However, making all his thoughts meaningless, Bernard failed to find Rubens at the hotel. That alone would have been fine, but the problem was that Elliot was nowhere to be seen either. Loud music echoed through the hall. At the party venue lined with champagne and all kinds of alcohol, students freely drank and stuffed finger foods into their mouths.
It wasn’t a refined gathering. Mostly those who came with partners shook champagne bottles and popped them open, and scream-like laughter could be heard here and there. Of course, there were also those who quietly enjoyed dancing as originally intended, but…
It was actually fortunate. If Rubens didn’t come here, there would be no chance of running into Elliot, so nothing would happen. His insides felt like they were boiling. Many worries burst like bubbles.
He hoped that a situation where the two accidentally met and discussed that night would never occur. He didn’t want to be caught having received Rubens’s help when he pretended to be Elliot. On the other hand, he was confused because he himself didn’t know why he wanted to keep it secret.
Just as his insides were darkly sinking, there was a voice that suddenly broke through his thoughts.
“Oh, look who it is.”
“…Hi, Ben. Congratulations on graduating. I’ll be going now.”
When Bernard awkwardly greeted him and tried to leave, the other person roughly shot back.
“Where are you going? Chris isn’t here, so you’re trying to slip away like a fish?”
Rough laughter flowed down from all sides surrounding Bernard. Even in the noisy party music, their voices were clearly audible. While searching for Elliot, he had inadvertently run into troublesome people.
“Look at this. He dressed up for the graduation party despite his place.”
“Maybe we should pour him some congratulatory champagne. Who did he bring as a partner?”
“As if he brought anyone. Would you want to partner with a gloomy nerd?”
“Aha, what can you expect from a bastard who can’t do anything without Elliot?”
Sneering voices rang out loudly. People’s gazes repeatedly focused on Bernard and then scattered. There was malice in the actions of patting his shoulders. Bernard felt goosebumps rising and forced himself to smile. If he didn’t smile, he would surely be slapped. It had been that way many times, and because he was dreadfully accustomed to it, Bernard hunched his shoulders and carefully stepped back.
“It’s more fun to watch when Chris is here… What are you doing? Drink.”
The glass held out was suspicious, but Bernard had no right to refuse. The alcohol filled to the brim of the glass burned his esophagus. When he instinctively grimaced at the sharp rising alcohol smell, one of them lightly pushed Bernard’s forehead with their index finger.
“Look at that expression?”
“Why so pitiful? Let’s go easy on him today. He graduated. Hey. You won’t say nonsense to Elliot, right?”
Another burst of cackling laughter erupted. Amy, Ben, Leo, Emma… They were Elliot’s friends. They hung out intimately with Elliot and also openly displayed overwhelming favoritism toward Elliot. And as much as that, they detested Bernard.
Bernard was always Elliot’s blemish. Perfect and good-natured Elliot and gloomy and cowering Bernard. Though they were twins, the completely different atmospheres of the two were like sunny and shady spots divided from birth, so people easily took interest in Bernard and easily became disappointed. And disappointment usually transformed into sneering and mockery.
“You must be happy to graduate, Bernard. Have you looked into places to work?”
“Yeah. I’m going to… help my father with his work.”
“Oh my, Mr. Weil must have a lot of worries.”
“That’s…”
Bernard’s words trailed off in a stammer.
“You’re still just following Elliot’s tail, right? Even the contract you landed last time was mostly Elliot’s achievement, and I heard that’s why Mr. Weil is all smiles. Be good to Elliot. Elliot always covers for this pathetic bastard…”
Ben, who had sharply mocked Bernard, shrugged his shoulders.
“It would be better for Elliot if this bastard didn’t exist. Because this bastard always follows him around and interferes, Elliot always goes home in the middle of parties.”
“Exactly! Every time it’s about to get fun… Elliot says it’s because this moron worries about him, but if you’re worried, just watch quietly.”
“You’re going to ruin things today too, right?”
When Leo repeatedly hit Bernard’s shoulder and pressured him, Bernard’s shoulders shrank again.
“It’s not ruining things… I’m just worried about Elliot’s health… that’s all.”
“Don’t say boring things. I knew you’d say that again.”
“What are you doing? I said drink.”
Normally, Elliot should have been with them, but Elliot was still nowhere to be seen. Bernard couldn’t refuse the glasses of alcohol continuously thrust at him and meekly received and drank them.
Refusal was difficult. It was because he had physically experienced over a long time how harsh the consequences would be if he refused. Bernard cowered and hunched his shoulders. Elliot’s friends generally had impressive backgrounds, and compared to them, he was an existence no different from an ant. He could only always bow his head to their bullying every time. He didn’t want to see Elliot sad after learning the truth. Therefore, concealment was always easy. At least when Rhino was around, he could avoid the bullying, but now there wasn’t even Rhino to stop them.
“When is Elliot coming and with whom?”
“Isn’t that something you should know?”
A roar of mocking laughter burst out. When he became certain he wouldn’t run into Rubens, he thought he’d come for nothing. Under the pretext of light pats, they continuously struck Bernard’s shoulders and back, and each time, Bernard swallowed his groans and emptied his glass again. His insides were hot as if burning.
“Hahaha, this bastard must be drunk already after a few glasses.”
“Then just dump him in any room. Elliot said he’s coming soon too.”
“But who’s he coming with?”
“Isn’t it Angelica?”
“If we get rid of the troublemaker bastard, Elliot can play without worrying about curfew and such.”
“Exactly! I was tired of hearing him say he has to go because of Bernard every time.”
No. He didn’t know if he’d said those words out loud. Bernard’s eyes blinked slowly. Their voices repeatedly came closer and moved away. The party noise was too loud, and his vision was dizzy. Someone roughly pulled Bernard’s body. When he staggered along following them, unfamiliar laughter burst out sharply.
It kept feeling like the floor was suddenly sinking. Bernard staggered into the elevator and enjoyed the feeling of being crushed in the various noises. It was a terrible sensation.
Following that, the unpleasant feeling of his body being thrown like trash. The feeling of sinking into something with a thud. Sharp laughter and flashing lights like something exploding. Then blackout. And silence, and silence again, silence…
No, Elliot. I need to check on Elliot. Such thoughts spread messily.
When Bernard opened his eyes again, he was in a dark room. Along with the sensation of his throat burning, his head ached sharply. Unable to distinguish what was happening, he reflexively fumbled around. He tried to find his phone but only felt a strange bulkiness.
“…I don’t think I called for a call girl.”
A strange voice came from a place so dark that no lights were on, and then weight was added to the bed. Bernard felt his drunkenness clear a bit from bewilderment and raised his upper body.
“Ugh…”
A hangover rushed in and his head hurt.
“I was in this room first… Who are you?”
Bernard’s voice trembled miserably. But the other person, unconcerned, buried himself further into the bed and mumbled. He couldn’t hear what was said well. He fumblingly examined the other person, but unable to tell who it was, tried to turn on the light, but the hand that grabbed his wrist was faster.
“I.”
Bernard momentarily felt he had heard this voice in his memory.
“Didn’t tell you to leave.”
There was a voice in his memory that concluded clearly. However, because he had never imagined he would hear that voice this close, he couldn’t recall it quickly. Just moments ago, he was trying to leave the room, but now that he knew who the other person was, the story changed.
Strangely, Bernard felt a subtle sense of relief. Rubens Hurt. If this man was here now, he might not have run into Elliot. His fingertips trembled finely. He couldn’t quite bring himself to caress his face. With his wrist caught, sitting awkwardly on the bed, unable to do this or that, Rubens pulled him. The force was weak enough to shake off, but Bernard couldn’t do so.
“Smell of alcohol.”
Rubens’s voice was tinged with wet laughter. It was difficult to distinguish whose the terribly strong alcohol smell belonged to.
Blinking only his eyes in the dark room, he cautiously reached out and swept back Rubens’s hair. Though his trembling hand was pitiful, it wouldn’t be visible to this man because of the darkness. The impulse to turn on the light and the thought that he shouldn’t turn it on came simultaneously.
It’s a mess. The neatly swept-back hair was disheveled, crushed against the pillow. While pushing the disheveled hair behind his ear, he smelled an unfamiliar scent. His last memory was only of being led by Elliot’s friends and sprawled out as if abandoned. He vaguely remembered that it was too hot in between, and so he squirmed about taking off his jacket, but after that, it was complete darkness.
Why was this man here in this state? Just how much time had passed, and how much had he drunk? Could this possibly be a dream?
“Will you undress yourself, or should I undress you?”
Rather harsh words poured out. Due to being drunk, only his tone had softened somewhat, but Rubens’s words weren’t kind. His high-handed and mocking speech was as if treating a call girl.
“If you’re doing this kind of work because you’re desperate for money, you can just take my wallet and leave.”
The man’s pronunciation was slurred. Bernard bit his lips firmly. He realized what kind of treatment he was receiving, but couldn’t easily refute it. A proper person would have gotten angry or explained here. But Bernard couldn’t spit out even a single word and was looking down at the man. What expression was he making in the darkness? What kind of face was he looking at him with?
“Do you… not recognize me today?”
As if imitating Elliot, he deliberately recited lightly and fumbled at his closed eyes. Soon, his gaze met with blue eyes. Even in the darkness, the man’s eyes were bright. Bernard felt his heart was beating too loudly. He was afraid that the sound echoing even to his ears might be heard by that man.
“…Aha.”
A laugh-tinged exclamation scattered. Rubens grabbed and pulled Bernard’s nape. There was no consideration in the hand that firmly grasped him, and Bernard stiffly met his gaze up close.
“We meet again, Elliot Weil. It was you.”
Bernard had to bite his lips once more. Otherwise, it felt like nonsense would flow out at any moment.
