Define The Relationship Novel - Chapter 94

Ash was everything to him.

Karlyle almost ran back to the elevator and quickly pressed the button. However, the elevator didn’t open immediately. The number was stopped at 5. Then, it began to decrease one by one.

Karlyle frowned slightly, watching it. The slowly changing number soon displayed ‘L’. The door slid open. Beyond the open door stood Ash, his expression hardened. Behind him was the man who had been with him in the studio. He could smell the sweet scent of an Omega. Seeing them stand together, looking like a pair, made him shrink back, yet something boiled inside him. He didn’t want Ash to be next to that person.

“You came all this way just to leave?”

Before Karlyle could open his mouth, Ash, disregarding Hazel behind him, grabbed Karlyle’s wrist first. The grip was so tight, as if he wouldn’t let go, that it seemed almost rough. Karlyle blinked, surprised by the unexpected action.

“What misunderstanding are you going to leave with and drive me crazy again, huh?”

Ash’s eyes shone fiercely. His hair was disheveled, as if he had rushed greatly. His pheromones, his expression, everything was unlike his usual self. Like someone very angry.

“Ash, wait…”

Before Karlyle could finish his sentence, Ash pulled him to his side. This created a standoff, with them facing the man. Large, gentle green eyes scanned Ash and Karlyle alternately. His eyes, which had been assessing something, widened in shock.

“Say hello, senior. This is Karlyle. The person I love.”

Ash’s voice was too sharp to be considered an introduction. Karlyle thought the conversation that had taken place inside might have been of a different kind than he had imagined.

“…Hello.”

Given that he was called “senior,” Hazel was older than both Ash and Karlyle. With a youthful face that didn’t look at all, the man quietly greeted them. Beyond his lack of welcome, Hazel seemed wary. His gaze briefly swept over Ash’s hand, which held Karlyle’s wrist.

“Lyle, this is Hazel. The person I dated in the past.”

Ash introduced the other person to Karlyle as well. Karlyle said nothing. Although it was foolish, he disliked the other person so much that he didn’t want to be polite. Perhaps sensing his unconcealed sharp aura, Hazel flinched and took a step back. Seeing that, Karlyle felt tired. Although not a True Alpha, Karlyle was still an Alpha whom no one dared to underestimate. Feeling like he was bullying someone weaker than him, Karlyle tersely uttered a single sentence.

“Are you done with your business?”

Ash answered.

“Yes.”

Then Hazel looked up at Ash. After a few seconds of silence, Hazel said to Ash, as if unable to believe it.

“I didn’t know you had a lover now.”

Hazel finished speaking and cautiously eyed Karlyle. His green eyes, flinching yet examining him, held faint astonishment.

“I heard you started dating an Alpha, but… it seems it’s true.”

As time passed, more Alphas began dating Alphas, but it was still true that their numbers were relatively very small. This was because it was not common for Alphas to be attracted to Alphas due to the particularly severe friction between their secondary genders. Perhaps for that reason, Hazel acted as if he found it hard to believe that Karlyle was an Alpha.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, senior.”

Ash replied in a cool voice. Hazel flinched at the sharp tone. Even Karlyle was slightly surprised and looked at Ash. Ash let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

“Did you think I’d treat you as kindly as in the past? We’re not like that anymore.”

At the words “like that,” Karlyle unconsciously tightened his grip on the hand he was holding. His heart beat unsteadily. Ash briefly looked down at their hands, then raised his head again.

“I’m not getting back together with you, senior. That’s my answer. I have Karlyle now.”

“But…!”

Hazel gasped. Was this the kind of conversation that had been going on upstairs? Karlyle’s eyes froze a sharp blue. But Hazel, unlike before, didn’t hesitate even in the face of Karlyle’s sharp aura. Like a desperate person, he opened his mouth.

“Why are you doing this? This isn’t like you. You can’t bond with an Alpha, and you can’t resolve your rut.”

His large eyes, with faint double eyelids, became tearful with pity. Hazel’s words contained the time he and Ash had spent together. Their unique bond that Karlyle couldn’t know.

“You always let me come back to you, Ash…”

His voice was so pitiful it could soften one’s heart. But hearing that delicate voice, Karlyle felt genuine anger for the first time in his life. Feeling such emotions towards a stranger he had never even met was unique to this moment in his entire life. An undefinable impulse urged Karlyle on. But Karlyle endured. He had to.

Because this was not something he could interfere with.

Just as he thought that, Ash opened his mouth.

“There was a time when I liked that side of you, senior. But that’s in the past. Tell me, senior. Since you rudely came here without permission, you can answer this, right?”

At those words, the man looked sad. Karlyle felt Ash’s lingering feelings in that face. Without realizing it, Karlyle took a step forward in front of Ash. An instinctive wariness surged. Ash briefly looked at Karlyle, then opened his mouth again.

“Did I ever talk about marriage with you, senior?”

Hazel was silent. His light-colored lips drooped sadly. Karlyle held his breath, waiting for his answer.

“Hurry.”

Ash urged the man in a voice completely unlike his usual self, even sounding unkind. It was an angry voice. At those words, the man looked like he was about to cry, but finally opened his mouth.

“No. Never.”

His mezzo-soprano voice, neither high nor low, trembled unsteadily. Anyone would have found it pathetic. But Karlyle felt an unspeakable sense of relief at that sad voice.

“And bonding? Were we going to bond?”

Ash didn’t stop there. As if to confirm it, Ash brought up the topic of bonding. Hazel looked up at Ash, then lowered his gaze sadly and said.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Ash, I’m really sorry. I… shouldn’t have come.”

“Yes, you shouldn’t have.”

Ash seemed like a completely different person. Karlyle had never seen Ash angry before. The Ash who had initially shown displeasure towards him due to his own mistakes felt like nothing compared to this. His pheromones were chilling, and his expression held no trace of a smile.

“If you left me for someone else and went all the way to America, shouldn’t you have just disappeared from my life? Do you think I’ll keep taking you back indefinitely?”

At those words, Karlyle’s eyes widened. He looked at Ash in surprise. Their gazes met. Ash closed his mouth and tightened his grip on Karlyle’s hand again.

Perhaps those words stimulated the man’s guilt, for Hazel finally shed tears. Moisture gathered in his deer-like eyes. The tears welling up and falling from his clear eyes evoked sympathy. Even Karlyle’s hostility momentarily softened. Not out of sympathy, but because it felt strange that Ash could be so cold.

“…I-I’m sorry.”

Even with his sobbing voice, Ash did not reach out to him at all.

“You should have apologized a long time ago. Not by suddenly appearing today and startling the person I love. What did I ask of you? I let you leave without even telling me why we broke up. No one knows why we broke up.”

Hazel raised a hand and wiped his cheek. Ash watched in silence as his fair, slender hand wiped away tears, then sighed.

“I won’t tell anyone in the future, so please just go. And don’t ever appear before me again, senior.”

Hazel looked at Ash for a few seconds, as if hoping for something. But Ash merely looked down at him with a hardened expression and said nothing. It must have been quite embarrassing to reveal his vulnerability in front of a stranger.

Karlyle simultaneously realized that the man had hurt Ash. His momentarily softened hostility flared up sharply. Without realizing it, Karlyle gazed at Hazel with a chillingly hardened face. But he didn’t open his mouth. However, his expression spoke volumes about his feelings.

His trembling breaths subsided, and Hazel nodded.

“I’m sorry, Ash.”

Ash was silent for a few seconds. He tightened his grip on Karlyle’s hand once more.

“We’re nothing to each other, so don’t be sorry.”

At Ash’s words, Hazel burst into tears again. Ash looked at him, then led Karlyle away. Instead of asking Hazel to leave, Ash silently left the company with Karlyle.

The silence continued even after they left the company. Karlyle couldn’t find the right moment to speak and quietly followed behind Ash. After walking for a long time, still holding his wrist, Ash stopped in a deserted alley. He turned around.

“Now, tell me.”

Karlyle flinched and looked up. The negative emotions that had filled him chaotically had flowed away due to the scene he had just witnessed. Now, only apology and pity for Ash remained in his heart.

“…What are you asking about?”

Karlyle asked cautiously, his voice subdued. Ash stood looking down at Karlyle, his arms crossed.

“What were you thinking when you saw me and Hazel and turned away? Did you think I would meet someone else while I have you?”

Karlyle tried to shake his head, but remembering that he had briefly thought something like that, he couldn’t bring himself to deny it. Unable to give any answer, Karlyle affirmed with his silence. He felt ashamed of himself. Ash took a low breath. It sounded like a growl was mixed in.

“Alright. That must be because I haven’t given Lyle enough trust.”

“That’s not it.”

He quickly denied Ash’s words, blaming himself, grabbing his arm. Ash quietly looked down at Karlyle.

“I, I was inadequate… and I didn’t listen to Ash, imagining bad things.”

Ash was silent for a few seconds. Karlyle looked up at Ash with pitiful eyes. Ash’s face slowly began to soften. Ash, frowning as if troubled, then ran one hand over his face.

“You can’t make me angry when you make that face.”

Was he being scolded? Or had Ash’s anger subsided? Karlyle carefully replayed Ash’s words to judge. In the meantime, he tightened his grip on Ash’s arm a little more. Then Ash uncrossed his arms and held Karlyle’s hand. Relief spread through him. His complexion brightened without him realizing it.

“As you saw, Hazel means nothing to me now. He’s less than a stranger. It makes me angry that you and I fought because of someone like that. Why didn’t you listen to me and just assume things on your own?”