Kiss Me if You Can Novel Completed - Chapter 34

Only after they stood facing each other alone did Emma finally ask his purpose. But Josh, surprisingly, didn’t seem to be in any hurry. Emma was dumbfounded to see her brother using the refreshing smile he usually used to charm women on her.

“Just wondering how you’re doing. Is everything alright? Mom too, and you.”

“Everyone’s fine, including Pitt. Could you please not smile? It’s creepy.”

“Hahahaha.”

“I’m serious.”

Emma repeated it, but Josh, as always, didn’t believe her. He continued speaking, still smiling.

“I went to the party yesterday, and you weren’t there. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“The butler is in charge of parties held at the mansion. So I had no idea what was going on, but Mr. Pittman specifically called and gave instructions, even though it was the weekend. At least I had no other schedule, so that was a relief.”

Emma added that he’d probably be generously compensated instead. She swept her voluminous blonde hair behind her shoulder and asked again.

“What happened at the party yesterday? They just told me there was a commotion, so I should go check if he’s being temperamental. Josh, you’d know, right?”

“I don’t know either.”

Josh told half-truths.

“I was on patrol outside. When I saw it later, the incident had already happened.”

“You’re really useless.”

“What did you say?”

Emma, who had unconsciously blurted out her true feelings, quickly cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“Anyway, you don’t have any special business, do you?”

He had just wanted to see his sister after a long time. Josh was about to nod and say yes, but then he suddenly remembered something.

“How are you these days? Are you seeing anyone?”

“Why? If you’re thinking of setting me up with those ridiculous friends again, I warn you, stop it right now. I won’t let you get away with it.”

Her sharp retort was something he had seen many times before. Although he didn’t have any men to introduce her to right now, Josh’s interest lay elsewhere.

“It’s not like that, I was just curious. By any chance, you… um, I mean, Pittman isn’t your type, right?”

“What? Who? Mr. Pittman? Are you seriously talking about my boss? Josh, you haven’t gone crazy, have you?”

Emma’s disgusted expression was as good as an answer. Clearly showing her displeasure, she continued.

“Could you mind your own business when it comes to my love life? I’ll find the man of my type myself. Has anything ever gone right when Josh got involved? You always just mess things up!”

“You always pick unreliable guys.”

“I said I don’t like jocks! I’ll meet the man I like on my own. Don’t even show any interest!”

Emma glared at Josh with narrowed eyes. This, too, was a reaction he had seen countless times. Josh was certain.

“Is that man working in the same department as you now?”

At his sudden question, Emma flinched and fell silent. Seeing her inability to hide her expression, there was no need to probe further. Emma changed tactics and glared at him.

“Just try coming near the company.”

“I’d never leave my client’s side, would I?”

Josh grinned slyly.

“But if Mr. Miller visits, I’ll have no choice but to go too. It’s an extension of my work, after all.”

“If you do that, I’ll put beans in Pitt’s scrambled eggs every day!”

“It’ll be Pitt’s resentment, not mine.”

“You evil…!”

Emma wanted to strangle him right then and there but had to restrain herself. She clenched and unclenched her hands in the air several times before finally calming herself and speaking.

“Josh, please don’t mess this up this time. It’s really going well.”

“Really?”

Josh asked suspiciously. He was always ready to beat up anyone who bothered her. It would be the same even when Emma was eighty years old. Emma sighed and continued.

“We’ve been on a few dates, and he seems to like me too. I’m meeting him very carefully, so for now, just know that. I’ll introduce him when the time is right. I’m not a child anymore.”

That’s precisely why he was more worried, but Josh held back for now. It would be troublesome if he upset his sister and she couldn’t speak up when she really needed help. He suppressed his curiosity and worry, pretending to be nonchalant.

“Okay, I get it. But if you have any problems, you have to talk to me.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Emma nodded obediently. Josh habitually reached out to stroke her hair but, seeing her elaborately styled hair, lowered his hand and instead hugged her shoulder. Emma also hugged Josh back, then stepped away.

“Then I’ll go. It’s the weekend, so I should have dinner with Pitt and Mom.”

“Alright, be careful.”

Josh lightly leaned his head towards Emma’s cheek, made a kissing sound, and pulled back. Emma turned and walked back the way she came.

Josh watched her for a moment, then stopped as he was about to turn. He felt a strange gaze. He quickly looked around but saw no one. He wondered, and looked up, but the mansion, apart from a protruding balcony, showed no suspicious spots.

Josh leaned out to check the balcony but then remembered it was connected to Chase’s room and stopped.

He frowned, carefully listening for any presence, but still, all he felt was the blowing wind and the occasional rustling of leaves. After being tense for a while, he soon lowered his guard and began his patrol. Other times, he would check the front garden of the mansion first, but there was no particular reason to do so.

Maybe I’ll start from this side today, he thought, and began to walk. He wanted to finish his patrol quickly and hear Pitt’s voice.

The manager arrived about an hour later.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

Mark, who was sitting in the reception room checking Chase’s schedule, was surprised by the manager’s sudden visit and asked. The manager gave a brief greeting and then casually spoke.

“Filming will start soon, you know, there’s a lot to do. Everyone will have to be on high alert from now on. How is Chase today? His mood?”

He looked around at everyone once, then fixed his gaze on Mark. Instead of inviting him to sit, Mark took a carbonated drink from the refrigerator and placed it on the table, saying,

“Mr. Pittman’s secretary visited this morning.”

“Mr. Pittman’s secretary? For what?”

The manager looked back at him in surprise. Isaac, who was present, answered instead.

“It seems there was a small incident at the party yesterday, and she came to manage that. She was probably worried Mr. Miller might back out of the contract. Nothing special happened, and she left soon after.”

At Isaac’s explanation, the manager breathed a sigh of relief and continued, “That’s a relief.”

“His schedule is tight starting today. It’s fortunate that his rut has passed.”

“Schedule?”

Josh, who had just entered the reception room, asked unintentionally. The manager nodded.

“Filming starts next week, you know. It should be on the schedule, right? You know there’s an interview scheduled three hours from now, too?”

“I saw it.”

Mark looked down at the paper he was holding with a reluctant expression and asked,

“So what additional schedules do we need to prepare for? It seemed like the schedule for filming preparations was almost finished.”

He subtly scoffed, but the manager brushed it off lightly.

“Laura will prepare that in a document and give it to you. …So, nothing happened at the party, right? Did Mr. Miller do anything strange? Laura didn’t say anything.”

He casually asked as he opened the carbonated drink Mark had placed on the table. In an atmosphere where no one imagined any incidents or accidents, Josh pretended not to notice and averted his gaze. Along with the self-criticism that, strictly speaking, he was the one who did something strange.

Meanwhile, Mark asked sarcastically,

“Strange, or crazy?”

“Either.”

The manager, who had emptied half the soda in one go, frowned. Everyone felt an ominous premonition from his sudden silence, after having talked so smoothly. The manager sighed, rubbed his brow, and opened his mouth.

“Um, so what I mean is… It hasn’t been long since his rut ended, right? But after that period passes, Mr. Miller gets really moody.”

“How can he get worse than usual?”

Seth asked, genuinely surprised. After all, Chase was always in that state.

The manager gave an awkward laugh, then made a troubled expression again, “Hmm.” Why was he stalling so much? Everyone was curious, but there was nothing to do but wait.

Finally, as if he had made a decision, the manager spoke with difficulty.

“This will be necessary for security, so I’ll tell you. Anyway, you’ll have to know it once filming starts… Of course, as stated in the contract, if any private life or secrets of the client learned during work are leaked, you’ll have to pay an enormous compensation.”

While everyone was curious about what he was going to say with such a warning, they also felt displeased. Guaranteeing the client’s secrets was a very obvious duty. Of course, Mark used to say that those despicable guys who didn’t keep it were dirtying their profession.

“There are no such low-class guys on our team.”

Mark spoke with a stiff face. The manager gave a short laugh but didn’t seem to genuinely believe it. Anyway, with an air of not letting his guard down, he finally confessed.

“Mr. Miller takes some medication, you see…”

“Medication? What kind? Oh, I’m sorry.”

Isaac asked in surprise at the difficult revelation, then immediately apologized. With everyone’s attention focused on him, the manager carefully continued.

“He’s originally an aggressive person, isn’t he? Plus, he has severe insomnia and is sensitive… He’s someone who can’t live without taking medication every day. And when he’s stressed, he takes double the amount.”

At the unexpected words, everyone just looked at each other. Isaac let out a choked sigh, running a hand through his hair.

“What the… He really does all sorts of things.”

“A drug-addicted extreme alpha, I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Seth chimed in from the side, as if dumbfounded. Suddenly, Josh remembered Chase taking pills from the refrigerator and swallowing them the day he went to Pittman’s party.

“Does he take medication even when it’s not a rut?”

When Josh asked, the manager nodded.

“Yes, if he finds something unbearable, he just throws it into his mouth. But when a rut comes, he takes three times more than usual. He mixes all kinds of alcohol and drugs until he passes out… Extreme alphas usually fall into a deep sleep after their rut, but in Mr. Miller’s case, I think he falls asleep from being drugged.”

He added, as if understanding the surprised reactions of the bodyguards,

“If he wasn’t an extreme alpha, he would have died long ago.”

Everyone agreed with that statement. Isaac opened the refrigerator and looked inside, then returned to his seat, realizing his hands were empty, and let out a short curse. He wasn’t the only one flustered. As Seth turned his head with a troubled expression, Mark spoke.

“So what should we be careful about?”

To the direct question, the manager immediately got to the point.

“When work begins, Mr. Miller will take more medication than usual, so please ensure he doesn’t run out or stop taking it arbitrarily. Laura will prepare it in advance when he’s about to run out. I’ll give you a separate list and appearance of the medications. Laura will take care of it every time, and Mr. Miller will take it well on his own, but… Mr. Miller can’t live without medication.”

Having said that, the manager wore a strange smile.

“I’ve never seen an extreme alpha take so much medication either. Well, I guess he has no choice but to take a lot since the medication won’t work properly… It’s hard to believe he takes so much medication that doesn’t even work. I thought extreme alphas only did drugs when they were crazy about sex, but he takes it like this even normally, so I wonder if he’ll suddenly have a heart attack… That’s probably not going to happen.”