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Annoyed that Kongpob was still siding with Jessica, I stood up from my seat. "If you think she's so great, then why don't you just go and ask her to be your girlfriend and just leave me alone?"

I started to walk away before I could burst out crying in front of him, but as I passed Kongpob, he suddenly grabbed my hand and spoke with stronger confidence than before. "Because you don't like a person just because they are great. You like them, because they are different from others. And that is why you can't break up with me."

0_0

Did I just hear Kongpob admit that he really liked me in his very weird evasive way, or was I wrong? I mean, what else could he mean by that?

But why was my heart beating wildly at the thought of that?

I actually felt...excited...

...and happy?

Could it be I liked him too?

Pffft...of course not! Don't let him sway you so easily, Arthit! He is an arrogant playboy, remember that!

I pulled my hand from his warm grip (yes, his hand was always warm for some reason) and walked away from him, shaking my head like a fool and ordering myself to come back to my senses.

There's no way Kongpob would like me.

He was messing with me again.

And there's no way I would like Kongpob.

Anyone would feel excited when someone said those words to them, right?

...

But then again, I didn't feel that way when Daniel said he liked me, did I?

Maybe it was just in a delayed reaction I was having after the scary locked-room experience.

Yes, that's it. I was just so shaken by what happened that my heart was swayed as well. Just a temporarily mistake, nothing more.

Satisfied by my reasoning, I continued walking towards my class. But even as I did so, I still couldn't shake off Kongpob's unexpected statement from my mind.

How could he be so selfish not to break up with me just because he lied about liking me? To mess with me again?

Well, it wasn't as if I couldn't just stay away from him. Even if we hadn't broken up, I will just stop seeing him. Let's just see if he still wouldn't break up with me.

Upon entering the classroom, Nam gestured to me excitedly to take a seat beside her. And once I did, she turned to me like a happy child who had just seen an adult carrying a bag of candies. "Soooo? How did it go?" she asked with bright twinkles in her eyes.

Letting out a sigh before speaking, I tried to think of the best way to tell her the truth. "Nam, there's something you need to know." I started in a serious tone, causing her to frown. Somehow, it seemed like she already sensed something was wrong. "I broke up with Kongpob."

Nam let out a gasp. "What???!" she exclaimed loudly, making most of our classmates turn to her with curiosity. "Why did you do that?"

Luckily, before I could answer her, the bell rang and was followed by the entrance of our teacher into the classroom. Having no other choice, Nam turned to the teacher and kept silent as the teacher started with the lesson. But even though I was trying to focus on what the teacher was saying, I just couldn't. Instead, I kept worrying about what Nam was going to say upon hearing my reason for breaking up with Kongpob. And as I did, I wondered how much more time I had until that dreadful moment.

Checking my pocket for my cell phone for the time, I remembered that I didn't have my cell phone with me and neither did I have Kongpob's. My cell phone was still with Kongpob, and I left his cell phone on the table just before I walked out of the cafeteria. I was sure Kongpob had found it by now. How could I retrieve my cell phone from Kongpob without meeting him?

Upon realizing this problem, I found myself changing my previous decision once again. I could never really avoid Kongpob if he wouldn't agree to breaking up with me, could I? I mean, he had his annoying ways. He'd definitely catch up with me even if I tried to run away from him. And besides, it wasn't really him who was at fault. He was just the cause of it.

It should be Jessica who should be punished.

As soon as the bell rang, Nam turned to me with an angered expression. "Why did you break up with him already?" she exclaimed accusingly.

And since I already made my decision to try to stick around Kongpob just a bit longer to retrieve my cell phone, I suddenly grinned at her. "Yah, I was just kidding about that. I didn't break up with him. He wouldn't allow me to if I did anyway." I told her reassuringly.

Once she heard that, she let out a deep sigh of relief. "That is not a good joke!" she remarked as she started packing her things. "Don't ever do something like that again, okay? I almost had a heart attack!"

Nodding in reply, I started to walk away from her. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." I told her, waving at her as I continued to walk towards the door. I was going to look for Kongpob, but as soon as I was out of the door in the hallway, Kongpob suddenly appeared beside me and grasped my hand before I could even say anything.

Without saying anything, he started leading me into the same classroom where we found Daniel and Jessica planning against me. Suddenly, he turned to me as he continued to lead the way, but not letting go of my hand yet. "Aren't you going to ask me where we're going?" he said surprised, his eyebrow raised and eyes wide.

"Why should I? I already know where we're going." I replied with no interest, pulling my hand out of his hold. Then I started walking ahead of him to prove my point. "I'm going in the right direction, aren't I?"

Satisfied, he nodded with a smile. "Then, aren't you going to ask me why we're going there?" he tried again as he caught up with me until we were walking alongside each other. "Aren't you even a bit curious?"

I raised a brow at him. It was true that I was usually asking a lot of questions whenever he did something like this, but over time I had gotten quite used to his antics and I knew him well enough to foresee his silly actions. "Since when did any of the things you do make any sense? You never did things for a reason so why would this one be any different?"

And as if feeling extremely proud of my answer, Kongpob smiled at that. "You know me well." He simply answered as we finally reached the classroom.

Once we were there, that was when my curiosity was finally triggered. What were we going to do in a place like this? I looked at him and tried to find a hint from his face about what he had n plan, but I could find nothing. And so, thinking that it couldn't be anything bad, I entered the room with him. But as soon as I did, I caught sight of real trouble.

Jessica was sitting on one of the chairs in the middle of the room, looking as if she had been waiting for a while now. And when she saw us both enter the room together, her eyes grew wide. "What's going on? I thought you wanted to talk to me? Alone." she asked Kongpob, obviously not pleased seeing me there.

Kongpob led me to a seat near Jessica and he sat down beside me. "I am going to talk to you." he answered Jessica.

"Then what is he doing here?" she asked angrily, emphasizing the word 'he', saying it with the same tone a person usually used referring to disgusting pests like cockroaches.

I was about to answer her, when Kongpob overtook me. "He's part of our conversation, so he needs to be here too." He replied calmly.

...did Kongpob just...defend me?

Looking down at her desk, she changed the topic with an annoyed huff. "So what do you want to talk to me about?"

Honestly, I had no idea what Kongpob was going to ask Jessica. After all, he didn't believe me before when I told him that Jessica was ruining my life, so it couldn't be because of that. But if that wasn't it, what else could it be?

"Arthit wanted to break up with me earlier today. Do you know why?"

Jessica looked up with her left eyebrow raised. Even though he face wasn't showing it, it was obvious that she was trying hard to hide a smile. "Can't you just ask him? He's sitting right next to you after all." She said annoyed, her tone changing into a happier one. Then she turned to me, blinking with fake innocence. "Why did you do it, Arthit? Is it because of me?"

She was once again provoking me. And like earlier, I was ready to take the bait and attack her when Kongpob once again went ahead of me. "Arthit said you were giving him trouble. Were you?" he asked, all of a sudden turning more serious.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Jessica replied sharply. Kongpob didn't speak. He just waited for her to answer as if he knew that Jessica would eventually answer him. And surprisingly, she did. But first, she let out a loud laugh. "I've never figured Arthit to be a squealer, but yes, I've been threatening him lately."

Upon hearing that, I was expecting Kongpob to be all hyped up, because his nice image of Jessica was suddenly ruined. But no, he remained calm yet he seemed to get angry by the secon. "Why?" he asked again, a certain darkness evident in his eyes.

"Oh come on, I'm sure you know that, don't you? I want the two of you to break up. And it's great to hear it worked well." She answered with a laugh. Her laugh was so annoying that I really wanted to punch her.

"Why? We didn't break up. Didn't I already tell you that Arthit likes me very much?" Kongpob suddenly spoke with a bragging tone, as if I was some sort of a toy Jessica should be jealous of. "And I like him too."

Unf...that was another beat my heart skipped at those words.

Jessica shook her head in amusement. "Kongpob, it's obvious that Arthit is just playing with you. He's been trying to ruin your reputation even before he became your boyfriend. Aren't you even the least bit suspicious of him? And even if you are, you can't just pretend you aren't just because you like him. It doesn't work that way."

From what Jessica said, I was expecting Kongpob to get mad already, because after all, she was implying that Kongpob was being stupid about our relationship. But instead, he just seemed to be thinking hard about it, as if deciding whether he should believe Jessica or not. Was Jessica really that important to him that when she was asking him to break up with me against his will, he'd really still consider it? Or was it because he had lied about liking me just as I thought?

"So you're saying I should be in a relationship with someone I don't like?" he asked Jessica after a moment of tense silence.

"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying you shouldn't make a fool out yourself." Jessica answered knowingly. She seemed somewhat confident now that Kongpob would listen to her advice.

Suddenly, Kongpob's face turned completely serious and he looked angrier than I'd ever seen him before. "Yah, if I want to make a fool out of myself, it doesn't concern you. Don't get me wrong, I believe that you're just trying to protect me in your own way, but you're being too much. You're being paranoid, so you assume that Arthit's a bad person and threaten him."

Ugh...I was feeling more and more uncomfortable about this.

Jessica suddenly let out a sarcastic laugh. "Are you implying that I'm the one lying to you?" she remarked firmly.

"I'm saying you made a mistake. Arthit isn't what you think he is. Sure, he tried to ruin my reputation, but he only did that because he believed I played with Nam. Arthit hates players and liars, so why would he be one?" Kongpob defended me. And you could only imagine how shocked I was, hearing him protect me like this. But what came next was the biggest surprise of all. "I want you to apologize to Arthit now."

Remember when Jessica attacked May and Michael came to the rescue? He forced Jessica to apologize to May, but Jessica never gave in. Well, I was half-expecting Kongpob to succeed with it this time, but unfortunately, he failed too. "No. Why would I apologize for something when I didn't do anything wrong?" she spoke stubbornly.

She stood up from her seat and was about to leave when Kongpob stood up too and held onto her left arm, stopping her from leaving. "Apologize to Arthit. Now." He repeated in a low threatening tone. "I won't let go until you do so."

Glaring at him, she tried to release his grip on her. "You're going to regret this when you find out the truth." She hissed just before she turned to me and apologized forcefully. ",,,Sorry."

As soon as she said that, Kongpob's grip on her loosened, so she was able to shake it off easily and rushed out of the room without a glance at us. She actually looked like she was about to cry.

Once she was gone, Kongpob's serious expression disappeared and he turned to smile at me, looking relieved all of a sudden. "Now that it's settled, we're not breaking up anymore, are we?" He spoke happily, taking his cell phone from his pocket and gave it to me.

Still shocked from everything that had just happened, I just nodded silently and took his cell phone, placing it in my pocket.

The next thing I knew, we were walking home together in complete silence, while I was busy trying to process my thoughts.

Did Kongpob Suthiluck just choose me over Jessica?

And if so, why did the mere thought of it make my heart beat so damn fast?

❤︎