"Someone's starting to love this place," Cody pretended to talk to himself as they were leaving the gym.

Zeno ignored him, knowing he was the one Cody was talking about. 

But, to be fair, he did enjoy his time at the Arboretum. That could be the only thing he's ever liked about this place.

"Not going to admit, huh?" Cody came and blocked Zeno's path with his arms stretched, raising his brows at him.

"Move, Cody," Zeno looked down at Cody's stubborn figure.

"Wow, he knows my name," Cody mused. He was happy he finally got Zeno to talk to him. 

He understood how Zeno felt being forced to stay here against his wish, he was only trying to make his stay here fun in the littlest way possible.

"Stop nagging him, Cody. You're not a pussy," Ida said with a straight face as he came and pushed Cody out of the way.

"Hey! That was rude!" Cody whined as Ida dragged him away from Zeno.

"Hey, how's your shoulder, I saw your left hand was weaker than your right, so I guessed something was wrong," Jasper asked as he came and started walking alongside Zeno.

Zeno scoffed and wanted to tell him that their boss was the cause of all his injuries, but, instead, he simply shook his head and said, "Nothing serious."

He knew Jasper was loyal to the boss, so, bad-mouthing him before Jasper seemed like a bad idea, he'd be shooting himself in the foot.

They were heading to the cafeteria for lunch, and Zeno decided to join them since he wasn't sure if he was allowed to eat from Sebastian's kitchen.

Zeno walked through the door and was surprised to find small Booths instead of the long tables and benches that were normally seen in cafeterias.

He wondered why Sebastian was trying his best to provide his bodyguards with as much luxury and comfort as possible.

On the other hand, he thought maybe it wasn't a luxury for Sebastian; he was rich, and this might just be a below-average lifestyle for him. But for Zeno, it was already screaming expensive to him.

"Sit with us?" Jasper asked as they entered the cafeteria.

Zeno thought for a while and nodded. Seating alone would attract others to talk to him, and he wasn't in the mood to get familiar with more people, he was already overwhelmed by these three beside him.

"This way," Jasper pointed to the last booth at the corner.

"I'll take the inner spot," Cody said and rushed towards the booth to sit down.

"Don't worry about him, he's just been released from the asylum," Ida said seriously, then walked off to sit beside Cody.

"Come on, let's go sit down," Jasper said.

Zeno could still feel the curious eyes of some people on him as he walked behind  Jasper. He knew everyone was curious and suspicious of him, but he cared less. They could think whatever they wanted.

"What do you want to eat?" Jasper asked as he took his seat beside Zeno.

Zeno was confused about something for a second. He looked around and couldn't find any food display in the cafeteria.

"You won't find it. We order," Cody said and picked up a card from the table, scanned the code on the card, and turned his phone to Zeno, showing him the food menu that was displayed on his screen.

"Oh, okay," Zeno nodded.

Sebastian could have just made it known to the world that he owned a five-star restaurant in his home instead of disguising it as his guards' cafeteria.

"I'll order for everyone," Cody announced and tapped away on his phone.

"Uh, I can-" 

"You can't; you're phone died long ago here. Sorry, I haven't returned it," Jasper brought out Zeno's phone from the pocket of his sweatpants, placing it on the table, in front of Zeno.

Zeno took a second to register what was happening. He's been so occupied with Sebastian and his troubles that he had forgotten about his phone which was taken from him when they had beat and accused him of being a spy.

"Thanks," Zeno said and took his phone, pocketing it.

Jasper nodded, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Ah, our food is here!" Cody said excitedly, almost bouncing off the chair.

Zeno was awed. If this was a restaurant, he'll be leaving them with a five-star and a dashing review, cause Damn! They're more efficient than the restaurants out there.

"Thanks, Dianne," Cody said as the short Asian girl with bulb hair placed their food in front of them from the serving rack.

"Enjoy your meal, guys," Dianne said and pushed the serving rack to the next table.

"Sure will, Dianne," Ida said with a smile.

"Like your order?" Cody asked Zeno, already forking meatballs into his mouth.

"Yeah, thanks," Zeno looked down at his pasta with chicken breasts, it looked delicious, but even if it didn't, he would still have eaten it because he was starved.

"I always make the best choices when it comes to food," Cody said proudly.

"Yeah, right," Ida scoffed.

Cody rolled his eyes at Ida and kept eating his food.

Jasper turned to say something to Zeno, but the food particle by the side of Zeno's lips caught his eye, "You've got something... Gone," Jasper said, licking his thumb.

*CLINK*

Cody's fork fell loudly onto his plate, his meatball falling out of his opened mouth and his eyes widened to their greatest lengths.

Cody's reaction didn't help with Zeno's confused mind at all. Zeno's hand that was taking food to his mouth froze mid-air, and his brain, too.

"Um, thanks," Zeno cleared his throat, "But you didn't have to, I could have just used the napkin," Zeno said, drinking his glass of water to hide his disgust and embarrassment.

Why would a guy act that way with another guy? His mind immediately went back to the incident that took place in his room, instantly pausing his discrimination and judgment toward Jasper.

"My fingers work better," Jasper casually replied and kept eating his food like what he said was just some random thing to say.

"Oh shit, he's fast," Cody turned robotically towards Ida.

"Shut up and eat Cody," Ida said, not sparing him a glance.

Zeno felt speechless, even if he wanted to pretend he wasn't aware of what Jasper was getting at, he was definitely aware after hearing his response.

But, why was he feeling repulsed?

After eating with the other guards, Zeno exchanged contact with his new acquaintances. Jasper had an unreadable expression on his face when he asked for Zeno's number, but as a guy who's dealt with many girls, he knew what that expression meant, but he only hoped he was wrong.

He bid them goodbye and headed back to the mansion.

He prayed he wouldn't have to meet Sebastian, he didn't want to be reminded of what had happened between them a few hours ago.

It was already late in the evening, and he wondered if he'd be able to catch enough sleep before tomorrow.

He climbed the stairs to his room but was surprised to see the door open.

He hastened his steps to see what could be happening inside his room, and reaching his door, he saw Sebastian sitting on the edge of his bed, holding something in his hand.

His heart skipped a beat for two reasons; first, Sebastian. Second, the thing in his hand.

He slowly walked in, wondering what Sebastian would be doing in his room by that time of the day, but, with that thing in his hand, he understood the matter at hand.

"Sit," Sebastian commanded, tapping the space beside him on the bed.

Zeno sighed and walked over to him. He knew he just had to obey at that moment; even though he wasn't guilty, Sebastian would still think he was because he didn't know the whole story, and trying to be defensive with him right now would only make things worse.

Zeno lowered himself beside Sebastian, leaving some reasonable space between them, his eyes glued to the object in Sebastian's hand.

"What's this?" Sebastian asked, his tone brewing anger.

He had called Butler Nicole into Zeno's room and asked him to pack Zeno's things up to his new room when he suddenly saw something fall from the clothes Butler Nicole was folding.

He almost believed Zeno was innocent from the last incident, but this? He wasn't taking this lightly. Seems like he's been too lenient with Zeno for the sake of his son, from now on, he'll let him see how he treated unfaithful subordinates.

"I know you're not going to believe it when I tell you that I don't have anything to do with it," Zeno sighed.

He felt conflicted, not because he had a crush on Florence, but because she was his cousin, he didn't want to risk putting her into trouble with her cousin by exposing her.

But he felt foolish, how could he not know when she put that tracker in his pocket? He felt used and stupid.

"Sure, I believe you," Sebastian scoffed, holding the object up.

"How would you know anything about it, Zeno, you don't even know where it came from, right?" Sebastian asked, his tone dangerous but his features looked as calm as still water.

Zeno knew better than to think Sebastian was honestly supporting him. He had to look for a way to make him believe him.

"I-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt. Zeno, your new room is ready," Butler Nicole announced in front of the door and left.

Room? Ready? 

That's when his mind recalled that he's been transferred to the room upstairs. Zeno looked around his room and discovered that his things had been all packed out. He wondered when they did it, and without his consent too, seems like human rights weren't regarded in this house.

But he wasn't going to say a word about that, he had a more pressing issue at hand, or... In Sebastian's hand.

"How about someone pays a visit to your grandma, Zeno?" Sebastian asked quietly.

He didn't make threats, nor did he play games; if someone threatened his family, he returned the favor double folds.

"No!" Zeno said firmly.

"Please, don't. About this tracker, I was set up, just like the last time. I'm not working against you for someone," Zeno pleaded.

"I can't be that stupid when I know my Nana's life is in the hands of your family," Zeno said tiredly.

If it was anything concerning his Nana, he would never put up a fight. What he said was the truth; his Nana's life was literally in the hands of the Orion family, and, any little dissatisfaction would lead to dangerous consequences.

"You expect me to believe you, Zeno?" Sebastian stood, his tall figure towering over Zeno.

He looked down at Zeno and the images of Zeno in his towel flashed through his eyes. He clenched his fists in anger, this wasn't the best time to think about such thing, in fact, there isn't any best time to think about it, he shouldn't be thinking about it at all!

"No. I don't expect you to believe me, I'm only telling you the truth. After all, you're the boss..." Zeno said, running his hand through his hair.

"Good, we'll talk about this when you return from the mission," Sebastian said in a dismissive tone.

Zeno stood, walked halfway to the door, and paused, "I'm ready to take any punishment, Boss, just leave my Nana out of all these," 

Sebastian watched Zeno's back as he left the room, he kept asking himself why he was letting Zeno go without punishing him.

He remembered the shreds of glass that was lying on the floor of his room which he had shattered when he was trying figure out why he did what he did earlier in that same room.

Was he starting to grow soft on Zeno just because of a meaningless kiss? 

That couldn't be. He was as straight as a meter rule, Ken is the evidence of that, but then, what was this thing with Zeno?