𝐒𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 - ★彡[ᴀʟʜᴀɪᴛʜᴀᴍ]彡★

𝟏𝟑 - 𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐄

"Miss (L/n)," Alhaitham's voice rang beside me, "it's time for us to go."

"Huh? Already?" I glanced up at him. "We got there fast."

That's right— Alhaitham had offered to take me out to dinner that night completely out of the blue. I really wanted to play the new otome game that was coming out, but I was horrible at refusing offers for food. After all, I would never pass on an opportunity to eat out at some fancy restaurant.

After we entered the restaurant and took our seats, I found myself glancing awkwardly at the man who was doing nothing but staring at me so hard it was like he was shooting lasers through my head.

"Do you need something?" I finally gathered the courage to ask. "I mean, taking me out to dinner like this just isn't something that you'd normally do..."

He blinked. "I thought that you requested that we'd eat all our meals together."

"Hahah... you got me there."

Awkward silence once again filled the space. He had gotten a reservation in some private part of the restaurant, causing not even the idle chatter of other diners to be heard. The faint hymn of classical music was the only sound preventing the room from being dead-silent.

"If it's okay for me to ask, what is your family like?" Alhaitham inquired in a rather demanding tone.

"My family?" I frowned. "Well, I don't know. Pretty normal, I guess?"

"Could you tell me more?"

So much for a relaxing dinner... This honestly feels more like a job interview. "I wasn't living with them prior to moving in with you," I spoke hesitantly, "but we're not particularly distant either. They're just kind of ordinary in every way you could imagine. Oh. Besides the fact they're divorced."

"I see." He pondered to himself at my words, seemingly lost in thought. "Do you know the reason for their divorce?"

"Why are you getting so personal all of the sudden?" A feeling of uncomfortableness wormed up in my chest. "I mean, I don't really see why I have to tell you that, even if I did know."

"So you don't know," Alhaitham sighed, "it seems like there's a chance he wasn't bluffing after all..."

I froze. "Who wasn't bluffing about what?"

"Kamisato Ayato came into my office and stated that your family has a connection to mine," he murmured. "I didn't think he was lying, but I was somewhat doubtful of this. However, if you don't know the reason for their divorce, then it could mean that it had something to do with my family."

"Wait. Were people digging into my family's personal information?!" I couldn't help but stiffen at his words. "Why?"

"It's the way of business," Alhaitham's gaze turned cold, "in order to have a successful business, one has to do whatever is necessary in order to insure the best for their company."

Jeez, he got defensive really quick.

"They're not in any danger because of this, right?" I asked him tentatively, staring at my utensils awkwardly.

"No."

"That's good. Then why don't we pretend as if none of this happened?" I smiled at him. "That way things won't be awkward and weird."

Alhaitham nodded. "To be honest, I was going to ask if you would be willing to do just that. I appreciate the fact that you offered."

"Haha, it's really not much of a feat," I shook my hands in front of me. "I just don't really understand too much about the industry from the standpoint of a company head, so this kind of just seems like the appropriate course of action..."

He shook his head. "Honestly, I was afraid that you were going to pry into the topic, but it seems that you aren't as immature as I previously thought."

"You really don't mince your words," I glared at him. "That's no way to speak to your 'wife.'"

Alhaitham glanced down apologetically. "True... It seems I must make some changes to my dialect in order to accommodate..."

"I really don't think that going that far will be necessary. Honestly, I appreciate when you're yourself around me a little more. It makes me feel like we've gotten a little closer."

His face morphed into a baffled expression.
"Why would you want that?"

Ah, shiiiit. Did I say too much? Well, no going back now! After all, an otome protagonist would never shy away from saying things that might give her first-hand embarrassment later on!!

I smiled at him. "I mean, I guess I think you're just a nice guy. Heck, you offered me a place to stay and haven't done anything inherently bad yet. I mean, it's honestly pretty sad how women have to have such low standards for men, but you've exceeded the norm. Honestly, you remind me a lot of an otome male lead. I'm sure if you were in a video game or something a large number of girls would choose to play your route first!"

After I said that, he placed his head in his hands and let out a deep sigh. Immediately, panic rose to my chest. Plan Otome MC has backfired! I repeat, plan Otome MC has backfired!

"I'm sorry— did that make you uncomfortable? Sometimes I just say things without thinking it through... I'd really like it if you'd tell me what's on your mind!" I tried to shove my embarrassment on the back burner, but it didn't work. The situation was growing progressively more and more awkward.

Alhaitham pulled his head upwards, meeting my gaze somewhat warily. "You want me to speak my mind? Truly?"

"Yes, I can take it," I placed my hand in a salute to attest to my sincerity.

"Alright," he took a deep breath and shut his eyes. As if mustering every iota of courage in his body, he opened his eyes with a blaze of seriousness. Honestly, I had never seen him look as serious (and nervous), as he did in this moment. "When you said that, and afterwards, I was taken by surprise. Frankly, I didn't realize how... cute you were until this moment."

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!

"I shouldn't have said it, shouldn't have said it," he muttered to himself, "this is why... I'm sorry, I couldn't think of a better word. All of the synonyms that I could think of only sounded more perverse."

"Nononononono, it made me happy," I immediately cut through his incorrect analysis of the situation. "Honestly, I'm delighted right now. This is the first time you've ever said anything like that." And likely the last.

"Well then, isn't it about time we get the check?" Alhaitham deadpanned in a pretty sad attempt to change the subject.

"Mr. Alhaitham, we haven't even ordered yet..."

"Oh."

Uhh so my mom got covid and isn't doing good 💀 but hey I managed to write this so it's fine lol
Anyways thank you guys for all the votes, tbh most people forget to do it but like so many of you guys do and it actually means the world to me :')
I'm having a bit of a hard time right now, but it's nothing too bad! Mainly just catching up academically is the big focus...
This is honestly my favorite self insert I've ever written 😭 maybe bc she's an otome fan
As always, hope you all had a wonderful day and enjoyed this fluff before the storm. <3, Wasabi