Mario Yuno had finished speaking when there was no sound from the other end of the phone for a long while. He asked with slight unease.
"Kiara, are you angry?"
He had hesitated when making the call, unsure whether or not to tell her, fearing she might get angry after hearing it.
Outside, the rumors spreading were beyond his hearing, yet he could somewhat imagine, how many people had not fallen at the hands of their enemies but to the gossip of their own? Those with weaker hearts truly couldn't stand it.
"What is there for me to be angry about?" Kiara retorted, "Are you angry?"
"I am quite angry." Mario Yuno would have found the time for a proper showdown if he wasn't so busy.
"Angry that I'm flirting with the judges? That someone's keeping me?"
"Stop it!" The anger that Mario Yuno had managed to suppress flared up again at her words, realizing he had raised his voice while talking to her, he then forced his temper down and spoke to Kiara in a softer tone.
"It's not that I..."
