You're Not My Bias

Chapter 1

Two days have passed since the Aggravate concert and Lumine is inside her hotel room, furiously typing away on her laptop to catch up on her work, when her phone vibrates at the top of the center table she's working on.

Want to meet up later?

Lumine furrows her brows at the message. It's from an unknown number and she wonders who could possibly be at Sumeru as well when another message comes in:

Don't tell me you didn't save my number.

What? Who is this? Is this a prank from her friends? She holds her phone away from her, scrutinizing the gadget as if to say "show yourself."

This is Alhaitham.

She gasps, her phone landing on the table with a loud thud from her loosened grasp.

Why is he contacting her? Lumine thought she made it clear that it was all a misunderstanding... but more importantly, how did he know her number?

Should she just ignore the message? That would be rude, though. Hmm. How to decline—?

Her phone rings causing her to jerk slightly from the couch. She slowly edges forward, expecting to see a number plastered on her screen. She breathes a sigh of relief when it's a video call from her friends, immediately picking up her phone to answer.

Three faces pop up, all laughing from a topic they were probably discussing before focusing on her.

"Finally!"

"What took you so long?"

"Lumiiine!"

She can't help but laugh at their greetings, almost forgetting her current situation. Their conversation goes about the events of their lives the past few days with her, Navia, and Clorinde out on vacation.

"So, Lumine, enough about your fangirling moments. Were you able to talk to Cyno? Ayato called me last night and, uh, he was asking for an update," recalls Furina.

Lumine groans. "Don't remind me..."

"Huh? Why? Did anything happen?" asks Navia.

Furina goes out of focus for a moment as she changes position on her bed from lying down to sitting upright. "Wait. I thought you had a plan?"

"I did!" protests Lumine. "But Alhaitham happened."

One of Clorinde's eyebrows shoot up. "Alhaitham? Tell us more."

Lumine recounts everything that happened, starting from her being mistaken as a staff to Alhaitham accepting her "confession". Her friends trying to keep a straight face throughout her story but failing miserably.

"I can see your faces, guys. This is not a laughing matter," she says, rolling her eyes.

"W-we're not... laugh—laughing," consoles Navia, covering her mouth.

Clorinde's face leaves the screen while Furina stops suppressing her laughter, Navia following suit. Lumine hangs her head at the back of the couch as she waits for her friends to finish.

"You done now?"

Furina wipes the corner of her eye. "Sorry. We're sorry."

"No, you're not," accuses Lumine, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, we're not." Clorinde's face returns to the screen, all composed. "Whatever came at you to suddenly 'confess' to Cyno?"

"I don't know," mutters Lumine, gritting her teeth. "I just got too excited, you know. Having an access backstage wasn't a part of my plan and seeing him alone at his dressing room..."