“Ren, what happened?” Leonel immediately asked after dragging Ren to the corner of the room where no one could hear their conversation.
Ren shrugged. “Nothing . . . It just . . . happened.” Saya clearly told him not to tell anyone about their deal. She was probably protecting her image, though it was all ruined in Ren’s eyes.
Leonel was a blabbermouth, and Ren knew that he would interfere, which might trigger Saya to post Evie’s video on the internet.
Until he could figure things out, Ren had no choice but to follow Saya around.
“Nothing?” Leonel gaped at Ren. “You just confessed to Evie yesterday, and now you’re together with Saya, and you say that nothing happened?!”
Ren silently released a breath. “I told you . . . things just . . . happened.”
Leonel vehemently shook his head. “No. No. I know you, Ren. Saya must have done something, right? What is it? Tell me and I’ll go talk to her.”
“. . .” Ren was silent for a moment, keeping his eternal blank face that unnerved Leonel even more.
Leonel had never minded Ren’s poker face before, but now . . . it really irritated him. How could he be so nonchalant about this whole situation while he was losing his wits?!
“She didn’t do anything,” was all Ren said at Leonel’s pressured stare.
Leonel didn’t believe it. He could see the difference in how Ren looked at Evie versus Saya.
When he looked at Evie, Ren’s expression was melting. On the contrary, when he looked at Saya, his face was dead, and he gave off an aura that he was secretly plotting a murder or something.
Leonel didn’t believe that, overnight, Ren would forget about Evie and get together with Saya.
It was obvious, even to someone like him who didn’t think much, to know that something definitely happened for Ren to be together with Saya.
The question was . . . What?
Leonel opened his mouth, planning to ask, but closed it again when out of the blue, Evie appeared. And as usual, she had her mask on, so no one knew what emotion was on her face.
Oh, dear. All colors drained from Leonel’s face at the sight of Evie and he blurted, “Evie!”
Leonel immediately went to Evie’s side while trying his best to block Saya from her view. “Y-you came?”
“Shouldn’t I?” Evie questioned back with an unsure tone.
“Ah . . .” Leonel scratched his head when he realized how idiotic his question was.
“D-do you want to go somewhere fun? I know a place that would surely make you smile. Let’s go. Let’s teleport to that place. NOW,” Leonel urged, much to Evie’s bewilderment.
However, Evie wasn’t paying much attention to Leonel as her eyes steadied on Ren and she almost logged out again.
Evie bypassed Leonel no matter how much the latter was blocking her way, and she stood straight in front of Ren. There was something about him that she couldn’t put a finger on. Like he didn’t want to see her or something.
But Evie ironed her will since she had to tell him her answer. It would be unfair to him if she didn’t.
The two of them stood at the corner of the headquarters where the sun was setting, casting its rays on their faces through the holes in the canopies from above.
Evie opened her mouth, but at that exact moment, Saya appeared behind Ren and took his hand. It took everything in Ren’s consciousness not to wince in disgust as he briefly looked away from Evie’s gaze.
pAnDa (nov)e1 “Oh. If it isn’t Evie! You’re here as well?” Saya beamed, hiding the pain from her face when Ren clutched her hand painfully.
“. . .”
Everyone held their breath as they awaited Evie’s reaction after she stared at Ren and Saya before lowering it on the two’s intertwined hands.
No one knew what expression she had on her face or the thoughts running in her head.
All everyone heard was her soft voice which was colder than the freezing winter.
“Are you two . . . together?”
It was Saya who answered with a cheerful voice, “Yes!”
“. . .”
“I see . . . ,” Evie only replied and her lips curved down into a sad smile underneath her mask. “Congratulations . . .”
“It wouldn’t have worked out anyway . . . ,” she silently said after a short silence.
Evie meant her last sentence to be a whisper, but the room was so silent that everyone heard it nevertheless.
She muttered something as she looked down at the ground. “So . . . it’s that kind of ‘like’ . . . I misunderstood . . .”
Ren’s façade almost broke into pieces. He felt his heart torn to shreds. The most painful part of all this was her rejection, admitting that she had no romantic feelings for him.
And what else could he do but swallow it like a man? He shook his head and steeled himself. He refused to succumb to such feelings. This was neither the time nor the place.
Ren didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. He was initially dying to tell her the truth, but after what she said, Ren didn’t have the will anymore.
He then turned around and whisked his hand away from Saya’s grasp. Even if he was harsh, he didn’t care.
“Let’s not waste time and distribute the missions we have.”
Evie nodded stiffly and turned away from him.
“Huh?” The only one who had huge qualms was Alice. “But what about what happened yester–umph!”
Before she could continue, however, Isolde was quick on her toes and slammed her hand over on Alice’s mouth, effectively shutting her up.
“Let’s just leave it alone for now, okay?” Isolde forced a smile, but her gaze was threatening as she looked at Alice.
Alice released muffled groans before she realized that the atmosphere was so heavy, as if a small spark could ignite a bomb that would destroy everything.
She calmed down a little when she realized that she would not be that spark.
But make no mistake. She was not over this drama.
Alice looked to the side with her lips puckering out, deciding to concede for now. “Fine.”
( . . . continuation on NOTES)
