Chapter 281: Chapter 280.

Chapter 280. The Planetarium, Operation Hook Up: The Post Show. (3/4)

His plan was to send her to a location he knew so he could run into her later today or possibly in the future. It wasn’t a bad idea.

But it wouldn’t work. 

Why?

That was because Angela was lying. She wasn’t stupid. She could see through Zale’s attempt to latch onto her. How many people have tried the same thing? She’s seen it time and time again.

She could tell when someone was genuine. That was a skill she picked up in her line of business. Even if I considered her stupid because of her ignorance of technology before we first met, she was still an adult who had a plethora of experience in other areas.

“Ria, was it? Would you be interested in coming with me to get something to eat?” Angela suddenly asked Ria that.

“Huh? Something to eat with you? No thanks, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.” 

“Ria, what are you saying? If you’re being asked-”

“Who do you think you are to talk down to me? And can you not act all buddy-buddy like we’re on good terms? It’s disgusting.” Izora didn’t mince her words or pull any punches. The attitude she always hid from Zale was on full display today.

She’d remembered her objective and Angela’s appearance was a nuisance to that objective, that was why she had such a lackluster response to her identity. The way Zale forgot all about her as soon as Angela’s identity came to light dumped a bucket of cold water over her head.

She didn’t have any particularly positive feelings toward Angela. If Angela saw through those negative emotions, then… the reason she asked Izora to accompany her just now was likely because she sensed that displeasure toward her and it piqued her curiosity.

“How strange,” Angela muttered to herself.

“What strange?” Izora snapped back.

“Well…”

I couldn’t hear what Angela said. 

“How do you-” As only Izora responded, Angela had likely whispered it quietly in her ear. Izora’s startled response led me to believe that Angela had seen through her act, but had chosen not to expose it. She could tell Izora had gotten jealous and that she actually liked Zale, but for some unknown reason, was acting like she wanted nothing to do with him.

“Well? Would you be interested in accompanying me now?” Those words sounded friendly on the surface, but I detected the threat hidden between the lines.

Angela didn’t fully trust Izora to not cause trouble for her by blabbing to others about her identity here. If she didn’t cooperate, she may go and expose her secret in front of Zale. That was the sort of impression I had. Well, I was the only one who’d think this way since only I knew of the venomous personality she kept hidden.

“I’ll… accompany you.”

“Oh? You will? That’s great~ let’s get going then.”

“Hey, Ria, we forgot to exchange numbers.” Zale suddenly pointed that out when it sounded like the two were headed out together.

“You want my number? No way. You can’t have it.”

“Haha… then… here, at least take mine if you don’t want to give me yours. If you need help with anything, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

“Not interested.”

“Come on, don’t be so cold, Ria.”

Zale truly had the patience of a Buddhist monk. 

“If you can do a hundred push-ups in under a minute I’ll take your number.”

Pfft hahahaha! Izora was definitely being petty now. 

“A hundred push-ups?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, sure. That’s nothing hard.”

This cocky bastard. Did he think he could score some points with Angela by showing off his physical abilities? Was that why he so readily agreed?

“One, two, three… ten… twenty… thirty… fifty… seventy… ninety… one hundred.”

I’d timed it and he really managed one hundred push-ups in under a minute. 

“Huh? Alicia, where’d they go?”

“Uh… they… kind of left the building already,” Alicia gave that awkward explanation.

“What!” I heard the sound of Zale running off through the phone. Immediately after that, there was a bunch of static on the line.

Alicia had followed after him out the back exit.

“Hey, Ria, wait up. I did it. Hah… hah… hah… My number, please... take it.”

“Alicia, did he really do a hundred push-ups in a minute?”

“Yeah… he did.”

“Haaaaaah. Well, I guess I’ll take it then. Don’t expect that I’ll ever contact you though. You’re not my type at all.”

To be able to turn the tables on Zale like this after two to three long years, I could only imagine how ecstatic Izora was over this overwhelming victory. Zale begging her to take his number, I’m sure she never imagined a scenario like this.

If Zale knew that he was effectively begging Izora who already had his number to take his number, how would he feel right now?

Ahhhh! It’s so hard being an author. I want to see this scene rather than simply imagining it in my head.

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“Haha… well, I’ll be waiting to hear from you. Ria, I’d like to ask you out on a date later today if you’re free.”

“Oh? A date?”

“Yeah.”

“Not interested.”

“It’ll be my treat. I’ll pay for everything.”

“Well… I’ll consider it. Just don’t get your hopes up.”

“Right…” Zale sounded utterly defeated.

“Zale, we should really get back to our class,” Alicia pointed out.

“Yeah… you’re right.”

After that, the two groups parted ways. The phone went quiet. It seemed things had gotten a bit weird between Alicia and Zale. Just listening to the silence on the other end made me feel awkward.

I suppose interacting while other people were around was still possible, but when they were alone together it became like this. I felt bad eavesdropping in secret so I figured I’d end the call.

Just as I was about to press the button to hang up Alicia suddenly said something that caught me off guard, “Did you get all that, Ran?”

“...”

“I know you’ve been listening in on my phone. I’m not with Zale right now.”

“Haha, sorry about that. Since when did you notice?”

“Since you slipped my phone back in my pocket. I don’t mind though. I figured it was part of the plan you didn’t fill me in on.”

“Haha, sorry.”

“Hey… the reason you slipped away before… is it because you know Angela?”

“Huh? What makes you say that?”

“It’s suspicious. As soon as I found out her identity, it got me thinking. You were the one that planted the suggestion that caused me to make contact with her at random. Then you suddenly slipped away right before her identity was revealed. And what are the odds a celebrity would appear here of all places in disguise on the day we just happened to go to the planetarium on a field trip? Then, for that celebrity to miraculously ask Izora to accompany her, resulting in Zale’s evaluation of this version of Izora increasing…” 

She paused for a moment before continuing her line of reasoning, “It’s too much for it all to be a coincidence. Someone had to orchestrate all of this from behind the scenes. But who could it be? Well, isn’t it obviously my boyfriend who’s been pulling Izora’s strings from the very beginning?”

“I’m still finding it hard to believe that you know Angela though. What exactly is your relationship with her?”

It’s not that I wanted to keep hiding it from her. I didn’t expect she’d catch on though.

“Haaaaah. You’ve gotten a lot sharper. It was so much easier to pull the wool over your eyes when we first met.”

“Hmhmhm, right?” She hummed to herself happy to be complimented. 

“But phew. I was worried my detective instincts were faulty.”

“Hahaha, you mean after thinking Angela was a criminal in disguise?”

“Yeah. That was awful of you to goad me on~”

“Sorry, your conclusion was just too cute.”

“You didn’t answer my question before though. What exactly is your relationship with Angela?”

“Well… it’s a bit complicated.”

“Complicated? As in?”

“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I said it.”

“You’re not suggesting she’s another…”

“Please don’t ask. I don’t know how it turned out that way, but it did. I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.”

“...”

“Are you… mad at me?” I asked hesitantly.

“Haaaaaaah. Aren’t you too much of a womanizer?”

“I’m not. I swear! I did everything I could to avoid this situation but the world loves to play sick jokes on me.”

“Does Rosa and my mother know about your relationship with Angela?”

“No… you’re the first to find out about this. To be honest, I don’t know how to bring this up with them. I planned to one day.”

“Does Angela know you’re already taken?”

“Yes.”

“And she still-”

“Yeah.”

“Does she know I’m your girlfriend?”

“No. She doesn’t know anything about me. I’ve kept everything a secret from her. I can’t fully trust her and I’m still on guard around her. Our relationship wasn’t founded on something like love, but rather to keep each other in check.”

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