Did she say yes?

"Is this a form of bribery? What do you want in exchange for this ice cream?" Jeanne brought the cup of ice cream she hold closer to her face.

Clearly, she could see the word 'Yum-ice Vanilla' written on the surface of its white cup. There were a lot of other words printed on there but she didn't care about it. From the beginning, she wasn't that interested in the ice cream. She takes it just to find out Ilia's true intentions.

"What? No!" Ilia said spontaneously. He was a little annoyed and felt humiliated by the question.

"I gave you the ice cream not-" And he stopped talking as he recalled his mission. That mission was, "I want you to be cheerful again so... yes. The ice cream was probably a form of bribery."

"So that's your plan. You'll cheer me up for me to say, I owe you. After that, you will use my debt to you to get what you want from me." Jeanne placed the ice cream onto the space of the bench that separated them. The girl leaned back and closed her eyes. "That's an awfully good plan, I'm impressed."

Ilia said nothing or was upset by the groundless accusation she said. After all, he does look at this episode from a different perspective, from her perspective. He was also aware that his kindness sometimes makes people suspicious of him.

Now, From her words and change in her habits over the past few days, he began making a wild guess. "Are these kinds of schemes that bother and change you?"

"Yes, things like that bother me," Jeanne admits as she still closes her eyes. Her pink lips didn't stop moving and another series of words were voiced. "And changes? Tell me, do I change and how?"

"Well... you do. I notice it from your habits. You didn't make a note in class or eat with your friends, stay longer in the toilet after school, buy things that you never buy, and the time when you check out your smartphone becomes one per two hours. The other changes, you seem sadder, make a lot of mistakes, your appetite decreases, and you daydream a lot."

"Look at that, aren't you paying so much attention to me?" Jeanne opened her eyes and looked at Ilia.

Their eyes were locked.

Sky-blue eyes vs. blood-red eyes.

The boy was unable to keep eye contact for too long. Within the next few seconds, he turned his slightly heated face away.

As for the matter of paying attention to Jeanne, how could he not do it?

Jeanne is one of the four prettiest girls in the school he attended. Besides that, she was one of his love interests. Seeing and paying attention to her along with those gorgeous girls as a bonus was a natural thing that he or all male students did.

Beautiful girls are a delicious buffet for their eyes.

The girl's eyes narrowed as she observe the restless boy. "Are you a stalker?"

The question immediately made Ilia turn to look at Jeanne. "No! Of course, not!" He disagreed quickly.

"So… you're watching me because... I do remember you say, you love me?" The girl tilted her head slightly, unsure.

On the other hand, the heat on Ilia's face and cheeks rise. He was shocked, that she guessed his mind correctly. And, talking about that confession when there are just two of them was more embarrassing than when he said it in front of people.

Ilia nodded and said, "You're right, I love you."

Jeanne sneered and was amused after hearing it.

Ilia?

He was so embarrassed after seeing her reaction. His face was very, very, very red, like a tomato and he could only look down. He didn't want to show his miserable face to her.

"Say oh the boy who was drunk in love," Jeanne said teasingly.

"Gah!" A strange voice came out of Ilia's mouth as he felt his heart pierced. With a helpless expression, he looked at her. "What is it?"

"Am I perfect? If not, do you want me to be perfect?" Jeanne didn't seem to care when she said that questions. At the same time, she took something from her school bag.

"Perfect in what? Isn't being yourself more than enough?" Ilia asked in shock when he saw a package of cigarettes in Jeanne's hand.

"That's not the answer to my question." Jeanne took a brown cigarette, put it on her lips, and then lit it with a lighter.

Jeanne made a light smoke and a moment later, a puff of white smoke came out of the gap between her lips.

Ilia was silent for a while before finally. "You're not perfect and I don't want you to be perfect, I want you to be yourself. And smoking? Seriously?"

"What? You don't like it?" Jeanne asked with an annoyed expression. And a moment later, "Cough! Cough! Cough!" She coughed quite hard.

"It's not a matter of whether I like it or not, It's more about your health. If you've just started smoking, you better leave it."

"Do you care about my health?"

"Yes, I care."

Jeanne blinked. A moment later, she put out her cigarette. "Okay, I'll stop smoking. It's the first time for me so I don't care. And uh! The inside of my mouth became horrible."

The girl made a sour face while the boy shook his head.

"You can eat that ice cream now. It will make your mouth better and if it melts, its taste will decrease."

Jeanne raised one of her eyebrows when she looked at Ilia. She then picked up the ice cream on the bench. She observes that cold sweet for a while.

"Are you sure this cheap ice cream is delicious? Is this going to make my mouth better? Will my grief disappear?"

"I admit, this ice cream is indeed cheap and maybe, it won't fit your silver tongue. But yes, I'm sure, that ice cream will make your mouth feels better. I'm not sure your grief will disappear because of it. At least, it's a form of my kindness to you." Finished with all that, Ilia saw Jeanne straight into her eyes. "You know, you can count on me, you can share your pain with me, and I will keep it a secret until I die. Promised."

Jeanne opened her eyes wide, her lips quivering. A moment later, she looked at the ice cream in her hand and then looked at Ilia and vice versa several times. It all happened because she was so shocked.

"This cheap ice cream is a form of your kindness to me? And truly, you willing to endure some of my pain until you die if I share it with you?" Jeanne asked in disbelief.

Ilia nodded firmly, his eyes emitting a determination. "Yes, it is my kindness to comfort you. I will accept your pain as long as I live if you are willing to share it. I'm not going to force you of course. If you're not comfortable with this or don't want it, you can forget everything I say and throw the ice cream away."

"No! I want it, I want it so much!" Jeanne yelled out loud. Happiness and relief colored her voice.

Ilia who heard the yelling froze.

A moment later, Jeanne ate the ice cream Ilia had given to her swiftly. "Look! I ate the ice cream you gave me!" She yelled once more before returning to eat the ice cream.

Her overreaction melted the ice that froze Ilia. A little panicked, he said, "Okay! Okay! Slow down, Jeanne, you can choke!"

The girl didn't listen to the boy's warning and she kept chomping down the ice cream like no tomorrow.

Sometime later, they sat in awkwardness. Silence had been enveloping them for some time.

"Hey," Jeanne broke her silence.

"What's wrong?" Ilia replied with a desire to sweep away the awkwardness between them.

"As for your confession of love, I will retract the no, which I once gave you. In its place, I give you the yes."