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"That person is Arthit Rojnapat."

I froze.

Did he say what I heard him say???

No...

Impossible...

Why was my heart thumping so damn wild?

*Da-thump, da-thump, da-thump*

Gosh, could everyone else hear it too?

Everyone's eyes turned to me and Daniel upon hearing what Kongpob had said. As if we were shooting a romantic high school drama, they waited for my reaction and the tension was killing me.

Just then I finally realized what that mischievous glint in Kongpob's eyes had meant before. Yet again he was messing with me and he purposely put me in this situation in front of everyone else, so I wouldn't be able to run away from it. Sure enough, his plan had worked.

But still, I never expected him to joke about something like this...

I felt hopeful yet disappointed at the same time...

Why, I couldn't understand...

I was speechless, my mind was going in circles, my heart was thumping loudly and I really didn't know how to respond to Kongpob's "confession". Yes, I was thinking in air-quotes, cause I was 100% his words were all a teasing lie yet again.

I couldn't act happy because that would make me look like I actually wanted him to like me. Yet I couldn't act mad either since Jessica and her troops were present and I needed to behave.

Luckily, Daniel seemed to notice my dilemma and came to my aid once again. "Why are you saying that?" he asked, turning to Kongpob with a not-so-happy expression on his face. Kongpob just shrugged at that, probably thinking Daniel was just playing around. But he was being serious and continued asking Kongpob. "No, seriously, I don't see why you had to say it out loud."

Upon hearing the seriousness in Daniel's voice, Kongpob turned serious as well. "What's wrong with telling people I like Arthit?" he asked him in a daring tone. It was like he was picking a fight.

Why was he so defensive about his joke?

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with doing something like that, if you really mean what you say." Daniel shot back at him.

Kongpob's eyes grew darker and I could see him grit his teeth, "Who are you to judge me? How can you be sure that I'm actually lying?"

I had enough of this, so I stepped in to help Daniel out. "You're right. He doesn't have the right to judge you. But I do, and you know what I think? I think you're lying, just like always." I remarked in a cold tone, despite the fact that everyone's eyes were still on me. "You're waiting for my reaction, right? So here it is. I don't care whether what you just said was true or not because no matter what, I'll hate you anyway, so just leave me alone."

I was never really the type of person who talked bad to people. In fact, I always tried to consider other's feelings before I said something to them. But somehow, I couldn't stop myself at that moment and just let out all the hurt emotions that had built up inside me for the past days. I guessed the way he treated Daniel irked me more than it should have. I grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him out of there before Kongpob could initiate an even bigger fight.

When we reached a deserted classroom, I walked inside and Daniel followed behind. As I took my seat, I looked at him seriously. "Was I too harsh with Kongpob?" I asked him worriedly, afraid that I appeared evil in the eyes of everyone.

One thing I knew about Daniel was that he was always honest with me. "You were." He answered, making me feel really bad. But when he noticed the worry and hesitation in my eyes, he added something else. "But he definitely deserved it, because he always wants you to get in trouble."

"Yeah, he probably wanted me to be attacked by his stupid fanclub." I agreed, finally smiling. "Thanks for helping me."

He smiled back at me. "Of course I had to. I gave a promise not to doubt you anymore, didn't I? That's why I defended you, knowing you're telling the truth." He responded.

Suddenly, Daniel's cell phone began to ring. He hesitated to pick up the phone but I insisted. "Pick it up, it might be important."

"Hello?" he asked the caller, sounding a bit irritated. "What? Why?"

As Daniel talked to the person on the other end, I wondered who could it be so I mouthed the words, "Who is it?"

But by that time, the conversation was finished so Daniel put down his phone and answered me. "It's Michael. He wants me to go back to the cafeteria right now for something urgent."

I checked my watch and frowned at him. "Aren't we already late for class?" I asked him, starting to stand up.

"Yeah, but we're late anyway so why don't we just skip class and be free from punishment?" he suggested with a grin. And there I actually thought of him as one of the ideal students who couldn't, wouldn't miss a class. But then again, he was quite mysterious so I couldn't expect much from him.

"But if we get caught, we'll be in bigger trouble." I pointed out to him as I headed out of the classroom. "So are you coming with me or not?"

He smiled. "Wait a minute." He requested and took out his cell phone. "I'll just tell Michael that I'll meet him during lunch period instead."

After a short phone call, Daniel walked over to my side and that gave me the cue to start walking to class. And sure enough, when we got to class, we were scolded by our teacher for being late and were asked to stand at the back of the room for the rest of the period. But it didn't really feel much like a punishment because as the teacher got back to discussing the lesson, Daniel would crack some jokes about how our teacher looked. I, of course, would try to hold back my laughter so by the end of the period, I finally burst out laughing as soon as the teacher exited the room.

"You know what? I was wrong about you. I actually thought you were the serious type." I admitted with a smile.

He smiled back. "But I am the serious type when I have to be. Why? Do you like me better when I'm serious?" he asked teasingly.

I shook my head, remembering how coldly he had treated me during our first few meetings. "You're better this way." I remarked, patting his back lightly. "So, I guess you're going to meet Michael now, right?"

He nodded. "Come with me."

"No thanks, I might be intruding in something personal." I answered. "Besides, I need to reconcile with Nam, since I doubted her when she really was telling the truth."

He frowned at me. "Please?" he insisted. "You can talk to Nam on the phone anyway, while you can only talk to me in school."

He really looked cute with that pout and small frown on his face, so I gave in reluctantly. "Okay then." I agreed as I followed him to the cafeteria. "You are so lucky that I'm easy to persuade."

As we walked inside the cafeteria we easily spotted Michael and May's table because of Michael's pink sweater. I made a mental reminder to myself to ask Daniel about Michael's pink obsession later.

'What was the urgent stuff you were talking about earlier?" Daniel asked Michael as we sat down across from them.

May seemed surprised to see me. "Arthit!" she exclaimed upon seeing me across from her. Then she moved closer to me. "What happened earlier? I mean, do you believe what Kongpob said?"

I shook my head. "No, of course not. But wait a minute, you're not mad at me?" I asked back, recalling what happened in the hallway earlier today. "I was going to catch up with you when you ran out of the room, but I ended up bumping into Jessica."

"Yeah. I saw everything. As I was walking away, I noticed a lot of people going the opposite direction so I asked what the commotion was all about and followed them." She explained. "But no, I wasn't mad at you during that time, I was just trying to make you see my point of view."

Michael suddenly nudged May, causing her to look at him questioningly. When they were facing each other, May seemed to understand what Michael was trying to imply without saying anything because she smiled and nodded at him before facing me again.

"Wait a minute, you haven't told me yet what the urgent matter was?" Daniel spoke suddenly.

Michael then looked at his watch and stood up frantically. "Oh yeah, I forgot! I need to do my Physics assignment, but May needs help with her Math so can you help her instead?" he replied, speaking a mile a minute.

"Oh, that's no problem, I can help her." I answered instead, thinking that May would like that better.

But to my surprise, both Michael and May, immediately said, "No!"

I was sure that something was up because Michael suddenly rushed to my side and pulled me up from my seat, taking my bag and putting it on his shoulder. "No, because I need your help in Physics, so come on." He remarked, pulling me away from the table as he waved at May. "We'll see you later!"

Michael grabbed my hand and dragged me along until we were out of the cafeteria. Once he finally let me go, I asked him what was going on. "Okay, what's up with you needing help in Physics and May needing help with Math?" I asked, looking at him suspiciously.

When he just smiled sheepishly in reply, I finally put the puzzle pieces together. "...You're trying to set May up with Daniel!???"

He didn't answer or give a reaction on my statement. But he didn't need to because it was obviously true. "Why? I thought you like May. Why are you setting her up with another guy?"

"Because I can't force her to like me, so I might as well just make her happy." He replied sadly.

"Wow, that's so sweet of you."

He smiled proudly. Then he changed the topic to Kongpob. "You know, Kongpob's a sweet guy too."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh come on, if he's a sweet guy then all the other guys are pure angels. He's always bothering me, playing jokes on me and I just...hate it."

...because it actually makes me feel something...and it's damn confusing, an annoying voice added in my head.

"Well, has it ever occurred to you that he's doing all that for you to notice him?"

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