Chapter - 17
Three days later...
The mansion had become suspiciously peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Nani wandered into the kitchen wearing fluffy pink slippers.
He looked around.
"...It's quiet."
Tee looked up from his coffee.
"...That's because you haven't started talking yet."
Nani ignored the comment.
He suddenly sighed.
"I miss Dew."
Tee had a bad feeling.
"...Young Master."
"Hm?"
"I'm going to visit him."
"...Now?"
"Yes."
"Immediately."
"Why?"
Nani answered with complete sincerity.
"I miss annoying him."
Tee pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...That's somehow wholesome."
---
Nani happily marched toward the entrance.
Sky happened to be coming downstairs.
He stopped.
"Where are you going?"
Nani smiled.
"To Dew's villa."
"For a few days."
Sky's expression didn't change.
"...I see."
"I miss him."
"...I see."
"He bought me strawberry milk yesterday."
"...I see."
"And he promised we'd decorate the pink room."
"..."
"...I see."
Nani tilted his head.
"You're talking like a malfunctioning GPS."
"I'm perfectly fine."
"You don't look fine."
"I am."
Nani shrugged.
"Okay."
He waved cheerfully.
"Bye, Mr. Sky."
The front door closed.
Silence.
Sky stood motionless.
Tee slowly looked toward him.
"...Boss?"
No response.
"...Boss?"
Sky turned very slowly.
"...I suddenly dislike Dew."
Tee blinked.
"Suddenly?"
Sky corrected himself.
"...I've always disliked Dew."
---
Meanwhile...
At Dew's new villa...
The gates opened.
"NANIIII!"
"DEWWWW!"
The two nearly collided in the driveway.
Dew laughed.
"You actually came."
"I told you I would."
"Come on."
"I finished your room."
Nani practically sprinted upstairs.
The bedroom door opened.
Pink curtains.
Pink rug.
Pink pillows.
A fluffy blanket.
Soft lighting.
Shelves already waiting for plushies.
Nani froze.
His eyes sparkled.
"..."
"...This..."
He dramatically placed a hand over his heart.
"...This is art."
He flopped face-first onto the bed.
"Mhm..."
"Premium cotton..."
"I can tell."
Dew crossed his arms proudly.
"I know my customer."
Nani hugged the pillow.
"I'm conquering this room."
"It's officially mine."
"I refuse to leave."
---
Across the city...
Sky sat in a meeting with several rival crime figures.
A long polished table separated everyone.
One man confidently slid a folder across.
"Our proposal—"
"No."
"...You haven't read it."
"I don't need to."
The room became awkward.
Another negotiator cleared his throat.
"...Perhaps we could discuss—"
"No."
Tee quietly sighed.
"...He's in one of those moods."
One guard whispered,
"...Young Master Nani left this morning."
The other nodded knowingly.
"...Everything makes sense now."
---
The discussion continued.
One rival lost his temper and slammed a fist onto the table.
"You think we're afraid of you?"
The room instantly became tense.
Sky slowly stood.
His chair scraped softly against the floor.
The man's confidence vanished.
Sky's voice remained calm.
"If shouting helped negotiations..."
"...you'd already have won."
Silence.
The rival reached toward his jacket.
Before anyone else could react, Sky's security team intervened.
The scuffle lasted only moments before it was broken up.
When the room settled again, one of the men had a cut on his arm, and Sky's white shirt cuff had been stained with a streak of blood from separating the fight.
Tee immediately stepped forward.
"Boss."
"It's just on the sleeve."
Sky glanced down once.
"...Clean it later."
His attention had already drifted elsewhere.
"..."
Tee knew that look.
"You're thinking about him again."
Sky didn't answer.
---
Back at the villa...
Nani was happily arranging plushies.
"No."
"You sit here."
He moved one teddy bear.
"No..."
"You look better over there."
Dew leaned against the doorway.
"...You're talking to stuffed animals."
"They understand me."
"I don't think they do."
"They have better listening skills than some people."
Dew laughed.
"You mean Sky?"
Nani dramatically buried himself under the blanket.
"I didn't say that."
"You absolutely meant him."
"...Maybe."
---
That evening...
Tee entered Sky's office carrying fresh documents.
"Boss."
"What."
"I have today's report."
Sky nodded.
Tee placed the file on the desk.
"...Young Master Nani also sent a photo."
Sky looked up immediately.
Tee couldn't help smiling.
"He seems... happy."
The photo showed Nani buried beneath pink blankets, surrounded by plushies, giving a dramatic thumbs-up.
Attached was one message:
?"I officially conquered the pink room. Tell Cold Ice Cream not to be grumpy."?
Sky stared at the message for several seconds.
Then quietly muttered,
"...I'm not grumpy."
Tee looked at the mountain of rejected paperwork from today's meeting.
"...Of course not."
Outside the office, one guard whispered,
"How did negotiations go?"
Tee glanced back at the closed door.
"...Let's just say..."
"...Boss lost the only negotiation that actually mattered."
-----------
A week passed.
Nani had fully settled into Dew's villa.
Every morning started the same way.
He woke up wrapped like a burrito in his premium cotton blanket.
Complained dramatically if breakfast was five minutes late.
Spent an unreasonable amount of time arranging plushies.
And bullied Dew at least once before noon.
Dew finally threw a pillow at him.
"You're supposed to be my guest."
"I am."
"You act like you own this villa."
Nani nodded confidently.
"I've claimed the pink room."
"...You can't claim property."
"I already did."
---
Later that afternoon...
Nani suddenly sat upright.
"Dew."
"What?"
"I miss someone."
Dew looked up from his laptop.
"...Who?"
Nani thought for a second.
"...Cold Ice Cream."
Dew smirked.
"I knew it."
"I didn't say I like him."
"You miss him."
"I miss annoying him."
"Same difference."
Nani grabbed his jacket.
"I'm going to surprise him."
Dew laughed.
"...Good luck."
---
Meanwhile...
Sky's mansion...
The atmosphere inside the conference room was suffocating.
A long black table stretched across the room.
Several influential businessmen and underground leaders sat in complete silence.
No one dared breathe too loudly.
Sky stood at the head of the table.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Your shipment was delayed."
One man swallowed.
"It... it was beyond our control."
Sky looked at him.
"I don't like excuses."
Another man tried speaking.
"We can compensate—"
"You already should have."
The room became colder.
Even Tee silently prayed nobody would say anything stupid.
One guard whispered outside,
"...Boss is in a terrible mood."
Another nodded.
"...Young Master Nani has been gone for a week."
"That explains everything."
---
At that exact moment...
The mansion doors opened.
The maids gasped.
"Young Master Nani!"
Nani smiled brightly.
"Hi!"
"Is Cold Ice Cream home?"
One maid pointed upstairs.
"Meeting room."
Nani nodded.
"Perfect."
Without waiting...
He walked straight upstairs.
---
Inside the meeting...
One businessman was nervously explaining numbers.
"...If you just give us another month—"
The conference room door suddenly opened.
Every head turned.
A familiar voice echoed inside.
"Heeeyyyyy!!"
Nani.
Standing in the doorway with a cheerful smile.
The room froze.
Tee blinked.
"...Oh no."
Before anyone could react...
Nani casually walked into the room.
The faint scent of his shampoo drifted through the air.
Sky's eyes instinctively lifted.
The tension that had gripped his face all afternoon loosened almost imperceptibly.
His clenched jaw relaxed.
His shoulders eased.
Tee noticed immediately.
"...Unbelievable."
Nani looked around the intimidating room.
"So many serious faces."
"Are you all discussing taxes or world domination?"
Nobody answered.
One elderly businessman looked horrified.
"...Who..."
"...is this?"
Before anyone could stop him...
Nani hopped onto the edge of Sky's favorite conference table and sat there happily, swinging his legs.
"So."
He looked at Sky.
"I came to surprise you."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
One man actually choked on his water.
Another nearly dropped his pen.
A third whispered,
"...He..."
"...He's sitting on the Boss's table."
The fourth looked ready to faint.
"I've worked with him for twelve years..."
"...He once fired someone for putting coffee on that table."
---
Sky simply looked at Nani.
"When did you get here?"
"Five minutes ago."
"You should've called."
"I wanted to surprise you."
"...You succeeded."
Nani grinned proudly.
"I know."
He looked around again.
"Oh."
"Sorry."
"Am I interrupting?"
Every businessman screamed internally.
YES!
Sky answered calmly,
"...A little."
Nani smiled sheepishly.
"My bad."
Then he casually reached into his bag.
"I brought desserts."
He placed a pink box on the table.
"I bought your favorite coffee too."
The room fell silent again.
One businessman whispered,
"...Boss has a favorite coffee?"
Another whispered back,
"...Boss has... favorites?"
---
Sky stared at the dessert box for a moment.
Then at Nani.
"...You came all this way..."
"...just to bring me this?"
Nani shrugged.
"You looked grumpy in the photo Tee sent."
"So I thought..."
"...maybe you needed sugar."
For a second...
Nobody spoke.
Then...
The corners of Sky's lips lifted into the faintest smile.
Small.
But unmistakable.
The businessmen looked as if reality itself had cracked.
One quietly muttered,
"...He smiled."
Another clutched his chest.
"I don't feel well."
Tee folded his arms with a satisfied grin.
"There he is."
"Our actual Boss."
The businessmen frowned.
"...Sky?"
Tee shook his head.
He pointed toward the cheerful man sitting on the conference table, happily opening the dessert box.
"No."
"Him."
"Nani."
"I've accepted it."
The room, once frozen by fear...
Somehow felt warmer.
And Sky didn't even notice that the meeting had stopped.
He was too busy looking at the one person capable of walking into the most dangerous room in the city...
And treating it like someone's living room.