bontenblackcard

eng tl, partially by DeepL one-sided ranzu cw: alcohol

Sanzu growled when he found Ran drinking himself dizzy in the back room of one of the nightclubs owned by the Haitanis.

Rindou should be the one taking care of his careless, drunken brother, not Sanzu! He wasn't anyone to him either, but Mikey was looking for him, so Sanzu had to drag Ran back to headquarters. Whether he wanted to or not, the King's order was absolute.

After all, there was still plenty of work to do. How dare Ran be having fun here instead. He didn't look like he was having much fun, though. He looked stressed, maybe from a breakup. With whom? Is there really a woman out there who could fool Ran Haitani until he looked this pathetic?

It's none of Sanzu's business, anyway. The only thing that mattered to him now was how to persuade Ran to come along without making a scene. He could just pull out a gun and force him to come along, but who knew if Ran was too drunk to care. It would also make a scene if he fought back.

“Haru, did you mean it?”

Those five words managed to break the concentration of the man whose name he called. What? Sanzu didn't feel like he'd said anything that had anything to do with that, so... was Ran starting to hallucinate? Maybe.

“What are you talking about? Hurry up and finish your drink, the boss is looking for you.”

Instead of getting up from where he sat and following Sanzu who had already started walking, Ran just stared at his half-empty glass. Sanzu had never seen him smile sadly before, only that irritating smile that was iconic of the Haitani brothers.

“Ah. I see. Go first, I'll follow.”

If Sanzu had been a little more concerned or curious, he might have stayed and asked Ran what he meant. But he had things to do aside from pestering the eldest Haitani, so he left without further ado. He shut the door firmly.

Ran gulped down the rest of his drink, feeling an uncomfortable warmth creeping down his throat. It was foolish of him to think that someone like Sanzu would heed his feelings once sober.

“If only you really loved me back.”