S C A N D A L

Chapter Twenty-Two

The moment Kurou entered the drawing room, everyone could tell that he wasn't in a good mood. Not only was the brooding clearly written all over his face, but even his overall aura was sinister. Seeing his reaction, Yoshihiro had a notion of what happened and quickly excused himself to be with his cousin. He was certain that Shiro needed him more than now. Meanwhile, Masaru was as pale as a ghost and saw Shichiro making a slicing motion at the neck. Great! They'd probably be scolded after this or worse---sacked!

"Kurou!" Kei cried, skipping across the floor to place his hands in his. "I've missed you. What took you so long to reach out?" He was looking at Kurou with large gray orbs and even turned up his cheek to be kissed.

This sudden act made Shichiro and Masaru look at each other. Understandably, the strange behavior was met with a cold treatment. The heady scent of his perfume floated over Kurou, it made his nose flinch as he glanced at him from head to toe.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, the tone of his voice was as cold as ice.

Kei chuckled, went back to the sofa, and purred, "I should ask you the same. Are you still mad at me for marrying Eri?"

"Are you seriously asking me that question?" Kurou uttered quietly.

Kei simply shrugged and crossed his legs. "Don't you think it's overly dramatic to be holding a grudge?"

Kurou didn't respond right away and simply sat on the couch opposite the man. "You shouldn't have come."

"Why, because your husband is home? Why does it matter where we talk?" Kei's brow slanted a bit. "Will he be jealous? Will he throw a tantrum? Let's not kid ourselves around here. You suddenly announced your marriage at the height of the controversy about you and me."

"Yes, and now everyone on the internet knows I used to be that boyfriend-slashed-fiance you humiliated in front of our elite friends just because you can," Kurou shook his head. "You know you cannot stay, and you must leave before my husband comes here and makes you leave. This is beyond all bounds of decency."

"You talk about decency as if your husband wasn't aware how much you fooled around with different people. In fact, he didn't need to dive deep into his research. It was all over there in social media."

Kurou took a deep breath and closed his eyes as if he were counting sheep. Although he knew he couldn't simply avoid him, and even after they separated, they still encountered each other at various events because of their families, Kurou had been kind and generous enough to treat him with civility.

"We're going to have a chat but with your wife, Eri. I am not having discussions with you when she's not here."

Kei laughed throatily, smiling up at him. "You're still angry. Since when have we concerned ourselves with propriety?"

Bewildered by how the man was acting in front of him, Kurou simply extricated himself from a conversation that he didn't want to delve into. "My decision is final. Leave. Or I will have Shichiro make you leave."

As he stood from his seat, Kei suddenly ran toward him and slipped his arm through Kurou's to draw him close to him. "Please, don't be angry with me. I had to come. I had to see you!"

"What are you talking about?! We haven't seen each other since we broke---"

"Those pictures at the hotel. You and I..."

"Nothing happened and you know that!" Kurou immediately removed himself from his embrace and Shichiro moved to protect his master but he raised a hand to stop him before giving Kei another offended look. "I may be drunk but not drunk enough to sleep with you. You try to force yourself into me that night after I made it clear that I don't want anything to do with you! Have you no remorse? Wasn't it enough for you that you made fun of me and announced your engagement in front of our friends during our graduation party? I'm the last person to fucking know we were over!"