ALBEDO "the way i loved you"

chapter six

the dinner with her mother and brother went completely fine. the restaurant, where they used to eat every time, was not that packed with people so she enjoyed the silence. the round tables with silk table clothes underneath it, and fresh bamboo scented candles on it relaxed her in the most possible way. the fine cuisine was worth the money, besides the place was picturesque – from the chandeliers elegantly hanging on the wall, the huge windows with the breathtaking view of the river enough for her to hear the calmness of the waves, and the classical paintings displayed on the wall.

"how was school, both of you?" her mother asked, wiping her mouth with tissue.

"went well as usual – but it's really boring, you know? studying all day and after that we still have tons of homeworks to finish. eugh, it's very annoying at this point, mom." b/n ranted, his expression pained and tired.

y/n sighed, "it also went well for me. we had a meeting regarding the contest, and i joined another one."

"what?" her brother gasped, exaggerating. "how can you join another one when you're already busy enough?!"

"because i want to."

"no way!" he exclaimed. "you're working yourself to death or is this about beating the genius son of the principal —- fuck! — i mean ouch!" he cursed loudly when y/n hardly stepped her sharp shoe on his foot. he groaned – no, growled in agony.

"what're you talking about, b/n?" her mother asked innocently.

y/n straightened her back and leaned forward with a smile. "it's nothing to worry about, mom. ah, b/n has something to tell you." her brother looked surprised and she laughed, "did you forget? you said you wanted to tell her something — the reason behind why you're studying well these days."

her mother seemed excited as she also leaned forward, waiting for her brother to finally respond.

"ah, right!" he exclaimed, but there was still a hint of confusion. he snarled a quiet, 'manipulative bitch' to y/n before lying to her mother that he wanted to get a scholarship when he gets to college and so on.

the next morning, y/n was welcomed by beidou who was standing again on the threshold. her arms crossed across her chest, and her cheeks puffed red. "y/n!" it wasn't a friendly remark but rather it seemed like she was waiting there for so long now.

"beidou."

"tell me something, did you inform albedo about the meeting yesterday?"

she was about to answer when she spotted albedo near them, he was standing and listening though there was no look of betrayal or anger in his face, he still looked serious and intrigued.

she lightly raised her brow before nodding again and again, "of course, i did."

"you didn't." albedo answered, stepping forward until he's close to her.

"i did," she fired back "i told you about it during chemistry." y/n insisted, the way her voice remained firm and strong made her statement really believable.

"you didn't even talk to me yesterday." he said — no, it sounded like he was complaining and this caught y/n off-guard, his tone and the finality of betrayal in his eyes showed completely – like a play in a cinema that everyone was waiting to see.

beidou stared at them, dumbfounded.

"i did!" her voice sounded weak, "did you forget? i told you about it. maybe because you weren't listening to me."

"y/n, you didn't tell me anything."

"then, you've forgotten about it. it's not my problem anymore." she argued.

"seriously, how can you lie without batting an eye?"

she gasped, "so, i'm a liar now? i did my part and told you about it yesterday, it's not my problem if you cannot even remember it!"

pride. her pride was the one stopping her from telling the truth – to be exact, she wasn't a bit sorry about it – she hated him the most and what she did was right. pressing her lips together, she glared at him with pure anger and was about to walk past him when beidou held her wrist.

"ah, just a minute..." beidou said with awkwardness, her expression pained and confused. she let out a sigh, "then y/n, why not just tell him about the discussion yesterday? he missed a lot."

she stared at her senior for a second before shaking her head, "no. my memory of yesterday was blurry — i don't remember a lot."

"aren't you jotting down notes yesterday?"

"i — i didn't! i was doodling!" she defended, hoping that beidou would believe her lies.

beidou let out another dramatic sigh, "n-ning would break up with me at this rate. just, just please tell him anything you remember? ning hates clueless people and is perfectionist – besides, i'm sure you can remember the highlight part? please?"

beidou looked like she was ready to kneel and beg. y/n's shoulders dropped before she weakly nodded in defeat — albedo saw it and silently smiled in victory.

"great!" beidou once pained eyes, glistened with joy. "ah, here!" she grabbed y/n's hand and placed a coupon, "my sister owns a restaurant! use this so the both of you can talk regarding the meeting — also, i will be informing my sister of your arrival so she can cook a lot! make sure not to miss it or else i'll get really really really mad!" beidou exclaimed without letting herself breathe, and then stormed off from the scene leaving the two enemies in awkward silence.

y/n clicked her tongue in annoyance, "i'll just give you the note later. you can eat in the restaurant alone." she pulled the coupon out and waited for albedo to get it with a dead-panned expression. "hey, what're you waiting for? get this from me!"

"beidou will be really really really mad if she found out you didn't appear," albedo copied beidou's tone. "besides, i would rather hear you say it rather than read your notes."

this punched y/n in the guts, with her brows furrowed, she placed her hands on her hips – ignoring the fact that the coupon is now wrinkled. "what are you trying to imply here, huh?"

"that," albedo placed his hands on her shoulders causing her lips to part and her system to malfunction, he plastered a sweet smile upon spotting her flushed and surprised expression. "we should at least try to get along." he stopped but continued on, leaning forward until their faces were inches apart. "remember what our adviser said back then? the both of us would be unstoppable."