Kiss Me if You Can Novel Completed - Chapter 12

On the morning of the day, everyone was visibly tense. Several times more vigilance was needed than usual security. After all, they were in a situation where kidnapping or even a threat to life was possible. Though it didn’t feel real.

Given his skill at firing a Desert Eagle with one hand and his thorough punishment of anyone who annoyed him, it didn’t seem like he needed security at all. However, perhaps the reason he spent enormous sums of money to hire them was because he didn’t want to deal with ‘lowly people’ directly, or perhaps he needed someone to beat up for fun. Josh thought with a sneer.

They each brought their guns in case of an emergency. As Josh cleaned his Glock, he suddenly frowned. Chase Miller seemed capable of stabbing someone to death with a butter knife, so why did he bother carrying that crude gun?

He swallowed the curses that were rising again and stood up. It was time to inspect the car.

“You suggested additional security?”

Josh asked, forcefully closing the hood of the car he was about to get into. Mark let out a short sigh and nodded.

“Yes, but it was flatly rejected.”

“Not because of the cost, I presume.”

“Of course not.”

Mark flatly denied it and continued.

“It’s so hard to find people, so I thought about using guard dogs. I almost got hit, I didn’t know he’d get so angry. When he glared, I really felt what it meant for someone to kill with their eyes. I immediately backed down.”

It was common to release several trained fierce dogs, but in Chase Miller’s case, it was absolutely impossible. He disliked many things, and among them, dogs made him almost convulse.

Mark’s courage in even suggesting using dogs was highly commendable, even though the result was a complete failure.

“I don’t understand why he hates dogs so much. Aren’t dogs the closest animals to humans?”

Josh was also curious but had no way of knowing the answer. He merely surmised that since he was such a finicky man, dogs were simply among the many things he disliked. Instead, he changed the subject and asked,

“Was that the end of it?”

“Yes.”

Mark nodded and muttered to himself,

“How would I know what’s in that guy’s head? He asks all sorts of useless things but doesn’t care about what’s actually important.”

“He asks useless things?”

Josh looked puzzled, and Mark nodded.

“When I first went to greet him, he asked about our team members. I didn’t think he’d care about that.”

Was it because of criminal records or something? He suddenly thought, but Mark’s answer was completely unexpected.

“He didn’t say a word, then suddenly asked if all the security team were Alphas or Betas.”

Josh stared at Mark’s face, and Mark replied nonchalantly,

“So I said only you and I are Betas, and the rest are all Alphas. After that, he just lost all interest.”

“…Really?”

Mark chuckled at Josh, who feigned composure.

“Shouldn’t your face be an Alpha? C didn’t seem to believe it either. He asked twice if the person he beat up was really a Beta.”

It was something he had heard all his life. And Josh was very grateful for such misunderstandings. Especially now, even more so.

“I like being a Beta.”

“Well, yeah. With a face like yours, what wouldn’t be good?”

Mark casually sneered, putting a cigarette in his mouth. Josh silently finished the final check.

When Chase Miller moved, at least ten or more people moved with him. Aside from security, there were personal assistants who managed his schedule and ran various errands, as well as managers, stylists, and sometimes even the assistant’s assistant. This time too, there were three cars, including a van. Even with the minimum number of personnel.

On days like this, it was also Josh’s job to check each car one by one for any abnormalities.

“One tire seemed to be leaking air, so I replaced it. Other than that, everything’s fine.”

When Josh reported indifferently, Mark blinked as if amazed.

“Even cars worth hundreds of thousands have leaky tires?”

“Even actors worth hundreds of millions have bad personalities.”

Josh, who had spoken without much thought, suddenly felt a chill down his spine. When he quickly turned around, he met Chase’s gaze as he walked out of the mansion.

It was the first time they had faced each other directly since that day. Of course, it was thanks to Josh’s diligent efforts to avoid him. He didn’t want to be in danger of his life again.

Chase was dressed casually, without a tie. His shirt unbuttoned a couple of times, a light jacket draped over him, and on his wrist, as always, a custom-made watch gleamed brilliantly.

I once looked up where to buy that brand because I liked it.

Recalling how he had given up everything because it was more expensive than his annual salary, he quickly backed away. Chase must have heard his remark, but he showed no particular reaction. He simply walked down the few steps of the entrance with an expressionless face and approached the car.

With an unlit cigarette between his lips, he casually ran a hand through his hair, his brow faintly furrowed, as if annoyed.

“It was really hard to get him out. Every time he has to go to work, it’s a battle…”

The manager’s sigh-like complaint to one of the assistants was faintly audible. Josh subtly pulled a candy from his pants pocket and popped it into his mouth.

Mark opened the car door, and Chase slid inside. Even from a distance, a faint sweet scent wafted to Josh’s nose. Josh desperately rolled the candy on his tongue to melt it.

Seth and Henry, who were assigned close protection, would ride in the same car as him. Josh walked to the car directly behind, opened the driver’s side door, and buried the faint lingering scent of Chase with the scent of his candy.

The designer’s office for the costume fitting was nearly a two-hour drive away. As they reached their destination among towering buildings, the tension heightened even further.

“Phew.”

Isaac, sitting next to Josh, let out a deep breath. Josh also stepped out with a hardened face. After checking the surroundings, he opened the door of the car in front, and Mark was the first to get out. After scanning the area once, he moved aside.

Before he even appeared, his scent permeated the surroundings. At the irresistibly sweet fragrance, Josh’s heart pounded as usual, but he also felt self-loathing. He almost instinctively touched his ear, covered by an earphone. As long as this mark is here, my heart will always flutter like this.

Even though I know what a piece of trash this guy is.

Feeling pathetic, he watched Chase step out of the car. The man, perfect at least on the outside, soon straightened his back. Their eyes seemed to meet for a moment, but it might have been a delusion. Chase walked past Josh and entered the building.

“Oh, really?”

“Seriously?”

Exclamations of surprise continued from around them. At the natural reaction of people recognizing Chase, everyone, including Josh, quickly surrounded Chase. They quickly hid inside the building, but people who had gathered began taking pictures from everywhere.

This is ominous.

As if Josh’s thought had been telepathically received, Mark spoke.

“It would be good to control the surroundings well. Also, check if there are any back exits or emergency exits in case we need to escape.”

“I will find the building manager and ask if they have a floor plan.”

Mark nodded at Josh’s immediate reply. Then, after assigning each person their tasks, he quickly followed Chase, moving his steps. Meanwhile, people were gathering outside the building one by one.

Obtaining the floor plan was easy. The building manager, after verifying Josh’s identity with the accompanying manager’s guarantee, promptly showed him the plan. Josh quickly scanned the building displayed on the screen and immediately contacted Mark.

“It’s saved on the computer in the monitoring room. It’s currently displayed on the screen; would you like to come and see it?”

“Good,” Mark replied.

[It’s going to take at least an hour from now… Check if there’s any suspicious activity inside the building, including the locations of the emergency exits on the floor plan. Isaac, you go from top to bottom.]

After giving instructions to Isaac, who was next to him, he then said to Josh,

[Did you hear that? You go from bottom to top.]

Josh, after explaining Mark’s instructions to the administrator, left the room. The rest was simple. After the fitting was over, they just needed to plan the route: how to exit the building through the hallway, where to park the car, and how to safely get Chase into the car and return. After that, he would go to the monitoring room and discuss it with Mark, and that would be the end.

Why is it so complicated just for a costume fitting?

Josh frowned, but he already knew the answer. Just being outside was dangerous. As long as he didn’t do anything crazy, everyone would want that man.

Recalling that Chase Miller was a narcissist, Josh conceded. Even he, who often heard compliments about his good looks, felt incredibly ordinary when he saw Chase.

That guy will never love anyone but himself his whole life.

Thinking that, he opened the emergency exit door and checked the stairs. He readily stepped in, leaping two or three steps at a time to reach the next floor, then circled around, checked for anything unusual, and headed back to the emergency exit. It was as he was running up several flights of stairs like that.

“Josh!”

At the call, he instinctively looked up. Isaac was coming down.

“Did you check everything? There wasn’t much on my side.”

“Huh? Oh, mostly.”

He was just about to open the emergency exit door. Since he met Isaac, this was now effectively the last floor. Isaac soon realized the situation and began walking alongside Josh.

“I heard that people entering are checked quite thoroughly at the entrance. And all the outsiders who came here today have already had their identities verified. Other than that, everyone else is staff, so we don’t need to check them individually, right?”

“Right, of course.”

Josh said absently, rolling the candy in his mouth. A faint scent of Alpha pheromones wafted from Isaac. His indifference to Isaac’s pheromone scent wasn’t just because of the candy in his mouth. It was because since that day, the only scent that tempted Josh was that man’s pheromones. The only problem was how tormentingly sweet it was. Even as he thought of how sick and tired he was of that man, to the point of grinding his teeth.

“…?”

He looked up at a strange sensation. Isaac was looking down at Josh. He realized next that Isaac’s finger had brushed his hair.

“…What?”

When he asked, puzzled, Isaac blinked in confusion and quickly replied,

“Something was on it.”

“Oh, really?”

Josh casually brushed his hair. Isaac stared at him for a moment and then spoke.

“How’s Pete doing?”

“Huh? He’s doing well.”

The happiest time of his day was calling Pete before bed and hearing his voice. Remembering the child’s voice he had heard just last night, his lips naturally relaxed. Isaac followed Josh, walking alongside him, and spoke.

“Don’t you miss him?”

“Of course I miss him. But what can I do?”

Josh opened the closed emergency door, scanned it once, and then closed it again. As he continued walking, Isaac asked,

“After this job is over… are you going to Canada or Alaska?”

“…Well? Why?”

Only then did he look up at Isaac, who avoided his gaze and mumbled.

“Well… when is Pete’s mom coming? Is the whole family going together?”

For a brief moment, Josh’s mind raced frantically. Should he make up a lie? How should he make it up? Should he make an excuse? Should he pretend not to know?

In a few seconds, he replied indifferently,

“That’s for now, it’s still a long way off.”

“…Okay.”

Isaac’s voice trailed off, sounding unconvinced. Was he worried the team would break up? Josh casually patted his back.

“That’s just something I said, you never know what the future holds, right? Don’t worry about it yet.”

When he opened the door to the opposite emergency staircase, a sound suddenly came from his earphone.

[Where are you? Are you almost done?]

It was Mark. Josh touched the earphone fixed in his ear to reconfirm and replied,

“I’ve almost finished checking. Should I go to the studio after this?”

[What about Isaac?]

Isaac answered Mark’s question.

“He’s next to me.”

[…You’re together? Well, never mind. Nothing unusual?]

“No, nothing special.”

He looked at Isaac, who also gave the same answer. Mark confirmed their replies and then spoke.

[We need to change the plan. Both of you, come to the monitoring room.]

He was referring to the security room with CCTV cameras monitoring the inside and outside of the building. They looked at each other, puzzled.

“It’s a bit, isn’t it?”

Isaac muttered to himself as he followed Josh, who had started walking first. Josh nodded.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

As they opened the door and entered, Mark, with a serious expression, looking at the screen, immediately came into view. Josh strode across the monitoring room and looked at the screen, following Mark’s gaze.

“What’s going on?”

Mark didn’t answer immediately, but asked back,

“Nothing unusual, right? How’s the route? Will it be okay?”

“Yes, there were no suspicious objects, no particularly suspicious people… That’s right.”

Seeing him nod, Josh was about to explain the route he had checked. But Mark raised a hand to stop him, then rubbed his furrowed brow.

“They say it’s almost over now… but fans have gathered outside and it’s a mess. They say there are injuries from being pushed by the crowd, and someone was taken away in an ambulance earlier, so we need a plan.”

“Is it impossible to get out?”

Isaac asked in a tense voice. Mark glanced silently. The moment the screen showing the outside of the building came into view among the many monitors, everyone was momentarily speechless. An enormous crowd had gathered in the meantime. Josh’s face turned pale.

“…New Year’s Times Square doesn’t even compare.”

Mark groaned at Josh’s murmur.

“This is worse than a few years ago. The number of fans has increased since then.”

Everyone sighed. Isaac urgently asked,

“Does the security team here have any countermeasures or ideas? If this continues, things could escalate, and someone could get hurt.”

Mark nodded and replied seriously,

“We’ve called the police… and since the in-house security team is providing support, it seems like only two areas will have to struggle.”

“The west emergency exit looks like it’s going to be breached.”

At the urgent words of an employee, the three simultaneously turned their gaze to the screen.

“What is that? Are they zombies?”

Another employee blurted out with a disgusted look. As he said, the screen showed a scene reminiscent of a movie where countless zombies climbed walls, completely covering the screen.

“Shouldn’t we call SWAT instead of the police?”

Isaac asked, watching the people clamoring to get into the building. It was half a joke, but half serious.

Meanwhile, security guards again blocked the front, and from behind, thick barriers, usually used only in case of fire, were urgently being lowered. But the crowd had already completely surrounded the building.

“Anyway, let’s discuss a plan. We can’t just shoot all those people.”

Mark, who had spoken thoughtfully, turned to Josh.

“Go to the back. I’ll watch the situation here a bit longer.”

“Understood.”

Following his reply, Josh quickly moved. He seemed to hear the faint, almost desperate screams of people from outside the building.