Chapter 5
“……?”
At that moment, I covered my mouth with both hands.
I felt a little sorry for Aiden, but if I were being honest now, I had always been firmly on the second male lead’s side.
And for good reason.
First of all, his appearance was exactly my ideal type.
And unlike Aiden, whose likability dropped every time he opened his mouth, his personality was perfect.
And that second male lead was standing right in front of me.
Felix Gray.
“Wow…”
He looked even more amazing in person.
Without realizing it, a gasp escaped me as I stared at his perfect appearance, as if he had stepped straight out of an illustration.
Felix was the complete opposite of the cold and handsome Aiden.
He was the warm and gentle handsome type.
Just look at those delicate features, as if a sculptor had poured their heart and soul into creating them.
Those sorrowful-looking eyes alone were enough to create an entire tragic story.
“Hey.”
Just then, while I was staring at Felix in a daze, an unexpected sentence came from those beautiful lips.
“Are your eyes just for decoration?”
Huh…?
That’s strange.
Did I hear that wrong?
As far as I knew, Felix’s keywords were:
#GentleGuy #PuppyGuy #LoyalGuy
But—
“Some weird thing suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”
Then—
“Stop ruining my mood and move your foot. Get your filthy foot off me.”
What was this rude way of speaking that didn’t suit his handsome face at all?
Foot…?
Then the heavy thing I had been feeling under my foot this whole time…
Slowly, I lowered my head to check what I was standing on.
Oh no.
A small sigh escaped through my teeth.
That’s right.
I was currently standing on Felix’s foot.
When I cautiously looked up, I saw Felix’s face twisted into a dangerous expression.
“I-I’m sorry!!!!”
It looked like he was about to punch me in the face at any moment, so I quickly stepped back.
I must have stepped on him really hard.
A clear footprint remained on Felix’s shiny black shoe.
“Wow. That’s one dirty-fast apology, isn’t it?”
Felix looked down at me crookedly and sneered.
“……Looks like a fight broke out.”
“What happened?”
As the atmosphere grew tense, people nearby started paying attention.
This was bad.
If Aiden noticed me, I’d be in serious trouble.
Trying to calm the situation quickly, I lowered my head.
“Ahem…! I-I’m sorry…!”
Afraid that my identity as a girl might be exposed, I cleared my throat and lowered my voice as much as possible.
“I wasn’t deliberately refusing to move my foot or anything. When I get too surprised, I can’t speak properly. A-about the shoe, I’ll pay for the damages—”
“You know.”
A heavy voice interrupted me while I was desperately apologizing.
“Y-Yes?”
When I carefully looked up, Felix’s already fierce expression had become even colder.
“The type of person I hate the most is someone who doesn’t know their place.”
“Uh… right. I see. Someone who doesn’t know their place. Yeah, I guess that’s not very likable…?”
I agreed with him first because I was scared.
But what exactly was he trying to tell me?
“But why are you suddenly saying that…?”
As I cautiously watched his reaction, Felix clicked his tongue as if he couldn’t believe me.
“Pay for it? With what?”
He suddenly grabbed the front of my clothes.
At the same time, both my feet left the ground.
And only then did I realize.
The person who didn’t know their place was me…!
“Looking at how skinny you are, like some little girl, you don’t seem rich enough to even eat properly. So how exactly are you planning to pay me back?”
“Well, that’s…”
Even while my feet dangled helplessly in the air, I pulled my hat down further.
I was worried that Aiden or Agnes might notice me.
Unlike my desperate situation, Agnes seemed to be smiling brightly.
It looked like things were going well between her and Aiden.
That was a relief.
But what was I supposed to do about my own situation?
“U-Um, excuse me, could you…”
His grip was so strong that my throat was being squeezed, making it difficult to speak.
“The second type of person I hate is someone who ignores what others say. What do you think about that?”
As he demanded an answer, Felix violently shook me back and forth by my collar.
How was I supposed to answer while he was choking me like this?!
“T-this… please… let… go…”
“But wait.”
My spinning vision finally settled down.
I felt dizzy.
I couldn’t breathe.
I was going crazy.
At this point, it wouldn’t have been surprising if I fainted.
Just as I was desperately struggling to escape before losing consciousness—
“You somehow look familiar…”
Felix raised one eyebrow and muttered.
“Have we met before?”
“What? T-There’s no way.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
We had never met before.
Unlike Agnes, who stood out everywhere because of her beauty, I was just an ordinary extra.
My face was so common that there was nothing memorable about it.
He must have mistaken me for someone else.
“Hmm. No, I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere.”
“Come on. It must be your imagination.”
While the grip around my neck loosened slightly, I tried to escape from his hand.
“Tch. Waste of effort.”
As expected, I failed.
“Anyway, I’ll somehow pay for the damages, so don’t worry. More importantly, could you let go of me? I-I can’t breathe. Please?”
I exaggerated dramatically as if I were about to stop breathing.
It didn’t help.
Felix still refused to let go of my collar.
Wasn’t he the one who said he hated people who ignored others?
Maybe he should stop ignoring me first.
I was grumbling internally about Felix’s complete lack of empathy when—
“You.”
Felix, who had been staring at my face, tilted his head and gave an order.
“Take off your hat.”
“What? W-Why do I need to take off my hat all of a sudden?”
“I said take it off.”
“The hat?”
“Yeah.”
“Um… I don’t think that’s possible.”
“If I tell you to take it off, then take it off. What’s impossible about it?”
“Well, you see. This is actually top secret, but…”
I motioned for Felix to come closer.
Though he raised one eyebrow as if annoyed, he still leaned in.
“I have a huge bald spot on my head.”
“So?”
“Huh? It’s embarrassing to show it in a place this crowded.”
“That’s your problem.”
Heartless jerk.
It seemed Felix had absolutely no sympathy for others.
“Ah, you don’t want to take it off yourself? Fine. Then I’ll do it for you.”
I quickly grabbed Felix’s hand with both of mine.
“W-Wait a minute! Not here! Maybe we can go somewhere else—”
“Haah. You sure talk a lot.”
Despite all my efforts to protect the hat, after struggling with Felix for a while—
My hat finally came off.
“……!!!”
My messy red hair fell over my shoulders.
Even Felix looked shocked.
The strength instantly left the hand gripping my neck.
“You…”
Finally freed from Felix’s grasp, I collapsed onto the floor.
“C-Cough…!”
I almost died.
Holding my sore neck with both hands, I gasped for breath.
“Ah…!!”
After finally catching my breath, I hurriedly grabbed my fallen hat to cover my face.
I was frantically stuffing my messy hair back under the hat when—
“Leticia…?”
A familiar voice drifted faintly into my ears.
A terrible feeling washed over me.
My face turned pale as I slowly lifted my head.
And there he was.
Aiden.
He was walking toward me with long strides.
And his face—
It was filled with a level of anger I had never seen before.
This can’t be happening.
