A second later, they were enveloped in the water.

The whole experience might not have been so unpleasant if it hadn’t been for the hand gripping Cecil’s wrist hard enough to make him think it would snap. Annoyed, he tried to swim up, but the person holding onto him dragged him down.

Did Silas want to continue swimming? Then he could do it on his own and stop dragging him down! If he really wanted to swim so badly, he wouldn’t mind inviting the other to his personal pool, with swimwear, of course.

Determined to leave the pool, Cecil gathered all his strength and swam towards the surface. Once up, he reached for the edge of the pool with his free hand. The moment he broke the surface, another hand grabbed his clothes and made its way up his body. Bewildered, Cecil opened his mouth wide. He didn’t know Silas actually had an interest in his body!

A second later, the wandering hand stopped at his neck and hugged it. Although, strangling was a better-fitting word, considering how hard Silas was squeezing his neck. Soon both of Silas’s arms were around his neck, and their bodies touched each other completely, leaving no room for even a piece of paper between them. In his whole life, Cecil had never been so close to another human being. It felt strange, and his body stiffened uncomfortably.

Lowering his head, Cecil could see Silas’s back and his soaked-through shirt.

Huh? A shirt? Where had the suit jacket gone?

But soon Cecil forgot about the suit jacket because his eyes were attracted by Silas’s well-built back. The soaked fabric had become see-through, revealing the other’s back muscles and small waist. Cecil became distracted for a second.

Silas had a really thin waist. Perfect to hug with one arm or grab with both hands on certain occasions… Cecil looked away as if he’d been burned. Heat began to rise in his body, and he scolded himself for having improper thoughts.

But he had to take another look.

On the second glance, he noticed Silas’s unnatural stiffness and shaking he had previously attributed to the cold.

“Silas? Silas! Are you okay?” But Cecil got no response from the other. Only the tightening of his arms around Cecil’s neck told him Silas was still alive.

“Ugh.” Cecil groaned in pain as the arms got tighter. If this continued, maybe his neck would snap from Silas’s strength! But it was impossible for Cecil to lift himself and Silas out of the water in this position, so he could only call for help.

Soon people from inside the hall came running to help, and chaos broke loose.

Many people gathered around the pool, whispering and screaming. The staff had trouble reaching them. Suddenly, unrest broke out in the crowd, and people were pushed to the side as a man made his way through.

As soon as Louis saw the scene before him, he panicked.

“Silas!"

"You-,” he pointed at a man near the edge, “grab one, and I’ll take the other.” After giving Louis a nod of understanding, the two of them helped Cecil and Silas out of the water.

Louis peeled Silas off of Cecil’s neck and shot him an icy gaze. But Cecil didn’t notice that; his whole focus was on the unconscious Silas, who was held in Louis’s arms.

It didn’t take long for the staff to disperse the crowd and give them towels. Walking over to Louis, Cecil looked concerned at Silas. “Is he okay?”

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“He would be if you hadn’t dragged him into the water! I didn’t—”

“Duck! He could have drowned! What the Hawk were you thinking? You could have killed him!”

Cecil wanted to explain the situation, but Louis was too furious to listen. “I have tolerated your willfulness for too long. What in the Hawk were you thinking by pulling a man who can’t swim into the water!”

Standing at the edge of the pool with wet clothes and a lowered head, Cecil endured the wrongful scolding and the prying gazes of the staff. “I just want to know if he’s alright—”

Without even listening to what Cecil wanted to say, Louis snapped at him. “Stop it, Cecil. This isn’t about you! I think it’s best if you go home for now and don’t appear in front of me for a while.”

Shaking his head irritably and turning away, Louis left to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Watching Louis’s retreating back, Cecil just stood there, hoping the other man would turn around and give him one last glance. But with every step he took further away, something died a bit more inside Cecil.

It was already late at night when Cecil returned home. The lights in the living room were turned off, and the house was painted in silence. Everything seemed frozen, just like his heart.

“Well, who do we have here?” Suddenly, the lights in the living room turned on, revealing his brother, Cyrus, sitting on the couch with his arms and legs crossed, throwing Cecil a scornful look.

“Why are you sneaking into the house without turning on the lights like a thief? Don’t tell me you want to—” Cyrus stopped upon noticing Cecil’s pitiful appearance.

“Didn’t you go to see that dog? Why the Hawk are you wet to the bone? Come here, let’s get you some dry clothes.” Jumping up from the sofa, he rushed to get a dry towel and wrapped up his brother.

Then they sat down together. Cyrus didn’t want to ask what happened when he saw Cecil’s sad look. There was only one person who could make Cecil so miserable and still get away with it unscathed. Without anything better to say, he just patted his younger brother’s back.

“Hah, you idiot, you should really forget that dog.” After those words left his mouth, Cyrus wanted to beat himself. Cecil was already down, and he was only making it worse. What if his baby brother exploded again? The saying “men in love are blind” is really true.

But the feared reaction never came. “Maybe you are right.” Only half of Cecil’s face was left free from the towel, so the words only reached Cyrus’s ears as a whisper.

“Huh?”

Cecil looked up. Seeing the dumbfounded look on his older brother’s face, he suddenly wanted to laugh out loud. “I think maybe you are right. I want to stop loving him but—” Cecil averted his gaze and looked unfocused into nothing. “But how? How do I stop loving someone?”

Right now, it was hard to describe what he was feeling. Everything was messed up, tangled together, and he was unable to clear up this mess called feelings. Today he had seen that Louis’s focus was on Silas and not on him. The look of angst when Louis looked at Silas’s unconscious body. Those fear-filled eyes and—the look of disgust, almost hate, when he looked at Cecil were too different. Cecil didn’t know when Louis had started to hate him instead of smile at him.

Yes, smile. When was the last time the other party had given him a heartfelt smile? Maybe when he left? But feelings were hard to control. Just because he knew he had lost didn’t mean his feelings of over ten years were so easy to disappear. The sound of his brother’s voice brought Cecil back to the present.

“Talk to him and ask him straight out if he could consider being with you. I think getting rejected face to face helps make it more real and gives you final closure.”

Cecil thought about his brother’s advice and nodded. Just when he wanted to get up to his room to change and maybe sleep, if his mind allowed it, his brother continued. “And—” Cyrus paused. “Maybe ask him why he had no trouble accepting your gifts but never gave anything in return.”

Cecil wanted to refute his brother. ‘Louis was just too busy and forgot,’ or ‘These few gifts don’t matter,’ ‘He didn’t have enough money to give gifts,’ but seeing the serious look on his brother’s face, he remained silent.

“Okay. I’ll ask him.” Suddenly feeling energetic, he stood up. “Right, tomorrow I’ll go see him and won’t leave till he answers my questions!”

On the couch, Cyrus nodded. “That’s my brother! Finally, you grew some brains! But tomorrow is Sunday, so you better go on Monday, you idiot.”

“Hey!”

Outraged, Cecil turned around to hit his brother. But the other had already jumped over the back of the couch and run away. “Bull! Just wait, I’ll get you!” he shouted, running after Cyrus.

Suddenly, the house was filled with shouts and running in the middle of the night.

That was until a door opened. The light of the room illuminated the hallway where Cecil and Cyrus were wrestling on the ground.

“Although I know not everybody needs it, some do need their beauty sleep.”

Stiffly, they turned their heads towards their mother, who gave them a shallow smile.

Never in their lives had they run faster towards their rooms.