บท 72: Pool Day
"No, no! Of course, I don't." The guy was intimidated by Linri. He was handsome and had this dangerous aura around him so the guy did not want to mess with him for no reason. There was plenty of fish in the sea. There was no need to throw away his life for one girl.
After saying that the guy left there in a hurry.
"I guess that's the end of it." Linri let go of Jaime.
"Wow! My knight in shining armour! Never knew that you cared." Jaime was stunned when Linri pulled her closer. She did not know how to react. She was happy that he helped but also a little sad that he let go of her so quickly.
"Well, I actually didn't. It was that little lass over there asking me to help. You said it yourself 'You are not a princess that needs rescuing'." Jaime was dissatisfied with his answer. Why did he have to be such a jerk every time? One moment he becomes her dream guy and in the next becomes a total asshole.
She was about to speak when something unexpected happened.
*Splash*
"You insensitive jerk! Can't you be a little nicer?" It was Brie, upon hearing Linri's words towards Jaime she could not hold herself back and pushed him to the pool. She was impulsive like that. Seeing Brie stand up for her made Jaime feel warmer in her heart. It was also a bonus to see Linri struggling in the pool.
"No need to waste your words on a block of wood like that little sis. Let's get something to drink and leave him to think about his wrongdoings... alone." Jaime hugged Brie from her arm and left together, leaving behind a Linri who was gasping for air by the side of the pool.
'Ugh, this is so hard!' Linri was shouting in his head. It was not that swimming was hard. No the hard part was something else. It was the current status quo of his relationship with Jaime. He knew that Jaime was kind of liking him as a member of the opposite sex but he did not want to ruin their friendship so he could not just outright refuse her. He had to tread this fine line where she would eventually stop liking him on her own without breaking their friendship.
He was a social manipulator, meaning it was easy for him to formulate a plan for it; but executing it was not exactly a walk in the park. This situation being the Exhibit A. He was trying to make her feel colder towards him but as a result, he was mercilessly thrown to the pool and left alone. He considered just outright refusing her but he knew that it would not work the way he intended. If he did that their friendship would become awkward and gradually she would either distance herself or give him an ultimatum, being either getting together with her or stop associating all together. He had first-hand experience with that kind of situation so he did not want to lose his only friend here.
There was also the second possibility. He might be over thinking the situation. It might very well be that she only saw him as a friend and it was him making this overly complicated. So if he decides to refuse her before she even confessed she might deny it and leaving him embarrassed. In that situation it would shatter his pride so it was just better to keep quiet about this.
After they returned, there was no more ambiguous atmosphere in the air so they spent the day together and had fun. During the day Linri attracted countless jealous gazes from their surroundings. Jaime was not exempted from those gazes either. Just like how she was attracting the male population, Linri was attracting the female kind. Even though they mostly had fun there was a couple of disturbing instances.
For example, whenever Jaime and Brie left him Linri would be hit on by girls, among them there were even college students. Honestly, it would be a lie if he said he did not want to abuse his new found handsomeness and have some fun but he never got enough time with them as Jaime and Brie would return before anything could happen. Well at least he got their numbers but he himself knew that he would never call them. He wanted to have fun, not a relationship. Actually, that was the main reason he was so adamant on rejecting Jaime. He knew that if something happened between them it would definitely turn into a relationship.
The girls got their own share of troubles as well. They were hit on whenever they were alone, there were even guys brazen enough to try to hit on them even with the presence of Linri. Brie got her own fair share of admirers as well. Still, Linri felt troubled as he could see that they were most likely interested in her just because of her child-like appearance. He memorized their faces and if any one of them dared to follow them he was going to show them the meaning of the word 'pain'.
Now that they had their fun it was time to leave. When they left it was already evening. They first went to Brie's orphanage.
"Give me your phone number" Brie had a confused expression to Linri's sudden remark but she did anyway. In the next moment, she received a text from him.
"What's that?"
"The list of necessary documents in order to apply to Autumnfall. I know that you are still on the fence about it so I am giving you 2 days. If you don't send me anything I will take it as your refusal." Then Linri turned back and left without even saying goodbye.
He was in a hurry to get home. When they left the pool he saw that he received a text message from an unknown number. It only had a single sentence 'Let's talk'. It could only be Hayato that sent him this message.
Now that the other party had taken the bait he did not want to waste a single second and put his plan into motion.
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