Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 259 - 17: Only for you [2]

Chapter 259: Chapter 17: Only for you [2]

Shawn cleared his throat and pushed Athan to a seat. He then opened the box and asked his omega father if he wanted some. Heidi shook his head with a smile. He looked at Athan and Shawn amusingly, while Stuart looked pleased.

"Thank you for paying me a visit, young master Athan," Stuart began.

Athan gave him a curt nod. "I’m glad that you’re getting better, Mr. Williams. Steve was worrying for you too much."

"Oh... my brother rarely does it. I wonder if I scared him this time," Stuart smiled weakly. His gaze shifted to Shawn who was slicing a cake, his back turned to his father. "I didn’t know that you and my son have a close relationship."

Shawn paused for a moment. Athan noticed this, and he gave Stuart a wry smile. "We grew up together after all. Despite the distance we had as we turned into adults, we never lost contact."

Stuart nodded in delight. His face considerably brightened. "I’m glad to hear that. I thought that it would be hard for the two of you to be together if you barely know each other. My worries are unnecessary. Now, I can’t wait to recover quickly and see the two of you walking the aisle."

Athan noticed Shawn’s unease building as the conversation grew longer. To prevent his discomfort from growing, Athan politely stood and smiled, "Shawn and I are good friends, Mr. Williams. Although I will be happy for your speedy recovery, I don’t want our relationship to be rushed. We’ll take things on our own. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to spend a little more time with Shawn alone. I’ll be out of the country for a week starting tomorrow because of business."

He took Shawn’s hand into his again and waited for his parents’ reply. Stuart and Heidi exchanged looks. They gave their approval after, letting the two men step out.

"Is it true you’ll be gone for a week?" Shawn asked once they were outside, concern etched in his voice. He seemed to have forgotten that his hand was still on Athan’s.

"Yes. We’re launching the summer collection soon," Athan replied, enjoying the feeling of their hands clasped together. A small smile tugged on his lips. "Knox and I will be leaving tomorrow. I might not be able to see you before I leave, but I’ll come as soon as I land."

"You don’t have to do that. You should rest instead," Shawn looked him over with a hint of worry. "Have you been sleeping properly? You look so tired."

Athan glanced down, caught off guard, and almost muttered his troubles aloud. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "There’s been some tension at the office. It’s about the design theft, and everyone’s pointing fingers at Knox, requesting his resignation. I guess I’ve been stressed out lately."

Shawn’s expression darkened, a flash of anger and worry mixing in his eyes. "Is Knox, okay? And what do you mean by design theft? That’s terrible."

Athan ended up sharing the details of the theft with Shawn as they walked to the garden. Shawn’s expression turned sour and soon distorted. "Are they insane? How could they blame Knox just because of that?! Is there anything I can help with? I want to help him!"

Athan chuckled at seeing Shawn irked. He ruffled his hair, but when the wind blew and tangled them, Athan ended up tucking them gently on his ears. He then shook his head and replied, "I don’t want to drag you into this, Shawn. You don’t have to worry about Knox, I’m sure he can handle this."

"But still..." Shawn still insisted, however, he stopped when Athan held his chin up. He was surprised at the movement, but he didn’t shy away. He just stared at those pool of dark brown eyes gazing at him softly.

"Rather than worrying about us, you should spend your free time packing your belongings. Once I’m back, I’m snatching you away from your family. Like what we agreed upon," Athan spoke with a gentle smile, devoid of disappointment he saw at the time of their conversation.

Shawn realized how selfish he was back then, and he was amazed at how kind Athan was, for still agreeing with his request. How can someone be so nice and gentle as him?

He was still mesmerized by his kind smile when Athan bent down and planted a soft kiss on his lower cheek, his lips brushing the corner of his mouth unintentionally, and Shawn felt his heart stop beating.

His eyes widened upon the realization. Before he could move though, Athan already pulled away. He smirked as he dropped his gaze at Shawn, and satisfaction for seeing him flustered grew inside him.

After that, he ruffled his air once again and mumbled, "See you."

Athan walked away, but Shawn still remained standing in the same spot, watching his back get smaller and smaller by the minute. After Athan completely disappeared from his sight, his face flushed red, and he couldn’t control his lips from curving upward.

Gah... what is this? Why do I feel like this?!

He slapped his face to stop his grin from widening, and he even looked up and stretched. Athan never treated him like that before, so it was natural that he was shocked. But he wondered why he did that. What changed?

Did Athan... no... no, it’s not possible... Shawn shook his head, trying to erase the thought. He focused on the matter at hand, that was, helping Knox to prove his innocence. Athan said not to get involved, but he couldn’t just let it go. His innocent friend was suffering due to the envy and jealousy of ugly people!

Later that night, he asked his father if he could go back home, thus Heidi remained on his father’s side that night. He did what he was good at. He went online, searching Fabri’s website, where he quickly located the stolen design as Athan described.

Determined to help Knox, he spent the whole night delving into digital threads until he found the culprit who posted it. His investigation didn’t stop there, he even found suspicious activities on the person’s account, making him dig deeper. Before long, he had access to the person’s online accounts and got their personal phone number.

"Ha! This should be enough proof to indict that thief!" He exclaimed after opening threads of messages exchanged between an employee in Athan’s company. He downloaded the call logs and message threads, each piece fitting together to form the proof Athan needed.

Smiling to himself, he bundled up the data and scheduled it to be sent to Athan once he left the country. He was certain that if he sent it right away, Athan would come running back to him, scolding him for hacking someone’s phone again.

For bringing him flowers and his favorite cakes, for helping him in the hospital, and saying those things to his father, this was his way of saying thank you.

But once again, he remembered what Athan did, and so he threw himself on his bed, and buried his face on the pillow.