"Big Brother Lin?"
Lin fell silent when the communicating device connected and he saw the face of the person on the other end.
He didn't know if all communication devices worldwide followed a unified design concept or if the Fire Moth deliberately set it up this way for timely communication, but while activating the device actively required a fingerprint or retinal scan, merely connecting a call only required pressing the answer button.
So, Lin answered the call without any guard, only to see Rin, who he thought would be her sister.
After one-third of a second of thought, he realized the possibility of a swap.
"Why is it Big Brother Lin?"
Lin hadn't expected to be recognized without his helmet. He had never considered that his highly recognizable, cold and aloof aura was prominent even without the helmet. This sudden situation caught him off guard, leaving him speechless.
Just then, Sakura call made him turn his head to glance at her. Her look of panic made him realize something.
'Don't tell Rin.'
Seeing Sakura silent lip movements, Lin silently nodded slightly.
Snatching the communicator back now would make it seem like they were intentionally hiding something. Sakura worried that if Rin sensed something was wrong and questioned it later, it would be troublesome. Therefore, it was best for Lin to explain to Rin now, using any excuse like they met by chance, and Sakura left her communicator on the table.
But before Lin could speak, Rin suddenly said, "Big Brother Lin, why do you have my sister's phone... and why do you look all breathless like you just did something..."
Breathless?
Lin body, which hadn't fully recovered, was indeed slow to regain strength after intense exercise and being hit. Even now, he was still breaking out in cold sweat, and his breathing was heavy, like he had just run several kilometers.
"I..." Lin opened his mouth calmly. "I was just doing exercises to train my body."
"Then why do you have my sister's phone? Isn't she on a business trip?"
"She..."
Lin glanced at Sakura, who was frantically gesturing.
Sakura had thrown all pretense of image out the window. She desperately tried to convey through her actions that they had just met by chance. She pointed at Lin, then at herself, and then made a gesture of two hands meeting.
Lin, who was planning to use a simple excuse, saw Sakura anxious look and thought she wanted to use her own excuse. So, after observing her movements, he deduced what she was trying to convey.
Lin nodded.
"She was exercising with me."
"..."
Sakura lowered her hands.
Rin was also stunned. She asked with an unnatural tone, "Exercising... together?"
"Yes, we occasionally agree to exercise together, so we were training our bodies just now."
Lin felt this excuse was fine; it was in the realm of half-truth, as they were indeed exercising together in a certain sense just moments ago.
"Uh..." Rin looked suspiciously at Lin, who was wrapped in bandages. She spoke in a strange voice, "Can I talk to my sister now?"
Lin glanced at Sakura again.
Sakura shook her head hard. Since they had already lied about exercising together, if she appeared now, looking completely calm, the lie would instantly fall apart.
Lin gave her an understanding look, turned back, and said, "She is currently doing strenuous aerobic exercise and can't take the call right now. She'll call you back when she's done."
"Aerobic exercise, huh..." Rin gave a dry laugh, her face mysteriously flushed. She cleared her throat. "W-well, she doesn't have to call back right away. Um... Big Brother Lin, I don't know when you two started... exercising together... but! But I'm not against it! Just promise me you'll be good to my sister. She's worked hard taking care of me since we were little, so it's actually a good thing that someone can take care of her now."
Take care of?
Does she mean the kind of care friends provide?
Lin thought about this and nodded firmly: "I will. Everyone who exercises with me will look after Sakura."
"...Everyone?"
Rin's expression froze. She asked with some disbelief, "Big Brother Lin... are there... many people exercising with you right now?"
"Of course." A gym wouldn't be deserted, and Lin was referring to Kevin and the others when he spoke of exercising together, so he calmly replied, "We spar with each other to improve our skills."
"H-how can that be!"
"Why not?" Lin frowned, thinking Rin must believe that working out with many people would be smelly, and that men and women exercising together could easily lead to misunderstandings. So he thought for a moment and said, "Actually, they are mostly women about the same age as your sister. You don't need to worry about her."
"...What? Then Big Brother Lin, you're the only male?" Rin's tone had completely dropped low.
"Yes." Lin replied without hesitation, sticking to the lie. "Just me."
"Sc... Scum..." Rin's chest rose and fell rapidly. She ground her teeth, wanting to say something, but held back.
Sakura, on the other hand, hadn't caught anything wrong with Lin explanation, but she heard the distress in Rin's tone. She quickly signaled Lin with her eyes to end the conversation.
"If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."
"Wait a minute! I don't allow it! I don't allow my sister to be with you! How could this happen? What exactly happened while I was gone!"
Lin was also bewildered, not knowing what to say. He only felt that Rin's tone had suddenly become much more aggressive. Why would she disapprove of them exercising together? He carefully reviewed their conversation and felt nothing was wrong, so he continued to "coax" her: "Actually... when we exercise together, the gym gives us an extra group subsidy."
"For money?! You tricked my sister with money?! Scum! And I believed in you so much before!"
"..."
"Wuwuwu... give my sister back to me... you scum..."
Sakura snatched the communicator and quickly appeared in front of the camera: "Rin! What's wrong!"
"Sister... how could you do such a thing for money... I thought... I thought you had finally found someone to rely on... but the result..." Rin was crying buckets, and both Sakura and Lin were utterly confused.
But even though Sakura didn't know the exact situation, she wouldn't allow her sister to cry in front of her. She quickly reassured her: "It's not what you think. Lin and I just met by chance, and now we're discussing when to visit our house again."
"Really...?"
"Really!"
"But... didn't you say you were exercising?"
"Look at me, I'm not sweating, and I'm not out of breath!"
"Huh? Then just now..."
Lin and Sakura exchanged a bewildered look.
They didn't know what exactly had happened just now either.