Under The Veil of Night

Mike came into the office and looked at the sight of Kanae and Kevin working together at the same table. This was already a common occurrence, but he felt that there was something off.

"Kanae, I think you need to clean up your clothes."

Because Kanae had hid in an abandoned storage room, her clothes became slightly soiled. It was not much, but it seemed unsuitable for a girl. Of course, he only said this because he wanted to talk to Kevin for a moment.

Kanae smiled wryly. "I’ll clean up a bit."

After she walked out, Mike showed his phone to Kevin. "The Souhon Clan’s battle is intruding our territory. Should we make a move to ensure the situation is under our control?"

"Neo, the intruders came for us for what reason?" Kevin asked calmly.

Neo stopped his work. "They don’t want the Ryukalin Clan to get involved with the internal battle of the Souhon Clan. Because we have some relations with Jay Hon, they want us to stay away from the areas of conflict and not interfere with their battle."

They managed to get the information from the night intruders during that time, but their answers made them rather surprised. Even though Kevin had some relation with Jay, he still wouldn’t move his men just because they knew each other. The basis of Roy’s thinking was flawed.

At the same time, this irked Kevin quite a lot. He never tried to interfere with their battle previously and let the two clans fight with each other because he wanted to stay neutral. Unfortunately, their fight started to infringe on his areas and this made him rather annoyed.

"Are we going to do what they expect us to do?" Neo asked.

Kevin shook his head. "There’s no benefit for us to get involved other than the loss of men. We’re going to fight them back but in a different way."

Neo’s eyes lit up. "Are we going to snatch their territory again?"

"Expanding one’s territory during battle is normal," Kevin answered in a flat tone. "Ask for the men to expand our areas to the north. Tell them that whoever manages to defeat the most people from the Souhon Clan’s area is going to get a greater share of the loot and a higher chance of promotion."

"Yes, Boss."

Mike walked out to relay his orders, and Kevin looked towards Neo. "You should go to help Mike. I don’t want the higher-ups to know that we’re the one fighting this time. Deal with the reporters too, but don’t harm them."

"Yes, Boss," Neo immediately stood up.Whenever Kevin gave them long instructions, it meant that he wanted them to finish the job quickly and thoroughly. There was no time for them to rest.

Kanae returned right when Neo walked out from the room. She looked towards his direction with a confused gaze.

"Why are they walking out?"

"I asked them to do something else. Let’s continue working."

"Yes."

Outside the room, Neo walked towards Lou. "Boss wants us to take care of the Souhon Clan members that are intruding on our areas. Can you ask our people to gather and fight back? We’re going to expand our territory again."

"Sure," Lou answered immediately. When it came to the matter of their clan, he would not hesitate to carry out orders quickly.

Inside the room, Kanae spent the day doing her work alongside Kevin. They only stopped to eat before returning back to their work. Her special phone vibrated a few times, but she didn’t answer it because she already gave her instructions to Jason.

Time passed ever so quickly. Mike and Neo didn’t return back, and Lou also went elsewhere. The two of them finished going through the requests for the factory production, as well as their usual batch of reports for ongoing projects.

"Your work efficiency is higher than before," Kevin looked towards her completed work with approval.

Kanae smiled. "I have a great teacher in front of me."

The corners of Kevin’s lips rose slightly when he heard her praise. He stood up and took out a set of new clothes. It was obviously his clothes, but he didn’t prepare women’s clothing in his office.

"You can’t go home with it still in chaos like that outside. Did you bring clothes or do you need to borrow mine?"

Kanae smiled wryly as she recalled that she didn’t bring her training clothes with her. Inside her bag was only her usual school stationery along with her purse and a few more things.

"I think I’ll borrow yours."

Kevin handed them to Kanae. She took them hesitantly. Should she just skip taking a bath today? She didn’t feel like skipping, though. After all, she had stayed in a room filled with dust before.

"Don’t worry. I have never worn them before," Kevin explained.

That was not what Kanae was worrying about, but she decided not to elaborate. She headed towards the bathroom and took a bath before wearing Kevin’s clothes. They were far bigger than her real size, so it made her look like a child who stole her parents’ clothes.

Kanae kept the phone on her own clothes. She couldn’t risk putting it in Kevin’s clothes in case she forgot about it.

After taking a bit more time to dry her hair and tie it up, she walked back to Kevin’s office. She made sure that his clothes covered her body even if it was oversized on her. After all, she didn’t want to make a scene in this place.

"Do you have smaller clothes?" Kanae asked in a wry tone.

Kevin glanced towards Kanae and stood still for a moment. This was the first time he saw her wear his clothes because Kanae usually brought hers if she planned to stay over. Her shoulder was slightly revealed because the collar was too big for her. The big clothes allowed him to see Kanae in a completely different light than usual.

"That’s the smallest set I have," Kevin answered after a slight pause.

"I see," Kanae nodded her head and put her own clothes along with her special phone in her own bag.

At this point, Kevin was trying to calm himself. For some unknown reason, when he was looking at her appearance, he found her to be attractive. In terms of beauty, he knew that Kanae was considered normal, but at this time, he found her to be very pretty in his eyes. It was extremely weird because there were certainly thousands of women who had much more attractive bodies than the young girl.

"I’ll sleep first," Kanae pointed to the couch. She noticed that Kevin seemed to be troubled. "President, are you alright? Did you overwork again?"

"I’m fine," Kevin waved his hand and shifted his posture. "You can sleep first, I’ll rest later."

"Okay."

Without much thought, Kanae lay down on the couch. At this point, Kevin was busy thinking about his impression of Kanae. At first, he only found her to be an interesting girl who could play basketball very well. And then, he noticed her interesting behavior in class. Seeing her bored expression, he knew that she has mastered the class material, so he decided to have her work for him.

He never thought too much about her and only knew that her work was satisfying. Because of that, he offered her a position in his office. Over and over again, she surprised him by showing her capability in working and all. Plus, she was truly a glutton, which made it easier for him to poach her, as well as motivate her to keep working for him.

As it was convenient, he also asked her help when the woman from the other company tried to pursue him. Her indifferent behavior around him was truly refreshing.

But that was not all. Soon, he found out that she was not like any other woman. If he wanted to talk about things related to women and relationships, she was extremely dense (he too, but he would not admit that). Not girlish at all, she was rather leaning more towards a tomboy.

And when the accident on the cruise happened, he realized that she was a truly courageous girl. Even though she made a mess of his kitchen afterward, he found it funny to find that a girl couldn’t cook.

His mind drifted again as he recalled how he enjoyed working with her beside him. Usually, he didn’t like it if someone stayed too close to him, but when he was near her, he didn’t have much of a reaction. When she went away for personal reasons, he found out that he was feeling bothered without her around him.

He thought that it was just because she was an excellent assistant, but now he knew that it was not true. He didn’t see her as a mere assistant.

’I like her.’

When he saw that she was in the school during such a dangerous time, all he could think about was her safety. He was worried about her, a feeling that he rarely had for those around him. And when he found her, he was relieved that she was fine.

Kevin looked towards the sleeping girl on the couch. There was no mistake. He knew that he truly liked her. Not only as a subordinate or friend, but as the one who might accompany him for his entire life. The questions left were how deep his feelings were for her, and what he was going to do from now on.