𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 -𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗌𝗈

TWELVE: Getting on Friendly Terms

Third PoV

There were a lot of things to be prepared and arranged in an orderly manner. The "wedding" is to be privately held and selected medias are invited to spread the news. And marriage of the son and daughter of two separate successful and influential businesspeople is a clear way of establishing everlasting partnership, and also showing a warning to competitors.

Of course, the young ones are well aware of this and that they were just used as publicity in the appearance of being wed. And they will use this to their advantage.

"Hey." She taps his right shoulder and he turns around and sees her with a bored or tired expression, maybe a little bit of both.

"What is it?" He asked. "I want to get out of this place. It's too..." she looks around and sees the people working around the wedding venue, "...hectic." she didn't like how noisy it was.

He was confused why she'd approach him about this when she can just leave on her own. "You can leave if the noise is too much. I can stay a bit longer." He says, not seeing the signs from her.

She realized that he doesn't get it and she grunts and turned her back on him and marched away, intentionally showing that she was clearly upset while walking out of the venue.

"Is it a quarrel?" He was surprised to hear the voice of his mother from behind. He turns around to face his mother and he nervously laughed, "Ah.. i-it's nothing like that, mom." He answered.

His mom looked like she wasn't buying it. "The way she walked off doesn't seem like "nothing" to me, dear. Did she say anything to you before she left like that?" She asked her son.

He lowered his head in guilt, "..yes. She said that she wanted to leave for a bit because the noise was bothering her." His mom hums and nods in understanding the situation. "And you didn't come out with her? My goodness, and I thought you could read a lady's mind." His mom slowly shakes her head in slight disappointment.

"That was her telling that she wanted you to accompany her." His mom pointed out. "What..." he didn't know why she didn't just say it straightforwardly like she always does. But he suddenly thought that what if this was a test?

"Goodness me, look at you, confused and all." His mom pats his shoulders, "That's mostly how the mind of a lady works. Especially when they're wanting something, some may say it in a subtle way and some will outright say it." His mom smiles, "Perhaps your soon-to-be wife is the shy type." His mom lightly laughs.

He thought, 'Shy?! Her?! How come she's a shy type when she came up with a plan that only a heartless person could do? And the way she was talking to me before all of this?'

"You should run after her, dear. She probably didn't go too far." His mom says before patting his shoulders one last time before walking back to the chaos in the venue.

He stood there conflicted with himself. He thought that this was only a game, an act. Is this how she plays an act? By making her co-actor be confused about what's real and what's not? Even so, he has one person in mind and that will be his motivation to pull this show until the curtain drops.

He sighs, "Fine." He runs out of the venue and he looked around the vast area of the beach and he saw a recognizable figure standing near the water. He jogs towards the figure and he stops when he saw it turn around and show the face of Ayako with a reddish color on the corners of her eyes.

"Were you–", "–Don't. I don't want to talk about it." She says in a weak and raspy voice. This only made her want to see more of this side of her. He suddenly had the urge to be genuinely curious about her.

She scoffs, "The look on your face is showing your true curiosity about me." She said like she knew that he would be curious. Upon hearing this, he straightened up his act and fixed the expression on his face.

"That's how it has always been. I show anyone a vulnerable side of me and they always— always seek for more. I don't want to feel like being seen, make them think that they finally understand who I am and then give them the glory of being another person who has managed to see through me." He listened to her talk, not just listening without putting any care but, he was intently listening to every word she spoke of.

"But.." there was a gentle smile on her face that he saw. "That wasn't the case for a certain someone. He was immune to it. Instead of pestering me to tell him more, he was understanding of me and he did everything carefully." The smile on her face didn't fade while talking about this certain someone.

"I think that's the only time that I thought.. I was glad that I became vulnerable with the right person in front of me." She takes a deep breath and exhaled, "That's why I need to get back to him as soon as possible." She said with determination.

She turns to her right and noticed him staring at her in a daze. "What's gotten into you, Suguru Geto." She asks. He snaps out of it and shakes his head, "N-nothing. But wasn't that.. you being vulnerable earlier?" He asked, talking about the time she opened up to him.

She stayed silent for a few seconds before nodding, "You're right. And I came to the conclusion that I didn't feel anything when I was vulnerable with you around." Now that was the Ayako that he knew.

He chuckled, "You might've not felt anything, but to me, I felt like I just understood you a little more. And it's not so bad after all." Her brows furrowed in slight confusion, "What is?" She asked.

He looks at her face for a moment and he lets out a gentle laugh, "Oh you know, being familiar with you." He puts his arm over her shoulders and she glares up at him for doing so, "Let go." She threatened.

"Hmm, no." He answered with a teasing grin plastered on his face. "You– hey!!" She squealed when he lifted her off the ground with ease. He laughs out loud when he saw and heard her cute reaction.

"Shall we take a jog around the beach, my lady?" He asked in a tone like he got possessed by a prince. "Suguru Geto, if you don't put me down this instan–", "–Then let us go, my lady! To the horizon we go!" She yells, "Suguru Geto!!! I will knock the living shit out of you!"