The Billionaire's Bridal Chase

EP 08: A Mission of My Own

"Warning," she whispered against my cheek as she ran her finger up my neck until she was cupping my jaw. She gently turned my head to lock her mischievous gaze with my fed-up one. "If you keep playing like this, I'm going to get horny."

"Cut it out already, you pig," I deadpanned and pushed her face away from me with my hand. I undid my seat belt quickly and quietly left the car with a visible frown on my face.

Caly only laughs her head off until she gets out of the car, proud of the new parody she came up with on the way to the theater.

"You're blushing," she pointed as we entered the building, a cheeky smile painting her features.

Ah, s**t. Of course, I have become a darn tomato again. Partly because her face was about an inch away from mine earlier, that got my heart beating rapidly, partly because I'm pissed off by her endless teasing.

You read that right. That night, I expected an awkward atmosphere to befall us. After all, it's almost like a confession of my growing feelings.

However, Caly, once again, went above and beyond my expectations. No, actually, it's like she made a rose bloom out of sunflower seeds. That character of hers is really impressive.

She always makes me go through a culture shock.

Instead of getting all uneasy, it's as if she became all the more comfortable around me. What's more, she keeps doing a parody of what I, regrettably, did.

In line with that, she changes the last word every now and then into disgusting ones. It's been three days, and she's done that for at least a couple of times now.

In my head, there's an orange warning, but I know she's unstoppable.

Yeah, I'm blushing. "So what?" I retorted, giving her a glance in the process.

"You really do like me," she murmurs as she nods in conviction.

I clicked my tongue and outpaced the pig, mumbling, "So what?"

When we entered the auditorium, the team was as busy as ever. Three weeks left before the performance. I immediately looked for their team's original playwright, Zea, to hand the flash drive which contained the soft copy of the script.

"It's done and proofread," I said and Zea looked like she's about to cry.

"You're an angel sent from above," she cried and accepted it with both her hands.

A chuckle escaped from my lips as she ran towards the director happily.

Wait, did she just call me a demon?

I sighed. Anyway, my role here is over. Finally, this is the last day I'm coming to the theater with the pig.

"This coming Friday... We'll have a two-night and three-day retreat s***h workshop!" announced Zea, just after the director told everyone to pack up.

There were mixed reactions, but most of them seemed fired up. Caly is one of them. That's not news.

I'm not an actor, so I don't have to go, right? I'd rather start piecing about my new story...

"What?" exclaimed Caly after taking a generous bite of her burger. "You're not coming with me?"

Annoyed, I clicked my tongue and pulled a tissue to free my clothes from the burger bun's pieces that flew towards my direction.

"What's wrong with you?" I snapped. "Can't you take a break from being a pig?"

We're eating inside the car parked in the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant we usually buy drive-thru foods from. I wanted to go home quickly to catch a wink, but Caly warned me that if she drove right now with an empty stomach, we're going to meet our end and I wouldn't be able to confess my feelings properly anymore.

What a dumb idea to win me over.

"You serious about not signing up for it?" she asks again in a dejected tone.

I tilted my head a bit and peeked at her. She's looking at her burger with an expression that is out of sorts, and if I knew no better, I would've felt stupidly good.

"Upset? 'Cause operation, teasing Levi till he's down's not going to happen?" I scoffed, popping a nugget in my mouth afterward.

Even if I don't throw a glance in her direction, I can see from the corner of my eyes how she froze for a second.

Yeah, what the hell. Why do I have to be right like this?

She laughs nervously, uttering, "It's not like that."

"Whatever you say, I've made up my mind."

"Aren't you thinking of writing something new? If you do, being in a different environment helps!"

The pig's probably right. Still, "No." I'm used to writing while stuck in a four-cornered room where my imagination is the only noise I'm hearing. I don't think I really need to go anywhere. Also, since I kind of crammed the final acts of the play's script, I pulled all-nighters lots of times. With that said, I'll have to take lots of rest. And imagining three days without Caly is the ultimate rest there is.

Maybe.

Caly continued bothering me to come, of course. She even used her team to persuade me, but thankfully they're not as shameless as this pig. Until the night before the day they left, she didn't leave me alone and wedged herself in the sofa where I slept.

"I'm going to kick you for real," I threatened with my eyes closed. Her sofa is not that big, so she's clearly ignoring this civilized concept called personal space.

"If you're not going tomorrow, then I won't as well," she rebelled.

"...Okay." Who does she think she is fooling? "Then don't." Her face was the brightest when that two-night, three-day workshop was announced.

She was silent for a minute before she groaned in frustration. "Ah, nevermind! I'll sleep here and have your back hurting tomorrow!" she yelled, and then the next thing I felt was her arms wrapping on my arm, as if keeping me in place.

Fuck. "Haven't you heard of personal space?" I complained, shaking my arm she's holding on. However, the pig witch is not budging.

Damn it. She's closer now, and I'm smelling her hair.

Tsk. I sound like a creep.

But I like this damn scent... Including this warmth...

Oh, my god.

I have to calm down, or she's going to find out about my pounding heart. I've got to hold my breath-

My eyes shot open when she pulled my ear, leaving our faces a few inches before colliding.

"Dude," she chuckles in my face, a familiar taunting expression domineering her countenance. "Your heart's pounding like crazy. If you're thinking about naughty things- Ah!"

I did it. I kicked her off the sofa.

I spread my limbs to occupy the sofa, not giving her another chance to attempt to lay beside me.

"It's my sofa, you i***t!"

For crying out loud. She just called me an i***t again. Ah, to hell with it.

"Night," I said without care then closed my eyes.

"Ahh!" was the last thing I heard before I heard her door hit the doorframe hard.

What is she, a brat?

Like usual, I woke up in the middle of the night, thirsty. As if on cue, my phone lit up with a short beep, indicating a message. I took it with me as I walked towards the fridge. Drinking from my water bottle, I tried to unlock my phone with my fingerprint without looking.

"Eh?" I wondered when my phone wouldn't unlock. I can see the name "Averiel" though, from one of my lockscreen notifications.

Wait, what?

I put the bottle down and inspected my phone, which was not my phone, apparently. It's Caly's.

I facepalmed. She probably left this on purpose.

Ah, whatever. The more pressing matter is, what is this Averiel kid telling her in the middle of the night? Do they chat casually even in this ungodly hour? Is he going to confess or something?

I facepalmed once again. Now with both hands.

Am I really going to see that kid as a rival?

No, no. I'm not a kid. I got to be chill about this. The consequences be damned.

I returned to the sofa and sent a message to Averiel who had been added to my contacts just recently.

Message to: Averiel - This is Caly. I forgot the pw to my phone so I can't use it right now and borrowed a friend's. What's in your message just now?

It only took him a minute to reply. Ugh. His feelings are sticking out like a sore thumb.

Message from: Averiel - That's such a pain. I'll help you fix it tomorrow. I can do everything =]

Oh yeah? Then can you not use that smiley?

Message from: Averiel - I bought a lot of snacks, enough for three days. Since we’re partners and we'll have to stick together for the whole retreat, I'm thinking of just sharing them with you. So you don't have to buy any =]

I gulped. Stick together? For three days?

There's not a lot that can happen in three days... Right. I'm going to sleep.

I shouldn't care too much.

"Whoa!"

"What?" I countered. Irritation apparent in my tone. "Stop yelling. It's 6AM."

Still rubbing her eyes, she trudged to my direction and lifted the backpack sitting on the sofa beside me. Next, she inspected my shoes, my clothes, then my face.

She takes a step back and crosses her arms above her chest, still looking at me in a blank manner.

"So, you're coming?"

I nibbled on the inside of my cheek as I relaxed on the sofa. Shifting my gaze to my side, I answered with a sigh, "Yeah."

What have I become?

“Didn’t you say you weren’t going?” Zea asked immediately after Caly and I arrived at the front of the theater building. We’re going to wait for the bus the team has rented so we can all go together.

I tried to convince the pig that we can just head first since we have our own car and she knows where we’re headed, but she’s too stubborn and insists it’s not fun that way. Now I’ll have to keep an eye on the kid when he’s around Caly and this is the pig witch’s fault.

“When did I say that,” I snorted, furtively glancing time and again at the direction of the “partners” pig and Averiel who are chatting about their plans, probably. Don’t they look too enthusiastic to be talking about their plans as acting partners, though?

She holds up her phone in front of Averiel who’s scratching his neck as he shows his screen. Caly then throws me a mocking look while the kid’s not looking.

I averted my gaze from her. That girl knows what actually happened now.

Erin, who suddenly appeared beside me, giggled. “Our Averiel is too obvious, isn’t he?” she remarked.

Zea tilts her head and meets Erin's eyes. She then pointed at me before saying, “Our Levi is too obvious, too.”

I rolled my eyes and left the smirking Zea and the confused Erin.

Anyway, it’s a relief that I joined them.

When the bus arrived, Averiel attempted to take a seat beside Caly, and of course, I didn’t let his wishful thinking get to him.

“But we’re partners,” he reasoned, pointing at the pig witch behind me whose eyes are already closed, trying to get some sleep. She’s not even bothered about her partner making a fuss about not being able to sit beside her.

In a bland manner, I lied, “I’m sorry. I can’t sit at the back. I get dizzy when I do.”

Eyes downcasted like a denied puppy, he mumbled in a gloomy voice, “Okay,” then went and sat at the back of the bus, together with Zea and Leo.

Well done, petty Levi.

Checking my website, my finger stopped scrolling when I felt a weight fall on my shoulder.

I was rendered motionless for a while before I was able to part my lips to mutter, “Your head’s heavy.”

Caly clicks her tongue and remains unmoving. “If your ass ain’t jealous then no complaints like that would exist, so take responsibility and let me have this.”

...Well, she’s got a point.

“Alright,” I sighed. “Just this once.”

....

“Warning.”

I flinched, my eyes shooting open upon the tickling breath in my ear, and at the same time due to a sudden twisting of my neck.

“If you keep playing like this...”

My scrunched face relaxes upon making out of the pig’s face. Hah, this is getting tiring now.

“I’m going to get poopy.”

And stupid. Tiring and stupid. But why do I still feel like I’m blushing like crazy?

“I’m gonna laugh at you in case you choke on your saliva,” I commented after clearing my throat, then stood up from my seat to leave.

We’ve reached our destination, and it’s noon. Caly stands as well, all the while splitting her sides, laughing.

And then she actually choked.

“Seriously,” I grumbled as I took my bottled water from the bag.

Averiel, who seemed to notice this, quickly rushed to our seat with bottled water, too, but I was faster at opening mine.

“Drink, you pig,” I said, placing the opened bottle right in front of her mouth, which she took and drank without delay. I rubbed her back as she took sips.

“That was darn comical.”

“You didn’t laugh, though.”

“...Shut up.”

We stepped out of the vehicle with Averiel mumbling in daze, “Pig?”

Ignoring him, I wandered my eyes around the unfamiliar but relaxing scenery.

Trees, garden, green grounds… It’s not just my lungs that are refreshed, but even my eyes.

“Mother Earth! I love you!”

“I don’t want to go back, wah!”

“No pollution! Fresh air!”

The team was basically going wild because, as explained by Caly, it’s rare for all of them to meet with nature due to their careers and other personal commitments, and fortunately, everyone made it this time.

Divided into five groups, keys were handed to each group. And as luck would have it, Averiel belongs to the same room as Caly and I.

Yes, it’s sarcasm.

“Cal, let’s go eat?” I heard Averiel ask as I laid comfortably on the soft mattress in the corner of the room. Although I want to cut his rhythm again, this coziness won’t let me go. This makes me feel like I had been sleeping on a rock bed for a long time until today happened.

I’m going to seize this chance to sleep soundly, since the other two people in our room also went out to eat. Pretty sure Caly’s going to come back and pester me once they finish eating. I’m going to let go of my uneasiness regarding Averiel until then.

It took the pig some time before answering, “Sure. I’m hungry. Let’s go~”

The door creaks open, then creaks close.

I’m alone. Good night.

“Cal, do you have a boyfriend?”

My forehead creased. I slowed down from walking and listened to the voice coming from the main kitchen.

“I don’t. Why? Want to date me?”

I gasped. It’s Caly. That’s also a remark that is very much like Caly’s. Wait, is Averiel confessing?!

“Yes.”

Crap.

Oh, I need to calm down. Caly doesn’t even like the kid. There’s no way-

“Okay.”

What the… “No~!”

And then I woke up. It was just a dream.

I didn’t even have second thoughts when I decided to get up and look for the two. I knocked on every room, ran to the park, checked the garden, then lastly, searched in the pool area where I found them.

They’re sitting next to each other close enough to make me feel uncomfortable, feet dipped in the cool water, and practicing their lines.

I’m not sure what their mission for today is, but I have my own.

“Huh- Levi?"

“Warning,” I started as I sat on her left. Swiftly yet gently, I cupped her right cheek and made her face me. Our noses bumped for a sec. One of the pig’s brows quirked. Averiel only questioningly looks at us, probably confused. Or weirded out. Or jealous. Heh.

“If you keep playing like this, I'm going to-"

Caly interrupts me with a chuckle. "Are you trying to compete with me?"

"-have to claim you."

Eyes half-lidded, I bridged the tiny gap between our faces.

And if the supreme beings in heaven hear me, please... Make this beating organ in my chest calm down.