Chapter 9

“Mom, why are you still here?” I asked my mom. I just came out of my room when I saw mom was sitting on the couch, watching TV. She was supposed to be at work now. I wondered why she was still at home.

“It’s so sad.” She sobbed. Her eyes were fixed on the screen.

I walked up to her and joined her on the couch. I travelled my eyes to the screen. Oh great! Now I knew why she was still here. She was watching this Korean drama. My mom is a drama freak. She loves watching dramas. She would stay all night long just to watch drama.

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at mom. “Mom, are you seriously not going to work just to watch this drama?”

Mom kept silent and acted as if she didn’t hear my question.

“Mom?”

“I know. I know. I’m going in a bit. Just let me finish this part. This is the best part.” Her eyes were still fixed on the screen.

“You’re already late. Don’t blame me for not reminding you!”

“Can’t my daughter just let me enjoy my drama?” Mom finally took her eyes off the screen and looked at me. She let out a gasp. “Look at this pretty lady! You look different. Where are you going, honey?”

“I’m going on a date with Achord. I already told you yesterday.” I told her.

Mom nodded her head, “Oh right. I forgot. Have fun then. Don’t come home too late!”

“I know, I know. You should go now mom.” I told her. I knew how strict her boss was.

“I should get going. Alright, give me a kiss, baby!” She said, pointing at her right cheek with her index finger.

“Mooommmm, I’m a grown up. I don’t do that anymore.” Not that I didn’t want to, but it was just embarrassing to kiss mom now.

“You’re still my baby no matter what. And you’ll always be one.” She flashed a warm smile and gave a kiss on my cheek.

I watched as mom got up from the couch. She grabbed her purse and walked toward the door. I took out a deep breath and I heard mom yelled, “Guigui! Achord is here.”

“Okay, I’m coming!” I turned off the TV and got up from the couch.

I walked toward the door.

I saw Achord was facing the other way. I cleared my throat, “Hi!”

Achord turned slowly to glare at me, “Y-y-you l-look d-different. You look gorgeous!” He praised upon seeing me came out of my house in a white dress. He was wearing a white shirt with a simple button down, a tie, and a vest.

“Thank you.” I said, blushing. I’d never worn something like this before. I even curled my hair tonight. I didn’t wear make-up though. If it wasn’t for Achord who asked me to dress up, I wouldn’t even bother about my look. “You look great, too!”

He rubbed his head and laughed nervously. He held my hand, “Let’s go!”

I really had no idea where he was going to take me.

~~

We finally arrived at our destination. It took us about twenty minutes to get here. Achord was the one who chose this place. It was a restaurant. It looked fancy from the outside.

Achord looked at me with a bright smile on his face, “Today is very special. I hope you’ll like this place.”

I smiled at him in reply.

Holding hand by hand, we stepped into the building.

“Hi, do you have reservation?” The hostess greeted.

“Yes, Achord. For two.” Achord replied.

“Follow me, this way please!” The hostess led us the way to the table.

I scanned the place as we walked following the hostess. This place sure looked expensive. But why did Achord bring me here? This was unusual.

The hostess stopped in front of a table. It was a small table by the window.
Achord pulled out the chair and signaled me to sit on it. I did as he signaled me to do. I felt like a princess somehow. Achord sat down at the opposite of me.

“Enjoy!” The hostess shot a smile as she gave out the menus before she took her leave.

I opened the menu. I gasped. My jaw dropped upon seeing how expensive the prices were. The prices were like US$ 40++

“A-Achord. This is too expensive.” I whispered.

He flashed a comforting smile at me, “Don’t worry about it. It’s my treat.”

“But still, you should save your money. We can go to a much cheaper restaurant. I don’t mind.” I told him. I wouldn’t mind, really. I knew he was from a rich family, but he didn’t have to do this.

His face turned serious. “Gui, please. I want to have a special dinner with you tonight. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

“Okay. Whatever.” I pouted.

Just when I looked at the menu, the waiter came.

“Hi good evening, my name’s Rob. I’ll be serving you guys tonight. Are you guys ready to order?” The waiter asked with a smile on his face.

“Yes.” Achord said. “I’d like to have fillet mignon”

“Good choice. How do you want the meat cooked?”

“Medium.” Achord answered. I really had no idea what he was saying. I’d never been to an expensive restaurant before. What was fillet mignon? I flipped through the pages over and over, trying to find what it was.

“Fillet mignon comes out with two sides. What sides would you like to have?” The waiter asked.

“Uhmm, I want broccoli and mashed potatoes. And I’d also like to have a glass of red wine.”

“Got it!” The waiter said as he wrote down the order. Then he turned to me, “And for you, Miss?”

Gee, what am I going get? “I want the cheapest food you have here.”

The waiter giggled. Achord laughed softly. Did I say something wrong? Why did they think it was funny?

“She’ll have the same thing.” Achord told the waitress.

“Okay. Food will be ready soon.” The waiter collected the menus and took his leave.

I looked outside the window. But from the corner of my eyes, I could tell that Achord was staring at me. I didn’t know what to say. He didn’t speak either. We both fell silent.

---

“Aaron, are you going to eat your food?” Chun asked as he found Aaron was looking outside the window blankly, stuck in his own thoughts.

There was no reply from Aaron. He kept silent. Jiro, Chun, and Calvin made eyes at each other. Calvin shook his head and looked concernedly at his best friend.

Jiro cleared his throat, “Hey Aaron!”

Aaron immediately snapped out of his thoughts, “eh, what?”

Aaron looked away from the window and was shocked to see everyone was looking at him. Calvin, Jiro, and Chun fixed their eyes on Aaron and gave him a questionable look.

“What do you guys want?” Aaron asked coldly.

Jiro shrugged his shoulder, “You tell us.”

“What?” Aaron looked at his best friends, confused.

“What’s bothering you?” Calvin asked. He knew Aaron too well. He knew that something was bothering Aaron tonight.

“Nothing.” Aaron replied as he avoided eye contact with everyone.

It was the first time Calvin, Chun, and Jiro saw Aaron looking troubled.

“Aaron, we grew up together. It’s not like we can’t tell if something’s bothering you tonight.” Chun stated.

“Don’t tell me you fall in love?” Calvin chuckled.

Aaron didn’t answer. He took a sip of his drink.

It’s not that Aaron didn’t want to answer his best friends. But he, himself didn’t even know the answer to the question.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

What’s wrong with Aaron?
I’m sorry I can’t write in Aaron’s POV because I’m EVIL HAHAHA.
To be honest, I just can’t write in Aaron’s POV because I’ll spoil everything. But don’t worry! you’ll get to know what Aaron’s thinking on the last chapter. And yeah I’m being evil! :P
Hope you liked this chapter <3