that was it.”

“Club Essential likes to think of themselves as god-like, but really they’re just another elite business club. The paperwork is legally binding, and the final test…” Lake paused.

“Oh, I already know what I want to film,” Nix said, moving on from the physical copies to the holo-pad.

“You do?” Yejun frowned and looked at West, but his friend didn’t seem to have any clue either. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I’m sure I speak for us all when I say we aren’t afraid to submit a blank tape.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Nix scrawled his name one final time and then held it out for Lake. But when the Imperial reached for it, he snatched it back, gaze hardening. “Not so fast.”

Lake’s spine straightened, pursing his lips when Nix waved him to the side, urging him to step out from behind the desk and swap places with him. “What are you doing, Songbird?”

“I told you.” He took the empty spot just vacated so he was facing them all. “I know what I want.”

“And what is that, exactly?” West drawled, crossing his arms as they all waited for the answer.

“You,” Nix pointed a finger at Lake, and then moved his arm until he was aimed at Yejun’s heart, “and you.” He removed his multi-slate and held it up, the camera facing them. “I’m going to film you fooling around.”

Yejun blinked, certain he’d misheard, although, judging from the way the others looked every bit as shocked as he felt, he probably hadn’t.

“What?” West broke the silence first.

“You heard me,” Nix said. “I want them to touch each other.”

“Nixie.”

“Don’t play dumb,” he stopped him. “You’re smart, West. If you give it a minute’s thought, you’ll figure out exactly why I want this.”

West might be able to, but Yejun knew he had no chance and wasn’t even going to try.

“Why?” he asked, feeling an electric current race through his body when Nix finally set those brown eyes on him.

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