37. An Intense Competition

"You'll never stop bothering Arleena?" Hugo quipped to Justin who was still looking at him angrily. Arleena realized that the situation between them was getting tense. Now, her concern was no longer about predicting Justin's actions, but about what would happen if the two of them faced off. Moreover, realizing that the eyes between Hugo and Justin had begun to sharpen towards each other, Arleena understood that this moment was not a good thing. Arleena immediately intervened between Justin and Hugo, standing with a wary glance at them. Both Arleena's hands were stretched out with a slightly horrified look. "If you never listen to my warnings, should I give you another one?" Justin raised both eyebrows and smiled feeling challenged. Hearing Hugo's question raised his adrenaline. "You want to give me another warning?" asked Hugo who took one step forward, not caring about Arleena in the middle of them. "Go ahead. I'm curious what kind of warning you can give me." "Stop, that's enough!" Arleena was still trying to spread her arms to keep Justin and Hugo away. "Gosh, why are you two behaving so childishly?" Hugo actually had a lot of words to say to Justin. If only Arleena wasn't in the middle of them both, then Hugo might have been able to give a strong fist. At this moment of tension, Hugo tried to suppress the emotions in his heart. "Hugo, you're not the kind of person who gets emotional easily." Arleena tried to speak to Hugo in a calm tone. She held Hugo's broad chest and invited him to step back slowly. "You care about me, right? So, I'm begging you, pay attention to your surroundings. If you continue this, they will target me." Hugo followed the direction of Arleena's lowly raised pointer and circulated around. There were indeed a large number of people gathered around them. And, some were already looking at them because of the crowd created just now. Realizing Arleena's words were true, Hugo finally did not want to act much anymore. Hugo took a deep breath, then let out a long breath. His sharp gaze fell back on Justin who smiled wryly, challenging him. "How? Are you going to give your 'other warning' now?" Justin repeated the provocation to Hugo. Arleena hissed as she shot Justin an exasperated look. Giving a reprimand through that simple gesture. "Why can't you shut up?" Arleena spoke sarcastically. Justin immediately chuckled. "Because she started it. I just wanted to see you-" "I don't want to meet someone like you," Arleena cut in sharply. "Why can't you understand? You should be with your new female partner. But here you are." "Right, you should care about your new woman. Arleena doesn't need to see you again," Gabriel shot back. Sassy, who had been watching seriously while folding her arms across her chest, finally nodded. Sassy waved her hand in the other direction to Justin as a gesture of dismissal. "Go away. I'll take this, but at least don't bother me," Arleena replied as she took over the bouquet of flowers from Justin's hand. Seeing Arleena take Justin's bouquet made Hugo widen his eyes. Hugo was dumbfounded, while Justin smiled triumphantly. Feeling satisfied that Arleena took his bouquet of flowers. "Thank you for accepting my flowers," Justin replied, unable to contain the twinkle in his eye. Arleena looked at Justin sarcastically. Although she didn't really care about Justin's bouquet of flowers. "Arleena, why did you accept those flowers?" asked Hugo who looked unhappy with Arleena's actions. "Just leave them so he can leave quickly," Arleena replied later. Justin gave a satisfied smile to Hugo who had an exasperated expression. If his gaze could be interpreted, it would be vocalized: 'Hey, I can still get his attention, you idiot'. And Hugo earnestly refrained from retaliating against Justin's actions. "Alright, I'll go. I never felt like bothering you, Arleena. I just wanted to see you," Justin replied without feeling guilty for Arleena. While Gabriel, Sassy, and Hugo almost wanted to kick Justin for being so furious, Arleena was silent. Not because she was afraid. Behind her calm, piercing eyes, Arleena was trying to suppress all her anger. This was not a good day to blow off steam, especially in front of the CEO of her company and her coworkers. Arleena looked at Justin without interest. "Go away," Arleena said with a flick of her chin. Justin nodded. With a chuckle, he gave a two-fingered gesture at the end of his eyebrows in a brief salute. After that, Justin simply walked away from them all without further ado. After Justin had completely disappeared into the crowd, Gabriel let out a harsh breath. Gabriel growled in annoyance at Justin's departure. "Why doesn't that guy have any sense?" Gabriel grumbled as he shook his fist at Justin. "Yeah, he does suck," Sassy replied with a sneer. "How can he not be embarrassed to show his face in front of Arleena?" As Gabriel and Sassy exchanged irritated words, Arleena remained silent. Her gaze was fixed on the bouquet of flowers from Justin in her hand. Arleena felt uncomfortable at that moment. It was like getting back the euphoria of her old feelings for Justin. Arleena's memory went back to the first time Justin gave her the bouquet of flowers. Also, every time she received an award for her hard work, Justin always came. Maybe... that's why Justin came now too. Was it because he was used to coming to celebrate Arleena's success in her work? Without Arleena realizing it, Hugo was watching her. Hugo noticed the change in Arleena's face that showed implicit sadness. As long as he was watching, Hugo didn't need to be told to understand that Arleena didn't really want Justin to leave. Arleena still had feelings for Justin. Realizing that, Hugo sighed very slowly. His heart was stabbed. 'Why do you force yourself to suppress your feelings for Justin?' Hugo thought to himself. Hugo had known Arleena for years. It was not difficult for him to understand Arleena's gestures when she was troubled. So, Hugo reached out his hand to embrace Arleena. His sudden movement surprised Arleena until both shoulders jerked. Then Hugo gave Arleena a big smile. "Alright. Since Arleena got the bonus, shouldn't she treat us?!" Hugo teased Arleena. Arleena immediately glared, then reflexively hit Hugo's right side shoulder. "Hey, you want to get a treat from me too?!" Hugo nodded firmly. He didn't care about Arleena's punch mark on his right side shoulder. "Of course. Who wouldn't?" "So you came just to get a treat?" "Exactly!" Hugo snapped his fingers. *** "You wanted this, right?" Arleena looked away when she saw two bottles of beer placed on the back patio table. Two jugs were placed next to the other snacks. They were deliberately given to her by Hugo, who had just arrived and sat down next to Arleena. The back terrace of their apartment had a fairly large area. It was wide enough for someone to walk ten steps. It went straight up to the sky and was reflected by the moonlight. Therefore, Arleena decided to stay in the terrace area. "Since when did you buy all this?" asked Arleena, looking in surprise at all the food and two bottles of beer from Hugo. "I told you to go buy all this, didn't you hear?" Hugo threw a question back. Arleena innocently shook her head. "No, I didn't realize at all that you went to buy food and beer." "As for the beer, I did collect it and brought the collection here. Would you like to see?" Arleena quickly shook her head and gave Hugo a small smile. "No, I have no interest in seeing your beer collection." Instantly, the enthusiastic smile of Hugo who wanted to show his beer collection dimmed. Hugo turned to look at Arleena annoyed, while Arleena took one of the snack packs. Hugo let out a rough breath, then picked up the jug and poured the bottle of beer into the glass. The sound of the water flowing broke the silence between the two of them. "Are you very sad?" Hugo asked between pouring the beer into the jug. "Hm?" Arleena was immediately surprised by the sudden question. "Why... are you asking me that?" Hugo straightened his sitting position after he had poured enough beer into the jug. His gaze shifted to Arleena who had an expression of astonishment. "I'm just asking. Are you very sad?" Hugo repeated the question. "About Justin. I saw you looking at his bouquet of flowers." Gradually the astonishment at Arleena's facial expression faded. Arleena fell silent. Her tongue seemed paralyzed to speak. Ever since she decided to calm down in this area, Arleena had almost forgotten the memories with Justin that had haunted her. Now Hugo just said that and made her remember again. "No need to lie this time. I understand your gaze very well..." Hugo's index and middle fingers that formed a V pointed at Arleena's eyes. "...whenever you're anxiously thinking about something." Arleena sighed and did not want to look at Hugo. She almost forgot that Hugo could understand her feelings more intensely than anyone else. "Don't look me in the eye," Arleena reprimanded. Hugo couldn't help but laugh. "What a ridiculous request." "Aish, I told you not to look me in the eye." "Fine I won't look you in the eye, but you haven't answered my question," Hugo said next. "Why do you look sad about Justin coming?" Arleena couldn't answer for a moment. Nervous, she hurriedly picked up the jug and poured the beer. She almost poured an excessive portion of the beer. Her movements were too hasty and her concentration was lost. Finally, Hugo immediately held Arleena's hand to stop her from continuing to pour the beer. "That's enough," Hugo said in warning. "If you harm yourself just because of someone like her, you will lose." Arleena looked at Hugo for a split second with an uncertain look. During that time, Arleena decided to cancel her intention to take a sip of beer. She straightened her sitting position as she took a deep breath, then exhaled. "I don't know..." Arleena said with a weak voice and closed eyes. "I wasn't sad because I loved her, Hugo. There's still so much anger that some part of me thinks he shouldn't have cheated on me."