Page 51 of Villain
Yejun snorted. “Still bothered over that?”
“Over being force-fed dick? Yeah.” He gave him a pointed stare. “You try and see how quickly you can get over it.”
“You offering, Firebird?”
Nix faltered as Yejun leaned closer.
“Picture my lips wrapped around your dick already?” His eyes trailed down the length of him suggestively. “I’m not opposed. Maybe once I’m done with this sketch, I could eat.”
“Um,” Nix cleared his throat. “No, thanks. That’s not…No.”
Yejun chortled. “Well, damn, Firebird, aren’t you adorable. I can see why Lake chose you for this. You’ve got that whole naïve, innocent thing going for you. It’s a good act.”
“Who says it’s an act?”
“Don’t get mad, it wasn’t an insult, but we both know it’s got to be an act. A naïve person doesn’t have hacking skills like yours, and they sure as shit wouldn’t be bold enough to take on the Demons of Foxglove Grove all in the name of—What did you call it again? Fun, right?”
That was what he’d said. It’d been an excuse, but it seemed like the rest of them had believed it at least.
“Whoever your cousin was to you, she must have had some influence to get you to step this far out of your comfort zone,” Yejun added.
“To be fair,” Nix said, “this was further than I intended to go.”
“That’s true,” he agreed.
“You all didn’t really give me a choice. Especially not Lake.”
“You were going to sign the contract no matter what,” Yejun nodded. “At least you got something out of it.”
Had…Had Lake told them about what they’d done?
“The app boasts anonymity for everyone except us. The whole campus knows we’re the Kings. Pretty soon, they’ll know you’re one too. Under our protection, you can have anything you want. All you have to do is play the part convincingly until Demons Passing.”
That was news to him. “Just until then?”
Yejun hummed. “That’s our deadline for tracking down the hacker. West should have discreetly slipped your name to some of his boxing buddies by now. The chatty ones who can’t keep a secret to save their lives. The whole school should know about you by the time we’re done here. You want a job at Star Eye Holding, right?”
“Yeah…Don’t tell me that was in my file?”
“West found your university admittance essay,” Yejun confessed. “The guy is thorough.”
“More like invasive,” he grumbled.
“You’ll be thanking him by the end of the year. It’s not just the students who treat us differently here, it’s the staff as well. You want into Star Eye Holding? Being associated with the three of us will guarantee your spot. You’re getting to experience something no one else has ever gotten to before,” he continued. “It’s been a really long time since we’ve all fucked the same person, and it’s never been a public spectacle before.”
“What?” He shot off the stool before he could help it, but somehow managed not to make a break for the door. That wouldn’t do him any good anyway.
Yejun frowned at him, until he realized why Nix was reacting so strongly. He held up both hands, his left smeared in black charcoal. “Whoa that’s not at all what I meant. I’m not saying it won’t happen, but typically the three of us aren’t big on sharing with anyone outside of our circle. Wow, you really are against exhibitionism, aren’t you?”
“We don’t need to take it that far anyway.” Nix remembered what he’d been planning on bringing up. “Isn’t this all an act? The hacker only has to think that I’m involved with the three of you so he’ll approach me.”
“He doesn’t have access to the app any longer since we got rid of his mole,” Yejun said, “but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have eyes elsewhere. Lake really should have done a better job explaining things to you.” He brushed a loose strand of his hair out of the way, smearing charcoal across the rise of his cheek in the process. “It’s not just the hacker we’re trying to fool here. The club ordered us to find this person, which means we have to show them we’re actively doing so.”
“How exactly does the three of you dating the same person help sell that?” If anything, he was only more befuddled.
“Because Lake told the Order that you’re an ace hacker who we’ve recruited to help us in the hunt,” Yejun explained, “and we’re paying you in sex.”
“Excuse me?” His mouth dropped open. “Who in their right mind—”