Chun was too stunned by hearing those words coming from Ella’s mouth to even bother noticed that Ella had just left. He did not know what is worse; the fact that she said that she hated him, or the fact that she actually mentioned her ex’s name and even hoping for him to be like her ex. All emotions rushing towards him, leaving him dumbfounded and unable to stop Ella from leaving him and slamming the door behind her right in front of his face.

Why must everything be so complicated for him? Why can’t Ella just see that he was just trying to protect her? Was that too much to ask?

Chun sat down on his bed, looking at the door. He had never seen Ella angry before. He was hesitant on whether he should follow her and look for her or not, but finally decided on letting her cool off. With his head hung low and both his hands covering his face, he kept replaying the scene that just happened moments ago.

Was he wrong to be protective of her like that? Was he wrong to protect the girl he loves?

Chun gave a loud sigh. If Ella’s anger mode was as long as her depression state, than it will be a while until their relationship goes back to normal. And seeing how Ella was so persistent during her almost-depression state, he knows that he would have to put much effort in mending their relationship.

Chun gave out another loud sigh and then went to the bathroom. He needs a long cold shower to cool himself off. He still cannot believe that he actually shouted and raised his voice at Ella like that. No wonder she was mad at him. Well that, and the fact that he actually banned her from being the female lead and threatened her to lock her up if she did. Why did he say that anyway?

As the cold water slowly pour down to his head, he finally realized that he was just playing stupid. Of course Ella would be mad at him; he basically restrained her from doing something she loves the most, acting. Being here in Farmosa University is proved enough of how much she loves acting. And he actually told her to not acting? How stupider can he get?

He did not want to yell at her and threaten her like that, but their situation demanded it. Why is everything so difficult for them? Why can’t he just love her freely and told her openly that he was just preventing her from exposing her identity? That he was just trying to keep her by his side? Why can’t she just see that he was doing all of that for her sake?

The cold water did not really help him cool down, but spending time in the shower really helped him think. He kept replaying the scene over and over again in his head; and he kept scolding himself for shouting at her like that. Even if he was determined to protect her, he should not use shouting as his last resort.

As the water kept seeping down his body and the scene kept replaying again, Chun had finally figured something that struck his heart deeply; only one word, Jerry.

No matter how many times he kept repeating those words that came out from Ella’s mouth, they would still be the same. Ella had told him that she wished he was more like Jerry and that she hated him. Chun did not know what was worse in his ears, the word ‘hate’ or Jerry’s name.

Chun ran his fingers to his hair in frustration. After all the horrible things that scumbag has done to her, she still remembers him, if not love him. She still loves her ex and now she hates his guts because of one silly argument.

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Ella wiped away the tears that kept flowing down her cheeks the moment she stepped out of their room. She did not know why she cried. It was just a silly little argument, why does she have to get all worked up over it?

Just like Chun, she kept replaying the same scene over and over again in her head. She was just confused. At Chun, at herself, and at everything that just happened to both of them.

Why is Chun so insisted in not letting her be the female lead in the play? Doesn’t he know that being the female lead means the world to her? Doesn’t he know how much she misses acting on stage? And if he won’t let her, why doesn’t he just give her a reason? She will of course take whatever the reason is into her consideration. Although, she really doubts that it will change anything. She just misses being on stage too much to even care about anything else anymore.

Ella forced her head to look up, hoping to prevent more tears from flowing. But it somehow fails. Instead of stopping, her eyes got irritated and caused her to cry even more.

It was only a small argument with Chun. Her first fight with him, and yet, she already cried a bucket. Never did she cry because of a fight over anyone. Not even Selina, Hebe, Calvin, her parents, or even Jerry. She was always persistent at every argument she had and never resorts to crying over the fight, no matter how huge the matter is.

She had always convinced herself to be strong for the others, Selina and Hebe that is. This is why she rarely cries. The only time that she allowed herself to cry without showing any sign of weakness is when someone died. And the last time when Jerry dumped her, she allowed herself to cry because at that moment he was dead to her. And when she got the pictures of him and Angela, she allowed herself to cry yet again because at that moment her love for him died, their relationship died.

And yet after all those years of being tough and strong, here she is, crying, over a silly little argument with her roommate, Chun. Her roommate for Pete’s sake! That is their relationship and nothing more. Then why does she cry over him like this? If he is just a plain roommate to her then why bother shedding all those tears?

As she wiped away another tear, she remembers the things she said to him. She actually said that she hoped him to be more like Jerry and that she hated him. How can she say that? How can Jerry’s name even cross her mind in a time like that? Well, actually it was not that much of a surprise. Even though she hates to admit it, other than being a bastard for cheating on her with her rival/enemy and dumping her, leaving her crying on a rainy day over their break up and making her almost fell into another depression, Jerry was a great lover and he left a deep mark on her.

How can he not? She basically grew up with him. And she basically turned from a simple little girl to almost a woman in front of his eyes. And even though he was being a jerk and all, but if they did break up peacefully, without a doubt that they will still be good friends.

It was not that she refused to forget him, she really does try, but Jerry was a big part of her life and he has his part of making her the person she is now. And the earlier argument with Chun really makes all those sweet moments with Jerry resurfaced and in a blink of an eye, she actually said that she wished Chun was more like Jerry. It would not be that bad though. Jerry had always been very understanding when it comes to her passion for acting. Perhaps this was because he also felt the same way, seeing that he is also a performer like herself.

The more Ella thought about her fight with Chun, the faster the tears fall. Ella did not know why, perhaps it was because she felt guilty for shouting at Chun like that. But it was his fault anyway. How dare he ‘ban’ her from acting? It took a lot of effort for her to reaffirm her place in the center stage and no one is going to take that away from her, not even Chun.

She knows that she is being stubborn, but heck, Chun is also stubborn. If only he just tell her his reasons, she would at least reconsider it. Well, maybe not, but at least they would not end up fighting and she would not end up crying over him like this.

Why is she crying over him?

That question kept roaming around her head for the next few days. Even though deep in the depth of her heart and back in the very very very corner of her head she knows the answer, but somehow her consciousness would not let her realize this. Well, not just yet at least.

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It has been a week or so ever since that fight and Chun and Ella have not reconciled yet. It was not that they did not want to, but they were both just too stubborn for their own goods.

The day they had that huge fight, Ella came back rather late, but just right before Chun got out from the bathroom. She was already so tired from all that crying and thinking that she immediately fell to unconsciousness the moment her head hit the pillow.

For the following week, Ella gave him the silent treatment. It was not that intentional, really. It is just that she is still confused on what happened during that fight; confused of her past, her relationship with Chun, confused with Chun himself, confused of her own feelings, confused of everything. And yet, after a week of thinking, she still has not come up with the answer of whatever the question in her head might be.

She really does not do it on purpose, the silent treatment that is. It is just that after she got back to the room, she did not have the chance to talk to Chun. And the next morning, she woke up pretty early because she could not sleep, so she decided to enjoy the morning breeze alone. It was not that she was trying to avoid Chun at the time; it was just that she did not want to disturb him. And the rest of the week, well everything starts from there. Ella continued to wake up early and Chun did not even bother to get close to her.

It was not that Chun did not bother to get close to her; it was just that he thought she needed her space. The moment he heard the door being opened and closed again that day, he immediately went out from the bathroom. He was determined right there and then that he wants to apologize to her for his childish behavior, and hopefully convinced her to drop off from the play, even though the chance is pretty slim.

But the moment he saw her lying on her bed, sleeping from exhaustion like that, he just could not gather the courage to disturb her, especially after seeing the water marks on her cheek. He knows that she has been crying. But he figures that she cried about Jerry, so there is nothing he can do about it. As much as he wants to ease her pain, he really can’t. Jerry is something off limit for him and only her best friend Selina and Hebe can help her at that.

The morning after the fight, Chun was frantic when he found Ella’s bed empty. He immediately looked for her throughout the whole school, and was finally relieved when he found her already sitting in class, ignoring him. That was when he realized that she actually went out that morning to avoid him. She was giving him the silent treatment. It was not that Chun did not want to apologize, but every time he went close to her, she immediately turned her head away. And she never got back to their room until quite late, in which she was too exhausted to even look at him.

He figured that all the memories about Jerry were bothering her mind. And since he cannot really directly help her out, all he can do is just gave her some space to cool off and get back to her old self.

It may look from the outsiders’ eyes that Chun was doing fine and that the fight they had did not affected him one bit, but boy do they were wrong. For a whole week Chun has been scolding and blaming himself for starting that fight with Ella. Well, mainly because of that fight that Ella began to mope over Jerry all over again. Well, at least that is what he thinks.

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“CUT!” Teacher Mei shouted from the front seat.

It was their tenth try on the scene and somehow Ella can never get it right. It was getting frustrated, not only in her part, but also on everyone else’s.

“I think we need a break.” Teacher Mei said. “Take five, everyone!” he shouted again.

“Urgghh!!” Ella growled in frustration.

Never once did she mess up a scene this bad. What is wrong with her? The scene before this was fine, so what is the matter that makes her messed this up big time?

“Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s already hard enough to play a girl for a boy, so just relax, okay?” someone said while tapping her shoulder.

“Thanks, Vic.” Ella replied with a smile.

That was Vic Zhou, her leading man in the play. He was awfully nice to her, considering the fact that she single handedly ruined the whole scene over and over and over again. And since it was one of the key scenes in the play, Teacher Mei insisted in making it flawless.

“I’m gonna go get some coffee; do you want to join me?” Vic asked.

“No thanks. I think I just stay here and go over the scene again.” She answered.

“Okay. Do you want me to bring you some?” Vic asked again.

“No thanks.” She answered again. Vic just nodded and the left.

Ella looked at the script in her hand and re-read the pages again, in particular the page for that scene they kept redoing over and over again.

It was not a hard scene, she supposed. She only needs to tell the leading man that she was a girl and that she loved him. And after the guy was so shocked to hear her confession that he immediately left because he felt he was being betrayed.

It was an easy scene compare to her other plays, when she has to act dead or depress or crazy or act as if she was . Those kinds of feelings eat you when you do not know how to stop it. And after all her experiences, she always manages to deliver every performance with flying colors. So what is wrong now?

The only conclusion she can draw upon is one word, to be exact one name, Chun.

Yeah, it is his entire fault. For the first few tries for that scene, he kept popping out in her mind, distracting her. Not only that, in this scene she has to show how much she loves her leading man, how can she do that when all she wants to do is punch him because the fight that she and Chun had a week before kept interrupting her concentration?

And after she was finally able to get through the first half of the scene, which is the confession, she ruined the rest of the scene by actually running towards Vic, preventing him from leaving. The idea was that she stayed put in her spot and watched Vic leave her while trying to hold back her tears. Why can’t she just do that? It was easy, well at least that what she thought. Easier said than done, huh?

“Ello, can you come here for a second?” Teacher Mei asked, bringing her back from her trance.

Ella did not say anything further and immediately went down from the stage. She walked towards the seats and sat down right next to Teacher Mei.

“You have exactly five minutes to explain yourself.” Teacher Mei said sternly.

He may does not look like the serious kind of teachers, his outer appearance really does fool most people, but when it comes to performing and especially when he is the producer, he is dead serious.

“I’m sorry, Lao Shi. I was just distracted. I don’t know why. I already tried, but I just can’t concentrate on that scene.” she explained.

Teacher Mei gave out a loud sigh and then looked closely at his ‘apprentice’.

“Okay. Tell me what happened. I know something big had happened that caused you to be this distracted.”

“Chun and I fought the other day.” she said after a loud sigh. “He prevented me from being the female lead but didn’t tell me why. He even told me to quit. Of course I don’t want to. He was so persistent and so was I.” another deep sigh left . “Anger just took over from there. He shouted at me, I shouted at him. He threatened that he was going to lock me in our room to prevent me from being the female lead. And then I shouted back, saying that I hate him and told him to be more like Jerry.” Ella said, finishing her story with yet another deep sigh.

Teacher Mei just stared at her, waiting for her to say something more. But when Ella just stayed silent, he knew it was his cue to bring his star back to reality.

“Do you have feelings for him?” Teacher Mei asked, looking at her straight in the eyes.

“Lao Shi! Aren’t you a bit too straight forward with this?” Ella said in surprised.

“I ask you again. Do you have feelings for him?” Teacher Mei asked again calmly.

“NO! Of course not! What makes you think that? I just barely got out from a nasty break up. I’m not in the right time to start another relationship yet.” Ella answered while trying to avoid his gaze. She did not know why, but she was all nervous all of the sudden.

“I did not ask you if you’re going to have a relationship with the guy. I just asked you whether you have feelings for him or not.” Teacher Mei replied, again with the same calmness as before. This guy is basically has no emotions!

“I already said no, didn’t I?” Ella replied, still avoiding his gaze.

Teacher Mei kept staring at her for a while longer before finally turned his gaze towards the stage in front of them. Ella did not want to make any further comments so she just stayed put in her seat and looked at the empty stage.

“I just want to remind you to be professional.” Teacher Mei suddenly said. “Chances are there will be a lot more problems bigger than what you’re experiencing right now in the future. And no matter how big the problem is when you are on stage or in front of the camera, you have to be professional and do your best. It’s not that I’m being cruel and doesn’t allow you to fix your problem, but you have to be able to separate your personal life and professional life. Not all people in this business able to cope with what you just did moments ago. People get mad and disappointed easily when you mess up over and over like that. You’re basically wasting money there. It maybe sounds harsh, but that’s the reality. You also have to think about their life too. It’s not only you that have problems. They also have lives of their own and problems of their own. You’re not the only one suffering here.”  Teacher Mei explained.

Ella kept quiet. Everything Teacher Mei said was absolutely true. And because of that, she was quite taken back by it.

They just sat there in their seats for the rest of the break. When everyone is finally back to the auditorium to start again, Ella quickly makes her way to the stage. But before that, Teacher Mei stopped her.

“I hope you didn’t forget one of the terms in our contract. It clearly stated there that you cannot have any relationship/feeling that is more than friends towards anyone here, during and after your stay. Remember?” Teacher Mei whispered to her.

“Of course.” she lied.

Of course, how can she forget that part of the contract? What Teacher Mei had just said to her was like a lightning struck in her ears. No relationship/feelings towards anyone here during and after her stay. How can she not remember that?

Well, of course she forgot about that part. She basically never paid attention to that part anyway. The time she signed the contract she was still attached to Jerry, so of course she did not pay attention. She never really thought that she was going to have some kind of relationship or feelings towards the boys here with Jerry still being with her. No matter how gorgeous the boys are, she is still loyal.

The part of not having any relationship or feelings during her stay was still okay, but after too? That was just too much. Why didn’t she check that damn contract the first time? She could have asked Teacher Mei to change that clause before she signed it. But, noooo... She was too overly confident with her relationship with Jerry to even look at the damn clause. And now she has to pay the price.

“Okay! Let’s start from where we left off.” Teacher Mei announced.

Ella immediately shook her head to erase all those thoughts away. Why did she care about that clause anyway? She doesn’t have any feelings towards anyone here, so the clause has no effect on her whatsoever. Right? RIGHT?

For the rest of the day, she kept trying to focus on the play instead. Well, it semi worked because she finally did able to do the whole scene perfectly and the scenes after that; however, that thoughts somehow able to come back to her from time to time. Pondering her brain to think about it and at least do something about it. But WHAT?

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It has been a couple of days since the talk with Teacher Mei. Ella is back on stage for another rehearsal for the play. That talk really did snap her back to her senses, because now she is more professional than ever. Every scene that she did, she did it flawlessly. She poured her heart and soul into her character and everyone can see how determined she was to make this play a success.

While she was busy inside the auditorium, Chun was anxiously waiting outside. It has been two weeks since their fight and he could not take not talking to her any longer. Even though his pride has to suffer, he did not care.

Not talking to Ella for almost two weeks really took a toll on him. He is distracted, moody, angry, he cannot even think straight. He has to end his suffering once and for all!

Never once did he ever think that a girl can do this much damage to him. His brain has completely gone to the wrong direction every time he sees her now. All he wants to do is just hugged her and kissed her, begging for her forgiveness, and make love to her when she finally said to him those words.

The auditorium door flung open, causing Chun to startle and snap back to reality, stopping him from getting more intimate with his thought. Soon, people start coming out from the auditorium, from the stage crew, the cast members, the other backstage crew member, Aaron, even Teacher Mei made it outside, but Ella was nowhere to be found.

Chun waited and waited some more, but no one comes out. That is it, the anxiety kills him! Just as he about to rush inside the auditorium, the girl he has been waiting for finally comes out. All the anxiety finally flew away and he unconsciously smiled upon seeing Ella’s happy face.

But that smile soon turn to frown when he saw the love of his life walked away from the auditorium side by side with another guy! What makes it worse is that Ella actually smiling and giggling along with him.

Chun suddenly felt a pang in his heart. All he wanted to do was just marched over there, punched the guy, and dragged Ella away from there as soon as possible. Where? To the safety of their room of course, where Ella is his alone and no one else.

That is exactly what he does. He quickly marched over to the on-stage couple who seem to have taken their chemistry outside the stage.

“Elle.” Chun called.

Ella immediately turned around when she heard her name.

“Oh, it’s you Chun.” she said.

“Elle, come on, we better hurry or the coffee shop will closed.” Vic said while wrapping his arm around Ella’s shoulders.

Chun’s eyes immediately went wide. How can he stand seeing his girl having such an intimate gesture with another guy? He was fuming inside. All he wanted to do know was to drag her away from there and punched that guy in front of him who dared to touch her.

“Yeah, of course Vic.” she said to Vic with a smile.

Without even considering that Chun is still standing in front of her, Ella slowly walked away with Vic’s arm still wrapped around her shoulder. Chun was on the edge. This is too overboard! How can she just treat him like air? This is WAAAAAAYYY over the line!

Chun immediately yanked her elbow, causing Vic to let go of her. Both Vic and Ella were so shock with Chun’s harsh gesture. Chun was the definition of calm, and yet Ella is able to turn him into a complete opposite.

“I need to talk to you.” he said after locking gaze with her.

Without asking her permission, he immediately dragged her away from Vic. Ella had no choice but to follow silently. She turned around, only to find Vic stood behind dumbfounded. She mouthed ‘sorry’ to him and Vic just nodded and smiled to her.

“You can come out now.” Vic suddenly said after Ella and Chun were nowhere in sight.

“Nice job, ZaiZai. I know casting you as my main lead would not disappoint me.” Teacher Mei said while patting his shoulder.

“I can’t believe you played around your students’ feelings like that, Uncle.” Vic said.

“Oh come on. I didn’t play with their feelings. I actually helped them, okay? And besides, don’t act all innocent, you are to be blame too.” Teacher Mei said.

Vic just let out a loud sigh as he cannot argue furthermore with his crazy uncle. When Teacher Mei actually told him the whole story from the beginning, he was having hard time to even blink. He kept telling him that he was crazy and cruel to play around Chun and Ella’s feeling like that, and yet somehow, that crazy uncle of his was able to convince him into helping him. He did not even know who is crazier now; his uncle for all the crazy plans he has, or him who actually agreed to follow it?

Well, it is not that crazy and surprising actually, his uncle has one more talent besides performing and directing, which is negotiating or to put it in a harsh word, bribing. Yep, and his nephew is also the victim of this. Of course Vic was more than happy to agree, especially after hearing his offer. All expenses paid until he became an actor and his uncle will help him with all his power and connection to do whatever it takes to make him an actor. How can he reject such offer? Especially after her mom almost disowned him when he said that he wanted to pursue acting as his career. Any person in the right mind would not even dare to think twice about this offer!

“Oh come on, it’s worth it, okay? They’re quite interesting, right?” Teacher Mei asked.

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Vic said. “But I think still it is cruel though.”

“Oh? Why is that?” Teacher Mei asked again.

“You’re attempting of making them realize their feelings for each other, and yet in that contract of yours, it clearly stated that they can’t be together.” Vic explained while crossing his hands across his chest.

“Well, let’s just worry about that later. For now, let’s just enjoy the show, okay?” Teacher Mei said with his mischievous smile.

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TIK TOK TIK TOK

Only the sound of the ticking clock was audible from Chun’s and Ella’s room. No one would have guess that inside there were actually two people sitting across each other having a glaring contest for the last twenty minutes or so.

This room was so intense that if you lite a fire, it would burn the whole place down. Well, that’s a bit exaggerating, but you get the point.

“I’m going for a shower.” Ella said while standing up.

She did not care about what Chun wants with her. She already had enough of all his emotional outbursts. It is already bad enough that he dragged her all the way from the auditorium to their room with all his power, causing her elbow to bruise, and now, when they finally settled in, he just motioned her to sit on her bed and then stared at her. He just stared at her for Pete’s sake! Stare at her!

“Sit.” Chun ordered.

Without a word, Ella immediately sat down and the glaring contest continues.

After another ten minutes, Chun finally able to summon the courage to speak. He let out a deep sigh and then walked over to her. He stood there in front of her, looking down on her big brown eyes. Another deep sigh, and then he squat down. It was her turn now to look down upon his dark mesmerizing eyes.

“I’m sorry for what I said the other day. I shouldn’t shout at you like that. Can you please stop the silent treatment already?” he said.

Ella had to blink a couple of times to confirm everything that he just said. And when she finally realized that he was in fact apologizing to her, she cannot help but to smile a little.

“Can you repeat once again?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know what’s gotten over me that day. I’m sorry for shouting at you, for yelling at you, for threatening to lock you up, for forcing you to quit, for not allowing you to be in the play, for everything that I’ve done wrong.”

Ella was silent when she heard those words coming out of his mouth. They just stared each other. Nothing else was needed to say.

“So, you’re not going to make me quit the play, right?” Ella asked to confirm.

Chun just shook his head. “It’s your life. You’re allowed to do anything you want. I’ll support you.” he said while messing up her hair.

They just looked at each other for another second before finally letting out a smile on their faces. Everything has finally back to normal.

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Jiro, Aaron, Chun, and Ella, were just walking towards their dorm. They had just finished class. Everything was back to normal after Chun’s apology. So now they went back into doing everything together, including going back to their dorm.

Ella never realized it until now, but she really missed walking together with Chun. He always makes her so secure and safe. There is just something missing and incomplete when he was not around.

Just at the three boys and Ella laughing around because of Jiro’s joke over Aaron’s cold joke, they suddenly stopped their track because the scene in front of them.

Right across them, just a few feet away, stood a girl with a pony tail in her head and the biggest brown eyes they had ever seen. She was surrounded by all the freshmen who are trying to get close to her, hoping to get her cellphone number or a date with her. It does not take a genius to figure out that the girl was quite frightened by the aggressive boys cornering her.

Jiro, Aaron, Chun, and Ella looked closely towards the scene in front of them. At first they did not really see what happened, especially with all the boys circling around the girl. But the moment Ella saw the girl, her eyes immediately went wide.

Without thinking twice she immediately shouted “GUI!”