Chapter 202: Let’s… Run Away

“Hey, did you see that?”

“The kid in the dark suit?”

“Yeah, him. I heard he’s just an ordinary high school student. He got lucky and awakened some ability, so the Missy of the Jiang Family took a liking to him.”

Not far away, several young men holding red wine glasses were gathered together, glancing toward Yuki Asahi with mocking eyes.

Their voices were not intentionally lowered; or rather, they didn’t care at all if Yuki Asahi heard them.

“Tsk, what a way to climb the ladder. The Jiang Family controls that monster known as DRG now. If someone could marry into that family—even as a live-in son-in-law—it would be a blessing for several lifetimes.”

“Forget it. Do you think a woman like Jiang Jian Yue is easy to handle?”

One of the young men, wearing a white suit with his hair slicked back and shiny, sneered as he swirled the red wine in his glass.

“A woman like her is just looking for a bit of novelty, finding an obedient pretty boy to play with.”

“Once GSAC is over and the hype dies down, this kid will probably be kicked to the curb.”

“True. After all, they aren’t from the same social class. How could the Jiang Family allow a stray dog with such lowly blood to enter their door?”

“He’s just born to leech off her…”

“Hahaha! Being able to leech so shamelessly is a talent in itself!”

Harsh laughter pierced Yuki Asahi’s eardrums like needles.

Pretty boy.

Leech.

Stray dog.

Yuki took a sip of sparkling water.

Unexpectedly, after hearing these harsh words, he felt less uncomfortable than before.

He looked at Jiang Jian Yue in the distance, surrounded like a star by the moon, chatting and laughing with national politicians.

That elegant and noble girl who wielded immense power.

Then he looked at himself reflected in the glass window.

If it had been before, he would have surely felt powerless and inferior.

‘The gap really is huge.’

Yuki took a deep breath and finished the lukewarm sparkling water in his glass.

His current self would not feel inferior or afraid because of these petty rumors…

But he would feel killing intent.

Killing intent toward this combustible trash who didn’t know the gap between them.

Realizing this, Yuki turned around, lowered his head, and walked quickly through the crowd toward the restroom near the side door of the banquet hall.

People who gain power gradually become arrogant—this was a concept countless stories had beaten to death.

Yuki was no exception.

His above-average moral standards made him fall into a kind of self-moral judgment—’Am I turning into a bad person?’

The restrooms at the Imperial Hotel were extremely luxurious.

Even the sinks were gilded, and the air was filled with an expensive cedar fragrance.

The restroom was empty at the moment.

Yuki turned on the faucet and splashed a handful of cold water onto his face.

Cold droplets slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the collar of his navy blue suit, soaking a small dark patch.

He leaned his hands on the sink and looked at the expressionless youth in the mirror.

‘Let them talk if they want!’

Just then, the restroom door was gently pushed open.

Click.

The crisp sound of high heels stepping on the marble floor echoed.

Thinking someone had entered, Yuki quickly pulled out a paper towel to wipe his face and lowered his head, trying to step aside.

“This is the men’s room,” he reminded subconsciously.

“I know.”

A cold, familiar voice sounded.

Yuki snapped his head up.

Reflected in the mirror was Jiang Jian Yue, dressed in a black formal gown.

She had stood behind him at some point, quietly watching him, holding her exquisite clutch.

“Yue?”

Yuki was startled and turned around in a flurry.

“Wh-why did you come in? This is the men’s—”

“I said, I know.”

Jiang Jian Yue interrupted him expressionlessly.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on his water-stained bangs and slightly red eyes.

“Why did you run off here?”

She took two steps closer.

Her subtle fragrance instantly overpowered the original cedar scent of the restroom.

“Do you feel unwell?”

Yuki’s eyes flickered, and he didn’t dare look at her.

“No… no, it was just a bit hot. I wanted to wash my face.”

“Liar,” Jiang Jian Yue exposed him directly.

She reached out, her cool fingertips gently touching his cheek.

“Your emotions… are in a mess.”

Although she didn’t have the ability to visually see the color of emotions, she knew Yuki too well.

From the moment they separated earlier, she had been keeping an eye on him out of the corner of her eye.

Seeing him leave the venue like a fugitive, she didn’t even finish listening to the Cabinet minister’s nonsense before following him out.

However, Jiang Jian Yue was wrong this time.

She thought Yuki had fled because of a sense of inferiority.

“If you don’t like it here…”

Jiang Jian Yue withdrew her hand, her tone becoming somewhat forceful.

“We’re leaving right now.”

“Leaving?”

Yuki was stunned.

“But… you still have so many people to see.”

“Those people aren’t important.”

Jiang Jian Yue frowned, appearing very dissatisfied with his hesitation.

“If you aren’t happy, then there is no meaning for this place to… exist.”

Yuki’s heart trembled violently.

Just as he was about to say something, the sound of messy footsteps and men’s laughter came from outside the restroom.

“Haha, the wine here really hits the spot…”

Someone was coming in!

Yuki’s expression changed.

“Yue! Quick—”

Before he could finish, Jiang Jian Yue clearly realized the situation as well.

But she didn’t run out.

Instead, she grabbed Yuki’s wrist and pulled him directly into the nearest stall.

Snap.

The door locked.

Inside the narrow stall, the space instantly became extremely cramped.

Yuki’s back was against the door, and Jiang Jian Yue was pressed almost directly into his chest.

Their breaths intertwined, and Yuki could even feel her warm body temperature through the silk gown.

“Shh.”

Jiang Jian Yue raised a finger and pressed it against his lips.

Yuki’s brain went blank.

‘Even though there are a hundred ways to escape, you still choose the confined space trope?’

After Kokoro finished complaining, his voice sounded somewhat emotional.

‘This is youth!’

Jiang Jian Yue mentally told Kokoro to get lost.

Her cheeks were also a bit hot, but she forced herself to stay calm and listened intently.

Three or four men entered.

“Hey, where did that Yuki guy go? He vanished in the blink of an eye,” the man in the white suit said, followed by the sound of a zipper.

“Probably hiding somewhere and crying. Hahaha.”

“True. How could a poor kid like him have ever seen a scene like this? He’s probably so scared he wet his pants.”

Inside the stall, Yuki’s body stiffened instantly, and the fire of anger ignited in his eyes again.

Jiang Jian Yue felt his muscles tighten and frowned slightly.

“Speaking of which, that woman Jiang Jian Yue must be blind.”

Another voice carried a hint of lewdness and jealousy.

“Instead of choosing one of us from established families who she knows well, she chooses a piece of trash like that.”

“Humph, he’s just a toy. I’ve heard that women who seem cold and aloof on the surface are actually very… in private.”

“Maybe she just likes that stray dog type. It’s intense enough to satisfy her perverted desire for control.”

“Once GSAC is over, why don’t we give it a try? Anyway, she’s already been played with. She won’t mind a few more.”

The filth was unbearable to hear.

Boom—

Yuki’s Golden Eyes suddenly flared up in the dim stall like two balls of burning flame.

He clenched his fists and was about to rush out.

A hand pressed against his chest.

Jiang Jian Yue looked up.

There was no anger in her Blood Pupils, only a layer of frigid ice.

She didn’t seem to care about the insults directed at her, but she couldn’t stand the thought of Yuki dirtying his hands on these pieces of trash.

‘Don’t move,’ she mouthed silently.

‘Hitting them… is too merciful.’

Jiang Jian Yue pressed her hand against the stall wall.

In the adjacent stall, a piece of modeling clay appeared out of thin air.

Outside, the few young masters who were relieving themselves suddenly felt a gust of chilly wind blow past.

“Why… why did it get so cold all of a sudden?”

“The air conditioning must be up too high.”

Just then, the door of the innermost stall let out a creak and slowly opened.

“Who’s in there?”

The man in the white suit instinctively looked back.

Next in the second, his pupils constricted violently, and his mouth hung wide open to its limit, yet he couldn’t make a sound.

The thing walking out of that stall was not a human.

It was a… Flesh Puppet with no skin.

Only bright red muscle fibers were exposed, and blood vessels squirmed like earthworms.

It, or rather “he,” walked out with stiff and twisted steps.

On that eyelidless face, the eyeballs rolled abruptly, staring fixedly at the men.

“Ah… Ahhh…”

The young masters were so scared their legs turned to jelly.

They collapsed to the floor before even finishing with their pants.

“What… what kind of monster is this…”

Just as they were about to scream, an even more terrifying mental shock descended.

Although Yuki was held back by Jiang Jian Yue, he wasn’t idle.

His Golden Eyes locked onto the trash collapsed on the floor through the crack in the door.

[Emotion Control: Fear Magnification]!

In their eyes, every step the Flesh Puppet took felt like a giant’s stomp.

The slight scent of blood in their noses became so thick it felt like they were in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

“Ugh… Gurgle…”

Several people rolled their eyes, their bodies twitching violently.

Even their screams were stuck in their throats.

Then, accompanied by a foul smell, the men completely fainted, leaving a mess beneath them.

“Humph.”

Jiang Jian Yue snapped her fingers.

The terrifying Flesh Puppet instantly collapsed, turning into a pile of ash.

“Solved.”

She unlocked the stall door and pushed it open.

Looking at the young masters of noble families foaming at the mouth and covered in filth on the ground, Jiang Jian Yue frowned in disgust.

She lifted her skirt and carefully stepped over them.

Yuki followed behind her.

Seeing this scene, the pent-up frustration in his chest vanished instantly.

He even… felt a little like laughing.

“Pfft.”

He couldn’t hold it in and laughed out loud.

Jiang Jian Yue looked back at him, her lips also curling up slightly, revealing a very faint but genuine mischievous smile.

“Is it funny?”

“Yes, it’s very funny.”

Yuki nodded, feeling like he had never felt so refreshed.

Jiang Jian Yue didn’t tell him that since these people suffered a mental shock, they would likely become kooks in the future—best to let Yuki carry less of a moral burden, right?

“Let’s go.”

Jiang Jian Yue had no intention of returning to the banquet hall.

Instead, she walked straight toward the cleaning staff passage at the end of the restroom.

“Where are we going?”

Yuki asked subconsciously.

Jiang Jian Yue stopped her steps, turned around, and reached out her hand to him.

At the entrance of that dim and odd-smelling passage, the girl in the magnificent gown looked like a rebellious princess about to elope with her knight.

Her Blood Pupils shimmered with a moving light in the darkness.

“Let’s… run away.”

“To a place… without this trash.”

Yuki looked at that hand without the slightest hesitation.

He gripped her hand tightly, their fingers interlocking with a force as if they were trying to merge their blood and bones.

“Okay.”

“Let’s run away.”

***

That night, the Imperial Hotel was in utter chaos.

Several sons of powerful conglomerates fainted and lost control of their bowels in the men’s restroom; they woke up as complete kooks.

Meanwhile, the Missy of the Jiang Family, who was the star of the banquet, and the youth captain of the Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu had vanished into thin air.

The only thing caught on monitor was two figures running out of the back staff exit hand in hand, disappearing into the brilliant night of Tokyo.