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Chapter 14: Secrets under falling snow (part 2)

A/N: Warning for this chapter: Cale forcing someone to drink against their will.

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The children are revising their notes on the alphabet and the words Cale taught them to write on the bed. Raon has cooperatively turned invisible once again with the presence of the crown prince.

Four boys sit in front of the fireplace.

Everything feels so realistic to the point Cale forgets he's in an otome game sometimes. But the sight of them sitting in a circle... their hair colours sure are colourful. Black, red, yellow, blue... If he invited Eric, grey would be added to the mix too.

On second thought, he probably shouldn't invite Eric. He has a feeling the boy might faint if he sees the sheer amount of alcohol in the room.

Alberu has a bottle of wine in his hands, inspecting the label and its contents. His expression is guarded. It's clear he has his own agenda for being here. Cale can practically see the gears turning in Alberu's head.

Cale sees through Alberu's thoughts because he has the exact same plan. Alcohol is the old-fashioned truth serum. This will be a good opportunity to get each other to slip up.

Paseton appears to be feeling awkward with Alberu's presence, as he's twirling his hair while his toes wriggle aimlessly on the carpet. Choi Han seems to be lost in his thoughts, and his face is a little red despite only having had a glass of wine. He must be a lightweight.

Since Cale was the one who invited them all here to his room, he has the responsibility of fixing the atmosphere. How do teenage boys hang out again? Cale doesn't have much experience, but he supposes he can default to what he knows best. Drinking.

He claps his hands together to get their attention.

"Just drinking by itself isn't very fun, so I propose we play a game," Cale grins.

"Okay," Paseton agrees hesitantly.

"Sure, Cale-nim!" Choi Han also agrees, with much more enthusiasm.

"What kind of game?" Alberu asks, filling his own glass. While he's at it, he tops up everyone else's glasses, and they rush to accept it with two hands and words of thanks. Except Cale, of course. Cale doesn't give a rat's ass about etiquette and there's no need to pretend he does right now.

"Truth or dare."

Everyone looks confused, so Cale launches into an explanation. They'll place a bottle in the center of their circle and one person will spin it. The bottle will land on a person. The person who spun the bottle will ask the second person 'Truth or dare?'. If they choose truth, they have to answer a question honestly. If it's dare, they have to do an action they're dared to do. If it's too intense or you don't want to do it, you can simply drink a mouthful of wine instead.

"Let's give an example. If I spin the bottle and it lands on our student council president, he gets to choose truth or dare. What will it be, Sunbae?"

Alberu smiles and says, "Truth."

Cale capitalizes on the chance to get one of his questions answered. "How did you know the post-it note was from me?"

Alberu taps the edge of his glass and hums. "And if I don't want to answer, I can just drink?"

"Correct," Cale agrees calmly. "But it wouldn't be very fun if you drank every time, would it, Sunbae? If you don't answer questions, others won't answer yours either."

In a sense, it's a game of trust. A game of give and take.

Alberu is quick to get the memo. He relents and answers, "There's a hidden camera at the end of the corridor. We check the security footage frequently. "