Chapter 67: Are You and Ms. Harada a Couple?

"Hello!"

Ai Oda’s voice came through the phone. For the very first time, Quillan felt that Ai Oda’s voice sounded so pleasant and music to his ears!

"I’m really sorry, Quillan!"

Ai Oda’s voice on the phone sounded exceedingly pleasant to Quillan’s ears. "Since today is Saturday, I know calling you like this must be disturbing your rest! However... precisely because it’s the weekend, I had no choice but to reach out. Please make sure to hear me out! Hello, Quillan, are you listening?"

Quillan was certainly listening. It seemed Ai Oda was worried he might turn her down for calling at a time like this, which was why she gave such a lengthy explanation beforehand.

"I’m listening!" Quillan nodded. He deliberately raised his voice so the Harada family could hear, speaking into the phone to Ai Oda: "Sister Ai, has an emergency come up?"

"Huh? As a matter of fact, yes!"

Ai Oda was a smart woman. After a brief moment of surprise, she caught on that Quillan had no intention of refusing. She had originally assumed Quillan would be reluctant to come help out early at the coffee shop after being spooked by that mob of crazy women on his first day of work!

"Quillan, it’s not even lunchtime yet, but the shop is already packed with customers!" Ai Oda finally got to the point: "Ms. Yoshiko and the others came over and said that since tonight is Saturday night, everyone needs to head home to spend time with their families. So they wanted to move the first fan club gathering up to noon instead, and they really hope you can attend!"

"Is that so?" Quillan put on a troubled expression and looked toward Gyosuke Harada.

Norika Harada asked in confusion, "Quillan, is something wrong?"

"Yes!" Quillan nodded, then explained: "An older cousin of mine wants me to go over and help her solve a problem!"

"Quillan, you have relatives in Japan?" Gyosuke Harada looked at Quillan with curiosity. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"No!" Quillan shook his head firmly. This was something he couldn’t lie about to Gyosuke Harada. Gyosuke had stayed with the Moreau Family in the past, so who could guarantee whether he’d know if the family had relatives in Japan or not? Thus, Quillan could only explain his relationship with Ai Oda by using Gavin as the pretext.

As for Gavin, Quillan had no choice but to lie, claiming he was his junior fellow disciple!

Since they were classmates anyway, calling him a junior fellow disciple wouldn’t hurt.

Gyosuke Harada actually believed it and said with a chuckle, "Haha, I was originally worried you’d feel out of place being all by yourself in Japan! To be honest, I was just planning to ask for your father’s contact info—ideally to notify him, and then have you move into my house. Once Norika comes back too, we could get you two engaged!"

Engaged?

Quillan was taken aback. Seeing how deadly serious Gyosuke Harada appeared, Quillan almost went crazy!

Fortunately, Quillan possessed a very calm demeanor. He bit the bullet and played along with Gyosuke Harada’s words, all while frantically making eyes at Norika Harada so she could find a way out.

Norika Harada snapped out of it as well. Engaged? This boyfriend is fake!

She panicked too. She had never given a single thought to getting engaged, so hearing Gyosuke Harada’s words caused her to react quite dramatically—she nearly dropped her teacup!

Catching Quillan’s signal, Norika Harada hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over: "Father, please don’t talk like that just yet! Quillan is still a student, so an engagement isn’t something to consider right now! Oh, Q-Quillan... didn’t your junior fellow disciple’s cousin ask you to go help her out?"

"Right! I almost forgot. Uncle, Aunt, I’ll take my leave now!" Quillan quickly stood up, bowed to Gyosuke Harada and Kaori Harada one by one to bid them farewell, and then fled the hotel suite like a man escaping for his life!

Taking the elevator down to the first floor, Quillan stepped through the hotel’s glass doors and finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Engaged? What a joke!"

He muttered under his breath and shook his head, only to sense someone nearby staring at him with deep disdain. Instinctively turning around to look, he discovered that contemptuous gaze belonged to Ruri Hosokawa. Standing behind her was Haruka Himuro, who had turned her body sideways, timidly trying to hide.

"Haruka-chan, step out!" Ruri Hosokawa pulled Haruka Himuro out so she was standing right beside her, then glared at Quillan and said, "Hey, Quillan! Aren’t you even surprised to see us?"

"Huh? Oh, right!" Quillan was momentarily stunned at first. He never imagined he’d bump into Ruri Hosokawa and Haruka Himuro in a place like this by sheer coincidence, which was why he hadn’t reacted right away.

"Right your head!" Ruri Hosokawa pulled Haruka Himuro along as she walked right up to Quillan, then let out a cold snort and asked, "Quillan, are you and Ms. Harada a couple? Why did you come to a place like this together? Oh, and to add—you two were holding arms as you walked into the hotel!"

They even know about holding arms?

Quillan’s face darkened, but he quickly regained his composure. Looking at Ruri Hosokawa, he asked, "Class President-san, Tell me, were you and Himuro-san stalking me?"

"No..." Haruka Himuro hurriedly shook her head, wanting to explain, but realized she had no valid explanation to give.

After all, she and Ruri Hosokawa had indeed followed Quillan all the way here!

"Hmm?" Quillan looked at Haruka Himuro, waiting for her to go on!

Haruka Himuro’s composure crumbled. For some reason, she simply didn’t want to lie to Quillan, so she closed her eyes, bowed to Quillan, and confessed: "I’m sorry, Master! Ruri-chan and I really did follow you here... But Ruri-chan and I were already planning to head back, until... Store Manager Oda called!"

"So that’s how it is!"

Quillan realized what happened. No wonder that sly, black-hearted woman Ai Oda had called him directly instead of reaching out to Haruka Himuro or Miyuki Sakurai to pass along the message about working at noon—turns out Ai Oda had already tried calling Haruka Himuro!

Presumably, Ai Oda had called Miyuki Sakurai to inform her as well!

Just as he was thinking this, Quillan’s phone rang.

Pulling out his phone to check the screen, the person calling him at this exact moment was actually... her!