ALBEDO "the way i loved you"

chapter nine

the way his mocking grin made the navy-blue sweatshirt he was wearing paled in comparison screamed that albedo was in a good mood today, he was glowing under the dim lights of the cafe, and his smile seemed to slowed everyone in the room but only irritation (not butterflies) surged up inside her.

"i usually eat beignets with a cup of hot chocolate." she smiled almost impolitely.

"beignets with a cup of chocolate it is." albedo repeated, smiling with satisfaction. "take out by the way."

"alright, it would take five minutes or longer to finish your order. please wait patiently."

as y/n was helping to prepare his order, she couldn't help but to overhear the upcoming conversation which literally caused her to inevitably snicker.

"ah! it's you albedo-san. you're klee's brother!"

"do i know you?"

"ella!" she heard ella introduced, she really did sound beautiful saying her name. "my sister is klee's classmate and also i would be replacing y/n in the upcoming journalism contes —"

"replacing who?"

"y/n...?" ella trailed off with confusion but it was soon followed with a cheeky giggle. "hey! why do you look devastated, don't tell me you don't want me there?"

albedo didn't respond but y/n could feel eyes looking at her.

ella yet again laughed, "by the way, shouldn't you be happy? i heard you guys both hate each other — ah, no offense to sis y/n but that was the rumor."

"you're calling her what now..?"

"sis? her brother courts me! and let me tell you, his brother is the standard! he's like the complete opposite of her — he doesn't get mad easily and would always make time for his friends or even me. contrary to her sister, b/n always prioritize the people around him more than his study."

there was a pause between the two — ella's statement also made y/n stop for a while but as soon as she was packing their order, she told herself to remain calm but she could feel all the rage exploding soon.

she opened her mouth, ready to call them when albedo suddenly spoke.

"i don't hate y/n." he mumbled, though anyone could feel the irritation in his tone, the sincerity in it won completely. "and she's not as bad as you think —-"

"i'm not saying she's bad or anything...erm well, sometimes it's kind of annoying that she never lets anyone inside the wall she built."

"you can't easily judge someone if you don't know a thing about them." albedo answered, "it's very disrespectful especially when you say that in front of her friend and when she's just around – you don't go lurking and saying bad things about your suitor's sister."

friend? did she hear that right?

one of the staff announced ella's order — the blonde was still stunned to move but as soon as she snapped back into reality, she grabbed the order and stormed outside the cafe.

"albedo." y/n called.

he walked towards the counter, "is my order ready to take?"

the way he sounded like he didn't say anything good about her slightly caused her heart to flutter but her expression remained unfazed.

"yes," she said, almost whispering.

"how much?"

why did he look different than usual? there's something about his presence and voice today and she can't figure out what it is.

"y/n?"

"huh?"

"i'm paying, how much?"

"right..." she took a deep breath and computed his order. "it's (amount)"

"here."

upon accepting the money, their fingers touched and somehow along the line it was too much for her to handle. she grabbed the money quickly, clearing her throat as she busied her eyes to look somewhere else – the blonde could only look at her with confusion.

"here's your order." she breathed, "also, uh, i added something in there. they're just macarons but it's one of our best sellers here."

his lips formed into a smile, "you're giving me something for free? that's unusual."

"oh, shut up." she groaned, "just take them and leave."

"i see, you like to show your gratitude through actions more, huh?"

her cheeks flared; she did her best to think of anything rude, bad, and unthinkable to say to him but eventually gave up when she saw his amused expression – it made it look like he was winning and she was at the edge of the clip, just one walk away from falling into nowhere.

"shut up and leave, albedo." she pressed her lips together, motioning him to leave through her menacing eyes but the blonde didn't even bat an eye nor moved a muscle.

"hey, are you really fine with not joining the contest this year?"

her brows furrowed, "no but i know my priorities — my mother is above anything else."

their eyes connected and then suddenly, like how they would normally felt, everyone vanished from their surroundings. albedo's smile this time was different — it wasn't the smile of teasing, smile of mocking, smile from a friend, but if y/n was right – above else, it was a smile of someone realizing something and was unaware about it.

"right," he smiled. "i wasn't wrong about you."

"you don't know a lot about me."

"precisely but i sure do know one thing," he spoke. "you're not heartless."