"What on earth, Esther!" Tobias' voice was full of anger. They had arrived at their hotel not too long ago and right now; Esther and Tobias were having a slight disagreement over what happened inside the car. "Can't you think about Saki's feeling even for once?!"
"Didn't you get that wrong, Tobias? Saki is the one who isn't thinking about how I feel when he flirted with that woman!" Esther shot back, making the man in question wince.
"I wasn't flirting, Esther," he said with a sigh. "I was simply being playful, and acting by the lyrics!"
"Could've fooled me! You never even did that towards Veronika and I!"
"Enough, Esther! This jealousy is unbecoming of you. Are you trying to compromise the team?" asked Tobias. "Everyone knows about your feelings. Saki has been rejecting you subtly because you never straight up confessed to him, but you are just too blind to see it."
"What do you expect? Love makes people blind," Loreno chirped in a joking manner in an attempt to lighten up the mood. Bad move, because Tobias and Esther gave him a death glare. "Alright, keeping quiet now…"
"If Saki did not straight up reject me, then I still have chances. He's probably just shy and trying to play push and pull," Esther replied. It looks like she is confidence that she has a chance to be with Saki. Tobias turned to look at Saki and shook his head. Saki sighed and then look straight at Esther with pity.
"Esther, look here. I have told you that I don't want what we have right now to change. I love the team, everyone is like my brothers and sisters. I am not attracted to you, and will never be. Please understand, for me, the success of the mission comes first which is why I did not say anything before this. I do not want to compromise the team, because for the mission to succeed, we need the perfect teamwork," Saki reasoned. "So, I beg of you, discard your feelings for me."
There, Saki had said it. Now he just hoped that it will not affect Esther's performance. All of them watched the woman's expression, wondering how she is taking the rejection.
"I can't believe you…" was all she said before dashing out of their suite. Tobias was about to run after her before he was stopped by Veronika.
"I'll get her. Her emotion is in turmoil right now, so I believe it would be better if we have some girl's talk," she said before going after Esther. And that left only the boys in the suite.
There was an awkward silence. It continues for a few moments before Saki decided to speak.
"I'm sorry, guys… this is all my fault. I just hope this won't be a hindrance to the mission," he said as he looked down on the ground.
"It isn't your fault. If anything, we might need to leave Esther out of the operation itself," Tobias replied.
"But we need everyone for the operation!" El told him.
"Yes, I know. But rather than having the mission compromised, I rather leave her out. I'm sure we can manage. It will be up to Esther herself, if she is okay, then it is fortunate."
"These next few days will be awkward… and in a week, we will be infiltrating the walls. Esther better pull herself up by then. But Saki is partly at fault here!" Loreno pointed at Saki whom looks at him at disbelief.
"Why is that?" he asked back.
"You're a man! You should've just man up and told her straight that you didn't want her! I mean all of us could see you aren't interested at her! Hell, you look like you're more interested in Tobias than her!" Saki knew he was only joking. It was Loreno's attempt to lighten up the mood. He had tried earlier but failed. This time, Saki decided to play along.
"You're right!" Saki then wrapped his arms around Tobias's waist for a hug. "Tobias is more of my type!"
Loreno, El and Tobias all stared at him. "Seriously?" they asked at the same time. A mischievous grin adorned Saki's face as he pushed Tobias towards the sofa before getting on top of the male.
"Should I prove it to you?" he asked in a very seductive manner. He inched his face closer, as if trying to kiss Tobias on the lips. Loreno and El were staring at him in disbelief while Tobias was having a hard time trying to figure out if this was a joke, or Saki was serious. His pounding heart is also not helping. Fortunately for Tobias, and unfortunate for the other three, Veronika decided to enter the suite with Esther on tow.
When Esther saw the scene before her, and the boys saw her, there was a few seconds of silence. Then, to add more, Chizuru decided to pop up to bring them for dinner. And when she saw the scene before her, all hell finally broke loose.
"Oh, my god!! I knew it!!" Chizuru jumped happily. "Did you guys finally decided to get together?!" she asked happily seeing how her fantasy seemed to come true.
"I can't believe this, I was bawling my eyes off, and the two of you decided to be together? No wonder you sided with him, Tobias. You traitor!!" Esther was seething and Veronika sighed, thinking how her hard work to coax Esther back earlier was for nothing.
"No! You got it all wrong!! This is a joke!" Saki defended himself and Tobias, upon hearing that it was a joke, finally sighed in relief. "Loreno was saying how I look like I'm more interested in Tobias than you, so I just decided to play along and-"
Saki didn't manage to finish his sentence as he saw something flying over to him. Dodging the incoming projectile, he quickly got off Tobias and grabbed the cushions on the sofa and uses it as a shield. Loreno and El watched from the side, before slowly going over to Chizuru.
"Esther, calm down! Is this how a lady should act?" Saki asked as he held the cushion up to defend himself from another incoming projectile. He is lucky that she did not decide to shoot him instead.
"Listen, I've been in love with you ever since I was ten, and that is exactly ten years since then! Then you rejected me for a man?! Do you still expect me to act like a lady then?"
"Wait, what?! You pedo! You loved me when I was seven?!" maybe it is due to the chaos, but Saki's mind seemed to be a bit off and he could barely understand what Esther was saying.
"Considering she was ten at the time, no, she is not a paedophile, Saki," Tobias informed him which he replied with a short 'oh, yeah.'
"Shut up, traitor!" Esther hissed and Saki took the moment when she wasn't focused on him to activate his cloaking device. As soon as he was camouflaged, he quickly ran past Chizuru and the others towards the exit. "Oh no, you don't!" seeing Saki had used his cloaking device, Esther quickly activated her own heat detector and she could see where Saki is heading. "I'm not done with you yet!!" she yelled out as she went after the boy.
The people who got left behind stared at each other before shrugging.
"So… about that dinner," El stared at Chizuru.
"We'll go. I'll send both Saki and Esther the location later, we can't waste any more time," Tobias said and asked Chizuru to guide them. On the way to the restaurant, Chizuru decided to ask Tobias about the scene she saw earlier.
"So, was it only a joke?"