Chapter 52: Luther’s Inner Turmoil
"Joshua, I’m downstairs. Hurry up." Luther’s voice came through the phone, sounding casually loud and echoing slightly. Joshua sneered, "I’m not going."
Luther replied, "You believe I won’t find out where you live?"
Joshua: "...That’s illegal!"
Joshua was already stepping out of his apartment building even as he said that. Luther immediately hung up and strode forward, chin tilted up. "Haha, Joshua, you can talk all you want, but deep down you’re excited to hang out with me, aren’t you? I get it, my charm is irresistible!"
Joshua pushed Luther’s face away in disgust. Seeing this, Luther didn’t hesitate at all—he reached out and ruffled Joshua’s hair, which still felt as soft as ever.
While tousling it, he couldn’t help but ask, "Did you change shampoo?"
Joshua backed away, raising his hands to free his hair from Luther’s grasp. He suddenly kicked at Luther, leaving a gray footprint on his pant leg. "I told you not to touch my head!"
"This is the first time I’ve worn these pants, Joshua!" Luther shouted, grabbing Joshua’s cheeks with both hands and kneading them as if working a lump of dough. Joshua was practically on the verge of tears; his words came out muffled as he tried to protest, but in the end, he could only glare silently at Luther. His eyes shimmered with tears, and the corners turned red.
Luther knew he’d gone too far again. He quickly withdrew his hands and patted Joshua’s head in what he thought was a mature manner. "Seriously, you’re grown up already. You can cry—real men can cry—but you can’t just use tears as a weapon—"
Before he could finish, Joshua suddenly grabbed his hand and sank his teeth into it!
Luther jumped in shock, yelling in pain before he could even react. When he pulled his hand back, a perfect bite mark was imprinted.
"Joshua, this is totally gonna bruise!" Luther howled.
Joshua turned around, ready to leave, but an arm wrapped tightly around his waist before he could take more than a few steps.
With one arm, Luther lifted him clean off the ground. Joshua’s ears filled with the rush of air as his body was swept up and tossed onto a soft seat. Before he could even process what happened, the car door slammed shut.
Luther slid into the driver’s seat with a grin. "You haven’t even checked out this car yet. It’s not even released to the public—guaranteed to blind you with how cool it is."
Joshua didn’t really care about his bragging. He gave Luther a look. "You’re letting me sit here—aren’t you afraid you’ll crash when you start fighting while driving?"
Luther laughed loudly, ruffling Joshua’s hair again before smirking. "Joshua’s a good boy."
Joshua’s skin crawled. He turned away from him, ignoring the man completely, and started studying the car’s interior instead.
It looked like a sports car. If Luther was telling the truth, then he must really be loaded. But if he were that rich, why would he still bother being an idol?
Joshua started to get the feeling that Luther was just another bored rich kid who became an idol for fun.
Maybe to people like him, this whole thing was just a game... just like Leonard. And like Arthur.
At that moment, Nine suddenly spoke up:
[This car’s pretty lovely. I want one too someday!]
Joshua: "..." Had Nine already forgotten about the castle he kept going about?
Joshua replied, "I thought you wanted a castle."
[Of course I do. But I’m grown now—why choose when we can have both?] Nine said with perfect confidence.
Joshua couldn’t help but feel both annoyed and amused. "You’re saying that using my parallel, you know."
Nine didn’t care in the slightest:
[What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine can only ever be mine!]
In their little exchange, Joshua fell silent, and Nine declared himself the victor.
[The Wolf Doesn’t Eat Meat]: Finally settled who gets to handle the finances! The ultimate winner of this battle is obviously me!
Fans, now subjected to more than five daily complaints from The Wolf, couldn’t help but wonder if his constant whining fit someone claiming to be the victor.
The Wolf, however, chose to ignore the comments. After all, he had won against Joshua.
Luther, meanwhile, was driving with surprising focus—though his speed was anything but slow.
Before long, they pulled up outside an amusement park. Luther got out and was about to open Joshua’s door when he saw Joshua already stepping out.
Suddenly, Luther pressed Joshua back down, nearly making him fall back into the seat. For a moment, Joshua’s view darkened—Luther’s shadow blocked out all the light.
Luther had one hand braced on the seat beside Joshua’s shoulder.
Nine immediately shouted: [Kabedon?!]
Joshua: "...What’s that supposed to mean?"
Then he frowned at Luther. "What are you doing? Are you not going to let me get out? What are we supposed to play inside the car?"
Luther stroked his chin thoughtfully. "There are plenty of things we can do in the car. I just bought a custom-made chess set the other day..." He paused, then quickly steered the topic back to what he meant. "Anyway, are you seriously going out without covering your face? You do realize you’re famous now, right?"
As he said that, he pulled a mask and a baseball cap from the glove compartment, putting them on Joshua before motioning with his hand. "Let’s go."
Joshua was still adjusting his mask when Luther clicked his tongue and grabbed his hand, taking off at full speed.
Joshua couldn’t help but shout, "Why the hell are you running so fast?!"
No sooner had he said it than Luther suddenly stopped, causing Joshua to crash into his back. His nose stung painfully, and tears welled up instantly at the corners of his eyes.
Before he could even say a word, Luther abruptly wrapped him in a tight embrace that felt almost desperate. Joshua could barely breathe as Luther’s hoarse voice rang right by his ear: "I finally made it here, Joshua!"
Joshua blinked in confusion. Someone like Luther had never been here before? Though he hadn’t either.
He patted Luther’s back. "Move aside a bit, I see a lucky wheel over there."
Luther let out a surprised laugh. "So you’re into gambling games, huh, Joshua?"
Joshua kept a straight face and nodded. "That’s right. I’ll rack up a debt and use your money to pay it off."
Luther thought for a moment, then grinned. "Fine by me! My money’s your money anyway! I already told you—I’ll take care of you!"
He looked at Joshua, who was walking beside him, and felt content unexpectedly. When he’d watched Joshua perform the other day, he hadn’t felt much then—but that night, he’d dreamed about it. And when he woke up, he was so shaken he didn’t dare face Joshua for a month.
But then he’d stumbled upon Henry’s post, and something inside him just... snapped. His mind burned, and his chest felt ready to explode.
He and Joshua were supposed to be best friends! And yet Joshua had never even eaten breakfast at his place!
Before realizing what he was doing, he’d called Joshua on instinct.
Now that he looked at him again, everything felt fine. It had just been a dream—just a dream. They were still best friends. He’d just been holding things in too long, that was all.
Luther nodded to himself as if he’d reasoned it all out perfectly. Then, seeing Joshua spinning the lucky wheel on the other side, he called out loudly, "Joshua! If you sweet-talk me a little, I might help you win that game!"