Chapter 61 Abnormal
>>Clio (Present)
"I took the opportunity while everyone was distracted and ran away. I left through the emergency exit and ran straight home." I let out a deep breath, "I didn't go to school after that. My neighbor, Nolan, helped my Mom and I get through the situation and I was allowed to take the final exams and graduate. Then we all left City A and relocated to City D."
My story ended and I stared at the other person who stared back at me.
"So," Zhou-Lin's expressions were unreadable, I couldn't decipher what he was thinking, "You're telling me your father couldn't cope with the loss of his son and ended up delusional?" He pointed his index finger to the side of his head and made a twirl with it.
"Yes," I nodded
"And you were forced to take your brother's place to keep your father's sanity intact?"
"Yes," I lied with confidence.
"Your father's dead though," He spoke with an un-amused voice.
!!!
My eyes went wide at his statement and my heart skipped a beat.
"It's written right here, it's just you and your mother." His suspicion got intense, "Doesn't explain why you're still in that attire." He intertwined his fingers again over his lap and kept his eyes on me
"Yes," I hesitated. His unwavering statement unnerved, "He died not too long ago..."
"And?" He looked at me up and down, "Why haven't you gone back to being a girl?"
"It's..."
AH! Shit!
Because my father didn't go insane. The reason he forced me to become Clio was due to another reason. The story I told Zhou-Lin is true. It really happened like that but the only difference is that my dad didn't lose his mind.
Oh God.
I should have prepared myself for that. If he has my information, it's obvious that he would know that my father is dead.
"I haven't changed back because..." I couldn't make up an excuse at the moment, "I'm not ready yet." But I had to say something and I said what seemed like the best excuse, "It's- uh- I need time to do it since everyone knows me as a guy and it's going to take a lot of courage to face everyone."
Zhou-Lin stared at me for a while, then a smile spread across his face, a rather devious smirk.
Then he started laughing. His laughter unnerved me and I bit my lip and looked back at him nervously.
Why is he laughing?
"Out of all the excuses you could have told, you told the one that's an obvious lie!!"
!!!
My cheeks flushed in embarrassment and I looked down
OH! God!
How did he catch onto that? No, wait, is my excuse the only lie he caught onto? Shit, I can't tell!!
I peeked at him and my soul left my body.
!!!
He was looking right at me.
"W-what?" He was making me anxious and I had no idea how to respond to that.
Is he not going to let me go now that he knows I lied about something?
But the story was true! Even though he asked for the reason why I'm pretending to be my brother and I lied about that but still- the rest of the story is true!
My heart was scared and I wondered if I could ask him.
"Hey..." I spoke softly, "I don't see why you're laughing. My story is true,"
He smirked, "Is it now?" He let out a snicker, "Seems like you're scared I'm going to keep you here."
!!!
He hit the mark with that sentence.
"A-aren't you going to let me go?"
"Hmm~" He stood up from his seat, "You know," He still had his eyes on me, "There is one thing I adore," He smiled, this time his smile seemed genuine, which was odd "Everything that's not normal." And then his smile turned sinister, "That's exactly why I adore Matthew too."
I blinked at him in confusion.
I don't know how the topic got to that and what has Matthew got to do with this? Where did my boss even come from in all this?
"Why?" I asked, "What's wrong with him?"
"There's nothing wrong with him." He leaned his head back, "He's perfect." "Better than humans,"
Better than humans?
Weird line. What is he? An alien?
"But still, I don't want Matthew to have you," He extended his hand to me, "Why don't you choose me?" He bent over a little as leaned towards me.
My eyes went wide, "What?"
"Do you like Matthew?" He asked
!!!
"No..." I think...
"Then how about you try giving me a chance?"
??!??!!
Was it just me? I couldn't catch up with his words. I'm sure the direction of the conversation was very different from where we originally started and he seemed to be jumping from one thing to another.
"Give you a chance...?" I knitted my brows, "As in?"
"As in, be my girlfriend?"
My brain just stopped working. And by that, I mean that my brain went blank and my body froze in the awkward stance of confusion.
He let out a chuckle, "You're quite adorable." He straightened up and we both heard a commotion coming from a distance.
"Yes?" I don't think I've been this confused in life before, but of course, I won't put aside the times when I was giving exams.
"I can tell you're attracted to Matthew," He seemed sort of disappointed.
!!!
I felt my heart flip at his words but I didn't give him an answer. I wasn't sure myself, if I liked him or not but yeah, I was attracted to him. He's charming...
"What if I told you he wasn't human," Zhou-Lin didn't seem to care about my responses, he just took the liberty to keep talking when he felt like it.
"What is that even supposed to mean?"
What? Is he actually an alien or something?
OH! Wait!
What am I thinking?! Zhou-Lin is messing with me here!
"You'll understand at some point, but I'll let you know that he's a very dangerous man."
"More than you?" The words just spurted out of my mouth because it just sounded so unlikely. Matthew? The CEO of a legal company, more dangerous than a literal Mafian man?
"Oh!" He shook his head, "You have no idea what kind of man he really is." His eyes were clear and it made me uneasy when I thought that he might not be lying.
The commotion that seemed distant got closer.
"I'm serious about what I said," He smiled, "If you ever want to come to me, I'll be here with open arms." He folded his arms, "If you ever find Matthew scary, you can come find me."
I was staring at him with a disturbed and confused expression when the door burst open, breaking the lock and handle on it
!!!
I shot my head in that direction but Zhou-Lin turned calmly, as if he already knew who it was and why the door broke.
"Zhou-Lin!" It was Matthew
!?!?!
I stood up from the couch in shock, "Sir?" I stared at him in disbelief.
"Hello, Matthew," Zhou-Lin wasn't the least bit anxious even though the boss looked livid, "You're early,"
Matthew stomped his way towards us, "What did you do to him?" His eyes moved from Zhou-lin to me and he analyzed me from top to bottom as he came over. It made me tense up but the moment he determined I was unharmed he calmed down a little.
He came over and placed his hands on my shoulders, "Are you alright?"
I was taken aback by his actions, I was expecting him to care about me like that, "Yes..." I replied.
He seemed relieved, "Good,"
"Um," I tried to move but felt weak in my legs. It seems the drug still hadn't worn off completely and I was about to fall when he picked me up in his arms and turned to glare at the other man, "I don't know why you pulled this, Zhou-Lin" I heard a growl leave his mouth which caught me off guard, "But don't you dare try anything with my mate again,"
I looked at Matthew with a frown
Mate?