CHAPTER 25

Present Day.

Before pushing open the door to Lake's office, Billy straightened the hem of his sweater and adjusted the collar of his shirt, just in case. His heart was still beating a little faster than usual — after talking to Hayes, he still couldn't quite believe the punishment had actually been lifted. Not only had he been allowed to return to work, but he'd also been cleared to attend the charity gala with everyone else. It still felt almost miraculous.

He had already raised his hand to knock when he suddenly froze. Muffled voices drifted from inside the office.

“Lean down a little... I can't reach...” Parker's annoyed voice carried through the door. “My arms are getting tired...”

Silence fell for a few seconds.

“I can't... it's too tight...” Lake answered, with obvious effort.

“Stop moving... I can't get it right.”

“You're the one who wanted to help me with this.”

Something rustled softly on the other side of the door, followed by a muffled sigh.
“Oh, move your hands... I'll do it myself.”

Billy froze.

He didn't even notice himself slowly lowering the hand he'd already lifted to knock.

His ears flushed first. Then the heat spread quickly across his cheeks, down his neck, all the way to his fingertips.

“W-what...?” he whispered under his breath.

One impossible thought after another immediately sprang to life in his mind, each one more absurd than the last. He swallowed hard, feeling his palms grow damp.

“No... no, no... they're not... in the middle of the workday?.. In the office?..”

Billy desperately tried to convince himself he'd misunderstood.

But, as if in answer, Rick's voice came again from inside.

“Just hold still a little longer... I'm almost done.”

“I've been holding still for ten minutes.”

“If you move one more time, I'm starting over.”

Silence settled again.

“You'd probably have an easier time if you relaxed...” Lake finally said in his usual calm voice.

“Shut up!”

Billy's imagination completely slipped out of control. He drew a sharp breath, grabbed the doorknob, and, unable to stand it any longer, shoved it down.

The door flew open.

His cheeks were still burning, his eyes so wide that he seemed to have forgotten entirely why he'd come.

Parker and Lake were standing in the middle of the office.

Both were already dressed in tuxedos. The black jackets were perfectly pressed, white dress shirts immaculate, lapels crisp — everything looked exactly as it should before the charity gala. Only Aaron's bow tie was still untied.

Standing on his toes, Rick was busily working with the ribbons, tightening the knot, loosening it again, then trying once more. His fingertips trembled noticeably with fatigue, and the familiar stubborn crease sat between his brows.

Aaron stood patiently in front of him with his chin slightly raised.

Both men turned toward the sound of the door opening.

“Billy?” Rick frowned. “What's wrong?”

Hong remained rooted to the spot.

The color slowly drained from his face, replaced by complete bewilderment. His imagination was still desperately trying to reconcile what he'd heard a few seconds earlier with what he was seeing now, but the two simply refused to fit together.

“Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock?” Lake asked calmly, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly.

“S-sorry...” Billy jerked his head so quickly he nearly dropped the garment bag. “I... I just... I'm back. That's all.”

“Why aren't you changed yet?”

Billy looked down blankly at the garment bag in his hand.

“I... right now...”

“Could you please stop moving?” Rick muttered almost at the same time, turning back to the bow tie. “This is the third time I've had to start over.”

“Because every time you tighten it like you're trying to hang me,” Lake observed evenly.

“Don't exaggerate.”

“I can barely breathe.”

“You'll survive.”

Rick loosened the ribbon slightly and examined his work with a critical eye.

For reasons he couldn't explain, he frowned again.

“No... it's crooked again.”

Everything looked exactly the way it should. And yet he carefully adjusted the fabric at Aaron's collar one more time, letting his fingers linger a little longer than necessary.

Aaron watched him silently the entire time.

Under that calm, attentive gaze, Rick suddenly felt absurdly self-conscious.

He hurriedly looked away, automatically returned to the collar —
Then froze almost immediately.

There was nothing left to fix.

He realized far too late that, for the past several seconds, he'd simply been looking for an excuse not to take his hands away.

Judging by the faint smile at the corner of Lake's mouth, he'd noticed exactly what was happening.
And yet he continued waiting patiently.

“Here's... my suit...” Billy finally ventured uncertainly.

Both of them looked at him at once.

Hong shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, tightened his grip on the garment bag with both hands, and only then added quietly,

“I... just haven't had time to change yet.”

Rick finally let go of Aaron's collar and took half a step back.

For several seconds he studied Aaron in silence, his head tilted slightly, as though trying to figure out what still bothered him.

“Well... I guess...”

He was just about to leave it alone when he clicked his tongue softly.

“Wait...”

Lake let out a weary sigh.

“What now?”

“No... I don't like it. The left side is higher again.”

Before Aaron had a chance to say a word, Rick undid the knot he'd just finished tying with one quick motion.

The ribbons immediately fell loose against the front of the shirt.

“Parker...”

“Don't argue,” Rick interrupted calmly, already gathering the ribbons together again with practiced hands. “This time it'll work.”

Aaron merely exhaled softly through his nose and obediently lifted his chin again, letting Rick start from the beginning.

At that moment, Rick suddenly patted the pockets of his trousers as though he'd only just remembered something.

“Oh, right...”

He finally let go of Aaron's collar and took half a step back. Fishing his keys from his pocket, he tossed them to Billy without looking.

“You're picking Renata up, remember? Here. It's not nice to keep a girl waiting.”

Hong barely managed to catch the keys in midair. The garment bag immediately slipped from his other hand and landed softly at his feet.

Billy hurriedly bent to retrieve it. By the time he straightened again, Parker was already standing beside Lake.

Only this time, even closer.

Rick rose onto his toes almost automatically, took hold of the black ribbons once more, and began working them with such intense concentration that it looked as though not only the beginning of the charity gala but the entire investigation depended on getting the bow tie exactly right.

There was more than enough room in the office. And yet, for some reason, Rick was standing almost flush against him. So close that barely a few inches of space remained between them.

Billy's cheeks flared an even deeper red.

He quickly looked away and gripped the keys so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

“Why are you so red?” Rick asked in surprise, finally noticing him. “Thinking about Renata?”

“I... no... I mean...”

“Of course you are,” Parker said with a satisfied grin. “She's beautiful.”

Billy became even more flustered and could only nod awkwardly, no longer knowing where he was supposed to look.

“Oh...” he said hastily, latching onto the first subject that came to mind. “You got a couch.”

He looked around the office with obvious relief.

“It feels... cozier in here.”

Rick's face brightened instantly.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Although... I think there's less space now.”

Rick's smile faltered ever so slightly. Without thinking, he bit the inside of his cheek and instinctively turned toward Aaron. Aaron was already looking at him.

Not long ago, Lake had said exactly the same thing.

Warmth immediately betrayed him, flooding his face.

Rick hurriedly lowered his eyes, hiding them behind his fringe, and turned back to the collar, needlessly running his fingers over the perfectly straight knot once again.

“Well... I'd better get going, then,” Billy said uncertainly, shifting from one foot to the other. “We'll meet there?”

“Mhm,” Lake replied with a short nod.

Hong adjusted his grip on the garment bag and hurried out into the hallway.

The door closed softly behind him.

The office fell quiet once more.

They were alone again.

Outside, the rain still murmured lazily against the windows. Inside, the only sound was the faint whisper of fabric.

Only a few final adjustments remained. Carefully tighten the ribbon. Straighten the edges.
Run his fingers over the collar one last time — More out of habit than necessity.

“There,” Rick finally breathed with satisfaction, lowering his tired arms.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile all on their own.

“Really?” Aaron asked.

His voice came out unexpectedly quiet, lower than usual.

“I think... it could still use a little adjustment.”

Rick blinked in surprise and almost immediately rose onto his toes again.

“No, I think it's sitting just fine,” he frowned, studying the bow tie carefully one more time.

For several seconds he studied it in silence, as though he were genuinely trying to find something to criticize.

“Although...”

Without really knowing why, he reached cautiously toward the collar.

Intending only to smooth one edge, his fingers slipped and accidentally brushed the strip of bare skin above the collar.

For some reason, Rick's hand lingered.

His fingertips could feel the pulse beneath the warm skin, and suddenly his own body felt far too heavy, too unwilling to obey him.

Only then did he look up.

Aaron was watching him calmly.

It was that quiet composure that made Rick freeze completely.

His breathing faltered at once.

The thought came so suddenly that it almost made him flinch.

Is he... doing this on purpose?

The realization sent another wave of heat through him. He became acutely aware of his own touch. There was almost no air left between them, and the warmth radiating from Aaron was impossible to ignore.

Aaron still hadn't moved.

Parker was the first to lower his eyes.

Removing his hand turned out to be unexpectedly difficult.

His fingers lingered at the collar for another moment, absentmindedly smoothing fabric that was already perfectly straight before finally sliding away.

Rick lowered himself from his toes back onto his heels.

For some reason, he didn't want to step away.

“Well...” he muttered, trying to make his voice sound normal. “Now it's definitely perfect.”

For several seconds Aaron said nothing.

His gaze drifted subtly lower.

The loose dark strands that had escaped his careless bun shifted almost imperceptibly as Lake slowly leaned toward him.

Rick didn't even notice his own eyes dropping to Aaron's lips.

Just for a brief moment.

Then they lifted again, meeting his calm eyes...
Only to return to his lips almost immediately.

Only then did he realize just how close they were standing.

Is he really about to...

He couldn't tell whether he'd stopped breathing or whether there simply wasn't any air left.

Aaron raised a hand.

His fingertips lightly brushed Rick's shoulder, plucking a tiny white thread from the fabric of his jacket.

“It got stuck on you.”

Rick blinked.

Air rushed noisily back into his lungs.

Aaron watched him silently for another few seconds.

“What is it, Parker?” he asked quietly. “Thinking about Renata too?”

“What?” Rick let out a laugh much louder than he'd intended, then immediately started coughing.

His heart was pounding so hard he could hear the dull thud of it in his ears. His cheekbones and ears burned unpleasantly, and his uneven breathing refused to settle back into its normal rhythm.

He hurriedly lowered his eyes.

“What does Renata have to do with any of this?”

Aaron didn't answer immediately. He seemed to genuinely consider the question.

“You tell me,” he said at last, quietly.

Rick only snorted.

“Very funny. You should've become... a comedian instead of a detective.”

He absently patted the pockets of his jacket, then, for some reason, unfastened the button on his shirt cuff and immediately began turning it pointlessly between his fingers, fully aware that he simply had no idea what to do with his hands anymore.

A brief silence settled between them.

Rick had almost decided to leave it at that. But, as usual, his mouth moved faster than his brain.

“Although...” he muttered. “Who am I kidding...”

He gave a crooked smile.

“You can't joke to save your life.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly.

Rick finally looked at him again.

“You're always serious.”

He had meant to stop. He truly had. But the words escaped on their own.

“And you flirt exactly the same way.”

Somewhere outside, a door slammed shut.

The last words had left his mouth before he could stop them.

A second later, Rick finally realized what he'd just said.

Fuck... What the hell am I saying?!

He closed his eyes for just a moment, wishing he could somehow take the words back. But when he looked up again, Aaron was still watching him. With that faint smile that appeared so rarely.

He deliberately gave Rick another few seconds to fully absorb what he'd just said. Then he tilted his head ever so slightly and asked quietly,

“So... I flirt?”

He repeated the word so calmly, as though he were genuinely trying to understand where it had come from.

“But...” The corner of his mouth curved just a little more. “I haven't even started yet.”

Rick froze.