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I thought my whole world just stopped… when I heard him say that.

'Did I hear it right? A deal? With me?'

Confounded as to what he meant, I asked, "Hm? A deal? What deal?"

He looked me straight in the eyes and I felt a shiver run down my spine. For some reason, he looked so serious that it made me nervous. He took a deep breath before answering me.

"I need a fake girlfriend and you're the only one who's trustworthy enough to assume the position. Be my girlfriend for a year and I'll make one of your books into a movie."

Okay. My whole world stopped again.

Tick… tock.. Tick.. Tock…

'Am I not dreaming? Am I hearing him correctly? Me? A fake girlfriend? What with this all of a sudden? But then again, isn't this my chance? Being a fake girlfriend means I can get closer to him and act lovey-dovey until he falls for me for real, right? Like those things I watch in drama or read in books?'

My eyes lit up as soon as I thought of that.

'And that's not all. He will even make one of my books into a movie! Isn't that the sweetest deal?'

He-he-he. And so, the little devil inside me started scheming. Wait, no—not scheming, planning. Yeah, planning the next steps I could take once I agree.

'Kaiden… if you only know the things running in my mind right now. Kekekeke. Wait—this evil scheming and slyness is a very Verrill-like thing to do. Is he rubbing off on me when I hate him? Oh noooooo… But then again, I do like Kaiden. It's useless trying to deny my emotions like how Hora tried and she failed. Same thing will probably happen to me. So better yet, embrace it, and take action, right?'

And so, I replied to Kaiden's super amazing and beneficial proposal.

"For real?! You bet I'm in! Anything for my babies!"

Kaiden smirked, "Pft! Babies?" His sudden serious businessman tone was gone.

"I mean, my books. They're like babies to me since I wrote them and I'm kind of like the mother of all the characters. Okay, that's weird. Never mind that. I just mean, my books."

"Ha-ha-ha! If you say so."

Then, he handed out to me the folder he was holding a moment ago. Wow! He came prepared. He probably already foresaw that I would agree. Well, I've got nothing to lose so why would I not? In fact, I got lots to acquire!

'Hmmm… Now that I think about it, what is he going to gain from this deal?'

I took the folder and read through its contents. As I did, I asked a few questions about Kaiden.

"Why are you suddenly offering me a deal, though?"

Kaiden raised his eyebrows.

"Hm? You're aware of my situation with my family, right?"

I nodded, remembering how we often got teased together. During Verrill's birthday, even his grandparents commented about our to-be children—if we ever marry and end up together.

"Yeah. Does it have anything to do with the conversation we had at Verrill's birthday party?"

"Something like that. Since my grandparents are involved now, and they met you at the party, mother had been more annoying," he complained, sighing and shaking his head.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have introduced myself."

"It's not your fault. I heard my mother practically dragged you to them. You had no choice."

"Uhm… yes, that's true."

"Because of that, my grandparents are so hopeful now, along with my aunts and uncles, and all relatives."

"What?! It's that big of a deal now?"

"Unfortunately, yes. They were all too surprised with me having a female friend."

"Is it really that surprising? All your family seem to have the same reaction whenever they learn about me."

"It IS surprising, yes. Because…" Kaiden tried to explain to me but it seemed that he's having a hard time opening up.

"—It's alright. You don't need to tell me all the details," I cut him off. It's better not to push him until he's ready. At least, that's what Callan told me. "Instead, why don't you explain to me the details of this contract you gave me?"

Yup. The folder he gave me contained a contract.

"What exactly do I need to do as your fake girlfriend? How often should I pretend? Or where should I do it? And up to… w-what degree?" I felt shy asking the last question. Because being a girlfriend meant doing all those lovey-dovey stuff, too, right? Like kissing and hugging and… the rest?

'But then again… he's mysophobic! I almost forgot about that. So that means, I'm safe, right? He's not gonna ask for anything physical, right?'

"Hmm. I'm not very experienced in dating. In fact, I never dated anyone so I don't know how lovers need to act. I'll try to research about it, don't worry," Kaiden answered me after pondering for a moment. "For the meantime, all we need to do is declare our relationship, and go on a date. That should convince them enough."

'OMG! A date with Kaiden?! KYAAAAAAAAA!!! Isn't this the luckiest day of my life?!'

I tried to hide my smile from what he just said.

"O-okay. Let's do that. I'll … research about it, too. I never had a boyfriend, too, so I don't know how this dating thing should go."

Kaiden chuckled. "Then we're in the same boat."

"I guess we are." I chuckled, too. "Question though. Does this have one of those cliché clauses wherein we're not allowed to fall in love with each other or else it's a breach of contract?"

Kaiden was taken aback. I don't blame him. I just realized that I asked a really suggestive question! OMG!!! It was like telling him that it's okay for us to fall in love with each other, or hinting that we would eventually go that way—oh my goodness! Senara! You and your big mouth!

"Well… I didn't put that in. So…" he answered me, blushing.

'What in the world? Why is he blushing? What does that mean? Ugh! I want to get inside his head right this instant!'

"I… I… I was just kidding! He-he! Don't mind what I just asked. I don't even know why I asked it."

Now, I'm the one blushing.

A moment of silence passed by as we both cleared our throats and turned redder than tomatoes. It was just the surrounding that was silent though, because I was internally screaming in my mind. KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!

"So, deal?" he asked after recovering from the blushing. His smile was so handsome as usual, of course.

Because of that, I ended up grinning to myself.

"Yes. Deal."