"Are you having your period right now?" she glared at her brother before she grabbed a throw pillow and smashed it towards his face. He yelled at her to stop obviously feeling the pain of her strong smashes.
She's lazily resting her head at the sala when he suddenly sat beside her and started teasing her. Yes. She's definitely annoyed today. And feeling very prickly.
"What do you care if I'm having my period today? Why, are you dreaming to have menstruation, too? Huh? Huh?" she barked and balled her hands into a fist ready to punch the life out of him. He backed away instinctively until he's standing far from her. He's gently massaging his face, still trying to recover from his earlier misery. Serves you right. Don't annoy me more when I'm already annoyed. I don't just bark, I bite and scratch.
"Hey, I was just trying to lighten your mood. I'm sorry," he attempted to get near her again but she just glared harder.
"Get your face out of my sight. I'm annoyed just looking at you! Do you have a death wish or anything?"
Her brother puckered his lips before he turned away. She just caught him leaving some cash on the table. She immediately grabbed them and hugged him from behind. He stopped walking and just stood still.
"I'm well aware that my back is too magnificent not to hug but you may also consider loosening your grip. Mayu, your killing me. Let me breath!"
"Why won't you just let me loan instead. It's not like I'll run away and not pay you back. It's just that..." she held herself. She wants to cry now. Why is it hard to make money?
"And how do you plan on paying me back? Grandfather has already confiscated your credit card." Yep. He finally said it. The reason of her agony. She's still thinking what got her to agree on that bet before. She already knew that her grandfather may be scheming something but she still agreed to it anyway.
"You can use mine you know." Tears have now started to fall from her eyes. She can't see the logic why she's experiencing this kind of hell now. She's the favored one, she knew that by heart, but between her and her brother, she's the one getting a taste of their grandfather's iron fist (1).
She can't blame her brother, he's never done anything to make the old man mad. He just did everything perfectly and prettily not even the devil can complain. She knew she went too far but to see their grandfather punishing her like this is something she would never understand.
It's already been a month that she's going broke. She also left the publishing company as she was never able to write anymore stories after her coffee incident. Her grandfather also started to nag her to return to the hospital instead. But she's as stubborn as he is. She went out of town, still trying to get her brains on the move to write again. And she still came with nothing. There's not even a penny left on her wallet when she called her grandfather to take her home.
This may be when he's already reached his boiling point, he took her credit card and told her,
"If you want money then you have to work for it. You can't be using a credit card if you don't even have a job. I don't care if you don't come back to the hospital anymore. But I will also not sponsor your excursions. You're just making me worried. I still want to live long and meet my great grandchildren. I won't let your wandering cut my life early," And with that, he took her precious credit card away. She slumped her shoulders. She lost the bet.
She tried borrowing her brother's card but he refused her flatly. He instead gives her daily cash allowance but she'd really rather that she has something she can manage. Not that her brother will keep track of it but her enormous pride won't allow it. Her pride is too high that it's even taller than herself.
"Eat your food, Mayu. You'll get sores in your stomach if you neglect eating. You don't even have a medical insurance to cover hospitalization," she sadly picked up the spoon and started eating. Now he's being mean. She really felt like both her brother and grandfather are ganging up against her. Although she knows this all to be her grandfather's plan, she can't help but be annoyed at her brother as he keeps refusing to lend her money. As if I'll run away with your money! I'll pay you back, you stingy person! she yelled on her mind.
"And how do you plan to pay your brother?" she suspiciously eyed her grandfather. What are you talking about? She could see her brother suppressing a smile. That's when she realized...she has a usual habit of thinking aloud. Uh-oh.
"And you're now trying to extort money from your brother. My goodness Mayu, go back to the hospital and work. Kristoff can at least monitor you there instead of you wracking your brains to write a story and going to dangerous places."
Mayu stayed silent. She can think of a word to rebut. She knows that her grandfather has paid someone to watch over her when she feels like a genius and ended up in accidents instead.
"Why don't you go back for a month, Mayu? And I'll think about that money you're asking." she felt her ears grow large from his words and quickly looked at her brother. Why does he look more handsome today?
"One million?" she teased.
"I'll give you even more if you just go back," their grandfather butted in. She grinned. Ha! It looks like money can indeed buy a lot of things. She put more food on her plate. She's gonna need more strength to get her one million. This will be a very busy month.
"Just one month, right?" she reminded them.
1. Strict person