As Christian arrived at the point where he would finally open up sensitive topics with Eva, he felt the weight of the moment, and while he didn't want to come across as too aggressive with her, he knew he had to start from somewhere.
"Why are all the places we go to always private, or with very few people, as if we're trying to hide from someone?"
Having asked his question, Christian observed Eva's expression, which revealed a slight surprise.
But even this surprise was a brief one, as she quickly returned to her calm demeanor. However, Christian noticed that her smile had vanished, replaced by a serious expression, making him wonder about what she would say, even more.
"Are you certain?" Eva finally uttered in a calm tone.
"Certain about what?"
And Christian, hearing her question, couldn't help but ask back reflexively, as he genuinely didn't understand.
"Are you certain that you want us to stop pretending?"
Becoming even more bewildered by her response, as he didn't remember ever pretending anything with her, Christian asked again, hoping she would clarify further.
"What are we pretending?"
"Please, say it in a way I can understand."
And Eva, noticing his confusion, finally attempted to explain in the simplest terms possible.
"Hmm, I mean the lie about me being Olivia's older sister. Are you certain you want me to stop pretending?"
But even then, the answers were not helping Christian understand the situation at hand at all, as the confusion just kept piling up inside his head.
"Huh? I'm really not keeping up. When did I ever ask you to pretend in the first place?"
Eva, realizing they might not be on the same page, clarified once again in her gentle, clueless tone.
"But when we first met, it was you who said, 'I'm her older sister,' clearly knowing that I'm not."
But perhaps the usual gentle tone was not suited for this situation, as Christian felt increasingly frustrated. Her clueless expression only added to his irritation, and before he realized it, agitated by the circumstances, he raised his voice reflexively as he replied once again.
"That was me trying to get your attention! You should have known that by now!"
Looking at Eva's smile and her eyes, which seemed to question what he was doing, Christian felt as if cold water had been thrown on him. He quickly came back to his senses and tried to patch things up.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice. It's just that this is really an unexpected turn of events, and things are happening in a way that I didn't anticipate."
Eva, upon hearing Christian's apology, paused slightly, chuckled softly in the end, and waved her hand dismissively.
But even though she seemed nonchalant, dismissing the whole thing altogether, Christian couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he'd been a bit too caught up in his emotions.
Before he could gather his thoughts, Eva followed up, saying,
"Returning to our main topic."
"Whether I knew your intention or not."
"I didn't change anything. That's correct."
"But why didn't you stop on your own, after our first meeting, either?"
"If it's like you said, if the goal was my attention, then you'd already achieved it."
"So, why did you keep up the older sister act, then?"
As Eva kept questioning him, making it seem like he was the sole responsible one, Christian felt a bit stung, almost cornered. The weight of her questions made him start to rethink everything, wondering if it was really his fault.
'Actually, why did I continue with this charade back then?'
He began questioning himself, but he also answered on his own.
'It was the attitude of, let's see how much longer she keeps up with this way of calling, wasn't it?'
'Even then, is it really solely my fault?'
Christian, not liking the direction this conversation was taking, tried to at least defend himself for now.
"I actually expected you to correct me immediately when I said you were her older sister, but you just went along with it."
"Every time, I thought this time you would correct me, or the next time you would definitely stop."
"But all for nothing, as you didn't even mention it."
Eva, despite what he said, seemed determined to make him the one at fault. As with a nonchalant attitude, she countered his argument again.
"Christian, you were the one who started it. Why should I be the one to correct you?"
While Christian began to feel tired from this wrapped, distorted way of thinking, and even more so from this fruitless conversation, he still continued arguing.
"Then was there a need for you to go along with what I said?"
"I could even have really misunderstood you."
Eva, seemingly sharing Christian's sense of fatigue but with her own thoughts in mind, spoke again.
"Christian, don't whine. We're not children."
"Should I have considered myself talking to a child instead of a man?"
Christian, feeling black lines starting to appear on his forehead, thought that Eva was being a bit too much.
He felt offended, questioning whether it was he who was whining or if she was simply arguing too much.
After all, he felt like the problem was being thrown at him, and now even somewhat sharp words were being directed his way. He couldn't help but start questioning why she was behaving .
She had already been too blunt lately, especially after they had become comfortable with each other, but something , something that seemed to cross the line, agitate him, and even possibly hurt him, was a first.
As for doubting his age, he didn't care, it's just that as a statement, it actually felt a little insulting, even if he did really have some problems.
But then what should he say? A rebuttal? That felt like a matter of course.
But are rebuttal words enough? No.
Then what should he say more?