System Mission: Seduce the Final Boss [BL]-Chapter 10: Even if you...

"How embarrassing..."

The words dissolved into the thin winter air as Blake pushed his window wider. Cold rushed in, sharp and bracing, cutting through the stale heaviness of his room.

For two days he had barely left his bed. Two days of crying until his throat burned and his eyes felt scraped raw. Two days replaying that moment over and over: Myles’ hand gripping his jaw, the threat in his eyes, the distance in his voice.

His jaw still ached faintly when he touched it.

"I can’t believe I skipped school..."

He let his forehead rest against the glass. Cars were threading through traffic, pedestrians bundled up in coats, life continuing without pause.

More than Myles, more than the humiliation, he had been worried about the system.

Since that day, there had been nothing. No pop-ups. No warnings. No ticking countdown clawing at his nerves. The space in his vision where red letters usually pulsed remained blank.

’Is it because of the critical error or something?’ he wondered, recalling the flickering message about an observation loop from the first days.

’Maybe that’s happening again... what a pain. If we constantly catalog each other, then the system will continue taking breaks and might as well just abandon me completely.’

The thought sent a chill through him that had nothing to do with the weather.

Abandonment meant freedom.

Abandonment also meant death.

Blake dragged himself to his desk and unwrapped a cupcake from the bakery down the street. Sugar had been his only comfort these past two days. He took a bite without tasting it.

’At this point it’s too much,’ he thought, staring at the frosting as if it could give him answers. ’He clearly doesn’t trust me.’

A sudden ding resonated, not in the air, but inside his skull.

He stiffened.

Translucent letters flared to life before his eyes.

[ System Reboot Complete. ]

[ Host Status: Stable. ]

[ Notice: Favorability has decayed during absence. ]

[ Current Favorability: -15 ]

"...What?!" Blake shot up so fast the chair fell backward.

He didn’t even process the reboot. His entire mind snagged on that number.

Minus fifteen.

Right. He had forgotten.

The more he stayed away from Myles, the more the favorability decayed.

"Fucking hell, where were you again?!" he snapped, pacing. "Are you that weak? You’re acting as if you were the one almost thrown off a window on the tenth floor! Are you kidding me? Minus fifteen is disastrous!"

[ Dear Host, please refrain from using offensive language. ]

"Oh, spare me."

The interface flickered again.

[ Mission: Regain Myles Cortez’s favor. ]

[ Time Limit: 1 day. ]

[ Current Favorability: -15 ]

[ Penalty: Death. ]

The cupcake slipped from his fingers and landed frosting-down on the floor.

"Death. Again?" His laugh came out thin and hysterical. "No, more importantly, what am I supposed to do exactly? He never favored me in the first place!"

[ Dear Host, this is an extremely dangerous situation for you. You didn’t fulfill the mission and, as a result— ]

"No, that’s not the reason, and you know it!" Blake shouted. "I’m being super pushy, y’know! What do you think, that people fall in love like that? You’re making me behave like a creep! Why are you even in charge of this program if you don’t know how humans work? Actually, no, how crazy ones work!"

Silence.

The screen blinked.

[ ... ]

[ Since it was you, Dear Host, we assumed it would work out :3 ]

Blake froze.

"...Eh?" His brows knit together. "What is that emoticon? You’re not usually like that."

The little symbol vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.

The interface dissolved.

He stood alone in his messy room, heart pounding.

"Whatever," he muttered, dragging both hands down his face. "I have to go. Now."

It was already late afternoon. The winter sun had begun its slow descent, staining the sky in diluted orange. Time was slipping through his fingers.

Death.

Blake hurried to his closet and took random clothes out.

His reflection in the mirror looked pale, eyes rimmed red from crying. Not exactly charming.

"Get it together," he whispered.

As he buttoned his coat, his hands trembled.

He paused.

Anxiety coiled in his stomach, heavy and nauseating. His mind supplied vivid images: Myles’ cold gaze. The way his fingers had dug into Blake’s jaw. The threat that had lurked behind every word.

He was terrified.

[ Fear Is For The Unloved! (D) has been activated ]

’At this point I can’t worry too much about my life...’

If the system wanted boldness, he would give it boldness.

His pulse steadied.

"I’ll just say it," he told his reflection. "And whatever happens, happens."

He left the apartment at a near run.

"Love tracker."

The map popped up, showing that Myles was, unexpectedly, not at home, but on the other side of the country.

"???" He froze. "Huh, what?"

[ Dear Host, Myles Cortez is currently destroying a building. ]

"Ah." His legs trembled. "Then... what am I supposed to do?"

[ ... ]

"You can’t be for real!" he continued whispering. "If he’s not even in the same city as me, how am I even..."

He stopped himself, taking a deep breath. ’Spoon is useless. I can’t reach him on the other side of the country. At this point, I’ll have to pray he returns.’

The bus stop was only a block away.

Blake jogged to it, heart racing again. The digital display above the shelter flickered with arrival times. Five minutes.

Five minutes felt like an eternity.

He bounced slightly on his heels, chewing on his lower lip. What if Myles wasn’t home by night? And even if he actually got home in time, how would he react to him being in front of his door?

’And here I am, criticizing the system for making me do overly pushy things...’

The bus arrived with a hiss of brakes.

Blake climbed aboard, tapping his card with shaky fingers. He took a seat by the window and stared at his reflection in the glass, superimposed over passing city lights.

’You’re insane,’ he told himself.

But his chest felt strangely light.

The bus ride felt too short and too long all at once. Each stop dragged; each second was loud with the pounding of his heart.

Finally, his stop came.

He got off and faced the looming apartment complex.

The building stood tall and impersonal, rows of identical balconies stacked against the darkening sky. He had been here before. The memory of nearly being thrown from a high floor made his palms damp.

He swallowed.

No turning back.

Inside, the lobby was quiet. The fluorescent lights hummed faintly overhead. He bypassed the elevator without thinking and headed for the stairwell instead.

Step by step. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The climb made his breathing heavier, though he couldn’t tell if it was exertion or nerves. His heartbeat thudded in his ears with every floor he passed.

By the time he reached Myles’ level, his pulse felt deafening.

He stood before the familiar door.

For a moment, everything stilled.

This was it.

He sat down in front of the door, checking the hour.

6:39 p.m.

"Please...!"

He bit his nails, breathing heavily.

He closed his eyes, praying to whatever god could listen to him. Slowly, he started seeing everything in black and white.

Thud.

Blake’s breath caught.

’Huh? Did I fall asleep?’

11:45 p.m.

He immediately got up at the noise. Someone was getting closer.

Even if scared, Blake kept his gaze fixed there.

Myles stood there, within the shadows.

’Damn it, I can’t see him properly...’

He couldn’t bring himself to step closer.

Especially when he could see his eyes shining in the dark, although they were black.

His gaze locked onto Blake’s face, dark and sharp, and something about the air around him felt heavy, like a storm compressed into human form. He radiated a terrifying aura, the kind that made instinct scream run.

Blake’s throat went dry.

For half a second, fear clawed up his spine.

Then he forced himself to swallow.

He stepped closer, tilting his head up, and smiled.

Myles didn’t say a word.

Silence stretched between them, thick as fog.

"I’m sorry," Blake blurted.

The words rushed out, breathless and unpolished.

Before he could overthink it, he stepped forward and grabbed Myles by the shoulders.

Even if Myles could easily shove him away.

’Even if you can kill me in a heartbeat.’

Blake’s fingers tightened slightly.

"Even if you push me away," he said, voice trembling but loud enough to echo faintly in the stairwell, "I’ll still love you!"

He leaned in and wrapped his arms around him in a sudden, tight hug.

Myles went rigid, not moving an inch.

Blake pressed his face briefly against his chest.

His heart hammered so hard it almost hurt.

"Sorry," he whispered again.

And then, before courage could fail him, before fear could sink its teeth back in, he let go.

He walked past him and bolted for the stairs.

His footsteps echoed loudly as he descended, taking them two at a time. The cold air of the stairwell burned in his lungs. He didn’t dare look back at first.

Halfway down, he risked a glance upward.

At the top of the stairs, Myles still stood there.

He hadn’t moved.

Hadn’t chased him.

Hadn’t called his name.

He simply stood there, watching.

Blake couldn’t see his expression clearly from this distance. The light behind him cast his face in shadow.

He was just... looking.

Blake’s chest tightened.

Then he forced himself to keep running.

Down the stairs.

Out of the building.

Into the cold night air.

He didn’t know what the system would say.

He didn’t know what Myles was thinking.

But for the first time since this all began, Blake felt something dangerously close to fearless.

00:00 a.m.

[ Mission Complete. ]

[ Favorability: -15 → -5 ]