Chapter 13

“Dara!”

“Dara!”

I kept on walking and pretended not to hear my name being called out. I walked even faster to evade the last person that I wanted to see.

“Sandara!”

I felt his fingers wrap around my arm gently as I was forced to stop and face him.

“Hey,” Seunghyun said, a bit out of breathe. “I’ve been calling you …”

I made a non-committal sound and couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“I heard about what happened.” he said. “Is Bom alright?”

A sharp pain crossed across my chest. Of course, I chided myself. He’s worried about Bom.

“The paramedics said that she’s okay but they’ll check if she’ll have concussions …”

“Thank God!” he exclaimed. “I was worried when I heard she lost consciousness and hit her head.”

“She didn’t really hit her head …she fell sideways.” Indeed, thank God for that. I couldn’t imagine what could have happened if her head hit the tiles first. “I’ve got to go …”

I turned away but he was quick.

“Hey …” he sounded worried, “is something wrong?” Pulling me by the wrist, he turned my body towards him but I kept my gaze down and I focused on his red sneakers.

“Dara?”

Silence.

“Are you okay?”

Again, I stayed silent. I was afraid that if I look at him, if I tell him what I really feel … I may end up in tears.

“Ssantokki … look at me …is something wrong?” he coaxed and lifted my chin gently with his thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t call me that” I snapped and pulled my head back. “Only Bom gets to call me that.”

“A-lright …” he slowly acquiesced, sounding unsure.

I took that chance to once again run away from him but my legs are short and his are long and he was able to catch up with me.

“Are you angry with me?”

“NO!” I readily denied but my tone stated otherwise.

He caught my wrist and I was forced to stop and face him. “Tell me why” he demanded.

I wanted to. I wanted to tell him that there’s a monster growing and festering inside me but I realized that I had no right. Seunghyun is not mine. I have no claim on him. He can ask any girl to the dance.

When I refused to answer, he pulled and led me away from the hallway, out the doors, towards the wide track field. All during that time, I’ve been trying my best to get away but he kept a tight grip on my wrist.

“Where are we going? The next class is about to start!” I cried.

He didn’t stop until we were well away from everybody else. When we reached a huge acacia tree near the track, he released my wrist and rounded on me. “Now tell me what’s wrong” he said in a low voice.

“I told you nothing’s wrong!”

“Then why won’t you look at me?”

I lifted my gaze then and met his eyes.

He has a frown on his face and his forehead is creased. It should look intimidating but I wasn’t. And it occurred to me again just how attractive he looks. I mentally shake my head with my errant thought. Now is not the time to admire his looks, Sandara. I remind myself.

“Why are you being so stubborn? Why do you insist that something’s wrong with me?”

“I did not say that something’s wrong with you …” he began.

“That’s what you’re intimating” I replied heatedly.

He rakes his fingers through his hair and lets out a sigh.

“Look, can we start over?” his voice sounds conciliatory and gave me a cute smile.

I averted my gaze.

“Sandara …”

I am getting frustrated with myself for making a big deal out of this and being a drama queen. I should have just pretended that I wasn’t affected and congratulated him for asking Bom out. I could have just pretended to be happy, walked away and that’s that. Instead, here we are, growing frustrated with each other.

“Tell me” Seunghyun said, “Is this about the flowers?”

My eyes flew to his face.

“It is about the flowers.” He nodded, studying my face. His face turned serious then and stared at me intently. “Do you hate them that much?”

Well, I couldn’t say that I was happy about them. I opened my mouth to answer. “I-“

“I thought you wanted to go to the dance …” he sounded confused. “Perhaps … you wanted to go with someone else? Were you waiting for someone else to ask you?” Seunghyun doesn’t look too happy about this thought and the creases on his forehead deepened.

I shake my head. “What are you talking about?”

“The dance” he explained. “I sent you flowers to ask you out … I thought you would like them … I thought …”

I put out my right hand, palm out to stop him. “Wait.” I said, utterly confused. “I’m sorry but what did you say? Could you repeat what you said?”

“I wanted to surprise you … I’m not sure what your favorite was so I just chose  red roses. I could’ve bought you more but I wasn’t prepared,” he looks embarrassed. “I know I said that I didn’t plan to go to the dance but I know how much you wanted to so I took today’s opportunity to ask out. I never thought that you’ll get mad over them … I thought you would find it, you know, romantic.” He ended in a sheepish tone.

My head was trying to process his words and my brain seemed to be lagging in absorbing the information.

I shake my head. “But you sent flowers to Bom.”

Now, he’s the one who looks confused. “No, I did not. Why would I send her flowers?”

“You asked her out to the dance.”

He shakes his head. “Sandara, believe me … I did not ask Bom to the dance and I did not send her flowers.”

“I read the letter … the note …”

“And I’m telling you that I did not send it to her” he said in an earnest tone. “Why would I ask her out?”

I look at him at a loss for words.

“Dara,” he said taking me by the shoulders and pulled me closer to him, “surely, you didn’t think that I’d be interested in any other girl?”

When I didn’t answer, he asked in a doubtful tone. “You didn’t, did you?”

“What was I to think? I read the note … I saw the flowers …”

Seunghyun was looking at me like he couldn’t believe what I said.

“Dara …” he said my name in an almost whisper. “Don’t you know my heart by now?”

I look at his hurt expression and I knew that he was telling the truth and I felt a momentary elation.  Seunghyun wanted to ask me. He wanted me and not my bestfriend. But the happiness building up within me soon died down as I remembered Bom’s face. She was so happy clutching the flowers which she believed came from Seunghyun. And then I remember her eyes rolled up as she fainted.

“There must be some mistake” said Seunghyun, breaking my revelry. “C’mon, let’s find out what happened.”

I let him led me by the hand as he intertwined our fingers. We eventually reached the cafeteria which is almost empty save from the few freshmen who are now clearing their flower booth.

“Wait here. I’m going to verify something” Seunghyun lets go of my hand and marched towards the unsuspecting freshmen. He must have recognized someone because I heard him bellow, “You! It was you who took my order.” and pointed to a young boy with huge thick glasses. I swear I heard the poor kid squeak.

“Uhm, excuse me …” came a timid voice behind me.

I turn around and see a cute girl holding a bouquet of lilies.

She gave a bow which I acknowledged and returned. “I’m sorry unnie but weren’t you sitting at that table over there earlier?” She pointed at our gang’s usual table and I nodded.

“Are you Ssantokki?”

I gave a slow nod. “Ye-s.”

She smiled. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to deliver these to you sooner because there was a commotion here earlier. Here,” she handed me the flowers, “these are for you.”

“Thank you.” I then hurriedly opened the pink envelope which holds the little card and read what’s written inside.

Oh no.

Oh no.

“Who’s that from?” Seunghyun was frowning at the flowers and upon seeing the card that I’m holding, plucked it from my hand and read it.

Dearest Ssantokki,

Would you do me the honor of escorting you to the dance?

Taeyang

“I can’t believe this” growled Seunghyun. “I was there when Taeyang made his order. He ordered lilies for Bom.”

Now it’s clear.

“They messed up the names.” Seunghyun stated the obvious. “How can they mess up the names?” He looks absolutely frustrated.

I have a bad premonition. I believe that they messed up so much more than just our names and I don’t know how to fix it.

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