“Then it’s settled,” Maery proclaimed, “I better go back to Concordia and help mother make all the necessary arrangements. And you”– she pointed towards Noah –“You need to decide on your best man and contact them immediately!”

And with that, she heartlessly abandoned her barely eaten salad, waved her goodbyes, and with a speed of a hurricane, walked out of the private room.

She needed to catch the first train back! Her stomach was grumbling in hunger! She needed meat!! Greasy and juicy meat!!

With her leave, the room fell into a long silence with the two resuming their, now almost cold, meal.

Noah fidgeted in his seat, looking everywhere but at Levi. Being alone with this newly obtained fiancé of his was very awkward in itself, and Levi’s expression of utter bliss didn’t make it any less embarrassing!

That being said… ‘Just look at him smiling so happily!’ Noah chuckled under his breath. One would think he was marrying his sweetheart and not his ex-fiancée's baby brother...

Was Levi so happy because he didn’t have to marry Maery anymore or because he was looking forward to spending more time together with him? Whichever the case, Noah thought Levi was rather cute.

‘This brother of mine… ah… should I start calling him "this husband of mine" instead?’ (／≧ω＼)

Just the thought of that address made Noah's ears turn pink.

Even if it was just an arranged marriage, he still couldn't treat it as if air! It wasn’t a joke! Regardless of what the real relationship between them was, on paper, they would be 100% legit husbands! How would he not feel shy and embarrassed about suddenly gaining a husband?

Especially when it was a husband that he had even already been intimate with! The line between them was neither clear nor easy to draw! And it seemed to be turning more ambiguous by the day.

Noah’s long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings as he poked the food on his plate with his fork. His little heart was no longer galloping like a herd of frightened deer, but it hadn’t calmed down either; it was still quivering restlessly inside his chest.

The meal in front of him proved not to be a very effective distraction. His mind was still running in circles, unable to move away from Levi and this upcoming marriage. And there was this one thing that had been bothering him for a while now. Especially bothering him! He absolutely had to get it out of his chest!

“Lev-Levi...” Noah cleared his throat and bashfully peeked underneath his thick eyelashes towards the other, “What sister said... It’s not true.”

Levi’s eyebrow jumped in a confused inquiry, “…?” What was his extremely adorable baby talking about??

Noah elaborated in a mosquito voice, “You are not insensitive, selfish, shameless, or boring… And there is nothing wrong with being introverted…” Unable to handle Levi’s heated gaze, Noah turned his head away, but his neon pink ears betrayed him. “As for you being a workaholic... we... we can slowly work on that...”

Levi had no idea what he was chewing on at that moment, but he felt like his mouth had been stuffed full with sugar. The sweetness overflowed from within to every cell of his body, making him reach an unprecedented high.

He had long forgotten about this episode of Maery being Maery. Yet, it turned out that this thing was still on his baby’s mind, bothering him to the point he had to set it straight no matter what. Even if his baby currently felt too shy to face Levi and couldn’t even say his name without stuttering, he still gathered up his courage to speak out.

How could his darling possibly be so lovely?! How is it possible for a creature to be so, so damn lovely?!

Levi’s heart was so full it felt as if it would burst. He had been an atheist all his life, but at this moment, he thought that god might really exist because he, Levi, had been given an angel to accompany him.

The 'god' who sent this angel down, aka Blackie: ‘You are welcome~ if you are satisfied with the service, make sure to leave a five-star rating.’ (☞ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞

The more Levi thought about it, the more surreal it all felt. His precious baby was the living proof that perfection existed. And if something like perfection was real, then even the existence of a god wasn’t too farfetched. More so, the chance for an existence as perfect as his baby to be born was so minuscule in itself, yet he even appeared right by his side. The probability of the two of them meeting seemed even lower than the chance that gods do exist.

“Mn,” Levi’s agreement came in the form of a husky murmur, low and deep and filled with deep yet undefinable emotion.

Noah’s movements froze; that hum left him feeling as if he had been electrified. Levi, unable to control his overflowing emotions anymore, took advantage of this momentary pause to lean forward and drop a soft kiss on Noah’s forehead.

Levi wanted to kiss those beautiful amber eyes, wanted to kiss those plump pink lips, wanted to kiss those rosy cheeks, wanted to kiss that cute perky nose. This single butterfly kiss was far from enough to alleviate the thirst within. Alas, this was currently the only kiss he could safely steal.

Yet, even this kind of kiss wasn’t as safe to steal as Levi thought.

When kissed by a man that was to be his husband, even this chaste kiss was enough to make Noah’s brain fizzle out. Noah dropped the fork he had been holding and stared at Levi with wide befuddled eyes, resembling a deer stuck in headlights. With the speed of a tsunami, a pink flush spread from his ears down his cheeks and all the way down his neck.

Levi could almost see the stalled cogs trying to turn inside his baby’s head with great difficulty, and while the image was very adorable, Levi worried that when those little cogs finally managed to shift, his baby would realize the truth.

And Levi wasn’t ready to confess his feelings yet.

What if his baby grew scared when he learned the truth? What if he put up his defenses or even regretted agreeing to the marriage?

Yes, Levi would, of course, confess his adoration, but it was better to confess after the wedding. Once the marriage certificate was signed, his baby wouldn’t be able to run away even if Levi’s love confession didn’t go well.

Right now, it was better if his baby thought the whole matter was just play-pretend. It was just three more days. Levi could wait.

And thus, Levi promptly interrupted the arduous rotations of Noah’s brain cogs with a bullshit explanation of his actions. “Since we are supposed to act out a convincing lovey-dovey couple at the wedding,” Levi hid a smile behind his hand, “I feel it would be best to start practicing early so that we can perfect the act in time.”

Noah’s crashed brain finally rebooted. Oh! That made sense! So that kiss was Levi’s attempt at acting lovey-dovey!

Phew! (～￣▽￣)～ Almost scared the living daylights out of him!

Honestly, even Noah wasn’t that slow! This man had already done this and that with him and would soon enough even carry a label of his husband. How would Noah’s thoughts not go astray, even just a little, when the other kissed him?

But it turned out that this time, he was overthinking it. Levi was just trying out his role of a loving husband that he was supposed to be playing out three days from now. And now that it had been brought up, Noah, too, thought it was a good idea to practice beforehand as to avoid messing it up at the wedding.

But this kind of practice… ai, it was too embarrassing!!!

Acting it out once, at the wedding, was already his limit! (⁄ ⁄> ﹏

More so, he was afraid that he would get lost in the act, being unable to tell true from false.