Chapter 222 - Harmless

"I think I know why Suzuki Aki chose you…"

Maki Yuuka's voice came out as a sigh, her voice ringing with a bit of envy but without the malice that one would expect from someone who's jealous.

Asou Chiaki, on the other hand, looked embarrassed with her cheeks crimson from blushing. It really appeared as if her romantic relationship with Suzuki Aki was real, and she was affected by the compliments. She cleared her throat, looking awkward and cute in spite of her age. Chiaki looked unsure about what to say so she just accepted the other's words as praises.  

"Er… thanks…"

Suzuki Ara, of course, chose not to comment about it. It was better that people would continue to believe that Chiaki and her brother were an item so it would be easier for everyone to get used to the idea. When the two finally got involved for real, no one would be surprised anymore.

Maki Yuuka pouted as she placed her elbow on the table and propped her chin. "Ah… I was prepared to have a contractual marriage with a rich guy, but you made me feel like wanting to fall in love too…"

Ara fought hard not to snicker as Yuuka sounded like she was seriously considering marrying someone out of love suddenly. Instead, she reached out and gave the lady in red a pat on the hand as if to console her.

"You can try and find one if you want," Ara told her.

But instead of being happy, Yuuka looked more miserable.

"Well, a girl can dream, right?" she said, making Ara wonder what was wrong.

Maki Yuuka's engagement to her brother was now nonexistent on both sides, and so Ara couldn't see any problem with the other woman finding love – well, until the other spoke again.

"You're wondering why right?"

"Well, yeah…"Ara and Chiaki were of course, curious.

"I'm an only child," Maki Yuuka answered blandly and the other two immediately understood.

"Oh…"

Chiaki and Ara looked at Yuuka now with sympathy. Being an only child of a rich family came with tons of responsibilities, that even her own marriage was something she couldn't decide for herself. Even if her engagement with Aki fell through, for sure, her family would find another rich man to marry her off to.

Ara then realized how lucky she was again. Even if her marriage started off as the same – a business transaction arranged by her parents with Ryuu's parents, she still ended up marrying for love.

Just as she was about to comfort the other woman, a shadow fell on their table and all three of them looked up to see a frowning Suzuki Aki standing next to them.

"What's going on here?"

His brown eyes that normally twinkled in mirth were now narrowed into slits as he stared with a poker expression at the lady in red he'd never met formally before. Ara almost palmed her face.  She had totally forgotten about her brother.

"Er…Big bro… this is Maki Yuuka," Ara started lightly as she smiled at Aki sheepishly.

Suzuki Aki's expression, however, remained impassive. "I know who she is," he answered bluntly, making the women uncomfortable.

Aki looked like he was ready for a fight, but now that they found out about Yuuka's thoughts, the women didn't want any arguments brewing between them.

Maki Yuuka, however, looked unruffled in spite of the tension that Suzuki Aki was emitting.  She looked up at him with her huge brown eyes, studying his imposing expression before turning her attention back to the girls.

"I take back what I said. He's not that handsome anymore," Yuuka told them before she turned to Chiaki with sympathetic eyes. "You got a handful of work," she continued making the girls laugh.

"Right. He's totally a handful," Chiaki agreed, as she pulled the now confused Aki by the edge of his shirt and made him sit on the only remaining vacant chair next to her.

"What's going on?" Aki answered grumpily, but Chiaki shushed him.

"Behave," the secretary said with a small warning and the older Suzuki immediately complied, earning amazed expressions from Yuuka and his sister.

"Good job," Maki Yuuka complimented as she clapped her hands.

Ara, on the other hand, pitied her brother for being so whipped as early as now in the relationship.

"Well?" Aki prompted, but this time more civilly, and directed his gaze on his sister to explain.

"Well, we made a mistake…"Ara began but paused because she had no idea how to tell her brother that the rude stalker was not really out to harm them like they originally thought.

"I saw them at the café and I got so curious so I wanted to talk to them. But they thought I was a stalker – but that was because I didn't know how to approach them at first."

It was Maki Yuuka who explained, much to Chiaki and Ara's surprise.

"You're not a stalker?" Aki, of course, was not ready to believe. After all, she was an enemy in his eyes.

"Yeah," Maki Yuuka answered with a nonchalant shrug. "My dad told me there was a mistake and I'm not really engaged to you so I was shocked. I thought I'd be your wife since I was thirteen. So when I found out you had a girlfriend and was engaged to someone else, and I happen to see your fiancée at the café, I got curious."

Ara almost laughed. She was watching Aki's face the whole time Yuuka was talking and saw his expression turn more and more smug upon hearing the words girlfriend, fiancée and engaged pertaining to Chiaki.

"Oh," the older Suzuki scoffed after a while as he leaned closer to Chiaki's side. "Now that you know, I hope it's clear now that I can't marry anyone else."

He sounded so proud and so confident; he made Chiaki who couldn't rebuke him in front of Maki Yuuka blush so badly. Regardless, his tone was meant to be scathing towards the lady in red, aiming to hurt her. However, instead of showing hurt on her face, she even laughed.

"Well, it's not as if you can dare marry anyone else after being so whipped," she said bluntly making the women break out into laughter.

Aki was speechless, but Ara and Chiaki gave him a pat on his hand.

"Easy brother, she's harmless," Ara said, but Aki was not convinced.

"You call that harmless? Why did I feel so harmed when she spoke then?"