21 - Bodyguard

"You are not doing this for my own good."

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Every year on Valentine's Day, Julian opened his locker and found a heap of chocolates in his work cubicle at University of Kaisersiedeln's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Department building, courtesy of the alphas who fell in love with him but were too shy to personally approach him.

This year, thanks to his injuries during the explosion and the subsequent confrontation with Lars Eisenhart, Julian only managed to return to the university in the first week of March.

To his delight, when he came by on Sunday morning, he found a pile of chocolate on his desk.

To his bewilderment, he also found a stern-faced, unknown alpha standing before his desk, using a Chronoscanner to check the content of each neatly wrapped package.

"25 marzipan truffles with a 3% bourbon content and 2% vanilla cream, glazed with 70% Swiss dark chocolate," the instrument spoke in detail.

Julian put his satchel next to the pile, and the alpha quickly scanned the content of his satchel.

"14-inch GenZ1278 Laptop complete with stylus, a 500 ml Thermox thermal tumbler, a lunch box with fried chicken, stir-fried broccoli, roast potatoes, and a bowl of kidney bean salad with ham bits and thousand island dressing."

"... Do you need me to open my laptop so you can extract some data while you are at it?" Julian asked, his eyes cold and his face devoid of smile.

The alpha, a dark-haired man with bright blue tufts, an ear piece clipping one of his ears, and a pair of mirrored sunglasses, cleared his throat and stood upright.

"Good morning, Mr. Haas. My name is Martin Ziegler. Agent Maximillian Grant from the National Bureau of Security has given me the order to act as your bodyguard, effective immediately and for an undisclosed duration."

Julian crossed his arms, his gaze lingering on the alpha with a slow assessment beneath a curtain of long lashes.

"I neither need nor want a bodyguard," Julian said.

"I will not disturb your activities, Mr. Haas. You wouldn't even know I exist," Martin insisted.

Julian stared at him.

"I already know that you exist."

Said bodyguard even introduced himself in front of him.

"Naturally, I am here today to introduce myself to you. Well then, Mr. Haas, if there is nothing else, please excuse me."

Martin left with his Chronoscanner, with Julian drilling stares into his back.

With an unhappy sigh, Julian made a call to Maximillian.

"Agent Grant speaking," Maximilian's deep voice was heard from the other end of the line.

"What is the meaning of this, Max?" Julian asked.

Maximillian paused for a while before he spoke.

"Good morning, Julian, apparently you already met Martin Ziegler. He is a very professional bodyguard, one of the best in the bureau. He is highly trained in both firearms and hand-to-hand combat..."

"I am sure that he is more than qualified," Julian interrupted Maximillian impatiently. "But I still don't want a stranger following me everywhere."

A soft sigh was heard.

"This is for your own good, Julian."

"No, Agent Grant," Julian snapped, changing the way he addressed Maximillian to a formal one. "You are not doing this for my own good."

The call terminated, leaving Maximillian bewildered, phone still glued to his ear.

"What's wrong, Max?" Annabelle Grant took a bite from her frittata and stared at her son.

That Sunday, Maximillian was hundreds of miles away from Eichwald, spending an exhausting and interrogative weekend at the Grant family's lakeside home by Waldau Lake.

It was all thanks to his little sister Angelique, who informed the entire family that Maximillian fell in love with a certain omega, but he was too shy to share the good news with everyone.

"Nothing." Maximillian's curt answer, accompanied with the gloomy look on his face, made his parents and Angelique exchange meaningful glances.

"It was that omega, wasn't it?" Douglas Grant cleared his throat as soon as he popped the question.

Maximillian furrowed his brows in response.

"He is a witness under the bureau's protection, that's all."

Angelique chewed at her pineapple French toast and beamed at her brother.

"I think I know who he is. Isn't he the other survivor in the bombing incident at Eichwald psychiatric hospital?"

Maximillian gave no answer. He was not supposed to talk about his cases with common folk, including his own family.

Annabelle rolled with her eyes.

"Alright, let's not talk about Max's secretive work cases. What about this omega Angelique has been telling us about?"

Maximillian heaved a sigh.

"I arranged for a bodyguard to follow him around, but he seems displeased with my choice. I will select another for him as soon as I return to the bureau."

His three family members exchanged a round of baffled glances.

"So, uh, Max, why did you arrange a bodyguard for him?" Douglas asked.

"It was necessary."

"You doofus," Annabelle pursed her lips. "What he meant was, why didn't you protect him yourself?"

"Yeah, Max. You were so cold to him, even on the phone. Sheeesh. If I were the omega, I would be quite pissed," Angelique readily complained.

Maximillian shot Angelique a stern gaze.

"It was necessary," he decided, his tone indicating that he no longer wanted to talk about Julian.

Angelique couldn't help but murmur, "Necessary for him or for you?"

"..."

It brought back Julian's last comment before he hung up the phone.

"You are not doing this for my own good."

Julian already said that he disliked strangers following him around, but he never voiced the same complaint when Maximillian followed him around.

Did it mean that he did not see Maximillian as a stranger?

What was he to Julian then?

A friend? Or...

Maximillian took a sip from his black coffee.

And what was Julian to him?

They had only been on one date so far, and it was to select a dog for Julian.

There was no reason for him to ask Julian out on a second or a third date, was there?

What exactly stirred this restlessness in his heart?