Page 7 of Villain

“Are you all set for senior year?” Yejun asked, seemingly reading his mind. When Lake glanced over at him, though, he merely stared back, patiently waiting for a reply.

Club Essential was considered a secretive society, not a secret one, since everyone on the planet knew how deeply rooted the club was in everything around them, from politics to clothing brands. Some members were obvious, like the Imperials and the dean of Foxglove Grove, though none of them would ever speak publicly of the club or admit to being a part of it. Still, due to the secret nature of it all, when one thought of an intricate, underground society, they most likely pictured someone like Yejun Sang.

At six feet three inches, he towered over most of the crowd. His hair was inky black and shone like pure silk. He never left the house without it styled, though the styles themselves varied depending on his mood.

When they’d been younger, he’d been the runt of the three of them. In elementary school, he’d even needed West’s help against bullies on the playground. Now he was the tallest, though only by an inch, and with their reputations well known throughout, it was more likely he’d be the one doing the bullying.

Yejun grinned at Lake’s obvious perusal of him, his full, cherry-red bottom lip stretching, showing off the snake bite piercings there, the jewelry the same shade as his hair and just as shiny. He had another black bar above his right eyebrow and a row of hoops on both ears. It wasn’t his stature or his piercings that tended to stop people in their tracks, however. It wasn’t even the mess of dark ink tattooed all over his arms and his neck.

Yejun Sang was gorgeous.

And the fucker knew it.

His face was what caught everyone’s attention, tricked them into overlooking the rest of him. To give him a chance. He was the most charming of the three of them for that very reason, and he wasn’t above using that charm to his advantage.

“Missed me, did you,” he teased now, blowing Lake a kiss for good measure that had West instantly groaning and rolling his eyes.

Lake and Yejun hadn’t ever hooked up past an exploratory kiss here and there in high school. Oh, and the time or two they’d exchanged hand jobs. But that was about it. They’d realized early on that sharing fuck buddies between them was much more enjoyable than potentially rocking the friendship.

What they had, what the three of them had, was stronger than anything. Even sex.

Which was saying a lot, considering how much sex played into the Club and its dealings.

“Man, don’t feed his ego, seriously.” West stood with a flourish and stabbed a finger toward their friend. “I wasn’t kidding before. He really has slept with half the student body.”

“If you’d stayed away a bit longer as planned,” Yejun pretended to pout, “I would have succeeded in bagging them all before graduation. With you here?” He clicked his tongue. “You’ll steal all the attention. At least you’ll only take the men.”

This time, it was Lake’s turn to roll his eyes. “I’m not here for that.”

“Well, sure,” he agreed. “But it’s not really like you have a choice?”

Right.

Eight years ago, they’d created the Enigma app with the secret intention of helping the Club.

This year, as seniors, they were finally going to be able to use it the way it was always meant to be used.

Others had already, of course. Those who’d come before them, but this was the first year in five that there were three legacy members up for ascension. Graduating from Foxglove Grove didn’t just mean prestige, a foot in the door on the planet, and parts of the galaxy. It also meant gaining traction within the Club itself.

It meant a chance for a seat on the Order.

“We don’t just have one task,” West grumbled, clearly not happy about it. “We’ve got two.”

“Don’t tell me you forgot?” Yejun directed at Lake and straightened in his chair, losing the playfulness he’d been purposefully laying on thick in an attempt to lighten the mood. He’d always hated being on this level of the club, preferring the penthouse or the lowest level where the private rooms and dancehall were located. “You do remember what we have to do this year, right? What our tasks are?”

“And that it has to be completed before Demon Passing,” West added, sounding every bit as concerned.

The three of them hadn’t really gotten the chance to talk privately since Lake had arrived last week, since he’d spent most of his time at the palace learning about the situation and giving reports on his time on Vitality. But the lack of faith here…

“Seriously?” He scowled at them.

“We’re the Demons of Foxglove Grove,” West said. “That comes with a certain—”

Lake held up a single hand and his friend instantly quieted, though it was clear by the way his gaze hardened he wasn’t happy about it. Sometimes, the two of them butt heads about things. He’d been hopeful that would have changed since he’d been away for so long, but he should have realized old habits died hard.

West wanted to tell him off for pulling rank; that much was obvious, but he kept himself in check, either due to their friendship or the fact they were being so carefully monitored, and they well knew it. Every single member in this room would kill to run off to West’s daddy and tattle about whatever detail they believed was worth it.

“I’ve been on the app since I got back,” Lake told them. “It’s good.”

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