A Great Trio

"Yeah, someone is still quite good at giving nicknames," Jaemin murmured to himself, having a gentle smile on his lips, but the person sitting a little far from him somehow got to hear the whole thing quite clearly.

Kiera was stupefied the moment she heard him say that. The little smile which was lingering on his lips, This kind of smile she really didn't see before on him as all the smiles of him until now was kind of a commercial and fake one. But this one, it was surely the natural one.

On the other hand, Annabelle was no more bothered by the fact of Jaemin being here as she was really enjoying the episode where Eren was talking with Falco sitting on the bench. Her heart was already pouring out with sorrow when she saw Eren looking like a vagabond. He didn't eat well, right? How can he do this to his handsome face? If Anna was able to meet Iseyama before releasing season 4, she would have requested him to not make Eren look this miserable.

"Mr. He, I would like to thank you for something. I guess you already know what I would be thankful for."

Jaemin looked at Kiera who was sitting a little far beside her. He knew she was Annabelle's former manager, the lady who refused to disclose any information to the media despite getting a lot of offers. She is surely a devoted manager who is really loyal to her client with a reputation of being a tyrantess.

"Yes, of course. But I think you are not supposed to be the one who should express gratitude here," Jaenim threw a question towards her. It was quite sure that he was questioning her position to be involved in anything related to Annabelle.

Kiera gritted her teeth as she got the signal about what he was implying to. Yes, she is no more her manager anymore. And it was also true that she once said she had nothing to do with Annabelle after her retirement but it was just to save Anna. She couldn't just refuse the fact. But to think it clearly, why is he so wary about her not being Anna's manager anymore when he already saw her relationship with Anna? This hostility, it's not something that looks from outside. It looks like he was always heedful of her being with Anna and there's also a little bit of jealousy mixed into it. What was it actually?

"Mr. He, pardon me but as you can see, though I am no longer Annabelle's manager anymore, I never left her side for several years. I don't know why you are so suspicious about me despite being the outsider here, but still, I think you are wise enough to get the point, right?" Kiera regained her composure in an instant and this time, she threw a question back to him.

Jaemin smiled a bit, and this time, it was his fake one.

"I think considering me an outsider in front of you makes you more inferior here, don't you think?"

The moment Kiera heard these words, she felt like an electric bolt crossed through her.

"Wrong, you are wrong here, Mr.He Jaemin. I was going to ignore the whole fact that maybe you guys somehow personally know each other. But I think, if Anna didn't bother to mention you, then you are not that close to her to know her personally, isn't it?"

Kiera was feeling already pathetic that she didn't know anything this time. But she doesn't want to pry anything unless Anna herself tells her everything. This guy, she doesn't know why he is intentionally annoying her, but yeah he was kind of successful. Kiera just couldn't help but make him more miserable than her this time. And so, her attempt wasn't for nothing. Jaemin did look a bit tense and puzzled. It was not her plan to make others miserable, it was just that she couldn't help when he was provoking her this way.

… … … …

After an hour or so, Jaemin got a call and had to leave early though Anna was least bothered to even look at him as she and Yujun were still glued to the TV screen totally unaware of the heated conversation the other two had. Kiera scratched her hair and saw the pill of dishes triumphantly resting on her kitchen sync disdainfully as she never liked to do kitchen chores. So, she has to do it this time, right? Sigh, why did she even agree to have the party here at her home? Also it didn't look like a party in any way. She has to arrange another date or something to thank and apologize properly to Mr. He later. After all, she shouldn't have provoked him like that when she was supposed to act a little humble there. Who knows what had cast her mind to act like a brat earlier.

Though Anna was watching the anime with him to make herself forget about the person sitting next to Yujun, she knew even if she is quite successful today to avoid him, she will have to confront him someday. No matter what she says, she can't just deny that they knew each other very well. Someday, when she will have the opportunity, what would she say to him? The way he pretends as if he doesn't know her, makes her feel a little bit inferior. She can't complain about that though. After all, she was the first one who broke the forever together promise herself. The way she is now, is not also that bad, right?

"Anna?"

Suddenly her thoughts halted in the midway when Yujun called her in the middle of an action scene.

"Uh-huh?"

"Why aren't you paying attention?"

"I am. Why?" This time she turned to look at him and found his eyes still on the TV screen.

"No, you are not."

Anna couldn't say anything further. She was caught red-handed. She is caught in a bit of a mess right now. But the next moment he asked something to make her huddle in this mess again.

"You definitely know him, right?"

Yujun looked straight at her eyes so that he couldn't escape her inner turmoil.

"I…. I don't know…"

"Don't lie. You are not someone to be so shaken by meeting a random journalist guy. What is it? Can you tell me?"

Anna played with her fingers for a while as she was dwelling on the thought about what she should make up to say to him.

"How come he is random? I think I heard you say before that he is the coolest guy you have ever seen."

"Don't dare to tell me if it's not true," Yujun shrugged, he can wait but can't expect a lie from her.

"Then, can you wait?" Anna tried her best to show her innocent card though she was not used to showing it to anyone this often except Kiera.

"Yeah yeah, I can duhhh… just don't forget to tell me," Yujun paused for a bit as he was feeling a little jittery inside himself for some unknown reason, then again started, "I regret that Anna, I regret that time when I couldn't think things straight. Throwing you in a difficult position, making our friendship awkward, it was never my intention. I love you and want you as my friend like old times. The things I ruined, I would like to repair it. At that time, when, you know, I came to know about your going missing, I thought I lost my last chance to fix everything. Finally meeting you again, it's really a blessing to me, Annabelle."

Yujun sounded way more mature when he spelled these words. Actually, he was a mature man, sometimes more mature than her. Hiding his maturity underneath his bubbly character, that was him, the real Yujun. When Anna had no one, Kiera and Yujun were there. She was afraid to be close to them as she thought it would only bring unnecessary troubles for her. But who said they were not connected with her life? Right now, if she cares about someone in this world, then these two will always be there on the list. She doesn't know why she also chose to avoid him, maybe because he was connected with the world she left? Connected with the same circle she ran away from? But it was never because of the confession. A mere confession could make them a little far from each other, but then again, after these short three years, they are still the same, bickering with each other like old times.

"Of course, you fool. Something happened and that time, I was so messy, I chose to shut myself up from everyone. Maybe if it wasn't for Kiera. I wouldn't have been able to cope up with the whole situation. Don't think that I never cared about our friendship! I think it's a lot better now because I am no longer a celebrity. We can have a proper friendship without any rumors, what do you say?"

"Then add me in, too!"

The two of them didn't know when Kiera came here as she squeezed into the middle spot between Anna and Yujun all of a sudden.

"Hey, when did you come, old lady!" Yujun was baffled by Kiera's shamelessness. When did she turn so shameless? Did Anna do something to her? This was definitely not like her of three years ago. At that time, she was more of an introverted, stern, and boring person.

"Oi! Who is the old lady here? I am just 2 years older than you guys, that's it!"

"Yeah, yeah! Old lady!"

At this moment, Annabelle thought Keira really had eaten some wrong medicine. Actually, after coming back from that business trip of hers, Kiera was acting a bit different, a bit unusual from her usual self. Actually, whatever! The change in her wasn't actually bad, to be honest. The three of them somehow will make a great trio, right?