Chapter 1 — Another Boring Meeting
Lev's POV
Another meeting.
Another fucking boring meeting.
I stood beside Nikolai's chair, my hands clasped behind my back, shoulders straight, expression completely blank.
Calm.
Professional.
Alert.
Exactly what a personal bodyguard was supposed to look like.
At least, that's what everyone in the room thought.
Because inside my head?
🎶 “Everything I do, multiply it by two
I got this and that, this and that
We would take a coupe
Or a truck, Vroom Vroom
I got this and that” 🎶
《Yeah. That's where my brain was. 😮💨》
Not here.
Definitely not in this meeting.
I had mentally left approximately fifteen minutes ago.
Nikolai sat at the head of the long table, one hand resting against the arm of his chair while he went through several documents.
His expression was as cold and unreadable as always.
Nikolai Orlov.
My boss.
The man half the criminal world was terrified of.
And the man I'd been protecting for nearly three years.
He turned another page.
“The Volkov family has been interfering with our operations in the northern district.”
Employee One immediately nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
Nikolai looked up.
“How many shipments?”
“Four.”
“And how many were intercepted?”
“Two.”
Silence.
Nikolai slowly placed the document on the table.
“Two?”
Employee One swallowed.
“Yes, sir.”
I stared straight ahead.
《Oh, he's cooked. 💀》
Nikolai leaned back in his chair.
“Then explain to me why I'm hearing about this now.”
Employee Two immediately spoke.
“We thought the situation was under control.”
I almost turned my head.
《We?》
《Oh, we're using the royal 'we' now? 😭》
Nikolai's gaze moved toward him.
“Did you?”
Employee Two went completely silent.
《Yeah, bestie. Pack it up. 😮💨》
I kept my face completely emotionless.
Not even a twitch.
Because unlike the people sitting around this table, I actually valued my life.
Nikolai picked up another file.
“And the prisoners?”
Employee Three answered.
“They haven't given us anything useful.”
“How long?”
“Three days.”
Nikolai's fingers stopped moving.
“Three days?”
“Yes, sir.”
His voice remained calm.
Too calm.
“Then you have until tomorrow.”
Employee Three frowned.
“Until tomorrow for what, sir?”
Nikolai looked directly at him.
“For them to become useful.”
A pause.
“And if they don't?”
Nikolai closed the file.
“Release them.”
Everyone went silent.
I remained standing exactly where I was.
Perfect posture.
Straight face.
Professional bodyguard.
Meanwhile, inside my head—
《Sir really said, 'Give me information or enjoy your freedom.' 😭》
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Nikolai suddenly looked toward me.
“Lev.”
My brain stopped.
I immediately looked at him.
“Yes, sir?”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“You seem distracted.”
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.
“No, sir.”
He continued staring at me.
I stared back.
Completely calm.
Completely serious.
Definitely not mentally singing Stray Kids in the middle of a mafia meeting.
“No?”
“No, sir.”
A few seconds passed.
Nikolai finally looked away.
“Good.”
I exhaled silently.
《BFFR, Lev. 😭》
《You almost got caught zoning out during a criminal organization meeting.》
I straightened my shoulders.
The meeting continued.
Numbers.
Names.
Territories.
Prisoners.
Weapons.
Money.
The usual.
I had heard variations of the same conversation countless times during my three years working for Nikolai.
And yet, somehow, I was still here.
Still alive.
Still employed.
Still pretending to be a completely normal Beta.
That last part mattered.
A lot.
Everyone in this room knew me as a Beta.
My documents said Beta.
My medical records said Beta.
My employment records said Beta.
To them, Lev Vasiliev was nothing more than a highly trained Beta who happened to be very good at his job.
And that was exactly what I wanted them to believe.
Because the truth?
The truth could ruin everything.
I glanced toward Nikolai.
He was still reading through the documents, completely unaware of the thoughts running through my head.
Three years.
Three years of standing beside him.
Three years of protecting him.
Three years of making sure nobody discovered what I really was.
An Omega.
A secret I'd buried so deeply that sometimes even I forgot how dangerous it would be if it ever came out.
Especially here.
Especially around people like them.
And most importantly—
Especially around him.
I looked forward again.
《Keep your mouth shut, Lev.》
《Keep your secret.》
《Do your job.》
《Easy. Right?》
...
Yeah.
Absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Right?
