EP7

~~

[Arin’s POV]

 

“Ayumi. Are you free this Sunday?”

 

“Yes. I’m free.”

 

“Then come to my house.”

 

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” I can’t contain this anymore! He’s blushing, too! I’ll get to see his house!

 

I rolled on my bed until I reached the edge and lost my balance. I landed on the floor with a thud. That hurt my knee, but it’s nothing compared to what I am feeling right now!

 

“What is wrong with you?” Dani just finished washing. She was holding a towel on her head as she reached for the blower on her desk.

 

“Kei asked me to go to his house on Sunday!” I screamed.

 

Dani threw a bedroom slipper at me. It hit me on the forehead. “Why don’t you just get a real boyfriend!”

 

I sat up and looked at her. “No way. That’s easy for you to say because you and Hyo are getting along.”

 

Her face turned red. “Haaaaaaah?! Who’d want to date that conceited, two-faced jerk?!” she threw another slipper at me. But it only hit my shoulder.

 

“Well, Kei is better than a real guy. Plus, I’ve never seen anyone that I can be interested in, romantically.” I say. I sighed as I looked at Kei Hazuki’s blushing face.

 

He’s so cute!

 

“What about Alexus? I think you both go well together.” She was now drying her hair with the blower.

 

“Don’t make me laugh.” I tell her. “Alexus? I’m not interested in him in that way at all. We’re just good friends.”

 

“As of now you are.” She says. “Who knows what the future will bring?”

 

I don’t like how she made that phrase sound.

~~

“The Robotics Conference in Davao is around the corner. If you can’t pass your preliminary exams, I won’t let you go there.”

 

You might be wondering what this is all about. I’ll tell you.

 

I was walking down the hallway to the Robotics Lab. Sehun was following me from behind. I was supposed to introduce him to my Robotics instructors. But on the way, I saw our department chairman.

 

He told me to follow him, and so I end up here.

 

He looked sideways. “Who is that?”

 

Sehun was standing behind me. He looked suspicious to someone who doesn’t know what he really is.

 

“He’s my butler, sir.” I answered. All my enthusiasm to present Sehun was gone after he told me I couldn’t go with my teammates if I don’t pass my prelims.

 

Sehun didn’t respond. He stood stiffly; you’d mistake him for a plain statue. I disabled his learning system. So, his only command is to follow me wherever I go.

 

“Your butler?” The chairman echoed. “For what reason?”

 

I wanted to brush my palm across my face. “He’s just a robot, sir. Please just ignore him.”

 

“Really? What does he do?” He leaned back onto his seat.

 

“He’s basically a butler. But right now, I disabled most of his commands, except for his ‘follow master’ command.” I say. “SO, he just basically follows me everywhere at the moment.”

 

“Interesting... “ He was about to say something. But after looking into my eyes, he shook his head. “Nevertheless, I still can’t let you go unless you pass your exams.”

 

“I know.” I told him.

 

“Study properly, Keets. It would be a waste if you don’t get to go to the conference.” With that I was dismissed.

 

Sehun followed me out of the office, to the hallways. Then we started walking to the Robotics laboratory. In our department, we usually call it the Robo Workshop. It’s like a workshop there, though; that’s why.

 

While on my way, I stopped. Sehun stopped, too. I enabled his normal settings. He was now freely talking again.

 

“Do you need something, Milady?” He asks.

 

“Nothing. Just accompany me somewhere.” I decided to go to town instead of showing him to my instructors. I didn’t like studying. It gets me bored a hundred times faster. I only last for five minutes when reading a textbook.

 

I often wished I was as diligent as Alexus and Dani, or as naturally smart as Hyo and Colin, or as talented as Jaden and Chiaki. I envy my friends’ studying habits. In our group, I was the only one who always gets left behind. My scores are always so-so. Theirs? They always make it to the good marks.

 

While I was walking, I bumped into a senior of our department. She’s graduating next semester. She’s even running for Magna Laude. Wow.

 

“I heard you are going to the conference in Davao?” she asks.

 

“Yeah, but under a condition though.” I said shyly.

 

She sighed. “I don’t really understand why you cant even ace your basics when you’re so good. Raise your points a little.” She said.

 

“Milady is a smart person.” Sehun butts in.

 

“Ah, who...?” I saw her blushing underneath those thick-framed glasses.

 

“Oh Se Hun. Dani’s humanoid butler.” I say.

 

“Humanoid? No way!” She says. “Did you...”

 

“No, I designed him. But my brother and his team did the realization. I just made his blueprints.” I say. Although I felt proud of Sehun, I wasn’t in the mood to brag.

 

Is there anything good to brag, when people know you’re dumb in academics?

 

She stared at Sehun for a long time. So, I in and say I needed to go somewhere. She said goodbye and we parted ways.

 

[switch]

I stayed in my room for what seemed like days. But actually, I was locked up for four hours, just playing Mass Effect. Man, I got so hooked up in it, I forgot to eat dinner and finish my homework. The lobby was quiet when I got down. As expected anyway. It’s almost finals and everyone’s holed up in their corners, studying.

 

Most of them though are in the library. Yeah, our residence has its own library.

 

I was on my way to the kitchen when I heard giggling sounds from the common room.

 

I decided to take a peak. Someone was sitting on the couch playing a game on her phone.

 

Ah, it’s Arin. What is she playing?

 

No, she’s not playing, she’s watching a movie.

 

There was a clutter of papers and a plate of éclairs on the coffee table. I guess she planned to study, but ended up watching a movie instead. Ah, just like me a while ago. I was supposed to watch video tutorials on how to solve some problems in calculus. But my gaming instinct got ahead of me.

 

“What are you watching?” I asked her as I leaned closer to see the movie she was watching.

 

She was surprised, she suddenly turned her head. Her face was so close, the tips of our noses were almost touching. I was so surprised by how close she was. Looking into her eyes made me feel weird, like I was looking at a moving kaleidoscope. I immediately straightened up.

 

“Tseh! Don’t sneak like that.” She says.

 

“I wasn’t sneaking.” I tell her.

 

“It’s a Korean Drama.” She says. She put her phone down. Then she bent over the papers and clutter on the table and reached for an éclair.

 

I sat next to her on the couch.

 

“You were trying to study, huh?” I ask her. I looked at her. She was quiet and looked guilty.

 

I laughed. “I was procrastinating, too.” I tell her. “For four hours.”

 

This time she looked at me. “We’re really bad students, huh?” and she smiled. Cute.

 

“But, you see, I don’t like to study. Once I get started, I’m only fired up for five minutes. After that, I end up getting bored and would look for something else to do.” She says. “DO you get that feeling when you’re doing something you’re not interested in, and while you’re at it, even the wall becomes interesting to you?”

 

“Yeah, I think I get what you mean.” I tell her. I don’t really like to study. But I do it out of a habit. I’ve been studying because I feel I have the sense of responsibility to do so. But, I don’t really like it.

 

“Do you want to continue studying?” I ask her. “If you’re gonna watch, I want to watch with you. I’m kinda curious what that was.” I have nothing else to do anyway. Besides, this is the first time that I am really, actually talking to her like this.

 

“Well, can I ask you something first?” she asks.

 

“Sure, what is it?”

 

Her face turned serious. “Do you... Do you like Messi?”

 

Huh?

 

[snip]