The Devil's Good Girl
Chapter 184: Unrequited

Chapter 184: Unrequited

Anton’s prediction about the music video’s good feedback was correct. People loved everything about it: the song, the vibe, the story, and the chemistry. Many found some connection with it and its lyrics, the sudden change in Anton’s music amazed some, while others were curious about the lady in the music video.

Overall, it still reached the goal the management set — surpassed it, even. The song quickly climbed the ranks of every streaming platform. It was also trending on the internet and calls for Anton to have him in their show to ’promote’ continuously flooded the management.

But that wasn’t all that this music video reached. It also reached Fil’s initial goal when she agreed to it in the first place.

The people she wanted to see and the people she didn’t know needed to see it got the message, which left them thinking.

Kenzo remained in his room quietly. All the lights were out, but the moonlight shining through the window still granted him some light. His attention, however, was fixed on his phone. He had been swiping the very limited photos on his phone. Most of them were group photos.

Nothing special.

When Kenzo swiped left again, he stopped. There was one that wasn’t exactly a group photo in it. It was a photo of him and Fil, with the latter holding the phone while Kenzo was glaring at the camera. As he stared at it, he couldn’t help but be reminded of how this photo was taken years ago.

****

[SHORT FLASHBACK]

"We both got accepted to the firm and instead of celebrating, we’re eating in the convenience store." Fil pouted as she glared daggers at Kenzo, who was sitting across from her. "But then, we don’t have money to buy ourselves a cake."

"Won’t you be going home?" Kenzo asked as he sipped the noodle soup. "I’m sure your parents will celebrate with you."

"They will, but I’m not supposed to go home until the weekends."

"Why? No money?"

Fil grinned. "Your birthday is in two days."

"And?"

"And I’m going to be there for you?" Fil cocked her head and furrowed her brows. "Don’t tell me you forgot your birthday?"

"No."

Her eyes narrowed even more. "You did."

"Fine. I did," he gave in quickly. "I’m too busy applying for jobs and preparing for interviews."

"What?" Fil scrunched up her nose. "This isn’t your first job interview?"

"And I don’t see the problem for you to use that tone."

Fil scoffed. "How dare you not pick my priority company first? We promised!"

"???" Kenzo’s thought bubble was immediately filled with question marks as he never remembered such a promise. However, he remembered a promise that they would be the best engineers and become each other’s rivals.

"Goodness, you." Fil shook her head in disappointment, eating her own ice cream. "This ice cream doesn’t taste as sweet anymore."

Kenzo opened and closed his mouth, but in the end, he shrugged it off. He tried to refocus his attention on his noodles, but knowing someone was burrowing a hole in his forehead with her gaze, he had to shift his attention back to her again.

"What?" he asked. "Just tell me what it is so I can prepare if you ever decide to play dirty and sabotage me on my first day."

"I’m just thinking, Ken. You had job interviews before this, but this is my first job interview."

"And we both got accepted," he said, nodding. "So, what?"

"What do you mean, so what?" the corner of her lips curled up mischievously. "It means I nailed my first interview, but you didn’t. Not only that, but I got into my top choice, and this is what? The last on the list of firms you want to work in?"

The wider her grin, the more foxy she looked, and the more cold his expression was.

"I win," she dawdled shamelessly. "That’s one step ahead of you, rival. Stop crawling if I were you."

Kenzo winced in irritation while she laughed triumphantly. Why did he have to tell her? He should’ve known she would use this as a way to annoy him, and it was effective. When he finally managed to get himself together, Kenzo looked up at her. As soon as he did, however, Fil was already holding his phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked, panicking. "Give it back."

Fil moved the phone away and smirked. "This is my first victory and because my phone camera is terrible, I’ll use your phone as proof of my first victory — oh, it’s not my first. I graduated top of my class and you were... second?"

"Shit."

"Say cheese!" Fil happily stretched her hand, grinning from ear to ear while Kenzo glared daggers at the camera. As soon as she captured the photo, Fil returned it to him and added, "Don’t delete that or I’ll kill you."

******

[PRESENT TIME]

A shallow laugh escaped Kenzo as he recalled every detail and how annoyed he was at that time. His eyes, however, were soft and full of affection.

"Loser," he whispered. "I was the one who won that round."

Because what Kenzo didn’t tell her was that the companies he applied to accepted him. It was just that he foregone all of them when she got accepted the first time she tried in their current company. At that time, he was able to delude himself that it was much better to continue the rivalry as apprentices in the same firm. Whoever gets promoted first and becomes the boss will be the winner.

That would take years of continuous banter and years of being together.

Kenzo placed his thumb on her in the photo, smiling bitterly. At the same time, he heard a knock on the door. When he turned, his brother was already leaning against the jamb.

"I’m not a kid that you should keep checking up on me," said Kenzo with a deep sigh. "I’m taking my meds and I’m not doing anything to aggravate my injuries. I’m fine."

"I heard the Solana offered Fil some sub-projects abroad as a consult," Kenzo’s brother folded his arm under his chest. "She accepted it."

"What?"

His brother shrugged.

"How long?" Kenzo asked.

"Right now, for a month, but if the main project isn’t affected by this, then it might take longer." Cole, Kenzo’s brother, studied his brother’s reaction for a moment. "Kenzo, I know you care about her. I don’t have a good impression of office romances, but as your brother, I only have a few advice to give you."

Kenzo slowly looked back at his brother before Cole continued. "You need to make up your mind if you want to be just her friend or more than that. In case you decide on the latter, I hope you’re prepared that once you tell her everything, things will never be the same."

With that being said, Cole peeled his side from the jamb and closed the door slowly. Meanwhile, Kenzo ground his teeth and looked at his phone. A faint laugh escaped him as he shook his head mildly.

"Why does he think I never said anything until now?"

At the end of the day, Kenzo had always been afraid of risking their friendship just because he had been in love with her... for a very long time.

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.