Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Terban let the stubborn Ryan go with Vincent. But he was right in their tail, as he doesn’t trust his number one enemy in the boarding house.

He had no problem chasing them on the road but when he arrived in the reception hall, Terban faced a crisis.

“Sir, how many times should I tell you that you cannot go inside because you don’t have your invitation?” the tired guard said before he sighed for the 10th time, ever since he met Terban.

Terban tried many times to get inside, but the guard wouldn’t let him be.

Glaring at the guard, Terban decided to try again. He waited for another guest to come in, and when the guard was distracted, Terban murmured, “I forgot my invitation.”

He jolted inside. Unfortunately, the guard was too fast, Terban was blocked in no time.

“Sir, why are you so stubborn?” the guard asked while heaving his breath.

‘This guy is so fast!’ Terban thought inwardly.

Thinking another way, Terban heard someone calling him from behind.

“Terban?”

When he looked behind, Terban saw his uncle Steven, cousin of his father.

“It’s so nice to see you here!” Steven gasped. “Your cousin sent you an invitation without expecting that you would come. But you really came.”

Terban tilted his head in wonder. Then, he remembered that two weeks ago, he received a wedding invitation from one of his relatives. He did not care about it, so he only hid it inside the very corner of his cabinet.

‘Does it mean that this is my cousin’s wedding?’ Terban realized before looking up in the sky. ‘God must be real,’ he prayed.

Sneering, Terban looked at the strict and hardworking guard. Then, he said, “Of course, uncle. Why would I skip attending my COUSIN’S wedding?” He deliberately said it out loud for the guard to hear.

As easy as that, Terban entered the wedding reception hall. He sat at the corner and searched around using his sharp eyes.

“Where are they?” he murmured.

“Uhmmm, excuse me? That is my seat,” a woman, who approached Terban, said.

She looked at him with a huge smile on her lips. Then when Terban stared back, she tucked her curly hair behind her ears.

Terban noticed that the girl was only acting cute in front of him.

“I will give it back, alright. Stop smiling at me. It’s creepy,” Terban murmured as he stood.

The girl heard him and frowned in an instant.

Terban walked away and tried to find another seat. On his search, Terban ceased after seeing Ryan and Vincent on the stage.

Now he felt so stupid for finding them on the stage when he was looking so hard on the guests’ seats.

Terban opened his lips to call them, but he could not. It was because Vincent started playing the piano.

He would admit that Vincent is annoying. But in terms of music talent, Vincent is commendable.

“Tsss,” Terban clicked his tongue while watching Vincent with his narrowed eyes.

And then, Ryan and Vincent started to sing together.

Terban remembered when Ryan was young, she loved singing so much. He liked her sweet and soft voice. And even if he’s not comfortable seeing Ryan sing with another man, he couldn’t help the smile slipping on his lips.

The wedding ceremony ended.

Terban failed to approach Ryan after their performances because he stumbled upon familiar relatives who kept on blocking his way and greeting him. He tried to push them away (verbally), but there were old people whom he cannot be rude to.

Even if he’s impolite to people he does not know, there’s still a limit in Terban’s arrogance. Of course, he cannot tell old people to leave him alone.

‘This is the reason why I don’t want to attend a family gathering,’ he thought.

Terban searched for the two. His eyes widened when he could not see them anymore!

‘Where did they go this time?!’

He couldn’t trace them inside the hall, so Terban went out. Finally, he caught a glimpse of his target there at the parking lot. He saw Vincent and Ryan sitting on the elevated ground.

Wanting to ruin their peaceful mood, Terban walked closer. But he noticed that they were talking seriously, so he stopped and hid instead.

“Why don’t you tell them what you feel?” Ryan told Vincent.

“Then what? Nothing will change,” Vincent replied.

“You are their son, Vincent. My parents don’t share the same blood with me. But they love me so much. What’s more for a child who shares the same blood with his parents?”

“It is easy to say, but hard to do.”

“Hmm, I know. But, it is more difficult to make the impossible possible. For example, I wanted to ask my real parents why they abandoned me. But I can’t. There’s no chance for me to do so.”

The reason why Terban could not find Ryan in the beginning is because Ryan’s surname suddenly changed into the family who adopted her.

He could tell that Ryan had changed a lot. She was quiet, shy and introverted before. That’s why when they met again, he failed to recognize the optimistic and energetic Ryan in front of him. He thought that maybe Ryan changed because of her new family.

Now, Terban wondered if Ryan still remembers him.

‘We are each other’s first love,’ Terban said inwardly, as if recalling the old promise which they have shared together.

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Ryan’s POV

Vincent and I came back home together after attending the wedding.

“Thank you for helping me before,” Vincent said when we arrived in front of the boarding house’ entrance.

“That’s not a biggie,” I said, then waved the white envelope in front of her face. “I got money so nothing matters,” I said while laughing.

The two of us laughed together. However, Vincent’s lips drastically dropped down when he saw something from afar. Curious what it was, I also looked in the direction he was gawking at.

We saw Slyvester sitting on the bench, there in the garden. Slyvester seems to be playing something with PSP.

‘It’s already late. Mosquitoes might bite him.’

When I saw the mosquito’s repellent under the bench, I realized that I worried for nothing. Geez~

“Slyvester took my PSP without asking for my permission again,” Vincent complained.

At the same time, Slyvester looked at us and even waved his hand with a smile. But the beam faded when Slyvester saw me.

‘Oh! Right! I still have something to apologize for to him!’

Slyvester rolled his eyes and continued playing his game.

“Did the two of you fight?” Vincent asked me.

“Well, we did not actually fight. It's just that Slyvester is angry at me.”

“It is rare for Slyvester to get angry. What did you do?”

“I accidentally broke a raw egg on his head,” I said with matching hand gestures. “Then, the raw egg made a mess on his hair.”

Vincent nodded as if he agreed to something.

“You see,” Vincent said, “Slyvester really hates it when someone dirties his hair. It seems like his family has thin hair so when I joked before that he can be a bald man someday, Slyvester was so frightened. He became sensitive when it comes to his hair.”

‘Why do I feel that I should blame Vincent too?’

“There was also an incident when our former board mate sticks bubble gum on his hair. Slyvester had no choice but to cut his hair into semi-bald. Maybe, that gave him trauma.”

‘I don’t know if I should feel sad towards Slyvester or laugh out loud at this absurd story.’

Either way, I was wrong, so I had to properly apologize.

“It won’t be easy to win Slyvester’s favor. Good luck,” Vincent added. He opened the door and gave me his last piece of advice. “If he’s playing hard to get, just let him be. He will get tired playing the villain in the end.” Then, Vincent walked in.

“Vincent! Did you see my Bluetooth earphones?!” I heard Kyle’s voice before the door finally closed.

I gawked at Slyvester from afar. It is obvious that he knows that I am staring at him, but he’s being ignorant.

‘Alright. I will apologize again,’ I convinced myself.

I took a deep breath and stepped closer to him. Slyvester is wearing a white shirt and jersey orange short with number ‘10’. He tied his hair upwards, like an apple bun.

‘Gosh. He’s cute!’

“Ahmmm, Slyvester.”

At my call, his movement stopped. But he dared not look back at me.

“About the thing I did to you before, I wanted to apologize.”

Minute passed.

I am standing in front of Slyvester, who ignored me. For a moment, I heard a crow’s cluck.

Caw

Caw

Caw

I look like a fool waiting for nothing.

‘Why does he not say anything?!’

“Slyvester, if you can’t forgive me, then tell me ho…”

“Do you really want me to forgive you?”

At last, he talked!

“Of course! Just forgive me and let’s reconcile!”

“Okay. But you need to do something for me,” he said before sneering menacingly at me.

Seeing his smirk, I felt very frightened for no reason.

No.

There was a reason.

Slyvester told me that he’s a natural teaser. And tonight, I proved him right.

Out of the many things he can ask me to do, Sylvester commanded me to stand behind and comb his hair.

This is the weirdest dare I have done in my whole life!

He must be crazy.

NO! HE IS CRAZY!

I know that he is childish. But this time, I think it is too much.

“Slyvester, the mosquitoes are biting me,” I excused while combing his hair with a pink comb.

‘Why does he have a pink comb? It’s very out of place.’

“That is impossible. I put mosquito’s repellent. Don’t lie,” he said, catching me red-handed.

Sh*t.

“My legs hurt. Can you just l…”

“Yey!” he suddenly shouted. “I beat Vincent’s high score. Yahoo!” he celebrated as he punched the air.

‘Maybe, this is my chance. He’s in a good mood.’

Quickly, I sat beside him and cheere him. “CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE THE BEST! GIVE ME A HIGH FIVE!”

I offered him a high five and he accepted it.

"High five!"

The two of us chuckled excessively until Slyvester pulled out his smile and asked, “So, why are you sitting? I never told you to sit.”

‘He’s ruthless!’

I couldn’t believe that he would play so hard to get!

Annoyed, I stood up and complained.

“Hey! I know that it was my mistake, but this is too m…. oh my god!”

I froze.

Slyvester suddenly pulled me down. As a result, I fell on his lap. The two of us look at each other’s face from such close distance. And at this moment, I thought the whole world stopped its axis.

“Usually, when I sulk, it will take days,” he said while smiling sweetly at me. “But I can’t endure playing this damn villain game because it’s you.”

My body felt hot.

I quickly stood up to get out of his lap but Slyvester pulled me down again. As soon as I sat back down, I felt a soft and warm thing on my forehead.

“Reconciliation accepted,” he whispered after kissing my forehead.

Wait.

What?!

He kissed my forehead?!

I stood up and was about to hit him, but Slyvester was too fast. He avoided my attack and then ran inside the boarding house.

“HEY! COME BACK HERE! YOU ARE SO DEAD!”

Slyvester is childish. But sometimes, that childishness of his made me feel so nervous.