The outing comes to an end. During the nighttime, she returns.
Ryan opens the door, looking as usual, with no sign of anything different in his outward appearance.
"Did it go well? They didn't bother you too much, right?"
He turns to follow her as she walks inside and starts taking off her shoes. Her voice comes out quiet and thoughtful.
"Hm… quite so. I got a bit late, though. I didn't expect them to keep holding me until this late."
"Well, I don't know about that, but I can imagine it for some reason." He jokes with a shrug of his shoulders, remembering the personalities of both girls.
Just when she prepares to move inside, Ryan suddenly takes a step forward to stop in front of her and starts walking in front of her. She notices the unusual change in his movements but brushes it off.
"Did you prepare the food at least? I didn't eat dinner outside, thinking that you might be waiting at home."
He glances back over his shoulder slightly at her question, then gives a small smile before nodding. "Yep. I prepared the noodles, but not the normal ones. They will be really good."
Though he continues his steps forward casually, Sylvia finally feels something off. His smile doesn't sit well with her. Not that he doesn't smile usually, but this one was something different, though she can't quite point out why.
…
As she takes the final sip of the noodle soup and sets the bowl down, her sharp and observant eyes watch him with quiet intensity.
She leans back in her chair and waits silently for him to collect the dishes like he usually does; it is his part of the daily chores.
But seconds pass. Then, minutes. He remains seated in his chair, sucking on the spoon for what feels like a whole minute. At this point, she wonders if he will eat the spoon head too.
Unable to hold herself back anymore, she leans in. "Hey, you aren't going to wash the dishes?"
He glances at her briefly, then down at his plate and murmurs against his spoon, "I am feeling a bit sick right now. Can you do the dishes? Just for tonight?"
"..."
…
Despite feeling the constant tug at her senses, she ends up washing them anyway. Though now, she's a hundred percent sure that something has happened with him.
The feeling leads her mind to the events that happened throughout the day, from the start of her work, to his conversation with the girls, to her outing.
The conversation…
Her fingers tighten briefly on the plate as she thinks. She cannot think of anything else other than this. The words that Chloe said to her about him and his own reaction when she stepped into the living room after her work, everything leads to the same thing.
Though, she calms herself down and exhales.
I am overthinking it. He's just being his usual strange self. I might have tired myself out from all the work I did.
She sneaks a glance toward the dining table and frowns. Ryan has left the room already, even though he always waits for her to vanish into her bedroom first during the nights.
Is he angry…?
Later, just before entering her bedroom, she lingers near his room for a moment longer before finally moving toward her room. Sleep has become necessary for her at this moment.
…
Her thinking that it's just a temporary change in his behavior proves to be wrong in the morning.
Because of him delaying making the breakfast early, she reached her desk late by at least ten minutes. Ten minutes of delay in her work—she always followed the schedule well, but it finally got broken.
His excuse that he couldn't wake up early due to his 'lingering sickness' also stopped her from accusing him for it.
She ignores it again, not wanting to escalate whatever is brewing in his head.
…
What she thought was a one-day sickness stretches into something more bothersome and confusing for her.
Following that day, he started interfering with every schedule she had made for herself. Be it her work schedule, or the dinners, breakfasts, shopping, and other things.
She tried to probe into the reason for all of it, but he deflected it every time by either moving away from the talk or simply brushing her off.
One week later, a faint sign of tiredness becomes ingrained in her features. She still does all of her work, but the effort it takes to complete it has become hard.
Today, in an open cafe, when the three girls sit around a circular table, the change in her expression becomes easier for the other two girls to notice.
Chloe and Blair exchange a silent, tactical glance with each other before Chloe turns her head toward Sylvia and asks.
"Are you okay, Sylvia? You took a day off today… and you also look quite…"
Without even finishing her words, the implication hangs between them in the air.
Sylvia doesn't try to hide it. Meeting her gaze, she lets out a long sigh and rubs her temple.
"I couldn't do it today. He has been acting strange lately. I don't know why."
Her gaze sharpens briefly as she stares at Chloe. "Chloe… What exactly did you talk about that day?"
The atmosphere changes around them, becoming charged with the same air which one might find in an interrogation room.
Chloe starts fumbling with her glass under Sylvia's intense gaze. Even Blair doesn't interfere between them with her usual jokes. Slowly, she nods and starts speaking.
"It was just…"
Every single word that comes out of her mouth gives increasing pieces of clues for Sylvia to join together.
The questions into Ryan's life which were asked by Chloe, the probing into their relationship, the suspicions about Sylvia herself…
By the end, she just stays with her forehead pressed against the table. Chloe and Blair both look at her with concerned and guilty expressions.
Finally, she lifts her head and looks at Chloe. Then, she shakes her head slowly. "You did a very weird thing. Do you understand that, Chloe?"
Though, despite her weary tone, there is no anger in her voice.
It was supposed to happen one day, I guess… What Chloe did was also not bad. I should have done it myself.
Chloe keeps her gaze down initially, but then, finding her voice, she says quietly, "I just couldn't stop myself when he was telling us about you both… The questions I asked were pretty logical…"
"I know that, but we also have our situation going on with each other," Sylvia replies. Then, reaching across the table, she puts her hand over Chloe's and adds,
"I am not saying that you were wrong, but just ask me before doing something like that again, okay?"
After they enter a quiet agreement with each other, the silence settles on the table for several minutes.
Blair, seeing that the previous topic has reached its end, perks up at last. It seems she has been holding on from saying something for a while now.
However, before she can speak, Sylvia interrupts her directly.
"About the thing you asked for earlier… I think I will do it, Blair."
A faint smile appears on Sylvia's lips as she sips on her orange juice. The familiar glimpse of her usual intelligence flickers behind her gaze.
Blair makes a confused sound first, but then a smile appears on her face and widens immediately as her brain processes the words.
"Really!? Will you visit that city with me?"
Sylvia hums once and nods. "Yes, I am suddenly feeling like… enjoying a trip, after all." Her back lightly hits the back of her chair. The plan forms in her mind.
You have been acting quite grumpy lately, don't you…? Since you are going to act like this, let's do it in a different place…
…
Back at the house, Ryan circles around a sentence on a page. Then, he sits back and strokes his chin slowly, his eyes narrowed in thought as he stares at his plan on the paper.
"The distraction I have caused has definitely stirred her lately…"
A low chuckle leaves him, and he leans forward again, scribbling on the paper while murmuring quietly, his voice carrying a hint of rebellious glee.
"Let's see how long it takes for her to plead with me to stop this. When that happens, I will increase my own leverage over her…"