Chloe's facial features were completely deformed by pure malice, her fingers shooting forward to violently clutch a tight handful of my biological hair.

Left with zero alternative pathways, I had no choice but to actively engage in the physical combat.

Witnessing the escalation, Sera frantically charged into the center of the fray, her hands clawing desperately at Chloe's fingers in a relentless attempt to force her to relinquish her grip.

I scrambled to shout directives to halt her intervention:

"Do not enter the fray, do not enter! My absolute savior, I am begging your form to distance your presence far away from the two of us; if her nails scratch your face to draw blood, calibrating your cosmetics later will become exceptionally difficult."

Sera completely blocked out my warnings, and discerning that her physical strength was entirely insufficient to pry Chloe's fingers loose from my hair, she actually parted her lips to deliver a savage bite directly into her hand.

Right at that chaotic microsecond, the door separating the dressing lounge from the corridor was violently thrown open.

A massive jolt of alarm shot through my chest.

Good heavens.

Allowing external entities to witness three grown women engaging in an absolute catfight within this space was a logistical embarrassment that would entirely mortify me to death.

To my absolute shock, the individual who breached the threshold was Julian.

Immediately following his entry, the door track moved once more to permit a secondary figure inside.

It was Christian.

The two men caught sight of the absolute warfare unfolding before their eyes, their brains completely freezing into a state of total bewilderment for a temporary window.

Fortunately, Julian's cognitive processing architecture reacted with remarkable, lightning velocity—he rapidly engaged the interior lock to seal the dressing lounge door, before executing a breakneck run to materialize directly beside my frame.

"Prioritize pulling Sera away from the chaos first," I barked out a swift directive targeting his person.

Christian similarly regained full command over his cognitive faculties, charging forward to completely pin down Chloe's thrashing limbs.

"Release my frame, release me this instant! I harbor an absolute desire to completely rip those a pair of little seductresses, trashy tramps, and rotten whores to absolute pieces!"

Chloe was driven so profoundly insane with pure rage that an endless stream of disgusting profanity continuously erupted from her lips.

"What on earth catalyzed this explosion?" Julian questioned, his eyes scanning my frame.

"The explanation is entirely too extensive to summarize briefly."

I frantically shifted my focus to evaluate Sera's cosmetics application and hair arrangement.

"The current status holds up fine; the arrangement hasn't suffered significant disruption."

Julian's palms smoothly reached out to cradle my jawline, his expression looking completely, thoroughly speechless.

"Your consciousness still allocates spare energy to prioritize checking on alternative entities, when your own chin is actively dripping with fresh blood."

I lifted a finger to lightly trace the area.

His assessment was entirely correct.

Sera's features instantaneous tightened into a mask of pure panic:

"Allow my eyes to evaluate the injury; is the depth of the laceration severe?"

"It is zero percentage a major issue, merely a microscopic volume of blood."

"Even so, you must exercise extreme caution; we must flatly ensure zero permanent facial scarring materializes. My handbag contains a premium tube of scar-reduction ointment; I will execute a run to retrieve it this exact second."

"I will accompany your footsteps."

Catching sight of our collective movement to depart the space, Chloe began to stomp her feet in an absolute fit of hysterical rage once more.

"None of you possess the authorization to leave this room! Executing a physical assault against my person and assuming you can simply walk away—don't you dare dream such a path exists!"

Absolutely zero individuals present granted a single shred of attention to her tantrums.

41

Evening.

The chaotic and tumultuous day finally drew to a close.

I returned to the residence and washed away the grime of the ordeal in the shower.

Even from my own perspective, the entire sequence felt thoroughly absurd.

To think I actually engaged in a physical catfight alongside Chloe at Sera's formal engagement gala.

I was genuinely defeated by the reality.

A series of gentle raps vibrated against the bedroom door.

I threw the threshold open to evaluate the visitor.

It was Julian, carrying a standard emergency medical kit in his hand.

"What is the nature of your business?"

"How is the current condition of your chin? Allow my eyes to examine it."

"There is completely zero requirement for that, isn't there?"

"The local tissues lacerated by fingernails carry a significant volume of biological bacteria; we must flatly ensure zero permanent scarring materializes."

Left with zero alternatives, I could only seat myself upon a chair to permit his medical examination.

Julian transitioned seamlessly between utilizing cotton swabs, dousing areas with iodine solution, and massaging topical ointment across the skin, remaining intensely occupied for a significant block of moments.

"Did my actions project an exceptionally embarrassing display today?"

"What is the exact implication behind that question?"

"The logistical reality of engaging in a physical street brawl."

He shook his head, his vocal register saturated with an absolute, tender adoration:

"Zero percentage. In fact, my consciousness evaluated your performance to be exceptionally cool. Provided my physical form was categorized as a female, it is highly probable I would have launched a physical assault against Chloe right alongside your frame."

"Does that statement hold true validity?"

I swung my head around to focus my gaze onto his features.

Bypassing my mental calculations.

The physical distance separating our two forms was entirely too compressed.

The skin of my cheek lightly scraped across the surface of his lips.

The bridge of my nose similarly brushed flush against his own nose.

The ambient acoustics allowed the respiratory currents of each individual to leak clearly into the ears of the other.

I stared blankly into Julian's features, completely frozen.

He similarly stared blankly straight back into my eyes.

Except his visual trajectory systematically drifted away from my eyes, navigating down to the bridge of my nose, before locking firmly onto the outline of my lips.

I experienced a minor wave of intense awkwardness, instinctively desiring to retreat backward to expand the space.

"Regarding that..."

Before the syllables could fully vacate my mouth, a brief kiss connected squarely against my lips.

My brain completely short-circuited.

I continued to stare blankly into Julian's features like an absolute statue.

The corners of his lips appeared to curl into a soft smirk, his amber pupils remaining perfectly stationary as they tracked my expression.

"What is unfolding within your mind?"

Following the murmur.

He systematically closed the physical distance to approach my lips a secondary time.

My hand instinctively shot forward to clamp over the borders of his mouth, vocalizing an inquiry:

"Are your mental faculties completely certain that we should navigate our dynamic down this specific pathway?"

Julian planted a gentle kiss directly into the palm of my hand, his gaze radiating an absolute, deep-seated tenderness and romantic attachment.

"Completely and unconditionally certain."

Securing that explicit confirmation.

The exact millisecond his lips descended to initiate a subsequent kiss, my physical form organically responsive transitioned to match his rhythm.

This was none other than the ultimate pure-love champion, Julian.

Passing up an opportunity to engage in a romantic kiss would be an absolute waste.

42

I initiated a conscious effort to transition the fundamental structural architecture defining my relationship alongside Julian.

Within the vaults of my mind.

His existence and Christian's framework were separated by an absolute gulf.

After all, tracking the timeline from childhood all the way into maturity, my consciousness had flatly never once categorized his form under a sibling dynamic.

I had strictly evaluated his presence to function as a childhood companion and a premium close friend.

In the current landscape, executing a total transition from premium close friends into a formal romantic couple.

Alongside attempting to navigate the choreography of hand-holding, intimate physical proximity, or deep kissing.

Triggered a minor, lingering psychological sensation of friction and maladjustment.

Julian, however, navigated the transitional phases with breathtakingly smooth velocity.

During the morning hours, the two of us would depart the residence to commute to the corporate office.

The exact instant our forms entered the cabin space of the vehicle, his fingers would naturally slide forward to clasp around my palm.

During the midday lunch windows.

He would orchestrate the logistics to secure a private dining suite ahead of schedule, with every single culinary selection customized to align flawlessly with my personal palate preferences.

He additionally issued an authorized secondary credit card backed by an absolute absence of spending thresholds over to my palm.

Coexisting under the exact same residential roof, he would systematically march to the perimeter of my bedroom space every single evening to deliver a gentle goodnight blessing.

By the conclusion of our inaugural week functioning as an official couple, his lips floated an inquiry questioning when we intended to execute a total confession to clarify our relationship framework before the elder family members.