"Sil..I got transferred back. I missed you."
The man rushed to Silke, wanting to give him a hug but Seram stepped in front of him.
He didn't like it when people touched his people.
And he especially didn't want this man to touch Silke.
The man frowned, even going as far as to activate his ability but unfortunately.
There was a big difference between S ranked and SSS ranked.
Before the man could do anything, Kyren had grabbed his hand.
"Now, now..don't get rash. Let's not do what we'll regret later."
The man hissed but didn't say anything, the menacing aura slowly dispersing.
"Who's the punk? Your new Esper? I thought you said you wouldn't take a new one?What's so special about him?"
The man paused and chuckled angrily "He must be the new SSS rank, that appeared? The people around you have never been ordinary Sil. You just keep getting better and better. But that's okay, you can guide us both together. That's why you're SSS rank, you can guide 10 Espers easily."
Seram took a deep breath, the collar had long turned red on his neck but he had tried his best to maintain his composure.
"I don't know what the heck you're saying but get something right. Silke belongs to me and I don't plan on sharing him with you or any other Esper. So if you know what's good, step down."
The man chuckled "Haha, you think I'm scared of you?"
"You're just an S rank Esper. You should be. Leonidas, with the ability of iron manipulation, right?"
Seram's voice was calm, too calm, like the eerie stillness before a storm.
"Then you should know better than to throw metal around when I can make it explode in your bloodstream."
Leonidas flinched. It wasn't an empty threat. Everyone had heard the rumors. SSS- ranked Espers weren't just powerful, they were unnatural.
Unpredictable. Dangerous.
Especially when provoked.
Silke stepped forward, his voice low. "That's enough. Both of you." His eyes flicked between them.
"Leo, you've been gone too long if you think this kind of display will work on me. I don't like people who throw tantrums."
Leonidas's face tightened, but he backed off, shrugging Kyren's grip off his arm.
"You've changed, Sil. You used to be colder than ice." He glanced at Seram, his voice dripping with resentment.
"Now you're letting a territorial mutt dictate who can touch you?" Seram smiled, a slow, warning curve of his lips.
"Territorial? Maybe. Mutt? Not quite. But if you want to test your luck, I've got time."
"Enough!" Silke said sharply, his tone flat and cold. "Leonidas. Seram. This isn't the time or the place."
Kyren stepped between them. "Silke's right. Seram go on up to your room. We need to have a talk with Leonidas. It's official business, concerning his transfer."
Seram didn't move right away. His gaze lingered still on Silke, his jaw tightening.
Silke glanced at him, his voice gentler now. "It's fine. Just a few minutes."
It wasn't the words that reassured him.
It was the look in Silke's eyes, steady, calm, unbothered.
Like he had handled a hundred Leonidases before, and this one wasn't worth a second thought.
Reluctantly, Seram stepped back. "I'll be waiting."
He said it low, only for Silke, then turned and walked away, the heat around him dissipating slowly.
Upstairs in the penthouse, the room was quiet. He hadn't spent much time here and it felt even more empty without Silke.
Now, sitting on the bed, staring at the wall, all Seram could think about was that look on Leonidas's face.
The confidence. The ease. Like he belonged next to Silke.
He didn't like it. He shouldn't care this much.
It hadn't even been three days.
But when he thought of someone else taking Silke's attention, it made something inside him twist.
And he hated it. He hated how easily Silke had become important.
"Fuck this. I can't lose my edge over a man."
He punched the air, one that made the objects in the room change.
"I can't believe I'm losing my edge over a man" he sighed deeply, he stood up from the bed and walked to the living room.
Settling down, he fished out the phone he asked Stella to sneak him and turned on his Airpods.
Maybe listening to a song will calm him down.
But what popped up in his playlist was House Of Balloons.
The eerie, seductive intro of House of Balloons pulsed into his ears, dragging a soft curse from his lips.
Of course it had to be that song.
A song about being used.
About floating high on desire and falling even harder when the euphoria ends.
It wasn't the lyrics, it was the feeling. Dark, sensual and lonely.
The kind of song you played at 3AM when you couldn't tell if you missed someone or just missed the way they made you feel.
Seram sank deeper into the couch.
He was losing his edge over a man who hadn't even said he wanted him.
Not in that way.
Silke was calm, professional. Dutiful. And frustratingly unreadable.
But he'd seen the brief flashes, those quiet smiles, the moments Silke didn't pull away, the warmth in his voice when he said.
"Just a few minutes."
He couldn't imagine all of that.
Right?
The collar on his neck pulsed with faint heat, reacting to the emotions he wasn't fully controlling.
He didn't even realize his fingers had curled into fists again until the air around him started shimmering with latent power.
He forced himself to breathe.
One song turned into two, and then three, but none of them helped.
He kept thinking about the way Leonidas had said "You used to be colder than ice."
Had Silke really changed that much?
And if so... why?
What made him change?
What did he want now?
Downstairs, the conversation with Leonidas had ended in controlled tension.
Silke made it clear: if Leonidas wanted to stay, he'd follow orders. No tantrums. No grabbing. No attempts to undermine his authority.
Kyren said nothing during most of it, but the look he gave Silke at the end was quietly sympathetic.
As Silke stepped into the elevator alone, he let out a long breath.
His body was tired, but his mind was worse. Full of knots and tangled threads.
When the elevator opened onto the penthouse floor, he walked in and didn't announce himself.
He found Seram sprawled across the couch, eyes closed, one arm draped over his head.