Tell Us Your Love Story, Liu!

Tell Us Your Love Story, Liu!
Genso Suikoden Tierkreis | Liu-Shen, Sieg, Marica, Jale | Romance, comedy

It was a rather sunny day at Glanzend Castle. Liu-Shen had just finished his bath and made his way to his room. There were a lot of things in his mind, and he ought to start to sort them out one by one to ease the burden from his head. As he sat on the chair, he picked up some papers and a quill and ink to start writing.

"Alright…" He dipped the quill in the ink.

‘First, think of a strategy to—‘

"GOOD MORNING, LIU!!!"

Startled, the green-haired boy automatically turned his head to the source of the familiar agitating voice. "Goodness, Sieg, don't startle me like that! It's still early in the morning, and everyone could jump out of the bed because of you!" Thank the Gods he didn't accidentally ruin the paper with the black ink.

The boy Sieg grinned and swung his feet towards Liu's room. "What're ya doin'?" He asked as he leaned forward to his best friend's desk where the blank papers scattered.

"I'm about doing some strategy writing and stuff," answered Liu. He was ready to write again, but was disturbed, again.

"Ya should just take it easy, you know," said Sieg with a worried expression. "Ya look so tired. I'm afraid that you'll get sick or somethin' cause ya use your brain too much."

"Well, thanks for your concern, but I'm fine, really." Liu smiled. It was unusual though that Sieg worried about him like that. There must be something he's up to.

"Now, Sieg, you came all the way here early in the morning not just to ask if I'm doing good or not, right?" Liu put the quill and waited for Sieg to answer.

"How did you know? Do you have the ability to read other person's mind, now?"

Liu bit his lower lip; restraining himself not to burst out laughing. "Not really, but I'm the great strategist after all, so I can just read your mind from your facial expressions." He leaned back to his chair. He didn't like to address himself as a great strategist, but at times like that, he would sometimes do it for fun. "Well?"

"Guess I have to be more careful around you now, Liu." He chuckled. "Actually, something's been buggin’ me lately…"

"Come on, Sieg. You can talk about it with your strategist here."

"Okay, so I was wondering… Do you like Len-Lien?" asked Sieg bluntly.

An arrow stabbed through Liu's heart. His eyes went wide open and his jaw dropped. "Not that AGAIN!!!" he grunted. Since he arrived at his homeland and brought Len-Lien with him to this castle, his life hadn't gotten any easier. He was grateful indeed that she and Luo-Tao willingly came and helped him and the company to oppose the so-called One True Way, but their presence at the castle rather made things awkward and embarassing. He'd been haunted by various questions regarding his past ever since, and he didn't like it one bit.

 "What an interesting topic!"

Out of the blue, two familiar heads popped out from the back of the wall to Liu's chamber entrance which opened widely.

"M-Marica? Jale!? What're you two doing here!?" Liu stood out from his chair, surprised to see the girl and the blonde boy.

They both entered the room with bright smile—Jale still had this calm and cool expression though. "You know, since you became a strategist and got busier, we hardly meet with each other… I'm a bit worried, so I thought to stop by and make sure you're in a good shape!" explained Marica. "Then I invited Jale as well. I guess we arrived here at a perfect timing, huh."

"How rude! You decided to visit Liu and not me?" Sieg crossed both his hand across his chest and pouted, demanding an answer.

"We thought about giving you a visit after we see Liu. Fortunately, we heard your voice and found you here." Jale answered calmly.

"Wait a sec... Sieg, you are the leader and it's your job to check out and interact with all of the residents here,” said Marica.

Sieg looked confused. “So?”

“You're the one who should've visited us, not the way around, you dummy!" Marica pinched Sieg’s cheek out of frustration. Realizing that, Sieg just flashed his usual grin.

"Now back to the topic," Jale turned his head to Liu. His sharp eyes met with Liu's. "Is that right? That you have a crush on Len-Lien?"

Liu's face went as red as a tomato—either as a result of anger or embarrassment. He thought they have forgotten about it, but sadly they haven't. Why do people have to be so curious about that!?

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but that's completely wrong. I didn't like her then, and I don't now."

Marica put her hands on her hip. "I know that's not true."

"Yeah. What about that green stone she gave you? Three years have passed, and you still keep it up until now. That stone's clearly a precious thing for ya!" added Sieg.

‘Ugh, I shouldn't have asked his help finding that stone!’ Thought Liu full of regret.

"And whenever she's around, you're always acting weird," said Jale with his famous toneless voice.

"Ugh…" He went speechless. Now that the three of his childhood friends confronted him, he couldn't escape. "Why do you guys really eager to know my love—err, childhood story!? It's my privacy!"

"That's because you never told us!" cried Marica. "I always tell you guys about my love story, don’t I? Also I've known Sieg and Jale since I was a kid, so I very well know about their pitiful love life. They're not doing well with girls—many girls have a crush on Jale, but he doesn't care at all, and don't make me even start talking about Sieg. He's just the worst."

Jale and Sieg, who stood right next to her, frowned at her heartless comment.

"Am I really that bad?" whispered Sieg to Jale.

"It's Marica. Just let her be." Jale whispered back.

"Listen, what I’m trying to say is that you're our best friend. It's totally normal to discuss this stuff. Perhaps I could even help you with it!" Marica smiled genuinely. But, the annoyed Liu saw that as a force to spit out his story right away. Marica usually didn't like to stick her nose into other people's business, but this case was different—it was about love, and who doesn't love a love story?

Sieg and Marica stared at him in the most irritating way—their eyes sparkled with hope and their lip curved up from ear to ear. Jale stared at him with his sharp eyes and gave a little smile. Liu swallowed hard. That was a nightmare, except it happened in the morning that should've been peaceful.

 "Alright. I give up…" He sighed. "But promise me you'll leave me alone after this and not tell this to anyone!"

"You have my word!" said Marica cheerfully. She then hit Sieg and Jale on the shoulder, signaling them to make the promise.

"Yeah, yeah, I promise!" Sieg yelled half-heartedly.

Sieg, Marica, and Jale quickly took a comfortable position to hear Liu's story. Liu closed the door and sat on the chair. He opened his mouth as he started telling his love story.

 "Well, how to begin… I… I admit that I did have a crush on her. We grew up together and were very close. She was pretty, really kind and caring… The feeling was inevitable… Y-You guys understand, right?" He stuttered and his face blushed real red. Marica nodded deeply.

"I… I think we shared the mutual feeling. Her eyes... were different when she looked at me. Together with her was—was one of the best times in my... life,” Liu’s head bowed deep down as he couldn’t bear his embarrassment. “T-that’s it, alright! I’m embarrassed!!!”

“But what about now? You still like her?” asked Marica.

Liu sat still. It took enough time for him to finally nod his head.

“I KNEW it!!!” Marica shouted joyfully, like a kid who got a correct answer.

“Aaaw, our Liu is in love!” Sieg acclaimed cheerfully. Only Jale who kept his composure, even though he couldn’t keep his lips from smiling.

“C-can you two just shut up!?” yelled Liu out loud. He suddenly felt an enormous amount of regret. He could imagine the news about his crush spread throughout the entire company in one night.

Marica just couldn’t control herself from digging out more juicy info. “Have you made a move yet?” asked her curiously.

“W-well, it’s none of your business!” answered Liu whilst avoiding eye contact.

Marica smirked. “You have, then.”

Liu was completely dumbfounded. The oblivious Sieg turned to Marica and looked amazed by her skill in seeing through someone’s lie. She was indeed the expert of this matter.

“Then what’s her respond?” Jale asked. He himself couldn’t even deny that he was interested in the topic, but he tried his best not to show it.

Again, Liu didn’t move an inch. His head bent down, and he stared at the stone floor beneath him. None of the trio realized that he was slightly smiling.

“C’mon, Liu! We wanna know!” begged Sieg.

“It’s—I said, it’s NONE of your business!!!” Liu suddenly arose from his seat. “Now that you guys know much already, interview time’s over.”

“B-but—”

Liu pushed the trio to the door and opened it for them. “And I believe you all have your own business to attend to. It’s... nice to have a chat with y’all, though, but I got lots of stuff to do, so we can continue next time, okay? Bye!”

He forcefully pushed them out of his room and quickly shut the door. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but his heart hadn’t stopped pounding hard. However, amidst all that, he smiled. The continuation of his love story will always remain his utmost secret.

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Note: this fanfiction got the second place in Suikoden Day 2018's fanfiction contest!