❤︎

Could it be possible for me to be cursed on Valentine's day? I just realized that since this day began, I had experienced nothing but bad encounters.

And, okay, so maybe I was wishing for someone to give me something sweet on this day, but why did it have to be the most egoistic handsome brat in the whole school? It would've been better if he didn't give me anything at all.

"Are you just going to sit there?" Kongpob asked, disturbing my thoughts as I sat down on the floor beside the door. "I'm going to slice the cake, you don't want one?"

I didn't stand up from my place. "I don't like taking things that aren't mine. Didn't you say it's Jessica whom you like? Then that cake is definitely hers." I remarked, bringing out my cellphone to send a message to Nam. I explained her the situation I was in and hoped she would come to help.

"Yeah, you're right. This cake was meant for her. But I can't really give it to her when I'm stuck here with you so I might as well eat it." He said in reply. "Are you sure you don't like some? It's a cheesecake."

I didn't know about you, but I loved cheesecakes, especially with strawberries! It was my favorite cake because it just melted softly in my mouth, leaving off the taste of cheese and sweetness of the berries. And usually, I couldn't resist them when people offered them to me. It was like lasagna for Garfield. That was how much I loved it. However, if I gave in to Kongpob's invite, that would mean I was going to declare my loss and his victory.

"No thanks." I responded stubbornly, checking my cell phone for Nam's reply to distract myself. She was asking me what room we were in, but I had no idea so I couldn't answer her.

"More for me then." He said, eating a spoonful of cake. "Mmm... it tastes so good. I've never tasted a cheesecake as good as this."

As he spoke, my stomach started growling in hunger. And what better way to satisfy my hunger than to eat my beloved cheesecake? But I really couldn't. My pride just wouldn't let me. So instead, I took out a Mentos from my pocket and placed it in my mouth.

He took another bite. "I can't believe you'd prefer eating a candy than this." He said teasingly. Then, he suddenly held out a paper plate with a slice of cake and a plastic teaspoon. "This is my last offer. Take it or leave it?"

I hated him for teasing me this way, but I hated my stomach more for not being satisfied with a Mentos. Swallowing my pride, I slowly stood up and started walking towards him. Just when I was about to take it, he moved it even farther away from me. "Yah!" I complained with a small pout.

"Before I give this to you, you have to answer my question truthfully first." He spoke with that annoying smile on his face.

"What?!" I exclaimed, attempting to grab the slice as he continued to keep it out of my reach.

He smiled even more upon seeing my anxiousness. But nevertheless, he asked his question. "Do you think I'm hot?"

"...What? Are you serious? I think you know my answer to that." I responded instantly, still continuing to reach for the slice of cake.

He still wouldn't give me the cake though and my stomach growled angrier. "Okay, seriously, why do you hate me? It's not like I'm doing anything bad to you."

I checked his face whether he was serious or not. I mean, if he was serious, then I could go on forever with my reasons, like how he broke Nam's heart without any consideration and how he kept bothering me for all these years. But since I still saw that undeniable smile on his face, I decided to answer him with half-honesty. "You want to know why? I'll tell you. It's because of your stupid smile that I hate so much."

Saying that, I noticed that Kongpob let his guard down on the cake to listen to my answer, so I took it as a chance to snatch it away from him. And thankfully, I was successful in doing so. As soon as I got hold of the plate, I placed a spoonful in my mouth. Kongpob wasn't lying when he said it tasted good. Mmmmm... Or maybe it was because of my hunger that made it taste way delicious.

When Kongpob saw me enjoying my food, he didn't try to take it away from me, but just stared at me eating with a weird smile. "I thought you said you didn't like taking things that aren't yours?"

"I'm only eating this because you insisted on letting me have it." I lied, not wanting to let him have the satisfaction of hearing me eat my words.

"Hmm... I wonder what I'm going to give Jessica now that you ate her cake." He spoke teasingly, that mischievous glint back in his eyes.

Annoyed by the mention of Jessica's name, I glared at him. Upon doing so, I caught sight of a beautiful red rose and a box of chocolates. "I don't think she's going to be disappointed with just a rose and a box of chocolate. You can just call out her name and she'd still feel elated." I mumbled, concentrating again on my cake.

"Those aren't for her. It's for someone else." He answered with the same intensity as my voice.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Are you actually saying that you're courting someone else too? Ooh...right how could I forget? You're a player so there's nothing to be surprised about." I rolled my eyes at him and just glared at the gifts in the darkness.

Normally, Kongpob didn't dodge my nasty remarks. But this time, he actually defended himself. "Who said anything about courting anyone? I'm not courting Jessica nor the other person I'm giving those to." He remarked defensively. "I'm giving those as a reward for someone who were there for me, even though they didn't need to."

"Oh, then it must be Nam, since she went out with you even though you were a huge jerk." I shot at him, glad to have a chance to bring up Nam so he would at least feel guilty.

"Why would I give those to Nam?" he asked with frustration in his voice, as if he didn't hear what I just said. "She hates almonds."

0_0 Wait..

He knew that?

Every Valentine when he and Nam were together, he would always give her the same kind of chocolates, a box of chocolates with almonds. And sure enough, Nam never ate them since she didn't like almonds. So instead, I would eat them, because they were my favorite.

But Nam and I had always assumed that Kongpob didn't know Nam hated them. "Then why did you give her the same kind of almond chocolates when you guys were still together?"

"Because I love them." He said with a shrug. Well that was an obvious lie. "And why are you complaining? You're the one who gets to eat them anyway."

I stared at him in shock and just as I opened my mouth to say something, the door suddenly opened, revealing a not-so-happy Nam and Joss. When she saw us, I could see her trying to hide back a feeling of being betrayed. But I couldn't really blame her. How would you feel when you saw your ex-boyfriend and your best friend sitting and eating cake together inside a dark classroom with only three candles lit?

No matter who sees it, the scene looked rather romantic.

"Nam..." I started hesitantly, standing up from my seat. "It's not what you think."

But Nam didn't want to hear my explanation. She turned and started walking away. Joss followed her, probably to attempt in comforting her. Seeing the door open, I decided to leave the room and try to look for Nam too. (Before I left though, I finished the cake first!)

I found her and Joss by her locker, talking intently. I didn't want to intrude on their conversation so I turned around and just headed for class instead. She didn't look that upset anymore anyway, and I could always talk to her after school. Plus, who knew if Joss really liked her and gave her the sweetest Valentine of her life. I surely hope he did, Nam deserves love.

When I got to class, I was expecting the teacher to cut me some slack and not ask about my reason for being late. But unfortunately, I was wrong. As soon as I opened the door, the teacher looked at me sternly and asked me why I was late.

"I was late because Kongpob pulled a prank on me by locking me inside a classroom." I answered truthfully, thinking I could get Kongpob in trouble that way.

"Are you saying that someone pulled a prank on you instead of doing something sweet for you this Valentine?" she looked at me with a raised brow, obviously not believing me. My classmates laughed at her remark, but I ignored it and nodded in reply. "And you're saying that Kongpob did something like that?" (I told you, didn't I? The teachers were also victims of his charms and never blamed him for anything.)

From that point, I already knew that my teacher wasn't going to give me a break. Why was it so hard to believe that Kongpob was capable of doing bad things? It wasn't like he was an angel or anything. He was just any other guy in this room. In fact, Daniel was a lot better than him.

As I looked around the room, I realized that Daniel wasn't there at all. Suddenly, I felt a vibration in my pocket. Seeing that the teacher was busy writing on the blackboard, I took out my cell phone and read the message. It was Daniel, asking me where I was. "Where are you? Why did you leave so quickly during lunch? I have something for you."

Upon reading that, I felt my heart race. Daniel was going to give me something, that was why he wasn't around. He was instead, looking for me. The only problem now was, I couldn't go out of the room since I was being punished.

I held in my excitement until class was over. And once I walked out of the room, I dialed Daniel's number to see if I could meet him. Unfortunately, he wasn't answering the call so I just headed for my locker to drop off my books.

Upon opening my locker, I saw the same box of chocolates that Kongpob had earlier.

It can't be...

Could it really be from him or was it from Daniel?

❤︎