hidingwriter

Elian Volkov, a world-renowned model and actor with striking emerald-green eyes, has everything-fame, fortune, and admirers across the globe. But beneath the glitz and glamour, he longs for the one person who once made his world feel real: Taro Fujimura, his childhood best friend from Japan. Years have passed without contact, but Elian never forgot their bond. Determined to reunite, he travels to Japan unannounced, showing up at Taro's doorstep with nothing but memories and a hopeful heart.

Taro, now a hardworking manager at a small branch of an international company, has built a modest but stable life with his mother and sister. The sudden reappearance of Elian-a man who now belongs to an entirely different world-shakes him to his core. As he struggles to process their reunion, lingering emotions and unspoken words from the past resurface, challenging everything he thought he had moved on from.

However, Elian's return does not go unnoticed. A powerful billionaire with haunting ruby-red eyes, obsessed with claiming Elian as his own, watches from the shadows. With wealth, influence, and a dangerous level of obsession, he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Elian by his side-even if it means tearing him away from Taro once again.

As love, desire, and obsession intertwine, Elian finds himself caught between two forces: the warmth of a long-lost friendship that could bloom into something more and the intoxicating pull of a man who refuses to let him go. In a world where love can be both a treasure and a curse, will Elian follow his heart, or will the past and present collide, leading to a fate neither of them expected?

Toxic Gems is a story of rekindled bonds, dangerous attraction, and the fine line between love and possession.

TOXIC GEMS (BL)

The car ride was… quiet. At least, for the first five minutes.

Taro, still groggy, leaned against the car window, watching the streets pass by. Meanwhile, Elian scrolled through his phone, completely at ease in the luxury car.

Elian slowly turned to him with an amused smirk. "You just ate breakfast. How are you hungry already?"

Taro groaned, covering his face. "I'm not hungry."

Taro sighed. "It's called digestion, okay? My body is working hard."

Elian laughed. "Poor thing. Should I buy you snacks like a school kid?"

Taro shot him a glare. "Drop me at work and go."

Elian smirked. "Fine, fine. But if you collapse from hunger, don't say I didn't warn you."

They pulled up near Taro's office, a modest but well-maintained building. Compared to the luxury buildings Elian was used to, this place looked… ordinary. But Elian said nothing.

Taro stepped out, adjusting his bag. "Thanks for the ride."

Elian leaned out the window. "Don't miss me too much."

Taro scoffed. "I'll try to survive."

As the car pulled away, Taro sighed and entered the office. Inside, the usual buzz of morning chatter filled the air.

Taro flinched as his coworker, Hayato, grinned at him from his desk. "Shut up, I'm on time."

Another colleague, Aika, raised an eyebrow. "You look… different today."

Aika smirked. "You got dropped off in a luxury car. Did you win the lottery?"

Hayato gasped dramatically. "Or did you finally get a sugar daddy?"

Before he could sit down, a group of employees gathered near the office entrance, whispering excitedly.

"Did you hear?" one of them said. "Rylan Daemon Asano is coming back from abroad today."

Taro paused. That name sounded familiar.

"He's personally visiting the headquarters," another whispered. "If anyone catches his attention, they could get promoted. Maybe even transferred to the main branch!"

Aika leaned toward Taro. "This is huge. He never visits small branches like ours."

Hayato sighed. "Man, I just hope he doesn't fire half of us."

Taro wasn't too interested in corporate politics, but he had a bad feeling. Billionaire bosses never came just for a friendly check-in.

As he sat down at his desk, his phone buzzed. A message from Elian.

Elian: Don't work too hard, fragile boy.

Taro rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day.

Chapter 8: A Ride to Work