Adrian placed a hand against his chest.

"No, seriously," he continued while trying not to laugh. "I’m genuinely angry at Mark right now. Why would he scold my man?"

That only made Matteo laugh harder.

Eventually, he finally gave up the act and explained properly that Mark wasn’t angry anymore and that they had already settled everything.

That instantly relaxed Adrian.

"Good," he said. "Because Charles was already overthinking everything and feeling bad for coming."

Matteo shook his head. "He doesn’t have to feel bad," he replied.

Adrian immediately grabbed his phone afterward.

"Then I should text him quickly and let him know everything is fine," he said. "So he can stop overthinking."

Matteo nodded once. "Alright."

But just as Adrian was about to text Charles... Matteo’s phone suddenly vibrated.

He picked it up and glanced at the message.

The moment he read it, one of his brows lifted in surprise.

It was from Mark.

Tell Adrian to text Charles to step outside the guest room for a minute. I’m outside.

Matteo stared at the message for a second before a faint smile slowly appeared on his face.

Just a few minutes ago, he had been the one acting angry as if he didn’t want to see Charles.

And now...

He was the one standing outside Charles’s room waiting for him.

Matteo shook his head. Mark, you’re impossible, he thought. Instead of thanking me, you scolded me first.

Matteo slowly looked back up at Adrian afterward.

"Interesting," he muttered.

Adrian frowned. "What happened?"

Without saying anything immediately, Matteo handed him the phone instead.

The moment Adrian read the message. "Well..." he said. "That changed fast."

Matteo chuckled.

Then Adrian quickly texted Charles.

Step outside the room for a minute. Someone is waiting for you outside.

Charles received the message and immediately told Frank not to worry, promising that he would be back soon.

After that, he stepped outside the guest room.

The moment he did, he immediately spotted Mark standing a few steps away down the hallway.

Charles’s heartbeat instantly quickened.

Without wasting time, he walked closer toward him.

The closer he got, the more awkward the atmosphere started feeling.

When he finally stopped in front of him, Mark spoke first.

"Are you okay coming to my room?" he asked calmly. "If you’re not comfortable with it, we can go somewhere else instead."

Charles answered immediately.

"I’m fine," he replied quickly. "I’m completely fine with it."

Mark nodded. "Come with me."

Without another word, the two of them began walking side by side through the quiet hallway until Mark finally guided Charles toward his room.

When they entered Mark’s room, Mark led Charles toward the small sitting area beside the large window overlooking the city lights.

Mark took one seat while Charles sat across from him.

For a brief moment, silence settled between them.

Before Charles could say anything, Mark spoke first.

"Have you eaten already?"

Charles nodded quickly. "Yeah. Earlier, one of the maids brought food to the guest room. They gave us a lot, so I already ate."

Mark nodded once. "Alright."

Then he asked quietly, "Is there anything else you want?"

But Charles barely paid attention to that question.

Instead, he immediately went straight to the reason he wanted to see Mark. "I’m sorry," he said quietly.

Mark frowned. "For what?"

"For coming here unexpectedly," he said. "I don’t have a way to reach you, so I couldn’t inform you myself that I was coming.

He hesitated before continuing. "And... after seeing the way you looked at me downstairs, I just felt like maybe you didn’t want me here and I..."

Mark immediately stopped him before he could finish. "You’re accusing me like you know what’s in my mind."

Charles instantly shook his head. "No, I’m sorry," he said quickly. "I didn’t mean it like that."

Mark sighed. "It’s fine."

But Charles still looked troubled.

"No, it’s not fine," he said. "I clearly saw the look on your face earlier and I thought maybe I made you uncomfortable or..."

Mark interrupted him. "I’m sorry."

Charles immediately looked up at him in surprise.

"I’m sorry for making you feel unwanted here," Mark said honestly. "What happened downstairs had nothing to do with me not wanting to see you. I was just shocked, I honestly wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. And you don’t need to apologize. If anything, I should’ve handled the situation better."

Charles stayed quiet for a moment.

Then he finally shook his head. "No... It’s okay."

Mark studied his face carefully before speaking further.

"Then please accept my apology by smiling at me," he murmured. "Because you honestly look really troubled right now."

That made Charles smile faintly.

"I actually have a lot I want to say to you," he murmured.

Mark stared at him for a moment before replying, "And I have a lot I need to apologize to you for."

Then he leaned back. "So let me say I’m sorry first to make things easier."

Charles stayed quiet while listening.

"I know you probably want to talk about what happened the day we met," Mark said. "The fact that I never asked for your number... and the fact that I never came to see you afterward."

His eyes lowered afterward. "I’m sorry for not reaching out to you even after confessing that I liked you," he murmured. "I never meant to make you worry. There’s just been a lot going on lately, and I’ve been trying to sort everything out first. I hope you can understand."

Charles nodded. "Alright," he said. "I just wanted to be sure you weren’t angry with me because of that day."

He hesitated briefly before adding, "If I said anything wrong that day... I’m really sorry."

Mark immediately shook his head.

"You didn’t do anything wrong, Charles," he murmured. "Trust me."

Charles stared at him for a few seconds before finally nodding. "Alright."

After the conversation settled into a softer silence, Charles looked like he still wanted to continue talking, as if he was trying to understand every feeling between them before the night ended.

But before he could say anything else, Mark stopped him gently. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"It’s late already," Mark said. "Go get some rest. We can talk about everything else tomorrow."

Charles looked at him. "We can still talk now. There’s still time."

Mark shook his head with a smile. "No more serious conversations tonight," he insisted. "You’re staying for the weekend anyway, so we’ll talk properly tomorrow."

Charles stared at him for a moment before finally sighing in defeat.

"Alright."

Just as Charles was about to stand, Mark suddenly asked,

"Do you want to stay and have a drink with me for a while?"