Memory

Smiling so gently at me, his eyes were a bit puzzled. "Hmm? You actually don't remember me, I'm surprised."

'Was I supposed to know you?' 

I held back from saying that as it was needlessly rude. 

He looked genuinely confused, which made me question my memories. Did I really know this guy? But that wasn't possible. I always had a very good memory and my ability to remember people's faces was top notch. 

"...I don't feel like chatting with randoms at this hour, so if you'd please state your business or leave already."

He offered me another closed-eyes smile and pulled something from behind his back, a beautiful bouquet of light pink roses—my favorite. After taking a glance at them, I looked back at the man closely. 

He was tall, almost taller than me by two heads. 'Am I really too short or is he too tall?' In addition to that, his sharp features were in immense contrast when looking at his gentle smile and sweet aura. His dark hair was neatly combed back, and my eyes stared at his forehead for a moment. 

Or maybe a little bit too long, since he chuckled. 

"My forehead is bothering you?" 

"Um, I'm sorry-"

"Don't be, this was your reaction years ago once I had the same hairstyle. It's nostalgic." he chuckled again, which made me smile awkwardly. That was definitely rude from my side no matter what he said. 

'And I don't even remember him or that day he was speaking of… It's getting a bit unnerving.'

"No need to be so unnerved," the man again tried to comfort me. But he surely didn't know that his words only made it worse, he added: "I needed to meet you today urgently. Unfortunately, you were in a bad condition. My time is being cut short, though."

"Look, but I can't even remember you."

"I know, although that's pretty disappointing. However, we'll spend a lot of time together from now on. You don't have to worry about it."

"Okay… Well. Not okay, but I'll let this pass now…"

"Good girl."

I flinched. Something was eerily familiar from that one call, but I couldn't catch on. 

Noticing my weird expression, the man finally sighed and bowed slightly. A polite yet old-fashioned gesture. "My name is John. I'm William's older brother."

"Huh?"

"Yes, I'm the older brother of that sorry excuse of a living being who's now—fortunately—your ex."

I felt tired of getting shocked at that point. I just stared at him silently while waiting for his next word. 

"Not much of a reaction anymore? Very well, please rest assured and go back to bed. I have a little offer for you if you'd like."

"This…"

Hesitating a bit, I covered my nape and pushed the door closed a bit. Although his scent was faint and well-hidden, my nose wouldn't betray me. This guy was an alpha, and not any alpha, but my ex's older brother. 

'It's not safe to let an alpha into my room in this situation. I'm weak, and my pheromones are unstable. Not to mention the special trait they usually had.'

"I understand your worry," he sighed softly, "But that's not going to work."

All of the sudden, the door was pushed open and he forced his way inside. Before I could even react, the door was closed and locked. He sat gracefully on the sofa as if he done nothing wrong as my guards banged on the door, clearly attempting to break the door. 

"You crazy thing…"

"I don't plan to do anything harmful for you, so please, allow us to have this conversation already."

"Haa… Guards, you can stay still. Everything is alright. Stay at the door though, don't move. And be ready to break in if you hear anything weird."

After a few moments of hesitation, I sat on the bed. It was now the time to hear what this weirdo had to offer. Showing any hesitation would only be a disadvantage to me. 

"You look familiar," I lightly commented. 

"Of course I will. After all, we met each other a lot in the past."

"Eh, we did?"

"I'm surprised you don't know, I thought it was pretty obvious. But…" he sighed, "maybe it's actually better when you don't remember."

"Why?"

Just by reflex, the question came out. I didn't really want to know, and perhaps I shouldn't have tried to know. An immediate sense of regret and fear assaulted me. 

Escape. My whole body shook, and my pheromones probably leaked out, seeing how his nose moved. 

'An alpha shouldn't be smelling my pheromones…!'

"Calm down," just as I was panicking, his voice reached to me. I stopped moving at once, afraid of making a messy situation between us. 

John looked me in the eyes and smiled, "You can relax, I won't hurt you."

'You can relax, nothing will hurt you.'

'No, why am I remembering that man now? I need to focus.'

"Okay… State your business. We wasted a lot of time already."

"That's right. Look, I need help and you also need it. It's not so difficult to do, I just need your support to take a certain position."

"Position?"

"Your grandfather's bodyguard."

That alerted me. J sat straight, "What do you want from my grandfather?"

"There's no position that's open otherwise, and I need to be by your grandfather's side. It's for a personal concern of mine and I cannot tell you about it."

"You seem dangerous, are you not going to tell me the reason, and yet, you expect me to help you?"

"Don't you want revenge?" he tilted his head, "If you want revenge, you can't do it on your own. Not with William going happily with your best friend, completely unaware about your secret."

"...What?"

"Ah, you didn't think I'd know? Well, your pheromones say it all. My brother is the dumb one for not realizing. I guess he thought it was from his side whore."

Lowering my head, I let out a heavy sigh. 

"Will taking revenge on my child's father be any good?"