Sebastian balled his fists in rage. 

No one, absolutely no one, has ever tested his patience the way Zeno did. Everyone obeyed his words before he even said them. But, this dumbass down the stairs has proved to be stubborn by trying to refute him in every way.

"Are you disobeying me?" Sebastian asked in a deathly tone.

Zeno felt the chill from Sebastian's voice and he immediately knew that it wasn't a wise choice to test his patience. He would just have to follow him with caution.

"No, boss," He replied and immediately climbed up the stairs, but he was surprised to find Sebastian still standing in place, not moving forward.

He decided to stop one stair away from his boss and wait for him to continue walking so he would follow, but, without warning, he was dragged up the stairs by the collar, his back slamming into the wall.

"Ugh!" Zeno groaned, wincing as he felt his diaphragm collide with the strong wall.

Sebastian held Zeno tightly by his shirt as he stared squarely into Zeno's blue eyes.

"Who's the boss around here?" Sebastian asked menacingly.

"You," Zeno choked out.

"Keep that in mind, before something bad happens to your grandma," Sebastian warned darkly.

Zeno's eyes widened the moment he heard Sebastian mention his Nana; he quickly nodded his head in agreement; there was no room for misbehaving when it came to his Nana.

"Words, Zeno, I need your words," Sebastian brought his face close to Zeno's face.

For the first time, Zeno noticed how spotless his boss's skin was, too bad his character was nothing like his skin. He risked looking up into his eyes and suddenly realized that he had allowed himself to get carried away.

Sebastian was looking down at him angrily, and Zeno realized that he had wasted time in replying to him.

"Yes, boss, I understand," Zeno replied.

"Good," Sebastian pushed Zeno away from him and continued walking along the long hallway.

Zeno quietly followed and subtly let his eye wander around the new area. It was just a long hallway with a lot of electronic doors facing each other.

Sebastian suddenly stopped in front of a door by the right side at the end of the hallway.

Zeno remained silent, waiting for an order to be issued.

"From now on, this is your room," Sebastian said, stepping away from the door to let Zeno through.

"My room?" Zeno asked with a slight frown.

Didn't he already have a room downstairs? The one beside Ken's room? What was this all about?

"From today, I am your primary concern, you have to be accessible to me anytime, anywhere," Sebastian relaxed against the wall and put his hands into the pockets of his black pants.

Zeno wasn't understanding anything his boss was saying, wasn't Ken his primary concern? Why the hell does he have to deal with him now?

"Um, I think I'll stick to the room downsta-"

"Move," Sebastian walked over to Zeno and forced him to stand directly in front of the door.

As Zeno looked at the door, he immediately noticed the biometric fingerprint-controlled lock on the door.

"Place your thumb three times on the lock, Zeno," Sebastian said behind Zeno's neck, his breath fanning Zeno's neck, which left Zeno feeling weird, weird, but...

"Zeno?" Sebastian called when Zeno didn't move on his command.

"Ah, yes sir," Zeno replied and quickly registered his fingerprint on the third press of his thumb.

"Hello, Zeno, welcome to your new room," Siri's voice notified.

Sebastian noticed how Zeno's ears were turning red from behind, he scoffed as he thought that Zeno might have developed a fever from what happened yesterday.

"Enter," Sebastian said coldly.

Zeno slowly entered the room and was shocked by what he saw. He was almost tempted to think that his boss liked him for giving him this kind of room.

This was literally heaven on earth. A king-sized bed, a comfy grey couch in the corner, a giant television, a PlayStation, a small bar, a walk-in closet, and a workspace demarcated from the room by transparent cotton material.

"Don't get carried away, you won't get to use any of these, except the bed, of course," Sebastian walked dominantly into the room and sat on the couch, elegantly crossing his legs.

"You're here for work and work alone. Do not indulge yourself with anything in this room," Sebastian pointed to a transparent glass door by the far right of the room.

"Except for the bathroom and the bed. Everything else is out of bounds for you, you don't deserve them," Sebastian said degradingly.

He was mocking Zeno for thinking he could actually have access to everything in his house, and he was more than willing to take him down the peg to where he belonged.

Zeno didn't know when he let a scoff through his lips, he instantly gritted his teeth in regret, hoping Sebastian didn't hear it.

He wondered why Sebastian had so much hatred for him, or had he somehow offended him without knowing. All his life, he hadn't seen someone so bitter before. 

"Yes, sir, Understood," Zeno nodded his head and turned to walk away.

That was a mistake.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sebastian was behind Zeno in a matter of seconds.

He speedily dragged Zeno into the room and threw him against the bed, causing him to fall face-first on it.

"Now, let's make something very clear, Zeno," Sebastian's voice sounded dangerously close behind Zeno's ear as he spoke menacingly above Zeno, caging him between his hands from behind as he sprawled on the bed on his tummy.

Zeno found the situation very humiliating, his hands were spread above his head, and Sebastian had his legs better than his lower waist, caging him like a criminal who was under arrest.

"I tell you when to move, when to eat, when to fucking sleep! Because I fucking own you!" Sebastian punched the area that was very close to Zeno's face.

Zeno gritted his teeth in anger; he was starting to lose his composure with the constant disrespect he got from Sebastian; he balled his fists to tame his anger.

"You will have to behave if you want your grandma to live," Sebastian whispered into Zeno's ears.

"Uh," Zeno didn't know when a weird sound left his lips, as he felt Sebastian's breath hit the shell of his ear. It was his sensitive area.

"Um, I mean, yes sir," Zeno cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up whatever that was.

Sebastian was glad that Zeno was lying with his face on the bed because he wouldn't have known how to explain the instant change in his facial expression the moment he heard that sound from Zeno.

What was it supposed to mean?

He quickly lifted himself off Zeno's back, his heart rate a little faster than normal.

"Can I stand up, sir?" Zeno asked still lying on the bed.

He's just been told never to move if not asked to, he didn't want to disobey an order shortly after receiving it.

Sebastian stared hard at Zeno for some time before storming out of the room, slamming the door as he left.

Zeno took that as a yes and stood from the bed.

He slowly walked to the large mirror on the wall and stared at his face, slowly raising his hands to his cheeks.

Why were they red? And what was it back there?

"It was nothing," He nodded to himself in the mirror.

It had to be nothing.

So, what was he to do now as his boss suddenly disappeared? Maybe he's gone to deal with one of his underworld shit.

Zeno sighed, "Was I even permitted to use the mirror?" He chuckled bitterly and walked out of the room.

He walked down the stairs to find Butler Nicole waiting patiently at the foot of the stairs.

"Zeno, the boss is waiting outside you," Butler Nicole informed.

"Um, okay," Zeno replied and went to walk past him, but for the first time, Butler Nicole initiated body contact with him by holding his arm as he passed him.

"Zeno?" Butler Nicole called in his usual collected tone.

"Yes?" Zeno raised a questioning brow at him.

"I took Ken to school," Butler Nicole informed.

"I figured," Zeno replied with a shrug. 

Since Ken was no longer home, it could only be him that could have sent him to school.

"He's not a bad person," Butler Nicole said.

"Of course, Ken's a sweet little-" 

"I meant Sebastian," Butler Nicole said in a direct tone.

That was the first time Zeno heard him call him by his name.

"Oh?" Zeno was confused as to why the butler was telling him this. He didn't give a shit about the kind of person Sebastian was.

He hated him. Period.

"He just needs patience, Zeno," Butler Nicole said softly.

"Um, I don't want to get in trouble with him, he's not too patient with me when he's angry. Sorry, I got to go," Zeno said and slowly eased his hand out of the butler's hand. Walking out of the house.

Butler Nicole sighed as he watched Zeno walk away. He hoped Zeno was the right choice as Mr. Orion had told him.

He did pity the boy; he'd just lost his parents, his grandma was in a coma, and he'd been suddenly kidnapped and blackmailed into working for a ruthless underworld king.

He had wanted to help him take care of Ken that morning because he knew how bad his condition was, but Zeno surprised him when suddenly appeared in Ken's room to resume his work.

He knew Zeno was a strong boy, and he wished he'd have some patience for their boss.

Zeno stepped out of the house and couldn't believe his eyes. A black 2024 Maybach V12 Haute Voiture was parked in front of the house, the engine noiselessly running.

He fell in love with the car immediately. He took cautious steps towards the car, raising his hand to the tinted back door window but suddenly stepped back as the window was slowly winding down to reveal Sebastian's stoic face.

"Get in and drive," Sebastian commanded.