Neville gradually stopped looking like he wanted to crawl under the table, and they finished the meal in a more comfortable silence. When they had cleared the plates, Grayson checked his light brain.

He had been here forty-five minutes already. Bryan would be wondering why he hadn’t sent the key for the encryption of the files soon.

When he moved back to the sofa, Grayson asked, "There were some encryption keys that Stewart couldn’t decode. He asked me to ask in passing."

Neville blinked, then he seemed to remember that this was supposed to be a work, aka a patient visit. Grayson found it utterly adorable that Neville even thought that he had just come there to eat.

It wasn’t entirely wrong since he couldn’t bear to eat nutrient solutions after eating Neville’s food. But it wasn’t the only reason. Mainly, he really just wanted to see him.

"Oh. Right. Which ones?" Neville wiped his wet hands and came over.

"The backup server configurations. You used a custom protocol." Grayson explained.

Although he knew how to decrypt these codes, it was still easier to ask the person who made them.

"Because the standard ones have known vulnerabilities," Neville explained.

Neville moved closer to him to get a clear view of Grayson’s light brain’s external holographic display. It made Grayson lift one arm and surround Neville close into a half-embrace.

Neville boldly reached out and pulled Grayson’s other hand to forcefully have him move the holographic display in front of him.

"Here, I can walk you through it." Then, Neville opened his own light brain’s external holographic display function and showed a side-by-side view of their screens.

As Neville continued to arrange the displays and opened the files, Grayson continued to be distracted. His hands were hanging over Neville’s shoulders, extremely close. Unlike before, when there was still a little bit of space between them, right now he could practically feel Neville’s warm skin through his clothes.

All this time, Neville didn’t go to change, making him smell that same oceanic scent that was slightly milky. His body was almost enveloping Neville’s small frame. Neville’s nape was also bare, smooth...and it seemed amazing to bite.

Grayson unconsciously licked the bottom of his lips and swallowed his saliva. He could feel his body heating a little. He wondered if this innocent omega had any clue how attractive he looked right now to an alpha.

But looking at Neville’s comfortable expression and eager to explain his tricks to him, Grayson couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, especially when his eyes kept moving toward his attractive lips.

He would love to kiss it again. Grayson paused and asked himself, Again? When did he?

Then, Grayson could feel his nape aching again, but this time spreading to his temples. He unconsciously lifted the hand that was on Neville’s blind spot and rubbed his temples.

His memory is failing again. He really needed to take that surveillance system seriously.

Neville’s fingers began to hover, causing his loose shirt to fall a little on his shoulders. Grayson’s head began to spin. He could clearly see what was hidden inside it from his tall angle.

That’s it.

Grayson suddenly took off his coat amidst the confused expression of Neville. Then he draped it over Neville while pulling up Neville’s shirt in the passing.

Then he casually sat next to Neville and said, "Continue."

"O-okay." Albeit confused, Neville continued.

"See, if you layer the encryption like this—" Neville gestured, creating a three-dimensional model. "—it creates redundancies that make brute-force attacks essentially impossible. Even quantum computers would need years to crack it."

Even though he already covered Neville’s tempting appearance, his scent and hair still tickled through his senses.

To avoid embarrassing himself, Grayson asked a little sharply, even though he already knew the answer, "Where did you learn this?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Neville’s hands stilled, and he hurriedly explained. "Self-taught. I had someone teach me in the company some easy ropes, and made it complicated. Even though this is just a fluke creation, it worked wonders."

Grayson felt that he scared the youth, so he tried to ease the tension. "Can you document this? Maybe create a simplified guide?"

"I can do that." Neville made a few notes on his light brain. "I’ll send it over by tomorrow."

"No rush. Don’t push yourself too hard." Grayson said, concerned.

"I already said I’m fine, really."

Grayson’s jaw tightened, his pride rising again. "But you still got injured."

Neville looked at Grayson in the eyes with all seriousness, "I chose to do this. Even if you knew about any of it, you wouldn’t be able to do anything because I made it that way."

"In the first place, it shouldn’t have happened at all." The words came out harder than intended.

Neville looked up at him, surprise clear on his face. Then he smiled in a teasing manner, "Are you worried about me?"

Grayson looked directly into his eyes with an unreadable expression, "I am."

They stared at each other for a good while until Neville averted his eyes. Turning his face in the process, he didn’t look back at him anymore.

"I hope this won’t spread around. Compass also comprised some of these." Neville said, trying to change the topic.

Grayson, unable to persuade this stubborn kitten, could only say, "Got it."

Grayson’s light brain chimed in a timely manner. It was Bryan Stewart asking him to come back, as he couldn’t push back the other things in the schedule.

"I should go," he said, though leaving felt wrong somehow. "Thank you for the meal. It was excellent."

"Thank you." Relief and disappointment warred on Neville’s face. "Thank you for checking on me."

They stood there awkwardly for another moment.

Neville’s glasses had slipped down his nose again, as had the coat around him. It made Neville realize that he was still wearing Grayson’s coat and was about to say something. But then, Grayson beat him to it.

"Take the rest early," Grayson said abruptly to ease the awkwardness. "Doctor’s orders."

"I—"

"Humor me." He moved toward the door, creating distance before he did something stupid like asking if he could stay longer. "And Hope?"

Neville looked up at him innocently, questioning.

"Lock your door properly. Check the intercom before opening. The dormitory is secure, but..." Grayson trailed off.

Not all threats came from outside.

Just as Grayson was about to think that he was nagging too much, he saw the understanding flicker across Neville’s face.

"I understand," Neville replied, nodding.

"Good."

Grayson stepped into the hallway as the door hissed behind him.

He stood in front of the anti-grav lift for a moment, waiting. When his nape suddenly started aching again, his chest tightened. He began to breathe hard, so he needed to support himself against the nearest wall.

Something’s wrong. Why—

As soon as the anti-grav lift chimed in arrival and opened its doors, Grayson slowly stood up as if his previous pain was nothing but an illusion. His hair was visibly longer, but his silver eyes turned into two slits. Unlike before, he didn’t have the horns on his forehead.

He cracked his neck left to right and saw the anti-grav lift closing. He hurried to catch it and went inside naturally. He continued to stretch his arms and legs.

Ah~ If he had woken up early, Neville would’ve known the truth.

’Grayson’ loosened his tie as he remembered the sight of Neville injured. His bored eyes, which were reflected in the anti-grav lift’s glass, instantly became murderous. He immediately called someone from an encrypted line.

[What’s up?] A woman’s voice was heard from the other side of the line.

"Have you done what I instructed?" Grayson said in a serious note, very different from his usual tone.

It took a while before the woman on the other line spoke. The woman visibly changed her tone and asked cautiously, [You’re awake?]

Grayson frowned at this change of attitude. He was immediately filled with impatience as he asked coldly. "So? Did you get Killian back as planned?"

[It’s done,] the woman replied in an extremely cautious tone, [What are you going to do?]

"Vent." Grayson’s eyes had a murderous tint in them, reflected in the anti-grav lift’s glass. "Got the one behind Ethan?"

As if to pacify his anger, the woman persuaded, [I apologize. But please be reasonable, you’re not in the military anymore, Mr. Maxwell.]

"What do you want me to do about it? I’ve left you one task, and you still failed."

The woman could hear the seething anger in Grayson’s voice and was unable to refute it.

[I apologize, Mr. Maxwell.]

Grayson walked out of the anti-grav lift and said with finality, "I’m giving you one last chance to get your act together. Awake or not, Neville is my mate. He is a top priority regardless of anything else."

[I understand, sir. But are you sure that Mr. Hope is really your mate?]

Grayson looked far into the distant skies and said, "I’ve been waiting for him for so long, Helena. So, just don’t fail this time. Again."

Grayson could hear a sharp inhale on the other end of the line, and Helena said, [Understood.]