(Arc 1 : The Raven and the dragon)

"Hao Ming?"  Ashlay called his friend.

Everyone noticed Hao Ming's sudden stop when he arrived. Gwenval's gaze was switching back and forth between the newcomer and Kaelan. The young gifted man's eyes were fixed on the painter as if he'd just seen an apparition. . Ashlay noticed it too.

"Hao Ming?" 

Ashlay called his friend a second time, raising his voice slightly.

"Yes?" Hao Ming finally came to reality.

"Are you all right, Mr. Bai?" Secretary Shin asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. Let's get started."

The young man again encouraged Secretary Shin and Ashlay to start the meeting.

The atmosphere slowly became serious again. Kaelan stood up and introduced himself to Hao Ming with a broad smile.

"My name is Monroe Kaelan. I'm the main artist of the exhibition and a close friend of Gwenval. I'm very happy to work with you."

Hao Ming, who was about to sit down, straightened up. He was suspicious of Kaelan. He took out his business card and handed it to him.

"Bai Hao Ming. CEO of Jade Shielding. My company has been responsible for the hotel's security for some time now." 

Hao Ming found it difficult not to stare at Kaelan.

Since everything had been prepared very quickly, neither Ashlay nor Hao Ming had taken the time to see what Kaelan really looks like, hence their surprise... Gwenval had only shown them some of his friend's work to see if it fit in with the hotel's ethics. To tell the truth, Hao Ming hadn't followed up at that time and had remained focused on other things. He wasn't interested in knowing what kind of exhibition would be held, with what kind of artist. Only Shin Ha Ri, a great art lover, knew the painter.

After a short silence, the meeting finally began.

"In view of the time available, we limited the areas to which the guests would have access to two zones of the hotel..."Secretary Shin began.

Everyone was focused during the presentation. But there were moments when Hao Ming couldn't stop looking at Kaelan. He kept thinking about last night. Was his meeting with the artist really a coincidence?

An hour later, the presentation ended. The group continued to discuss the various points that needed to be resolved. Then, Secretary Shin returned to various tasks while the rest of the group went to the room where the paintings would be displayed.

"What have you done with Bai Hao Ming? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't know him at the beginning of the week." Gwenval asked his friend.

"I'll tell you everything later."

Almost all the paintings were unpacked and placed. At first glance, a recurring theme ran through Kaelan's work: the sky. Fairy tale skies, birds, clouds... Looking at some of the works, many people had the feeling of a light breeze caressing their face, while others had the feeling of flying.

"Ah, don't put that there!"

Kaelan walked over to some employees who were handling one of his paintings. He gently explained how to arrange it.

Meanwhile, Ashlay took Hao Ming aside and isolated himself with him.

"What's wrong with Monroe?"

"It's not that important. We'll talk about it later." Hao Ming dodged.

"Hey, Hao Ming, are you really going to keep me in the dark? It's written all over your face that something clearly happened between you." Ashlay insisted, eager to hear an interesting story from his friend.

Seeing his friend's burning gaze, Hao Ming sighed and decided to answer.

"Don't look at me like that. It's nothing interesting. After helping Choi hyung with a problem last night, I ran into Altaha's friend, who was completely drunk. I rented a hotel room for him so he could rest."

"I didn't know you were so considerate, Hao Ming. That's so kind of you." Ashlay said ironically.

"I only helped him because he looked unwell and wouldn't let me go. That's all. I didn't want to take him home either.""

"And nothing happened?"

"It would be a lie to say he didn't attract attention." Hao Ming explained, looking at Kaelan... "But..."

"But..."

"Nothing happened... Since he looked really unwell, I stayed with him all night, just in case. Before you get any ideas, no, we didn't sleep together. This morning he left without saying a word, and I didn't think I'd see him again. I'd already moved on. So I was surprised to see you here. That's all there is to it."

Hao Ming wasn't sure what to think of his encounter with Kaelan. It seemed too big to be a mere coincidence. He had the unpleasant feeling that he'd been played.

On the artists' side, Gwenval had also heard his friend's version of last night's events. He massaged the bridge of his nose, eyes closed and eyebrows frowned.

"You really couldn't control yourself, Kae..." He reproached and adjusted his glasses.

"He and Nienrao are good friends. If you end up dating Nienrao, you'll probably see Bai a lot. At the club, I took the opportunity to see if he was a good person or not." Kaelan explained.

"I understand the intention, but you could have just sat down and chatted with him, you know?"

"No." The artist shook his head as he laid out a canvas. "I watched him from a distance. If I'd approached him in any way for a chat, he would have refused. His posture clearly indicated that he was uncomfortable and wanted to leave as soon as possible. Besides, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that he didn't know me yet."

"You're the one who will get into trouble one day, not me."

"Ah yes! I've also discovered something very interesting."

Kaelan approached his friend and whispered in his ear. Gwenval was quite surprised by the information.

"Can we call this a "twist of fate"?..." Gwenval looked in Hao Ming's direction.

Ashlay tapped his friend on the shoulder to indicate that they should join the other duo. Kaelan remained a mystery to the two friends. They had no idea what to expect from him.

Gwenval knew his friend well. Kaelan wanted to make sure, in his own way, that the musician's entourage of suitors was safe. But even if the painter toyed with them a bit, Ashlay was unaware that a far less friendly obstacle awaited him if he really wanted to go out with Gwenval.

Throughout the day, everyone was busy with various tasks. Ashlay took care of his obligations to the hotel, Hao Ming supervised security, Kaelan set up his paintings and reflected on his performance with Gwenval's help.

By half past six, everyone had more or less done what they had to do. Ashlay, on his way back to the hall, accidentally caught Gwenval on the phone.

"[....] Next week? [....] I think I'll be free. [I saw the news, how are you doing? [....] Of course I'm worried. [....] Me? Everything's fine. A musician's routine..."

Although he was lying to them, Gwenval spoke to the person on the other end of the line with great respect at times, and very friendly at others. Ashlay was curious, but didn't want to disturb him either, so he took another way back to the hotel lobby.

Later, Gwenval returned and told him that he was going home.

"Kae, aren't you going home?"

"Not yet.I want to finish some installations before I leave."

"Well, then..."

Gwenval greeted his friend and left with Ashlay. Two hours later Kaelan finally stopped. He sat on the ground and closed his eyes. Beads of sweat slid down his face to his chest. Suddenly, he felt a gentle coolness on his fingertips and opened his eyes.

Hao Ming was standing next to him, holding a cup of iced tea.

"Are you still here?" Kaelan asked rhetorically.

"I just finished updating the hotel's computer system... Here, this is for you. It's a peach flavour." Hao Ming handed the iced tea to Kaelan.

Kaelan looked at the young man in front of him, surprised by the attention. Finally he accepted and thanked him. Hao Ming then sat down beside Kaelan. There was no one else in the room. A long silence followed. Hao Ming looked at the paintings while Kaelan looked at him.

"Even if it's a cover to catch a criminal, you've gone to a lot of trouble." Hao Ming noted.

"I don't like to do things halfway..." He took a sip of the iced tea... "Was it your first kiss?" He took more sips.

Although he wanted to remain neutral, the question caught Hao Ming off guard. His cheeks turned slightly red.

"It's...It's not important. Let's talk about last night. Did you know who I was at the club? Was the drunken act premeditated?"

"Consider it a spontaneous act. I knew who you were when Nienrao arranged a meeting between himself, you and Gwen."

"What does that mean? You recognized me and decided to put on an act? What was the point of that?" Hao Ming was confused.

"It wasn't exactly an act. I was really drunk. However, not drunk enough to be unable to find my way around. When I saw you, I took the opportunity to test you."

"Test me? Not Ash?"

"Hmm." Kaelan nodded. "There were times when people from the same circle of friends tried to seduce Gwen. Of course, they all did it behind each other's backs. Some also wanted to win me over. In case they couldn't get Gwen to go out with them. I don't know how far things will go between Nienrao and Gwen, but when I saw you, I wanted to find out what kind of person you are."

Kaelan, who had been staring into space as he spoke, realized that there had been no response from the person sitting next to him. He turned his eyes to his interlocutor and noticed that Hao Ming was clenching his fists. Was he angry?

"Bai?"

After a few seconds of silence, Hao Ming finally spoke.

"Pretend you were drunk and see what happened next? Was this really the plan you had in mind? Why did it seem like the best idea at the time? What on earth were you thinking? There were other ways! What if I really had bad intentions? That my personality was changing under the influence of alcohol? That I was the type to sleep with strangers? What would have happened? So many options, and yet you chose this one? How could you...?! You're so..."

"... Confusing!" 

Hao Ming gritted his teeth for a moment. Seeing the expression on Kaelan's face, he realized that maybe he'd gotten a bit carried away. He himself was surprised by this loss of composure. He pulled himself together.

"Ash is a good man, and neither he nor I take pleasure in hurting others, if that's what you're worried about."

Unexpectedly, a hand stroked Hao Ming's head.

"Thank you for your concern." Kaelan wore a gentle smile.

He gently stroked Hao Ming's head as he looked at him. The young man blushed for a second time. He also felt that he was being laughed at.

Suddenly he stood up, surprising Kaelan.

"I have to go! Be careful and get home safely!" He declared quickly.

Without giving Kaelan time to answer, Hao Ming hurried away.

The painter took some time to process what had just happened. He finished his iced tea and tilted his head back to take a long look at the ceiling. He felt a little guilty towards Hao Ming. He had not expected such a reaction from her.

"Gwen was right. I've gone too far..."

____

Over the next few days, the preparations progressed steadily. Hao Ming avoided Kaelan and did his best to keep him out of his sight. Kaelan, for his part, thought about how to make amends with Hao Ming.

The day of the exhibition finally arrived. Everyone was very excited. At eight o'clock, the hotel guests stood at the door of the exhibition hall.

Large lamps in the shape of birds and clouds had been placed above the piano in the lobby.

A very large and wide landscape-format blank canvas had been placed in front of the piano, with several pots of paint and brushes arranged on each side of it.

Ashlay, Hao Ming, Gwenval and Kaelan had slept at the hotel the night before, so they were able to complete the final preparations in peace.

At ten o'clock sharp, Secretary Shin invited the guests to enter. The party could begin.