EP 10: I Like You
2085 Words
Like her more. She said she'll make me like her more.
I covered my mouth and chuckled to the side.
"Hmm?" hummed the person beside me in a questioning manner. Who else? Calysta. “What are you giggling about?” she asks as she drives through the busy streets of the day.
Still with a curve on my lips, I whipped my head towards her and shooed her care away with my hands. “Just drive. It has nothing to do with you,” I dismissed her, then returned my gaze in front.
Calysta clicked her tongue and released a sharp air through her nose afterward, amused.
“Then I’ll just make you like me more.”
My shoulder started to shake again.
After she told me that, I was, of course, flustered. Intensely, to be honest. With her beautiful face being illuminated right in front of me, her hands clasped with mine, the look in her eyes... If not for the shadows of leaves on my face, she’d think I was sick due to how red I'd become.
I wasn’t able to respond since we were found by the others quickly. We went back to our rooms and acted as if nothing like that had happened. The act continued the next day at the pool party and even after the short retreat when we returned to our normal schedules.
It has been a few days and I can’t help but giggle like this over and over after that.
This might just be a sickness.
I hate it. I can't even guess what she's thinking, but I'm feeling giddy like this.
Yet it’s hard to hide.
We arrived at the theater, and we started moving as soon as we did. I can’t believe I’m still coming here after I did my part, but they need more people in the behind-the-scenes team.
I help with different parts of the production, oftentimes in the making of the props, and sometimes Leo asks my suggestions with regard to the script and directing. No one’s playing around now. Everyone has a serious expression on their faces.
Like usual, we left the theater around 9PM.
“You’ve been like that since the retreat,” she remarked and halted the car at the red traffic light. She rested her arms on the steering wheel and smirked at me. I only gave her a blank look as a response.
She laughed. “It’s no use making that face when you’re that red, dude.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Ugh. I’m blushing again.
There was still no answer from me when she sat properly and stared at the traffic light in front that still has not changed.
“Hey,” she called out in a quiet voice after a short silence.
“Not thinking about what you said that night,” I replied belatedly, and I wish I hadn’t just spoken about it.
Am I originally this stupid?
“Sure. So you were,” she mused. The light switched to green and the pig mobilized the vehicle again. “Great, you should be.”
My brows went up, but I didn’t say anything other than, “What?” even though I heard her clearly.
Shit. I forgot to defend what I claimed earlier. My defense would be useless against this pig witch, anyway.
I should be thinking about it, huh?
Then she took me to a convenience store.
“What's going on?” I muttered as she urged me to leave the car with her. She bought two cup noodles and prepared them inside the store. Then we ate it as we stood outside the establishment.
It is not a bustling street, therefore the air is cold and few people pass by us.
“What are we doing here?” I asked while I used chopsticks to eat the noodles. “We could’ve eaten sitting down at your place-”
“This is fun, though,” the pig cut me off. “Oh, don’t you know that this street is haunted?” She started sharing about the mysteries of this street with big gestures and an exaggerated voice. We both chuckled at her comical way of telling the scary story. No wonder she's an actress.
“In any case, I’m not scared one bit,” I commented, and before I knew it, I finished the contents of the cup noodles.
I looked at her and she’s facing the trash can which is a few steps away from us, holding her empty cup above her head, posing like a basketball player. I scoffed at the childishness.
“For three points!” she declared and shot her cup in.
Silence took over us, and then she gave me a smug look.
My lip curled and lifted the cup above my head.
“For three points.”
One night we came across a singing band in the middle of the city after we had dinner in a fine-dining restaurant. Caly paused to watch and, despite my complaints, I did the same.
“...I’m not sure if I can hold your hand, but if I’m going to be honest…”
“That puppet boy...was really amazing.”
Huh?
“Why are you suddenly talking about that?” I muttered, startled at the topic brought up on the spur of the moment. I thought she was listening attentively to the music.
“I admire that puppet boy,” she continued, grinning at me.
I cleared my throat, fixing my eyes on the small band playing mellow music.
That was a cute smile.
“Have you been reading it again these days?” I asked just for the sake of it. At least I didn’t stammer.
“I have been reading it for about two months now.”
“...My head is constantly exploding when I try to guess what you are thinking about...”
“What’s this?” I asked one day during the weekend when she handed me something she pulled from her cabinet.
“A thousand-piece puzzle.”
A thousand...piece puzzle?
I didn’t say more and opened the box.
She’s telling the truth.
Without delay, I poured the pieces on the coffee table and flipped all the pieces that were upside down. I started putting it together… It’s difficult, as expected.
“I’m here~” sat the pig witch across me and began piecing the picture with me. I stared at her bright face as she became the friend the puppet boy always wanted to do puzzles with.
I flicked her hand.
“Aw, what was that for, you jerk?”
She knows.
“That’s the wrong piece, pig witch.”
She always did.
“...Sometimes you’re an old story, sometimes a new one…”
We ate outside the convenience store again. Her usual street mysteries turned into gossip. It wasn’t long before I was stirred by her gossip.
"That apartment. She hid her mistress in that apartment."
We did the three-point shot again like last time.
But unlike last time, it rained.
Hard.
The parking lot was quite far, so I took out my wallet, about to make her buy an umbrella from the store, but she gazed with envy at the kids running in the pouring rain.
“...Sometimes you’re a puzzle, sometimes you’re an open book…”
I rolled my eyes and returned my wallet in the pocket of my jacket.
“I want to…”
I held out my hand in front of her.
“One minute,” I said, not looking at her, but at the pouring rain before us. It’s getting lighter now. “Let’s go for one minute then go home.”
I didn’t hear from her, but the moment she held my hand, we stepped under the slightly piercing, cold droplets of water.
The immediate rainwater pool under our feet splashed on us as she seized the minute I gave her, still holding my hand.
“Fifteen seconds left,” I wanted to tell her, but her overjoyed face stifled me from doing so.
Ah… I’m going to be sick for days.
“...Still, I don’t want to crumble before your intentions that are too great for me to conquer…”
“What are you guys now?” Zea suddenly asked at a team dinner - that is actually a dinner and not drinking night - while referring to the pig and I.
“A thing?” A playful smile found its way to her lips. A few members who joined us whistled, teasing.
“Friends,” I answered, dismissing them with my tone.
“But what is that ring?” Leo pushed. “I think it looks like…” he paused and pulled Caly’s right hand. “This!”
A flood of congratulations filled my ears.
Yeah, right. This is all Caly’s fault. She bought a ring similar to mine. I don’t know what’s going on in her head.
Averiel, whose seat is across mine, glared at me.
“Accidental matching rings,” I answered in a flat tone again.
Zea groaned. “No matter what you say, they're couple rings.”
The pig suddenly stood and declared, “That’s right. I’m wifey, and he’s hubby."
My face crumpled.
What the hell is she talking about?
And what do I feel so hot and giddy about?!
“...I don’t want to trip on your shallow words that are followed by a deep hole …”
It’s dress rehearsal day.
Caly wore the best dress, of course.
“You should’ve fallen harder for me now,” she chirped, flashing me her trademark puffed up grin while standing at the edge of the stairs.
I snorted and kept my hands busy tying my hair after I almost stretched it out for her. “This is not a fairytale, you pig.”
Wait.
Forget it.
I let go of my hair and offered my hand in front of her. The look of surprise was evident on her face.
“Come now, if you fall like this I’m going to laugh at you.”
“...I just want to know if I can hold your hand…”
“...You pig witch!”
“It’s ‘wifey’, you moron!”
“Then shouldn’t I be ‘hubby,’ not ‘moron?!’”
“...Because even if it’s scorching…"
“I’m going to confess,” Averiel says. “I really will. Even if my feelings for her are obvious, women want to be sure before they take a step forward.”
Damn this kid.
“Whatever. She doesn’t like you that way anyway.”
The kid only tilted his head to the side in curiosity. “Did she tell you who she likes?”
Damn it. I don’t know.
“Then no one knows.”
“...Freezing…"
On this clear night, Caly brought me to a buzzing market. We just ate fast food for dinner in the car, so it’s unclear why we went to this place. She said she was buying something but I know it’s a lie.
We just kept passing by stalls, going around the entire market, while she keenly looked around, as if looking for something.
“I’m going back to the car,” I grumbled, and she glowered at me.
“Glare all you want, I’m not caving in-”
I was cut off by the excited voice of the pig. “Here he is!”
A man in a costume… A puppet-like costume. So what?
I answered my own question when I saw what he’s holding.
My eyes grew wide.
An old copy of “Puppet Boy.” No, more old copies are behind him.
“What is he…” I couldn’t complete my sentence in shock.
“He’s a fan of your debut book, too.” She nudged my side then whispered in my ear, “Told ya, I wasn't the only one who appreciated the story you wanted to share to the world.”
I received her comfort once again.
“...Melting…”
On this clear night, where I am not overwhelmed by emotions, I don’t know her intentions.
I don’t know whom she likes.
I don’t know…. But I will confess first.
I lifted my fist and knocked twice on her door. “Calysta-”
“...I like you...”
My phone rang. It’s an unregistered number.
I ignored it twice, so when it called the third time, I answered it in the most impatient tone.
“Who are you?”
[...Son.]
- Writer
