Ara's POV...
I turn my head away from Zach and back to focus on my homework. Just when I thought I could be alone for a second, he had to pop up without any words in advance.
"Hey, umm...sorry to disturb you," Zach says in a rather awkward tone. Ok, I could sense he probably wanted to talk about something he assumed I wouldn't be interested in.
"It's ok. Just do your homework," I say casually. I didn't want him to think that I hated his presence.
Hearing that, Zach takes a seat on the floor. He opens his backpack and starts searching for the homework. I noticed this and thought that it wouldn't be comfortable if he is to sit on the floor alone. By that, I grab my homework and pen and put it on the floor as I sit down on the floor, just across me.
"So...Junghwa told me about today. He said-"
"I was furious about his stupid idea? Yeah," I say in a rather sarcastic manner.
Zach takes a deep breath. He looked awkward that his little plan with Junghwa didn't turned out the way he wanted, since it only got me furious. Well, it was obviously a stupid idea. Did they really thought I was that desperate? Idiots.
"Sorry about that," Zach says in an apologetic tone.
I turn my head up from my homework to see him staring at me with a guilty look. As much as the thought of their stupid idea still bothers me, I knew I couldn't really stay mad at him or Junghwa forever. I understand that they probably only tried to cheer me up, yet they chose the wrong idea.
"Let's just forget about it," I say in a casual manner.
"Ok," Zach says. "But honestly, there's something else."
I turn my head up to face him. I raise my right eyebrow as I stare into his brown eyes, looking both nervous yet awkward at me. I get it that he probably still feels guilty about the stupid idea, yet I didn't expect him to keep up with the awkward gaze.
"What is it?" I ask him with confusion.
"Actually, the plan Junghwa and I thought of was probably the wrong idea. But honestly, what I said to you earlier in front of the school building was true," Zach says.
"What do you mean?" I ask him.
Zach sighs. "I like you, Ara. What I said was true."
My jaws dropped open as I widen my eyes while staring into his eyes. His gaze shows a look of seriousness, giving me back flashbacks from when he stood up for me at the cafeteria when Tracy and Bianca were giving me trouble. The seriousness in his face is a rare thing, knowing well that he's usually the cheeky boy with a youthful soul. But other than, I found it hard to believe that what he said to me just now was true. There's no way Zach could have develouped feelings for me. We're best friends for crying out loud. This doesn't seem right, and more likely it feels awkward.
"I know that you're probably thinking that it's too fast," Zach says. "But hey, it's never too fast to start something new."
"Zach, all of this, it's too surprising," I say. "Everything...it's happening too fast. How am I suppose to react to all of this?"
"I understand that you're still trying to forget Junghwa," Zach says. "But you also know that you can't spend too much time trying to forget him."
"Why can't I?" I ask him. "Forgetting someone isn't that easy, Zach."
Zach became silent. He realized that my statement was right. Hopefully he'll realized that he have pushed me too much to forget about Junghwa so fast.
"You're right. I'm sorry," Zach says. "I just didn't want you to keep remembering him."
My lips became silent for a moment, feeling a bit touched by Zach's words. I  thought what he said just now was sweet, but again I am still surprised at the thought of his sudden confession. I never imagined that Zach, the cheeky best friend who is always up for any shenanigans with me, would confess to me out of the blue that he has feelings for me. The reality of it made me speechless, just like the reality of when I found myself falling for Junghwa, who is none other than my other best friend who is also my cousin's boyfriend. Yet, thinking about Zach's statement, even though I didn't want to jump into a relationship too fast with Zach, I realized that I also wouldn't want to waste too much time trying to forget Junghwa.
"Zach, I appreciate your kindness, really," I say. "But I don't want to move on too fast when I am still in process. Scars needs time, and time will heal them."
Hearing my statement, Zach slowly just nods his head. His gaze looked like he was starting to understand my statement, which made me feel happy.
"You are right," Zach says. "But during the process, you wouldn't mind if I still stay by your side?"
Hearing his question, I feel my cheeks suddenly blushing. The butterflies starts dancing more wildly inside of me, making me feel shy in this moment. Like a cupid, it's like he had shoot the arrow perfectly to my heart, as I feel my heart slightly beating faster.
"Sure," I say, slowly forming a shy smile as I turn my vision away from him.
"Well, I wouldn't want to be with anybody else," Zach says, a bit flirtatious vibe can be heard from his voice.
"Since when did you learn how to be smooth with your words?" I ask him in a sarcastic manner.
"When I started to fall for you," Zach says. "I assumed women love men with good words."
"Yeah, but they prefer men with good hearts," I say.
"Haha, that's right," Zach says before the two of us ended up laughting. Tonight, I have a feeling my homeworks would be less boring and more fun, with having him by my side.
The next day...
After school...
At Junghwa's house...
Today is Ara's last lesson with Junghwa. For the final lesson, Ara performed some songs beautifully. Other than Junghwa who is proud of see how she is playing like a prodigy now, Ara herself is proud of her achievement.
"Wohoo...way to go, Ara," Junghwa says. "The little girl is all grown up."
"Woah, I am a grown up," Ara says in a sarcastic tone. "By the way, I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you, Junghwa."
"You're welcome," Junghwa says. "It's the least I could do after you introduced me to the love of my life."
Ara dropped her jaws as she raise one of her eyebrows out of confusion.
"Love of your life? Jay Hwang Junghwa can actually fall in love?" Ara asks in a sarcastic tone.
"Hey! Just because I was a player back then, doesn't mean I am still," Junghwa says. "Besides, I promised you that Hana's different."
Hearing that, Ara's smile slowly fades. Despite feeling glad that Junghwa isn't playing with Hana, yet she couldn't lie that it's not easy for her to accept that they are a couple and are madly in love with each other. That reality still hurts her.
"Ok, so remembering that today is the last lesson, let's have a celebration," Junghwa says all of a sudden, making Ara a bit surprised.
"A celebration?" Ara asks in confusion.
"Yeah. To celebrate your achievement as my student, and my achievement as your tutor," Junghwa says in a rather cheesy tone, making Ara roll her eyes.
"Besides, I already planned the surprise," Junghwa says.
"What surprise?" Ara asks. She wondered what did the playful boy had in mind.
Junghwa smiles. "I'll tell you after you join me for dinner."
Ara rolls her eyes again at him, yet she's still curious about the surprise. By that, she thought it would ok to join him for dinner and see what else he has in store.
"Ok," Ara says.
"Great! Then let's go," Junghwa says as he grabs Ara's hand and drags her out of the room, which made Ara's heart skipped a beat.
6:40 PM...
At Seoul-Full Spot...
After about half an hour on the road, Junghwa and Ara finally arrived at a Korean restaurant. The design is quite modern representing a modern day Korean restaurant with bright colours. Junghwa suggested that they should order a lot food to celebrate, in which they did. They ordered various Korean dishes such as jajangmyeon, kimbab, tteokbokki, japchae, pajeon, and of course their favorite dish....kimchi. They also drank some soju, though both of them didn't want to get too drunk since Junghwa still has a surprise waiting for Ara after dinner.
"How's the food?" Junghwa asks Ara who is happily enjoying her bowl of kimchi.
"Delicious," Ara says as she continues to eat her kimchi happily.
"Haha, of course. I thought you would like it," Junghwa says. "I took Hana here a few times whenever we crave Korean food."
Hearing this, Ara turns her vision from her bowl of kimchi to Junghwa who is smiling. She felt irritated that he had to brought up Hana to the topic while she was happily enjoying her dinner.
"Yeah, right," Ara says with a rather sour look as she puts her bowl of kimchi on the table. She suddenly felt like she just lost her appetite.
"Woah, why did you stop eating? I'm not even done yet," Junghwa says as he grabs a kimbab with his chopsticks.
"I haven't stop eating yet," Ara says in a rather exhausted tone.
Hearing how the girl sounded a bit dramatic, Junghwa couldn't help but chuckle. An idea soon pops up in his head as he grabs a kimbab from the middle part of the table.
"Try this," Junghwa says as he holds up the gimbab with his chopsticks to Ara's direction, making her slightly widen her eyes, as she didn't wish to grab some attention of people from the restaurant with the gesture of Junghwa attempting to feed her.
To be continue...