Chapter 3 Ruin the Engagement

Liam pulled over in front of a famous club where he and his friends chose to meet. He opened his car door and walked towards the entrance of the club. A blast of loud music and colorful lights welcomed him as he entered.

It'd been two weeks since he came home from America but he hadn't found time to see his college friends until now. He'd been busy with business-related affairs as preparation for his formal introduction as the next CEO of their hotel business. Not to mention his problem about his 'fiancé'.

He smiled upon remembering Louis. This past few days, Louis and his 'Operation: Ruin the Engagement' had been his main source of entertainment.

It all started when he realized that his father was serious about marrying him off to the son of his mother's best friend. He only found out about his dear fiancé when he came back from America. It was his mother's dying wish and his father was ready to shake heaven and hell just to fulfill it. In this advanced age and time, same sex relationships were just normal and male pregnancy is rare but not that surprising anymore.

At first, he was livid and determinedly said no. But after Geoff had an attack due to high blood pressure and was confined for a few days at the hospital, being his father's son won over. It isn't obvious but he loves his father very much. But of course, being the arrogant, selfish, manipulative, cunning and creative person that he is, he turned the problem into a challenge. And that's when 'Operation: Ruin the Engagement' started- or to be more apt, 'Operation: Ruin Louis'. His smile broadened with the thought.

Liam sat down on a table near the bar and ordered a drink. He scanned the crowd for a familiar face but there's none.

Great, those morons dare to make me wait? Not one of his friends was there yet. Then, his mind drifted back to his fiancé.

Louis was younger to him by two years and the first and last time they met was when Louis was still a baby, then they moved to America and he had never seen the boy again. He heard stories about him from his mother but he never really paid attention to it. His parents and Louis’ parents kept in touch with each other though. If he had known that they were planning an arranged marriage for him and Louis before, he would have told them to stop.

But it was too late now. The only thing he could do is to make Louis admit defeat and tell his father to stop this marriage because there is no way in hell will he risk his father’s health again.

After a thorough research about Louis Tomlinson, he learned that the most convenient part where he can attack the boy was at his work. Right after their dinner, he initialized the 'Operation'. The first part was sending the company where Louis works a lot of complaint letters about the boy being inefficient and irresponsible. After a week of pestering, the second phase of his plan started, wherein, with the help of an insider, he managed to spread a rumor that Louis is a masochist and that the younger boy had an abortion- when he learned that Louis can get pregnant. Liam wasn't able to stop chuckling as he thought about it.

I should have been a writer. He praised himself. I'm so good at making up stories. He can almost picture out Louis' hysterical and fury-filled face. He bet that the boy will be able to stand it for a week and then, he will surrender. If not, well, he could still come up with a couple of creative ways to torment him.

*****

"Louis I'm serious, you should not think about the rumors in the office."

"You're right, Zayn."

Liam automatically turned his head to the source of the voice. Despite the music around him, he will never miss that voice. It kept ringing in his ears the whole night that first time he ever heard it. He solemnly looked at the pair sitting behind his table. He furrowed his eyebrows and took in the smaller boy's appearance- caramel-brown feathery hair, slightly sun-kissed skin which can still be considered fairly-white, pixie-like- confirmed. The 'Louis' on that table is his fiancé. He recognized him through the pictures that he saw during his research and even though his appearance is far from the hideous look he had the last time they saw each other.

He felt something stir in his guts as he realized how delicate Louis' features are. He hate to admit it, but the pictures doesn’t do him justice. Louis was prettier in person. The boy was also smaller than him that it was fascinating. Not to mention the boy's melodious and angelic voice that always pulls him out of his thoughts. It even caused him to snap his head towards him when he heard his voice for the first time that night of their dinner. To say that he was taken aback by it was an understatement. He doesn't know the reason but it was very catchy for him.

"Nobody believes in those crap. Cheer up, Boo." Liam lifted his eyebrows at the pet name.

"I know that, Zee. It's just that, it's hard not to get affected." Louis smiled at the person he's talking to. And the sweetness in the boy's smile did not go unnoticed by Liam's sharp sensory perception.

He chuckled to himself. At the age of twenty-five, Liam was already an expert in the art of flirting. And he cannot be mistaken- Louis was flirting with this guy.

A dark plan in his mind formed immediately. He stood up and walked towards the two. The 'Attack-Your-Opponent's-Weakness' that he learned was really handy.

"What do you think you're doing here, Louis?" He demanded harshly upon nearing his target.

"Who.. L-Liam?" Louis was surprised and did not recognized him immediately.

"Are you cheating on me?" He harshly grabbed the boy's arm.

"What-"

"Isn't it enough that you aborted our baby? Now what's this? You're cheating on me?" He shook Louis' shoulders.

"Dude, you're hurting him!"

Liam turned to Louis' companion. "You! Stay the hell away from this! I'm his fiancé and we even should have a child by now if he didn't-"

"Stop!" Louis demanded him. "Zee, don't listen to him. This guy is insane-"

"And you'll deny it? You two-timing-"

"You!" Eyes blazing with anger, Louis stood up suddenly and pulled Liam away from the table.

*****

Liam was smirking and contentedly looking at a very pissed off Louis who is pacing back and forth. He was comfortably leaning against a post outside the club where he was pulled by the overly enraged boy.

"What now? Shoot your fire." He drawled after a couple of seconds. Louis threw him a glare, but still continued his pacing, then he suddenly stopped and turned to him.

"You know what? I never imagined that there's really someone like you, who would do such childish things just to piss somebody off! How old are you Liam? Are you really this immature?"

He frowned. For someone who was exposed to a lot of harsh social realities because of his work at a charity association, Liam found this boy very naïve.

"You disappoint me, Boo. Shouldn't you be used to people like me because of your work at a charity? As for being childish, well, it's okay to be like that sometimes, as long as I can annoy and irritate the hell out of you." He smiled sweetly.

Louis snorted. "First, don't call me Boo. Only my friends can call me that." Louis looked at him straight in the eyes. "Looks like you also did not do your homework properly. Complaint letters? Masochist? Abortion? Those are nothing. It would take a whole lot more than that to break me." Louis said, voice harsh.

The arrogant Payne shrugged his shoulders. "Fine then. I can still come up with more creative ways to break you, my dear fiancé." He smirked at him.

"Then prepare to be disappointed. You can't break me, I will not be the one to risk their father's health and pride to stop this engagement." Louis answered.

They had a glaring contest for a couple of seconds when they heard a scream in an alleyway from the other side of the street. When Liam looked at it, he saw a small boy laying on the ground and standing near it is a big man. He's about to turn his attention back to Louis, but his fiancé suddenly ran across the street. Before he could react, he saw that Louis was already arguing with the man.

"What the hell." Liam whispered. He had never seen anyone acted so impulsively and stupidly. The argument between the two heated up and he saw the man pushed Louis harshly. His feet involuntarily took a step towards them, but he stopped dumbfounded when he saw that Louis did not even paid attention to the man and went towards the child on the ground. Looks like the big man's patience ran out and he punched Louis. Liam cursed as he automatically moved to ran across the street. But because of the green light, he wasn't able to cross the street quickly. He saw the man took a step in front of Louis and was about to hurt him again. He cursed again and just ignored the traffic light and the cars.

"Shit. I will not reach them in time." Liam cursed himself when he saw that the man grabbed Louis' arm. Then suddenly, Louis positioned his back towards the man and using the arm that was holding his arm, and with all his strength, he threw the man down.

The man was laying on the ground and was groaning in pain when Liam reached their spot, panting. Louis was now checking the child and trying to carry him. He approached Louis in anger.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Liam shouted. Louis was startled by him, like he forgot that he was with him a while ago.

"What I'm doing is none of your business."

"Yeah, sure! But you did notice that you could have been seriously injured! How stupid can you get?" He can't believe that Louis could do such a stupid thing. More importantly, he can't believe that Louis actually made him worry. Well, it was not that he was worried really or that he actually cared, but seriously, even if he's an asshole sometimes- okay, maybe he's an asshole most of the time, if not all the time- still, he can't just stand there and watch Louis get hurt, can he?

To his utter annoyance, Louis ignored him like he's non-existent. He was busy lifting up the child. Liam stared at Louis while he was weakly and trying so hard to carry the child- a part of his jaw was red and already starting to form a bruise from where the man had punched him. His lips also has blood.

"You're bleeding." Louis ignored him again. Cursing to himself, he took the child from Louis.

"Hey, what are- Liam!"

"Stop!" He said, crossing the street while carrying the child. Adrenaline already left Louis' body. It's obvious that no matter what he do, he will never be able to carry the child, unless he drag him along the ground.

"What do you think you're doing? Hey!" Louis said.

Liam went straight to the parking lot, then he opened the door to the back seat and carefully placed the child there.

"Get in." He commanded to a still protesting Louis.

"Liam, I'm trying to be reasonable here. You can't just- hey!" Louis argued when he pulled him and firmly but gently pushed him inside his car. Then, he immediately get in the driver's seat and quickly drove.