Chapter 41: I can help you

All afternoon Eoin was visibly in high spirits and even talked Cian into trying desserts and pastries he had avoided before. They didn’t leave the shopping centre until nightfall.

At the entrance there were lots of people in mascot costumes handing out flyers in the crowd. The big mascot heads were clumsy, and the wearers stumbled now and then.

As Eoin and Cian passed them, Eoin suddenly said, "I used to do this part time job too."

Cian: "What?"

Eoin: "Dress up in a mascot costume and hand out flyers."

Cian was surprised. "When?"

Eoin: "Before I met you, when I was still at Trinity."

He sounded a bit nostalgic. "It was one of the easier part time jobs to find at university. Tutoring was easier, but it wasn’t always available. When there were no tutoring jobs, I handed out flyers at weekends. Normally it paid 10 euro an hour, but wearing a mascot costume paid more, 15 euro an hour. I especially liked it in winter, because I didn’t have thick clothes and the costume was warmer. Summer was a bit of torture, though. Once, I nearly got heatstroke and almost had to go to hospital."

Cian could picture it: Eoin, not good with words, clumsily putting on the costume and handing out flyers one by one at the roadside, stumbling when the crowd pushed him. In summer his shirt and hair would have been completely soaked.

Cian’s voice went tight. "What happened then?"

Eoin: "Nothing much. I felt dizzy and couldn’t go to lectures. My housemates all went to class, and I lay in my room calculating what it would cost if I had to be hospitalised. Later I worked out that I would have to hand out flyers for a whole week to pay for it, and I felt hard done by. So I pulled the covers over my head, and when I woke up my pillowcase was soaked. But luckily I felt better by the afternoon and didn’t need to go to hospital."

He spoke calmly, even cheerfully, because he was happy today, as if he were just sharing some ordinary old stories with someone he liked.

But Cian couldn’t take it any more.

In the middle of the busy crowd at the shopping centre entrance, he suddenly pulled Eoin into a tight hug.

Eoin was a bit surprised. He struggled awkwardly at first, then reached up and patted Cian’s back. They were both wearing thick padded jackets, and Cian’s was unzipped, so Eoin could feel his warm chest directly, like hugging a big, fluffy cat.

Eoin nuzzled the big cat. He was in high spirits today and his thoughts were all over the place. One moment he was talking about flyers, and the next he said, "Cian, you’re so warm."

But then he heard the big cat mutter, "If only I had met you sooner."

Eoin looked up. "Huh?"

Cian sighed quietly. "Nothing."

He sniffled and changed his tone to something a bit fierce. "If I had met you sooner, I would have made you take off that mascot costume, shoved the agreement in your face, and asked, ’Do you want living expenses? Do you want a chance at medical treatment? Then put down those flyers and come be my partner!’"

Eoin couldn’t help laughing.

Those hard, painful times had become memories, and Eoin himself no longer cared. But if someone cared about him, if someone was willing to love him more because of that pain, then that was good.

He whispered, "But then I would definitely have thought you were a pervert."

Cian: "Hmph. Didn’t you think I was a pervert when we first met?"

"..."

Eoin turned his head away and muttered softly, "I did."

The young master of the Fitzgerald family had an infamous reputation. If you asked ten people who knew him, probably nine would think he was a pervert.

Cian tightened his arms. "So what if you thought I was a pervert? In the end you still ended up as my partner."

They walked along the commercial street, and Cian politely took every flyer that was handed to him. By the time they reached the car park at the end of the street, he had a stack of flyers.

Eoin thought he would just hold on to them and throw them away later, but when they got home, Cian took the flyers upstairs, divided them into several piles, and started reading them under the desk lamp.

Eoin leaned in curiously. The covers had bright promotional pictures, and below were floor plans and exact locations. Cian was looking at estate agents’ adverts.

Eoin asked, "Thinking about buying a place?"

Cian’s current flat was old and small, fine for one person but a tight squeeze for two. Cooking together would be hard in the small kitchen.

Older homes always come with problems: old pipes that often leak when it rains, and the heating and cooling weren’t up to much either. Cian had managed so far, but now that he was staying, he could buy a new place. As for the flat at Rathmore Court, they could drop by now and then to keep it tidy, as a gesture to the original owner’s mother.

As for Eoin, he had never bought a house. He used to live in a hotel penthouse, caught up in memories. But with Cian back, there was no need to dwell on the past, so he just stayed with Cian.

Cian said, "Maybe."

The flyers showed newly launched properties, mostly mid rise and high rise buildings, from 60 to 120 square metres, ideal for living in or trading up.

Eoin added, "You can pick any spot in Dublin. Even a spacious apartment on the Liffey would work."

He meant those prime city centre properties with river views.

Cian paused, the flyer in his hand.

He had always seen this world as a game and never had a real sense of belonging. Eoin never acted high and mighty with him, so Cian had almost forgotten that Eoin was now a big name in Dublin.

Cian realised belatedly and muttered, "Wait, so I’m basically a kept man now?"

The System looked at him with scorn. "Pal, you’re only figuring that out after signing the deal?"

"..."

Ending up in this world had been an accident, and having a partner had been just as unexpected, but depending on his partner for money had never been part of Cian’s plan.

Cian put the flyer aside, his face unusually serious. "Hold on, we’ll talk about the house later. Can you fill me in on the latest on the Fitzgerald Group’s shares?"

Eoin didn’t know why he’d suddenly become interested in shares, but he explained everything clearly.

At the moment, the major shareholders of the Fitzgerald Group were Eoin and Fergal, with Fergal holding slightly more. The rest of the shares were quite scattered.

Cian listened calmly and gave a slight nod. It was already late, and Eoin had skipped work today and couldn’t do it again tomorrow, so he yawned, and the two of them held each other and went to sleep.

Eoin fell asleep quickly, but Cian had something on his mind. He was thinking about the share structure when the System suddenly appeared without a sound.

The glowing screen circled around Cian, marvelling. "Oh my god, am I seeing this right, Host? Are you finally going to pursue a career?"

Cian was silent at first, then sighed. "I still have to support my partner."

He couldn’t let Eoin pay every time they went out.

Cian had studied economics abroad, a subject picked for him by Declan. But what you learn at university is just the basics, and it takes a lot of hands on experience. Declan was dead, and Fergal wouldn’t teach Cian, so Cian wasn’t skilled in how a company really runs.

The System said, "Host, I can help you."

Cian: "Hmm?"

The System: "Although I look like an artificial intelligence, to support a machine as smart as me, my core is the most advanced supercomputer."

"After you enter the company, I can run simulations, go through all the possibilities, analyse and learn from all past cases, and pick the best decision for you, helping you reach your goals."

It smiled subtly. "You could have gone home originally, but since you gave that up, I can assist you. When you succeed, I’ll unbind."

It had another mission waiting.

Cian: "Thank you."

Although the System was unreliable, and he was an unreliable host too, in the end the result was still quite good.