[Music Recommendation: "A Sweet Smile" by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

"Y-y-you… you kissed that wolf in sheep's clothing? Wha—"

"Shhhh… calm down! Please! And don't shout," Hora covered my mouth and tried to calm me down.

'But oh boy, I am NOT calming down!'

I shot glares at her and she continued explaining to me what happened.

"Don't just blame him, okay? It's my fault, too. I let it happen. And besides, he… he c-confessed to me, too. He said he likes me," Hora added with her face redder than a tomato.

"Oh? Did he now? Or did he just say that because you allowed him to kiss you and now he thinks you're easy and he uses confession as his guise? He's just being a horny bratt!"

Hora's eyes widened.

'Ooops! I think I showed too much of my elderly past self. I need to back myself up.'

"I… I mean, what if that's the case? I read it in a book somewhere. I forgot the title. But it's true! There's lots of jerks around and what if he's like that?"

"He's Kaiden's friend. If you trust Kaiden won't just befriend anyone, you wouldn't be like that."

"E-even Kaiden thinks he's evil and savage."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it in such a vile way. Just like how you tell off your friends on their flaws."

"B-but still… he took advantage of you."

"I allowed him to do that."

"You're just too smitten by him."

"Yes, maybe I am. I like him."

"What?!" I gasped in shock. "Y-you already… like him? I thought you didn't? You were so against it before?"

"And you were shipping us before. Now you're against it."

"But that's because he's an evil sly fox."

"I thought we agreed the reason why he's nasty in rejecting girl's confessions was because he didn't want them to cling on false hopes?"

"But what if he's not even thinking that way? He just wanted to be…"

Hora pouted. She's definitely not happy by my sudden change of opinion. I'm so sorry bestie, but I just wanted to make sure you're not falling for the wrong guy.

"He took care of me last night when I was sick. He could have taken advantage of me that time if he's really just a horny bratt as you said, but he didn't. And he also put a wet towel on my forehead to lower my temperature. He even played the piano for me so I could sleep peacefully and he held my hand until he fell asleep on a chair! He could have slept beside me but he chose to sleep on a chair! That's because he's being kind and considerate of me. He never treated me badly or did anything against my will. So I don't think he's as bad as you think," she pouted and said all of that in one go. She's definitely upset with me.

Hearing her words, I was reminded of another thing Kaiden said when he revealed to us how evil Verrill was.

"Don't worry, she's gonna be fine," Kaiden assured me. "Verrill only says and does those nasty things to people he doesn't know or like. He is kind to friends like us. And more specially kind to a girl he likes. I noticed he likes Hora so there's nothing for you to worry about."

But he dared kiss Hora! It was her first kiss, too! The most important one!

Then again… Hora said she was fine with it. And the look on her face when she said that… she liked it. Plus the fact that she's falling for him. Actually, no—she already likes him so she already fell for him.

"Haaaah…" I sighed deeply. Then, in a serious tone, I asked her again, "Do you really like him? For real?"

Tears could be seen in the corner of Hora's eyes as she nodded to my question.

"Yes, I do. I like him… a lot."

"Are you aware of Crystal's situation?"

"Yes… I noticed that, too. That's why last night, I cried myself to sleep. Because I feel so wrong and guilty for developing these feelings. But I can't stop it. I wish I could but…"

"Awww… don't cry," I sighed and hugged my bestie. She was already crying. I patted her back to calm her down.

Of course. Hora would have noticed. She was more observant than I am. She must have felt so conflicted especially since we're friends with Crystal. Unable to stop her emotions, she just let it flow. I guess that's how all these romance stuff worked, huh?

"If you really like him, then who am I to stop you?" I told her as I continued to pat her back. "I'm not an expert with romance but it should be the same with life, right? Go with that makes you happy? And about Crystal, don't worry, she'll be fine. She decided to move on. Plus, she has Callan. That stupid rude boy wasn't so bad after all. He has a soft spot for her so he won't let her suffer."

"I didn't answer his confession yet. I want to talk to Crystal first. As much as I like Verrill, I like Crystal, too. I don't want her hurt but it seems she's already hurt."

"Yes, me too. I don't want her hurting. Should we talk to her now?"

"Uhm. I think we should."

With that, we agreed to talk to Crystal. Hora wiped her tears and washed her face for a moment. She didn't want to talk to Crystal looking like she cried rivers. As for me, I tried to think of ways on how to properly say it to her and what would be the best comfort words. Truly, dealing with relationships was not an easy feat.

Once done, we went over to Crystal's room which was just in front of mine. We knocked on her door three times, and she told us to come in. When we did, we were shocked to see that she was packing up her clothes!