The Next Day — Office Scene
The morning sun streamed coldly through the skyscraper windows of AZ Enterprises. Inside the CEO's cabin, Akira sat at his desk, staring into the glow of his laptop screen. His brows were furrowed, fingers typing rapidly — clearly buried in work. Even J, who usually hummed around the office like a sparrow, was unusually quiet, sensing the weight in the air.
Then the door creaked open.
"Boss," K stepped in, holding a sleek black tablet.
"Not now," Akira said without looking up.
"It's about Cherry," K insisted.
"I don't have time for this."
But K, undeterred, walked forward and placed the tablet right in front of Akira. "Just take a look."
Akira sighed sharply and finally dragged his eyes to the screen. A video was playing. As the footage loaded, his hands paused over the keyboard.
The screen showed a blurry but unmistakable scene — Cherry and Jiyu… tangled in sheets, moving intimately.
Silence.
Akira's hand gripped the edge of the tablet tightly, his eyes narrowing.
Behind him, several guards had gathered, trying to peek from behind Akira's chair.
"Damn… they look way into it," one whispered.
Akira's voice was ice. "Hmm."
Then suddenly—
Tear drops. Small, warm, falling onto Akira's shoulder.
He turned his head slightly.
It was J. Crying.
"J?" Akira's voice tightened.
J sniffled, rubbing his face against Akira's shoulder from behind like a sad puppy. "Ahh boss… I'm heartbroken for you."
"Stop rubbing your face on me," Akira said, grimacing.
"But boss!!" J howled, turning the office chair around so that Akira faced him. "How could Bosslady do this to you? How could he cheat on your love?!"
"My what?" Akira glared.
J dramatically laid his head on Akira's lap. "I feel betrayed!"
Akira's eye twitched. "Get off me."
But just then, something caught Akira's eye. He looked back at the screen.
"…wait a second." He zoomed in, brows furrowing. "That's… my house."
The room fell silent.
He stood up so fast, J fell off his lap with a yelp.
"That brat…" Akira hissed. He slammed his hand down on the desk, the sound echoing through the office.
Just then, the door opened again. A nervous manager peeked in. "Boss… it's time for the meeting. Is everything… okay?"
Akira cleared his throat, adjusting his tie with sharp, practiced hands. "Ah… yes. I'll be there."
The manager gulped and vanished.
---
In the Meeting Room
An employee stood at the projector, hands trembling as he clicked through his presentation slides.
"…a-as you can see, the Q2 revenue showed an upward—"
Click.
He glanced nervously toward the end of the long table where Akira sat, arms crossed, face unreadable, eyes like daggers.
Why does Boss look like he's about to murder someone…? the employee thought.
One wrong word and he felt like he might not make it to lunch.
---
At 8:00 p.m., Akira entered the house — silent, unreadable. Cherry, unaware of his presence, stood in the bedroom near the window, phone pressed to his ear. Curtains half-drawn, he was peeking outside as if expecting Akira's car.
"…and he knew I was with another alpha, but—" Cherry paused mid-sentence, sensing a shift in the air behind him. He turned his head slightly, and his eyes widened in panic.
"A-Akira?!"
Akira was already standing inches behind him. Without a word, he snatched the phone from Cherry's hand and raised it to his ear.
"Hello? Cherry? Are you okay?" Jiyu's voice crackled from the other side.
Akira's voice was like ice. "Worry about yourself first."
He threw the phone to the ground. The loud crack echoed through the room. Cherry backed away, trembling.
"A-Akira… please, I didn't—" Cherry stammered.
"You wanted fun, didn't you?" Akira's tone was deadly calm, too calm. "Let me show you how fun it is."
He pushed Cherry onto the bed, climbing over him in one swift motion. His grip was iron, holding Cherry down. Panic flooded Cherry's eyes as he struggled, crying out in fear. Akira teared his clothes .
"Ahh... please.. no.
"Too late for that" he said with grudge on his face. As he grab his waist with one hand and his neck with other.
"Akira... i won't...do that again...please...please" Cherry voice was breaking and eyes wet as sweat cover his body.
But before anything else could happen, a loud, furious voice cut through the air like thunder.
"AKIRA, STOP! THIS ISN'T WHO YOU ARE!"
Akira froze. His eyes snapped toward the corner of the room.
Aki stood there, furious, his voice shaking with rage. "Get out. Now."
Akira clenched his fists, jaw tight, and then backed off. Without another word, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Cherry lay there, curled into himself, shaking. Aki approached slowly and sat a small distance away on the bed.
"Hey," Aki said softly, "it's okay. He's gone now. You're safe."
Cherry, still teary-eyed, looked up at him. "Who are you? I've never seen you before…"
"I'm Aki," he said gently. "Just think of me as… a friend."
Cherry blinked, confused but comforted by Aki's calm presence.
"I know this isn't the best moment to say it," Aki added, "but… Akira isn't who he showed you tonight. He's better than this."
Cherry's expression twisted with pain. "Better? Kind? Good? You saw what he did…"
Aki " I get it how you feel right now but isn't it your fault as well hmm think about it, did he touch you before without permission?"
Cherry lowered his head. "No…"
Aki smiled softly. "See? If you just try to understand him… he'll love you too."
Cherry nodded, uncertain, but listening. Just then—CRASH!
A sharp sound of shattering glass rang out from the hallway.
Both Cherry and Aki looked at each other in alarm and ran out of the bedroom. As they reached the hall, Cherry gasped, his hand flying to his mouth in disbelief. Akira lay on the floor, blood dripping from his forehead, glass shards scattered around him.
Aki's eyes widened in fury as he rushed over, grabbing Akira by the shoulders. "Idiot! What the hell do you think you're doing?! We need to call an ambulance—"
"I'm fine!" Akira hissed, trying to push him away. "I don't need it."
"Tsk…" Aki scowled. "Cherry, get the first-aid kit!"
"Y-Yes!" Cherry darted off.
"I said I don't need your help!" Akira barked.
Cherry returned and gently placed the kit on the table. Aki turned to him calmly. "Cherry, clean his wounds and bandage him."
Cherry hesitated. "Okay…"
Akira glared. "Don't you dare touch me, brat—"
SLAP! Aki struck Akira across the face.
"Enough with your nonsense!" Aki snapped. "Cherry, don't be afraid. I'm right here. Just take care of it."
Akira went silent, still glaring as Cherry, hands trembling, began tending to his wounds.
"Ahh!" Akira flinched.
"D-Does it hurt?" Cherry whispered.
"Can't you do it slower, huh!?"
"S-Sorry, I'll try…"
He dabbed at the wound again, but Akira shouted, "AHH, you're hurting me!"
BONK! Aki smacked the back of his head.
"OW! What the hell!?"
Aki leaned in, eye-level with him. "You've been through worse, Akira. Don't act like this tiny wound is the end of the world."
Akira looked away, sweating, avoiding Aki's eyes.
"Tch. Cherry, give me the cotton."
The scream that followed was loud enough to echo down the street. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Aki finished with a smug nod. "All done."
Akira glared. "Are you trying to kill me?!"
Cherry giggled, unable to help himself.
"Hmph. I'm going to sleep." Akira huffed, storming off like a grumpy child.
Aki and Cherry watched him disappear down the hallway. Then, with a sigh, Aki knelt down and began picking up the glass shards off the floor, his back to the large moonlit window.
"Oh! Let me help—" Cherry began.
"No, it's okay." Aki smiled without looking up. "I won't get hurt, but you might."
As he picked up a broken shard, his reflection stared back at him with an oddly distant expression.
Cherry sat beside him. "Hey, Aki… who are you? You're really close to Akira, but… I've never seen you before."
Aki's lips curled into a faint smile. "Who and what I am, huh? Let me show you. Can you walk through walls?"
"W-What?! No?!"
"I can," Aki said. "Can you float in the air?"
"Are you… a magician?"
Aki chuckled. "No, no. Hmm… Can moonlight pass through you?"
Cherry blinked and stared. The soft moonlight coming through the window shimmered through Aki's body. Cherry's eyes widened, and he stumbled backward.
"You… you're a…"
"Yes," Aki said with a sad smile. "I'm a spirit."
Cherry gasped. "A spirit?! Are you gonna kill me?!"
"Huh!? No!" Aki laughed. "I'm not that kind of spirit—I'm a good one. I won't haunt you."
Cherry let out a sigh, hand on his chest. "Thank god… But wait… so you're a dead person? I can't touch you, right? Can I try?"
His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"You can," Aki said gently.
Cherry reached out, but his hand passed right through Aki's form.
He gasped. "You're for real… but then, how can you touch things and us, but we can't touch you?"
Aki looked down, sorrow flickering in his eyes. "I don't know… It's like… I'm invisible to the world, but the world isn't invisible to me."
"I'm sorry," Cherry said quietly.
Aki smiled. "Why are you sorry, dear? You didn't do anything. Don't worry."
As Aki and Cherry sat quietly, picking up the shards of glass, footsteps approached them. Akira returned, crouching beside them without a word. He began picking up the shattered pieces.
Aki looked at him sideways. "I thought you were being grumpy?"
Akira picked up a particularly jagged piece, eyes focused. "I made this mess… It's my responsibility. Besides, the edges are sharp. You could get hurt."
Cherry leaned close to Aki and whispered, "Does he not know that you're a ghost?"
Aki didn't turn but smiled faintly, his eyes still on Akira. "He knows… things no one else does."
Just then, Akira flinched. "Tch—"
A thin line of crimson appeared on his fingertip.
"Idiot," Aki muttered, immediately grabbing Akira's hand.
Before Akira could react, Aki brought the bleeding finger to his lips and softly licked the blood away.
Akira froze, eyes wide, his heart racing. That small touch, that soft warmth—it ached somewhere deep inside him.
Cherry panicked. "I—I'll go get the bandage!" He scrambled to his feet and rushed off.
Meanwhile, Akira's gaze remained locked on Aki. Slowly, he leaned in, his voice low and rough. "Look at fate… I can't even kiss you."
Aki's glowing eyes lifted, shimmering under the moonlight. He held Akira's hand with both of his own, gentle and careful like he was holding something fragile, precious… something he couldn't afford to lose again.
Their eyes held each other. Silence stretched. The moon bathed them in silver.
Cherry returned, holding the bandage. "Ahm… Guys?"
The spell broke. Both Aki and Akira jumped slightly.
"Haha—yeah. The bandage," Aki chuckled awkwardly.
Akira cleared his throat, trying to mask his flustered expression. "Give it to me. I'll put it on myself."
He took the bandage and began wrapping it around his finger, refusing to meet Aki's eyes again.
Cherry tilted his head, confused. "You two are… weird."
Aki smiled, but didn't respond.