Chapter 4: Love at first...laugh?

3rd Person POV:

Arthur came to a halt before a big building. He takes off the headphones he was wearing and put them inside his backpack. He had bought some presentable clothes a few days ago, so he looked pretty breathtaking right now.

In a good mood, he walked right in, not noticing a little stone on the ground. He had just walked a few steps when he stumbled and started to fall. He cursed inwards and waited for the pain to come.

He never felt the pain. Instead, he was hugged and heard a soft, deep and gentle laughter above him, making his cheeks flush.

'What a nice laugh..', he thought. He opened his eyes and looked up. What he saw shocked him a lot. Yes, you probably guessed right, he was looking straight at the Villain, Richard. His handsome features softened looking at himself and that laugh made him look irresistible.

'Fu**, he's hot.', thought our poor gay ******. His heartbeat accelerated as he spoke "B-Brother R-Richard? Is that you?", he stuttered, trying not to sound like an idiot.

He heard some gasps around him, paying them no mind. He looked straight into those deep eyes, which looked back at him. He found himself unable to look away.

While the employees prayed for the blonde beauty, Richard himself was equally stunned as he looked back into the eyes of his childhood 'sweetheart'. His breath stopped for a second as his Adam apple bobbed a few times.

He looked away after a while and helped Arthur up. "Arthur.. I never expected to meet you here..", he started with a gentle and deep voice, earning another round of gasps around him. He looked at these noisy pests with icy eyes, resulting in them quickly going back to what they were doing beforehand.

Arthur himself got goosebumps listening to his voice, but he still stood straight and smiled with flushed cheeks. "Me neither!", he said happily. 'Did I just get a Jackpot?!', he thought. He jumped into his embrace, getting caught by a surprised Richard in the process.

"I wanted to see you for so long, Brother! I missed you", Arthur said. Unknown to him, he caused Richard's heartbeat to quicken, who immediately hugged him a little bit tighter. Yes, he missed the blonde youth as well, but.. Something seemed different right now. He frowned inward a little, while keeping a gentle smile on his face. "I missed you as well, Arthur. But, what are you doing here?", he now asked.

Arthur instantly gasped and freed himself from Richard's tight hug. "I forgot! I have to go tell them I'm here!", he said and smiled at his 'childhood friend' and answered his question. "I work here now, you see!", he 'searched' through his pockets and handed Richard a note. "Here, take it. It's my number. I have to go but don't forget to write!", he said afterwards and ran away because he's almost late.

Richard took his note with a slight chuckle and watched him leave. He put a hand on his chest, feeling his slightly accelerated heartbeat. 'What..happened there?', he asked himself, though he did not know the answer. He frowned a bit but soon his face became cold like normal again. He could think about that later.

He had to slowly get close to him again to find out. For now, he can contract him, which is enough. His lips turned slightly upward again for a second, before going back again. He walked to his office and sat down. Of course he had to 'work' at this company as well to do so, he anticipated the coming weeks or months..

Arthur knocked on the door of the office belonging to his superior. He heard a female voice saying "Come in" and opened the door. He closed it again afterwards and walked to her. He squinted his eyes a bit as he sees displeasure showing in her eyes. 'I'm sure Arthur never met this person before... Pancake, did he?', he immediately thought.

{No he didn't, Edwin. That much I can tell you. She just does not seem to like you}, was the answer he got. Arthur nodded inward. 'Weird, let's find out why then', he thought back and started introducing himself. "Hello Miss. My Name is Arthur Ionas and I was told to start working here today", he began politely. "Yes, I know.", was her answer. She pointed to the seat in front of her desk. "Sit down, we need to talk.", she continued as she inspected him with an intense gaze. She got a polite nod as answer as he sat down in front of her.

She immediately started speaking as soon as he was seated. "I'm sorry to tell you but, we don't accept backdoor bit**** in our department. I don't know what you did for the big boss to accept without even interviewing you first, but if you don't have any technological knowledge except what you got from studying, I'll fire you again.", she rudely stated while pushing her glasses upwards.

Arthur was slightly stunned at first, but then his whole being turned cold in an instant. He mischievously smiled at the lady, but the smile did not quite reach his eyes, which makes it a bit creepy. "Dear Madam, I don't remember ever offending you? Of course, I could understand being envious or jealous, but, what right do you have to be jealous of me entering the so-called backdoor? Let's just say I did enter through it... Would you speaking like this really help you in any way? I could get you fired in a heartbeat, if that were indeed the case.", he said threateningly as he looked her straight in the eye.

But he calmed down at her calm face. 'She's testing me.. Interesting...', he thought, then continued speaking with a more friendly smile. "But if I didn't enter through the backdoor, but with my own capabilities..wouldn't you be losing precious personal? I'm sorry to disappoint you ma'am, but I am a capable hacker. That was the whole reason I got hired in the first place. There was no backdoor.. Well, maybe a little, but not that it matters.", he lied with a straight smile, not even a flinch escaped from him while doing so. Well, he would be the best existing hacker in this..backward world, so he has absolutely no worries of being found out.

The woman smiled sincerely this time. She reached out her hand, shaking his with hers. "Accepted, you passed my little test. Excuse my behavior, sir Ionas. I wanted to test your personality, to get a feeling for everything that needed to be considered when putting you into a team. My name is Iris Green. Since you are a hacker, I guess you would go to our security department?", she said with a soft voice.

"Indeed, Miss Green. I was planning on going there.", he answered without hesitating."That's really helpful. We're a little understaffed over there, so your help is appreciated.", she said and handed him a small map and a few papers. "Here. This map is for you to find your way to the right department. If you look at the papers, you'll find everything you need to know written there. Welcome in our company. You'll be in team 3, specializing in anything related to online security and publicity."

Arthur took everything and stood up. "Thank you very much, Miss Green." He began walking to the door and opened it afterwards. "I wish you a good day.", he said before leaving the room. "You too, thank you.", she still managed to say before he closed the door. Amusement flashed in her eyes for a second after he was gone. 'Mr. Strauss found an interesting person. I know for a fact that he never mentioned being a hacker.', she thought smiling and directed the newfound information toward her boss immediately.

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