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"Let's see, like this, right?" Kaiser fumbled with the tripod, preparing for an "energetic" morning livestream—a consequence of a lost bet with Gesner that he now deeply regretted. So here he was, awake earlier than usual, using his phone to broadcast live.
What a terrible day. Maybe he would pick a fight later so Noa would punish Gesner with extra laps around the field. The weather in a few days would probably be nice enough for that.
His phone expertly met the floor for the fourth time that morning, adding a new crack to the screen. Three new ones already graced it; this was the fourth. It was too difficult. He had never livestreamed from home by himself, and this tripod seemed incredibly flimsy... Finally, Kaiser decisively picked up the phone to stream handheld, giving up on the stand.
"Hello, good morning, I hope?" Kaiser smiled at the camera, his other hand brushing through his bangs, messy from friction with the pillows overnight. His deep blue eyes looked straight into the camera, his mouth quirking into a perfect arc. Yes, this was the energetic morning of Michael Kaiser!
Comments scrolled rapidly across the screen alongside nearly 70 thousand viewers. Kaiser truly believed now that his fans yesterday weren't joking when they said they'd wake up early to "hunt" for his stream. How crazy, Kaiser thought, that people would sacrifice their morning sleep—with warm blankets and 2-degree Celsius weather in Germany—just to watch a celebrity livestream in the morning? He didn't think there were people that crazy. No, today there were many crazy people. Kaiser was convinced.
"Alright, shall we start with the treadmill? Oh no, Charlie, for a good workout, you need to warm up lightly first to get your heart rate up. Then everything will be easier," Kaiser said, stepping onto the treadmill while reading comments on the screen. Good god, people commented at a horrifying rate. You had to be lucky to catch a single sentence. If it was a question within Kaiser's knowledge, he would answer and explain clearly. Because Kaiser had an incredibly strong professional conscience.
The treadmill sped up a little each minute, but it didn't seem to affect Kaiser. He felt this wasn't enough for his genius capabilities; increasing it further wouldn't be a problem. The comments grew more numerous, attracting more viewers. Kaiser watched the screen intently, occasionally reading and answering a few comments he managed to catch.
"Usually about 15 to 30 minutes. This is just a light warm-up. Girls can use the treadmill too. If you can't, you can jump rope or even walk ten laps around your bed," Kaiser stepped off the treadmill and prepared to do some strength exercises to build muscle and fast reflexes.
"Hmm, I think I'll plank first." With that, Kaiser walked towards the cupboard and pulled out a black-gray mat while his phone was carelessly propped against the window opposite. The comments grew even more frantic, and if—Kaiser saw—if his fan meetings were this crowded, he wouldn't die of old age but from the noise.
kleinie: OMG, do I see something? mimiismycat: Is anyone else seeing what I'm seeing? nagikunnn: I see a red mat?! Hey hey hey!!!! mimiismycat: Normal people only need one mat! ilovebluerose: What's up, girls? I even have two phones here? Can we be normal?! Please?! charlie: Alright, look, he's about to plank. blrsksmcl: OMG, the abs, the biceps, the tattoos!! Everything is vascular, sisters!! I pay for the internet to see this! kleinie: Bro @blrsksmcl is a guy and is even more obsessed than me, control yourself!!!! blrsksmcl: But his body has bewitched me! charlie: @blrsksmcl We get it!!!
Kaiser watched the comments fly by, surprised. That red mat... it had been in the cupboard for over a week, untouched, shoved into the corner, and they still saw it. Incredible. Those comments weren't even that many, but they held Kaiser's attention for a long time, making him miss the comments praising his beautiful physique.
Sweat dripped onto the mat. His bangs were plastered to his forehead with sweat, and veins bulged on his forehead and biceps, filling the livestream room with compliments and thousands of large and small gifts. But the host paid no mind; he was breathing.
fcmichaelkaiser: Truly heaven-sent grace, I woke up in time to witness this!!
Kaiser looked at the timer: 10 minutes. Only 10 minutes felt like an hour. God, he wanted to collapse on the floor and go back to sleep. Even though the comments were full of praise and admiration for his stamina, Kaiser didn't feel happy. He should be in bed right now, with a warm blanket and a soft mattress, dreaming about a happy early retirement.
"I'll do some squats and push-ups for a bit longer, then we'll have breakfast, okay?" Kaiser grabbed a towel, wiped the sweat off his body, then picked up his phone and walked to the kitchen for water.
Kaiser hadn't prepared anything for this early workout. Normally, he would bring his insulated water bottle to the club, but the weather was too cold for him to even step outside, let alone drive 20 minutes to the team's training facility.
Pretty doesn't mean crazy.
Plus, earlier, Kaiser saw a comment flash by—quickly—someone asking why he didn't live in the dormitories but moved out, and wishing he would do a house tour because they were curious about the life of a single guy.
"The dorms have many inconveniences. I have a quick temper, so I just don't like it." "A house tour? You mean I hold the phone and run around the house? Sure, I was going to get water anyway."
Alright, he was not a professional streamer. Living proof was Kaiser decisively carrying the phone straight to the water tap. A normal person doing a house tour wouldn't be so direct.
Kaiser poured a glass of water while reading comments. Although fans sent many gifts, Kaiser didn't pay attention. For him, TikTok was just a platform for entertainment, not for making money.
The comments kept scrolling steadily. Kaiser looked and already wanted to close his eyes. It was the first time in his life he'd encountered text moving this fast; it was even faster than the English podcasts on Spotify he usually listened to in his free time.
ilylily: The kitchen is so clean. Do you like to cook?
kyztrw: I feel like I've seen that pumpkin pot somewhere before?
bimbimwie: That's my hubby for you. Living alone but not messy!
justin001: What? @bimbimwie!!!
bimbimwie: Bro, single guys living alone are usually messy. My older brother is like that, so I know. Don't argue with me!
mimiismycat: @kyztrw I feel like I've seen this kitchen before too.
charlie: Kaiser is a professional player with a salary of hundreds of millions of euros. It's normal for him to keep his private space clean. Or maybe he doesn't cook often, so the kitchen isn't messy.
kleinie: Or maybe he has a cleaning service on schedule? mimiismycat: Who knows?
ivyivylloveee: I know this, I live with him! Sorry for hiding it from everyone.
charlie: Shut up, stupid ivy. I'm the one living with him.
holymoly: Hehe, so handsome. Even drinking water is handsome!!
nohorni!: Boyfriend material, absolutely.
Kaiser watched the comments swirl like a storm. Many people were concerned about him. They seemed to love looking at handsome men, or at Kaiser (Kaiser knew he was handsome). But some comments mentioned other things, like the kitchen and the pumpkin-shaped pot.
"Ahh, I'm so tired. I'm so sleepy." To hell with the image. Kaiser complained to the camera. He was a disciplined person, but that didn't mean he woke up at 9 a.m. every day and suddenly had to get up earlier today, and it was colder than yesterday! He could even hear his heart breaking during the plank because while running, he felt that if he didn't stop, his heart would stop.
Many fans commented that if he wasn't awake, he should go back to sleep since the weather was cold and he could catch a cold. But there were also plenty of comments telling him to hang in there a bit longer, just do 100 push-ups, and then he could go back to bed!
"Your joke is funny, though I'm not laughing." Kaiser kept reading comments. He understood why those Blue Lock guys in Japan liked to livestream with fans. He used to think they were bored, but reading comments was actually fun and interesting.
miniminion: Oh my god, grandparents, ancestors! I woke up early, opened TikTok, and immediately saw a handsome man!!! Starting the day perfectly!!!!
blueroseeee: Girl, he's been live for 30 minutes. You're late!!
miniminion: What did I miss?
fcmichaelkaiser: Kaiser planked on camera, very slanting!!!!
f4bllk: ? Requesting @fcmichaelkaiser to screen record and post it. I'll like and follow you.
alexloveme: I'm curious, guys. Any news about Ness from Kaiser?
f4bllk: Aha, shipping couples? Don't know, don't care, get outta here!! Kaiser hated Ness after the NEL, leave them alone!!!!!
alexloveme: Who asked you, you fatherless—? You wretched piece of trash, shut your mouth!
alexloveme: @nessemiu @alexisismylove @ilovereo @rinchannn Release the hounds, girls.
ilovereo: I can smell the spice from all the way in the US, @f4bllk~
f4bllk: Fake VPNing from the US to Germany to cause trouble, huh? Idiot!!
ilovereo: You act like you don't need a fake VPN either? Fool!!
miniminion: Okay, okay, everyone is a little right, a little wrong. I'm the one who's wrong!!!
alexloveme: @f4bllk, consider wearing a wreath. Don't, I'm afraid it'll take root on your head~ Just some sincere advice from a stranger.
ilovereo: Ask one question and you immediately think about shipping? What a great mind. It's a waste you're not planting trees.
rinchannn: Check your DMs @ilovereo. I need ammo.
Kaiser was so engrossed in the comments that he forgot he needed to do push-ups, but they were truly captivating him.
"Can I not exercise anymore? I'll still livestream and talk to you all, just without exercising." Kaiser put his shirt back on when he saw many comments agreeing. Netizens were so easy-going. If it were his teammates, forget about being lazy; if they weren't resting, no one else could rest. So Kaiser felt social media was more interesting. He might be more active on Instagram and Twitter to interact with them.
"I think I'll get something to eat. Hey, hey, hey, don't argue too harshly. If the live gets banned, I'm not coming back." His eyes skimmed over the heated arguments, but he didn't understand the cause, only seeing a group of people fighting fiercely in the comments. Kaiser was curious, but the comments were moving too fast. Although he didn't know why they were arguing, he thought he should stop it a little. If the live got banned, he really wouldn't come back.
Kaiser took the phone to the kitchen to find food. He didn't have the habit of preparing breakfast himself. Standing in front of the wide-open refrigerator, Kaiser fleetingly thought he was an indecisive person. He thought about eating sausages and bread, but there were no vegetables. Without vegetables, he wouldn't get enough nutrients, but if there were vegetables, he didn't know what to eat. A sandwich? No, no, he didn't want that. After hesitating, Kaiser decided on sausages and eggs. His eyes skimmed over the pumpkin pot sitting proudly in a corner of the kitchen. He had beef stew last night.
"I think I'll have beef stew and bread. Have you all had breakfast?" Kaiser deftly put the pumpkin pot into the microwave, set it for 3 minutes, conveniently grabbed a few slices of bread and put them in the toaster to warm them up. He loved crispy bread. The aroma of beef stew wafted out when he opened the microwave. He propped the phone against the kitchen wall, skillfully arranged the food on a plate, then carried the plate and phone to the living room to eat.
He preferred eating in the living room rather than the kitchen, even though there was a table and chairs there, even a specially designed bar counter. But he still preferred eating in the living room. Kaiser put the plate of food on the table, then turned back to the kitchen to get water.
vivian11: Haha, Kaiser has a pink cup :lol:
mimiismycat: Oh my god, I didn't expect him to like pink =)))
fcmichaelkaiser: What's up, dear fans? You can't laugh at him! It's just a pink cup!!!!
fcmichaelkaiser: With a cat pattern...
blrsksmcl: Oh, an orange cat...
ivyivy: Someone tell me what's going on?
kleinie: Maybe he has a girlfriend @ivyivy
fcmichaelkaiser: @kleinie It's me! Sorry for hiding it!!!
miniminion: This is chaos! He just slept hugging me last night!!!!!!!
Comments and virtual gifts from viewers poured in continuously. They were talking about the water cup he was holding. Kaiser looked down at the tacky cup in his hand. Well, alright, not tacky—just a pink background with an orange cat.
"What? Doesn't anyone think the cup is cute?" Kaiser tilted his head to look at the phone screen, squinting to read the comments scrolling across it. The keyword "haha" had been commented over 19,000 times. Baffling. The cup wasn't that weird. He hadn't even mentioned it—Kaiser had another blue cup with a calico cat pattern too!!
He immediately acted on his thought. Kaiser picked up the phone and moved. He entered another room but didn't turn on the light. The curtains were still drawn tightly to ensure not a single ray of light could seep in. Then he walked to the bedside, picked up the other cup, and quietly left the room.
"Look, this blue cup is cute too!" The comments seemed to freeze, followed by a series of question marks, a few exclamation marks, and LGBT flags. Kaiser didn't understand. He was just proving that the blue cup and the pink one were both cute.
His phone chimed with notifications. His assistant had sent nearly a dozen messages in a row, followed by messages from other Bastard München players and acquaintances from other teams.
"Please turn off the livestream now, Kaiser!" Kaiser looked at the last message from his assistant, feeling confused. Why turn it off? But he knew he should. He paid his assistant a more generous salary than elsewhere, so it was unlikely he would give Kaiser bad advice. So Kaiser switched back to the app, said goodbye to the fans, and promised to livestream and chat with everyone another time.
Everything seemed fine after Kaiser finished breakfast. He was about to crawl back into bed when the doorbell rang incessantly. He didn't need to think to know his assistant had arrived. What he was here for, Kaiser didn't know. Was that his problem?
"Speak softly. Ness is sleeping." Kaiser sat down on the chair and let the assistant take the dirty plate into the kitchen, then return with a large glass of water. He knew it. He was about to get scolded, but he didn't understand why.
"Kaiser, it's not that I'm giving you a hard time, but you can't just casually show those things!" The assistant took a sip of water and then launched into a long speech without stopping.
"I was just showing the cup?" Kaiser frowned in response.
"That's not the issue. The issue is people are suspecting you have a girlfriend!! Suspecting you're living with a secret girlfriend!!" At this point, the assistant's face turned pale green. He took another sip of water, sat down on the chair, and rubbed his temples.
Kaiser frowned again, confused, then seemed to understand something. He quickly grabbed his phone and opened Twitter. As expected, many new posts had headlines about Kaiser having a girlfriend, even living together.
"No way. I need to clarify. These rumors aren't true." Just as Kaiser was about to write a new post to respond to the rumors, the assistant stopped him in time. The older man narrowed his eyes at Kaiser as if asking, "What are you planning to do next?" Of course, Kaiser didn't disappoint his expectations. He threw his phone aside and answered expertly, looking very professional.
"Of course, deny it. Ness is a boy, so I have a boyfriend and live with my boyfriend. Not a girlfriend like they said."
The assistant's face went blank, seemingly unable to believe his ears. His eyes still stared at the blond boy in front of him, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something but then stopped. To calm down, he reached for the water glass, took a sip, then another.
"If it weren't for Ness stubbornly insisting on keeping this a secret, I would have posted it on Twitter and pinned it on my Instagram @michaelkaiser official already." Two mouthfuls of water were spat out immediately. This time, he completely couldn't believe what he was hearing. The assistant rapped Kaiser on the head sharply, then sat back down and pulled out a thick stack of documents.
"First, you are not allowed to post anything personal on your official account without approval from your team." "Second, you are not allowed to disclose your romantic relationships on social media. Remember, you are a celebrity. Gossip might not drown you, but I'm not sure about your partner." At this, the assistant closed the stack of documents and looked at Kaiser with a pitying gaze, shaking his head and sighing. "Third, if you reveal that you and Mr. Alexis are dating and even living together, I can't be sure his team will approve. 80% chance they'll deny it as fake news." "Fourth, Mr. Alexis doesn't want to go public. Why do you insist? He's thinking about your career and both of your futures. Don't do something reckless that ruins Mr. Alexis's efforts and your entire team's work, Michael." After speaking, the assistant stood up, poured another glass of water, drank it all in one go, then bowed to Kaiser and hurriedly left in the cold weather.
Each sentence felt like throwing snowballs down his collar, cold and tickling against his skin.
Kaiser opened Twitter and read each post tagging him, laughing at the fans' speculations. He had thrown out bait this big. If they didn't figure it out, they weren't his fans. Many posts had the same theme about Kaiser's secret girlfriend. After about five posts in a row, he finally found one tagging Ness's name, where the poster suspected Kaiser and Ness were living together, but she had no evidence. Interesting. Kaiser opened the comments and gaped at what he saw.
mimiismycat: I'm interested in that ugly pumpkin pot. It looks like a Halloween pumpkin.
kleinie: @mimiismycat Does Kaiser seem like the type to buy a pumpkin pot?
fcmichaelkaiser: @kleinie No!
f4bllk: How tasteless. Kaiser hates Ness. Did you see how Kaiser scolded Ness in front of everyone? If you keep posting stuff like this, Kaiser will probably cry if he reads it! No one plays with someone they hate, let alone lives with them and dates them.
fcmichaelkaiser: @f4bllk That time Kaiser scolded Ness, I was very sad. If possible, I still hope this mysterious person isn't Ness. Even though I like Kaiser, I have to admit Kaiser is terrible and... not worthy of Ness.
kleinie: @f4bllk Ugh, your Kaiser is so precious. I'm just here for the drama and because I've liked these two for 2 years. You think the Kaiser you worship is worthy?!
charlie: @kleinie That's too harsh. I like Kaiser very, very much. But to be fair, if my lover scolded me in public like that, I'd tell them to get lost. Hic, I hope it's not Ness, even though I quite like their relationship.
ivyivyloveee: Wait, what? My couple is resurrected? I thought Ness dumped Kaiser after that! Come on, I like them a lot, but please don't let it be true. Kaiser is a jerk; he's not suitable for Ness (actually, not worthy).
bluerosekaiser: What's this, guys? A couple post?
ivyivyloveee: @bluerosekaiser No couple tag, girl, just individual tags for Kaiser and Ness.
mimiismycat: Hic, come on, guys. Kaiser was also very good to Ness, right?
simpness: @mimiismycat Yeah, congrats on having a temperamental boyfriend like Kaiser who will scold you in public.
bachtuocnho: @mimiismycat And he'll splash water on you, abandon you for someone else, and even hurt you by squeezing your head hard. Oh my god, please. He's handsome, but don't deny he's terrible to Ness.
mimiismycat: @bachtuocnho Yes, I know Kaiser is terrible, but I always have a feeling he cherishes Ness more than anyone...
miniminion: @mimiismycat But he's still terrible.
miniminion: Over 300 comments, but 200 are saying Kaiser isn't worthy of Ness? What does Ness have to be worthy of Kaiser? Can you people even see?? I know, that's why I think Kaiser is terrible. I hope Ness finds someone better.
blrsksmcl: Come on, everyone. Let bygones be bygones. But I won't. Ness choked the team and got scolded. Serves him right? You blame Kaiser for scolding Ness, so you say Kaiser isn't worthy? If Kaiser isn't worthy of Ness, is he worthy of Isagi? Or do you really want that secret lover to be Isagi? Who wants that? Not me. ㅗ
fcmichaelkaiser: @blrsksmcl Lead me like I'm your family's cow.
ivyivyloveee: @blrsksmcl Alright, whatever you like is fine <3
blrsksmcl: Since when did I like that, @ivyivylovee??? Let me gooooo.
ivyivyloveee: 😏
fcmichaelkaiser: The believers of Kaiser's innocence.
ilovereo: Hey, this is hilarious. You ship a couple but don't believe in them?
rinchannn: I believe Kaiser is innocent. I know he loves Ness.
kaiserliem: I believe in Kaiser and Ness.
A massive headache. Kaiser went to the bathroom to wash his face after reading those comments. Veins bulged as his eyes turned bloodshot. His emotions were plummeting terribly, and Kaiser could only continuously splash cold water on his face to regain his composure.
The comments still swirled in his head, etched into his memory, not missing a single word. Each cruel line struck down, hitting Kaiser's fragile heart directly, reminding him, "You're not worthy because you were terrible to Ness." Anger surged when they mentioned Kaiser abandoning Ness for someone else. Kaiser swung his arm, sweeping all the bottles off the sink onto the floor, creating loud and soft noises and the sound of running water as he forgot to turn off the tap, causing the sink to overflow onto the floor.
Kaiser slumped onto the floor, burying his face in his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. His blue-streaked blond hair tangled together. Without looking in the mirror, he knew how pathetic he looked right now.
The doorknob turned, and the frantic sounds indicated someone was on the other side, demanding Kaiser open the door immediately. He didn't know what to do anymore, continuing to bury his head in his arms until a click sounded. Ness pushed the door open and hugged him tightly, patting his back and stroking his head to help Kaiser calm down, then stood up and helped Kaiser to the bed.
"What happened? Did you have a nightmare?" Ness continued to hold Kaiser, asking for the reason. Kaiser just buried his face in Ness's shoulder without answering. Hot tears from Kaiser fell onto Ness's shoulder, making the pink-haired boy even more anxious. He kept comforting Kaiser, though he wasn't sure if it was actually helpful.
"But you woke up so early today. I'm worried. Is something wrong?" Kaiser rarely showed such vulnerability. After all, he had finally agreed to cooperate with a psychologist to adjust his emotions and heal the mental wounds from his life. This was the first time since Kaiser started seeing the psychologist that he had relapsed like this. Ness was extremely worried about Kaiser's psychological state, curious about who had upset him so much.
They stayed in that position for 10 minutes until Kaiser stopped crying and looked at Ness.
"They said I'm not worthy of you..." Kaiser brushed the bangs covering one of his eyes, not daring to look directly at Ness. Because, after all, those people weren't wrong. Kaiser was truly terrible to Ness, and after the Blue Lock program, everyone knew it. Everyone probably thought he and Ness would break up, and it would definitely happen.
"Huh?"
"People said I'm an asshole. I splashed water on you, scolded you, used you, and even abandoned you for someone else... So, I'm not worthy of you." Kaiser calmed down, raising his clear blue eyes to look straight at Ness. So what was he afraid of? Abandoned by his mother as a child, his father didn't love him and even beat him a little later, then a little later he met Ness. Only Ness. And he left no way out for himself. Therefore, in the end, Kaiser was still the one accustomed to being left behind. When he decided to say that, he was ready for Ness to look back on the past and hate him. After all, Kaiser held the fate of abandonment, always had since childhood. It wasn't unfamiliar.
So, everything would be fine.
"Who said that?" Ness pondered, facing Kaiser calmly, as if it wasn't important.
"Your fans, my fans, our fans..." Kaiser's lips moved, his head bowed to avoid Ness's direct gaze.
"Wait, I don't really understand." Ness picked up the phone, skillfully dialed a number, and the other side answered immediately. "Media issues? Good morning, Louis."
Louis, Ness's assistant, two years older than Ness, was a final-year communications student. Highly professional because he was sent by Ness's mother from Hamburg to Munich for him, accompanied by a voice message: "This is the best assistant for you. Excellent grades and gentle."
"Nothing serious. Just Kaiser got into a romance scandal with some 'secret girl.' The online community has been buzzing since morning and hasn't stopped."
"Hmm. There are quite a few posts suspecting it's me. Should I post a denial? Or should I fly to Italy for a vacation so you have more convincing evidence?"
Oh, Louis really wouldn't care about Ness's life or death, bluntly suggesting he fly to Italy in a day over a minor scandal. After hearing the story, Ness thanked him and hung up, turning to look at Kaiser, who was still sitting with his head bowed on the other side of the bed.
"Alright, what happened on your end? Who said that?" Ness wasn't in a hurry for an answer, just sitting quietly waiting for Kaiser to respond. The two sat facing each other for a few minutes before Kaiser finally handed over the phone showing the comments on the rumor post.
Ness read intently, his frown deepening. On average, his eyebrows met every 30 seconds, and he uttered "Fvck" every 2 minutes. His patience wasn't complete when Ness finally threw the phone onto the bed and stared intently at Kaiser, who didn't dare to meet his gaze.
"That's right, huh? Why are you so terrible, Kaiser?" As soon as Ness finished speaking, Kaiser immediately looked up at him, his pupils constricting and eyes wide open, the words "disbelief" written large on his forehead. Ness laughed at Kaiser's expression, then wrapped his arms around Kaiser's neck. This was Kaiser's favorite way to hug.
"But Kaiser played with me on holidays even though Kaiser doesn't like going out. Kaiser bathes with me, shops with me, trains with me... They don't know how good Kaiser is to me, but I know. That's why I love Kaiser so much." Ness spoke while skillfully closing the distance between them until he was comfortably sitting in Kaiser's lap, his arms still around the blond's neck.
"Doesn't Kaiser know? I thought Kaiser knew Kaiser cherished me the most?"
Kaiser snapped awake, looking at the person in his lap with a deep gaze. Of course, Kaiser noticed.
Kaiser would let Ness do whatever he wanted—his hair, his clothes, everything was up to Ness. Even his time belonged to Ness. Kaiser remembered that when they first met, he really didn't have much money. In contrast to Kaiser, Ness seemed wealthy because he often heard things like, "Ness is pale and soft, he looks like a rich kid," or he accidentally overheard Ness talking to his family for 5 minutes, after which Ness took out a black card and dragged Kaiser shopping without looking at prices. If Kaiser wanted it, Ness would buy it all. Like when he visited Ness's home during the holidays, Ness lived in a large mansion with a garden. His family had a full-sized laboratory right on their property, equipped with the latest technology. And Kaiser? He lived in a slum with a tiny corner to sleep in. Like... like... there were many things Kaiser noticed. Like how Ness liked roses, so Kaiser would buy a rose garden. Like how more than half of his days off were spent doing things Ness wanted...
Back then, Kaiser didn't think it was love. Back then, Kaiser didn't notice what people around them thought their relationship was. Back then, Kaiser thought he was just using Ness, just taking care of an obedient dog.
Later, he realized that taking care of a dog might be a bit over the top, a bit too attentive.
The phone ringtone interrupted Kaiser's thoughts. Ness answered, and a serious voice came through, indicating a fairly serious problem.
"Mr. Kaiser, the posts are increasing. Should we ignore them or use money to suppress them?" "No need. Leave it. Let them think a bit more. We'll figure out the next steps after we wake up." Without waiting for the other person to continue, Ness decisively ended the call, then pulled Kaiser down to catch up on sleep. "Let's sleep. We'll deal with it after waking up." "Okay..."
.
When Kaiser woke up, it was afternoon. Ness wasn't beside him, but he could hear the sound of papers turning outside. Kaiser walked out to the living room. Ness was sitting on a chair, facing his assistant and Kaiser's assistant. Probably the three of them were discussing something. Kaiser guessed he shouldn't disturb them.
"My suggestion to conceal the relationship was mine, Mr. William. You know that. I never do meaningless things." Ness spoke unhurriedly, each word light as a feather, as if their clandestine relationship was natural, it had to be this way.
"Mr. Kaiser said some foolish things this morning. If I hadn't stopped him in time... I apologize, Mr. Alexis, for using you as a reason to pressure Kaiser." The man looked straight at Ness, his words growing quieter until they could only be understood by inference.
"It's nothing. You only meant well for us. Louis, book a return flight to Hamburg for tonight. Things shouldn't go too far. Tomorrow I'll post an update and announce I'm back home."
Louis took the documents from Ness and immediately proceeded to book the flight. This was normal. Ness and his family had reconciled, and the boy flew home once a month. It was like a basic survival need for him. Quite a coincidence—he hadn't been home this month yet.
"Everything seems settled, right? Please keep Kaiser in check. His psychology isn't stable enough to be let loose. I'm afraid he'll do even stranger things." Louis pushed up his glasses, brushing aside the blond hair falling over his eyes, his voice slightly annoyed. Indeed, he didn't like Kaiser.
Kaiser overheard this short conversation. What was this about "we'll figure it out after we wake up"? Kaiser wasn't included in the "we." All arrangements were in Ness's hands. He felt deceived and extremely dissatisfied because the deceiver was Ness, no one else.
Kaiser always thought Ness was easy to manipulate, or more than that, Ness would be loyal and obedient to Kaiser. He wondered when everything had changed. Ness wasn't the same as before. The current Ness made Kaiser feel seen through, treated by Ness like an object to be arranged at will, placed wherever, Kaiser stayed there.
Ness was stubborn, but Kaiser was the embodiment of the impossible. How could those people know what Kaiser would do next? Or how could Ness and everyone else know Kaiser might do something earth-shattering?
.
After dinner, Ness announced he would return to Hamburg for three days and reminded Kaiser to take care of himself, or order takeout so he wouldn't starve to death before Ness returned to Munich.
Kaiser agreed and watched Ness and Louis drive to the airport. The reason? William said Kaiser shouldn't appear outside now; he might be photographed and certainly couldn't follow Ness. The online community was still suspicious. Kaiser agreed anyway. Simply because no one would bother him at night. He could do whatever he wanted. Besides, William was already 31; he should go to bed earlier.
The two BMW and Audi cars left the mansion in succession, leaving Kaiser standing in front of the living room door watching them go. Sure that the cars were out of sight, he went back into the living room and turned on the TV to watch the day's entertainment news. As expected, Kaiser was still trending with the keyword "living with a secret lover." He laughed and sprawled on the sofa. The countdown timer on his phone was ticking down second by second until the 10-minute countdown ended.
"Good evening, everyone. Have you had dinner?" Kaiser opened the TikTok app and started a livestream. So what? Magaming couldn't stop him anymore.
"You're allowed to ask me a few questions. If I'm lucky enough to read them, I'll answer. 100% accurate info from the source himself." Kaiser winked mischievously at the viewers, not noticing that within minutes the livestream had reached 90,000 viewers.
mimismycat: Please say you're single, Kaiser ;-;
kleinie: Is it true you're living with a girlfriend?
fcmichaelkaiser: Why didn't you announce the live? Oh my god, luckily I saw it.
ivyivyloveee: Have you eaten dinner, darling?~
f4bllk: Hey, bump the comments from @mimiismycat and @kleinie.
ilovereo: @f4bllk As you wish.
rinchannn: Where's that Ness simp? Show yourself @alexisloveme
Good god, the comments were still like a storm, but everyone seemed curious about his personal life. They had asked "Are you single?" and "Are you living with a girlfriend?" over 10,000 times. If they weren't curious, they were lying.
"I'm not single." Kaiser replied calmly. He didn't care if they opposed it. Their opposition wouldn't benefit them anyway. Kaiser laughed inwardly. Thankfully, he knew how to not give a damn about others.
The comments immediately erupted, and they gifted countless gifts just for him to reveal who it was, but Kaiser didn't want to say yet. He was waiting.
"Would you like a snack break? But do I seem single?" Kaiser was curious too. Why did they think he was single?
Someone wanted to connect. He knew how to do these little things. There was nothing else to do now, so Kaiser casually agreed and invited the other person to come on live and chat.
"Oh my god, he agreed! Aaaa, I'm going to faint." A female voice came through. She seemed overly excited because she couldn't believe she was actually talking to her idol live.
"Sorry? Are you okay?" Kaiser asked.
"Oh no, no, hus—, ah, no, Mr. Kaiser, I'm just happy." The girl spoke while laughing, even almost slipping up.
"I see you all calling me 'husband' everywhere on social media. Why are you shy now?" Kaiser found it funny and wanted to tease the girl a bit.
"Oh my god, you browse social media?"
"Just a hobby. I look when I'm free."
"Then do you know what's happened?"
"I know. But do I seem like a single person?" Kaiser was just curious, really just curious.
"You do. You don't seem close to anyone... Even though you've had some romance scandals with models or singers, we don't really care... It's... it's just like that..." The girl stammered.
"Why don't you care?" Kaiser casually agreed to let another account come on live. He had seen this Kleinie girl a few times; quite impressive.
"Hello, Kaiser. Because it seems like no one can put up with you." Kleinie answered irritably.
"Even though I like you too, I have to admit, with your personality, how you treat your colleagues... we all think you don't have any close relationships." The girl finished Kaiser off with sharp words and a gentle voice (they sounded completely opposite).
Kaiser laughed at the girl's impulsiveness and honesty. While the first girl was quite shy with a mature voice, Kleinie was the opposite—straightforward with a gentle voice.
"But I saw you on the post suspecting the person living with me is Ness."
"That... but you saw... Wait? You saw?"
"Yes, I saw. And you were very harsh. My lover had to hold me for 30 minutes just because of your sharp comments. Poor me." Kaiser put on an extremely heartbroken expression. Had anyone ever praised Kaiser for having a deep, pleasant voice? Kaiser always used this trick to get Ness to pamper him. It was a personal skill, undefeated.
"You must have read everything then. Have you learned anything yet?" The girl wasn't swayed by Kaiser's acting, her words still like a sharp knife stabbing Kaiser's ego. Thousands of mocking comments scrolled across the screen. They joked that Kaiser had met his match.
The livestream room became more lively than ever because Kaiser was willing to talk to anyone who wanted to connect. Everyone seemed to forget the initial purpose of the live stream, and the first questions interrogated Kaiser.
"I heard you really like stray dogs. You said that in a Blue Lock interview, right?"
"Yes, stray dogs are very cute. Right?"
"Aaaa, his smile is so beautiful. I have no regrets in life now ;-;"
"That time you said you'd buy a rose garden if you had 100 million yen, right? Have you bought it?? The Kaiser Rose Garden? Or the Michael Garden?"
"I bought a house in Berlin. Big enough to plant flowers... probably enough to call a garden."
"Don't remember clearly. I spent nearly 5 million euros because that house had a garden for planting. Even though, to this day, its owner still hasn't planted anything."
"You're not the owner of that house?"
"No. The name on the deed is my lover's."
The girl fell silent. The entire live room didn't know what to say either. Later, everyone collectively bumped the comment "Don't teach the rich how to spend money" to over 20,000 times. Kaiser found it amusing. At 21, he had everything he had ever longed for. Even better, everyone acknowledged it.
"Oh, my lover is back. Guess who it is. You'll be surprised~" Kaiser leaned back on the sofa, adjusting to the most comfortable position possible, one hand holding the phone, the other playing with his blue-streaked blond hair.
The living room door opened. Ness and the two assistants walked in. The three of them didn't know they had accidentally entered Kaiser's camera frame. Ness and Louis's eyes glanced at Kaiser and then went straight inside, leaving only William waiting outside the living room.
Understanding, Kaiser said goodbye and ended the live. He didn't even bother to read the comments, so he didn't know how serious things had become.
"The brands and magazines have contacted me. You don't even realize what insane thing you've done!"
Kaiser faced William, the older man in a neat black suit whose eyes held not a trace of concern. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyes darting left and right, his lips mumbling something inaudible.
"Anyway, it's already done. Can't be saved anymore." William rubbed his temples. This blond boy was straightforward to the point of giving him a stomach ulcer, making him and the team work day and night because of the strange things he caused in moments of brief insanity.
Like today, for example. In just over an hour, Kaiser had successfully made both his and Ness's work teams get up in the middle of the night to handle everything, truly not caring that it was outside working hours.
"Is Ness mad at me?" Kaiser looked straight at the assistant. William put his briefcase on the sofa, calmly lay down, and sighed.
"I don't know. Go ask yourself. But if I were Ness, I'd be mad too." After a pause, William continued, "Why do you always do things no one thinks of? An hour ago you were still obediently agreeing not to starve yourself. Now everything has completely changed. If not eating meant starving, our team would die from the pile of news we have to resolve quickly!"
"Then just don't resolve it?"
"You mean you want to make everything public?"
"Is that not allowed?"
"You'll lose a large number of fans. Have you never considered that your fans include girls, or homophobes?"
"I don't care. I have a lot of money. Pretend I run out of money; I'd still live comfortably because Ness would support me... Yeah..." Kaiser snorted in response. He was telling the truth. Ness belonged to the upper class, but since this was Germany, no one cared about that.
Germans were always simple.
William's phone ringtone interrupted their conversation. Kaiser didn't know what they said, but William seemed a bit happier. He had briefly seen the man smile, his eyes lighting up.
"Ness's team says you can do whatever you want. They'll handle it." William hung up and looked straight at Kaiser, his eyes shining with joy. "Those damn bastards. I don't know where they dug up such extremely professional people. They said even if you cause heaven and earth to fall, no matter what you do, they will protect both of you."
"First, why aren't you answering your phone? We called you many times."
Only heaven knew Kaiser had enabled Do Not Disturb. He would reject any background notifications during tonight's important livestream—that was Kaiser's initial plan when he waited for the ten-minute countdown.
"Everything's blown up. Can't be salvaged now." Louis walked out of Ness and Kaiser's bedroom, holding a stack of documents about Kaiser's endorsement contracts. "We've contacted the brands and magazines to discuss. Luckily for you, they have no issues, and you not being single doesn't affect your work."
"Germany has legalized homosexuality. Do they want to break the law?" Kaiser waved his hand, signaling Louis to stop nagging. Even though he was Ness's assistant, he was occasionally asked by Ness to check on Kaiser. That's why William and Louis often accompanied Ness or Kaiser.
"Alright. We'll consider posting a clarification. You are not to do anything else. From now on, leave everything to the team to handle." After speaking, Louis and William left the mansion again. The Audi and BMW left one after another, leaving the quiet space to Kaiser.
He pushed open the bedroom door. His eyes met a rolled-up blanket ball in the middle of the bed. Kaiser sighed and walked over to pull the blanket away. If Ness kept curled up in the blanket like this, in about 5 minutes, Kaiser might be orphaned. That shouldn't happen, so Kaiser reached out to pull the blanket ball away from Ness, or vice versa.
"Kaiser, you ruined everything." Ness mumbled in the blanket, still refusing to come out. "But I agreed with William. He said you're not like me. You want to make the relationship public."
"That made me and Louis unable to believe it. Kaiser always puts his career first. That's why I didn't want to expose everything. I'm sorry, Kaiser. I didn't know what you were thinking, or I misunderstood you. But anyway, I'm very sorry, Kaiser."
"It's nothing big. Come out here. I don't want to publicly announce tonight only for the papers to say 'Alexis Ness suffocated to death in a blanket' tomorrow." Kaiser sighed while still searching for a corner of the blanket to pull Ness out. How did he roll himself up so tightly?
"So you don't care, right?"
"Yeah, I don't care. Come out." After Kaiser spoke, Ness finally poked his head out. Ness's hair was naturally slightly curly and fluffy, now looking even more so than usual, even a bit silly. Kaiser couldn't help but reach out and ruffle Ness's head. This was their intimate gesture, from age 15 until now.
"Do you want to browse social media for a bit before sleeping?" Kaiser lay down next to Ness, turning on his phone and searching for the top trending keywords.
#kaisermichael
Ness also lay down next to Kaiser. The two lay on the bed reading the day's news—actually, news about them. Nothing was hotter today than Kaiser going public.
As soon as he opened Twitter, the first post hit them with a glaring keyword: #KaiNess. #KaiNess living together.
"Let me show you. See how interesting the comments are." Kaiser clicked on the comments section. It was indeed trending. The post was only 2 hours old but had already caused an uproar—over 3,000 comments, not to mention many other posts they hadn't seen.
mimiismycat: So my couple is living together? Do I need to go vegetarian?
kaiserliem: You should. I'll go vegetarian for a week. What about you, @mimiismycat?
miniminion: Such an unexpected plot twist. Yesterday I was scolding Kaiser...
fcmichaelkaiser: @miniminion, you just chatted a bit. It's not scolding. Scolding is like this @kleinie girl. She even scolded him on live, lol.
miniminion: @fcmichaelkaiser, in society, I only respect Kleinie.
ivyivyloveee: Sorry? Time zones in the US are different from Germany. Did I miss something?
blrsksmcl: You missed your couple getting together, @miniminion.
ilovereo: I promise not to call the Japanese national team stupid for 3 days.
rinchannn: You're so confident because your Reo is in the UK, right, @ilovereo?
ilovereo: You should do the same. Your Rin-chan is in Spain. Lucky bastards, our lovers don't play for Japan. Right, @rinchann?
alexisloveme: Hey, but I just scolded people this morning...
simpness: That's in the past, @alexisloveme.
f4bllk: Probably just clout-chasing... Can't be this gay!
blrsksmcl: What @f4bllk?
mimiismycat: WTF @f4bllk?
rinchann: Next time, just say "I'm stupid." Typing all that is long-winded and means the same thing, @f4bllk.
alexisloveme: A national team player lacking clout? Bro, haven't you been thawed yet, @f4bllk?
kleinie: Sorry, everyone. Sorry, Kaiser. Sorry, Ness. I won't scold Kaiser anymore.
michaelkaiser_official: @kleinie I don't forgive!
kleinie: Don't care @michaelkaiser_official.
kaiserliem: I told you. I believed in Kaiser's innocence, students.
alexisloveme: I was shallow, @kaiserliem. fcmichaelkaiser: I was shallow and didn't understand love, @kaiserliem.
The post owner seemed to have deleted all the negative comments because Kaiser only saw humorous and supportive ones. Right. Things weren't as serious as Ness thought.
Sincerity wouldn't break a real relationship. If it was real, it wouldn't break. Kaiser thought so. If those commenters truly liked Kaiser, or liked Ness, or liked Kaiser and Ness, they would easily accept it. It wasn't as serious as William's examples about fangirls or homophobes. Old people thought too complicatedly. Kaiser wished William could be young like them, accepting that things weren't serious at all. Because this was Germany. They had already recognized same-sex marriage.
Kaiser stared intently at the phone screen, focused on reading comments until he didn't realize Ness had already fallen asleep. He pulled the blanket over Ness, his legs wrapping tightly around Ness's like an octopus.
"Go to sleep, Kaiser." Ness, half-asleep, turned over and hugged Kaiser's waist, speaking drowsily.
"Sleep. I'm reading comments. Good night."
.
Ness woke up to the delicious smell of food. He was a little hungry but didn't want to get out of bed yet. Ness reached for his phone in the pile of blankets and pillows. As soon as the screen turned on, a series of notifications appeared—congratulations, lamentations: "Huhu Ness left the singles club. I'll anti you" (from Grim). Ness vaguely remembered everything, but it was fine. He leisurely opened Instagram and noticed many notifications. A blue circle appeared. He curiously clicked on it. If he remembered correctly, Ness and Kaiser weren't set as close friends on Instagram.
A Story appeared: a photo of Ness sleeping while hugging Kaiser, with the caption: "@alexisness_official really likes hugging me." Ness's hand felt burned. He threw off the blanket and ran to the kitchen to find Kaiser. Ness froze at the sight before him: Kaiser in a pink apron (bought who knows when), his hair in a messy bun, phone playing music, cooking breakfast. For some reason, everything Ness planned to say vanished, leaving only the image of Kaiser cooking.
Fine. Beautiful scene. Ness clicked a photo and posted a Story.
"@michaelkaiser_official, been together for 2 years. He always cooks breakfast for me. Who dares say he's not worthy of me?"
End.