Chapter 1: Be Careful What You Wish For

“Man, I’m sweating like crazy,” Milo complained and pulled at his collar with a dejected look on his face.

“Only one month left, and we’ll be out of school and out of these uniforms,” Kai hurried to assure him. “Not sure if I want to become a grownup just yet.”

They were behind the school, and only the summer cicadas filled the air with noise. Milo had told him he had something to say to him, and now Kai was curious.

“Come on, man, what did you want to tell me? Did your folks buy you the latest T-box?”

Milo grimaced. “Seriously, dude, are you that ready for your life as a NEET? You’re only thinking about video games all day long.”

“Correction, my dude. I’m not thinking about them. I’m playing them all day long. And night. I’m also watching anime.”

“Yeah. That’s why you’re so pale and skinny.”

Kai laughed and punched his best friend in the shoulder. “So? I have you as my guardian. Nobody dares to touch me while I’m walking side by side with The Beast,” he joked.

Unlike him, Milo was into sports, particularly basketball. On the court, he was focused and determined, which was why he had earned himself that nickname. Also, unlike him, Milo had prospects to go to college in the fall. For now, Kai didn’t have the slightest idea what he wanted to do with his life. Most probably, he would end up scanning barcodes at the supermarket, which pretty much was what he was doing already – part-time – to feed his addiction to games.

The difference between him and Milo was visible from a mile away. Milo was athletic, blond, and handsome, while he was gangly, with dark hair, white skin, and often taken for a goth or emo kid. Some people had never heard of the music revolution.

“So, what did you want to tell me? Here, in the middle of nowhere?”

“We’re behind the school, dude.” Milo looked away for a moment and leaned against the wall.

Kai followed his every move with increased curiosity. “What is it? Now you’re starting to give me the willies.”

Milo laughed for a moment, like he was embarrassed by something, and then ran one hand through his wavy hair. Kai had always secretly envied Milo for his fantastic hair, but he didn’t let petty things get in the way of their friendship.

“What the hell ... are you blushing? Ah, I know. You got yourself a girlfriend! You sly dog.”

Milo suddenly looked straight at him. “No, I didn’t. There’s something else I want to tell you, Kai.”

“So? Go ahead already. Or I’m starting to think it’s something bad. Wait, is it something bad?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Milo inhaled and exhaled. “It’s just something ... look, I’ve never seen you with a girl.”

“I’ve never seen you with a girl, either. Seriously, dude, you’re only hanging out with me, and you could have anyone else as a girlfriend or a friend or whatever.”

“I don’t want anyone else.”

Kai couldn’t recall seeing the same intense look in Milo’s eyes, except for when he was playing, and he wanted to score. Did Milo want to score now? “Cool. I mean, it’s cool that I’m your friend. You would be a dumb jock without me.”

“Kai, I’m going to tell you something. Promise me that you’ll be honest when you reply to what I’m about to say.”

“Sure thing. Just spit it out already. I’m boiling in this uniform just as much as you, although I might not look like it.”

Milo looked away again but then set his eyes on Kai. “I’ve always liked you.”

“And? I like you, too, bro.”

“No, like ... like.”

Like, like? “Um...”

“Will you go out with me? On a date? A real date?”

Kai felt his jaw falling, his eyes going out like popcorn, and his knees turning to jelly. He stiffened, pulled back his jaw, and closed his eyes. What the hell was he supposed to answer to that? No, no, no, this wasn’t happening...

If only I got transported to another world like in those cool anime series --

He gasped as the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappeared, and he struggled to open his eyes, but his eyelids were heavy, and he couldn’t move a muscle in his body. The sound of a dreadful wind passed by his ears and a deep fear engulfed him.

Then, just like that, he opened his eyes, and the wind was gone. The first thing he noticed was a high light blue ceiling adorned with delicate filigree the color of gold.

The second was that he was lying on a bed and that the room he was in looked nothing like the back of the high school where he had been only seconds ago.

“What the hell...” he murmured.

“Up already?” A gruff voice asked from his right.

Kai snapped his head toward the source of those words.

The third thing he noticed was the young man in bed with him. A very handsome, very naked man. He had eyes like molten lava and dark hair that caressed his shoulders.

Kai whimpered when the man pushed aside the coverlet, letting him see a ... thing of impressive dimensions. He moved his eyes to the filigree on the ceiling in an instant.

“Ready for another round, then?” the man asked.

Another round of ... what?

Oh, he needed to say the words out loud if he wanted to be heard. “Another round of ... what?”

“Are you done playing with me?” The man scoffed, and much to Kai’s relief, got out of the bed.

Not that it served too much to watch him parade his naked body around. Kai had nothing but bro feelings toward guys, but he couldn’t stop staring. The man had tanned skin, and if anyone needed a model for studying anatomy or art, they could use his body for learning all the group muscles.

He cocked his head and squinted. Yeah, totally, all the muscles were there.

“What are you doing?” the man inquired in a tone that left no room for imagination about what feelings he nurtured toward the other person in the room.

Kai closed his eyes for a moment and then exhaled. “Where am I?”

Now, the man looked at him like he had just escaped from a mental institution.

“Oh, right,” Kai said and pushed himself up on his butt. He put one finger up. “I’ve been transported to another world, and I’m ... the hero?”

At that, the man scoffed. “I suppose your people must see you as the hero,” he said through his teeth. “Although I doubt it.”

Kai blinked a few times. The way he got there was wrong on so many levels. First of all, it didn’t look like he had been summoned. There was nothing like some curvy goddess needing him for daring quests, and instead, he had been teleported to some dude’s bed. Not to mention, everything pointed at this world belonging to a particular sub-genre called...

“Boys’ love?” he asked out loud.

The handsome man gave him the evil eye now. He sneered. “Where do you see any boys? Or love?”

Hmm, so it wasn’t? Kai rubbed his chin in thought. He had plenty of questions to ask, but the handsome naked dude didn’t look like a good source for finding information. He was no expert, but he could tell the guy hated his guts.

Which wasn’t fair since they had just met.

His train of thought was interrupted by the huge doors opening. Another attractive young man in butler livery came in, pushing what looked like a mobile food tray. Well, maybe this servant was his guide in this different world.

This one had short blond hair, brushed over his head, and delicate features. However, he wore a sour expression on his face. “Your breakfast, Sire,” he said in a frosty voice that dropped the temperature in the room by at least four-point-five degrees.

Kai eyed the tray on which several plates covered by shiny lids lay. By how the butler slash servant looked at him, he wasn’t sure that food was safe to eat. The guy must have spat in his breakfast or something before coming here.

“I think I’m good,” Kai said and got to his feet.

The naked man stared at him with a mix of disdain and reluctant lust on his face. The servant’s eyes grew wide, and then, he quirked an eyebrow. His lips twitched and stretched into a smirk as he looked down.

Kai did the same and then he realized he was completely naked. But that wasn’t all.

His body didn’t look like his body at all. He quickly searched the room and rushed to the tall mirror in a corner.

His reflection stared back at him in the same disbelief he was feeling. If the mirror wasn’t magic or some serious shit like that, he was a six-foot hunk with platinum blond hair that poured down his back to his waist, eyes the color of blue ice, and lean muscles in all the right places.

“Oh. My. God!” he yelled. He turned toward the other two men, who stared at him in unhidden confusion and disbelief. “I’m hot!”

The servant pursed his lips. “Are you running a fever, Sire? That’s hardly believable. Your Majesty is healthy as a bull.”

Right, right, this was a world where words like ‘hot’ didn’t mean the same thing as they did in this world. Well, he should have been disappointed that his body hadn’t traveled with him, but could that mean...

“I’m overpowered?” he asked out loud.

The servant and the naked guy exchanged alarmed looks. Well, none of them was his guide, for sure, which meant that, at best, they were secondary characters, and his first quest was to find the entity that had summoned him to this world.

“I need to get out of here,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Like that?” the servant asked, pursing his lips in disapproval and letting his eyes travel over Kai’s body once more.

“Right. I need clothes,” Kai said brightly. “What’s your name?” he asked the servant or butler or whatever he was.

The guy stared at him in shock, then looked hurt, and then schooled his face into a neutral expression. “It’s Pepin, Sire. I’ve been serving you for fifteen years.”

“Really?” Kai didn’t hide his surprise. “Like since you were a baby?”

“I was five when I was brought here,” Pepin said slowly, and a frown wrinkled his forehead.

“Ah, so you’re twenty. I’m eighteen,” Kai offered, wanting, for some reason, to make friends with the guy. After all, it looked like he was in charge of the food.

The naked man scoffed.

Oh, right, maybe his character was a little older ... He could be twenty-five or so.

“You’re twenty-two, Your Majesty,” Pepin supplied the information.

“Right, right,” Kai hurried to confirm. He needed to watch his mouth. He had no idea what rules governed this world, but maybe he could break the magic that had allowed him to be transported here by saying the wrong things. “And you are...” He turned toward the naked guy, keeping his head stiff so that he wouldn’t look down at the thing between those muscular thighs. The strongest reason was that he didn’t want to trigger himself into a bout of envy. There was no other reason.

The immediate response was a sneer. “Are you sure you don’t know my name? I bet you’ll remember it when you need to communicate it to the executioner.”

Kai grimaced. “The executioner? I won’t do that.”

A skeptical look countered him. “You won’t remember it even then? You’ll just say ‘off with his head’?”

Kai guffawed. “Off with ... Seriously, who says that?” Seeing the stricken expression on the other’s face, he reconsidered. “Oh, right. No, I won’t ... condemn you to death or stuff like that.”

The man walked closer, with a menacing look on his face. “What kind of new torture do you have in store for me?”

Kai took a few steps back until he met the bed with the back of his legs. For good measure, he climbed backward on the bed and put as much distance as he could between him and that dangerous man. He was no fighter, and he was no lover. Actually, he didn’t have too many skills, to begin with.