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)

Taro's home was warm and inviting—modest but well-kept, filled with the comforting scent of home-cooked food. It was a simple middle-class home, nothing extravagant, but it was a place of warmth, a stark contrast to the world of polished luxury that Rylan was used to.

But none of that mattered to Rylan. His attention was elsewhere.

Taro stood beside him, practically glowing with excitement. He had been waiting for this moment—the chance to introduce his boss, the man he admired more than anyone, to the people in his life.

"Sir, I want to introduce you to my friend," Taro said eagerly, motioning toward the man who had just arrived. "This is Elian."

Elian stepped forward, his presence effortlessly commanding the space around him. He moved with a quiet confidence, his expression composed, unreadable.

Rylan turned to face him fully, his sharp gaze sweeping over him with quiet intensity.

Elian was even more striking up close. His features were dangerously refined—dark eyes that seemed to hold secrets too deep to grasp, smooth skin that caught the dim light just right, lips that remained in that infuriatingly neutral line, as if nothing in this world could shake him.

Rylan extended his hand, his lips curving into a slow, unreadable smile. "Rylan Daemon Asano," he introduced himself, though the formality was unnecessary.

Elian studied him for a fraction of a second before accepting the handshake. His fingers were cool against Rylan's palm, his grip steady—no hesitation, no nervousness. Just composed control.

"The pleasure is mine, Sir," Elian responded, his voice smooth, polite. But it wasn't submission. It was calculated courtesy.

Rylan felt something dark coil in his chest.

It wasn't just desire—it was something more than that. Something obsessive. Something consuming.

Because Elian wasn't like the others. He didn't react. He didn't yield.

And Rylan had never wanted to possess something more.

Their handshake lingered a moment too long before Elian pulled away effortlessly, his attention shifting back to Taro as if the exchange had meant nothing at all.

Rylan's jaw tightened, but his smile remained in place.

If Elian wouldn't acknowledge him now… he would make sure that changed.

And he had just the perfect way to start.

Chapter 25 – The Gathering Tension