The ride back was awkward as hell.

Julian couldn't lean into the seat with his back like this, but the roads in town were awful. The car bounced the whole way. Even with the seatbelt on, he almost pitched sideways once.

Samuel caught him by the arm before he fell.

Heat crawled up Julian's neck.

"Sorry. Thanks."

Samuel let go. Didn't answer.

Somehow that made it worse.

Julian stared out the window for a second, then forced himself to speak again. "You staying at the hotel tonight?"

"Mm."

There was only one decent hotel in town. The whole due diligence team was there.

"When are you leaving?"

"When the work's done."

Sooner than Julian expected, apparently.

The next morning, word spread through the team: the arsonist had been the owner's younger brother.

Alderbrook Spirits had originally belonged to their father. Back when the distillery was still small, the brothers had run it together. Then they split. Different ideas. Different tempers. The younger brother walked away with part of the recipe and started his own brand.

Didn't go well for him.

Meanwhile Alderbrook kept growing. Biggest liquor company in the region now.

Things blew up again during the company's restructuring. Shared patents. Financial ties. Legal mess everywhere.

"This is a fucking nightmare," someone from Stonebridge Securities muttered. "How do they not disclose any of this earlier?"

"At least it exploded now," Leo said. "Imagine finding out right before filing."

That would've killed the whole deal.

Banks and clients were supposed to be on the same side. Didn't stop some companies from hiding problems until the last second and hoping nobody noticed.

One firm got blindsided a week before submission last year. Lost millions.

No wonder Samuel had come himself.

They stayed another three days handling the worst parts. The rest would take time.

By the time Julian got back to New York City, it was already New Year's Day.

One day off. Then straight back into work.

And work wasn't even the worst of it.

His family was coming for winter break.

Flights. Hotel. Food. Transportation.

Julian checked his bank balance so often it stopped feeling like money and started feeling like a countdown.

The apartment was another problem. He wanted a place with a private bathroom eventually.

Couldn't afford it yet.

So he started taking sponsorships.

Carefully.

He hated aggressive ads. Felt gross doing it at all. Like he was squeezing money out of people who genuinely liked him.

So instead, he pinned outfit links in the comments.

Softer. Easier to swallow.

Didn't pay much either.

Two thousand per link.

Two videos a week.

Four thousand total.

Barely anything.

Eventually he decided to try livestream shopping.

Mostly dresses. Accessories. Feminine styling.

The workload nearly killed him.

Product selection alone ate every spare second he had. He might've needed money, but he still refused to recommend ugly clothes.

He spent hours scrolling through shops looking for dresses that actually looked good. Then messaging sellers one by one. If they agreed to collaborate, they'd send samples first.

Fabric.

Cut.

Fit.

Stitching.

How it looked on camera.

Only the decent ones made it into the stream.

Worst part?

Too many brands wanted to work with him.

More than ten packages showed up in a single week.

At the same time, Apex Capital was drowning in year-end overtime.

Everyone wanted IPO approval before Lunar New Year.

Julian barely finished his own workload before getting dragged into other projects under Samuel again.

His advisor was still chasing him for his thesis proposal too.

The man had mentored him since sophomore year. Kept trying to convince him to go back for grad school.

Julian kept saying no.

The proposal defense was supposed to happen in person, but the professor made an exception for his internship out of town.

Julian still hadn't submitted a topic.

Every time he saw the unread emails, his stomach twisted tighter.

Everything crashed together at once.

Work. Money. Streaming. Thesis.

Some nights he wished he could split into three different people.

He lived on black coffee now. Four cups a day sometimes. Lunch naps gone completely.

Didn't matter.

The work still kept piling up.

He fell asleep thinking about unfinished tasks.

Woke up drowning in new ones.

Eventually his body started giving out.

Real nausea.

Sometimes he stood too fast and his vision blacked out for a few seconds.

Still, somehow, the work got done.

The proposal got submitted.

And his first livestream finally went live that Saturday at two in the afternoon.

Julian had spent ridiculous effort hiding his identity.

Some streamers used animated avatars, but those lagged constantly and ruined outfit demos.

In the end, he chose a wig and mask instead.

The stream had already been warming up for thirty minutes, but viewers still kept flooding in, shocked by what they saw.

[holy shit??? this is the account i follow???]

[he's SO PRETTY omg]

[baby HUG]

Julian wore a white corset sundress with thin straps, paired with gold twin-tails and a pale mask.

Simple.

Pretty.

The sheer lace tied over his eyes made the whole thing worse.

Or better.

Hard to tell.

The lace glowed faintly in the afternoon light filtering through the apartment window behind him.

He looked unreal.

Like some anime girl dragged into real life.

[he dresses like an OC i'm obsessed]

[this feels weirdly like raising a daughter]

[that waist???]

[LINK NOW.]

Julian glanced at the comments, trying not to panic.

"The dress I'm wearing is link number one. Everything's in stock." He smoothed the skirt down with one hand. "Seven-day returns too. There's a coupon in the stream."

A pause.

"Oh."

The last word came out awkward and late.

The chat exploded instantly.

[HELP the awkward "oh"]

[he literally doesn't know how to flirt]

[i know he practiced this alone in his room]

Orders started rolling in.

Julian stepped closer to the camera, showing details more carefully.

"The fabric's cotton. Fully lined." Fingers brushed the waist seam. "There's structure in the chest area too. I'm wearing inserts right now, but the fit still works."

He untied the ribbon at the neckline.

"The bow comes off. And the straps can be worn off-shoulder."

Bad idea.

The comments lost their minds immediately.

[that was SO horny accidentally]

[i swear i'm here for the dress]

[there's no way you're actually a guy]

Julian blinked.

"Not a girl."

Then remembered the voice changer softened his voice too much.

He leaned closer to the camera and tilted his head back slightly.

His throat moved under pale skin.

"See?" Fingers rested lightly against his throat. "Adam's apple."

The chat fucking died.

[WHO TAUGHT YOU TO DO THAT]

[OH MY GOD]

[i need him biblically]

A donation banner exploded across the screen.

@WorldsCutestBunny sent 【1 Deep-Sea Torpedo】

"please please please say my username and touch your throat again"

Julian froze.

"…Uh."

Weird request.

But streamers thanked donors all the time.

And touching his throat wasn't that bad.

Probably.

So he lifted his hand again, fingertips brushing lightly over his throat.

"Thanks to WorldsCutestBunny for the deep-sea torpedo."

Sunlight caught on his fingers.

On the line of his throat.

White lace.

Pale skin.

Soft gold hair.

The stream chat flatlined.

Another donation popped up instantly.

Then another.

Then ten more.

Julian started reading usernames one after another.

"Thanks to…"

"Thanks to PeachSlush…"

"Thanks to Orca for the hundred—"

He stopped.

Wait.

Whose?

Julian leaned toward the screen so fast the lace almost slipped loose.

Right there in giant text:

[Orca] sent 【100 Deep-Sea Torpedoes】

Julian: ?

What the hell was Orca doing in his livestream?

And why was he watching a dress selling stream in the first place???

Buying it for himself?!