𝐒𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 - ★彡[ᴀʟʜᴀɪᴛʜᴀᴍ]彡★

𝟑𝟒 - 𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐓𝐎

 Alhaitham started his day as he would any other: he woke up at five in the morning, went downstairs to eat a protein bar, then headed out to work. (Y/n), who occasionally woke up to cook him breakfast, was absent.

Each time he went down the winding staircase he found that his mind subconsciously expected her to be there and bid him a good morning as she had in the past, her expression lighting up at the sound of his arrival.

So in the end, he set himself up for disappointment every morning. Ever since (Y/n) had forged a new contract between them she had been acting far more distant than she had in the past—which was only to be expected. In reality, though, Alhaitham still found himself occasionally thinking back to the period they had experienced in which they had almost begun to act like an actual couple.

Her change had unknowingly forced Alhaitham into a corner in which he was inexperienced and unsure, a strange commodity in his otherwise S-class way of life. 

Today Alhaitham was scheduled for an interview and he arrived three minutes early as he preferred; the interviewer greeted him with a smile on his face and the crew had already set up their equipment. They exchanged brief greetings that were cut short the moment they went live, the interviewer flipping a switch and acting in the far more exaggerated, energetic manner that was better suited for viewer's consumption.

After finishing the usual drawls to begin the program the interviewer invited Alhaitham to come on set, to which he did whilst casting a small cordial wave to the audience (or rather, the barrage of cameras that were facing him).

"And let us now give a warm welcome to Mr. Alhaitham, famed boss of the biggest matchmaking company in the world!" The man exaggerated his words with emotive hand movements and expressions. "This is reporter Jared here, and ready to roll!"

"It's a pleasure," Alhaitham courteously dipped his head to the man, taking his seat and crossing one leg over the other to provide a more casual position to the audience.

"So, Mr. Alhaitham, I've heard you're the perfect husband! You must really love your wife, huh?"
He was internally taken aback for a moment but managed to maintain his calm outer-appearance. "Ah...yes. I love her very much." As he spoke those words a mental image of (Y/n) came to mind causing him to suddenly feel very bashful.

"You seem quite taken with her," the reporter who was apparently named Jared of all things remarked, "she must be quite grateful to have a husband who cares about her so much!"
Thinking back to how he had wronged her in so many ways, Alhaitham shook his head. "If anything, I should be grateful to her. She's had to go through a lot during our marriage due to its publicity yet she still chose to stay by my side. I'm...more and more grateful she's in my life with each passing day."

"WOWZERS!" Jared fanned himself. "It's getting heated in here! I'm getting hit with all the love and adoration you feel for her~"

Love? Adoration? Suddenly Alhaitham felt increasingly embarrassed. Does it really seem that way? It's a good thing for my image, yet I was simply speaking how I truly felt...does it truly strike this 'Jared' as me being in love with her?

"Oooh, it seems like the perfect husband is getting embarrassed," Jared teased.

Some of the show's producers were glaring daggers at him for this rather unprofessional and rude remark, but Alhaitham was far too embarrassed to care. Never before had he felt like he was being publicly humiliated on such a large platform, yet it seemed like he was experiencing all sorts of 'firsts' lately.

"I apologize," Alhaitham's lips spread into a small, forced smile as he shoved down his embarrassment and rage, "it seems I get carried away whenever I talk about her. When it comes to her, I never seem to change."

His mind was berating him mercilessly for his immature and uncharacteristic behavior, but the reporter seemed incredibly satisfied—likely because he was profiting off of other's misfortune as most people in the world do.

Alhaitham was tempted to bite off his own tongue on live television so he didn't keep acting idiotic.

. . .

After he finished the painful interview, Alhaitham headed to the police station where Ayato was currently being held. There currently wasn't enough information to place Ayato behind bars, and considering Alhaitham's status and relationship with him he was fortunately allowed to speak with him after receiving Shikanoin Heizou's approval. Ayato was sitting in a room with white walls that were now morphing into a gray-ish brown from age. There were marks on the wall, likely caused by other people that had been held in this room.

Despite his current perilous position, Kamisato Ayato sat as dignified as a noble would with a cup filled with boba to his left. He met Alhaitham's probing stare with a gentle, unnerved smile.

"Greetings, Mr. Alhaitham." His body posture revealed no sign of his emotion, the epitome of a proper businessman. He had a single sheet of paper in front of him with a pencil that was cut to be half its average length.

"Good afternoon," Alhaitham was followed in by an officer who stood by the door for safety measures. Casting a quick glance to Ayato's wrist, Alhaitham saw that his wristwatch was missing. "How are you doing?"

"As well as I can be," he shrugged, "it's not like this wasn't an outcome I expected to happen. Thankfully my secretary can handle the workload while I'm gone and I was able to notify my sister ahead of time to avoid causing unnecessary worry. Ah, I've sent you a few files that might help you out with your investigation."

"I see," Alhaitham responded calmly, "so you're not worried that you'll be punished in the slightest?"

Leaning back a little in the chair, Ayato calmly tilted his head to the side and said: "I cannot be punished for a crime I didn't commit."

"So you claim to have no involvement?"

"What would my motive be?" Ayato countered his question with one of his own. "Why in the world would I kidnap a man who I worked closely with? He's helped me a lot in recent years, and I hold no malicious intent for the man. I am sure many people do—but that much you already knew."

"With the type of man that he was, you could've been taking revenge for him selling off secrets about your company."

"I didn't know you were the type to speculate, Alhaitham. In any case, do you really think I would so easily reveal my secrets to a conman like him?" Ayato reached out and took a sip of his boba. "Once a conman, always a conman. There's no doubt in my mind that he would betray me if it meant he could get paid a high enough amount of money."

He's not lying. Kamisato Ayato was no fool.

But if Ayato truly wasn't behind the main crime, that meant that the investigation to find the culprit would be expensive. They would have to track down the people with a motive to kill (Y/n)'s father which were hundreds upon hundreds.

"It's far too convenient for you to be the perpetrator," Alhaitham nodded in agreement, "as your involvement was an obvious red herring. Even so..." How did the person get access to Ayato's wristwatch? "The fact that you had no involvement whatsoever may be hard to digest."

"Think what you may," Ayato set down the boba and stared at Alhaitham with a grim expression. "But in the end, you two's consistent probing into matters of which are not yours to handle will lead to nothing but (Y/n)'s misery."

hi guys tysm for the support i just wanted to publish this before i went into the bathroom i have a killer stomachache rn omg im dying ill edit this later ly all byeeee <333