Chapter 7

• “Huh?” I asked, confused.
• Alpha Damien beckoned to me, not caring about my response. He turned around and headed toward a cafe with his brother’s signature long stride.
• Here to say goodbye to me? Why? I took my phone out of my backpack and hesitantly followed him. Damien suddenly turned around and gave me a cold stare. He noticed my phone and frowned. It was so obvious that I immediately stopped and put my phone away. When he saw my phone completely disappear, he beckoned me again. I gradually started moving toward him.
• Ah...damn it. Why...? I wanted to believe it was nothing but I felt anxious, like I was walking into the enemy’s tent. If I screamed, would Noah come back from the departure gate? While I was imagining something Damien would do, I made it to the Cafe. Damien was sitting at an empty table. I sat across from him and put my backpack beside me. I looked over at the menu to order, but he crossed his arms and stared at the table.
• “Um... are you not gonna order anything?” I asked.
• “Ask them to take my order,” he said sharply.
• “Huh?”
• “Ask them to come over and take my order,” Damien said. He didn’t even lift a finger, but moved only his mouth as he spoke angrily.
• It sounded like he wanted the clerk to take his order at the table.
• “Well, you might not know this, but it’s self-service here,” I explained cautiously.
• He gave me a weird look as if I’d just said something ridiculous. “You should probably know it’s self-service then,” I said.
• “Do you think I don’t know about that?” Damien said to me as if I was stupid. His big eyes made me shrink. Why are they so big even without double eyelids?
• “Why would you say that, then?” I asked, baffled by his behavior.
• “It means I don’t intend to do so,” he said.
• “What?” I was still utterly confused.
• “Don’t make me repeat myself, go order for yourself.” As if he’d said everything he needed to, Damien turned back to the table and sighed with closed eyes.
• What the hell? Why the hell is he ordering me around? He’s even five years older than me! It was so ridiculous that I gave him a cold stare. When he was standing up, he seemed very far away but sitting down, his face was close enough for me to see each hair. But why can’t I see pores? I searched for a defect, but his clean skin was like the surface of a boiled egg. His thin lips caught my eyes, but his big mouth balanced them out. His nose line looked beautiful and his monolid eyes were deep and beautiful. He was both handsome and pretty. Isn’t that called prettisome?
• Since he wasn’t watching me, I enjoyed looking at his face. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and turned to me. I was so surprised that I took a step back. Why am I so scared of him?
• “Sweet one,” he said.
• “Yeah...huh?” I replied.
• “I’d like to order the sweetest one, please.”
• Odd. It wasn’t a command, but a request. It was nice to finally be spoken to with respect, but his tone still made me feel inferior.
• Ignoring my bemusement, Damien turned back and closed his eyes. He didn’t speak again for a while. I supposed there was nothing more he wanted to say. I wanted to ask who was going to pay, but just turned back to the counter instead. He was going to be my brother-in-law within a few weeks after all, and I didn’t want to do anything to upset him.
• Why is his personality so different from his brother? Is it because he’s the spoiled, youngest one? At the counter, I asked for the sweetest drink, and the clerk handed me a Green Tea Frappuccino with java chips, chocolate drizzling and chocolate whipped cream. I walked back to the table with his high calorie drink that made me feel guilty just to look at, and my americano.
• As soon as I put the drinks on the table, Damien opened his eyes to look at the Frappuccino.
• “You’re good at drink-selecting,” he said. “Well, you should probably be good at selecting based on your choice of groom.” Damien stirred his drink with a straw. “But, you don’t know where you should be.”
• He chewed the straw while holding the cup. He looked at me and then sipped his drink. Ah. I know what he means. He thinks I don’t deserve his brother. Well, it’s not even offensive since I already expected that somebody would say it to me at least once before the marriage.
• “I am glad you like it, I don’t like sweet drinks so I had a hard time choosing.”
• “Yeah, but I said you don’t know where you should be.” Damien repeated as he finished his drink. He put the empty cup on the table and rolled up his sleeves. With a face that looked like he was readying himself for a competition, he said, “I’m going to get to the point. I’m here to say goodbye to you. Please leave.”
• Leave? To where? I blinked my eyes as questions popped up in my head. Damien stared at me coldly.
• “Stay the f*ck away from my brother.”
• Does he mean that he wants me to break up with Noah? I almost didn’t understand what Damien meant.
• “Um...Noah told me that you approved of our marriage,” I began, thinking of Noah’s determined face.
• “I told him to do whatever he wants. It doesn’t mean that I agree though. I respect his freedom, not this marriage.
• “Is...isn’t that the same?” I stammered. “If you respect his freedom, you should respect his marriage as well.”
• “His freedom, I do respect. So I decided not to tell him not to get married. But it’s okay to tell you not to get married.”
• We stared at each other in silence.
• “So, don’t get married,” he said finally.
• In short, he wants to bully me into giving up this marriage instead of his brother. What the... is their democracy only for Noah? Not anybody else?
• “Of course, I wouldn’t just say goodbye if you leave,” Damien took out a white envelope and put it on the table, sliding it toward me. “Hope you have a safe trip.”
• As soon as he finished his sentence, he stood up and walked away without giving me time to say anything.