Seifer’s Encounter

Room service, indeed.

Except…

Not room service from this hotel, but the chain’s room service. This little old man in the top hat and the two adult men behind him were from The Continental Hotel’s room service system.

In short, corpse handlers.

Soon.

The little old man led his two subordinates into the restroom.

Seifer walked back to the bar, clinking her wine glass against Lake’s bourbon. Seeing Lake staring in the direction of the restroom, she smiled and said, "I told you, there’s a surprise in the restroom."

Lake sighed.

He refocused.

"Seifer."

Lake pulled his gaze away from the restroom, looking at her. Though she was smiling, he could still see the immense, hidden danger beneath the facade: "You said there are three thousand paths, why choose this one?"

"Wouldn’t it be better to be a model?"

"At worst, go to Hollywood. With your skills, Seifer, you could easily be an award-winning actress."

Seifer’s smile didn’t change. "Because you said this path is the easiest for people like us who have no one to rely on."

"I was joking."

"I took it seriously."

"You’ll die."

"I’m still alive."

Seifer said this, watching the little old man emerge from the restroom. She took two Continental gold coins from her shoulder bag and handed them over. "Thank you."

The little old man very gallantly removed his hat and bowed.

Immediately after.

The little old man, along with his two subordinates carrying body bags, walked out. As they left the room, they conveniently closed the door from the outside.

Lake shook his head, feeling a bit speechless.

Seifer pursed her lips. "You seem disappointed in my choice."

Lake sighed inwardly and looked at Seifer. "Which organization do you serve now?"

Seifer shook her head. "I remember you also said to never leave the choice to others, so I do things for myself."

Lake nodded.

Internally.

He couldn’t help but slap himself.

Damn it.

When Lake was young, at the rescue center, he saw other kids as just kids. But Seifer was different. Feeling like he’d found a kindred spirit, Lake talked to Seifer a lot. They even snuck onto the rooftop at night. Sometimes Lake told her ghost stories, and sometimes he passed off the toxic "inspirational" quotes he’d read in his past life as his own.

But…

Lake couldn’t help but glance at Seifer. Setting aside how good her memory was, just one thing: he’d told her a lot of good and bad "inspirational" quotes back then. But now, it seemed Seifer had poured the good ones down the drain and drunk the bad ones dry.

What a disaster.

Lake thought this inwardly and looked at Seifer. "So, you also know I looked for you before."

Seifer nodded.

Lake asked, "Why didn’t you show yourself?"

Seifer shrugged. "Because I couldn’t see through you then."

"Oh."

"I can see through you now."

"Really?"

Seifer took out a newspaper from last year from her shoulder bag and handed it to Lake.

Lake took it.

It was the front-page headline featuring a handsome photo of him in his military uniform.

Lake raised an eyebrow.

Seifer crossed her arms. "You hid it well, Your Majesty Black King."

Lake looked up at Seifer.

After a pause.

Lake tossed the newspaper aside. "How did you know?"

Seifer leaned closer to Lake. "Professor X."

Lake was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "If I had known your memory was this good, I would never have told you those bedtime stories."

Seifer smiled and said, "I didn’t plan to meet you at the time, because I wasn’t in your world. But after seeing the news from Washington D.C. last year, I suddenly realized that it wasn’t that I wasn’t in your world, but that you had always been in my world."

Lake looked up at Seifer.

Their eyes met.

Their faces were so close that they could clearly see the movement of each other’s breath.

Seifer’s beautiful eyes drooped slightly, "Do you remember we said we’d be each other’s firsts?"

Lake’s tone was calm, "I’m not anymore."

Seifer nodded, playing with Lake’s tie with her hands, "So, you have to compensate me."

Saying that.

With a bang.

The wine glasses and bourbon on the bar counter fell to the ground.

The next second.

Clothes began to fall to the ground, the trail gradually moving from the bar counter towards the bedroom.

Red high heels.

One.

A blue tie.

Leather shoes.

A belt.

Dress pants.

A skirt.

On the spacious bed.

Seifer’s slender and beautiful fingers traced over Lake’s body, moving slowly, like ants searching for their food.

"I’m here."

"…Can I say no?"

"No."

Seifer arched her back and let out a cry, her noble head held high, then lowered her head, a breathtakingly beautiful smile playing on her lips, looking down at the conquered Lake, "See?"

Saying that.

Seifer lifted slightly.

Lake glanced at the blush out of the corner of his eye, was silent for a moment, and looked at Seifer, "Why bother…"

Before he could finish speaking.

Seifer’s hot lips had already sealed Lake’s… small mouth?

Then.

Misty.

Chaotic.

Faint sounds.

Filled the entire bedroom, even reaching the living room. As they reached the door, the excellent soundproofing material trembled, welcoming wave after wave of a tsunami.

The sky outside changed.

The sun moved from east to west, and it wasn’t until the afterglow of the sunset spilled into the large bedroom through the floor-to-ceiling windows that the two people, who looked like they had just survived a bloody battle in the rain, were awakened.

Lake leaned against the headboard and downed the iced mineral water in his hand.

Seifer, wrapped in a rumpled sheet that concealed her post-coital glow, played with the hair on Lake’s chest, feeling the hot heart pounding beneath his chest, and said, "You still owe me twenty-one hundred times, you know?"

Lake asked curiously, "How did you calculate that number?"

"Starting from fifteen years old, once every ten days, for eighteen years now."

"…That’s reasonable."

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Lake’s mouth twitched. He had originally wanted to say that he definitely couldn’t last ten days between encounters, but saying that now seemed like it would backfire on him.

So…

Lake decided to agree with Seifer’s claim of once every ten days.

After a long pause.

Seifer, resting on Lake’s chest, looked up at him. "Want to take a shower?"

Lake looked down at Seifer. "Is that place still usable?"

Seifer smiled faintly. "Don’t worry, I drowned him."

You say that, and I’m supposed to be reassured?

"Who is he?"

"Langley."

Lake raised an eyebrow. "Why would someone from Langley be targeting you?"

Seifer chuckled. "Because I wanted to betray them."

Lake got up from the bed immediately.

Good heavens.

Lake looked at Seifer. "You’re with Langley?"

Seifer also stood up and looked at Lake. "What’s wrong? Scared?"

Lake didn’t say anything.

He wasn’t scared.

He just hated being deceived, that was all.

Seifer said with a smile, "Five years ago, people from Langley caught me in a small country in Eastern Europe and wanted to recruit me. At the time, one of my businesses had failed, so I accepted Langley’s invitation. Speaking of which, it’s all thanks to you."

Lake looked at Seifer.

"The Anna incident."

"You know Anna?"

Seifer shrugged. "Otherwise, do you think Anna alone could have faked her death so easily to fool Langley?"

Lake nodded.

Half-believing, half-doubting.

Lake looked at Seifer. "So, what about this time?"

Seifer’s gaze turned cold. "Revenge!"

Saying that, Seifer looked up at Lake. "So, I’d like to ask you for a favor, can you, my love?"

Lake looked down at Seifer.

Seifer also looked at Lake.

After a moment, Lake said, "What favor?"

Seifer said in a cold tone, "I want that list of Eastern European Langley agents."

"When Director Langley purged them, the Eastern European agents who were the main force were the ones purged the most."

"But they weren’t all purged."

"…"

Seifer said, "He only purged those who didn’t obey him, but there are still many Langley people in Eastern Europe."

Lake sighed. "Langley isn’t that easy to mess with."

Did they really think they could provoke Langley twice just because they were anyone?

The reason Lake could do it was multifaceted.

Not only did Lake’s strength meet the requirements, but the forces behind him also met the requirements. After all, if Langley crossed Lake, their overseas operations would be unable to proceed.

In the end,

The reason Langley had such a big reputation overseas was entirely backed by the military. Major military bases overseas provided full escort for Langley agents.

The military was Lake’s maternal family.

Unless Langley wanted to go head-to-head with the military, they would just have to accept their bad luck. After all, Lake had provoked Langley twice, and both times he was on the absolute moral high ground.

Seifer looked at Lake without speaking, just quietly turned around, allowing Lake to see her back, which she hadn’t been willing to show him even during their passionate intimacy.

Upon seeing it, Lake’s eyes widened sharply.

Seifer’s entire back was covered in densely packed, scabbed-over scars.

From whips.

From electric shocks.

From burns.

Beast.

Seifer turned back and looked at Lake. "I only chose to cooperate when they said they wanted to do that to me."

Lake didn’t speak, his gaze falling on the already dried bloodstains on the bed.

It seemed Seifer was telling the truth.

But…

You could get one of these for a thousand dollars at a hospital.

However.

Lake looked up at Seifer, closing his eyes. As he’d said before, Lake had no attachment to such things. Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself.

But…

Innocent until proven guilty.

Lake opened his eyes and looked at Seifer.

If Seifer had simply tried to deceive Lake with sweet words at the beginning, Lake would have helped, but only this once, and never again. He never forgave any woman who lied to him.

But Seifer had directly asked for help.

Lake acted based on the person, not the situation.

Therefore…

"Where is the information you want?"

"1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

"…"