Chapter 66

"This..." Nina hesitated, biting her lower lip. She really didn't want to do it. However, as she looked at Jasmine's teasing expression, she couldn't help but say, "I'll prove it to you guys!"

"How are you going to prove it?" Jasmine asked skeptically, leaning in slightly as her interest was sparked by Nina's bold statement.

"I'm going to call him," Nina nervously said.

Thinking that it had been a while since the two of them had last contacted each other, Nina couldn't help but feel a pang of worry that he might ignore her or even block her directly when he saw her call, considering how she had stopped responding to his text messages.

However, not wanting to be called a liar, she finally made up her mind to prove her claim by showing evidence through phone calls to them.

She grabbed her phone, her fingers moving quickly as she scrolled through her contacts, and found Edward's number.

"I'm going to call him now," she said, taking a deep breath, turning to the two young women who were expectantly looking at her, and finally pressing the call button.

The ringtone chimed, breaking the tense silence. Under the expectant gaze of two women, her heart raced, and every passing second seemed to stretch into an eternity.

And then, finally, after a dozen or so seconds, the call was answered, and a nonchalant voice sounded from the other side.

The words sounded simple, uttered with a straightforward pronunciation. However, within that simplicity lay a certain grace—a natural gentleness and softness that made it feel as if he was whispering directly into their ears, sending a tingling sensation down their spines.

"What's up?" Edward voice sounded from the other side.

"Hiss, it's really him," Lea whispered as her grip on Jasmine's arm tightened in her excitement.

Having watched his skits and song covers dozens of times, she was already quite familiar with him, and the one who had just spoken on the other side of the phone sounded just like him.

"Yeah, I know." Jasmine was also excited; however, because of her Disney Princess syndrome, she still kept her composure.

"I... how are you doing?" Nina asked, her voice tinged with a hint of uncertainty.

However, as she noticed the two girls beside her whispering and exuding excitement, a small smirk graced the corner of her lips.

"Same as before... and you?" Edward on the other end maintained his casual tone, but the curious and concerned tone in the second part of his words sent a thrill to everyone in the room.

"Me too, same as before... uh, the class is busy," Nina replied, her voice a mix of excitement and nervousness.

"Is that so?" Edward's tone carried a tinge of boredom, almost impatient.

Nina, noticing his tone, panicked and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, I watched a video, and it seemed like you were in it."

"Oh.. You mean the skit? Yeah, that's indeed me," Edward replied casually.

"R-really? Wow! I... I never thought you would upload such content... Why haven't you told me?" she stammered and then pretended to be surprise.

"Obviously, because you never asked," Edward stated matter-of-factly.

"... I, that's right, hehe, of course you won't tell me because I didn't ask," Nina nervously chuckled and blame herself for asking such lame question.

"Yeah..."

"I... um... Hehe." Sensing the awkwardness in the conversation, Nina attempted to change the topic and went to ask another question that has been bothering her. "By the way, there was this girl in the skit that looked familiar—the short-haired girl. I felt like I knew her, but she seems different from what I remember."

"Wait, that girl? Uh... yes, there's a girl in our group with short hair; her name is..." Edward paused as if he were hesitating, but after a while he finally continued with an uncertain tone. "Her name is Angela."

"... Angela.. is her last name Reyes?"

"Ah, yes?"

"... are you friends with her?"

"Yes, me and her belong to the same group circle or NG if you knew what it is."

"Ehh, what's NG?"

"Sigh, it's the group or club we officially established for our YouTube account, Nouveau Studio."

"Ohh..." Although Nina was still confused, she pretended to understand and steered the conversation back. "So you two belong to the same circle, since when?"

"Since 2 years ago," Edward stated plainly.

"Oh..."

"Why, do you know her?"

"Yes... she's my cousin."

"Woahh really? That's.. what a coincidence."

"Why don't you sound surprised?" Nina's tone carried a hint of suspicion, as if she could see his reaction through the phone.

"I, I'm not? Eh, I'm surprised, I mean, now that I think about it, you two look similar."

"Tsk, don't compare me to that b*tch!" Nina's snort in annoyance and a flicker of resentment at being compared to Angela.

"Eh, are you not close?"

"Yes, that person used to torment me when we were kids. Remember the scar on my back? She did it."

"Oh... that small nail scars?"

"...It's not about the size! it's the pain it caused me." Nina's voice held a mix of frustration and lingering fear. "I'm still traumatized by her from that time!"

"Oh.. okay?"

The two began chatting with each other for a while. The topic revolved around Angela being a bully during their childhood.

Well... the conversation was mostly comprised of Nina's complaints, and Edward listened on the other side of the phone, feeling helpless.

A while later, they both noticed the time and bid farewell, hanging up the phone.

Turning her gaze towards the intrigued group of girls, Nina wore a knowing smirk on her lips and went to ask, "So? Do you believe me now?"

"Well, although we believed that you two indeed knew each other, we still don't believe that you two used to date each other."

"What?" Nina's face displayed a blend of surprise, and her eyes widened slightly as she attempted to comprehend the skepticism in their words.

"Well, it's like this, you've never acted like you're in a relationship the entire time.'

"Obviously, because we broke up already," Nina shot back, her tone tinged with a hint of frustration at their disbelief.

"But at least you could've mentioned if you missed him or acted flirtatious. That way, we could believe you more."

"..."

...

Meanwhile, at Jake's recidence.

Edward hung up the phone with a smile on his face, exited the restroom, and rejoined the group in the living room.

After successfully uploading their video, the group decided to extend the fun and headed to Jake's house for a casual hangout.

They ordered some pizzas, bought a few bottles of beer, and took turns singing their hearts out during an entertaining karaoke session.

Edward took hold of the microphone, eager to start singing. But just as he was getting into it, his phone suddenly rang, briefly disrupting his performance.

He was about to hang up the phone in irritation when he noticed the caller's username, which caused him to stop.

He hesitated for a while, but in the end, he finally handed Alfred the microphone and proceeded to the restroom to answer the call.

After they went their separate ways some time ago, they still managed to maintain their regular text messages. However, her responses to him gradually decreased over time, until one day they ceased altogether, causing him to assume she had forgotten about him.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't hurt at the time, but it wasn't the first time it had happened. So, he quickly forgot about it and went back to living his life as before.

The fact that she called him after they cut off their connection, really surprised him, so out of curiosity, he went to answer her phone call, and a while later, he finally understood why she had called so suddenly—it was because of the skits.

Since he did not want to dwell on it too much, he simply told her that it was indeed him in the video to move on to other topics.

However, when she started asking about Angela, Edward did not know how to answer, so in the end he just mentioned that the two of them were merely acquaintances.

"Huh, you're smiling like an idiot," Angela commented suspiciously as he sat on the couch beside her.

"Huh? What is smiling? I am not smiling."

"Really? Let me guess, it was your girlfriend who called you, is it?"

"Hehe, why are you jealous?"

"Hey, stop messing around, okay? What, jealous? Why would I?"

"Sure, sure." Edward smirked playfully at her blushing face and then went to rest his hand on her exposed leg. He proceeded to ask, "You know, there's a vacant room on the third floor of Jake's house. I can ask him to let us borrow it for a while."

"Y-you—"

"Pffft! I'm kidding, alright?"

"...You're drunk already, aren't you?"

"No?" Edward said with a perplexed expression, wondering whether he was indeed drunk. However, the words he said were not completely a joke.

However, not yet, at least right now...