EP8

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[Alexus’ POV]

 

“Do you... like Messi?” Her face was so serious. Why is she asking this all of a sudden?

 

“Who’s that?” I ask her.

 

“Messi, the soccer player.” She says, smugly.

 

“I don’t know anything about those things. Sports are not my thing.” I tell her.

 

“But you liked playing basketball, though.” She said.

 

“I do, for a hobby.” I answer. “But why are you asking that?”

 

“What?” She was chewing as she said.

 

“That Messi thing.”

 

She shrugged. “I suppose I can tell you. But, I just want to know though...” she swallowed. “Do you watch Korean Dramas?”

 

“Huh?” Korean Dramas? “I think I’d watch when they’re interesting. My sisters go crazy about those things.”

 

“Ah, then, have you watched Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Jo?” she asks again.

 

“Is that what you were watching a while ago?” I ask her.

 

She smiled. “Yeah.”

 

“What does that have to do with Messi?” I ask.

 

She offered me an éclair. “Thanks, but maybe later.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I haven’t eaten dinner yet.” I told her.

 

“I have leftovers in the fridge. You can have them.” She got up so fast. So, I waited there. She came back with a tray of savory food: a bowl of soup with a rich broth, some bread and two bottles of energy drink.

 

“Thanks.” I tell her.

 

“You asked what Messi has to do with the drama?” she said. Good memory. “Well, one of Bok Jo’s best friends said, if a girl has the same interests as the guy she likes, sports being one of them, then he is likely to ask that girl out for a drink.”

 

Really? I suddenly became confused. “Why did you ask me that all of a sudden?”

 

She shrugged. “I just thought I’d ask you. Casually.” She answered. “It’s all over the internet, that pick up line.”

 

“So, you just tried to ask me to see how I would react?” I ask. Was that the only reason?

 

“Yeah.” She answered. She opened a bottle of energy drink and chugged down the contents until it was half-way empty.

 

“You shouldn’t drink that at night.” I tell her. I took the bowl of soup and took a sip. Wow, it’s good.

 

“It’s fine with me to drink this. What about you?” She asked. “Should I replace your drink with something else?”

 

“No, it’s fine.” I tell her.

 

“That actually tastes better if you dip the garlic bread in that soup.” She says.

 

“Really? Okay then.” I did as she said. Hmm, really good.

 

She finished an episode of the drama. I watched next to her. It was funny, really. I quite enjoyed what she was watching. After that one episode, she decided to practice with solving. Since I was already there, and she even gave me free dinner, I decided to help her out.

 

She was actually a fast learner. As long as she keeps her focus, she learns everything smoothly. Maybe, she’s easily distracted by things she likes and wants to actually do that she can’t focus in studying at all. Talk about procrastinating.

 

It was half-past eleven when she decided to put her notes down. She stretched out her arms and yawned.

 

“I learned a lot!” she says. “You’re really helpful, Jinyu-sensei.”

 

“It was nothing. Are you going up?” I ask her.

 

“Not yet.” She put her notes on the coffee table. Then she picked the bottle and chugged down the rest of its contents.

 

“What are you two doing? This is weird.” Chiaki suddenly pops out of nowhere.

 

“I’m having a crash course, Chi!” Arin says cheerfully.

 

“Why didn’t you ask Dani?” Chiaki started to sprinkle fish food into the aquarium.

 

“She kicked me out because I was noisy. She couldn’t concentrate if I played Tokimeki in the same room where she’d be studying.” Wow. She sounds so cute. Talk about the sudden change in her tone and behaviour when she’s talking to the girls she likes to hang out with.

 

“Ah, just date a real guy. Stop playing that game.” Chiaki put the fish food’s container back in its drawer, just below the aquarium.

 

“Ahhh! Hazuki is better than any other guy! Yada! Hazuki Kei... suki...” I watched her blushing. What are they talking about?

 

“Are you seeing someone, Arin?” I ask, out of curiousity.

 

“Hai!”

“She’s joking”

 

Arin and Chiaki spoke at once.

 

“I’m going back upstairs to my room. Later!” Chiaki left.

 

“What’s a Tokimeki?” I asked her.

 

“It’s a sim dating game for girls.” Arin answered. “And Hazuki is my boyfriend.” She giggled.

 

“You have a boyfriend?!” I was on the edge of my seat.

 

She tapped something on her phone then showed me a picture of Hazuki.

 

“This is your...” my voice trailed off. This is an anime character. Arin is such a weird girl.

 

“Yep! I’m going to his house on Sunday!” she says happily.

 

“His house? On Sunday?” what is she talking about?

 

“Hahaha! Alexus, don’t you play RPG’s? This is actually fun you know. Way more fun than getting a boyfriend.” She laughed.

 

“I have no need for a boyfriend. Why do you say so? Did you try having a boyfriend?” I ask.

 

“I’ve never had a boyfriend. And I’m not interested in anyone at the moment. Playing Tokimeki Memorial is actually fun enough for me.” She says.”It’s like hitting two birds with one stone. A real boyfriend will give me lots of stress.”

 

So, she doesn’t like anyone yet?

 

I suddenly remembered that time while I was watching her when I saw her on the sidewalk. That time when Seth approached me. “Don’t you like that Seth, anymore?” I ask her.

 

“Nope. It was a long time ago.” She answered.

 

“Then why are you avoiding him?” I ask. Anyone would think you were avoiding him because you like him.

 

“What happened between us last time when we were in high school was super embarrassing. I can’t face him yet.” She sighed.

 

“I see...” was all I could say. “Is Tokimeki Memorial really fun?”

 

“Yeah, it is! I’d recommend it to you, but I don’t think you’d be comfortable with it.” She says.

 

I just laughed. Like I would play as a girl; I’ve never even done that before. I play a lot of games. But Sim dating games don’t work for me. They’re boring.

 

She then talked about how cool the game was, and how handsome Kei was.

 

While she talked, I couldn’t really focus nor hear what she was saying. I was thinking about how weird this girl is. She has weird habits and her way of thinking is definitely different from other girls. She seemed quite eccentric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She bounces when she walks and she has a light personality. Arin’s company can make any person feel at ease with her.

 

I was so focused on these thoughts that I snapped back to reality when her head fell onto my shoulder.

 

Ah we were sitting so close to each other, shoulder to shoulder, I didn’t notice it. I was really comfortable with her; it didn’t get me nervous at all.

 

She fell asleep.

 

Her head was barely supported by my shoulder. She looked so peaceful, except for that part when she drooled in her sleep and muttered, “chokoreto...” .

 

I couldn’t help but laugh. I took a tissue from the dispenser on the table and wiped off the saliva that was falling out of her partly open mouth.

 

I wanted to wake her up and tell her to walk back up in her room and get some sleep. But she looked so comfortable. I didn’t want to disturb her.

 

[snip]

 

Thank you So much for taking your time to read The Love Paradox! I have finally made this final draft of this story’s plot. It’s hard to plan every chapter. I go with the flow of my instincts but sometimes I have to get inspiration. So I watched some anime and read the same manga again and again just to get inspiration on character personality development. As a writer, I admit that one of my prominent flaws is the struggle of creating a stable personality for a character. When I say stable, I meant something that will define their individuality as a person. I’m lacking in character creation so I had to get inspiration from the things and the people around me.

 

The hardest was creating a proper distinguishing character for Alexus. So I decided he’d remain somewhat mysterious and full of surprises. Ah, if I say anymore I’d give spoilers so I’ll snip here.

 

Thank you again! Enjoy reading!

 

~JINRI JAE~

 

~~

[Arin’s POV]

“Ahh, What time is it?” I got up as I rubbed the sleep off my eyes.

 

When I opened them the first person I saw was Dani. She was smiling slyly at me.

 

“What?” I say grumpier than I ought to.

 

“Nothing.” She was still smiling suspiciously.

 

“Nothing? But you’re smiling like the grim reaper.” I told her. I got out of bed and put on my bedroom slippers.

 

“You and Alexus are pretty close lately.” She said.

 

“Huh? Is there something wrong with that?” I ask. “If you’re talking about last night, we were just having a chat.” Speaking of a chat, I remembered I was still talking to him in the common room. How did I get up here? I don’t even remember going up the stairs. I shrugged and was about to go to the bathroom when Dani said something.

 

“Oh, not at all. Except that he carried you like a princess up here. You’re so sly, falling asleep on his shoulder.” And she giggled maliciously.

 

“NANI?!”

 

Dani laughed. “Don’t get all worked up.”

 

“You’re saying it in a really creepy way!” I snap.

 

“He said you fell asleep while talking to him. So he carried you upstairs. Hyo brought your things too.” She said.

 

What else happened???

 

[SNIP, for real]