Noris&Nathan: Waiting for you only

Chapter 1

T/N (Translator's notes): The story of the secondary couple starts abruptly. You are plunged right into action. Major spoiler ahead. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. Don't forget to vote for the story and comment))

Oh, and one more thing  -  in my Russian translation of the main novel I refer to Roman as Tiger (capitalized).

Noris carried Nathan in his arms. Blood was oozing from the wounds the man in his arms had. They were inflicted by no other than Roman himself, who shot his secretary in both legs. The red liquid stained Nathan's clothes, but he didn't care.

He instructed the bodyguards to prepare the car to take Nathan to the family doctor of the Vasillo clan – that was the boss's order.

"You probably despise me," came the weak voice of the wounded secretary. His face was pale, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Silence!" Noris responded fiercely.

Nathan only smiled through the tear-soaked veil draping his eyes. "I won't speak at all soon enough," he said.

He thought about the punishment Roman had ordered – the man he had secretly loved for a long time. The Tiger was punishing him for betrayal – for leaking information to the enemies and causing trouble to the one he loved.

Nathan never wished harm upon Roman, but love had blinded him. He chose the wrong path to rid himself of a rival, even though deep down he knew – the Tiger would never love him back.

"Better this than death," Noris remarked as they descended in the elevator to the parking lot.

"Death would be better... Aaaa!" Nathan didn't finish his sentence; strong hands suddenly squeezed him tighter.

"Shut up!" the man said sharply.

This action made the Tiger's secretary purse his lips, silent salty tears slid down his cheeks. His emotions were already on edge, so when Noris squeezed him, he cried even harder. Roman's personal bodyguard sighed quietly and continued walking.

They got into the car and immediately headed to the hospital to take Nathan to the doctor. This was the place Roman usually turned to when he got into fights, was wounded, or simply fell ill.

Nathan was promptly taken to the operating room. The bullets had missed vital organs only because Roman hadn't intended otherwise. If he had wanted, the secretary who betrayed him wouldn't have survived.

Noris waited outside the door throughout the operation. After the bullets were removed, the patient was taken to a room. But he was still under anesthesia.

"Noris, I brought you some clothes to change into," Dave, another one of the boss's bodyguards, handed him a package.

"Thank you." Noris took the clothes and went to the bathroom. Then he sat down at the table and watched the sleeping man.

Noris called Dr. Mason and informed him that he would bring Nathan to the ship and they would need "Ariel". As he spoke, his eyes, full of concern, were fixed on the man on the hospital bed.

T/N: "Ariel" – a medication that temporarily renders a person unable to speak. Developed on the Tiger's secret ship.

Noris took a fancy to Natan from the start. Initially, they were quite close, but the young man began to distance himself when he started showing interest in Roman. Since then, Nathan only had eyes for the Tiger. Noris once mentioned that it was a path to nowhere, but the young man refused to listen.

So, the man decided to simply observe from the sidelines because he knew he had no chance of reciprocal feelings from Nathan.

Roman's secretary was very lucky that the boss didn't assign him a harsher punishment than two years of being unable to speak.

Of course, it wouldn't be easy. But it was still better than death.

Noris was confident that Nathan would overcome this and become the same man he once was.

"Drink" the hoarse voice came from the hospital bed.

Noris poured water into a glass and handed it to the wounded man to quench his thirst. Nathan opened his eyes and swallowed the liquid, looking confused at the man.

"Why are you still here?"

"I'll take you to the ship."

Nathan thought Roman was probably afraid he would escape. That's why he ordered his personal bodyguard to keep an eye on him.

"I'm not going to run away. I'm ready to accept punishment because I really made a mistake," the young man said with a trembling voice. Tears welled up in his eyes again.

"It's good that you understand that," Noris replied, causing Nathan to frown slightly. Remembering the doctor's recommendation, he continued, "Try to move."

The secretary tried to sit up, but agony filled his eyes, and he quickly lowered his gaze.

"I can move, but it hurts," Nathan said.

Norris nodded, then stood up and left the room to find the doctor.

Alone, Nathan stared at the ceiling and thought of everything that had happened. He began to hate himself for the actions he had taken out of blind jealousy. He knew it was a hopeless case. But he was so obsessed that he couldn't help it. From now on, he would be alone. "Ariel" awaited him, and everyone on the ship would know it was punishment for a serious offense.

After the doctor examined the patient, he allowed him to go to the ship the next day. After all, there were medics there too.

"Are you hungry?" Noris asked when the doctor left the room.

Nathan shook his head.

"Even if you're not, you should eat," Noris said, his voice not tolerating objections.

"Then why did you ask?!"

"Stop talking," the man raised his hand and irritably covered Nathan's mouth.

He cried out and slapped his hand away, "Why are you bothering me?! Leave me alone, maybe I want to die!!"

"Do you think thoughts of death will help you? Don't you want to relieve the burden of guilt?" Noris asked calmly.

Nathan immediately fell silent and turned away from him, not wanting the other man to see his tears, which were about to start again.

"If you really feel guilty for the things you've done, right your wrongs. Why do you think he didn't kill you? Because the boss gave you a chance to repent, to be loyal to him again and become the same as before."

Nathan pondered upon Noris's words in silence, then raised his hand to wipe the tears from his face. The man said nothing more and went to get food for both of them.

T/N: There you go – this is the beginning of this story. There will be a total of ten chapters – equally small. The sentences are shorter, the characters are not as well defined as the other ones in the main novel. But I hold on to the images of them constructed bit by bit in my head from the scenes they did have in the main story. But despite that, rest assured, I will bring these characters to life as much as possible.