“Xenoooon! Baby, are you ready yet? When do I get to see my present?”
“Shut up! Go bring more booze instead!”
Opportunity.
Ben was saved by Ellyn’s loud, impatient voice—unexpected, but perfectly timed.
Elgran’s faint swearing was mixed in as a bonus, but Ben didn’t care.
He was too focused on seizing the moment to escape.
“Isn’t Mr. Xenon’s issue more urgent right now?”
“Mmm, true, true. You’re doing it, right, Xenon?”
Penka grabbed the headband. Pinka snatched the tail.
They closed in on Xenon, who blushed deeply again and nodded instead of replying.
A timid nod, just like his personality—but that was all the twins needed.
Delighted, they started circling him, heads together in plotting mischief.
“Hmm, but your outfit doesn’t match. There was a wardrobe in this room, right? Leave it to Penka and Pinka! Hehehe…”
“Right! We’ll dress you up just how Ellyn likes it. Hehehe…”
With faces that sweet, it shouldn’t have been possible for them to look so devious.
But it was still nothing more than mischief.
Compared to real perverts, these two were just playful.
Still, Ben couldn’t help but feel a little worried for Xenon, who was frozen stiff under their hands.
Not that he had time to dwell on it—he grabbed the glass plate he’d left behind and quietly slipped out the door.
“Why are you alone?”
By the time Ben returned to the dining room, the party had become even louder in the short time he was gone.
Vodka, wine, strong spirits from the East, and all kinds of liquor crowded the table, taking up more space than the food.
Elgran was drinking straight from the bottle now, not even bothering with a glass.
Lus, more composed, was nibbling on steak and occasionally feeding Elgran a bite or two.
“They’re not quite ready yet.”
“Really?”
Ellyn appeared with a shot of vodka, downed it clean, and handed Ben a glass of wine.
When he brought it to his nose, he caught notes of vanilla, coconut, oak—and maybe even flowers.
Even to Ben, who knew little about wine, it was clearly expensive.
“So the twins didn’t catch you…”
“Sorry?”
“Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself.”
Just as Ben was about to sip the wine, Ellyn mumbled something under her breath.
Thinking it was meant for him, Ben asked again, but she only smiled and waved it off, urging him to drink.
The wine went down smoothly—sweet, with a bitter finish—but the way Ellyn leaned on her chin and stared off in thought gave Ben a strange sense of unease.
It was the same expression she wore when she’d set him up with Xenon in the first place.
He hoped he was just overthinking it.
Picking at some lamb steak and Caprese salad, Ben finally managed to relax a bit.
From the moment he’d arrived at Ellyn and Xenon’s house, it had been one thing after another.
He felt like a city dweller dropped into a tribal jungle—totally out of place.
Strangely enough, the person he’d been avoiding just hours earlier—Haimar—was starting to feel like a comforting presence.
Haimar could’ve put an end to this chaos with just a single warning glance.
And honestly, being the only one left alone while everyone else was in pairs… felt kind of pathetic.
Even though Ben was the one who had pulled away first, being alone didn’t bother him much before.
But now that he had someone he liked, it suddenly felt lonely.
“Yo, I’m heading out.”
“You’re going home now?”
“What? No—I’m off to have sex! We’ve eaten, we’ve partied, what else is left? S-E-E-E-X!”
Elgran poured more alcohol into Ben’s empty glass, grinning like a fool.
Ben gave him a look of equal disdain.
Elgran stopped mid-gulp, frowning like an annoyed cat.
“Don’t give me that look. And don’t go copying Haimar’s weirdness.”
“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Haimar?”
“My libido outweighs Haimar. Always.”
No wonder it felt off that he was just drinking quietly.
In the end, only the broad-shouldered man with a bear-like back, who froze at Elgran’s outrageous outburst, looked pitiful.
There was no point in trying to stop it now—Ben simply cut into his steak, popped a piece into his mouth, and responded calmly.
“…Sure. Go ahead. Just don’t do it here, please.”
“Ben’s right. Get lost already. I need to drink.”
Ellyn, who had at some point fished the champagne Ben had gifted out of the fridge, shooed Elgran away like he was some unwelcome guest.
Elgran blinked lazily, glancing back and forth between the champagne and Lus, looking like he might reconsider… but then slammed a vodka bottle onto the table and dragged Lus away by the arm.
“Okay! We’re outta here!”
Clearly, Elgran’s libido had overpowered his desire for champagne.
His footsteps turned hurried, completely blinded by the pleasures that awaited him.
Meanwhile, Ellyn crossed her legs leisurely and swirled the champagne, offering a casual tip.
“Use any of the guest rooms on the third floor, Luss.”
“Haha, I owe you one…”
As he watched the two disappear up the stairs, Ben silently vowed to avoid the third floor entirely.
It was far enough from the dining room that he didn’t have any reason to go there anyway—and this was a fancy house, so soundproofing was probably solid.
Still, better safe than sorry; he didn’t want to risk hearing something embarrassing by accident.
“Well, now that the playboy’s been kicked out… shall we drink?”
“Hold on. Please don’t shake that too much.”
From earlier, Ben had noticed Ellyn shaking the champagne far too enthusiastically.
If she opened it like that, it’d end up like a podium celebration at a race car event—champagne spraying in every direction, carbonation and chaos everywhere. It’d be a disaster to clean up.
But Ellyn didn’t seem remotely concerned.
And if she really wanted to set a celebratory mood with champagne, it would’ve made more sense to wait until Xenon and the twins came out of their rooms—more people, better vibe.
But despite Ben’s reasonable objection, Ellyn just smiled without saying a word.
She was smiling too much.
It was… suspicious.
“Ellyn?”
“Here we go~!”
Pop!
Ellyn finally yanked the cork out after shaking the bottle to its limit.
Champagne exploded like a fountain.
This was a tragedy foretold.
Ben jumped up in a panic, trying to avoid the spray he knew was coming—but it was useless.
The bubbly stream shot straight toward him with pinpoint accuracy, drenching him in sweet, fizzy alcohol.
“Hahahahaha! Oops, my bad! That was an accident!”
“An accident? That looked totally intentional!”
Her expression said otherwise.
She was laughing way too hard to sell the apology.
It looked like Ben had just walked into a summer thunderstorm—in the middle of winter.
His corduroy shirt and thick pants were soaked through with champagne.
The liquid somehow managed to avoid the floor and doused him evenly, forcing him to change.
Luckily, it hadn’t hit his face—or rather, Ellyn had aimed to avoid it.
In any case, it was cold, but the thick clothes kept his body mostly dry.
Still, his hands were sticky now, and Ben glared at her.
“It was a misunderstanding! I’d never do that on purpose! I’ll lend you some clothes!”
“You could’ve just not sprayed me in the first place, and I wouldn’t need to borrow any.”
Yeah, sure.
Ben bit back his grumbling and walked to the sink.
Just because it was her birthday, she was totally acting like a queen.
He swore silently to get back at her one day—maybe help Xenon pick out a gift or something equally petty.
Had he known he’d be the one getting doused, he wouldn’t have brought such expensive champagne in the first place.
Now half the bottle was wasted from all the shaking.
“Really, I’m sorry~. You’ll forgive me, right?”
“…Since it’s your birthday, I’ll let it slide. But do you even have clothes that’ll fit me?”
“I’ve got just the thing—wait, no, Xenon’s clothes should work. I’ll bring you something roomy.”
That… sounded odd.
“For just this kind of occasion?”
What was that supposed to mean?
Between the weird muttering from earlier and now this, Ben’s suspicion flared.
Was Ellyn scheming something again?
No matter how much he tried to piece it together, he couldn’t figure it out.
He dried his hands and turned back to her with a frown.
“You’re definitely up to something.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t know what you mean~”
Ellyn tilted her head with a completely innocent expression, her orange hair swaying lightly.
Then, with the same breezy attitude, she pulled some tissues and gently dabbed the champagne droplets off Ben’s shoulder.
“Come on, like I’d pull something on you. I mean, you are my type, but I have Xenon, you know.”
With her height nearly matching Ben’s, Ellyn had no trouble reaching his collar.
Her actions matched her words—just a harmless, friendly gesture.
Ben wasn’t the type to twist kindness into something else, nor was he childish enough to get worked up over something like this.
Sure, he planned a little payback eventually, but it was minor.
Helping Xenon shop or putting Ellyn in a similarly embarrassing situation—that kind of thing.
It wasn’t serious.
Of course, all of this only worked because Ellyn had no real malice.
Still… he couldn’t help being curious about what she was plotting.
But really, how much trouble could she cause just because it was her birthday?
Ben sighed, brushing off his mild concerns, completely unaware that this calm moment was the calm before the storm.
