Page 32

My Parasite: Are you shy, little prince?

My Parasite: It’s alright. We all have our kinks.

He’s sort of cute when he’s ignoring me.

It’s a direct offense to my patience, but cute nevertheless.

I slip the phone into my pocket and lean back against the wall. He’s been ignoring me since that night. I assume embarrassment is part of it. Pride too. With Ilya, pride is always part of it. He’d rather chew glass than admit when something got under his skin, and that night got under all of him.

There are moments, inconvenient ones, where I wonder if I went too far.

I didn’t want to push him that fast. And I especially didn’t like the look in his eyes when I lifted his shirt. That wasn’t his usual glare, nor the bratty little expression he gives me when I corner him. It was pure terror.

I haven’t decided what to do with that yet, but I didn’t like it.

Before I can keep thinking about it too long, I look up and see my brother walking toward me.

His silver hair is soft around his face, and today it’s adorned with a small pink flower clipped near one temple. The color looks too vivid against him. He still limps a little, even now that he’s out of the hospital, but the worst of it is gone.

I straighten slightly and say, “Hey.”

He shifts the smallest bit before answering, “Hi.”

It’s awkward.

There was a time when there had never been awkwardness between us. When he used to follow me room to room, hand always reaching for mine, voice always a little too soft and trusting.

We were close when we were little. Inseparable, really, until my father sold me off for money to build his company and I was split between two households, half the time at home and the other half getting trained to be an heir for the yakuza. Although I can’t fully blame distance alone. I was the one who pulled away in the last few years.

Deliberately.

Because staying too close to me came with hazards I didn’t want touching him. There were people who would use him against me without thinking twice. I wanted him untouched by that world, so I convinced myself that staying away from him was the safest thing I could do. But after almost losing him, I decided that was one of my dumbest decisions.

I stand, walk over, and take his hand.

“Come on,” I say, trying to smooth the atmosphere. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”

He blinks at our joined hands. I think the gesture catches him off guard, but then he lets me lead him.

Just like when we were tiny.

Back then, he hated walking anywhere without holding my hand. He’d squeeze so tight if a hallway was too crowded or a room too loud. He does it now too, without realizing it, fingers tightening around mine as we start moving.

Something protective settles in me as I glance at him. He has that effect on people, mostly because he really does look like some mythical creature. “Your flower is adorable.”

A real smile appears, small but bright. “Dimitri picked it for me.”

“That man is aggressively sentimental.”

Rei’s smile widens. “He said it matched my mood.”

“And what mood is pink-flower mood?”

He thinks about it, blushes, and then says, “Um… happy.”

I arch an eyebrow, and he nudges my arm lightly with his shoulder. More relaxed than he was thirty seconds ago.

We walk slowly so he doesn’t have to hide the limp or push through it faster than he should.