Under the Veil of Night

Kanae returned to her room and noticed that Misae had a beet red face. What happened during the time she was away?

Alice rolled on her bed and yawned before lazily telling Kanae what had happened. "She hugged Mike when the lightning appeared, so she's feeling extremely embarrassed right now."

Because the light had turned on at that point, Alice could see their expressions. The two of them were embarrassed and didn't dare look at each other after that. Mike had already returned to his room, but there was no doubt that he was also startled to have Misae hug his arm so suddenly.

Kanae laughed dryly. Neo had just teased her because she barely had any reaction to the thunder and here her best friend reacted the opposite from her. When Neo hears about it, he would surely laugh out loud.

"Let's rest. We're going to hike down tomorrow. This time, you have to hike the full way without any help from the car."

"Okay," Misae answered absentmindedly. Her mind was still thinking about what happened earlier. She was feeling so embarrassed right now that she didn't dare to look at the others.

In the end, she managed to sleep and wake up early. Just like yesterday, Kanae woke up the earliest and made some noise to wake the others. She looked towards them with dissatisfaction.

"It's already time for breakfast."

"I'm still sleepy," Misae whined. She didn't want to wake up this early. Even when she went to school, she didn't wake up this early.

Kanae rolled her eyes. "If you don't get up, we won't be able to go home. It's time for breakfast."

Begrudgingly, Misae got up from the bed, along with Alice. She was truly not a morning person. Even when she had to go to school, she woke up late and barely made it in time. Only occasionally did she wake up earlier for certain reasons.

"What is for breakfast?"

"Fried rice with egg," Kanae replied.

Alice sighed. "I'm sure that many will complain regarding the lack of variety in the food."

"Don't worry, at least it's healthy food."

The students gathered in the hall after eating. Mike called their names one by one before they departed. With this number of people, the check lasted quite long. Even so, they managed to hike down and reach the bus by lunch time. Neo had ordered lunch boxes, so they ate in the bus on their way back to school.

"During a trip like this, the Student Council is very busy," Misae commented as she finished her meal.

Kanae nodded her head. "In our school, the Student Council is given a lot of power to plan these kinds of events. The teachers don't usually interfere with what we're doing unless a lot of the students complain."

Alice swept a glance towards the students who were busy playing games with each other. A smile crept up on her face. The students were enjoying themselves very much. Even if one or two students made a complaint, the others would just nullify that with their positive feedback.

"The biggest complaint might be the food," Alice pointed at the food box. "They're all ordered."

"Do you want us to cook the food?"

Hearing Kanae's speechless tone, Alice and Misae quickly shook their heads. If the Student Council decided to hold an event of having students cook, they would pray from the bottom of their hearts that Kanae was not in the same group as them.

With Kanae's ability in cooking, they had no doubt that this girl

might turn perfectly fine food into poison.

"Why do I feel you two are thinking something rude," Kanae rolled her eyes. Their unwilling expressions made her feel both annoyed and amused.

Alice smiled wryly. "Don't worry. It's nothing."

"Yep, it's nothing," Misae added with a smile on her face.

The three of them talked with each other before Neo interrupted them.

"The journey will take longer because there's a traffic jam. You might want to nap," Neo informed them while playing with his laptop.

Kanae peered towards the laptop curiously. "What about you?"

"Boss gave me a lot of assignments to do. Our company is not doing too well without someone managing it," Neo grinned.

"I see."

After talking a bit, Kanae sat down properly. Neo was sitting in front of her, so she kind of had to stand during the time she talked with him. When she looked to her side, she realized that Kevin was sleeping.

Kanae stared at the man's face a bit longer. This was the first time she saw his sleeping face. Even in the company, he would sleep later and wake up earlier than her. Now that he was sleeping beside her, she finally realized how handsome he was. His head was tilted to the side a bit, showing his side profile clearly. With his eyes closed, he looked harmless and not as domineering as usual.

A smile made its way towards her face. She unconsciously raised her hand slightly but in the next moment, she lowered it again. Her face turned slightly red. She could not believe that she wanted to touch his face just now.

'I better get some sleep.'

Kanae closed her eyes as she tried her best to not think too much. It would be better if she didn't try to look at Kevin again. Lately, she found him to be more attractive than usual.

"The two of them fell asleep," Tommy peered behind him. He was sitting beside Neo and coincidentally looked back.

Neo frowned and looked to his back. His eyes widened in surprise. Kanae fell asleep, and her head rested on Kevin's shoulder. Well, to be more correct, it was his upper arm because of their difference in height.

"Boss…"

Kevin opened his eyes slowly. His eyes held a complicated gaze and there was a trace of displeasure from being disturbed. Apparently, he was enjoying having Kanae sleep on his shoulder.

"Is there anything you want to say, Neo?" his tone was rather cold.

Neo's eyes landed on Kanae. Usually, Kevin would avoid any kind of contact with other people. No one dared to get close to this cold and expressionless clan head. However, it was always different with Kanae. He allowed her to stay by his side and lean against him.

"You should sleep some, Boss."

"I'll sleep later," Kevin answered evenly. His eyes looked towards Kanae for a moment. In truth, there was no way he could fall asleep right now. She was resting on the side of his shoulder, and he could see her facial expression all too clearly.

He averted his eyes and closed them again. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he couldn't lie to himself anymore. His feelings continued to grow, and he wanted nothing more than caressing her right now. He had to exert every fiber of his consciousness to make sure he didn't do anything inappropriate.

In front of him, Neo looked at the two of them for a few more seconds. He had realized that Kevin treated Kanae very well. Since Kevin always appreciated capable people, he thought that that was all. However, he showed much more than appreciation and admiration to her.

From curiosity, patience, comfort, concern, care, worry, and finally tenderness; he showed all of this to her. It became more obvious as time passed. Neo's gaze sharpened. If this continued, Kevin would soon surely show traces of jealousy and love too.

He couldn't let this continue. Kevin shouldn't try to have a relationship with girls outside the clans. That was the biggest taboo for the direct lineage of a clan.

On the other side, Mike was also looking towards Kevin. Different from Neo, he knew very well what Kevin was feeling. Getting used to a person that slowly intruded into his life made him feel comfortable around that person. Sometimes, that feeling might grow into something much more.

He lowered his gaze. Could someone from the clans like him pursue his own happiness? He didn't know, but he wanted to try.

Time passed as most students fell asleep. The events that Kevin arranged made them use up a lot of their physical strength.. This shall be a trip they remember for a long time afterwards in their life.