Chapter 54: Do You Know Who I Am?
Flinn took both of them to the sitting area, and they sat in the chairs placed on either side of the table.
Klaus and Lillian sat beside one another while Flinn sat in front of her.
Klaus gazed at the surroundings and commented inwardly, ’At least the apartment is clean...’
"You two have been together for over a year?" Flinn asked while his eyes stayed locked on Liliana.
She forced a smile and nodded, "Yes..."
For the briefest moment, Flinn’s expression darkened, and his eyes drifted to Klaus.
"Are you taking care of her?" He asked, his tone slightly humorous.
Klaus smiled, placed a hand on her shoulder, and stated in a beaming tone, "Of course I am."
Flinn nodded. "It’s just that she seems too silent... usually she keeps talking about her work and colleagues."
"Is that so?" Klaus mumbled.
To him, Liliana didn’t seem like the kind of person who would do that, but each person acted differently based on the company they were in.
A son acted differently with his father and his mother, while both were his parents. Friends acted differently with one another, although they had chosen the bonds.
Klaus was the same, but the one thing that irked him was that people liked to call this behavior a mask to hide their true nature, but that was wrong.
Most people cannot hide themselves because they themselves don’t know what and who they are. They adapt to the world, and then the world calls them strange... or evil.
How does that make any sense?
"Is something the matter?" Flinn asked, though there was no worry in his voice.
Hearing him, Klaus came out of his thoughts and responded with smiling eyes, "Nothing. Just lost in thought."
"I see." Flinn glanced at the two and said, "Anyways, why are you two here?"
"Ah!" Klaus’s hand shot to his forehead, and he mumbled, "How could I forget telling something so important to you?"
He lowered his hand and shook his head.
"I’m being silly today."
Liliana and Flinn stared at him with bewildered gazes, both unaware of what he was talking about.
Seeing them, Klaus smiled inwardly. He wanted to shake Flinn as extremely as he could, but... that alone wouldn’t be enough.
Liliana had been with multiple people, yet Flinn never did anything that made her aware of the side he was hiding from her.
He could guess that was because Lillian seemed happy with them, but what if he appeared as someone she didn’t want to be with, but the person was just too clingy to let her go? Then he would have no other choice but to act like the person he always wanted to be.
His smile widened behind the mask, and he mumbled inwardly, ’Let’s meet the other you, shall we?’
He turned his head to Liliana and spoke with dreamy eyes, "We are getting engaged in a few days, so we wanted to tell the people my Lily cares the most about."
Taken aback, both Liliana and Flinn froze for a moment before the latter let out a chuckle and wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his left arm.
"Haha. You are getting engaged, huh...? But isn’t it too fast?" As he finished the question, his gaze instinctively drifted to Liliana, who still hadn’t said a word; instead, she was staring at Klaus with a forced smile and an uncomfortable look in her eyes.
’Hmm?’ Flinn narrowed his eyes. ’Did he not tell her about the engagement?’
His eyes widened slightly as though he had understood something. ’Don’t tell me...’
A smile crept onto his face, but he forced it to hide itself before he asked in a confident tone, "Leo, did you not tell Lily about the engagement? She seems surprised."
Klaus’s eyes darkened, and he muttered, "I wanted to surprise her."
His tone was needlessly sharp.
Flinn’s expression brightened, and he added, "It doesn’t look like she is happy with the surprise."
Klaus frowned behind the mask and asked Liliana, "Is he right?"
’What do you want me to say?!’ Liliana screamed in her head. She had never done anything like this, nor was she used to acting. Even while anchoring, she never had to act but just be her confident self.
Though reading the situation and the mood, she could guess what he wanted from her.
"You didn’t ask me if I want to or not," she mumbled.
He furrowed his brows. "You don’t?"
She fell silent and looked away from him.
His jaw hardened, and he demanded in a heavy voice, "Lily. Answer me."
Liliana lowered her head.
Seeing them bicker, Flinn smiled while hiding his mouth with his hands.
’What a loser,’ he remarked inwardly and glanced at Liliana, an obsessive glint passing through his eyes.
Klaus’s gaze turned furious.
"Lily. Answer m—"
"Do you really want her to spell it out?" Flinn chimed in.
Klaus shot him a glare and muttered, "Stay out of this."
"No, can’t do." Flinn shook his head. "Lily is my best friend. I cannot have a man as you cling to her."
"The fuck do you even know about me?" Klaus hissed, his eyes sharp.
"From what I’ve seen, you are someone unsuitable for Liliana," Flinn stated.
Klaus chuckled darkly. "I am unsuitable? Haha. I am a businessman. The money I make in a day is enough to buy hundreds of you, and you are telling me I am unsuitable for her? You are nothing but a friend. Stay within your limits."
Liliana stood up from her chair and muttered, "We should leave."
’Heh,’ Flinn smirked and said, "You don’t have to leave yet."
Liliana turned to him with a troubled expression.
"Don’t worry about me. I take care of losers like him every other week," Flinn muttered and crossed his arms across his chest. "Do you know who I am?"
"Tell me," Klaus leaned on the table.
Flinn smiled widely and said, "I am a Data Architect for Hephaestus’s upcoming generative AI model. Let alone hundreds of me, you cannot even buy a single me."