anwhile, the dating saga of the Bennet n continued.
Slater’s eyes sharpened, fluttering his eyelashes at the woman in front of him. By the looks of it, he was sitting across from his nesis — even though he never had a nesis, according to him. He was too pretty to have a nesis.
The woman seated across from him couldn’t help but gulp nervously. Her trembling hand reached for the glass of water near her, turning to the side as she took a sip. From her point of view, she felt suffocated by Slater’s aura.
’What is wrong with him?!’she wondered to herself, almost on the brink of crying as she peeked at him. ’Why is he glaring daggers at ?! Did I say sothing wrong? But all I said was hello!’
****
anwhile, in the sa restaurant but at a different table...
Hugo was cupping his face, smiling from ear to ear. His elbows were resting on the table, his eyes sparkling. His date, on the other hand, tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Ahem!" The woman cleared her throat and flashed him a delicate smile. "You’ve got a great smile."
"Thanks."
"..." She pursed her lips, raising her brows as he continued to smile at her. She opened her mouth, only to shut it again. ’What am I going to ask him now?’
Ever since she ca, Hugo had been in this sa position, smiling brightly. The problem was that she often initiated the conversation. It wouldn’t have been a problem if only Hugo left so room for the conversation to continue. But alas, Hugo would just answer and then leave it at that.
How was she supposed to have a conversation?
"Hey," Hugo whistled, making her brows rise. "Would you mind if I asked what you do for a living?"
"Excuse ?"
"All my dates earlier had good careers. There was a doctor, a CEO of a company, soone who works in their family business, and so on," he explained in a knowing tone. "What about you?"
"Oh." The woman opened and closed her mouth, a little astounded that she was being asked this. How could she not be? Wasn’t it normal for the woman to ask the man this question and not the other way around?
Even so, the woman cleared her throat and smiled. "Nothing..." she trailed off when the smile on his face quickly faded. "I’m still trying to figure out... life."
"Does that an you’re broke too?"
"Excuse , what?"
"Well, that’s a lot of work," Hugo said while scratching his ear with his pinky. After a satisfying scratch, Hugo pulled his pinky out of his ear and blew the top of it.
The woman flinched when she saw sothing fly out of Hugo’s pinky. ’Is that an... ear wax?’
"Well, I guess birds of the sa feather flock together!" Hugo grinned. "Our fridge might be empty, but at least I have a motorcycle!"
"..."
****
At the sa ti...
"Honeymoon?"
"Huh?"
"I’m asking you where you want to spend your honeymoon," Atlas repeated indifferently, his knuckles propped on his jaw. He slowly snapped his eyes at the woman seated across from him. "Ti’s up. How many kids do you want?"
"Wait, what?"
"Ti’s up. What are your hobbies?"
"Huh?"
"Ti’s up. Do you have allergies?"
"Uh..."
"Ti’s up. What’s your favorite movie?"
"..."
"Ti’s up." Atlas blinked, counting three seconds in his head before he moved on to the next question. "What’s your IQ level?"
His date opened and closed her mouth, getting more pressured by every question. But before she could answer, she heard another "ti’s up" followed by another random question.
*****
"What the hell is Atlas doing?" Charles, who was seated at the corner table with Allen and Jas, couldn’t help but scrunch up his nose. Atlas’s seat was the closest to them, so they could overhear Atlas’s rapid-fire questions.
Charles and Jas intuitively turned their attention to Allen, only to see the latter wincing. Allen held back his tears as he pitifully faced the two.
"I — I think... I think that’s his concept of... speed dating." After uttering his explanation, Allen buried his face in his palms and dramatically wept.
Charles sighed heavily while Jas rubbed Allen’s back.
"It’s okay, Assistant Allen," Jas sympathized. "I can feel your pain."
"At this point, he might end up single all his life!" Allen wailed, keeping his face buried in his palms. "The more I see, the more scared I get.
Jas frowned and peeked at Slater, sighing. "You’re not alone, Assistant Allen. Slater’s not doing well, either. How is glaring at his date unprovoked supposed to win anyone over?"
Slater currently looked like a cornered dog, bristling with suspicion and barely concealing his internal turmoil.
"I’m sorry," Charles sighed, his voice heavy with regret. "Had I known this would be a problem, I would’ve taught them to be more charming. But alas, my eldest is too goal-driven that he seems to have unknowingly sacrificed his EQ. My second son... he’s just... I should’ve asked him to train his brain more than his muscles."
He paused, his face growing bitter. "As for my youngest..." Charles trailed off, visibly troubled.
The whole morning, Charles had been with Haines, but Haines was like a block that wouldn’t move. So, this was the first ti he was seeing his son’s dating adventure — it was worse.
The trio shared a collective sigh of defeat, their camaraderie forged in mutual suffering. Allen and Jas slowly gazed up at Charles, teary-eyed. At least now that the dates were happening in the sa location, they could console each other.
Just then, their attention shifted as all of the won seated at Hugo, Atlas, and even Slater’s tables rose from their seats. All the won carried furious looks before they reached for the glasses of water and splashed it in their date’s faces.
Atlas calmly closed his eyes, as though resigned to this outco. Slater, on the other hand, gasped in dismay while Hugo giggled as he dodged the water just in ti. Unfortunately, his amusent was short-lived as he realized the water had hit soone behind him.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Charles, Jas, and Allen clicked their tongues continuously, shaking their heads in unison as they watched the won storm out.
Charles: "This is so painful to watch."
Jas: "If this is not a dating setup but so sort of reality show called ’The Boiling Point’, they’d be stars. Very good at it."
Allen: "He only has one suit left..."
By the end, the three n found themselves covering their mouths, quietly mourning the death of these n’s romance.
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