I Will Fulfill the Role of the Villain

Theo gazed at the sleeping Luke without averting his eyes for even a moment. He had planned to ask Luke why he had been upset and to apologize, even if belatedly, when they met again. He had worked frantically to finish the mountain of tasks that had piled up, rushing home only to find Luke fast asleep. With Monet cradled in his arms, no less.

But watching the scene wasn’t all that bad. In fact, it felt as though the weariness that had weighed down his body and mind throughout the day was being washed away. Theo thought he could easily spend hours just taking in this view.
“Mmm.”
Luke stirred, seemingly tickled by Monet’s fur brushing against his face. As the breeze shifted Luke’s hair, Theo instinctively reached out to gently brush it aside.

With a faint smile on his lips, Theo lowered his hand further, softly caressing Luke’s cheek. His skin was as soft as his hair, and Theo’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He knew he shouldn’t touch someone’s body without permission, especially when they were asleep, but he couldn’t stop his hand from moving.
At that moment, Luke stirred again, his hand landing atop Theo’s, clasping it as if to keep it there.
“……”

Theo froze, startled, but Luke didn’t let go of his hand.
“……Warm.”
The single word that escaped Luke’s lips made Theo bite his own. His body temperature rose, and an unfamiliar but not unpleasant tickling sensation spread through his core.

As Theo swallowed repeatedly, he felt a gaze on him. He turned his head to find Monet awake, staring at him with an unreadable expression.
“Ahem.”
Feeling awkward, Theo motioned for silence, worried that Luke might wake up. However, as is the nature of cats, Monet ignored his silent plea.

With a soft meow, Monet stretched and stood up, stepping over Luke’s legs to jump off the sofa and onto the floor.
“Urgh…”
Luke groaned in discomfort at the weight pressing against him, his eyes fluttering open slowly. He instinctively turned his head toward the presence nearby.

“Did you… sleep well?” Theo asked awkwardly. His large hand was still resting on Luke’s face, and Luke’s gaze shifted down toward it.
“What… what’s this?” Luke slapped Theo’s hand away and bolted upright. Theo stared at his hand, as if lamenting the loss of its warmth.
“You were asleep here. With Monet,” Theo explained.

“Oh, right. I must’ve fallen asleep while playing with him,” Luke said, rubbing the back of his neck as he pieced things together. His gaze drifted back to Theo, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
“But what does that have to do with you being here?”
“I was… observing,” Theo said.
“Observing Monet? Where is he, anyway?”

Theo considered correcting Luke by saying it wasn’t Monet he had been observing, but the moment passed. Monet, meanwhile, sat by the closed door, glaring at it in dissatisfaction before giving up and settling into a corner of the room to nap again.
“If you had such an adorable cat, you should’ve told me yesterday.”
“Adorable? Really?”

“Of course! Don’t you think he’s cute?”
“Monet is cute, but… you’re cuter.”
Luke froze, rubbing his half-awake eyes before glaring at Theo with a mixture of confusion and incredulity.

“Hey.”
“What?”
“I’m not cute—I’m cool.”

Theo suddenly burst into laughter, catching Luke completely off guard. Luke’s face turned crimson, his expression twisting in embarrassment.
“What’s so funny? No one has ever called me cute in my entire life—except you!”
If anything, people had called Luke “cool” or “impressive,” but never “cute,” not even as a child. Yet here he was, being called cute repeatedly by Theo as an adult.

“Well, I’m glad you’re only cute to me.”
“W-what are you even saying? Forget it. What are you doing here anyway? Don’t you usually stay in your quarters?”
“I couldn’t just leave my guest at the estate while I stayed elsewhere.”

In truth, Theo had no real reason not to come to the estate. The idea of staying anywhere Luke wasn’t didn’t sit well with him.
“Well, at least you made it here. I thought you’d be working all night, given how much you had to do.”
“I finished as quickly as I could,” Theo replied simply.

“Monster,” Luke muttered, shaking his head.
Theo was astonished that Luke had managed to complete the substantial workload that had piled up and still made it back. Once again, Luke found himself shuddering at Theo’s inhuman efficiency.
“You’re here because you have something to say?”

“Yes, something I need to tell you.”
Luke shifted uncomfortably, pretending disinterest as he replied casually, “What’s that?”
“I thought I might’ve upset you earlier in the meeting room.”

“The meeting room?”
Luke tilted his head in confusion, but then the memory from earlier in the day resurfaced. He’d been annoyed by Theo’s composed expression while casually spouting things about fate, and it had pushed him to snap at him.
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I couldn’t figure out what exactly I did wrong, but I wanted to apologize regardless,” Theo said, meeting Luke’s eyes with unwavering sincerity.

The words, paired with his calm voice, stirred an unexplainable, ticklish feeling in Luke’s chest. He bit his lip reflexively, unsure why it sounded so tender.
“It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize,” Luke said, turning his head away to hide his flustered expression.
“So, you’re not angry with me?”

“No, I’m not. I was just in a bad mood earlier and ended up taking it out on you. Sorry about that.”
In truth, it wasn’t Theo’s words that were the problem—it was Luke’s inability to brush them off like usual. There was no reason to blame Theo at all.
“I see. That’s a relief.”

Theo sighed softly, a faint smile of relief spreading across his face. Catching a glimpse of that smile from the corner of his eye, Luke felt his heart flutter inexplicably and ran a hand over his face in frustration.
“...Luke,” Theo suddenly said, closing the distance between them and taking Luke’s hand. Specifically, his injured right hand.
“What are you doing? What’s this about?”

“Is this blood?”
Following Theo’s gaze, Luke noticed the white bandage on his hand had been stained red. It seemed the wound had reopened, likely because he had applied too much pressure while helping Dylan train earlier. Toward the end, Dylan had been so fired up that Luke had had to get serious with his swordsmanship, which had undoubtedly caused this.
So that’s why his hand had been throbbing.

“It’s nothing. The wound probably just opened up,” Luke said dismissively.
“How does a properly healing wound suddenly reopen?”
Luke tried to pull his hand away, but Theo’s grip was firm. His expression turned grave, and the crease between his brows deepened.

“Don’t tell me… Did someone at headquarters lay a hand on you today?”
“What? No way. If they had, they’d be lying in the infirmary right now.”
Luke chuckled and brushed it off with a joke, but Theo’s stern expression didn’t soften. It was clear that unless Luke explained himself, Theo wasn’t letting go of his hand anytime soon.

“I was training,” Luke admitted.
“By yourself?”
Theo’s skepticism was evident; the idea of Luke, who detested going to headquarters, voluntarily training alone was hard for him to believe.

“…With Dylan,” Luke finally confessed. It wasn’t something he needed to hide, and the prolonged hand-holding was getting awkward.
“Dylan? You mean the captain of the special unit at headquarters?”
“Yes. I was passing the training grounds, and he asked for my help.”

Theo’s expression grew more complicated. Luke glanced at him, trying to gauge his thoughts. Was it so hard to believe that he had helped Dylan? Admittedly, the old Luke probably would’ve ignored such a request outright.
“Well, I wasn’t planning to help at first, but then I heard he’s my successor. If Dylan doesn’t perform well, it reflects poorly on the reputation of the special unit I built. I can’t just let that happen while I’m still around, can I?”
Luke huffed, sounding proud. However, Theo remained silent, gently touching the stained bandage on Luke’s hand.

“Is that really why you helped him?” Theo asked quietly, his voice tinged with doubt.
Luke’s eyes widened slightly, caught off guard.
“What? Do you think I helped him just to mess with him or something?”

“No,” Theo replied, his tone steady. “It’s the opposite.”
Theo’s hands continued to gently tend to Luke’s bandaged hand as he spoke.
“Why does it seem to me that you helped Dylan because you wanted to? Because you wanted to support someone struggling?”

Luke fell silent, his gaze faltering. Theo’s words struck a nerve, unraveling the truth Luke hadn’t even fully admitted to himself.
Their eyes met, Theo’s piercing gaze locking onto Luke’s. The unspoken emotions hanging in the air between them were impossible to ignore.