Chapter 6: Freezer and Tarzan

The sky had already turned orange, Belinda and her friends were walking towards the campus lobby. Moreover, Daniel looked very happy walking next to Belinda like a real lover who managed to make Yena into an insect repellent, even though he knew Daniel would not be able to marry Belinda. 

“Bel, don't you want to eat with me?” asked Daniel enthusiastically. 

Hearing Daniel's invitation only for Belinda, Yena pursed her lips. “How come you didn't invite me? I'm disappointed!”

Belinda revealed a graceful smile. “I-”

Ting... 

Suddenly, a text message notification popped up on her phone screen. Belinda stopped her steps for a moment and read the text message from her killer fiancé. 

“When you get home, remember to meet me!”

Belinda laughed in annoyance while moving her lips left and right. “Is he my boss? He's so good at managing people!”

Daniel was confused to see his best friend's attitude change so drastically suddenly that his eyes narrowed. “What's wrong with you, Bel?”

How should Belinda respond to Daniel? It was impossible to tell the truth, worried about hurting Daniel's feelings. However, she was very reluctant to actually meet the cruel lecturer. It was all wrong where she was now since getting engaged to the annoying man of her lifetime. 

Belinda smiled again, although the smile she gave was forced. “Sorry, Niel. Ms. Yenny wants to eat with me. She invited me just now.”

Daniel tapped his forehead. “I forgot you have to take care of Ms. Yenny.”

“Very sorry. There's no way I could refuse her invitation.” Belinda looked at Yena for a moment. “You can eat with Yena.”

Hearing that she was offered to eat with her handsome best friend, Yena revealed a sweet smile and deliberately brought her body closer to Daniel's arm. She kept thanking Belinda for giving her the opportunity to be alone with Daniel, even though Daniel's thoughts were not what she thought.

“Is it okay just the two of you, Niel? You were originally the one who wanted to invite Belinda.”  

Daniel sighed weakly, not expecting the current situation to be so different from his expectations. “That's okay. Besides, we have to prioritize our parents first. Even if they're not biological parents.”

*****

After Daniel and Yena didn't show their noses in the campus lobby, Belinda groaned again while replying to a text message for an annoying lecturer with maximum typing power. Her face was so angry that it turned bright red. 

“I know. Am I senile? If you want to meet, hurry up!”

At the same time, a black SUV pulled up right in front of the campus lobby. The killer lecturer opened the window to reveal a cold face. 

“Hurry up!”

Belinda replied with a hawkish look as she sat next to the driver's seat. 

Brandon pressed the gas again and drove the car out of the campus area. The atmosphere in the car was quite tense, if the mood of the handsome lecturer and his fiancée was a little heated over a small matter. In particular, Brandon drove the car so fast that Belinda was a bit surprised as she held the door handle. 

“Can't you drive slower?!” protested Belinda. 

“Who made me drive like this in the first place?” Brandon snapped while staring at the rearview mirror. 

Belinda folded her arms across her chest. “Actually, I still don't understand you. You said I was going to be your wife. But you didn't even talk about this clearly!”

Brandon chuckled in annoyance. “Who told you to hurry up? You don't see!”

Remembering the text message she had sent him earlier, Belinda laughed lightly. “Just because I sent a message like that, you're already offended? It turns out you're a bit of a hothead!”

“Should I bring a mirror for you first? Try looking at other students! Where do they send messages to their lecturers to hurry up! Do you think I'm your personal driver?”

“You two-door refrigerator lecturer!” Belinda looked away to face the window next to her. 

“What did you say?”

Brandon stopped the car at the red light. Then, his gaze snapped back to stare at his fiancée like there was no sin in it at all. 

“You're so stiff!” Belinda snapped back at him. 

“Why are you so angry with me all of a sudden? I don't want my wife to have high blood pressure when she's still young!”

“Because you picked me up suddenly like this. I told you, I don't want our relationship to be discovered on campus! What if someone saw us earlier? Do you want to take responsibility?”

Brandon pursed his lips and drove the car back to its normal speed at the green light. Belinda sat quietly again, staring out the window. 

“Today I want to invite you to my house.”

Belinda rounded her eyes. “You want to introduce me to your family?”

Brandon laughed sarcastically. “How confident you are. I want to take you to my private home.”

“Oh, I thought I was going to be introduced.” Belinda stroked her chest. 

“But before that, I want to stop by a restaurant to buy dinner.”

“Why don't we just eat instant noodles?” Belinda winked at her fiancé to persuade him to comply. 

“Eating instant noodles is not good for your health even though I have some in my house.”

Belinda quirked her lips again. “Actually, my fiancé is a lecturer or a doctor!”

“This is for your own good, kid!”

*****

Upon arriving at Brandon's house, which was large enough to be left alone since it was two-story, Belinda rounded her eyes as she ran around the living room, which looked neat and filled with expensive furniture. Looking at his fiancée like she had just entered a palace, Brandon could only shake his head as he walked towards the dining room carrying several paper bags filled with restaurant-bought food. 

“It's a good thing I brought you here just before we got married. You're like Tarzan who just got a house!”

Belinda stopped the childish act and approached her interlocutor with annoyance. “You're like a refrigerator all the time!”

Brandon gave her a hawkish look. “If you're insolent again, I won't feed you!”

While enjoying their dinner, they didn't talk at all, making Belinda feel uncomfortable actually. Was Brandon so used to living alone that he didn't talk at all during meals? Or did Brandon always maintain his etiquette even when eating casually? What was certain was that Belinda had no appetite, even though the food Brandon bought was spaghetti, her favorite. 

“Do you like spaghetti?” Brandon said as he devoured the spaghetti. 

Belinda almost choked, fortunately surprised when the spaghetti was swallowed. “How did you know I like spaghetti?”

Brandon looked down in shame as he rolled the spaghetti with a spoon. “Because... I just happen to like spaghetti too.”

“I really didn't realize we have the same taste.” Belinda's eyes lit up as she looked around the dining room that was no less beautiful than her stepfamily's. “By the way, do you really live alone in this big house?”

“Yes, because I'm too lazy to live with my family.”

“How nice that you have so much money that you can buy a house as big as a palace!”

Brandon folded his arms across his chest. “Actually, I didn't invite you here to show off my house. But I wanted to discuss something with you after the meal.”

After dinner, Belinda and Brandon sat next to each other on the living room sofa. The atmosphere was tense again, but it was Brandon's slightly rumpled appearance that made Belinda focus on him. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up from washing the dishes plus the shirt button was undone, just because of that alone made him tame. 

“As for the wedding preparations, I'll take care of everything. You just focus on your studies,” Brandon said in a firm tone. 

Belinda raised her right eyebrow. “Why do you like to manage me? It's true that you and I are quite far apart in age. But that doesn't mean you're acting like my boss.”

Brandon gave her a smirking look as he shifted his body closer to his fiancée. “Are you sure you can help me? We're already fighting over little things like this. After all, you're still a kid!”

“I'm not a kid! I'm already two heads!”

“I don't care, because in my eyes you're still a kid.” Brandon stuck out his tongue. “Besides, the way you asked me to fight with you was like a kid having a tantrum.”

“Even though you started it when you picked me up earlier. What's wrong with you?”

Brandon wrapped his arms around his fiancée's slender waist as he moved his head closer to her red lips. Belinda shot him a glare as she tried to remove the handsome lecturer's hand. It felt like her body was being tied up, especially when the lecturer started to show his brutal side by groping the tip of her head. 

“Belinda, do you have a boyfriend?”