Imperial Standard Time

In the BFF Group Group Chat that was recently changed to RANDOM GROUP CHAT Group Chat.

Admin: Fox (Bryan)

Members: General (Grayson), No.1Traitor (Thiago), PrettiestLily (Lilianna), LoyalDog (Julius), EternalYouth (Ciel), NotBookworm (Pete), BigSis (Helena), TheDarkness (Zero).

Grayson sat on his couch with his light brain projecting a chat interface. He could think about battlefield strategies and fight through war but he couldn’t believe in the life of him that he couldn’t actually make a date plan.

And right now, he had absolutely no idea what to do next.

So, he asked his friends.

General: @everyone.

General: I’m in trouble.

The notification pinged across eight different light brains scattered throughout the Imperial Galaxy. Every single one of them lit up with that familiar chime that only rings when their fearless leader contacts them.

Fox: And here I thought this was going to be a quiet evening.

No.1Traitor: EASON?! It’s been months since you last messaged first! Who died?!

PrettiestLily: ...Is the company building on fire?

LoyalDog: General.

EternalYouth: Hyung! What’s wrong?

BigSis: Stand down, puppies. Let the man speak.

NotBookworm: yawning emoji This better be good. I was in the middle of a breakthrough.

TheDarkness: @General Who?

Fox: @TheDarkness No killing.

TheDarkness: Fine. But the offer stands.

General: I scheduled a date.

The chat fell silent for exactly 4.7 seconds.

General: I need help.

Fox: ...

Fox: Tell me you did not search randomly.

PrettiestLily: ...

BigSis: This is serious?

LoyalDog: Congratulations, General.

EternalYouth: Who’s the lucky victim?

Bryan pinched the bridge of his nose. His smiling poker face cracked the moment he read those messages.

He had already heard a little bit from Gloria, but he thought that Grayson would wait a little bit more before making his move. After all, he treated his personal life like an afterthought for the longest time.

This really meant that he was really, really serious about Neville.

And he could already see the headache coming.

General: @EternalYouth My secretary. @Fox, just give me advice if you already know.

The chat exploded.

EternalYouth: YOU’RE WITH @Fox?!

Fox: @EternalYouth What the actual hell.

Fox: If you have nothing good to say, just shut up.

Fox: I have a partner. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

EternalYouth: @Fox, no one asked.

Fox: @EternalYouth *middle-finger*

TheDarkness: If not @Fox, who is it?

EternalYouth: Yeah! @General Who is it?!

General: @EternalYouth @TheDarkness, my secretary.

General: @Fox, I’m already done with it, but it’s of no use. I can’t think of a place.

EternalYouth: @General That’s not an answer.

BigSis: @General scared?

Across the Imperial Galaxy, on a border space station, Lt. General Helena Popova leaned back in her commander’s chair with a big grin spreading across her face.

She had known Grayson since they were fresh-faced recruits. She had watched him rise through the ranks, watched him become a legend, watched him retire before his time because he had to.

And in all those years, she had never—ever—seen him voluntarily mention anything about dating or love life.

BigSis: @General, are you really dating someone?

BigSis: For real?

General: @BigSis Yes.

BigSis: ...I need a drink.

PrettiestLily: ...is it that Neville?

The question hung in there like a grenade with its pin pulled.

EternalYouth: @PrettiestLily You know who?

No.1Traitor: @General That kid?! wide-eyed shock emoji

Fox: @PrettiestLily thumbs up

Fox: @General ???

Lilianna stared at her light brain, staring at Bryan’s thumbs up.

Her gold hair spilling over her shoulders as she sat in her dressing room backstage at a promotional shoot. The harsh vanity lights made her reflection look sharper than usual, all cheekbones and cold perfection.

She already knew from her mother that there was someone that Gloria had been pinning Grayson for. But hearing it from Grayson and seeing him ask for advice for a date hurts so much.

But she didn’t know it was Neville.

That weird guy was hovering next to Grayson’s bedside in the hospital. That unassuming little employee with the oversized glasses and the hazel-brown hair and eyes that were almost too pretty to be real.

She wished nothing more than to throw that man out so he wouldn’t stand too close to Grayson.

But in the end, she had ignored him, thinking that he was just another wanna be—even warning him. Especially since he was really leaking his rotten omega pheromones as if Grayson would like that.

But she was wrong.

Really wrong.

Lilianna couldn’t help but grit her teeth, seething in anger.

That ugly slut dared to seduce Grayson!

PrettiestLily: The one with the glasses?

PrettiestLily: He’s kind of cute.

PrettiestLily: For a secretary.

BigSis: @PrettiestLily Careful, Lily. It’s showing.

PrettiestLily: @BigSis What is?

PrettiestLily: :)

BigSis: Uh-huh.

BigSis: @PrettiestLily Then, stop. It’s ugly.

BigSis: Move on.

PrettiestLily: ...

PrettiestLily: @BigSis We’ll see.

BigSis: @PrettiestLily shrugged

BigSis: @General, tell us more about this Neville guy.

General: @Fox, no shopping center. No Medea’s garden. No riverside viewing platform at night. No movies. No food places (you know why). So, where then?

No.1Traitor: @General, Why no food?

General: @No.1Traitor can’t say

Fox: @No.1Traitor, he’s a great cook, ask Auntie Gloria.

No.1Traitor: @Fox OOH~?

General: @Fox middle finger emoji

Fox: @General, thank you, sly smile emoji

Thiago Miranda nearly choked on his tea as he was reviewing patient files. This conversation was getting far more entertaining than medical records.

No.1Traitor: @General Wait.

No.1Traitor: @General, Your secretary can really cook?

No.1Traitor: @General For real?

General: @No.1Traitor Drop it.

No.1Traitor: @Fox Spill.

Fox: @No.1Traitor Let’s just say I’ve been granted the honor of tasting a food that he made, and it made me question everything I thought I knew about food.

No.1Traitor: @Fox ...

No.1Traitor: @General You’re whipped

General: @No.1Traitor, what does whipped mean?

General: @No.1Traitor, I haven’t even gone on the date yet.

No.1Traitor: @General And yet you’re in a group chat asking for help.

No.1Traitor: @General Whipped.

Fox: @General, you’ll know it eventually.

Fox: @General, and @No.1Traitor’s not wrong.

Fox: @No.1Traitor I know

BigSis: @General This is really tricky.

Fox: @General, anyway, why not?

General: @Fox, something new.

Fox: @Genera,l who has he been with there? sipping on tea

General: @Fox, don’t ask too much, just answer.

Stage name: Zero, an idol also known as Chronos Godfrey. He was the gloomiest and another annoying friend of Grayson.

He perked up from his seat in his penthouse suite in the Imperial Capital. His stage makeup was still half on from his earlier performance, giving him the look of a particularly glamorous raccoon.

TheDarkness: @General, how about that side of the Xylos’s Shopping Center with tons of physical activities?

General: @TheDarkness, why?

LoyalDog: @General for heart-palpitating exercises

General: @LoyalDog does that work?