Patrick was speechless. "What the—"Sean simply pulled his arm along. "Come on. Rocktown is your turf—it's your turn to be host!""I never agreed to this!"Patrick was exasperated, but Sean was too strong and basically dragged him along.Moreover, since Sean could not check in at a hotel without an ID, Patrick had to let him stay in one of the apartments he owned.However, the instant they stepped through the front door, Sean asked, "I'm a little hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"Patrick almost had enough."It's almost 7 PM," Sean said nonetheless, pointing at the skies darkening outside. "I haven't eaten anything for a day."Patrick realized then that he had not eaten either, as he was caught in his misery.Sitting on the floor just then, he asked Sean, "What would you like to eat?""Anything's fine," Sean replied, stretching his back as he sat on the couch. "A little alcohol would be good, though."As Patrick looked up at him, Sean said, "No? It's been a tiring day. Dr
Patrick gritted his teeth and told himself not to get petty with Sean.Either way, he could make Sean leave tomorrow.With that, he started chomping down on the skewers and drank.-As the night stretched over the skies, the lights of the city lit up.Sean must have drunk a lot.Still, he was usually rational enough not to get drunk, and he stopped when he was about to reach his limit.He went outside to the balcony, standing where Patrick stood for a breather.Sean had never been to Rocktown, only ever coming on business trips and certainly not to gaze upon its sights properly like this.Somehow, he found it rather beautiful and enjoyed the touch of the breeze against his face as he took in the scenery. There was no telling how long had passed, and he felt a little cold as his drunkenness subsided.He turned to look through the sliding door that Patrick had already drunk himself silly and was sprawled over the table.He knew the man would get drunk tonight anyway but did
However, Patrick had not made it inside the bathroom for even a moment when Sean heard a violent crash.Stunned for a moment, he dashed inside immediately to find Patrick laying on his back, and motionless.Worried, Sean hurried to him in fear that he broke something, only to hear his regular, rhythmic breathing.Sean was left speechless—the man would rather sleep on the bathroom floor than on his huge, comfortable bed?He arched his back and tried to help Patrick back to bed before changing his mind, putting the man in the bathtub and helping clean him up instead…-The next day, Patrick opened his eyes when the sun was high overhead and felt his body aching all over, including his head.He felt a little hangover and was unable to remember just then how he ended up in bed, let alone fell asleep.He wiggled a little, and his heart skipped a beat when he realized there was someone behind him.What was more, his back was pressed firmly against their back, and he could clearly fe
"You were drunk last night."Sean stretched his back, putting a pillow against the headboard to cushion himself as he sat up, sighing emotionally. "Urgh, I'm really sore all over.""Shut up!" Patrick bellowed at him.Sean was left confused as to how he upset Patrick.It took him great effort just to bathe the man last night, so that he could sleep comfortably… only to throw a fit at him first thing in the morning?!Did he even remember how terrible he was, flailing around like a child while Sean bathed him?! Not only did Sean have to coax him just like with a child, he even scratched Sean as he resisted."You're still drunk, aren't you?" Sean asked, studying him just then."Yes, yes, yes, I'm still drunk!" Patrick admitted to it right away. "That's why I had no idea what I did last night at all! So I refuse to take responsibility!"Sean was left staring at Patrick again. 'Refuse to take responsibility?'Still, Sean understood in an instant.So Patrick was presuming what h
A week passed.In North City, Cordy took the time to adjust and was more or less back to normal.Emotions would flare when she occasionally remembered what happened, but the issue was not at all major.And when she showed up at work, the employees would scarcely dare to act like something happened.After clearing a load of work for the day, Cordy decided to call Sean after some thought. She was convinced that she could be friends for life with Patrick, even if they could not be husband and wife.And although Sean had left to soften the blow for him over the week, he never called or texted her, so she had no idea how Patrick was doing.Soon, Sean answered, though he was clearly drowsy as if he had still been sleeping.And it was almost 11 AM—since when did he wake up so late?"You're still not up yet? What were you doing? Did you stay up the whole night?" Cordy asked, puzzled."Yeah, I just woke up," Sean rasped before adding vaguely, "Well, it's technically not the whole night
Cordy felt disappointment inside even though she could hear that Patrick sounded fine.Their relationship was neither deep or shallow, but it was over regardless.-In the afternoon, when Robin Tate—one of Cordy's executives—arrived for a routine update, he instead said, "I'm afraid I have bad news, Ms. Sachs.""What?""The lease of our flagship outlet in KPW Shopping Center that was due for renewal in October has been repealed, and a new lease tender is due immediately. We approached the manager yesterday, but they told us that someone bought the entire shopping center and is reevaluating the lease of every outlet starting next month."Cordy's eyes narrowed.Everyone was doing fine at their respective outlets at KPW Shopping Center. Why the sudden chaos and reevaluation of leases?!Not even a change in owners should lead to such a major reshuffle—forget the enormous workload that involved, it would also cause serious discontent among the businesses involved.Was the new owner
When Cordy arrived at the lobby of SYX's office building, the front desk receptionist intercepted her."Good morning, ma'am. May I ask for the purpose of your visit?""I would like to meet your CEO," Cordy replied politely."Do you have an appointment, ma'am?""No.""Then I'm sorry, ma'am. You can't meet him if you don't have one—he's really busy," the receptionist said mildly.Cordy pursed her lips, but she could imagine how busy a newly established company would be, especially since they had their hands in so many cookie jars.And barging in might affect the CEO's scheduling, so after some thought, she asked, "What time does he usually leave work?""There's no telling. Sometimes early, sometimes late—there were occasions where he stayed overnight," the receptionist replied.The man was really giving it his all, was he not? It was hardly surprising that the company developed so rapidly."I see. Thank you," Cordy said politely."You're welcome."Cordy left the front desk bu
Robin quickly nodded. He certainly had to agree that SYX was a little depraved since they were too rich.Nonetheless, he asked, "Are we going to keep waiting for their CEO?"Cordy glanced at her watch, wondering if the man was really that hardworking.She really doubted he would work overnight and therefore said resolutely, "Yeah." Robin had no choice but to stick with his boss.-Soon, it was 11 PM.On the top floor, Randy reported, "Ms. Sachs is still waiting, Mr. Levine."John smiled—she really was as tenacious as ever."Should we keep her waiting?" Randy asked. "The air-conditioning downstairs is in full force, and it's getting cold at this hour…"John looked up at him, and he quickly said, "I'll ask someone to set it warmer."However, John suddenly said, "Show her upstairs.""Really?""Take her to the waiting room."What a difficult boss. "And make sure the room temperature is just right. Bring her fruit, snacks, warm milk—""Yes, Mr. Levine." Randy promptly left