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After doing our assignments, watching a short movie, and a little bit of cuddling, I left Rheyna's house and returned home. Raising my knuckle, I tap it against the front door. After a couple of thuds, I could hear the lock being fiddled with. A second later, the door finally opened, and what stands before me is a girl slightly shorter than me.
"Oh- kuya (big bro), why'd you only come home now? Where have you been??" she asked. With straight, dyed brown hair that reaches past her nape, and the same black eyes as me, she is none other than my little sister, Aliyah Sanchez.
'Oh, right. Besides Bea, I haven't told anyone else I have a girlfriend now.'
"I was at my girlfriend's house." I casually reply as I walk past Aliyah who stepped aside to let me in.
"Ah, okay."
".... Wait- what?!" Aliyah, having processed what I just casually dropped, snapped to look at me. "When did you get a girlfriend?!?" her eyes wide with shock.
"Just the other day." I reply while switching my shoes out for my indoor flip flops.
With her mouth agape, Aliyah blinked twice. "I thought you were gay."
Smack!
"Ouch!"
"I'm not gay! Just because I act like a girl, doesn't mean I'm gay!" I say out loud after smacking Aliyah on her right bicep with moderate strength.
Smack!
"Ah-!"
"You can't blame me for thinking that way! You never had a crush on a girl before, so I thought you were just hiding it!" Aliyah argued after smacking me back with equal power.
At her words, my lips raise into a smirk. "I'm different from you who has a new crush every school year."
"!! Oi!" Aliyah's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. It is a fact she can't refute. Since starting elementary, she has had a new crush almost every year. Either her classmate or a guy in her grade. 'If only she had the courage to actually act on one. But alas, she's too timid when faced with a boy outside the family.'
After a couple seconds, Aliyah calmed down. "Is she kind?"
I blink. "Yeah. She's kind." There's no need to think about it. I know Rheyna is kind. Not just to me, but to most people as well. 'Unless there's a reason, she won't treat someone poorly. That I'm sure of.'
Looking at me, Aliyah smirks. "Heh... Look at you. You're all smiles." she says. And she's right. Without realizing it, I was smiling. And it was all because I thought of Rheyna. 'I didn't know I was this type of person when it comes to love.'
Grabbing the knob, Aliyah finally closed the door. After locking it back up, she turns back to me, eyes brimming with curiosity.
"Is she beautiful?" she asked, curious of her older brother's love life.
I scoff. "Yea-"
"No." a familiar voice rings out, cutting me off. I look at the stairs and see Bea standing on the steps. Looking at me with a complex expression I can't quite figure out. "She's not beautiful." Bea adds, continuing her descent.
Watching Bea casually approach despite having said that about my girlfriend, I knit my brows. "Bea, what are you-"
"She's smart, but that's it." she cuts me off, again. And I can feel myself getting angry. Parting my lips, I yell. "Bea-"
"Aliyah, ignore us. Mark, it's time for practice." Bea breathed. The key phrases triggering the different hypnosis she applied on the two siblings. A flash of pink ran across their eyes for half a second, a sign of the hypnosis activating.
"Okay. I'll be in my room." Aliyah says, suddenly uninterested. She walks away and heads upstairs. But before Aliyah could make it far, Bea lunged onto me. Pinning me against the door. Her hands gripping my shoulders painfully tight.
Before I could take another breath, her lips were on mine. Taking them with such hunger that it feels like she's trying to devour me. "Mmph- Bea..!" an embarrassing noise escaped as I'm trying to process what's happening. 'I feel like I should be angry at Bea, but I don't know why.' It feels like I just forgot something important. Yet, I don't have the faintest clue as to what.
'Forget it. I should be focusing on helping Bea practice.' I thought, trying to meet her passion.
"Pwah-" Bea breaths, releasing me from her kisses. "Who do you love?" she asks, looking straight into my eyes.
I meet her gaze, and that same gaze is telling me she wants only one answer. "... You. You're the one I love, Bea." I say, the words leaving my lips. Bea visibly brightened at my words. Her lips rising into a wide smile. "Yeah..! I'm the only one you love. No one else."
'It's just practice, so why... Why does my heart feel tight all of a sudden?' For a reason I don't know, when I said those words my heart started to feel tight, like someone was squeezing it.
"But..." Bea started. Her expression transforming into a mischevous look. "Let's change it up a bit." she says, releasing me and taking a step back.
"Huh..? What do you mean, Bea?" I ask, clueless as to what she intends to change.
Without answering my question, Bea took out her phone from her pocket. "Listen well, kuya Mark." after saying that, she tapped once on her phone. And deep classical music echoed from it immediately after.
Before I could understand what was happening, I started to feel... drowsy? Like my consciousness was slipping away
"Be.. a..?"
Ding
[Target has been successfully entranced.] the notification says. Just from the sound alone, Bea didn't need to read it. Because right in front of her, Mark stands idly in place. His black eyes replaced by a pink glow. Lips hanging slightly agape.
Bea takes a step closer, observing the defenseless boy before her. "Thank you for helping me practice, kuya Mark. Because of that, I want to return the favor..." she says, yet her eyes hold a sinister gleam. "You want to be the best boyfriend for Rheyna, right, kuya Mark? In that case..." Bea reaches out, her hand caressing his cheek.
"I'll help you. When I say "let's practice," you'll treat me as your practice partner. Whatever we do during practice is for the sake of you becoming a better boyfriend. Don't think anything else of it. However, this is embarrassing so let's strictly keep this a secret between just us, okay? Nobody else can know we're practicing." she says. The suggestion embedding itself into Mark's mind.
Two seconds. That's all the "thinking" Mark did before nodding along
Bea's expression transformed once more. From cunning to predatory. 'Just one more...'
The predator looks her helpless prey in the eye. Parting her lips, she issues her final command. "When I say "let's wrap it up," we'll stop practicing and go back to normal. When you recall what we did, you won't think anything of it. After all, it's just practice."
"Practice..." Mark numbly repeated the word.
He then nods once.
Like a beast, Bea opens her mouth and licks her canines. She taps on her phone, causing the music to stop.
Mark blinks once, twice, thrice. His consciousness returning with every second.
"Huh? What was I..."
"Kuya Mark." Bea calls out. Her voice grounding me amidst my confusion. "Yeah- ?!" I freeze in place. Bea looks at me with an expression I can only describe as frightening.
I try to take a step back, only to feel the solid wood door against my back. "Bea, why are you looking at me like that??" My voice breaking mid-sentence.
Parting her lips, Bea bares her teeth.
"Let's practice."
The command washes over Mark like a murky wave. A pink glow flashed across his eyes for half a second before disappearing. The fear and tension leaving his body like it was never there.
"Oh." I tilt my head slightly. "It's time for practice already?" My lips curve into a small smile as I look at Bea. And she looks at me with a smile of her own. "Mhm. So, what do you wanna do, kuya Mark?"
"Hm... Since I just got home..." I spread my arms out. "Give me a hug!" I say with a big smile on my face.
"Heh- Okay. Anything for you, kuya Mark." Bea takes a step, closing the already small distance between us. Her arms wrap around me as mine does around hers. Our bodies pressed against each other to the point that we can feel each other's heartbeats.
"Your heart is beating really fast, Bea. Are you nervous?" I ask with a cheeky smile, despite being a little flustered myself.
"Pfft- I can say the same about you, kuya Mark!" Bea laughs.
'It's just a hug, but it feels so nice.'
"So, what next?" Bea asks. looking at me with eager eyes.
"Hmm... How about... this!" without warning, I place a kiss on Bea's cheek. "Mwah!"
"Hahah~ Oh, you!" Bea laughs before returning the favor.
'Yeah. Rheyna would definitely love it if I did this.' I thought, storing the idea for next time.
"Okay, okay. That's enough for now, so-" Bea pulls away and steps back.
"Let's wrap it up."
Immediately after Bea said that, a flash of pink ran across Mark's eyes. He blinks, and its gone.
"Thanks, Bea. I'm sure Rheyna will love it when I do that with her." he says. And instead of looking even the slightest bit hurt, Bea remains smiling. "You're welcome. You should go to your room now, though. You're still in your uniform, after all."
"Oh- right! I should change already. Thanks again, Bea!" Mark says before running upstairs.
Bea stands in place, watching as Mark disappears. 'Yeah. That's it. Everything Mark wants to do, he'll do it with me first. All of his firsts will be mine. That's what you get for getting ahead of yourself, Rheyna.' Bea's lips curl into a smirk, relishing the idea that her rival will be none the wiser.
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