Aunt turns to Zoan with a serious expression. “Have you ever tried to get close to any woman?”
Leo answers again, “When we were in New York, a woman sat on his lap and he threw her away. I guess she broke her ribs.”
Aunt frowns. “What do you feel when a woman comes close to you?”
This time Zoan speaks, “Irritation.”
Aunt turns her head toward Mom. “It must be because of that bitch,” she murmurs in a low voice, but since I’m sitting beside her, I hear it clearly.
Aunt looks back at Zoan. “What about men?”
“I’m not gay,” he replies simply.
Aunt sighs. Mama looks visibly worried. I start feeling bad for her. She was worried about me earlier, and now she’s worried about Zoan as well. Both of her worries aren’t based on reality, but we can’t tell her the truth, it would just give her another reason to stress.
Everyone leaves the dining room with a heavy mood hanging over the table. Once the elders are gone, Wen and I burst into laughter, covering our mouths with our hands. Zoan and Leo approach us from around the table.
Wen whispers to them, “Did you two plan this?”
They shake their heads.
“Then how did you lie so smoothly?”
Leo leans casually against the table. “He had no reason to give, so I gave them the reason.”
“How do you know he had no reason?” Wen asks.
I wave my hand, smirking. “Don’t you know? They’re like two bodies, one soul. They don’t need words to communicate.”
“Ahh, I forgot. My bad,” she chuckles.
“Stupid women and their stupid jokes,” Leo mutters.
“Why don’t you worry about the woman you’re going to marry? She has planned 101 ways to torment you,” Wen says.
I don’t hear Leo’s reply because my eyes find their way to the pair of ice-blue ones staring down at me. I get up from my chair and move closer to him.
“Will you really never marry?” I ask.
“If I never marry, when will you wear Fire on Ice?” he replies.
I pout. “You ruined that dress.”
My eyes widen as I piece together his words. “Are—you’re saying you will marry me?”
He smiles faintly.
“How?” I whisper in shock.
“Somehow,” he murmurs, and goosebumps run all over me.
Wen tugs me back. “Let him keep his asexual image for at least one day. He doesn’t look asexual looking at his sister like this.”
I glance at her. “Like what?”
She drags me out of the dining room. “Like he will eat you alive any given second. There has always been tension when you looked at each other, but now, it’s thickened so much.”
I chuckle, but it dies when a sudden thought strikes me.
