The next day, first thing in the morning, Chun went to visit Ella. He figured that perhaps, he needed to check on her if she was still alright after the hard work and five-star effort she gave in cleaning her garden. After all, Jiro and he weren’t much of a help considering the fact that he kept staring at her, and Jiro kept on spacing out for some reason.

He went at Ella’s residence at about 7 in the morning, rang the doorbell and was greeted and invited inside by Selina. He stepped inside and figured that she was still sleeping. He thought of leaving and coming back later, but Selina pushed and shoved him off to a seat in the kitchen for a talk.

“I don’t really get it why you’re bothering her,” Selina suddenly said, while she laid out the eggs and bacons on a plate in front of Chun. “You were the man with her yesterday, right? Are you her suitor?”

“Wai—“

“Hey, let me finish first!” Selina exclaimed, pouting, “I’m so not yet done talking. So where were we? Umm, I’m happy that someone’s courting my very boyish best friend, but as her best friend, I must know how her future boyfriend’s going through.”

“Waa, wait!” Chun stopped her even before she could continue. “First off, I’m not courting Ella. Second, I just came here to visit. Heck, she was stressed out yesterday.”

“Ohhhh,” Selina nodded her head with a suspicious smile on her face, looking at Chun who was intently staring at the eggs and bacons on the plate now. “You just proved that you care. So, hmm,” Selina was trying to analyze the situation, “So you’re still interested.”

“Aaaah, that,” Chun’s stomach growled, suffering from the food in front of him, “Can I eat it?” he pointed at the platter of food, changing the topic. It’s not like he did care much about it, but rather torn between the thinking whether or not he’s interested in Ella… OR NOT.

“Why are you changing the topic?” Selina enquired, raising a brow. “Anyway, whatever, you can’t eat the food, and I don’t care. I know you’re a visitor, but you must face the consequences that if you really do want to eat, go get Ella now.”

And then Selina smiled at Chun with a pleasing smile, before she shoved him off the kitchen unto the living room.

And then Chun sat right beside the sleeping Ella, considering the fact that the sofa was still longer than her.

“AH~!” Ella shouted, upon having a nightmare that concerned none other than… Chun, I suppose.

On the other hand, it figures why she suddenly dreamt of Chun at the early hours of day. Oh, well, you can’t blame adversity for he’s beside her and in the process of bothering her with the strong strumming of the loud volume he set the television on the living room. He just came by for a visit, not for a particular reason that is… her. At least, that’s what I know. And then, upon knowing that there weren’t interesting channels as he jumped from channel to channels, he shut the television off just as she woke up and as if jumped in horror from her seat. Immediately, she looked to her left and yelled once more just because she saw him.

“You were having a nightmare,” he clarified. “And don’t yell at me like that like you just saw a ghost, especially now that you know you kept on yelling.”

“Why didn’t you even wake me up, you jerk?” she squinted her eyes with her arms crossed, and then immediately hit him after taking into realization the reality he’s telling her.

“There was nothing good on TV,” he explained and received yet another one of her hits. He could only laugh upon her sudden reaction like that and immediately stood up. “Actually, I just went by to check you. Now, if you may excuse me, I have to leave.”

“Right, go away!” she glared, and stood up from her seat to go to the kitchen just as she bumped to Selina.

“Hey, hey,” Selina pointed at Chun. “Where are you going?”

“Leaving,” he replied. “Going to my house.”

“And you,” Selina grabbed Ella by the arm and pulled her nearest her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the kitchen, grabbing some dinner?” she half stated and half asked.

“Stupid, Lunch hasn’t even started yet.” Selina said. “Where are you going looking for dinner at the early time of day?”

“Huh?” Ella enquired and scratched her head.

“You’re eating with Chun,” Selina announced, and in the nick of time got a hold of Chun’s sleeve and Ella’s left arm.

“What!?” Ella said in exclamation. “No.”

“I’m done eating, so you guys might as well enjoy yourselves.” Selina suggested, and pulled the couple to two seats right beside each other.

“Hey,” Ella stood up from her seat. “I’m not eating beside him.

“Neither will I eat beside you,” Chun said with pride, defending his man ego, vowing to himself that he'll not let himself lose to this woman named Ella. “Anyway,” he said again, immediately giving up as he sat down and ate, “Just eat. I’m hungry, it’s not like I’ll get your food.”

“Fine!” Ella exclaimed and just sat beside him having no intention to.

It’s been a while that after filling his stomach with food, Chun found the room utterly silent. He could only hear the person behind him munch her food, while he looked at her knowing that his plate’s empty already. He was so uncomfortable, drumming the table as he watched her eat.

“Is that how slow you really eat?” he enquired, at the straight-faced Ella who was forcefully bringing her food up to to eat.

“So?” she retaliated, pissed. “It’s not my fault that I’m not one to really care about food. I could live in a day without food, too. I’m pissed, so don’t talk to me.”

“So early in the morning and you’re pissed?” he enquired, shocked.

“Yes,” she replied in a more calm voice. “Now, if you don’t have anything better to say,” she stood up, facing the dining table as she lost the appetite to eat more and grabbed her dish to put in the sink.

“Come with me,” Chun proposed.

“To where?” she rose up a brow, coming back to sit beside him when she was done placing her dish on the sink.

“You know, Ella, right?” he started. “Since we recently found out that I’m your mystery caller, why don’t we make it a deal to hang out for the whole week?”

“What for?” she enquired. “It’s not like you’re going to like it being with me. Majority of the people I know says I’m boring when I say I’m not, really.”

“I’m interested,” Chun all of a sudden blurted out.

“What you’re interested, huh?” Ella looked at him

“Uh, didn’t you remember the promise you told me?” he changed the topic, “that you’d treat me better after I treated you yesterday for a meal?”

“Puh-lease, that was yesterday. Deals just go off after the day you vowed to do them,” Ella rolled her eyes.

“Who said so?” Chun enquired, having to have to know how stubborn this woman is. “You’re so stubborn.”

“Who are you to judge me?”

And Chun kept mum, knowing that he didn’t want to argue any further.

--

And the next they knew was that they were at a abandoned basketball court. Ella eyed the whole place from angle to angle and it really didn’t look too decent to her eyes. The court was filled with so much scattered leaves. Probably because of the month of Fall, but that didn’t make her think that way. She thought that she was brought here by him to cause her trouble of something of the sort, but I tell you now… that she’s just thinking too much and I mean it.

The minute Chun left her to stay after the court, he went right back up at the trunk of his car and got a basketball. When he came back, he sat beside her in an Indian sit position with the ball he held onto and rested his chin on.

“When did you ever keep a basketball at the trunk of your car?” Ella enquired all of a sudden, breaking the silence.

“It’s just there and you don’t know,” he replied. “It’s not like I’ve known you for so long for you to know so much about where I keep my things.”

“Yeah,” she rolled her eyes. “Right!” she exclaimed and was about to stand up from her seat when he held her back as he gripped on her left wrist, bringing her down yet again. The minute she sat down again was the time he started narrating to her just everything about him…

“Since, you know, I don’t want to cause an uproar toward you… maybe you’d want to know more about me before we play a game of ball.”

“Sounds nice!” she exclaimed, “…but whoever wants to know more information about you?”

“Can you, for once, just sit down, relax, and listen to what I have to say?” he sighed - a very heavy one. “I brought you here because I kind of learned from Selina that you like basketball… a lot and I thought you might want to enjoy a game of ball, so yeah. But to get you to know more about me, I thought that you might want to be able to treat me as a team instead of a stranger.”

“So, what do you have to offer?” she enquired.

“I can offer you a game, I can offer you a friend, I can offer you a playmate, and I can offer anything of the above.” he looked at her. “For one, well, I brought you here because this court have had so many memories of my childhood. From the time my father taught me how to play basketball and from the time I mourned because of my mother’s death and gathered all my courage just to go here… alone… with no one with me.”

All of a sudden, “I’m sorry,” Ella uttered. “

“You don’t have to be,” he reiterated.

“But for you who has a very sad story to begin with and for me being rude, I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“It’s all in the past, you see? I’ve moved on.” he said, adding nothing as a gesture neither did he rub her back or pat it. He was trying to avoid touching and he did succeed… somehow. “And so yes, for a time… I was really mad at the whole world for taking away my mom and for taking her that early for me cause I believed that I needed a guidance of a mother, but later on did I realize that I need to be more dependent of myself and to be able to work for myself as well and all.”

“How did it feel?” she enquired, curious, bit-by-bit having the knowledge or idea about Chun and who he really is.

“It was very painful,” he replied. “If you could just imagine yourself in that situation, you would know for sure.”

“But I can never,” she said, scrunching her own nose.

“How about you?” he asked. “Have you got something up your sleeve to let me know?”

“Not much, really,” she replied.

“But I told you mine, so you should tell yours in return,” he complained.

“Okay, then,” Ella grabbed the ball from Chun and started dribbling it with great dexterity. “You’d have to catch this and play ball with me until you get what you want. In that way, it would be fair. Well, that is… if you win.”

“Of course I will,” he said with full confidence, jumping up from his seat. “Then, if you win, what would be the consequence?”
“We’ll see,” she said, leaving him hanging on a cliffhanger.

--

In the next chapter:

Chun and Ella will be playing basketball. :)