"IT WORKED," REMIEL murmured as they left the restaurant and headed into the car. "See? My gik jeung fa works."

"Your method sucks."

"Yet it worked."

"We're still not friends," Livia said, eyeing her cousin warily. "We just don't want to kill each other the moment we see the other, that's all."

"That's one step closer to friendship then you were before."

"Why are you so insistent on this?"

"To make your life easier," Remiel said with a shrug. "Like, it'll be way easier to be friends with him at university then to have to actively avoid him. That, and my own selfishness. I just don't want to see you two like this."

Livia glared at her cousin for a while. "You've screwed me, Remiel."

Remiel rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Zeth said you two seemed to be getting along fine."

"He didn't even see us talk."

"He knows you two better than anyone else in the world. If he says you two are getting along fine, you two are getting along fine."

"That's just not how it works," Livia said earnestly. "Like, just no."

"You don't get to decide how it works."

Livia did not bother arguing, simply got into the driver's seat. "I'm driving back, fuck you."

"Had no intention of driving on this return trip anyways," Remiel said mildly. "Back to the Wong house we go!"

And so they did. Everyone was still awake at home, of course. Auntie Xu had only just left them for the night, and the two girls were immediately greeted with some leftovers from their family's dinner, despite their protests that they were already all extremely full from their meal with the twins. The word full did not exist in the vocabulary of Chinese parents. In their eyes, their children could never be too stuffed, only not stuffed enough. There was always a way to force food down.

But because the pork actually looked delicious, Livia had some reheated and enjoyed an after-dinner meal anyways. It was absolutely scrumptious, and Livia could not wait to properly enjoy it the next day.

Pamela encountered her as Livia made her way upstairs (Remiel had gone up earlier, leaving Livia to do the dishes). "How was it?" she asked, raising a brow. "I heard you went to eat with the Calvert-Egerton twins." Pamela knew that Livia had already made up with Zeth, of course. She was asking about Amphion, and Amphion only.

"We talked," Livia said curtly, leading Pamela towards her bedroom so that no one could overhear anything. She hadn't told Remiel everything about the conversation, and she wanted the rest of her family to know even less. After the door had shut behind them, Livia continued, "We're on talking terms now, but not friends, if you get what I mean."

"You didn't argue?" Pamela asked curiously.

"Not when we actually talked," Livia confirmed. "But before that, a few jabs were thrown. As expected, you know."

"Of course, of course." Pamela nodded understandably. "But you're okay now?"

Livia tilted her head, thinking. "I wouldn't say okay... but it's an improvement."

"He didn't apologise."

"He was quite insistent that it was both of our problem."

"It is," Pamela murmured, "but his problem bigger than yours, I think."

"Well, I don't think he views it that way, and I wanted to keep the conversation as civil as possible so I didn't try to throw that particular view of mine in his face."

"You should have. You had Remiel. He wouldn't have dared to try anything."

"He's nowhere as afraid of Remiel now as he was all those years ago, Pamela. He even attempted to drag her into the jabs at first."

Pamela blinked. "He really has a death wish, doesn't he?"

"He was counting on Remiel not losing her shit. And, well, he'd never actually seen Remiel angry. And he bet right tonight. Remiel didn't start shredding him into little pieces."

Pamela winced. "She's Remiel Wong. We both remember what happened to that guy who talked shit about our aunt."

Remiel's mother wasn't someone of a high background. And she was a divorcee, so her marriage to her never-before-married uncle had raised plenty of eyebrows back in the day. While most people had gotten used to it in the years that followed, some of them hadn't. And one particular boy went taunting Remiel about it in her face. It was some kind of fancy dinner at an expensive hotel—Livia and Pamela had both been there. Livia was fourteen, Pamela twelve. Remiel had been sixteen.

Remiel's Coca-cola had been split with a beautiful accuracy. She didn't do anything else, knowing that she still needed the boy's family cooperation and that there would be no advantage for the Wongs if she made the situation too intense, but a week later, Livia had received the news from a glorious Remiel that the boy had been expelled from his school and quickly shipped to America by his parents. Evidence had been released to the media of him bullying and assauling his fellow schoolmates.

While Remiel had never admitted it outright, both Livia and Pamela had accepted it as her handiwork long ago.

And that was when they'd started fearing their older cousin. Remiel had always been fierce with her own opinions and ideas, ones that she'd defend with everything in her arsenal, but that was the first time she'd taken action. And it hadn't just been some petty prank. Remiel had released it to news outlets and more, and the situation would most likely have been far worse for the boy if his parents hadn't reacted in time and gotten most of the articles taken down.

Still, the boy's reputation had been wholly ruined. If his parents had originally intended for him to take over the family company, all chances of that had been dashed.

Remiel Wong was someone who protected her own, and never hesitated with payback. Livia knew this intently. It was something she greatly admired.

"Yes," Livia murmured, "but Amphion didn't know that." Neither sisters had ever told anyone their suspicions. If their parents knew they'd never mentioned a word of it either. Both Livia and Pamela were aware that if this got out, Remiel's reputation would be equally damaged. Perhaps it would do little damage now, but if this was dug up in the future...

Remiel's imagine would forever be marred.

Thus, their silence. Thus, Amphion's blindness to Remiel's true, ruthless nature.

Well, perhaps Livia was being slightly dramatic.

Pamela sighed. "Lucky him, then. So. No more arguing now."

"Yes, but we're not best friends either."

"Didn't expect you to be." Pamela flipped her silky dark hair to her left shoulder. "Half the summer is already over."

"Feels like I've gotten nothing doen at all," Livia remarked. "I haven't reached the progress I wanted to with my novels."

"Well, I literally have nothing to do," Pamela laughed. "It's a great life, Livia. It's a great life."

"Very funny. I've had my fun, though."

"Have you been out with Brie or Lila recently?"

"Nope, been busy since Remiel came. Maybe I'll ask if they're free tomorrow. Remiel would want to see them anyways. She's always had a soft spot for the two of them."

"Yeah, because they're great people." Pamela pushed herself off the wall. "Well, you do you then. I'm going to have a nice little shower before going to bed."

"So early?" Livia asked, amused.

Pamela shrugged. "I need my beauty sleep."

"What are you getting up to tomorrow?"

"Might have a date," Pamela replied, a little grin on her face. "He's a sweet enough guy, you know, the really cute kind that's perfect for a summer fling."

"Forgot you were a heartbreaker." Unlike Livia, Pamela took a far freer stance regarding actually getting into relationships. Livia had crushes. Pamela had boyfriends. Ones that never lasted long because they never quite lived up to her expectations, but boyfriends nonetheless.

"It's because of my charm," Pamela murmured. "Don't tell ma and ba. They think I'm going out with Anya."

"You two are glued by the hips, I swear."

"Not tomorrow, though."

"With the exception of tomorrow, clearly."

"Of course, of course," Pamela murmured. "I mean, I never get to see her for most of the year. The fact that I can spend two months with her a year... and well, seeing how everything has worked out for you and your friends. You know, I just thought we ought to treasure all the time we have together."

"Can't blame you."

Pamela patted Livia on the shoulders. "It's okay, everything will work out in the end."

"I really hope it will," Livia said with a soft sigh. "I really hope it will."

With that, Pamela left the bedroom, and Livia quickly prepared to take a shower herself as well. She texted Brie and Lila, asking when they were free to hang out, but a new notification popped up on her phone right as she pressed the send message.

There's a party at Rory Madston's this Saturday, are you going to come?

It was from Amphion.

That was... a quick olive branch.

Almost too quick. So quickly that it gave Livia whiplash. This was decidedly non-Amphion.

So she texted back, warily, zeth?

How the fuck did you guess

Livia rolled her eyes, not bothering with a response. It wasn't difficult to guess at all.

A moment later, her phone chimed again. But genuinely, though, r you going????

Livia gave it some thought. She could go. Remiel would likely agree to go along, and while Rory Madston was a major dick, his parties were nice. His mansion, for one, was probably the largest and fanciest in the entirety of Briarville, and it was far away enough that people felt free to let lose without worrying about the consequences.

Think so, will bring Remiel. Gonna ask brie & lila maybe???

Zeth/Amphion's reply was: you do you! Definitely Zeth then, judging from the usage of the exclamation mark. Amphion never unironically used exclamation marks in anything, as if to shield his precious masculinity.

It was something Livia simultaneously understood and failed to.

—

THE NEXT DAY, Remiel, Livia, Brie and Lila met up at the Carmen/Anderson's residence, a large and spacious mansion with a garden bigger than most. A makeshift football court had been set up there, which Brie had confided to them that she never used. Neither did her father or brother. It was there for the media, in case they came knocking and decided to take pictures. Certainly, a kid's football court in the yard would be interesting enough for an article to be written about?

"I haven't been here for a while," Remiel laughed as she rang the bell. "The last time was in the summer when I was fifteen, I think. When they had dinner here and I was visiting during that time."

"That was a long time ago. We don't really come here for dinners because, well, Lila's mum is vegetarian. And she can't really cook either."

"Fair enough," Remiel murmured. A moment later, the door swung open, and Lila's figure appeared, a small smirk on her face.

"Welcome back, Remiel."

"And I am ignored, of course," Livia said with a dramatic sigh. "You wound me, Lila, you wound me. Where's Brie?"

"She's upstairs," Lila said. "She literally just came back down from London yesterday, she had practice. So she's exhausted and very vocal about her discomfort and many complaints. Watch out."

Remiel looked amused. "I mean, that's dedication, going between Briarville and London just for training."

Lila rolled her eyes. "Dedication my ass. It's less than two hours by train. Nothing to admire about it. And she's been doing this for years."

"Still. The dedication she has for her football. All things considered."

"Girl's football is not very well looked upon."

"Pity on them, then. The Chinese men's football team? Absolute trash. The Chinese women's team? Actually good. Says a lot, doesn't it?"

"No, it just says that the women's team is better than the men's," Lila deadpanned. "Come on in, now. Come on in."

The house was minimalistically decorated, the design clearly intended to be modern. The entire house was in shades of white and grey and black, but with hazardously placed suitcases and luggage placed without, a signal that it was not their permanent residence. And that the Carmen/Anderson household did not necessarily care about neatness.

It was the kind of place that would disgust Livia's parents to their core. Not that they'd ever say that in anyone's face.

They were led to Brie's bedroom, which was naturally upstairs, the third door down. It was a large but messy space, corresponding with the rest of the house. Football posters plastered on the walls. Brie's favourite celebrities, with signed pictures most likely from Lila's mother. And this was only a small collection, considering the fact that Lila had mentioned before that their actual house was even bigger.

Brie had music blasting loudly, and upon their entry she swiftly paused the song she was jamming to. "Welcome! Hello! Hello! Welcome to my humble abode!"

Livia let out a laugh. "This place is even messier than last year."

"No," Brie said ruefully, "it's just because I didn't have time to properly unpack from yesterday. Since I spent the night at our usual house in London instead of coming back. Thus that suitcase over there," she murmured, pointing towards the blue chest splayed out against a wall. "It'll be fixed by tonight, promise."

Remiel raised a brow. "Your parents are... okay with the state of this room?"

Lila slanted her a glance. "Have you seen the rest of the house, Remiel? They're even worse. I'm the neatest one out of all of us, and ask Livia what that means."

Livia winced, recalling the absolute battlefield that Lila had shown her last year. "Slightly better than this. Emphasis on the slight."

Remiel blinked. "Right. Of course. I didn't remember this place being this messy last time."

"Because everyone was coming," Lila deadpanned. "Our parents had someone pack up."

"Ah, of course." Remiel nodded. "That's understandable. I think if nai nai saw this she wouldn't care if she was a guest or not, she'd just start cleaning it up."

"Or getting Auntie Xu to," Livia snickered.

"That is more likely," Remiel agreed, "but she'll still make a show of cleaning up the whole place herself just for the sake of it. To gain sympathy and all, you know."

"I love your grandma," Lila laughed. "She's actually just the best. Fucking hilarious too."

"She can be," Livia murmured in agreement.

Brie huffed. "Okay, so, what are we going to do? Because I didn't plan anything, I have to be honest."

"Do you guys want to drive to Bellington?" Remiel suddenly asked. "It's like, a bit more than half an hour from here and I've never been. There's a museum there I really want to go to."

"A museum?" Brie asked, eyes twinkling. "What kind?"

"Well, it's the home of a famous psychologist, so... psychology." Remiel had always been a psychology fan. She's considered majoring it in university for a long time until she'd opted for a more relevant and practical choice, considering her most likely future career path. Still, her passion for it had never been diminished.

"Ew," Brie wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure I like that."

Lila shrugged. "I mean, Bellington's a nice place, Brie. Don't see why we shouldn't go. Even if you're not interested in the museum itself. Remember that really nice restaurant there we went to last year? We haven't been in Bellington for a bit."

"Is it a good place?" Remiel asked, tilting her head. "I've actually never been, even though it's so close to Briarville. Don't know why. Never had the energy and time, I guess. But I'm feeling it now!"

Lila glanced at her phone. "I mean, we could go. It won't even be lunch time by the time we arrive, so we could just go around, find a place for lunch and then head to the museum before heading back or something. It's not big, is it?"

"No," Remiel confirmed. "A tiny museum."

"Sounds good, then," Livia said, leaning back with a brow raised. "Whose car are we taking?"

"Yours, I think," Brie said. "Remiel should drive."

Livia feigned outrage. "What, don't you trust my driving skills, Brie?"

"No, no, you're a good driver," Brie protested, "but Remiel's just better."

A smirk was Remiel's response, a silent taunt. Livia stuck her tongue out. Remiel's driving was not necessarily better than hers, but she had to admit that her cousin was more suitable for this trip. And she didn't really want to drive either, if she had to be honest. It seemed rather tiring, and it meant she had to skip out on a lot of the good stuff. Such as scrolling through her social media accounts as she sat in that car.

So she didn't put up much of an argument as they packed what they thought they'd need for the day trip, and Livia texted her parents to let them know their plans (just in case, or they got scared). By eleven o'clock they had already set off on their journey.