"Eh~" her eyes widened a bit
"Oh, no, not yet," she said in her mind, she's not yet looking forward to being bombarded with messages from her relatives, hence, her current rendezvous must not reach their knowledge, especially what she's up to nowadays. To be more specific, she's not yet mentally prepared to hear her father's long scolding.
"Sorry, viewers, our Kashmiri is a bit shy." Quant said as Key moved a bit away
"That's the end for today's live," El announced and turned off the live
"Can't I start doing live after the first match?" she asked
"Well, you can," Dewy said with a smile
"Okay, I'll wait until after the first match then." She said
THAT afternoon, Dewy called them to the living room.
"They are the club's costume team, they're here to take your measurements." Dewy introduced them
"Hello," the costume team members greeted them
"Hi," Key smiled and waved back
They got their measurements taken one by one, Key having her taken in her room, as she's a girl, while the rest of the team got measured in the living area.
"Where's Nico?" Dewy asked when she arrived back in the living room
It seems that their captain is the only one left.
"I'm here," Rasheed arrived with one hand in his pocket
Their captain got his measurements taken as well, and after that, the costume team left.
"Who's in for a celebration?" Quant suddenly asked them as they're in the living room
"I'm in, though what for?" Key said while raising her hand
"Count me in," Opal said
"Me too," El looked up from his phone
"What's the celebration for?" Bright asked as he sat on the single-seater couch
"Key won earlier in solo," Quant said
"Solo?" Rasheed looked up from his phone and looked at Key raptly
"Yeah, she played a game earlier with El." Dewy replied with a smile
"Congrats," Rasheed said dryly
"Thanks," Key still replied with a smile
"We still have a training match tomorrow." Bright reminded them
"There's still a next time," Key smiled raising her shoulders and letting it fall back down
They left the living room, Key faced her computer again and began playing rank, she was still in the middle of a match when her phone began ringing. She ignored it but it wouldn't stop ringing so she turned it off, continued with her ranking match, after ranking up once, she logged out, and turned her phone on again.
"150 missed calls, huh? I wonder who it is." She commented implausibly in her mind
She swiped her phone and drew her phone's lock pattern to unlock it, she slid through the home screen to look for her messaging application and when it rang again, she swiped it to answer and placed it near her ear.
"Hello?" she said after answering the call
[Hello, Ms. Chantel, will you please grace me with your honor here in front of your base?] the person from the other line's voice is blatantly filled with sarcasm
"Uh who's this?" she feigned ignorance
[I will so hate you if you really forgot me, you brat,] she pursed her lips to stop herself from chuckling after hearing that line
"Okay, I'll meet you there." She said and stood up
"Dewy, I'm going out to meet someone." She informed their manager
"Don't stay out too late," Dewy reminded her
"Bring me food when you come back," Quant said
"I'll try," she replied and went to the front door where their shoe rack is
She chose a pair of black rubber and went out, and while walking, she began to formulate reasons why she has a visitor, it's not yet night, and the sky is still in yellowish orange hue as it's only four in the afternoon. She walked pass the opened gate that opened when the guard saw her.
"Hey," she greeted and waved her hand after seeing her visitor
"Tu m'as manqué, Chants." She was wrapped in a tight hug making her chuckle
"Vous avez aussi raté mon dissing, cousin?" she teased and chuckled
"Tu n'as jamais changé," her cousin said and released her from the hug
"Hmm, so what brought you to New Yastrid, Poupée?" Key asked her older cousin
"I found out you're here, I need some buddy right now." From Poupée's tone
"Another break-up?" she speculated and her cousin nodded after a sigh
"Now, let's go have my therapy." Poupée said and held her arm, slightly dragging her to the car
Key diligently listened as her cousin continued to talk about the recent guy she's been dating, according to Poupée, the man was a total walking green flag until she found out that the man is an ex-theatre actor and was dating numerous of flings alongside her.
"Le nerf de cette racaille, non?" Poupée exclaimed and rolled her eyes
"I was right in breaking up with him, right?" Poupée asked her in her French accent and she nodded
"Oui, oui, cousin, tu as fait ce qu'il fallait faire." She said calmly while tapping her cousin's back
"Then… Alors, pourquoi ça fait mal?" Poupée asked with her eyes glistening
"Because you invested your feelings in him, tu as donné ton amour," She said patiently as she coaxed her
She retained her composure and maintained a calm demeanor in front of her cousin even as she broke down into tears.
She indeed does love dissing and pissing off their cousins to some extent but the fact that they are cousin, they are family, will always remain in her heart and as much as she is capable of, she'll be there to back them up. Poupée and James are the cousins she's closest to, unlike her older siblings who had a better reputation to their cousins, and that's enough for her.
When they arrived, she helped her cousin retouch her make-up before they entered the mall. They went to the spa, to a salon and then to various designer brand outlets. She stayed silent and gave short yet warm response from time to time whenever Poupée is asking for her opinion, her warm smile remained as she calmly walk alongside Poupée, who is busy shopping for clothes, shopping isn't really her thing.
"Which one do you think suits me better?" Poupée asked her while raising two dresses
Key took the two dresses and took a few steps away from her cousin, she raised each dress, putting it in front of Poupée and then she smiled before choosing one.
"This one," she replied and gave the mixture of yellow and white knee-length dress to Poupée
"But isn't it too covered?" she asked while examining the dress
"Isn't this too revealing?" Key replied and raised the dress she's holding
Poupée looked at her for a while before pouting and putting the revealing clothes back to the rack.
"Why is my baby cousin so mature?" Poupée asked in a whining tone and she chuckled
"Tu ne devrais pas te changer à cause de lui, Poupée." She said calmly
"If you want to improve yourself, do it for yourself, not for him, not for revenge." Key said and Poupée hugged her while pouting
"Pourquoi j'ai l'impression que tu es l'aîné en ce moment?" Poupée asked her and she chuckled while shaking her head (Why do I feel like you're the older one right now?)
"Where do you want to head to next?" she asked changing the topic
"Let's pay for these then let's go out for a drink." Poupée replied with a smile
"I have training tomorrow," Key pursed her lips and her cousin turned to her while pouting
"Please? I won't make you drunk." Poupée said and held onto her shoulder which made her sigh
"But to make it clear, we'll just drink not get wasted." She clarified and Poupée nodded meekly
"Okay, let's go." Key said calmly and Poupée's eyes glittered with excitement
"Yay, you're the best, Chants." Poupée threw her arms around Key as they head to the cashier
While Poupée is paying in the cashier, Key sent a message to James, informing him that she's with Poupée and that they'll be heading to the bar. She left her GPS open so James can track her location wherever they might end up going and sent a message that if he doesn't a receive a text from her by 7:30PM, he should come pick them up.
No more explanation is needed, James knew what she meant.
*****
Translation for the French conversation:
Tu m'as manqué, Chants. - I missed you, Chants.
Vous avez aussi raté mon dissing, cousin? - You also missed my dissing, cousin?)
Tu n'as jamais changé, - You never change,
Le nerf de cette racaille, non? - The nerve of that scum, right?
Oui, oui, cousin, tu as fait ce qu'il fallait faire. - Yes, yes, cousin, you did what should have been done.
Alors, pourquoi ça fait mal? - Then, why does it hurt?
tu as donné ton amour, - you gave your love,
Tu ne devrais pas te changer à cause de lui, Poupée. - You shouldn't change yourself because of him, Poupée.
Pourquoi j'ai l'impression que tu es l'aîné en ce moment? - Why do I feel like you're the older one right now?