Define The Relationship Novel - Chapter 8

‘I’ll tell you about myself too.’ Ash, who had been shown to a table, pulled out a chair for him and said. Karlyle, having missed his timing, hid his embarrassment and closed his mouth.

He felt as if he was being swept into the other person’s pace without a chance to react. He needed to maintain his composure without losing control, but the most basic axis of their relationship was shaking.

‘Pull yourself together, Karlyle.’

He chastised himself. As Karlyle sat down, his hand and Ash’s simultaneously reached for the menu. Ash, meeting his eyes, smoothly curved the corners of his lips. With a smile that bloomed like scattered flowers, Ash’s hand gripped Karlyle’s.

“You choose first, Karlyle.”

The action of gently intertwining their fingers was dizzying. Karlyle was utterly captivated by that hand. After a few seconds of silence, he finally managed to open his mouth and return the suggestion.

“No. Mr. Jones, you choose first.”

“Then shall we look together?”

Ash’s clasped hand was soft yet firm, and pleasantly warm. Karlyle felt his own cool hand melting. Without giving him time to reply, Ash lowered his head. Watching his slightly disheveled hair fall over his handsome forehead, Karlyle finally turned his gaze to the menu. It was hot, even for the evening.

Ash only ordered a salad and immediately ate dessert. Karlyle only ordered bread and soup. “Will that be enough?” Ash asked, and Karlyle returned a similar question.

In a short time, Ash began talking about movies. When asked about his preferred genre, Karlyle pondered for quite a while. For Karlyle, enjoying art was merely an act of cultivating refinement. It was one of the essential conversation topics, no different from acquiring knowledge he naturally had to know. Therefore, Karlyle wasn’t particularly picky.

Hmm, there was one thing he disliked.

Karlyle, after much deliberation, reconsidered whether he should say it. He had never remembered telling anyone what he disliked. As if sensing his hesitation, Ash tilted his head slightly and asked,

“Is there nothing you dislike?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then tell me, Karlyle.”

‘I want to know.’ Ash genuinely wanted to know something as trivial as what movies he disliked. Even though the other person was just repeating what they had done before, the whisper, which somehow created the illusion of desperation, made him feel breathless. Karlyle, hesitating, made up his mind. It was truly trivial. It was awkward, but there would be no problem in saying it.

“…I dislike things like zombies.”

“Ahaha, really?”

Ash laughed as if finding him cute. With a joyful expression, Ash asked again,

“May I ask why you dislike them?”

He felt even more breathless. It was truly trivial and ordinary, yet at the same time, it was difficult for Karlyle. Why? No one had ever asked that far. There was no one around Karlyle who tried to know his private and trivial thoughts.

In his world, dominated by aristocratic Alphas, whether half-blood or pure-blood, this kind of question was only permitted for more sophisticated works of art.

“It’s just…”

Karlyle slightly averted his gaze. His eyes met those of a passing waitress. Karlyle, letting Ash’s gaze slide off his face, raised his hand with a controlled movement. The waitress came to their table. When he asked for the bill, the waitress nodded.

He felt Ash watching him. As the waitress quickly returned, placed the bill on the table, and left, Ash spoke.

“Karlyle.”

At the soft tone, Karlyle flinched. He paused his movement, which had been naturally reaching for his wallet.

“You don’t have to say what you don’t want to say.”

A hand reached out and gripped Karlyle’s wrist. Dropping his wallet, Karlyle’s hand was pulled weakly.

“Just relax.”

Ash, gripping his wrist, stood up from his seat. Pulling Karlyle, who had also risen, towards him, he placed pound notes on the bill.

“I…”

“You paid last time. Let me pay.”

He wasn’t disrespecting the other person, but Karlyle knew that Ash possessed wealth incomparable to most citizens. Ash pulled Karlyle, who was looking up at him with a bewildered expression. As soon as Karlyle belatedly realized he was in a position as if embraced by Ash, Ash led him away.

“The movie’s about to start, shall we go?”

At the firm touch on his arm and back, Karlyle turned his gaze forward. It was the body of another Alpha. A body structured no differently from his own. Karlyle’s face hardened, feeling pathetic for stiffening at contact with a body that held no reason for tension.

He felt uncharacteristically unsteady and swayed, which was uncomfortable and unpleasant. He was disappointed in himself, not Ash. Yet, he didn’t want to push Ash away. His insides were tangled in complexity.

Regardless of his troubled mind, his shoes moved. Soon, they entered the cinema.

The cinema was almost empty. Ash went up to the very back row. Since the screening room itself wasn’t very large, the screen appeared to be a suitable size. Ash sat right next to Karlyle. Ash, observing Karlyle’s demeanor, broke the unnatural silence. His voice was small.

“Are you okay?”

Karlyle nodded. Their gazes did not meet. It felt as if he was walking through quicksand, losing control of himself and sinking throughout his time with Ash.

“Karlyle, look at me.”

Ash said in a slightly lower voice. At his words, Karlyle turned his head. Ash was smiling but his face was subdued.

“Did my actions displease you?”

“…No.”

“Then why are you avoiding my eyes?”

The cinema’s lighting gradually dimmed, becoming darker. The bright white light of the screen burst forth, coloring one side of Ash’s face.

“That’s…”

He almost winced instinctively but quickly composed himself. He must not lose his composure. The other person was merely a temporary acquaintance. Moreover, they were both Alphas. They wouldn’t see each other again in two months. Although they had kissed, the other person didn’t even remember…

“Karlyle, if you don’t tell me honestly, I won’t know what I did wrong.”

“You did nothing wrong.”

“Really?”

Ash’s hand touched the back of Karlyle’s hand, which was resting on the armrest of the chair. Karlyle looked down at it.

“You don’t dislike me touching you, do you?”

No. He shook his head a little too quickly without realizing it, then Karlyle added firmly,

“I clearly told you last time that wasn’t the case.”

“Then, please don’t avoid my eyes.”

Ash said in a low, subdued voice.

“Because if Karlyle does that… It makes me sad.”

He felt something catch in his throat. He couldn’t understand Ash’s intentions. Ash didn’t remember their past encounter, and he was merely dealing with Karlyle out of a request, yet the man treated Karlyle as if he were someone he liked. Even though Karlyle knew it wasn’t true.

Ash loved Nicholas White. He probably still didn’t have good feelings for Karlyle. The question he had tried not to ask finally burst out.

“Do you… always go this far?”

Ash raised an eyebrow slightly. Karlyle asked in a confused voice,

“I understood that you didn’t like me that much.”

“That’s right. But we clarified it last time, didn’t we? That I wouldn’t hold a grudge.”

“Even so, the attitude you’re showing now…”

As if understanding what he was saying, Ash’s expression softened slightly.

“That’s right. Karlyle, we’ll only meet a few more times, and then it’ll be over.”

His tone was gentle but firm. Karlyle felt a tingling sensation in the middle of his ribs. He closed his mouth.

“But right now, Karlyle is the only person I’m meeting.”

The hand that had been rubbing the back of his hand intertwined their fingers again.

“At least for that moment, I want to treat my sex partner well.”

Sex partner. Karlyle repeated the term Ash used to define their relationship. The word felt rough on his tongue.

“But don’t worry.”

Ash lifted his hand and pressed his lips to Karlyle’s fingertips.

“As Karlyle worried, no unnecessary emotions will be involved.”

Ash’s voice had a power that inspired trust. A strange emotion welled up at his words, which clearly reiterated Karlyle’s request. Relief, and another inexplicable feeling.

Karlyle slowly nodded. Just then, the trailer ended, and the movie began. Ash smiled sweetly, pressing his lips to Karlyle’s fingertips once more. Then he placed Karlyle’s hand on his thigh and turned his gaze forward. Leaving his hand clasped, Karlyle also finally looked ahead.

However, after the movie started, Karlyle couldn’t concentrate at all. His hand, held with just the right amount of pressure, was incredibly distracting. He couldn’t remember holding someone’s hand for this long except when he used to take his younger brother Kyle around as a child.

He had never had a lover, and even during business dates or casual encounters, he rarely held hands. He felt it was an overly intimate act.

Because he had only ever dealt with Omegas, he was meticulous about not doing anything that might lead him to develop feelings for the person he was meeting. But now, he had no idea how to deal with Ash’s actions.

It was strange because they were both Alphas, and at the same time, it was ambiguous for that very reason.