Hong Kong Dollar

By: Butterfly-winged Rat

Chapter Three:

All the words in the world couldn't make Bryan feel any better at this point. He wanted to scream 'What the hell!' or something like 'You must be shittin' me!' but no words seemed to escape his mouth.

He began stuttering and even thought he might've died from a heart attack, but alas, his unease didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you... alright, Mr. Kuznetsov?" Kei wondered, sounding genuinely concerned for him.

'No! Do I fucking look 'alright' to you!' "He-h-he's..." was all that managed to escape.

Kei looked from Bryan to Rei, not being able to make a connection.

Finally, Bryan had gathered enough of his voice to actually SAY something. "He- He was the insane weirdo who was in my room last night!"

And as if everything that just occurred had dawned on to Rei, the Chinese man began laughing ecstatically. He clenched his stomach in pain, seeing as he was unable to hold back the boisterous fits of laughter he was emitting. "Oh my god! No wonder you looked so shocked!"

All the embarrassment and frustration the Russian had been experiencing up to that point had suddenly been replaced by pure, unfiltered rage." You- You! You fucking Bastard! What do you think you did! Do you think something like THAT is something you can throw around lightly!" There were so much more profanities Bryan wanted to yell at his, but he knew that that was neither the time nor place to do something that irrational.

Kei was lost amidst their exchange of words and kept silent. He didn't bother understanding…

The singer's hilarity soon disappeared, but this time, an expression of fiendishness was what graced his features. "Oh, and what would that be Mr. Kuznetsov?" He moved closer and closer towards Bryan. In fact, it was a little too close for comfort, but as much as he backed up, Rei advanced forward with ferocity in his eyes. "You wouldn't by chance be affected by a little kiss, would you?" And just like the previous night, the Russian had been caught off guard the moment the golden-eyed boy leaned forward and kissed him

Unlike the previous kiss which had been chaste and simple; this one was quickly turned rough when Rei has forced his tongue's entry in to Bryan's mouth and pulled him down to about his level by the tie.

Being in complete and utter disbelief made things go against the lilac haired man's liking, and it didn't look like he had the ability to stop this from happening. The prospect of biting off the Chinese's wasn't looking so bright either. He could just hear his CEO's voice.

'You got his tongue cut off! You do realize he's a singer and he needs that so he can SING!'

He knew he couldn't take much more of this. If this lasted any longer, he might've even begun to enjoy himself, god forbid. But just before he reached his limit –and run out of oxygen- he was saved.

"Rei! That's enough!" Kei immediately yelled pulling the other brunette off of Bryan. Kei, who had been right there the whole time, had the most flustered look on his face Bryan had ever seen. Poor man. Who could ever have expected that?

That impertinent little bag of shit –i.e. Rei- had just returned a sheepish smile at the boy's orders and distanced himself from them. "This isn't over yet!" he yelled back before running off. Whether that message had been addressed to Bryan or Kei, they'd never know.

In the middle of all the confusion, there was a baffled notion as to how all of that happened in that miniscule amount of time. Knowing just how awkward that whole situation must've looked from someone else's eyes, Bryan just let his gaze drop to the floor. Maybe if he didn't move, they'd just ignore him.

"I'm sorry about him." Kei suddenly muttered. "I already had the feeling he was going to pull something this drastic. That's why I sent you the email-" –Bryan cursed himself inwardly for that one- "but when I saw that you were still in one piece by the morning, I though he might not have gone through with it and left you alone. He likes to make an impression, you see, and a lot of times, it isn't a good one."

"It's not your fault." Bryan found himself saying before he had a chance to think about it. "He's a star, right? It's perfectly natural for eccentrics like them… Besides, it's no big deal." That right there was one big fat hairy lie.

The brunette tried to force a smile, but its lack of sincerity was a little too obvious. "Yeah… no big deal, right?"

The Russian nodded, faking his unaffectedness as well. "Right. It'll all be history by tomorrow. It happens all the time, right?" he tried to laugh.

The other man laughed with him. "Right… All the time."

Neither of them could see the blatant unease and hesitation over their own self-denial.

---

"-to thank you. And I want to especially thank Ivanov International for giving me thins chance to share my talents with the world."

God, he really did sound like a beauty pageant contestant. Bryan watched the Press conference from the sidelines. He wasn't fond of crowds, nor was he fond of flashing lights going off all around him or people who would get in your face just to talk to you.

In a way, he always thought those celebrities on TV were just whoring themselves to the media.

He looked at Kon. Just recalling the incident earlier sent chills down his spine. Oh what he wouldn't give to teach that little punk a lesson. Unluckily for him, he was very serious about his job and knew how to set his priorities straight. Why couldn't he stop being straight laced for once?

By now, his eyes must've been boring holes into the singers head. He kept his gaze until even Rei noticed it. Glancing in Bryan's direction, Rei grinned smugly before winking pseudo-seductively at him. Bryan wanted to gag.

Running into the next room which was used as a sort of back stage, Bryan loitered around by the benches left out hoping to collect his thoughts. This whole incident was seriously messing him up. He needed to get his act together and if he didn't, there was around a 75 chance he'd go insane.

The weight on the bench shifted. "Hey." Kei looked at him almost remorsefully. If anyone could understand what Bryan was going through, it would be Kei, right? The brunette looked blankly at Bryan. "What'cha doin'?"

That made Bryan laugh.

It wasn't what he said. It was more of how he said it. The Russian couldn't help but Smile at him as he answered. "I'm thinking, I guess. You?" he shot back in an equally playful manner.

Kei seemed to be glad that Bryan was feeling livelier. "Talking to you. Nothing much to do around here." Kei explained. "But I could really use a light right about now." He mused aloud.

"Really now…" Bryan said quirking a brow. "You smoke?"

"Believe it." Kei chuckled. "And from the looks of it, you do too, don't you?

"Religiously." The Russian laughed in response. This was enjoyable… Almost like a real conversation, unforced and completely spontaneous. Maybe, with a friend like Kei around, he'd be able to get though this whole ordeal without shooting himself in the head. It's funny how the best people always came with the worst. "Hey Kei…"

The other boy looked up. "Yeah?"

"… Thanks."

---

By the end of the press conference, the blonde photographer checked to see how his shots had turned out. The pictures had to reach the editors before the next day, after all.

On his way out, he ran into someone he hadn't been expecting. "Michael! What are you doing here?"

The other man looked just as surprised as he did. "Max! How've you been?"

The blonde, Max, exchanged greetings with his old colleague, smiling and laughing merrily. "Been great. You're here for Ivanov's new piece as well aren't you?" Well, what other reason would a columnist for one of the biggest entertainment magazines be doing here at this time if not to see a rising star.

Michael looked around warily before whispering something to the blonde. "This is only between you and me, but I'm here on an assignment to get the scoop on an even bigger debut!"

Gasp What's going to happen next? But whatever it is: I will not declare the story's official pairing until the end! Nevah!

Not sure I should be happy with this one. Nonymous-san, my proofreader told me she found the turn of events a little to quickly paced, but there's nothing I can do about that at the moment. Until next time!