Blackie came out of the memory lane, feeling like he had aged 10,000 years!
Unfortunately, in his absence, the present versions of Levi and Maery, had not even matured a bloody second! They were still bickering exactly the same as before he had left!
"Would you stop making me sound like the plague?!" Levi snapped.
Maery giggled and easily dismissed his complaint, "Don't be silly. I wouldn't let my brother contract the plague!"
Levi, "…" (눈_눈) How can this person and his baby have the same parents?
And how can that very similar appearance between the two siblings evoke a totally different feeling in his heart?
“I can’t wait to see which unlucky bloke will end up with you!” Levi snorted, “You better make mental preparations. You won’t be able to find a better husband than me!”
“Nonsense! Nearly anyone is better than you!” Maery immediately refuted.
“Oh? Name one man that is or would be a better husband than me!” Levi challenged very confidently.
Maery, (눈_눈) "My father…"
Levi stiffened. That was his father-in-law they were talking about! He couldn't openly disagree! Otherwise, what if the man found out about it later and refused to give his son's hand in marriage to him?!
"That… your father is an exception… Name another one!”
Maery deadpanned, “My brother.” (눈_눈)
Levi’s eyebrow twitched. Alright… it was his loss… his baby was indeed the best~ (/≧ω\)❤
That was one thing these two completely incompatible individuals could agree on.
Thinking about her brother, Mary looked wistful, (*/ω\*) "I look at my father, then I look at my brother…" then she turned to Levi, “Then I look at you…" (눈_눈)
Levi, ‘…alright, I'll let you win this one because I admit that I am nowhere as perfect as my precious treasure.’
“Speaking about my father,” Maery got up to get herself a glass of water, “We need to tell our parents about the change in the wedding arrangements. You tell yours, and I’ll tell mine.”
‘True.’ Without further ado, Levi opened up the light screen of his communicator and called his mother. Astar mommy answered after a couple of rings, her image appearing on the light screen. Judging by her surroundings, she seemed to be in the lounge of Astar manor, drinking tea while supervising the manor repairs.
“Mother,” Levi opened up in a solemn tone.
“Son?” The woman put down her teacup and tilted her head in confusion. This son of hers only called her if he needed something. So what was it this time?
“I'm calling to let you know there has been a change in the marriage arrangements,” Levi went straight to the point, “I won’t be marrying Maery.”
Thankfully, Astar mommy had put her teacup down as a conditional reflex trained by years of dealing with her son, otherwise, she would have choked on her drink.
Levi gave his wide-eyed mother no chance to process the information before continuing, “I'm getting married to her brother instead. Please handle all the necessary arrangements.”
Seeing her son bringing his hand up to press the hang-up button, Astar mommy jumped up from her seat, “Wait, son!” ‘You didn’t explain anything!!’ “Did you and Maery have a fight or…?”
Levi paused in his motions just long enough to say, “No. I fell for her little brother,” and then he unceremoniously pressed the hang-up button.
Astar mommy stared speechlessly at her light interface, her wide eyes filled with turmoil.
Seeing how her son behaved the day before yesterday, she had an inkling that he might have developed feelings for little Aris… but… she had thought that her low-EQ son would take much longer to realize the nature of those feelings!
Astar mommy suddenly felt very gratified; it would seem that her son had inherited some of her EQ after all! Ai, what mess would this all have been if he had figured it out after the wedding?
No, wait! It’s still a mess, ah!!
Did Maery agree to this?? Did little Aris agree to this?! Ah! Son, you can’t just make this decision all on your own!!
Tears welled up in Astar mommy’s eyes, half from the fact that she felt very ecstatic for her son’s romantic awakening and soon to be very blissful marital life, and half because he had left a mess on her hands.
As an Empathizer, how would Astar mommy not know that her son and his fiancée didn’t have an iota of romance between them? If she could even interpret her husband’s grunts as "Yes, I'd love to", "I like that very much" and "Please marry me" then how would she not see something as obvious as the true nature of her son’s relationship with his fiancée?
However, since her son was willing to play out this little show to fool them, she’d just pretend to have been fooled. And besides, she had hoped that feelings would develop with time. However, after 6 years without any progress, Astar mommy was just glad that the two got along well enough not to suffocate the other in their sleep with a pillow.
Now, the issue lay with the fact that not everyone was an Empathizer like her!
With her wide, panicked eyes, Astar mommy turned to face a large light screen on the wall next to her that was currently in the middle of a video call with Cordia mommy. “This… this isn't how it looks like!”
Though Cordia mommy had heard the entire conversation, her demeanor showed nothing of it. She calmly sipped her tea, her eyebrows raised, “Oh?”
“My son isn’t like that! He would never cheat on his significant other!” Astar mommy hurried to explain.
“Is that so?” Cordia mommy’s poker face made the other unable to tell whether she agreed or not. But Astar mommy’s years of interacting with people told her that the other… wasn’t convinced at all!
Thus, the flustered Astar mommy nearly tipped her teacup over in her haste to exonerate her son in the eyes of his future mother-in-law, “Actually, Levi and Maery weren’t in that kind of relationship! They have no romantic feelings for each other! All this time, they have been pretending to date!”
Cordia mommy brought her teacup up to her lips, “I know.”
“Trust me, I am an Empathizer, I’m not lyin–” Astar mommy abruptly choked on her words, “Wait, what? You know??”
“Mhmm, The completely unruffled Cordia mommy hummed her confirmation and continued to sip her tea.
“…Maery told you?” Astar mommy guessed.
“No,” Cordia mommy swirled the tea in her teacup, “The whole fake dating business was my idea. I brought it up to Maery with excuses of public appearances and reputation, but actually, I was thinking that after a while of fake dating, feelings would grow, and they would start dating for real.”
Cordia mommy let out a long and heavy sigh, “Who would have thought, six years, and still nothing… No wonder! The groom turned out to have been gay all along!”
Astar mommy, “…” ( ゚Д゚)‘Sister, your schemes run so deep! Respect!’
Only after a long, long dumbfounded silence did Astar mommy remember that she was supposed to refute her son being gay. As a mother and an Empathizer, she had paid careful attention to her son’s feelings and never noticed him show any kind of sexual attraction towards men or women. It wasn’t a problem of sexual orientation but the fact that her son disliked contact with people. His brain simply didn’t process others as possible romantic partners but menaces that one should walk around if met on the street!
Astar mommy opened her mouth to explain but then stopped herself. Ai, forget it… actually, for all she knew, her son could be gay. And if he was to marry Cordia mommy’s son, wouldn’t this future mother-in-law feel better thinking that the groom marrying her son was gay?
Cordia mommy couldn’t possibly want Astar mommy’s “gay” son to marry her daughter? If he’s gay, then he could only marry her son, no?
Astar mommy felt proud of herself. See! She could be clever and scheming, too!
And with that thought, Astar mommy tentatively asked Cordia mommy, “Then… you… you have nothing against this turn of events?”
If SSC series ever becomes mega-popular with a huge fandom following, I can already tell that there will definitely be Maery x Levi fanfiction. A bickering couple is always interesting to read about. And frenemies turned lovers is always exciting, ne~? (/≧ω\)
“Just let the kids solve it amongst themselves. As long as the three come to an agreement, I have nothing to say. Speaking of which…” Cordia mommy turned to tap something on her communicator. She seemed to be calling Maery, for a short moment later, Maery’s face appeared on her light screen. Cordia mommy scanned her ruddy-cheeked daughter and then tentatively asked, “Honey… did… did you beat up–ahem, have a talk with Levi?” Maery snickered with her pearly white teeth on full display, “Yeah. Who would’ve thought that Levi, that block of wood would actually be set on fire by our family’s cute little dumpling!" Astar Levi, who had been cursed out as a block of wood right in his face, “…” (눈_눈) Astar mommy, who was still on the line and had just had her son cursed outright to her face, (*◕‿◕*) Curse? What curse? Little Maery was just stating the truth, ah! The two mothers let out a collective breath of relief. Phew! So the ex-bride w
In the end, Noah, this good baby, could read the mood and decided to stay silent. Since the two, for some reason, didn’t wish to go to dinner yet, then he’d go along with their plans. And that’s how the trio, with the accompaniment of several bodyguards, ended up going to the west skyscraper where there was a huge cinema. On the way there, every once in a while, there would be a camera flashing their way from the iron-blooded reporters who wouldn’t let one terrorist attack get in the way of their bonus. Naturally, the trio just ignored them. Firstly, they were used to media attention. Secondly, they had nothing to hide. And thirdly, in the case of Levi and Maery, they hoped that the footage of today would go out because it could give more weight to their future explanation of the truth behind the change of marriage partners. In that spirit, to give the media some more juicy shots, as soon as the trio entered the establishment, Maery giddily floated aw
Before Noah could respond, what Levi had been waiting for since the beginning of the movie finally happened! On the screen, a zombie jumped from out of nowhere! Without further ado, Levi’s arm that had been resting on the backrest behind Noah swooped in like an eagle catching a small fluffy bunny. The bunny, caught completely unprepared, ended up encircled and snatched up right into the belly–uh, the lap of the predator. A high-pitched squeal reverberated through the empty cinema, yet the source of it wasn’t the dumbfounded bunny who found himself in the arms of the wolf with his face pressed into the other’s sturdy chest but the spectating fujoshi some seats away. Levi ground his teeth at the ear-piercing interruption. Enlisting the help of this pig teammate was the worst mistake of his life!! Since he had no way to vent the stifling fire burning in his chest on its source at the moment, Levi concentrated back on his precious darling. He held Noah’s
With his own impending doom on the horizon, Levi was forced to loosen his hold (very regretfully), allowing the little one’s fluffy head to pop out from under the crook of his neck. Noah interpreted this as him succeeding in reassuring Levi, and the other giving him his ‘permission’ to continue watching the movie. Thus Noah’s two big amber eyes looked left and right, and then their owner gently wiggled around to get a better position in the other’s hold. Levi bit his lips to prevent a throaty moan from escaping them. The sensation of that fleshy little bottom wiggling on top of his crotch… ah… the only saving grace that prevented his half-hardened member from shooting up that little ass was the fact that he had already shot his load twice today… “Be good, don’t move about,” Levi warned, his deep and raspy whisper setting off all of Noah’s alarm bells. This little bunny’s movement abruptly stilled, and his body turned stiff. His brother… he cou
Maery pretended to be fully concentrated on eating her salad, while in truth, she kept sneakily peeking towards her little brother sitting across from her. No, it wasn’t because seeing Noah munching on crispy fried chicken made her feel bitter about being forced to eat a salad so as to not give away her previous lie of being on a diet… And it also wasn’t because she suddenly realized that her darling brother had this rather enchanting way of eating. (/≧ω\) No, the reason why she kept looking over was to gauge her baby bro’s current value on the happiness meter as to strike when it reached its optimum. Her wait didn’t take long – Noah hadn’t been that hungry in the first place. As soon as the first delicious piece of chicken went down his throat, his oil-covered pink lips curved up in a satisfied smile. “Little brother,” Maery spoke up, “Earlier, I remember you asking whether Levi and I broke up?” Noah nodded. He did seem to ask that when the t
With his emotional mood completely spoiled, Noah returned back from his introspection to the present, where Maery and Levi were awaiting his reaction with bated breaths. Noah’s shocked expression slowly shifted into something… odd. It made sense that the two wanted the outside world to think that they got along well. This arranged marriage was of great importance and would influence the stability of the two cities. But… “Sister, I am not an outsider. So why did you keep the truth a secret from me all this time?” Maery sheepishly smiled and scratched her head, “We didn’t just keep it from you. We didn’t tell our parents either. We didn’t want you guys to worry. If you thought that Levi and I had a harmonious relationship, then you could rest your heart at ease regarding this arranged marriage.” She sighed, “Otherwise, how would our parents feel knowing that their children were sacrificing the best years of their life for politics and a loveless marriage? Dad w
With shaking hands, Noah picked up his drumstick, but suddenly he had no appetite. Ah, he really didn’t like horror stories! And to think this horror story nearly became a reality! He let out a long breath of relief. So glad the two had enough foresight to convince their parents not to go through with this catastrophe! But now he felt curious, what solution did the two manage to come up with that would be better for the union of two cities but didn’t involve them getting married? Noah’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing of his communicator. Noah saw Case’s name light up on the screen and hesitated whether to answer. He was currently in the middle of a dinner with his sister and Levi; it didn’t feel right to chat with Case now. But on the other hand, he remembered telling Case he’d call him when he was free to hang out with him but ended up completely forgetting about him. Ai, he felt a bit guilty… Noah hesitated for a while, and the
The wronged Levi, (ꐦ °Д°) ‘What do you mean acting pitiful?! Thinking that my precious doesn’t want to marry me, my heart really hurts, ok?! You try being unwanted by your precious and let me see whether your expression will look less “pitiful”!!!’ Ah, ah! His chest felt really painful and stuffy! Levi’s shoulders slumped further, yet the look in his eyes grew obstinate. “If I am marrying, then… the bride can only be you…” Levi rasped out, sounding apologetic yet not. Sorry that his decision might have wronged Noah, but be that as it may, his resolution could not be shaken, nor would he regret it. Seeing Levi’s nervous yet unyielding demeanor of a martyr resolutely walking towards his demise, Noah couldn’t help but find it funny. And those words, ‘the bride can only be you’, made something warm and ticklish flutter through Noah’s insides, calming down his roiling blood. Ah, that sounded really too ambiguous! Like a love confession! No