Drake knew where it was going and gently escaped the women’s claws. Since they weren’t walking anymore, it was fairly safe to do so. He just walked over without looking back at the women.
He sat down next to Brandon and the two women looked at each other, suddenly awkward.
This got the two girls to think about whether or not they should still follow him to the table. The men (except for the dense Drake and Brandon) felt sorry for them.
"Come, join us if you don’t have any other plans!" Santos said, gesturing at the open spaces around the large table they rented.
"Yeah, sit here~" Mao said. He and a few others had already started bar-hopping even before so he was the one who seemed a little drunk already.
It so happened that his loss to Lea (and her subsequent ignorance of him) made him want to drink a few more bottles. "We’re good men who won’t take advantage of you~"
"That makes you more suspicious," Orz said, rolling his eyes before turning to the girls. "Someone sit next to Santos and Loki over there, and another between Brandon and my brother," he said. "They’re the safest."
The two women paused and stared at the spots he pointed at. After a moment, Jona awkwardly sat next to Santos, while Yen took the other spot because it was nearest Drake with just Brandon in between.
"You two women are really admirable," Orz said, filling their cups up with fruit-flavored light-alcoholic drinks as soon as they settled down.
"Your grit and perseverance is historical—did you know that you are being used as examples when referring to suitors who gave up too early?"
This was true. When, for instance, a suitor gave up early when the girl was just being coy, she would tell him ’What a shame! Even Jona’s more of a man than you’ or ’Yen has bigger balls’.
The two women just smiled, a little shy and awkward, unconsciously turning to the said subject of perseverance.
It was just that Drake ignored them and had proceeded to hang out with the boys, completely forgetting his two suitors there.
At this point, he was already in a conversation with Brandon and Loki about the latest development in weapons (that was public knowledge) and had obviously entered a zone.
"..."
After an awkward pause passed by, Santos smiled and pushed a plate of snacks toward Jona. "Perseverance is indeed impressive," he said.
Jona saw it was Santos and flushed. "I… thank you…"
She would demurely take a snack and eat like with a small flush on her face, very much unlike her gregarious self a few moments ago.
Yen saw this and blinked, narrowing her eyes at the two. Wait a minute, she mused. Something’s going on here…
She tried to recall if there were any outward signs that she had missed. As Jona’s rival for nearly a year, Yen believed she knew Jona like the back of her hand!
There were only a few times that she had seen them together but, in retrospect, there seemed to really be a spark??
For example, Jona—a member of the guards, albeit she hadn’t been promoted yet—was once injured on duty. Yen, who was in the hospital for a wound she got from one of the Research Center experiments, saw Santos carrying her to the emergency room.
Another, during a beast mob, Yen was there on the battlement as one of the civilian defenders. She saw Jona and Santos’ team on the ground, clearing the dense group of monsters aiming to bite their heads off.
At some point, Santos was surrounded and—suddenly—a monster jumped up from behind him, ready to bite.
Yen saw Jona gesture to rush to him as if she would be able to help with anything—which she wasn’t.
Fortunately, Santos was strong and avoided the attack, killing the surrounding mob with his elements in the process.
From these two memories, Yen came to a conclusion:
Jona… was actually attracted to Santos! And Vice versa!!
Yen smiled, feeling a eureka moment and she decided to take advantage!
To be honest, neither of the women knew why they were still bothering Drake when he was obviously not interested in them.
Perhaps… they could’ve imprinted on him for saving their lives back then. Technically, he was the first one to do so, and it was hard not to fall for a ’handsome yet unattainable’ hero.
It could’ve been because of the force of habit. They had been doing this since they Migrated here—it felt a little unnatural to stop.
Did they associate him with their peaceful life here or something?
Or.. it could also be a matter of pride—as if letting go now was losing!
"Santos… do you have a girlfriend?" Yen asked, almost out of nowhere. She ignored the stares she was receiving, especially Jona’s guarded ones.
Very guarded.
Yen leaned forward towards the table, her eyes batting cutely. "Do you?" she asked, very flirtatious.
Jona frowned, giving her a bad look. "Do you have something in your eye?"
"The sight of a cute guy."
"You—"
At this, Mao intervened. "He doesn’t have a girlfriend! He once went after Vanessa—but now he’s completely single! Like me! I’m single!"
Then he nodded off, forehead smack on the table. "That darned Nurse. How dare she call me weak when she’s half my level!" Your journey continues with Freewebnovel
He then went on a random bumbling tirade people just learned to ignore.
Anyway, Yen turned back to Santos, who seemed a little confused at her sudden advance. "I’m looking for a boyfriend."
"Hey! What are you doing?" Jona asked, unconsciously leaning forward as if to block Yen’s sight.
"What’s it to you?" Yen smiled, narrowing her eyes at her. "Jealous?"
"What?"
At this, Jona looked like a deer facing a headlight. Santos also looked awkward, looking away while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Now that I think about it—You two look great together," Yen said, sounding casual, meeting the other woman’s eyes. Jona pushed down her own blush and glared at her.
"Then… you two look good together too," Jona said, pointing at her and whoever was beside her.
Yen was puzzled. "What?"
She then turned to look at the person next to her.
It happened to be Orz’ brother, Ouli. The poor guy was just about to take another sip of beer when he realized what was happening.
The innocent Ouli: "..."
He was watching a good show. How come he suddenly got dragged in?
Jona was grasping straws and pointed at the two of them. "See? You even hold your cups the same way."
Yen’s eyes twitched. "Listen here, you—"
Anyway, the two women continued this kind of banter that pulled in two innocent men.
One would try to get the other to fall for another man, or admit their affections. A lot of secrets were even exposed, including Jona’s attempt to ’rescue’ Santos from that mob, which made the man look at her in concern.
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Jona could not look at the man at all and started to invent things about the other ’couple’. Something about zodiac signs matching or something.
This went on for a while, and the rest of them just watched a good show.
As for whether they succeeded, who knew?
One thing was for certain: Drake barely noticed anything.