System Mission: Seduce the Final Boss [BL]-Chapter 28: I think I’m in the safe love zone

Blake collided with Myles before his brain had fully caught up with what he was doing.

His arms wrapped around him tightly, almost desperately, like someone who had truly not seen him in ages.

For a brief moment, Myles didn’t react.

He simply stood there.

Blake could feel the solid warmth of him through the uniform, the faint scent of an ordinary laundry detergent.

Then Myles moved.

He didn’t exactly hug Blake back, instead, one of his hands slowly came to rest on the small of Blake’s back, pulling him slightly closer.

Blake stiffened slightly.

The contact felt a little different than he expected.

Myles leaned his head down a little, his voice low and calm near Blake’s ear.

"How are you?"

The simple question made Blake’s brain suddenly reboot.

’Wait. Wait a second. What am I doing?’

A wave of embarrassment washed over him so quickly it almost made him dizzy.

He had literally sprinted across the street and thrown himself at Myles.

And he hadn’t even been thinking one hundred percent about the mission when he did it.

The hug had come first, the mission had come second.

’Oh my god.’

Blake cleared his throat awkwardly, the timer in the corner of his vision was still ticking.

"...I’m fine," Blake said, trying to sound casual.

His voice came out slightly muffled against Myles’ shoulder.

"Just... I was really bored."

Myles didn’t say anything.

Blake hurried to add, "You know. Without seeing you!""

There was a short pause.

The timer ticked.

00:18

Blake’s ears were starting to feel hot.

He adjusted his grip slightly, pretending it was casual.

00:23

Why was this taking so long?

Seems like he forgot how long a minute actually was.

00:27

Blake’s face slowly began to heat up.

’This humiliation ritual, I did not miss it at all.’

He could feel the warmth spreading across his cheeks.

’This is fine. This is completely fine, he doesn’t seem angry to me. I mean, he is kind of hugging me back.’

He could feel Myles’ hand still resting on the small of his back, steady and unmoving.

Not pulling him closer.

But not pushing him away either.

00:34

Blake swallowed.

His brain began generating increasingly alarming thoughts.

’Maybe he doesn’t mind being hugged? Last time, he also didn’t react much.’

00:41

His blush deepened.

He could feel it burning now.

The kind that definitely showed.

Blake pressed his face slightly more into Myles’ shoulder, hoping it would hide his expression.

00:47

He could hear his own heartbeat.

’Please hurry up!’

00:52

’This is torture. Why did Spoon make it a whole minute? Why not thirty seconds? Or ten?’

00:57

Blake held his breath.

Then...

[ Mission completed. ]

The familiar window appeared.

Blake almost sagged with relief.

’Finally...’ he sighed under his breath.

He let out a long sigh and slowly unwrapped his arms from around Myles.

At almost the exact same moment, Myles’ hand slid away from Blake’s back.

The sudden absence of contact felt strangely noticeable.

Blake stepped back half a step, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Uh..."

He avoided Myles’ gaze for a second.

"Morning."

Myles simply looked at him.

His expression was calm, as always.

But there was something quietly observant in his eyes.

Before Blake could spiral into overthinking, the familiar rumble of the school bus approached.

Perfect timing.

"Oh, the bus is here," Blake said quickly, almost too quickly.

They boarded with the rest of the early students.

Luckily, it wasn’t very full yet.

Blake slid into one of the seats near the middle of the bus, automatically taking the window side.

Myles sat down next to him.

The bus started moving with a soft jerk.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Blake stared out the window.

Then he stared at the seat in front of him.

Then he stared at his own hands.

’Why is this so awkward?’

They had literally texted every day for the past week.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t talked.

And yet somehow sitting next to Myles now felt strangely different.

Blake shifted slightly.

Something else nagged at him.

He glanced around.

A few students were scattered through the bus.

Some were half asleep.

Some were scrolling on their phones.

But...

Blake frowned faintly.

He had the weird feeling that a couple of people were glancing their way.

Not constantly.

Just... occasionally.

Like they were trying not to be obvious.

’Am I imagining things?’

Maybe it was just because of the hug earlier.

Blake quickly turned his head forward again.

’Don’t think about it. Although, I’m pretty sure Myles noticed. Gosh, I hope he’s not pissed.’

The silence stretched.

Blake couldn’t take it anymore.

"So," he started.

Then immediately regretted starting.

His mouth had already moved before his brain could filter the words.

"Did you miss me?"

The moment the sentence left his mouth, Blake froze.

’Of all things, why did I say that?!’

His eyes widened slightly.

He immediately clamped his mouth shut.

Blake slowly turned his head toward the window again, pretending the passing buildings were extremely interesting.

Next to him, Myles didn’t answer.

Blake could feel it.

That gaze.

Myles was looking at him. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Blake resisted the urge to slowly slide down the seat and disappear.

After a few seconds, curiosity won.

He turned his head slightly.

Myles was indeed staring at him.

He didn’t look annoyed, nor particularly amused.

Blake opened his mouth.

Then closed it again.

’Say something man! Anything.’

Before he could utter another word, Myles moved.

His hand lifted.

Blake blinked in confusion.

Then Myles’ fingers lightly touched his cheek.

Blake froze.

Myles’ hand shifted slightly, guiding Blake’s head sideways with quiet ease.

Before Blake could react, his head was resting against Myles’ shoulder.

Blake’s brain completely stopped.

The bus continued rolling down the street.

Myles spoke calmly.

"Rest."

His voice was low, close.

"You look sleepy."

Blake stared forward, completely stunned.

Sleepy?

He wasn’t...okay, maybe he was.

He had woken up at five in the morning.

Still.

That wasn’t the point.

The point was that Blake could feel the warmth of Myles’ shoulder under his temple.

He could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing.

And Myles’ hand was still lightly resting near the side of his head, as if making sure he didn’t slide off with the bus’s movement.

Blake’s face turned red again.

’This is worse. This is so much worse.’

Because now he couldn’t even move without making it weird.

If he sat up suddenly, it would look like he was rejecting the gesture.

If he stayed...

Well.

He was currently using Myles as a pillow.

On the school bus.

In public.

Blake carefully glanced up.

A couple rows ahead, someone definitely looked away very quickly.

Blake closed his eyes.

’Just pretend to sleep.’

That was the safest option.

If he was asleep, none of this was embarrassing.

Right?

Right.

He relaxed slightly against Myles’ shoulder.

The bus hummed softly as it continued toward the school.

And for the first time that morning, Blake actually felt the exhaustion catching up to him.

His breathing slowed.

The warmth was... comfortable.

Dangerously comfortable.

Blake had the faint, distant thought that the system was probably going to ruin this moment with another mission.

However, another notification dinged.

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