Kiss Me if You Can Novel - Chapter 8

“What are you all looking at? Stop him!”

“Mr. Miller, stop!”

“Damn it, get out of the way!”

“What are the standby guards doing? Stop Mr. Miller!”

Everyone screamed, their faces pale. The surroundings were a mess.

Damn it.

Josh swallowed a curse and ran like mad. He hadn’t changed at all, then or now. While guarding that madman who shot a Desert Eagle with one hand, they had to put all their effort into protecting ordinary people from that bastard, not protecting him.

It was the same this time. Right now, Josh and everyone else needed to save not Chase Miller, but that shameless paparazzi.

Bang!

“Aargh!”

With another gunshot, Josh screamed. It was fortunate that he managed to throw himself and snatch the pistol from Chase, but he burned his hand gripping the hot barrel.

Behind Josh, who had thrown away the pistol, Isaac’s urgent shout rang out.

“Josh! My God, are you okay?”

He frantically flapped his burning hand and looked back. The security team had already surrounded Chase, struggling to restrain him. Thanks to that, Chase’s agitated pheromone scent mixed and dispersed with other scents, which was fortunate for Josh.

“Ugh, ughhh.”

The paparazzi, sitting on the ground, burst into tears. The floor was soaked with his urine. His head was bleeding profusely from a stray bullet, and his pants were drenched, and the sight of the grown man trembling all over and whimpering as if his mind had completely snapped, filled Josh with a sudden surge of irritation. He couldn’t control the pain and gripped his wrist tightly, looking down at the paparazzi.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you leaving quickly?”

His voice came out sharp, involuntarily. The longer the man lingered in front of him, the more Chase would surely go wild. Even now, he could occasionally hear the guards being hit behind him.

Daring to photograph Chase Miller’s private life, he must have been a rookie who didn’t know the ways of the world, or a fool so blinded by money that he’d throw away his life.

Ever since a malicious paparazzi specializing in nude photos of stars was caught trying to photograph Chase Miller’s naked body and ended up bedridden for life, Chase had been the number one person paparazzi avoided. Naturally, Chase never paid for that incident. Instead, there was only a wave of self-reflection about the public’s excessive voyeurism into stars’ private lives.

But even in a life-threatening situation, the man still trembled and couldn’t move. Both anxious and annoyed, Josh grabbed him by the collar and yelled.

“Didn’t you hear me? Get out of here right now!”

The paparazzi, belatedly regaining his senses, crawled disgracefully on the ground and fled. Josh unconsciously gritted his teeth. Now that man would have learned a little about the world.

At least he would have learned for sure not to mess with Chase Miller.

Not far away, a shattered camera lay on the ground. A camera was pocket change for saving one’s life. Josh thought.

He looked at the pathetic state of the high-performance camera, which could cost tens of thousands of dollars, and slowly turned around with a slightly fearful heart.

Meanwhile, the situation had somewhat calmed down. As soon as the security guards realized the source of the incident was gone, they immediately backed away from Chase. And Josh, for the first time in a long while, looked that man in the face.

Oh, this is driving me crazy.

He almost cursed unconsciously.

Chase Miller, even without emitting pheromones, seemed capable of killing a person just by standing there.

The moment those unique True Alpha purple eyes turned towards him, that’s exactly how Josh felt. It wasn’t just because of the overwhelming presence.

Chase’s eyes, which always avoided him, were looking straight at Josh.

At that moment, his heart pounded violently, and intense excitement, along with fear, surged up. He had already stopped breathing, so there was no way his scent could permeate him, yet he felt a threat to his life. All of it was an infinite stimulus to Josh.

And it didn’t end with the scent.

“You.”

For the first time, he opened his mouth. Hearing his voice, Josh lost himself. To Josh, who was just staring blankly, Chase slowly smiled. An unbelievably bright smile.

“Do you want to die?”

No one spoke. Everyone looked around nervously, trying to figure out how to escape this situation, but such a thing didn’t exist in this world. Josh awkwardly rolled the candy still in his mouth with his tongue and replied.

“No.”

“Then why did you do that?”

Chase asked, still smiling brightly. It was an impossible sight, a refreshing smile like a teenage boy. However, the fingers he casually and slowly toyed with were far from that. Feeling a sense of crisis as if he would grab his throat at any moment, Josh swallowed audibly. One wrong word here, and he truly felt he would die.

But absurdly, the thought of Chase Miller’s hand choking him was an incredibly tempting one. If it weren’t for Pete, he would have willingly offered his neck. Josh had to clench his fists to suppress the dangerous impulse.

Fortunately, the Desert Eagle lay forlornly far away. So he wouldn’t die from a gunshot. Thinking useless thoughts and frantically racking his brain, he blurted out.

“I was afraid you’d get dirty.”

“Huh?”

At that, Chase frowned. The other bodyguards also looked at him as if asking what kind of nonsense he was spouting. Feeling the gazes pouring down in the silence, Josh hastily added.

“If you shoot that close, blood might splatter on your face. Your suit would get dirty too…”

Chase stared at him without a word. As if trying to gauge if he was serious. Josh managed to add a smile.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to get dirty with the blood of a paparazzi.”

After a few more seconds of suffocating silence, Chase opened his mouth.

“Get it.”

For a moment, he didn’t understand what he was saying. As he blinked blankly, Chase frowned in annoyance and lightly gestured to one side. There, the Desert Eagle Josh had thrown lay abandoned.

belatedly understanding, Josh hurriedly moved to pick it up. As he bent down to retrieve the gun and turned back towards Chase, the heavy silence continued.

Ah.

Josh unconsciously gasped. Seeing his face looking down at him, he forgot to breathe. Mesmerized, he offered the gun with a blank expression. Chase raised his hand. The moment he saw the Desert Eagle in his hand, Chase immediately struck Josh’s head mercilessly.

“…!”

“Josh!”

“Jo!”

Mark and Isaac shouted at him as he fell, unable to even let out a gasp. For a moment, his vision spun and darkened. The pain came next. Something thick flowed from one side of his head.

His temple was instantly soaked, and red blood dripped. Chase opened his mouth to Josh, who lay sprawled on the floor. Looking down with narrowed eyes, one corner of his mouth twisted.

“You fucking bastard, what kind of bullshit are you spouting?”

It didn’t end there. He lightly tossed the gun into the air and caught it with his other hand. Immediately, Chase aimed the gun at Josh. While everyone was flustered, he opened his mouth.

“Shall we check? Whether your blood splatters on me or not if I shoot from this distance.”

He pulled the trigger without hesitation, asking mockingly. Josh hurriedly covered his head. The bullet narrowly grazed him. Everyone shouted in surprise, trying to stop Chase.

“Mr. Miller, stop!”

“Run, Josh! Hurry!”

“Mr. Miller, you shouldn’t do this…!”

Despite the urgent shouts, Chase ignored them and pulled the trigger again. This time, it felt like Josh’s head would fly off. No one in this world could escape a bullet.

Finally, Josh glared directly at Chase. Chase seemed to frown for a moment. But it was too late to stop, or perhaps he had no intention of stopping at all; he had already fired the gun.

Click.

A heavy sound hit his ears. Chase’s face definitely twisted. He pulled the trigger repeatedly, but the only sound that returned was the hollow echo of an empty chamber.

“Damn it!”

Chase cursed and threw the Desert Eagle away. Small sighs of relief escaped here and there. At least he wouldn’t die from a gunshot.

Chase angrily ran his hand through his brilliant blonde hair, as if infuriated. No one spoke. Everyone watched Chase in silence, unable to even swallow dryly. Amidst it all, Josh wondered why he couldn’t take his eyes off such a madman.

Eventually, Chase, having somewhat calmed his breathing, carelessly brushed back his flowing hair. Then, his fierce gaze suddenly fell upon Josh. And the next moment, Chase, who had approached without warning, kicked Josh hard without a word.

“Josh!”

Isaac shouted, his face pale. Josh curled up, unable to even let out a groan. Nausea rose, his throat burned with a sharp ache, and the pounding of his pulse echoed in his ears like tinnitus, then his vision was filled with vibrant colors before turning black and very slowly returning to normal.

As he painstakingly regained his senses one by one, the last thing he managed to see was Chase turning away.

“Load it and put it back, you pieces of trash.”

He was referring to his Desert Eagle. As if he didn’t care about what had just happened, he spoke to the nearby bodyguard as if throwing words at him, then got back into the car.

The security team, belatedly regaining their senses, frantically scattered in various directions. A moment later, the sedan carrying Chase sped across the garden towards the mansion.

“Are you okay?”

Isaac belatedly ran over and helped Josh up. He couldn’t bring himself to say “Don’t worry.” He awkwardly touched his forehead, but his hand quickly became damp.

“Let’s go inside and get you treated first.”

Mark quickly led the way. Everyone followed in silence.

“What the hell is that bastard’s problem?”

Josh, who had slumped onto the empty sofa and finally let out a sigh, was met with Isaac’s outburst, who had been supporting him until then. Josh remained silent, pressing an ice pack to his still throbbing head and clutching his stomach. Mark also clicked his tongue and shook his head.

At least it was fortunate that he was only beaten and not shot.

“Seriously, why did you say something crazy to a crazy guy and cause all this trouble? If you had just said ‘I’m sorry,’ you would have gotten hit less.”

Henry cursed as he brought a new towel and pressed it to the wound. Josh gave a weak laugh.

“Well, why did I do that?”

At the same time, Henry smacked him on the back of the head.

“Why are you laughing, you’re making my heart flutter.”

“Henry, stop it!”

For a moment, Josh curled up, unable to even scream. Seeing him, Isaac shouted urgently. Mark also, unusually, reprimanded him.

“Yeah, don’t hit his head for a while.”

“And his stomach.”

Isaac added from the side. Indeed, his brain felt like jelly bouncing around inside his skull. As he groaned, Seth asked.

“Are you really sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”

Josh silently nodded. Suddenly, he desperately wanted to see Pete. He felt like all the pain would disappear if he kissed those soft cheeks and hugged that small body tightly. As everyone remained silent, a knock was heard, and the security team leader entered.

“Can we continue the handover? Our time is up…”