Chapter 43: We’ll try something new.

So when Eoin appeared at the dinner, everyone held their breath.

They watched Eoin walk through the crowd and sit beside Cian. The two nodded politely and formally, then began discussing business.

Cian and Eoin were both new top figures in Dublin, each with his own company. They went back and forth, arguing fiercely, neither giving way, now and then raising an eyebrow and sneering, which made the shareholders around them break into a cold sweat.

"From my own point of view, this proposal may not suit the interests of both sides... Ouch..."

At once someone stepped forward. "What’s wrong, Mr. Brennan?"

Eoin frowned slightly, looking annoyed. "The tea is a bit too hot. It burned my tongue."

Under the tablecloth, he gave Cian’s leg a gentle kick.

Cian’s pointed leather shoe had somehow crept up along his leg and stopped dangerously close.

Cian smiled. "Mr. Brennan is right, but I see some matters differently, uh..."

There was a stir beside them. "Mr. Fitzgerald?! Are you all right?"

"I’m fine," Cian said with a forced smile. "The pastry was a bit cold. It gave me a chill."

Eoin had somehow managed to slip his toes through the gap in his trouser leg.

They traded barbs. Cian’s forehead twitched and the veins stood out. Eoin’s brows were tightly furrowed and his face was icy. By the end of the meeting, Cian’s tie was crooked, Eoin’s glasses chain was askew, and both were soaked in cold sweat, their foreheads glistening.

Eoin was the first to shove his chair back with a bang. "Excuse me, I need to tidy up," he said coldly.

He left with his assistant.

Cian sat a moment longer, then stood with a smile. "Excuse me, I need to change as well."

He took a towel from his assistant.

With both bosses gone one after the other, the tense atmosphere in the room lifted at once. Someone glanced the way they had gone and couldn’t help saying, "What a heated debate!"

No one knew that just three hours earlier, the two who had been glaring at each other had been cuddling in a hotel suite upstairs. They had held and kissed each other, and Cian had even pinned Eoin against the floor to ceiling window, facing the busy traffic outside. Looking into the flustered eyes of the man in his arms, Cian kissed his forehead and reassured him. "It’s fine. The glass is one way."

Only then did Eoin relax.

By the time the dinner began, Cian was still restless, and Eoin still felt uneasy.

The venue had several private dressing rooms, with a backstage corridor leading to the hotel roof.

Without discussing it, Cian and Eoin both came out from backstage at the same time. Staff passed through the corridor now and then, so they pretended not to know each other and went up to the roof one after the other.

Cian unbuttoned his jacket, and the strong wind caught its hem. He held out a hand to Eoin. "Come here."

The moment Eoin reached him, Cian caught him by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug. The winter sun was warm, and so was the man in his arms. He sighed contentedly and murmured, "What’s been going on lately? Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

Cian had been even busier than Eoin lately, always on the move and rarely home. It was only today, before the dinner, that they had managed to meet for four or five hours, and once they met, they couldn’t stop.

At first, when Cian started working seriously, Eoin thought it was good for him to do some business after staying home so long. Cian’s lazy image was so deeply fixed that Eoin didn’t think he would be very dedicated, and he let him do as he liked, as long as there was enough money.

Who would have known that Cian would get more and more involved, and in the end actually win the top seat?

While Eoin was surprised, he was also happy for Cian. He had seen Cian’s two degrees and knew he had never been a useless young master. But when Cian became his equal, Eoin started to worry.

If Cian didn’t have the money advantage, would he still need him like this?

Eoin knew this way of thinking wasn’t good, but he couldn’t control it. He had received too little love, and this love was too precious, so it was hard not to be anxious.

Cian noticed something was wrong within two days. He tricked Eoin into going out, got a couple of drinks into him, and Eoin, in a daze, spilled all his worries. Then Cian held him by the back of the neck and kissed him thoroughly.

Cian’s exact words were, "I need to find a way to stop you overthinking."

...Well, he certainly stopped overthinking, though the method was a bit strange.

A year ago they had been like strangers in this hotel. A year later, they were hugging and kissing in this hotel.

The wind on the hotel roof was fierce, the north wind howling and bitterly cold. Eoin instinctively held on tighter. "How much longer do you have to work?"

They were still in the honeymoon phase. Not being able to buy groceries together in the morning, cook soup at noon, or take evening walks hand in hand felt like pure torture.

Cian said, "I’ve taken a month off next month."

"...You?"

Eoin looked up at him, stunned for a moment.

Cian pulled a small brown paper bag from behind his back and sighed. "Why work so hard if not to stand by your side?"

He handed the bag to Eoin. "Open it?"

Despite his carefree look, Cian was deeply traditional, even old fashioned and stubborn, about certain things. If he loved someone, he made sure everything was perfect, standing as equals and holding their hand before taking the next step together.

Eoin held his breath as he opened the bag.

Inside, in a velvet lined box, lay a pair of rings.

Both were simple and elegant, with their names engraved inside the bands.

Cian: "Want to try them on?"

They slid the rings onto each other’s fingers, sealing another layer of their bond and tying their lives together a little more.

Cian asked, "Where should we go next month?"

He had taken the time off just for this.

Eoin had rarely left Dublin. There were so many interesting places in the world, but after thinking, he said, "Let’s visit your university abroad."

He wanted to see Cian’s classrooms, walk the halls he had walked, and learn what Cian had been doing during those five years apart.

Cian chuckled. "All right. We’ll book the tickets as soon as we’re back."

They lingered on the roof, wrapped around each other, until it was far too late, then reluctantly went back to the dinner.

They sat back down at the negotiation table.

Before, only their legs had been hidden under the tablecloth. Now their hands were tucked into their sleeves too.

Neither Eoin nor Cian would give way at work. They were evenly matched, a sign of how much they respected each other.

Eoin, with his extra years of experience, sometimes left the careful Cian speechless. Looking at the spirited young man across the table, Cian couldn’t help thinking of the novel’s ending, where Eoin suffered from severe depression, struggled even with medication, and lived like a walking corpse. He sighed inwardly.

This beautiful, fragile china was now safe in his arms, unharmed and glowing.

Yet as he admired and sighed, he also felt a tinge of frustration.

Facing the relentless questions from the other side, Cian raised an eyebrow slightly. Well, this eloquence is really something.

Eoin suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Meeting Cian’s half smiling gaze, he seemed to vaguely understand the meaning behind that smile.

"For every point you make, we’ll try something new. How’s that?"