CHAPTER 109: FIREWORKS MOMENT.

Outside, the air was cooler. It was nighttime. Bright nighttime. The silence between them was unbearable now. Thick like honey.

She didn’t want to get in a car with him. Not now. Not while her head was a furnace of confused heat.

That was when she saw it. The distraction. Her salvation.

A street event had sprawled a few feet ahead, unexpected and chaotic. Twinkling string lights blinked across the air. Colorful tents had been set up. Music floated from scratchy speakers. The crowd was laughing, talking, dancing. A guy in a neon green vest was balancing a tower of tiny cut meat sticks while yelling exorbitant prices over the music.

"Can we—um..." she cleared her throat, gesturing vaguely. "I kind of want to look."

Hades’s eyes moved lazily toward the noise. His expression remained blank, but the tension in his jaw told her everything. He would rather swallow nails than enter that mess.

"You’d prefer a street carnival over a ride home?"

Yes. Lunatic. How dare he try to seduce her and act innocent?

"J-just a few minutes." She stuttered, not even able to meet his eyes.

Her social battery was as drained as his, but aside from wanting to take some break away from him, this was her first time seeing something like this. The average Northerner didn’t have the time or luxury for leisure like this. So, the whole thing was foreign and fascinating.

She walked a few paces ahead of him, forcing him to follow. People looked, of course they did. Women gawked without shame, and some even whispered, nudging one another like schoolgirls.

She overheard at least three different women approach him. Since she was a few paces ahead, they must have assumed he was alone.

One, a bold-looking girl with long hair, asked if he lived in the district.

He didn’t even break his stride.

"Fuck off," he said simply.

The girl froze. Stunned. Then scurried off like she’d been electrocuted.

Alice blinked. Rude.

He was very rude.

But why did it feel like she wanted to smile? She shook her head, trying to push the thought away, her eyes drawn instead to a stall displaying hand-carved wooden trinkets.

Then, suddenly, the streetlights dimmed. A hush fell over the crowd.

"IT’S TIME!" Someone yelled.

A high-pitched whistle split the air.

Alice’s head snapped up.

High above the city, a firework exploded. A brilliant red bloom of color. Then another. And another. Soon, the sky was alive with gold and green and silver. Bursting. Fading. Blooming again. She had never seen anything like it.

She felt her chest tighten, a lump forming in her throat from the sheer, overwhelming beauty of it all.

She was so absorbed that she didn’t notice the strange, high-pitched "weeee" sound that preceded each explosion. She only noticed when she saw the almost imperceptible flinch that Hades made with each whistle. He was watching the fireworks too, his head tilted back, the light of the explosions illuminating the hard lines of his face. But she saw it. The slight discomfort whenever that sound announced another firework.

’Noisy’

She remembered he had said it. He didn’t like noisy places.

After a moment of hesitation, she moved.

She approached him. Yes, she was crazy.

He looked at her, his brow rising when she stood directly in front of him.

She stood on her toes and pressed her hands gently to the sides of his head, covering his ears.

The fireworks kept exploding, their booms now muted to a soft thud against her palms.

They were so close. They were staring at each other. Her fingers were pressed against the side of his head, her thumbs tucked beneath his jaw, her palms cold and rough against his skin.

She could swear her face was beet red, her cheeks burning with embarrassment and something...

But what was more traumatizing?

Hades’s face was also slowly turning a shade of red. A deep, tell-tale flush had crept up his neck and across his cheeks, a color she had never seen on him before. It was a flush of surprise, of confusion, of... something.

Her eyed widened in surprise and at once, they both broke apart.

The car ride back was dreadful. Alice had never been more acutely aware of the space between two people. She pretended to be asleep the entire time, her head leaned against the cold window, eyes squeezed shut. The silence was suffocating, made even more so by the memory of the fireworks, the warmth of his ears against her palms, and the shocking flush on his cheeks.

He didn’t say a word. In fact, he turned up the radio during the drive, the music a loud, jarring noise that filled the car and prevented any potential conversation. She could feel his gaze on her, a heavy, silent weight, but she refused to open her eyes.

The moment the car pulled up to the mansion, she was gone. She didn’t wait for him to open the door, didn’t utter a single word of thanks. She simply pushed the handle, stumbled out, and ran. She took the stairs two at a time, her sneakers squeaking against the polished marble. She didn’t even notice the henchmen who were all stunned and looking up the stairs she had taken. Their faces were a mix of confusion and disbelief as they watched her disappear around the corner.

Hades entered a moment later. He looked... unHades-like. His posture was less rigid, his usual commanding presence replaced by a subtle disquiet. He ran a hand through his already messy bun, pulling out the hair tie and letting his dark hair fall over his forehead. He looked less like a god of the underworld and more like a man who had just been completely, utterly blindsided.

"Boss?" Milo’s voice broke the quiet, a rare note of concern in his usually calm demeanor. "What’s wrong?"

Hades didn’t even look at him. He simply ignored the question, ignoring the man, and started for the stairs, his footsteps heavy and deliberate. He didn’t run like Alice, but his pace was far from his usual unhurried stride.

Milo watched him go, a bewildered frown on his face. He exchanged a look with the other henchmen, who all seemed equally baffled.