To Save Our Families, Let's 'Marry' (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 16

Another seat was called out, a dignified-looking man standing up, his assistant sat next to him with, ready to type whatever was said or acted.

Hanna could immediately recognise the bravery behind this man, readying herself for whatever was to be asked. Meanwhile, Samuel's jaw clenched at the reporter's face, this same man had caused issues for him and Meera before when the Reyes had stopped people digging into Meera's background. He knew that the man would not hold back.

"To the young masters, do you think that the revelation of the nature of your relationship will have a negative on your parents' companies? And is there any possible relationship between that and the decision to merge?"

No one had expected questions to go so quickly and directly to Joshua and Henry, all eyes suddenly falling onto the newly announced couple.

Henry suddenly found himself overwhelmed. As a student, he was no stranger to any form of public speaking, always having enjoyed being listened to by people. Yet all he could feel was this unearthed dread, the type that made him want to run and hide; the feeling was completely foreign to him. And so, his half-held poker face cracked completely, his face an indescribable twist of emotions. In the end, Henry found himself looking at Joshua in loss, feeling a little calmer seeing that the dark-haired man's face has become more impassive.

In reality, Joshua was extremely conscious of the look from Henry, as well as his own inner turmoil at the horrific question. He was just lucky enough to have trouble with showing emotions on his face too easily. That all was quickly dismissed as he met Henry's eyes, seeing the other man was just as terrified as him, the protective feeling returning. Instead of letting on that he felt just as horrified at the question, he showed a calm face and sent an encouraging nod.

As subtle as the small gesture was, everyone was watching the couple like hawks, a good number of spectators wanting to gush at the small gesture from the older man and how it calmed the younger man; their own families were most definitely at the top of this list. At this point, even if there had been a few who questioned whether the two were in a relationship, there were none now.

"No." It took a few seconds for people to realise Joshua had spoken, his voice completely different from just minutes ago, no one had expected that the same man who had been stumbling with his words earlier would now be exuding a dazzling confidence. "Of course, we understand that the going public with a same-sex relationship will have some adverse reaction in current society. However, in this modern age, to boycott two major contributors to the country's economy and societies day-to-day life over something petty as disagreeing with our relationship, such a thing would never hold. There are far more important things in people's lives than our relationship.

"An initial dip was predicted right from the beginning, but it was not something that concerned anyone enough to have to discuss it as a major factor behind our decision to go public."

Henry almost couldn't believe what he had just witnessed, much like every other witness, however for him the shock was greater.

It had been just over an hour ago that Joshua had twisted his face even at the thought of admitting he was in a homosexual relationship, the man had gone as far as outright admitting he could not be the one to say anything of the sort out of fear that he would reveal the lie. But now, that same man had answered the direct question without even a stutter, as if he really was defending his relationship.

The younger man really was amazed, inspired even, his face showing just what he thought of the answer. He had calmed down seeing Joshua acting composed, but now that calmness had turned into a renowned confidence in himself. Usually, Henry's self-confidence is never a thought of concern, but that had changed once he realised that he had agreed to play a part in a monumental lie.