By Zephyria ‘It’s quite quiet today.’
The exit leading to the outer wall of the stadium had columns lined up with sandstone carvings on the upper and lower parts. Among them, a figure flickered behind the wings of a fully spread angel.
Leonardo, having finished the game, was hiding and watching the situation before going outside.
Every time, he vowed to pass quietly, but today he was worried that attention would follow him because his determination was vague. But for some reason, the reporters who were running around looking for the supernova of the league were nowhere to be seen. Only participants and officials who had been eliminated early were trudging along the side path.
He had felt that the atmosphere was different from when he entered, and it seemed that the Council had taken action to maintain order. Thanks to this, Leonardo’s heart was lightened, and he put his long neck back in and jumped silently behind the pillar.
After putting on his hood, he mixed in with the crowd and headed for the exit. When he passed through the huge door and came outside, a familiar street scene unfolded before his eyes.
Colorful street markets and the savory butter scent emanating from them. Various seasoning smells and sizzling oil sounds were reminiscent of a festival. If it weren’t for the Council’s legions lined up in two rows on all sides.
‘Why are there so many….’
As expected, they seemed to be controlling the nearby streets. The problem was that unlike before the start of the game, when traffic was relatively free, the current posture was so excessive that it spoiled the atmosphere. The heavy shields used to suppress rioters were lined up in a row, and the street, which should have been bustling, was frozen.
Thanks to that, he came out comfortably, but he was a little concerned that the local residents couldn’t enjoy the league atmosphere. Leonardo, who had been hesitant, estimated the time with the sinking shadows, passing noon, and moved busily.
As he entered the alley, the strict security became a little looser. Was it because the neighborhood kids were gathered together?
“Can’t you show us the fireworks now?”
“Just these two. No, just one.”
“Fireworks don’t show up well when it’s bright. You can only see them when the sky is dark. And do you know how many I’ve set off without selling them because of you guys? Shoo, go bring your parents or bring the firecracker money.”
“Mister―.”
Various firecrackers were on display on the stand, and kids whose heads weren’t even up to their waists were dangling in front of it. From what he heard, they didn’t have money but were asking him to set off firecrackers. The owner, who seemed to have been bothered several times already, waved his hand with a troublesome expression.
A few weeks ago, when he signed the league participation application in front of this place, the splendid fireworks that spread across the night sky suddenly flashed through his mind. Leonardo, who didn’t even turn his head, passed the alley in front of the stand. No one paid attention to the man walking while fluttering his cloak as if he had something urgent to do.
It was then.
Pabababak, bang―
“Wow!”
Small firecrackers arbitrarily flew into the air and set off fireworks at the entrance of the alley. Although the scale wasn’t large, the sudden fireworks display at an early hour momentarily focused attention.
The disappointed children burst into exclamations, and the surprised owner jumped up from his seat. It was because he was worried that a spark might have spread from somewhere. But because the crackdown had become more severe since the afternoon, there wasn’t a single cigarette butt lying around on the street.
It was the moment when he hugged the firecrackers to protect even the remaining products, unable to find the cause. Three bills he hadn’t seen before were placed in the empty money basket.
“I shouldn’t get involved in this, but I did it because I’m in a good mood.”
Leonardo, whose lower face was covered, couldn’t hide his curved eyes and sped up his pace. He quickly distanced himself from the noisy alley. He was about to turn into a side street to change direction.
“Why are you in a good mood?”
A voice that suddenly caught his attention brushed past him. At the same time, a chilling and familiar Magic Power lightly swept over the back of his neck.
Leonardo, startled, stopped walking abruptly. He immediately turned around.
“…….”
There was no one there.
He had clearly heard it right behind him.
Hiding his puzzled expression, he stood there and rolled his eyes left and right. Then, a familiar silhouette was seen among the crowd passing through the alley in the distance.
A unique height and physique that anyone who knew ‘him’ could never fail to recognize.
A pure white uniform without a speck of dust, like a snowflake in midwinter.
Azure hair created by a god who wanted to capture a little more of the world in his eyes before complete darkness fell.
Everything was blurry, but only one person was clearly visible. Why is he there? The thought flashed through his mind, but it was only for a moment. Leonardo turned his body in that direction as if possessed.
But for some reason, the other person was just walking forward leisurely, as if he couldn’t even see him.
Because his legs were long, even his leisurely pace was quite fast, and because there were so many people, the gap didn’t narrow easily. Even when those who recognized the high-ranking person stopped one by one and bowed their heads, a troublesome bottleneck phenomenon occurred behind the pure white cloak. Leonardo weaved through the gaps and followed in the footsteps of the noble man with his hands clasped behind his back.
After chasing after him for a while without even calling his name, he suddenly turned a corner, so he followed him as he was. Even during that time, the handsome back of his head never turned back even once.
He had only crossed one alley, but the area became quite deserted as if it were another world. But it was outside the interest of Leonardo, who was slowly getting angry.
Around that time, the large hand holding his back was shaking his wrist. Was it because of the position touching his back, or was it because he was wearing pure white gloves? It was like a fox wagging its tail. As if telling him to catch him.
Leonardo’s eyebrows rose diagonally. He wondered what he was trying to do, but he spurred on his pace to meet his expectations.
The moment he caught up and grabbed his hand, his vision turned pure white.
“Why are you in a good mood, huh?”
A question without inflection tickles his ears.
Leonardo looked up at the opponent he had caught. The lazy sunlight of 4 p.m. poured down on the man’s head as if shattering.
His features were shaded by the backlight, but he was originally a person with strong lines, so even that was clear. The eyes, which contained the clear sky, were slightly bent. At the same time, a heavy and cool scent that resembled him invaded the tip of his nose.
The hand he had grabbed instead tightened his fingers, and before he knew it, he had his back against the wall and his hands pressed against it with his fingers interlocked.
He didn’t feel suffocated by the bound posture. Even though his field of vision was only half visible, obscured by his broad shoulders, he could tell that he and he had moved out of the alley and to another place.
The surroundings were quiet. As if only the two of them were left in the world.
Leonardo’s eyes, which had been strained, softened.
‘Ah, I didn’t intend to do this from the start.’
He blinked slowly for a moment, then brought the back of his hand, which was against the wall, to his lips. He twisted the impudent wrist that had been bewitching him, not painfully, while twitching it.
Then, he lightly bit the neatly fastened button under the pure white glove with his teeth. His gaze met Hugo’s straight on, almost boldly.
As he tilted his head with his teeth set, the fastening button easily came undone with a soft pop.
He pushed up the loosened piece of fabric and buried his lips in the skin revealed beneath. He dabbed at it as if he would devour even the artery felt at the tip of his tongue. His bent blue eyes narrowed, and he looked down with a subtle gaze.
Leonardo murmured with a muffled pronunciation, his lips still buried.
“Maybe, I intended to do this.”
Hugo’s lips, which had been quietly offering his pulse, hardened.
The sound of regular footsteps continued, accompanied by slightly labored breathing that created a dissonance.
“What did you do just now?”
“What?”
“I heard your voice right behind me, but when I turned around, you were far away.”
Hugo and Leonardo entered the building behind them where they had been leaning and slowly ascended the spiral staircase. The structure, which soared high like a tower, had a hollow center, so their voices echoed like in a cave.
Only the two men’s low voices lingered inside.
Occasionally, the afternoon sunlight streamed in through the small windows in the walls, brushing past their lips and necks.
Leonardo’s sweaty forehead and reddish lips gleamed in the light. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, having taken off his cloak and mask bundle because he was hot, and he was the first to pass through the beam of light.
Beneath the breathable black military short-sleeved T-shirt, his particularly veined forearms were exposed. A slight dampness settled on his skin.
Hugo’s gaze, following the lingering scent he left behind, trailed after the man’s waistline and upturned buttocks as he climbed the stairs ahead.
“There’s a parrot among the Divine Beasts. It can imitate my voice for a word or two.”
The beige-toned wrinkles of his pants repeatedly smoothed out and folded with each step he took. The round and firm curves that stood out more and more stimulated his sight incessantly. Perhaps knowing the sensation, his fingers unconsciously curled slightly.
“You have a strange talent.”
Leonardo half-turned his head and chuckled.
A bruise made by someone was visible on the sternocleidomastoid muscle beneath his jawline, but he didn’t seem to want to hide it. His innate charm flowed out, making even that look good on him, which was subtly irritating. His resilient thigh, with one leg on the high step, was full of pumped-up muscles due to the continuous climb. However, perhaps because he had just finished a match, he seemed fatigued, and the place he had expected was not swollen.
Hugo slightly lowered his sunken eyes. He scanned down to the Achilles tendon revealed at the bottom of his pants, then slowly lifted his eyelids.
“If you want to meet Lion alone, you have to have a good talent.”
Leonardo chuckled pleasantly and brushed away the dust floating around the stairs with a gesture. Then, he grabbed the right hand of the other man, who had been left naked because of him, and pulled him up.
“Let’s go up. But where is this?”
“Well, I’m not sure either.”
“Hmm—.”
Teleporting at once meant that he had already been here once. Leonardo deliberately pretended not to know, intrigued by Hugo’s flimsy lie.
“There’s probably no one in Central who doesn’t know your face, Duke Hugo. Is it okay for you to wander around the streets so carelessly? Isn’t it dangerous to be alone without any subordinates?”
“Dangerous? Is kissing in the street okay, then?”
“…I know there was no one around. And that’s why I came in the middle.”
Leonardo’s pace quickened as he climbed the stairs. Hugo followed behind, keeping pace with him, with one arm outstretched.
Gazing at the swaying blonde hair, he murmured to himself as if talking to himself.
“I thought I wanted to walk once. With you, on an ordinary street.”
At that moment, Leonardo’s steps came to a sudden halt. His drooping eyelashes twitched upwards. He took a short breath and turned around.
His calm gaze met Hugo’s golden eyes. The seriousness reflected in his eyes made it clear that it wasn’t just a simple joke.
But was his sudden emotion premature? Hugo made an effort to feign an indifferent face. He lifted their connected hands and gestured forward with his chin.
“We’re all the way up.”