The question came in a tone that carried no remonstrance or sermon, just a calm, almost curious smile. The abrupt voice made the eyes of the two still sitting down twitch, while, for Alex, it was the corner of his lips that twitched. But his mind didn't stagnate for long. Inhaling a breath, he suddenly spun around, his eyes opened wide in surprise as he exclaimed:
"Leyna, sis, what a surprise! You should have told me you were coming!"
Saying that, the surprise at the ponytailed woman's unexpected appearance gave way to a bright smile. In one step, Alex invaded her personal space and took her in his arms for a strong hug while planting a deep kiss on her soft cheek.
Leyna's calm face cracked, broken apart by a helpless but indulgent smile, before she pushed Alex away and freed herself. Looking at him, she said with some amusement in her tone:
"Alright, you can stop. I won't ask for an answer anymore. For now."
Alex smiled as if he didn't hear much less understand her words.
"Since you are here, sis, let's have lunch together. My treat. Whatever you want to eat, just say the word, and I will get it for you."
Leyna didn't pretend to be oblivious to what he was doing. She gave him a meaningful look, but did as she said. She didn't continue with the previous subject. Lightly pushing Alex to the side, she looked at the two young men behind him.
"Lance, Tyler."
"Hey, sis."
"Miss Staten."
The first response was from Lance, while the second one was from Tyler. The blond looked a little restrained, his smile strained like a bad student suddenly caught skipping class and afraid of being sent back to receive due punishment. Tyler stifled a smile and politely responded to Leyna's greeting, calmer but less casual, as he lightly waved at Leyna.
Alex glanced at them, then returned his attention to Leyna. He enthusiastically pulled her arm into the crook of his elbow and started to lead her away.
"Ignore those two idlers. They are not as important as our lunch. Let's go."
And like that, the two young men were left behind to look at each other, the corners of their mouths twitching in speechlessness, but only for a second. Laughing in helpless understanding, they turned to their drinks. Well, Tyler still had something to drink, but Lance could only raise his hand to call Gaelle back to help him with another serving.
Meanwhile, stepping out of the spacious shop, Leyna looked at Alex with a smile:
"I thought you would run away again."
Alex indignantly scoffed and stuck out his chest.
"Of course not! Why would I run? And when did I run away?"
Leyna, her face full of amusement, opened her mouth, ready to respond, only to be cut off as Alex looked at her with eyes that seemed to demand reality to be rewritten.
"This morning doesn't count. I didn't run away. I wasn't running away."
The emphasis in those words made Leyna too speechless to retort, making Alex nod in satisfaction, before he changed the subject:
"Let's move faster and have something sent to the office in case our dear chairwoman decides to starve herself for work."
Leyna looked at Alex's calm face. Being filial was good, and he had always been, but…
Amusement swirling in her eyes, she happily burst the bubble that had been making him feel safe and at ease:
"No need to bother, the chairwoman will be having lunch with us."
Alex's face froze, his smile suddenly breaking like a train that hit a wall, and his steps paused. He turned to Leyna, his face struggling to come out of its comedic stagnation.
"You came with her!?"
Leyna nodded with a calm smile:
"Yes, the chairwoman is waiting for us downstairs."
Looking at the beautiful dark eyebrows almost rising up in amusement across from him, Alex seemed to hear his heart turn into a stone and shatter into pieces. His shoulders fell weakly. He put on a pained look, held his chest, and looked at Leyna with a look like he couldn't believe her betrayal.
"So you are the one she sent to ambush me!?"
With her amusement becoming obvious in her eyes, Leyna gave Alex a knowing look and asked back with a half-smile:
"Is there really anyone capable of ambushing you?"
As if he didn't hear the double meaning of the question, Alex listlessly turned away as he listed:
"You, Jenny, Ga-yeong, and…"
Speaking up to that point, a flicker passed through Alex's brown eyes, before he returned to his defeated and pessimistic look.
"Anyway, I can't love you girls enough, so how can I have my guard up against you? And now you backstabbed me. Sigh…"
Leyna held back a smile as she retorted:
"Being sweet won't save you at all."
Alex exhaled helplessly, then straightened his back.
"I don't need any saving, I can save myself. Isn't it just hearing some words and holding onto some convictions? I can do it! I have been holding on for more than a year already, I won't falter! Hoh!"
With a quiet shout to encourage himself, Alex regained his vigor and pulled Leyna with renewed energy.
"Let's go. Now, you won't be thinking about going back to the office during the lunch hours. But since I'm going down, you are going down too. Let's talk about your marriage."
Taken by surprise, Leyna's smile faltered for a second, before she took a breath and let out an exhale that helped her school her expression and return to her elegant self.
Alex's lips curved higher on the side away from Leyna. Indeed, there was no defense better than attacking, and dodging something would always be better than waiting to take it head on.
Neither of them spoke as Alex retraced the path he had taken some hours ago after he had finished showing off and flirting at the sports center. Leading the way through the crowd that looked sparse compared to the giant mall, he stopped with Leyna before an elevator tucked in a quiet corner.
*Ding*
Once it arrived in response to his call, he let Leyna step inside first while he focused on exchanging flirty smiles with the young woman who stepped out, much to the disdain, read envy, of males who witnessed the scene and saw the beauty he already had at his arm.
*Ding*
The door closed, blocking the flirty eye contact and the smile charged with clear but unspoken invitations. With a soft jolt, the elevator let itself fall prey to the gravity and started descending.