CHAPTER 26: THEY’RE CUTE! WHO ARE THEY?

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"Hey, Alpheus, you got any food around? We’re starving over here." Dave said shamelessly.

"We’re not a café or a restaurant for you to come looking for food." Alpheus replied flatly.

"But we’re your guests. The least you could do is feed us—we’re practically dying here, man!" Calyx added, dramatically flopping onto the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table like he owned the place.

"It’s not my fault you came here without eating first. And for the record, you’re our uninvited guests." Alpheus responded, still flatly.

"Tsk, what a cheapskate. As if feeding us would bankrupt your company." Alfonso chimed in. "Gracia, would you mind grabbing us something to eat? Or at least some coffee?"

Gracia paused mid-typing, her fingers freezing above the keyboard. Slowly, she turned her head and shot Alfonso a cold glare.

Alpheus sighed inwardly. He had completely forgotten to remind his employees not to let his friends into the office during work hours.

Apparently, everyone had gotten too used to their routine interruptions. No wonder I can’t get anything done, he thought.

He glanced over at his secretary, who now looked visibly annoyed.

When their eyes met, he gave her an apologetic look—what else could he do? He couldn’t exactly kick his friends out, especially when they acted more at home in his office than he ever did.

Gracia, quick to pick up on his silent message, didn’t say a word. She calmly gathered the stack of documents she had planned to finish, grabbed her bag, and stood up.

Without making a fuss, she walked straight to the door. But just before leaving, she looked over at the guys, then turned and closed the door behind her with a loud thud.

The stunned looks on his friends’ faces were nothing short of hilarious. Alpheus couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Damn," Dave muttered with a laugh. "Ms. Gracia’s not even trying to hide that she wants us out. I mean, did you hear that door slam?"

"Haha, yeah. She’s even grumpier than usual today. Maybe she still doesn’t have a boyfriend," Calyx added with a laugh.

Alpheus just shrugged. Honestly, he was uninterested in his secretary’s personal life. He cared more about when he’d get to see Sylvia’s kids again than whatever was going on with Gracia.

"Seriously, what are you guys doing here again? Don’t tell me you’re planning to hang out here all day—again?" he asked flatly, already sounding tired of them.

"Haha, nothing new, man." Dave replied, comfortably lounging on the long sofa with his feet also kicked up on the coffee table.

Alpheus shot him a glare, but Dave only laughed in response.

"Damn you, fuckers!" he muttered under his breath, watching as his friends made themselves feel at home—again.

They were all lounging on his couch like it was their own place, completely relaxed, each one glued to their phones.

He could even hear the familiar line from Mobile Legends—"You have slain an enemy"—coming from Calyx’s phone.

None of them paid him any attention.

He noticed Alfonso grab the remote for the air conditioner. A second later, the temperature in the room noticeably dropped—he’d turned it up again.

Alfonso even shamelessly hugged his favorite pillow while tapping away on his phone, looking far too comfortable.

Alpheus let out a long sigh. At that point, he knew there was nothing else he could do but let them be. After all, he knew his friends wouldn’t leave even if he asked—they never listened anyway.

So instead, he pulled out his phone, opened his gallery, and scrolled through the pictures he’d secretly taken earlier that morning during breakfast.

A soft smile crept onto his face as he looked at the candid shots of the kids happily eating with their mom.

There were more photos—ones where the two kids were walking hand-in-hand, and some where they were clinging to their mother.

Just seeing those pictures warmed his heart. He didn’t even notice how much he was smiling while scrolling through them.

Unfortunately, someone did notice.

Calyx, the nosiest of the bunch, spotted the grin on Alpheus’ face from across the room. Curious, he quietly got up from his seat and started making his way toward him without saying a word.

Alfonso noticed Calyx’s sneaky little move and, being just as nosy, decided to follow along quietly.

Dave, still on the couch, caught the two silently creeping toward their friend and just shook his head in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Alpheus remained completely unaware, still focused on the pictures of Sylvia and the kids.

His back was turned to them, giving Calyx the perfect chance to peek over his shoulder—and sure enough, he saw one of the photos, a candid image of Sylvia and the kids.

"Whoa, they’re cute! Who are they?"

Calyx suddenly blurted out, unable to keep his mouth shut after seeing the adorable twins grinning in the candid photo.

Alpheus nearly jumped out of his seat at the sudden voice behind him. He hadn’t even noticed Calyx sneaking up to peek over his shoulder.

"What the fuck, man?!"

He glared at his friends—especially Calyx, who was now looking at him with that annoyingly innocent face.

"You asshole, Calyx! What exactly did you see?!"

"Relax, man! I didn’t see anything bad. I just peeked a little. Chill!" Calyx said in his defense, raising both hands as if to prove his innocence.

Alpheus shifted his glare to Alfonso, who was now chuckling off to the side.

"What about you, Alfonso? What did you see?"

"Chill, bro, I barely saw anything," Alfonso said quickly, pointing at Calyx. "He was blocking most of the screen. If anyone got a clear look, it was definitely him!"

Alpheus shot them both a deadly glare.

"Hey, Calyx! Did you all see it?!" Alpheus said irritably.

"Wait! Chill, bro. I didn’t really see much," Calyx replied, trying his best to sound innocent. "All I clearly saw was a blurred picture of the twins—those two cute kids were probably smiling in the photo."

Alpheus was still annoyed, unable to shake off his suspicion, while Dave and Alfonso were starting to get curious.

"So, you were lying earlier when you said you didn’t see anything," Alpheus snapped, his tone sharper now. "You obviously know what was in that photo. What else did you see?"

But Calyx wasn’t intimidated at all. In fact, he smirked mischievously.

"Haha, relax, dude. There wasn’t anything else. Just a bunch of photos of those same kids. I’m guessing you took them secretly, huh?" Calyx teased with a knowing grin.

Alpheus glared at him, clearly unamused.

"That’s not important... I mean... did you see anyone aside from the twins in those photos?" he asked again, a hint of nervousness slipping into his voice.

Calyx tilted his head. "Nope. Should there have been someone else in the photo? Why, was there? Lemme see!" he said shamelessly as he reached out for Alpheus’ phone, trying to sneak another peek.

But Alpheus quickly yanked it out of reach, shooting him another deadly glare.