Unfortunate Agreement [Nortnaib]

Chapter 2

So here they are in the living room. Norton had told Aesop to go play in his room so they could talk quietly and also because he was a little embarrassed that his one-night stands were showing up in front of his son. The strange man still said nothing, his hood was down since they were inside and he was just fiddling with his fingers.

"So.... You're the one I slept with last night ?"

His straightforwardness seemed to be a bit too direct as the young man's face in front of him flushed instantly at his question. Norton suppressed a laugh at this scene. He never thought he would ever think this but the reactions this stranger was showing were somewhat... adorable.

"Naib Subedar. And, um... Y-Yes..." the end of his sentence was almost inaudible.

"Oh, so your name is Naib ? I'm Norton, Norton Campbell. Nice to meet you... or rather to see you again ? Honestly I was pretty drunk last night so I don't fully remember."

"O-oh... I see..."

He looked slightly disappointed for a second, but Norton wasn't sure if he saw it right. I mean, honestly he wasn't sure why he was in such a situation with someone he had never seen until last night. He didn't really care about these so-called responsibilities, and he just planned to send the boy home after they cleared things up.

"About earlier-"

"I intend to take responsibility for my actions !"

Naib had just stood up abruptly, pounding the table with his fists. Was that the only word he could think of ? Norton had the impression that he was only repeating the same things since he came in and it was starting to bore him a little. Plus, he couldn't see how he could purge his guilt.

"Hey, hey... Sit back down okay ?"

The young man's cheeks flushed again as he sat back down in the chair. It was all comical and exhausting at the same time.

"First of all, I don't need you to take responsibility or anything. It was just a mistake and besides, it's not like there's any risk of either of us getting pregnant right ?"

"I-Indeed..."

Norton noticed that Naib's eyes avoided his as if he wasn't listening. Something about this was odd. He wasn't a fool. This man was hiding something else and he didn't want to say it. He didn't feel like bothering with all this but it would seem he had no other choice now.

"Hey you. What do you really want ? You could have just gone back to your life like nothing happened but instead here you are at my place and I don't know how you knew where I lived either."

"O-oh... You gave me your address last night and said we should meet again..."

He did what ? Oh... Norton Campbell. Maybe he should never touch a bottle of alcohol ever again. The headache he didn't have was slowly starting to surface as he tried in vain to remember other possible stupid things he had done last night.

"Let's put that aside, why are you here ? And don't give me your crap again."

Touché. Naib frowned slightly, which was proof that he did have other intentions behind all this drama. What Norton was now wondering was, what ? And what the hell did that have to do with him ? He suddenly looked up at Norton and looked him straight in the eye to his surprise.

"I'd like to make a contract."

"What ?"

"Act like my boyfriend... No, fiancé, for a month."

"Sorry, but I think I missed an episode..."

Naib ignored Norton's retort and pulled his phone out of his pocket and started tapping on it. He then showed him his screen. A bunch of numbers with several zeros could be seen. Norton looked up at him, not understanding what he was getting at.

"This is the amount I'll give you if you accept."

"Hey..."

That was the last straw. He may love money, but he also didn't love it so much that he would go for this kind of highly questionable deal. What kind of a request was this anyway, his fiancé ? There was no way he was going to accept this. 

"I can't grant your request but may I know your reasons ?"

Naib seemed displeased with the answer he received but sighed before putting his phone away. He was well aware that it was a lot to ask but he couldn't help but be slightly irritated by the turn of events. He took a sip of the coffee that had already cooled for a while before speaking.

Apparently, his mother was desperate to get him married because she thought he was old enough to be in a lasting relationship, but that wasn't what he wanted at all. He had looked for every possible way to avoid this, but the dates she was setting up for him kept getting more and more numerous.

The conclusion he had come to was that if he already had a partner, maybe she would stop pestering him. Then he was invited to a dinner party by one of his friends and found himself in this situation with Norton so he thought he could just take advantage of it and ask him for help even though they didn't know each other. Honestly, he just thought he would accept the money without question.

"I know it's wrong but-"

"Ugh... Wait... Shouldn't you be asking a young woman for this rather than a single man with a child ?"

"Oh, um... Actually, I like men... That's also the reason why I don't want this arranged marriage. Sorry, I didn't bother to know that you like women-"

"In fact, man or woman doesn't bother me more than that."

"I-I see..."

Norton's brain was reeling as he processed everything he just learned. Naib didn't look like a bad guy, and he had nothing to lose in this if all he had to do was pretend to be with him for a month... He also looked younger than him, maybe a year or two... Ah, his generosity will cost him. He knew well that he couldn't leave him to his misery when he asked him for his motives.

"I'll do it."