Kiss Me if You Can Novel Completed - Chapter 114

That was true, but Emma had taken it deeply to heart. Josh still couldn’t bring himself to say his sister was pretty, but he knew she wasn’t unattractive. He’d spent quite a bit of energy in school chasing away the annoying flies that followed her around because of it.

Come to think of it.

“How’s work these days, Emma?”

At Josh’s question, Emma momentarily dropped her guard and returned to being an ordinary sister, beginning to complain.

“A new employee joined, and they’re completely hopeless. I teach them the work, but they keep making mistakes, and it’s always, always the tasks I assign that they mess up! They’re clearly out to get me! They do everything else well, so no matter how angry I get, everyone disagrees. They say anyone can make mistakes. No, why do they only make mistakes on the tasks I assign?”

Josh, who had been silently watching his sister vent her frustration, opened his mouth.

“What about that guy’s looks?”

“He’s a gorilla.”

At her one-word assessment, Josh inwardly sighed, Ah. You really hate muscles.

“Emma, I think…”

Just as Josh opened his mouth, another engine sound was heard from outside. This time, it wasn’t just one car, but several.

“Are they coming?”

His mother, who had finished getting ready and came into the living room, asked with an excited voice. Josh stared intently out the window. Seeing black sedans lined up, there was no mistake. Emma blinked her eyes in surprise and said,

“What? Josh, how many people are bringing that there are so many cars?”

“It’s one person.”

Josh, embarrassed, quickly replied. Emma still couldn’t take her eyes off the cars lined up outside and asked,

“It’s one person, but why did so many come? Do they have a big family?”

“No, that’s not it either.”

There was no more fudging or delaying. Chase would soon get out of the car and reveal himself.

“Ahem, um.”

Josh cleared his throat, just about to begin, when his mother suddenly spoke.

“Those cars remind me of the news I saw earlier. Some actor, I heard, just beat someone up on the street? It was so scary even watching it on screen.”

Josh was flustered, but Emma, who seemed to already know, replied indifferently.

“Oh, Chase Miller? He’s always been trash, that bastard.”

“Emma!”

Josh shouted without realizing it. His mother and Emma both looked at Josh, blinking as if asking what was wrong. But Josh was speechless at that moment.

“No, Pete can hear you.”

When he made a poor excuse, his mother, completely unaware of Josh’s true feelings, agreed with him.

“Yes, Emma. Be careful what you say when a child is listening.”

Then she added words Josh didn’t want to hear.

“What if Pete grows up to be violent like that actor later?”

“Well, Chase Miller does swear a lot whenever he opens his mouth.”

Seeing Emma nod in agreement, Josh had nothing more to say. All he could do now was leave it to fate.

Just as he thought that, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, I think they’re here.”

Emma quickly moved away from the window and said. His mother also turned around, and Josh, who had been standing by the window until the last moment, also moved.

The clear sound of the doorbell rang once more. Emma and his mother quickly checked each other, then took a deep breath and turned around.

“Welcome.”

Opening the front door, his mother, with a warm smile, spoke the words she had prepared to the sturdy man in dark sunglasses standing before her.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jacqueline. I’ve been waiting.”

She offered a handshake first, but the man did not take her hand. Josh knew him. It was Chase’s security team leader. He paused for a moment when he saw Josh standing behind his mother, but then opened his mouth with an emotionless, blunt face.

“Is this the Bailey residence?”

“…Yes, it is.”

His mother, embarrassed, withdrew her hand and then, as if realizing something was strange, glanced behind the man. Several more men appeared, and soon the front of the house was filled with men in black suits.

“This is ominous.”

Emma muttered to herself beside Josh.

“I’ve seen a lot of this. When our company president moves, it’s always like this.”

Josh unconsciously swallowed hard. Emma, not missing the sound, immediately looked up at him.

“Who exactly are you dating, Josh?”

As she asked in a voice full of suspicion, he finally appeared.

“Oh?”

Emma let out a strange gasp when she saw the man get out of the car and stretch. It was a short exclamation, but it contained all sorts of negative emotions: bewilderment, suspicion, anxiety, nervousness, and more. She quickly turned her gaze to Josh, then looked back out the door.

No way, that…

The man, holding a large bouquet of flowers, walked with long strides towards the mansion where they were waiting. The dazzling blonde man, perfectly suited to the flamboyant bouquet of roses, wore dark sunglasses, and a distinct mark was tattooed on one ear.

Emma still looked incredulous, alternating her gaze between Josh and him. His mother also blinked in confusion, merely watching him approach.

Leaving the men in black suits behind, he ascended the stairs and stood at the entrance, facing them.

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He took off his sunglasses and handed the bouquet to his mother, smiling brightly. His deep purple eyes shimmered brilliantly.

“I’m Chase Miller.”

At that moment, Emma and his mother forgot to even breathe.

The residential area was quiet. Even with over a dozen men in black suits gathered in front of one particular house under the languid, bright sunlight, nothing much changed. On an afternoon where even the air seemed to leisurely drift around, they were seated around the dining table.

“…”

“…”

The usual quiet continued, no different from any other day. Yet, it seemed different from usual because of the presence of the unfamiliar man among them. The peaceful silence that was always felt now felt unbearably agonizing.

His mother’s plan was simple. Welcome the guest, exchange brief greetings, have a meal, drink tea and chat, then say goodbye. Afterwards, the remaining family members would discuss their evaluation of Josh’s partner. That was all.

She tried to proceed with her plan and first intended to greet Chase. However, despite him smiling brightly at her, she couldn’t bring herself to speak, because of a certain scene lingering in her mind. It was the image of Chase brutally beating the paparazzi with a camera.

“He’s trash.”

Emma recalled what she had said to her mother, and his mother was no different. At this moment, even Josh was the same.

His mother struggled, determined to get through this situation as planned. She forced a smile and offered a greeting, then led Chase into the house and to the dining table laden with food. And now, everyone was sitting around the table in dead silence.

Only Chase remained composed. He scooped potato salad from the bowl his mother offered, passed it to Josh next to him, and Josh silently repeated the action before passing it to Emma. And so, several bowls made their way around the table and returned to their original spots.

For a while, only the clinking of cutlery continued between them, and no one spoke. Even Pete, who usually made noise and sought attention, clung to Josh’s side, merely observing. The only difference was that even while glancing sideways, he never took his eyes off Chase.

“Ahem.”

Finally, as if making up her mind, his mother cleared her throat briefly and opened her mouth.

“I heard you’re an actor, is that right?”

“That’s right.”

Chase replied in a smooth tone.

“I’ve been filming since I was young, you might know it, but…”

When Chase mentioned the product name, his mother’s eyes widened in surprise.

“That chocolate bar!”

“Yes.”

Chase nodded.

“That was me.”

His mother quickly looked confused and stammered.

“Oh my, but… you were a girl?”

Chase smiled at his mother, who was trying to somehow superimpose the face of the lovely girl onto the handsome man in front of her.

“It was cross-dressing for the concept. There was a scene like that in this movie too.”

“You filmed a chocolate bar commercial?”

“Hahahaha.”

Chase laughed aloud at his mother’s question. It was the first time Josh had seen him laugh like that. His mother and Emma, and even Josh, looked at him in surprise. Chase continued to speak, still smiling.

“No, not that. In the movie, my character has a scene where he cross-dresses. Because of my height, it’s mostly sitting scenes, though…”

He said that much, then added softly,

“If you’re free, would you like to watch it together on the premiere day?”

“How? All the tickets must be sold out.”

When Josh asked, puzzled, Chase turned his head to look at him and replied.

“I have a movie theater at home. It would be great if Pete could come too.”

Ah, right. Josh belatedly remembered that fact and nodded in agreement. Besides the main house Chase primarily used, there were several other buildings on the estate, and the movie theater was one of them. He had never seen it in use, but whenever he went in for security, he was always impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities and the enormous screen.

“It’s been a long time since I went to a movie theater. How do you get tickets these days? Is it online?”

His mother asked with curiosity. Josh was about to promise his mother they would go to the cinema together next time, but Chase spoke first.

“There’s ticketing and a snack bar, so just come and watch comfortably.”

“You have that in your house? Oh my.”

Emma, who had unconsciously interjected, hastily closed her mouth. Chase smiled at her and nodded.

“I made it as similar to a real theater as possible. From buying tickets at the ticket booth, you can do everything you can do at a theater, so it won’t be much different.”

On the day, he would have someone at the booth to create an atmosphere as close to a theater as possible. He might even buy tickets for other audience members to come in. Josh, imagining that day, suddenly met Chase’s eyes.

Even Josh, who thought he had seen Chase’s face to boredom, was mesmerized by his smiling face. His mother was speechless, and Pete also stopped his fork, which was about to stab a pancake, and stared at Chase.

The only one whose soul hadn’t been stolen was Emma.

After a pleasant meal, his mother called Josh and told him to give Chase a tour of the house. In the meantime, she planned to brew coffee and prepare some simple refreshments. Next to his mother, helping with the preparations, Emma subtly watched. Unlike when she first saw Chase, his mother was now even humming a tune.

“The cookies should be cool by now, put them on a plate.”

Following his mother’s instructions, Emma, who was neatly transferring freshly baked cookies onto a plate, feigned ignorance and began to speak.

“He’s known for having a bad personality, I don’t know why he’s so kind today.”

She mumbled it like a monologue, but it was loud enough for her mother to hear, of course. As expected, her mother, sensing her intention, replied as if she didn’t know.

“It must depend on the person, your father actually didn’t have a very good personality either.”

“No way! That’s a lie!”

When Emma jumped up, his mother instead widened her eyes and looked serious.

“It’s true, I only found out long after we got married. He was so good to me, I was completely fooled!”

Emma’s face crumpled in disbelief.

“Mom, you saw it too, didn’t you? That man beating the paparazzi to death. And you cursed with me!”

To Emma, who was feeling wronged and bringing up her past self as evidence, his mother looked surprised, then chuckled and lightly rolled her eyes.

“There must have been a reason. Paparazzi have a lot of problems too. How can they just take pictures of others so carelessly? People have private lives.”

“Mom!”

To Emma, who had shouted again in exasperation, his mother seemed to lose interest and casually changed the subject.

“If you’re ready, bring them out. Josh should be coming down soon too. I forgot to tell him to show the album, I guess he did it well on his own?”

Watching his mother glance up the stairs and mutter to herself, Emma could only let out a sigh of exasperation.