Chapter 17: Rivalry

Usami strutted out of the room like he was the king of the world. Kunishima quickly caught on to what went down. This dude just dug his own grave. Being the competition was tough enough, but now he's up against the big boss himself. Alexis peeped some changes in Usami's and a few other folks' behavior. Rei-kun was straight up acting like a whole new person, Usami was laying on the extra niceness for no apparent reason, and Kunishima-san was sneaking sly looks and smirking to himself. "What the heck is going on with everyone?" he pondered.

As he was thinking about this he got yanked out of his office because his neighbors thought he left his speakers on too loud. He was almost done with work, so he decided to go out and hash things out. As he stepped outside, he spotted Shuji getting into his car. Alexis quickly turned his head, not wanting to deal with him right now. Just as he was about to hop into a taxi, someone grabbed his hand and forcefully dragged him into Shuji's car. Alexis locked eyes with Shuji and hurriedly asked, "What's the rush? I've got places to be, you know?" Little did Alexis realize, he came off a bit rude. Shuji, thinking it had to do with Usami, remained silent and signaled his driver to start driving. Before Alexis could finish his sentence, Shuji closed the window between them and planted a surprise kiss on him. Alexis was taken aback, but he couldn't quite figure out what to do next. When he tried to pull away, Shuji's grip on his head was too firm and caused him pain. Shuji even went as far as biting Alexis's lip, making his mouth slightly ajar. Then, Shuji boldly slipped his tongue in and intensified the kiss, leaving Alexis speechless. Alexis bit Shuji's tongue, causing him to recoil in pain. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Shuji asked, "Aren't you the daredevil?" Alexis felt a chill down his spine, but coolly replied, "Can you at least drop me off home first? I've got some explaining to do to my nosy neighbors. We can discuss this later, okay?"

Shuji told the driver to head to the destination. Upon arrival, the neighbor Akiyama-san shot Alexis an irritated and furious glare, saying, "Can't you remember to turn off those blasted speakers before leaving for work? They're so loud!" Alexis was baffled. It had been ages since he last used the speakers, as he had been swamped with work. He traced the noise to the house across the street and banged on the door, yelling, "Inosuke! Get out here, now!" Shuji's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched Alexis take charge of the situation. He never knew Alexis had it in him to be so commanding. Alexis bellowed at the top of his lungs until the door swung open, revealing a snooty teenager who seemed both arrogant and terrified of Alexis. With a shaky voice, the teenager nervously asked, "What's going on, Ale-san?" while fidgeting with his headphones. Alexis cut him off with a stern command, "Turn off those speakers immediately." Each word was punctuated with a pause, sending chills down everyone's spine. The anxious teenager burst in and the blaring music abruptly ceased. Alexis let out a sigh and reassured Akiyama-san that it wouldn't happen again. Shuji gazed at him with an overwhelming amount of affection. Like, seriously, way too much affection. Alexis felt the intensity of that gaze piercing through him. He turned around to see Shuji sporting an adorable expression. "What's with that look?" he inquired. In an instant, the expression morphed into something incredibly lewd, sending a shiver down Alexis' spine.

Unlocking his own door, he entered, took off his coat, and hung it up. Collapsing onto the couch, he rested his head on the armrest, staring up at the ceiling. Shuji entered and questioned, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work?" "Nah, I'm too exhausted," Alexis replied. Shuji cleared his throat, "I happen to be the CEO, and you dare to slack off in front of me." Despite his stern demeanor, he found it amusing deep down. "Alright, I'll just file for emergency leave," Alexis conceded. Shuji approached and inquired, "What's the emergency?" with the same serious expression, though his heart was racing with excitement as his fantasies began to unfold. Alexis gazed into Shuji's eyes as their faces moved closer together, even though the world seemed topsy-turvy. Feeling Shuji's warm breath on his face, Alexis couldn't help but lean in as Shuji's lips met his. Shuji yanked Alexis off the couch, their lips still locked. They broke apart for a moment, then Shuji slammed Alexis against the wall and laid a passionate kiss on him. Shuji was all over him, planting kisses on his neck and unbuttoning his shirt like he owned the place. Alexis couldn't help but enjoy the attention. Then Shuji went for the kill, kissing and biting him on the nape of his neck. He made sure to leave his mark on Alexis's neck. One was impossible to hide, even with a turtleneck. The other, well, let's just say it was his little secret. Shuji's day was made by Alexis' stifled moans of pleasure. Alexis couldn't understand why, but he found himself loving it. Shuji and Alexis ended up on the bed after locking lips. Shuji didn't stop kissing and nipping at Alexis until they were both gasping for air. Now, they were sprawled out on the bed, in the buff, wrapped up in each other. Shuji glanced at the chaos they caused and couldn't help but grin mischievously. After getting it on like wild animals, they passed out from exhaustion. Shuji woke up to find Alexis snoozing away. He couldn't help but gaze at him, then drifted back to dreamland while hugging him tightly.