BIA Ch. 52

“Did you see that? Huh? Did you see that bastard’s eyes rolling? Yeah, that’s Bran for you. No matter how smart he pretends to be, how well-mannered he acts, you can’t hide your blood. Of course, his father was a gangster, so how could his son be any different? That blood doesn’t go anywhere.”

Honestly, if it were anyone else, he wouldn’t care, but it was funny that Chester was talking about like father, like son. He was the one trying to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a mafia boss.

But he was too lazy to argue, and he didn’t know what kind of trouble he would get into if he did. So, he just kept his eyes closed and nodded along, but for some reason, Chester suddenly got pissed and yanked the blanket off him, yelling,

“Hey, get up!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean, what’s wrong? The funeral’s in a bit, and you’re lying around like you have all the time in the world? Get up. We have to go buy clothes.”

“You’re crazy… I’m sick right now!”

Isaiah grabbed Chester’s hand and forced it onto his forehead. Chester looked surprised for a moment, like, ‘Oh,’ because his fever was higher than he thought. But then he acted like it was nothing and said,

“You just need to take some medicine. It’s not like you’re dying. What’s with the fuss? Get up, quick.”

“No, but Bran shouldn’t come to the funeral either…”

“What?”

The moment Bran’s name came out of Isaiah’s mouth, Chester screamed.

“Why are you talking about that bastard Bran here? Huh? What is Bran? Are you gonna die if Bran tells you to?”

Then he started ranting about how he was his boyfriend, not Bran’s, and it looked like he was going to flip out and ask if we had really done it if he resisted any more. It was better to be physically exhausted than to be nagged by Chester. Besides, knowing Chester, he would nag him about everything and still drag him to the funeral. It was better to just go along with it.

Isaiah eventually stumbled out of bed. He didn’t even have the energy to shower, so he just washed his face, and Chester started yelling at him for looking like that at his aunt’s funeral.

“…Aren’t you being too much?”

“You’re the one who’s too much, look at your hair. Do you know how many guests are coming today?”

Chester got angry and told him to go back in and wash up and shave properly. Isaiah went back to the bathroom and leaned against the wall as he washed his hair and showered.

“Okay, now you’re a bit more presentable.”

Chester looked at Isaiah, whose face was flushed with fever, and was pleased that he looked healthier. Isaiah regretted not bringing a gun with live rounds from Bran’s basement. He could have shot Chester dead right now.

Isaiah left the house with Chester. Chester had parked the car right at the entrance, like a jerk. Manny was in the driver’s seat. Why was he wearing sunglasses? Isaiah didn’t think much of it and got into the back seat, but then he saw Manny’s face in the rearview mirror, all swollen, and he was shocked. He leaned forward to the driver’s seat.

“Manny, what happened to your face?”

“What do you think? I got beat up.”

Chester said, sitting next to Isaiah. And as soon as he finished speaking, he smacked Manny on the back of the head and got angry.

“Because of you, this bastard took drugs yesterday.”

“What? Drugs?”

Manny exclaimed, surprised.

“Yeah. Someone gave him a roofie ^[1]and he passed out in front of Mountain Dog. Bran picked him up and took him back to his apartment.”

“Are you okay?”

Before Chester could finish, Manny turned around and asked. His shocked expression couldn’t be hidden even by his sunglasses. Manny, who usually ignored everything Chester said, was actually worried, and Isaiah felt sorry.

“Yeah. I don’t even remember taking the drugs. I’m fine.”

“Ah, taking drugs is no big deal.”

Chester scoffed, like the drugs were nothing.

“The problem is that he passed out in front of the club, got rained on, and caught a cold. What are we going to do? The successor will be announced at the latest three days after the funeral. How is he going to shoot a gun properly like this?”

…He’s such a bad guy. Even in this situation, he’s worried about me not being able to shoot a gun. Bran and even Manny are more worried about my health than he is. Even if we’re not really dating, if you’re going to pretend to be my boyfriend, shouldn’t you at least pretend to care?

Isaiah was disgusted by Chester’s inhumanity. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t have the energy. Besides, it wasn’t like he would reflect on it even if he did. Isaiah leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes silently.

“Hey, wake up.”

It felt like he had only closed his eyes for a moment, but they had already arrived at their destination. Chester dragged a dazed Isaiah out of the car, and as soon as he saw the familiar downtown street, he muttered, “Oh, this is…”

It was Lynn Avenue. The shopping street he had come to with Bran just yesterday. The same luxury street they had turned away from at first.

Right, he said he was going to buy clothes.

Before he could dwell on his memories with Bran, Chester dragged him into the luxury store in front of them. He was so out of it that he didn’t even see the sign properly, but once he was inside, he saw the word Dior hanging on the wall in big letters.

“Mr. Kalisz.”

A man who seemed to be of high rank approached with a friendly smile. He would have been much more handsome if he didn’t have that goatee, but right now, all Isaiah could see was the beard.

“Rene.”

Chester, for once, was acting calm and greeted him warmly.

Anyone would think he was a normal human being. Isaiah dragged his wobbly legs to a nearby sofa and sat down.

“Is this him?”

The goatee man smiled at Isaiah.

“Yeah. Isaiah.”

Chester grabbed Isaiah by the back of the neck and pulled him up from the sofa.

“You’re more built than I thought.”

“It’s because he’s tall. This guy’s skinny. 46C is enough.”

Even so, hearing Chester call him skinny made his pride sting.

“Hmm, I see. The size seems right with what we have prepared… but more importantly, are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I’m always like this.”

At Chester’s words, the goatee man gave a polite, gentle smile and led the two of them further into the store.

“Since you said you’re short on time, I’ll take you straight to the fitting room. I’ve prepared the clothes in the size you mentioned, so please try them on and let me know if anything is uncomfortable.”

They went to the fitting room that the goatee man was leading them to, and just then, an employee was pulling over a mobile rack with several suits hanging on it.

“Oh, is this a fitted suit?”

“That’s right. When Chester visited, we didn’t have black virgin wool. But just in case, I called the headquarters, and they said it could be delivered in time. So I went ahead and ordered a size 46.”

“Ah, good job. As expected of Rene.”

Chester praised the goatee man’s sense, but Isaiah was just pained by the fact that there was one more outfit he had to try on. There were five black suits that looked exactly the same at first glance. He didn’t know how many more would be added here.

“Okay, then, Isaiah. Slowly, try them on one by one.”

The employee pushed the mobile rack into the large fitting room and came out, and then the goatee man opened the fitting room door even wider and said.

“Thank you, Rene…”

Isaiah gave a small greeting and went inside. As soon as the fitting room door closed, he leaned his trembling body against the wall and took off his clothes. Then, he started putting on a shirt, one by one, on his bare skin. There was also a tie, but he didn’t know how to tie it, so he just draped it around his neck. After putting on the pants and suit jacket and coming out of the fitting room, the goatee man and Chester stood side by side, arms crossed, and started to critique him, hmm-ing.

“The size fits well.”

“I told you.”

“But I think a black dress shirt would suit him better.”

“Really? Not white?”

“Because Chester is wearing white.”

The goatee man winked at Chester. It wasn’t a date, they were going to a funeral, so what did it matter, but Chester just nodded, happy. If someone didn’t know, they’d think the goatee man was his lover.

“And I think a fitted suit would suit you better than the classic suit you’re wearing now. Isaiah, take that off and try on the one hanging on the other side.”

……Then you should have told me to try that one on first.

Isaiah wanted to cry, but he didn’t even have the strength to cry.