We finally reached her floor.
And that's when I realized—
Her apartment was just one floor above mine.
We were in the same apartment building…!
She noticed the shocked look on my face.
Ardi? What's the matter?
Umm… actually… We live in the same apartment… Ms. Parker.
For a moment I thought she might be surprised.
But to my surprise, she simply smiled.
Oh? What a coincidence, she said warmly. Which flat?
I pointed downstairs. Right below yours.
She opened the door and welcomed me inside. Lettie was still sleeping peacefully in my arms, so I gently placed her on the couch and covered her with a blanket.
I should get going, I said quietly.
But Ms. Parker stopped me.
Wait, she said. Let me give you a proper thank you before you leave.
I couldn't really refuse, so I stayed. She brought some tea and snacks and sat across from me.
For a moment, the room was silent.
I noticed she was staring at me.(Starerr...….)
When our eyes met, she quickly looked away.agin(Starerr...….)
A few seconds later… she looked again.
Then suddenly she spoke, a little shyly.
Um… Ardi…
Yeah?
You look cool… but your bangs are covering your handsome face.
It took me by surprise, but I tried to stay calm.
Th-thank you, Ms. Par—
Ardi, she interrupted gently. I thought we were friends now, so you can just call me Elise. My sister calls me Ealli… you should probably call me that too, since I'm calling you Ardi.
She smiled playfully.
Now then… say it.
Ea… Ea…lli…
Ms. Par—? ,no… it's ….Ea…lli.
You call my sister Lettie, so go on, she teased.
Sigh… I muttered softly, my face heating up.
Okay then… thank you, Ealli.
The moment I said it, her cheeks turned red.
(It only took one word to make her blush.)
She quickly looked away, clearly embarrassed.
Ealli… are you okay? I asked.
Y-yes… yeah, I'm fine, she said awkwardly.
Alright then, I should get going.
O-okay… see you…
Umm… yeah… see you.
I walked outside and headed down to my flat.
Man… what a day.
Just as I was about to relax—
Ding dong.
The doorbell rang.
I went to open it.
It was Hana.
She looked completely stressed out.
I took her bag and told her to go wash her hands and face and sit down. I said I would bring her some tea.
Why does she look so stressed?
Rewind⏪.(The reason why she look so stressed)
Uff… today's club work finished quickly.
In one week it's Ardi's birthday, so I'll buy a gift for him.
Thinking about that day…
Ardi, happy birthday.
He'll smile and say thank you, Hana. I'm so happy.
And then… maybe I'll ask him to hug me.
Blush…
Wait… what is that?
Ardi…?
He… what is he holding?
A kid?
No… is he a father?
No no, that can't be.
So Hana followed Ardi.
No… I look like a total stalker.
They went inside the mall.
Oh no, I lost them.
So Hana waited outside, sitting on a bench.
But then she saw Ardi again… and he was with another person.
A girl.
When Hana saw that, her heart filled with jealousy and strange thoughts started popping into her mind.
Yet again, she followed them.
They walked straight to the apartment where Ardi lives.
Present.
Ardi was making tea
meanwhile.
Hana kept thinking to herself.
Should I ask him?
What if he stops talking to me… or gets angry?
I've never seen him angry since childhood… but who knows.
Ugh… my brain hurts.
While she was drowning in that pool of jealousy and stress, Ardi came back and placed the tea on the table with some biscuits.
She took one sip.
And just like that, her stress disappeared like it always does.
Ardi sat right in front of her, looking at her face, wondering what had happened.
Did she have a fight with someone?
Or something strange happen?
He kept staring at her, thinking deeply.
Hana's face slowly turned bright red, but Ardi didn't understand what was going on.
Suddenly, Ardi gently patted her head and told her not to stress.
He said he would always help if she needed anything, then chuckled softly.
Hana looked at him while he said those kind things, and her face grew even hotter.
The happiest thing for Hana was that Ardi only spoke like that with her.
Only with her.
The next day at school, Hana thought everything would be normal as usual.
But suddenly someone appeared out of nowhere.
It was none other than Elise Parker, the new transfer student.
She introduced herself to the class.
Everyone started whispering.
She's cute…
She's really pretty…
Hana looked at her carefully.
That's the girl… the one who was with Ardi yesterday.
Elise then walked straight toward Ardi and started talking to him casually.
Hana was surprised.
Yesterday she thought Ardi only talked gently like that with her.
But now he was talking normally with this girl too.
The whole class was shocked.
Aiden Tsuki was talking with a girl other than Hana.
And not only that—
They even saw him smile.
For the first time.
Girls in the class started murmuring.
Wow… he's so cute.
All this time the hottest guy in our class was right here and we didn't even notice.
The boys were completely shocked and stayed quiet.