Chapter - 7
The morning arrived far too quickly.
The house that was usually quiet had transformed overnight.
Relatives filled every room.
Decorators hurried through the hallways.
Laughter mixed with hurried footsteps.
Someone called for flowers.
Someone else searched for forgotten invitations.
Everyone was busy.
Everyone...
Except the groom.
---
Nani sat in front of a mirror.
The stylist adjusted the final details of his outfit.
"Done."
The room fell silent for a moment.
One of the relatives smiled warmly.
"You look beautiful."
Another laughed.
"I swear, every time I see you, I forget you're the groom."
"So pretty."
Nani sighed dramatically.
"There it is."
"My daily reminder."
The stylist looked confused.
"What?"
"That I'm prettier than half the people in this room."
Dew, who had just walked in, burst into laughter.
"I mean..."
He shrugged.
"They're not exactly wrong."
Nani shot him a flat look.
"You're supposed to defend me."
"I am."
"I'm defending the truth."
Nani rolled his eyes.
"Traitor."
Despite the jokes...
His smile faded the moment everyone left the room.
The mirror reflected someone dressed for a wedding.
But it didn't reflect someone ready to be married.
---
He quietly walked to the balcony.
His room overlooked the backyard.
He looked down.
Still high...
His heartbeat quickened.
He pulled a sturdy rope from beneath his bed.
It had been hidden there for days.
Carefully...
He tied one end to the balcony railing.
He tugged it twice.
"It'll hold."
He glanced toward the bedroom door.
Voices echoed from downstairs.
No one was coming.
Yet.
He slung a small backpack over his shoulder.
Inside were only the essentials.
Wallet.
Phone.
Charger.
A change of clothes.
He took one deep breath.
"Okay..."
"No more crying."
"No more waiting."
"I'm leaving."
He climbed over the balcony railing.
His hands gripped the rope tightly.
One step.
Then another.
Slowly...
He began lowering himself.
"So far..."
"So good..."
Then-
His foot slipped.
"...Oh no."
The rope burned against his palms.
His balance disappeared.
He dropped the last few feet.
"AH-!"
---
Instead of crashing into the ground...
He landed against something solid.
Strong arms caught him before he could hit the earth.
Everything became still.
Nani blinked.
"...Huh?"
He slowly looked up.
A familiar black shirt.
Broad shoulders.
Cold eyes.
"...Manager Sky?"
---
A few minutes earlier...
Sky had been standing beneath the trees outside the property.
He hadn't come with a plan.
He only wanted one answer.
Had Nani really chosen this?
The wedding music drifted through the open windows.
Guests continued arriving.
Sky remained hidden from sight.
Then...
Movement above caught his attention.
He looked up.
The balcony.
Nani.
With...
A rope.
Sky's eyes narrowed.
"What is he doing...?"
A second later...
He understood.
He wasn't climbing down for fun.
He was escaping.
The realization struck instantly.
Sky moved without thinking.
Just as Nani lost his footing...
Sky reached him.
And caught him.
---
Back in the present...
Nani stared at him in disbelief.
"You..."
"What are you doing here?"
Sky looked at the rope still hanging from the balcony.
"I could ask you the same."
Nani looked around frantically.
"No time!"
He grabbed Sky's sleeve.
"Manager Sky!"
His voice dropped to an urgent whisper.
"Can you help me?"
"I have to run."
"Immediately!"
Sky remained silent.
Nani continued speaking so fast he nearly ran out of breath.
"They're going to make me marry someone I don't want to marry!"
"I've planned this for days."
"I almost broke my neck."
"So please..."
He tightened his grip on Sky's sleeve.
"Can you help me get away before they find me?"
For the first time since arriving...
Sky looked directly into Nani's anxious eyes.
Behind them, voices echoed from inside the house.
Someone was already calling Nani's name.
The window to escape...
Was closing.
------------
Nani's fingers still clutched Sky's sleeve.
From inside the house, voices echoed louder.
"Nani?"
"Where did he go?"
"Check upstairs!"
His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
"They're looking for me..."
He looked up at Sky again.
"Please."
"I really don't want this."
For a long moment...
Sky didn't speak.
He simply watched Nani's expression.
There was no hesitation.
No uncertainty.
Only fear of losing control over his own future.
Something inside Sky, cold and silent for years, eased ever so slightly.
The heavy feeling that had followed him for days...
Finally made sense.
So...
Nani hadn't chosen the wedding.
He had been trying to escape it.
A strange warmth spread through Sky's chest.
Small.
Unfamiliar.
It irritated him...
Yet he couldn't deny it.
His jaw relaxed almost imperceptibly.
"Come."
Without another word, Sky reached out and took hold of Nani's wrist.
His grip was firm but steady.
"Move."
Nani didn't argue.
He simply nodded.
"Okay!"
The two of them hurried through the side garden, staying out of sight of the guests.
Behind them, the voices grew more frantic.
"I can't find him!"
"Search the backyard!"
"Hurry!"
They reached the black car parked beneath the trees.
Sky opened the passenger door.
"Get in."
Nani slid into the seat so quickly he nearly forgot to close the door.
Sky was behind the wheel a second later.
The engine roared to life.
The car pulled away from the house just as several people rushed into the backyard.
Too late.
The runaway was gone.
---
For several minutes...
Neither of them spoke.
The only sound was the steady hum of the engine.
Sky drove with complete focus.
Nani looked out the window as the familiar streets disappeared behind them.
Then...
He let out the longest sigh of his life.
"...I'm free."
He leaned back against the seat.
"For now."
Sky glanced at him briefly before returning his eyes to the road.
"You jumped from a balcony."
"I know."
"That wasn't a good plan."
"It was the only plan."
Sky didn't argue.
---
Another hour passed.
The scenery slowly changed.
Nani looked around curiously.
"...Wait."
"This road looks familiar."
Sky remained silent.
Nani suddenly gasped.
"Oh!"
"We're going back to your hotel, right?"
Sky's hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
"...Hotel."
"Yeah."
"The luxury one."
"The pillows were amazing."
"And the blankets!"
Sky exhaled quietly.
He still thought...
I was the manager.
After everything...
After armed guards...
After black SUVs...
After an entire estate...
He still believed it was a hotel.
Sky closed his eyes for the briefest moment at a red light.
"...It's not a hotel."
Nani blinked.
"Huh?"
Before Sky could explain, the traffic began moving again.
He simply drove on.
Nani shrugged.
"Maybe you're just a very dedicated manager."
Sky gave up trying to correct him.
"..."
Nani smiled to himself.
"Manager Sky."
No response.
"Cold Ice Cream?"
Still nothing.
Nani grinned.
"I'll take that as a yes."
For the first time in days...
He laughed.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't forced.
It was real.
Sky didn't laugh with him.
But hearing it...
Made the unfamiliar warmth in his chest return once more.
He didn't understand it.
He wasn't sure he wanted to.
All he knew was that the road ahead had changed.
For both of them.
And somewhere far behind, wedding guests were still searching for a groom who had already chosen a different path.
-------
The black car rolled through the familiar iron gates.
The guards immediately straightened.
"Boss."
Their voices were disciplined as always.
Then...
They noticed the passenger stepping out.
Nani.
The same runaway who had mistaken the estate for a luxury hotel.
The same guest who had called their terrifying boss "Manager Sky."
For the briefest second, several guards looked genuinely relieved to see him safe.
No one dared say a word.
Because...
Sky was walking a few steps behind Nani.
His expression was as unreadable as ever.
One sharp glance from him was enough to remind everyone to keep their thoughts to themselves.
The guards instantly looked straight ahead.
Silence is survival.
---
Nani looked around happily.
"I knew it!"
"My favorite hotel."
Sky quietly closed his eyes for a second.
"..."
Nani turned around with complete confidence.
"Manager Sky."
"Can I stay in the same room again?"
Sky answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
"Yay!"
Nani grabbed his backpack and headed upstairs as though he already knew the place.
One guard whispered under his breath,
"...He's walking around Boss's mansion like he owns it."
Another guard whispered back,
"Don't let Boss hear you."
"I enjoy being alive."
---
Nani opened the familiar guest room.
Everything looked exactly as he remembered.
The soft bed.
The fluffy pillows.
The premium cotton bedsheets.
He immediately smiled.
"My room!"
He froze.
"...Wait."
"Our room?"
"No..."
"The hotel's room."
He nodded to himself.
"That's better."
He changed into comfortable pajamas, carefully placed his backpack beside the bed, hugged one of the side pillows, and disappeared beneath the blanket.
Only then did everything that had happened that day catch up with him.
The escape.
The fear.
The running.
The long drive.
His eyelids became heavier.
Within minutes...
He was asleep.
Peacefully.
Like Sleeping Beauty finally finding a safe place to rest.
---
Across the hallway...
Sky entered his own room.
He loosened the collar of his black shirt and sat on the edge of the bed.
The mansion was quiet again.
Different somehow.
He leaned back against the headboard.
For the first time in many nights...
His thoughts weren't racing.
The constant restlessness had faded.
The silence no longer felt empty.
He closed his eyes.
Sleep came almost immediately.
Deep.
Undisturbed.
The first truly restful sleep he'd had in days.
---
Downstairs...
The night shift quietly changed posts.
Tee, Sky's right-hand man, poured himself a cup of coffee.
A younger guard approached him.
"...Boss went to bed early."
Tee nodded.
"He did."
"And..."
"He actually looks calmer."
Another guard glanced upstairs.
"I haven't seen him sleep properly all week."
Tee folded his arms thoughtfully.
"I don't know what's going on inside Boss's head."
He looked toward the staircase.
"But one thing is obvious."
"The moment Nani arrived..."
"The mansion became quieter."
He sighed.
"Our boss seems... attached to that kid."
The younger guard frowned.
"Is that a good thing?"
Tee didn't answer immediately.
After a long pause, he spoke softly.
"I don't know."
"Maybe it'll help him become someone different."
"Maybe it'll become the weakness every enemy wants to exploit."
He looked toward the dark hallway.
"Or maybe..."
"This is the beginning of a story none of us can predict."
The guards fell silent.
Outside...
The gates of the estate remained firmly shut.
Inside...
For one rare night...
Both the feared mob boss...
And the runaway who thought he was staying in a luxury hotel...
Slept peacefully under the same roof, unaware of what tomorrow would bring.