The Story Of Bunny And Fox

Vol 1: Week 2 (1)

"Excuse me." Karlyle briefly apologizes.

It's Thursday and he already has an appointment. He can't just accept Ash's request without considering his schedule. They have promised to meet on weekends, so it'd be fine to reply to his text later. His hand holding the phone hesitates.

….It will be fine.

But maybe he should answer. Karlyle wavers. It's because he recalls their last meeting, which was their third meeting to him and their second meeting to Ash.

That day, they talked a little more about future meetings and stuff. Ash briefly explained what they would do through eight meetings like making a curriculum. "Deciding everything in advance would be a bit boring, so let's find out in each meeting", Ash said.

Ash's smiling eyes, a smile full of liveliness, flashes through Karlyle's mind. His softly curved eyes have the power to capture all the attention. But that smile turned cold at Karlyle's words (about not having unnecessary feelings).

Whether it was his ability or his personality, Ash had skillfully covered up his emotions in the tense situation that almost led to conflicts. Still, the impression Karlyle left on Ash was very bad. So if he keeps ignoring his messages and not responding….

Jonathan intently watches Karlyle, who has been unconsciously blanking out. Then he opens his mouth.

“Mr. Roman, if you don’t mind, shall we have dinner without Karlyle? My son seems to have business to take care of.”

Roman Milato seems to be considering his graceful invitation.

Gently smiling politely, Karlyle quickly tries to explain himself. But Jonathan turns away from him and shares some friendly chat with Roman.

“We adults have a lot of things we don't understand about young people.”

“Anyway, Mr. Karlyle is still at the age where you find this kind of meeting boring.”

A man more than 30 years old is still considered young, Karlyle is embarrassed. It's hard to know why Jonathan would make an offer like that. Jonathan seems to agree with what Roman said, he turns to Karlyle.

“It looks like you have business to take care of, you can go first.”

“But….”

As if not wanting to listen anymore, as soon as the elevator door at the end of the corridor opens, Jonathan leads Roman into it. Karlyle immediately follows them but is restrained by Jonathan. Jonathan smiles.

“Karlyle.”

In a tone that seems to imply him to comply, Karlyle has no choice but to obey. Since the old days, he has always been a child who obeys his parents without arguing. To temporarily replace his dominant Alpha brother, and to stop any suffering that his family might have to face, Karlyle does everything Alice and Jonathan want. One of which is always being obedient.

"…Then, I'll take the liberty of going separately. I'm sorry."

"It’s okay, Karlyle. See you at the next meeting."

Roman nods at him just before the door closes. All alone in the hall, Karyle looks down at his hand. Staring at the transparent phone screen, he slowly types the answer.

****

Ash suggests meeting at Southbank. Karlyle arrives exactly 10 minutes before the appointment. Ash came first today. It's not too hard to find him. Because some people are gathering around where Ash stands, the lobby connecting the BFI (British Film Institute) and the central Southbank.