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Even though deep down I had expected him to ask me that question, I took a moment before I answered. Damn this was...I had been refusing to believe it all this time, but now I knew the reason why my heart was beating wildly whenever he was around and why I found it hard to breathe when he looked at me with that intense gaze of his...and why I wasn't hating him anymore and actually felt worried about hurting him...

...because I really was liking him now...

Probably had liked him for a while already.

So, taking a deep breath to calm my heart, I answered him truthfully. "I do."

And upon hearing that, he suddenly smiled so wide and happy, I nearly melted by the sweet twinkle in his eyes. "Good. Me too."

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Okay, so normally, after a some sort of revelation like that, especially in romantic dramas, a kiss or a hug would follow after. But Kongpob wasn't always the type to follow trends so that probably wouldn't happen. But then again, he always did the opposite of what I expected. And so, before he could do anything to me, I took out his cell phone from my pocket and pretended to read a message I just received.

"Kongpob, I need to go. My mother just sent me a message saying she needs me home now." I spoke, placing the cell phone quickly back to my pocket, so he couldn't snatch it from me to find out if I was lying.

But he knew better. He raised his brow at me. "Your mother knows my number?" he remarked calmly, not sounding suspicious though I knew he was.

I nodded in reply. "Of course she does. But she doesn't know it's your number. I told her I swap phones with Nam, so she can call me at Nam's number whenever she needs to reach me." I answered him convincingly. The truth was, my mother had no idea I didn't have my cell phone with me these past few days, because she rarely called or sent me messages. But why would I tell him the truth?

Upon hearing my answer, Kongpob let out that infamously bright smile of his he always showed whenever he was enjoying the moment. And suddenly, I knew I was busted. "Is that so? then why did someone named 'Mommy' send a message just earlier today saying she forgot she had a meeting today so she can't go shopping with you later today?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Okay, so what he just said was true because my mother and I did plan to go shopping later in the afternoon. But I shouldn't panic. I wasn't completely busted, right? "Yah! How can you read my personal messages?!" I snapped at him, attempting to change the topic instead of defending myself.

"Why? Don't you do the same?" he answered back with a knowing smirk.

Actually, I did read one of the messages he got from his brother. But it wasn't intentional. I was in class during that time and was irritated by the vibration in my pocket so I took it out under my desk to stop it. It turned out it was a message from his brother asking him when he was coming home. Nevertheless, he was right. I still did the same. And so, I decided to drop the subject. "Whatever." I mumbled. Then I returned to my first agenda. "Anyway, can I go now? I still have a lot of homework to do."

"Are you saying your homework is more important than your boyfriend?" he spoke with a fake frown. "No, you can't go home yet, because I'm still not satisfied with your punishment."

I frowned at him. "What? How much longer do I have to stay then?" I asked him with a pout.

Honestly, it was getting rather difficult to be around him without blushing and feeling all giddy inside. I mean we had just confessed to each other and still...nothing had changed between us? It was quite confusing...to say the least.

He then smiled evilly as he raised two fingers. "Two more hours." He said. And after that, as if he had different levels of evil smiles, his smile got even more evil. "Unless you give me a kiss."

I absolutely had no idea why, but upon hearing that I actually walked over to him with an equally evil smile and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. And as soon as I did, I could feel my cheeks burn aflame and I started walking, no, running away towards my house.

As I did, that was when realization surged through me. I just kissed Kongpob's cheek! But that wasn't the fact that bothered me. It was not knowing the reason why. Did I just kiss Kongpob because I wanted to? Or only because he told me to? After all, I unconsciously smiled evilly upon doing it. And Kongpob did look surprised when I did it. Maybe the reason why I did it was because I wanted to take revenge on him for all the times he surprised me with the unexpected.

As soon as I got home, the phone rang with Nam on the other end. "Arthit, you were on a date with Kongpob just now, weren't you?" she asked excitedly as soon as I answered.

"Yah! Are you spying on me or something? How did you know?" I exclaimed at her.

"I heard it from Joss." She answered with a teasing tone. "Sooooo how did it go?"

I felt myself blush as I remembered my foolish action of kissing Kongpob's cheek. Gosh, I could still feel my lips tingle weirdly. "It went well, but it was not really a date. It's my punishment for breaking four of his rules."

She laughed. "Yah, how can a punishment go well? It must be a date for it to have been well. And for you to actually say a date with Kongpob went well, something must have happened. Spill it out, Arthit." She responded in excitement.

"Well..." I started, not sure what to say and what not to say to her. I couldn't tell her about our conversation about their relationship, could I? I wasn't sure if I could tell her about my newly found feelings, because she might feel as if I betrayed her. But then again, lately, she was acting like she wanted me to like Kongpob. And so, to be sure, I tried to confirm my theory first. "Nam, can I ask you a question? Would you be mad if I were to say that I really like Kongpob?"

She let out a sigh before she answered. "Didn't I answer this question before? I told you already, even if I'd feel hurt when I find out you like Kongpob, I wouldn't oppose it because I value our friendship more than anything. And if that's what makes you both happy, then of course I would be happy for you." She spoke wisely, then paused as she seemed to have caught on to what I was really trying to say. "Wait a minute, you like him now, don't you?!" She squealed on the other end.

"I think so..." I said in a small voice, feeling a bit embarrassed since I actually vowed I wouldn't ever fall in love with Kongpob. "Are you really fine with it?"

She answered immediately, as if knowing that if she took a pause before she answered, I wouldn't believe her. "Yes, I am, really! So don't feel guilty about it."

"Then, can I ask another question?" I asked shyly, wanting to clarify my reason for kissing Kongpob. "Do you think it's possible for someone who just started to like someone to want to kiss that someone?"

Upon hearing that, there was shuffling sound on Nam's end of the phone. She was probably surprised by my question. "Yah, Arthit, you kissed Kongpob, didn't you?" she accused me even without me saying so.

"No no! It was just a peck on a cheek." I remarked defensively, blushing furiously again. "Anyway, just answer my question."

She laughed at me weak attempt to defend my action. "To be honest, Arthit, I don't believe you've just now started liking Kongpob. I think you've liked him since kindergarten." She told me, turning serious. "I know exactly what you're going to say. You're going to tell me that it's not possible because you always ignored Kongpob and fought with him when you were younger. But I'm pretty sure the reason why you were doing that was because you were trying to resist the attraction you were starting to feel towards him?"

I fell silent for a while, thinking deep at her words and...despite my heart beat speeding up, I didn't agree with her. "No, Nam, that theory is absurd. The only reason why I kept ignoring him, before was because I couldn't take all the childish things he did to me. Besides, he always annoyed me, there's no way..." I told her, unable to believe that I had hidden feelings for my former enemy all this time.

She wouldn't agree with my denial though. "So then how would you explain you kissing his cheek then?" She shot at me. "Face it, Arthit. You're in love with Kongpob Suthiluck."

L-love?

Oh damn...

Those last words from Nam actually managed to keep me up all night. Could it really be that I didn't just like Kongpob, but I was in love with him? But just a few days ago, I still hated the thought of him. How could I have a change of heart so easily?

Nam actually answered these questions for me, but I just couldn't believe.

Was I really in love with Kongpob for all these years without even realizing it?

But the bigger question was, how long had Kongpob been liking me? Did he really bully me all these years just to get my attention?

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The next day, I had no trouble waking up on time because I hardly got any sleep. As early as 20 minutes before the first bell would ring, I was already by my locker, getting the books I needed for my classes. After stuffing all the books in my back bag, I started heading towards my classroom. On the way, I bumped into May.

"How are you?" I asked her, noticing she was beaming today. "Did something good happen?"

"I'm fine. I'm just excited because I'm throwing a surprise for Michael's birthday today." She responded in a whisper, looking around to make sure no one heard besides me. "I can't tell you the details yet, but you'll see later."

I nodded in understanding. "I see. Good luck with that." I told her sincerely.

"Thanks." She replied with a grin. "Well, I better go. See you later."

I said goodbye and continued towards my destination. However, I was once again distracted by a familiar voice speaking from a classroom nearby. I was pretty sure it was Nam, so I walked over to the classroom. The door was open just slightly, so I pushed it a little more wider to check if it was really Nam speaking.

When I was able to see inside, I caught sight of Nam and Kongpob inside the room. Kongpob was sitting behind one of the tables, looking at Nam seriously as Nam stood in front of him with the same expression. At that moment, I was thinking that they were probably talking about what had happened between them and their relationship. But then I heard Nam speak and her words rendered me speechless.

"What's the matter? You don't believe me? Listen to me, Kongpob. Arthit's not the type who forgives easily. When he found out that Daniel lied to him, he didn't give him another chance to be with him anymore. He even pushed aside his feelings for him. What makes you think he'd forgive you so easily?"

0_0

What the hell is going on?

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