The Story Of Bunny And Fox

Vol 4 (Side Story 1): The first day (2)

Guests start arriving exactly two hours later. Today, they are inviting Ash's friends. Kyle and Nick won't be visiting today because they already swung by their house on the first day of moving in.

However, accepting Ash's request to invite some of his own associates on the grounds that there shouldn't be only his acquaintances at the party, Karlyle has invited Aiden. Aside from Aiden, Karlyle's acquaintances do not participate in these informal social gatherings. They do not attend parties that have no benefits, to be exact.

As a result, Karlyle once again realizes how few relationships he has. It's not that he has no connections. There are countless people who will listen to him if he asks. But the number of people who he truly gets along with or can rely on is very small.

After meeting Ash, he has tried not to have these kinds of thoughts, but when he is in a situation in which his incompetence could burden Ash, negative thoughts begin to blanket his head in a horrible funk.

It seems like Ash is feelingKarlyle's anxiety, before guests come, he takes Karlyle up to their room.

Karlyle and Ash's house is a wide, three-story mansion located in Hampstead Heath. This location was decided by Ash's opinion that they should live near the park and in the area where Karlyle used to live (I find this very endearing of Ash, Lyle sold his old mansion because he was sad by Ash's saying at that time. And Ash wants to make up for that). And Karlyle simply agreed with his suggestion loving Ash's consideration. It's not like he knows how to turn Ash down in the first place.

The mansion with an outdoor swimming pool and garden has a lounge with glass on four sides constructed like an annex on the first floor, and the interior is composed of wooden floorboards and cozy ivory tiles. The south wall of the mansion is all glass windows, aiding to a well-lit interior. It's a decent-sized mansion with six guest rooms, along with Ash's studio, Karlyle's office, kitchen, two bedrooms and a separate space they've converted into an at-home theater.

But of all the lavish rooms, Ash pays special attention to the bedroom. Their bed must be the largest and strongest one on the market. After their old bed broke during Karlyle's rut just a month ago, Ash spent several days consulting Karlyle's opinion. And now Karlyle is sitting on that very bed with Ash.

"How is your body?"

Ash grabs the hand resting on his thigh and interlaces their fingers. The feeling of Ash's fingers filling the gaps between his knuckles and intertwining seems to embrace the anxiety inside Karlyle. He sighs shallowly, feeling relieved.

"I feel a bit similar to how I did this morning. I'm not sick, so don't worry."

"If you get tired in the middle, just tell me and go to rest. Okay?"

Even though it's just a small cough, he can't help but love the Ash that takes care of him. He knows his father and mother love him and do try to take good care of him, but apart from that, Karlyle has never had anyone pay attention to such trivial things throughout his life. He never imagined he would need to be tended to, but having someone fussing over him feels better than he thought it would.

"But.... I don't want to seem rude to Ash's friends."

Hesitating, Karlyle carefully confesses. Ash tilts his head slightly. The corners of his eyes crease .

"Do you think so?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Then I'll take care of them. You don't have to worry about anything. Just have fun."

At that, Karlyle falters. He's never had fun or kicked back with anyone other than Ash.

"Remember what I said? All of them are nice, but one or two of them tend to say what comes to their mind without thinking carefully beforehand. So you don't need to force yourself to like everyone."