THE SUDDEN PROPOSAL

"Alex, let's get married."

Clash!

Thump!

While Mateo dropped the remaining red wine in the pan, Lucas jumped out of his seat, messing up the complete puzzle he just finished.

"Oh shit!"

"My dinner!"

Both cursed at the same time. The next second, Mateo glared at Sakura.

'If it wasn't for her, my perfect roasted pork….'

He wanted to curse her so bad but just looking at her face he couldn't.

As for Lucas, he stared at his destroyed puzzle that he painstakingly finished in three hours before messing it up.

He was depressed.

And the person who ruined both of their hard work was happily staring at Alex.

When Alex first heard the proposal, his heart skipped a beat.

He had to admit that it was the first time someone was bold enough to propose to him so directly.

He turned to face her and watched her innocent-looking eyes.

The pair of unique eyes gazed at him with so much curiosity and bliss.

The warm gaze of glass blue eyes was like a deep ocean.

The more he stared at her eyes, he was sinking deeper and deeper.

He paused before asking, "And why do you want us to get married?"

"Why not? If I am to be your bride and you are my groom, we will be able to live together forever. We will have a family and live till death do us apart."

Sakura excitedly explained to him the reason.

She was sure that he would accept her proposal.

Alex played with her pink hair and asked, "Is that what you learned today? But I can't marry you yet, Sakura."

Sakura was stunned and then saddened by the rejection.

"Why not? Am I not pretty enough? I'll be a good bride."

Alex chuckled. "I know you will be a wonderful bride but you are too young. You have to grow as old as me if you want to marry me."

"Can we really get married if I grow as old as you?"

"Yes, you can."

"Yay! How can I grow old like you?"

"I'll talk to our friend Ms. Xue Lin and then tell you tomorrow. How's that?"

"Sure!"

"Good grief. She doesn't know how to spell 'proposal' and proposed to Alex."

Lucas sat on the chair again and rearranged his puzzles.

"Spell? Does she even know what 'proposal' means? Forget about 'proposal'. What does she know about marriage or having a family? Thanks to her, my dinner is ruined!"

Mateo gritted his teeth. Since there was extra wine, he had to add extra ingredients to make it taste better.

"I'll have to cook five more servings and we won't be able to finish this by tonight. I hate stale food.'

He couldn't vent his anger and got more furious every second.

After dinner, Lucas suggested, "Why don't we watch a horror movie? It's been a while since we watched one."

He wasn't wrong. After they took on a large project, they hadn't had the time to enjoy themselves.

Later on, they found Sakura. Their lives became complicated after her arrival.

"Are you sure you want to watch a horror movie? Will she be all right?" Mateo pointed at Sakura.

"What's a horror movie? I want to watch too!" Sakura was interested after watching the trailer of the movie.

Lucas grinned. "She agreed. Let's watch one."

"I don't mind watching one movie before going to sleep." Alex had no objection either.

Lucas turned off the lights and then played the movie.

While they were watching the movie, Sakura realized why Mateo was wary of her presence.

She didn't know when she started to sweat even though the air conditioner was working.

Her throat was dry. She kept drinking water.

Whenever she heard ominous music playing in the background, she covered her ears.

Her heart was beating fast. She shut her eyes tightly whenever a horrifying face came to the screen.

She grasped the couch tightly and moaned softly.

She scanned Lucas, Mateo and Alex's faces. They looked focused.

'What should I do? I'm so scared but they haven't fazed by the ghost at all. Why aren't they frightened at all? Is it because I'm still young that I'm scared? If I grow up like Alex, I won't be scared at all right?'

Sakura trembled at the sight of the horrifying ghost. She quickly looked away.

'Should I tell them that I won't watch it anymore?'

She immediately dispersed her thoughts.

'But I can't tell them. I have to act like I've grown up like Alex. If I don't, I can't marry him. When will I get older?'

Feeling depressed, she lowered her head.

The rest of the evening, she kept thinking about how to grow up. She didn't pay attention to the movie.

When the movie ended, she finally sighed in relief.

"Sakura-chan, did you like the movie?" Lucas asked her.

His enthusiasm made Sakura cower. She gulped and nodded vigorously.

"I liked it a lot. I've never watched something like this before."

Lucas grinned at her. "Is that so? Let's watch a horror movie again."

'Again? I don't think I can take this. Lin was right. Lying isn't a good thing. Now I have to watch this horror movie again.'

Sakura wanted to cry but she held back.

She replied, "Sure, I will watch with you again."

Lucas beamed. "Really?! Aren't you the cutest! Let's watch one again next week."

"Sure… I'll go back to my room. I'm sleepy," saying that Sakura quickly left the living room.

Finally, Mateo opened his mouth. "Did you have to tease her like that?"

Lucas couldn't stop laughing.

"Did you see how scared she was? It's okay to be scared but why did she have to lie though? She made it so obvious by drinking water and flinching at the sight of the ghost.

"Then, she bravely sat with us to watch till the end. It was so cute! It's not my fault that she agreed to watch a horror movie with me. She could say 'no'."

"As long as she doesn't die of a heart attack, I don't mind." Mateo got up from the couch and headed to his room.

Lucas looked at Alex. "You aren't mad at me for this, are you?"