━ The Ingenious Art Of DeceptionᣞThe Boyz

𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕪𝕖.

Today was the day. The day that the two young members of The Marionettes were dreading. The day, that they leave behind their friends, their family, and one's lover. The two had been packing their bags secretively for the past two days. Both of them having agreed on leaving light, with one suitcase and a backpack for each of them. The older of the two, Alex, who had previously been able to hide her guilt, remorse and sadness, was finding it harder to keep it all in. Every passing second, only increased her stress. Making her have second thoughts about their decision. On the contrary, Akira who had found it hard not to be depressed, had put up a facade. No longer was she the outgoing and badass girl she was, when she first arrived at the mansion. She was nothing but a stone-cold shell. A girl being forced to act happy, for the sake of someone else's happiness.

The two were exhausted. Both mentally and physically. They were drained. But they had to do what must be done. They simply could not keep this up anymore. For the sake of their beloved friends, The Boyz, and for the sake of themselves.

Flashback~

"Talk to me, Akira.." Alex spoke to a weeping Akira. She had just informed her about Sunwoo asking her to be his girlfriend. The devastated younger couldn't help but shed sorrowful tears in the arms of the older. "I don't know what to do anymore, Alex. We should've seen this coming the moment we agreed to the deal. This is exactly what I was afraid of. What do we do?" Akira sobbed hard. "You wanna know what I think?" The blonde asked the younger. Akira nodded, allowing Alex to continue talking "Lately, we haven't really been ourselves. We haven't gone on a private mission, we haven't spent time alone together, we've been entirely dependent on the guys. That's not us, Akira. We go on all the missions we want, we do everything together, we don't depend on anyone for shit. 

This alliance.. as much as I hate to say it, is not doing us any good. On top of that, what are we even getting out of this deal? It's all one-sided. Do you still want me to continue?" Alex paused and looked to Akira, who had now stopped crying. The latter nodded again, motioning for Alex to continue. "We surprisingly got along really well with the guys, when we first came. It was like we sorta just clicked, didn't we? But lately, after we've gotten more comfortable with them, half of the time all we ever do is fight and argue. Over small trivial shit, like your dress for example. But, it was also our arguing, that got you shot. Our terrible synergy. 

The mission we've done with the guys so far, it ended with you getting shot. You almost died, Akira.  And yet we still have one more mission to go. You scared the shit out of me, and I don't know what I would have done if I lost you. My entire world was this close to collapsing, when you got shot-" Alex paused, showing two of her fingers as if measuring how close her world was, to collapsing. "- I think, that this shit is just too much for us to handle now. It's too risky. We can't keep doing this anymore, Akira. Look at you, you're fucking crying over a boy. I've never seen you do that." Alex concluded her ranting and her gaze settled on her best friend. "I think we should leave." She deadpanned.

The younger gasped, tears almost spilling from her eyes again "Okay, so we did change. We're more dependent on the guys too. But look at us Alex, we've never felt happier. We've never belonged in a family. And to be frank, I like it a lot. I don't want to leave, Alex. Can't we stay? Give them another chance? Who knows how things might change? After this mission, if you don't see any improvements.. then, I guess we can leave. I really don't want to, but I understand where you're coming from. You're our leader. You're the only family I have left too, and you're just looking out for us. So, if you think we can't stay here any longer, then I'm with you." Akira sighed. 

Alex shook her head "No, Akira. I want to stay here too. I feel exactly the same way about these guys as you too. I don't wanna go. But at this rate, I don't think we have much of a choice. I'll do what you said. Wait and observe how this mission goes, and then make a decision, yeah?" Akira smiled and nodded. After a moment of comfortable silence between the two, Alex chuckled. "You're such a hypocrite Akira." Akira furrowed her brows "The fuck? What's that about?" Alex emphasized "You rejected your crush because you don't want to get too close to anyone and risk losing him. And then, you're out here trying to convince me to stay here because you like being in a family with them?" Alex burst out laughing. "Well, I'm sorry that this situation is causing me to experience cognitive dissonance." Akira sarcastically retorted.