When Neville finally settled into his own chair, he had chosen the one farthest from Grayson. He kept his gaze firmly on his plate. Even if he frowned all day, Neville wouldn’t notice it, and his thoughts would just spiral negatively.

He wasn’t even in rut, why would he be scared of him? Did he leak some pheromones? Grayson sniffed a little. It didn’t look like it was pheromones.

The food looked incredible—some kind of stir-fry with high-quality cosmic beast mixed with vegetables Grayson didn’t recognize. The aroma alone made his stomach remind him he had skipped his morning nutrient solution.

It looked expensive; he should reimburse him later.

He picked up his utensils. "It looks good."

"Thanks." Neville’s voice came out quiet and quick.

They ate in silence.

The food tasted even better than it looked. The meat had been cooked perfectly, tender without being mushy. The vegetables retained their crunch. The sauce was sweet and savory with a subtle kick, combined beautifully. Each bite revealed layers of flavor he didn’t know could come from real food.

But silence was already bothering him.

"How did you come up with this?" he began.

Neville stopped mid-bite and answered without looking at him. "Figured it would work."

"It’s really good."

"It’s nothing."

"It’s really good."

Neville began to be bothered by this repeated sentence and glanced at Grayson. He met Grayson’s eyes for a moment, then quickly darted his gaze away.

"Then... thank you."

More silence.

Grayson’s nape began to ache. He stopped himself from rubbing it to ease the pain. Even though it wasn’t like before when he passed out and lost his memory, he seemed to be feeling it more with Neville around.

Was Neville somehow connected in this? Was there a reason why Ethan, who was suspected of being behind the drugs, kept appearing around him?

Even so, he didn’t want to alarm Neville unnecessarily. After all, the kid already had enough problems of his own.

He knew that Neville was going to do something dangerous. Each time he asked himself whether it was right to let him be, but what could he really do about it? He hired Neville for this very purpose. He trusted that Neville would know what to do on his own, and he did.

He proved to him that he was the right person for the job. And time and time again, he was being unnecessarily bothered about it, more like he was bothered by the entire existence of Neville.

Grayson paused for a second.

Neville didn’t miss it and looked at Grayson to check on him.

Seeing his expression, Grayson could only force himself to shake his head a little. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Neville nodded slightly without saying anything and went back to continue eating.

Then, there was the mysterious person who helped him find the facility and impersonate him during those seven days.

This was really stressing him out.

He had already come to terms with himself, but he kept reconsidering his decisions. This was something he had never done before.

Holding back a sigh, Grayson glanced at Neville and thought, This wasn’t how he had imagined this meal was going.

"I’m not going to do anything to hurt you." The words came out before he could stop them.

Neville’s head snapped up. "What?"

"I won’t do anything." Grayson set down his utensils.

"I’m—"Neville stammered, face flushing. "I’m not afraid of you."

Looking at his expression, Grayson already knew that Neville was being truthful, but he couldn’t help but lead the conversation a little.

"You don’t have to lie."

"No. Really—"

"I understand."

Neville opened and closed his mouth. Then, his gaze dropped back to his plate. "I’m just... surprised. I wasn’t prepared for..."

"You didn’t expect me to find that photo?" he asked to the point.

Neville’s face went from pink to crimson. "That’s—that’s not—it’s a hobby! Photography! I take pictures of lots of things! Buildings, people, landscapes—"

"I don’t mind."

"—I’m not weird or creepy or—" Neville finally processed Grayson’s words. "You don’t?"

"Should I be?" Grayson said, shrugging lightly.

"Most people would think it’s strange. Keeping physical photos is something unusual." Neville’s words tumbled out faster now, defensive. "But digital files get corrupted over time. Just in the off chance that they get lost or deleted over time, I still have the physical media remaining."

Grayson understood what he was trying to say. "I still have my military commendations in a drawer. Never bothered to digitize them."

"Really?"

Neville looked at him with big, wide watery ocean-blue eyes. Grayson couldn’t possibly say that he was just joking.

"Physical objects carry weight that holographic images don’t." Because they were all made of metal platings.

Some of the tension was released from Neville’s shoulders. Not all of it, but enough that he took another bite of food.

Grayson thought that it was really cute, so he unconsciously continued where he left off.

"So the photo of me..."

Neville nearly choked.

"I—that was—the lighting was good that day! Artistically speaking! That was the best time to take—" He cut himself off, looking mortified.

A smile tugged at Grayson’s lips despite himself.

"I’m flattered."

Neville finally caught on. "You’re making fun of me."

"I’m not." And he wasn’t.

Something about Neville’s flustered babbling eased the knot in Grayson’s chest.

"I don’t know much about photography. I barely even take my photos."

"So the fact that you saw me as something worth capturing..." He shrugged. "I’ll take it as a compliment."

Neville stared at him like he’d grown a second head. "You’re... really not upset?"

"Why would I be?" Grayson raised an eyebrow.

"Because I took a picture of my boss without permission and kept it like some kind of stalker!"

"Are you going to use that photo for something...bad?"

"What? No!"

Remembering how well Neville gets his data on people he targets, Grayson pondered and asked, "Do you plan to use it for blackmail or harassment?"

"Of course not!"

"Then it’s fine. It’s just a photo." Grayson resumed eating. "Though you should probably ask permission next time if you want to take someone else’s photo."

"Not like I would do this to others." The words slipped out before Neville could stop them. His eyes widened in horror as he snapped his head to look back at Grayson in askance.

Grayson’s smile widened a little, but he pretended he didn’t hear it. He knew that Neville only had his secretly taken portrait in the album—the only one.

"Got it?" he asked.

"Got it."