Chapter Six

Kevin couldn't stop glancing at the gathering of music students. He cursed Levi for taking him to the school hall to discuss the annual festival. There wasn't enough time, so they had to prepare well. He should have been concentrating on the direction of one of his teachers, but what if the music student was also in the same hall–only a few meters away from him?

Levi sighed and nudged his arm. He looked at the man.

"You can watch her later, but for now, focus on the direction from our teacher," Levi whispered, which only Kevin could hear.

He nodded and took a deep breath. He was trying hard not to look at the group of music students while the teacher was talking.

On the other hand, Jacel noticed someone from art class. Somehow, she felt attracted to one of them. She felt that she was the one who was often watching her from the art classroom.

"Jacel, what did you see?" Mark asked.

She looked at her best friend and shook her head. "It's nothing, Mark."

The man doesn't just believe her excuse. He noticed the woman's gaze just now. Well, he wouldn't be surprised if what she noticed were some arts students doing a briefing. Mark took a deep breath and refocused in his own teacher's direction. He wouldn't assume anything.

Besides, Jacel didn't know any of the art class students, so there was nothing to worry about.

Hopefully, he is right about that.

*****

Jacel returned to the school hall because she had left the sheet music behind. And without it, she couldn't make a new arrangement for the song she was about to perform. The school hall has now been turned into a stage area for music classes and an exhibition area for art classes. Not too big, but spacious enough if only divided into two parts.

She sighed in frustration when she couldn't find the score. Well, maybe she should ask for another sheet and work on the song as fast as she can. The festival will start in three days. Then she walked towards the exit. However, she was stopped when a painting caught her attention.

Jacel approached the painting to take a closer look. Well, she doesn't understand painting, but she can judge that it's very beautiful. "K E V? Is this the beginning of the painter?" she mumbled.

Then, without realizing it, she walked into the exhibition area to look at other paintings. She discovered several paintings with the same initials there.

She smiled. "Whoever he or she is, he or she is very talented at painting," she said as she stared at the paintings one by one.

However, her attention stopped at a portrait painting. And Jacel felt a little familiar with the figure in the painting. A familiar figure, but who?

"Who are you?"

Jacel turned her head when she heard a voice. Well, the one who called her was an art student. But what made her confused was the person's expression when she saw him. Do all art students always hate music students? They don't even want to meet one of us? She thought.

"I'm sorry, I just happened to be passing by. I-I didn't do anything to the painting. I just saw it," she said, as she was about to leave the exhibition area.

But the art student held her back. Jacel looked at him, confused. However, the art student looked at her name tag instead. "Kim, Jacel? Is that your name?"

She nodded, and she also looked at the art student's name tag. "Wu, Kevin? Oh, you're that transfer student?"

Kevin suddenly let go of her. "Y-you know me?"

Jacel smiled and shook her head. "I don't. But I heard a lot that the transfer student in art class had a really great talent for painting. Are you part of the festival too? Which is your painting?"

Kevin didn't answer her question. He was too shocked. Well, how could he not? The music student he had always looked up to was now in front of him. And he knows her name now.

Moreover, the music student praised him. Oh, God must really love him.

Jacel watched Kevin, who didn't react. She felt a little awkward. "I-I'll just go. Sorry if I entered without permission. After all, I'm a music student. You must…"

"It does not matter. I-I won't tell anyone. Including my friends," Kevin said nervously.

She smiled again. Kevin swears the girl's smile is the most beautiful he's ever seen. And Kevin wants to see that smile continue. But then the atmosphere turned very awkward. He occasionally glanced at Jacel, before finally the girl's cell phone rang.

Jacel received the phone call. "Yes, Dad? Ah, in front of the school gate? Okay, I'll be right there." After having a short conversation with her dad over the phone, she looked back at Kevin. She smiled again. "Then I'll go first."

Kevin just nodded and Jacel left the hall before turning around. "Kevin, good luck at the festival."

Without hearing the man's response, she immediately ran out of the hall. Kevin himself felt his face starting to feel hot. He took a deep breath and touched his left chest. His heart was beating very fast.

Then Kevin smiled. "Good luck to you too, Jacel Kim."

*****

The day of the annual festival arrived, and the school hall was completely filled with students, their parents, or even students from other schools. The CAMSH Annual Festival is indeed held on a large scale. Besides that, the winner of the best class will be determined by voting from visitors without counting the votes of CAMSH students themselves to get objective results.

Kevin took a deep breath. He was standing near the entrance to the exhibition area with his friends, whose paintings were selected. Every now and then he looks for the figure he misses, Jacel Kim. Oh, even though yesterday they met, or rather, Kevin saw her in the same hall. But the girl didn't seem to notice his existence. That disappointed Kevin a bit, but it feels natural. They only met once. How could she even notice that they were "enemies"? Well, for the rest of his life, he would hate his mom's choice of sending him to this school. Wait! If he doesn't enter this school, then he won't meet Jacel, right?

Kevin ruffled his hair in frustration.

"Hey, I'm having a hard time managing your hair!" exclaimed Levi, who came with a glass of water.

He sighed and accepted the drink. "Levi, not now, okay?"

The man chuckled at his very nervous attitude. Then he pulled him away from his friends from art class. Kevin didn't care, so he followed Levi out of the hall. At the very least, he needed some fresh air. Until the man handed him a leaflet.

"Look," said Levi.

Kevin frowned and took the flyer before his eyes became wide open.

Levi laughed at that. "If you don't see her, she's probably getting ready, Kevin. Look, she's showing up half an hour from now."

"W-where did you get this? You…"

"I took it from another school's students. Luckily, they didn't know that I was from this school either. But at least you can relax a little, can't you? You're so tense. Missing that music student too much?" said Levi.

Kevin hit his friend's head with the flyer. "Don't make fun of me, Levi."

Levi just laughed again. But he glanced at the clock on Kevin's wrist. "Hey, is your mom coming or not?"

Kevin shrugged. He sighed again. Right now, he didn't really care if his mom came or not. Most importantly, he had already given the invitation. So, it's now up to his mom's decision. Besides, he thought too much of Jacel Kim.

Levi laughed again at how pathetic Kevin Wu was right now. They haven't been close for long, but they come from the same country, namely China, which makes them a bit like brothers. He then turned his gaze to look around. This year's festival is busier than the previous year, maybe because the promotions carried out by the school are very large. In addition, it is reported that several large agency companies were deliberately invited. It seems that if you're lucky, some people can audition to get into that big company and become famous. Huh, that could happen, right?

"Eh? Kevin, is that your mom?! B-but with who?" Levi pointed at a beautiful woman walking side-by-side with a man.

Kevin watched intently. He snorted. "Mom's not kidding that she's coming with her new boyfriend, I guess."

Levi looked at Kevin with his mouth open. "Boyfriend? You mean your future stepfather?"

Kevin nodded. "Come on, Levi," then he walked over to his mother while Levi was still standing with a surprised expression.

Well, Levi found out that Kevin's father passed away a few years ago, and his mother decided to move to Canada six months after her husband's departure. And the story that he heard, Kevin moved to CAMSH because of someone's recommendation. It seemed that someone was his own mother's lover.

Levi finally decided to go back into the hall, and Kevin was now standing in front of his mother.

Even though he knew that one day he would meet his mom's lover, Kevin never felt ready. He sighed.

His mother smiled. "You didn't say hello? This is John Kim."

Kevin looked at the man and bowed slightly. Well, he didn't want to be punished just for being rude. "I'm Kevin Wu."

The man named John Kim smiled. "Nice to meet you, Kev. Finally, we can meet."

Kevin forced a smile. The man in front of him called him Kev, and it was certain that it was his mother's. He looked at his mom. But it seems like his mother is only busy with her lover.

"Mom..."

His mother finally looked at him. Kevin really wanted to protest, but the situation was not right. After all, his mother just arrived from Canada a week ago with big news. Regarding marriage.

Ugh, just thinking about it gave Kevin a headache.

"Come in. The show has started. If it gets more crowded, it will be difficult to find a place. Besides, I want Mom to see my painting," he said.

His mother smiled and nodded. "Okay."

Kevin didn't want to hear anything else, so he walked first with his mother and the Kim guy behind him, chatting about something about the festival. He didn't really hear it because the atmosphere was very crowded. But he stopped for a second when the Kim man vaguely mentioned Jacel's name.

*****

Kevin missed Jacel's performance because he was too busy in the exhibition area. He could indeed hear the girl's voice, but he wanted to watch the music students' performance live. Besides, his mother and that Kim's man were also out of nowhere. After seeing his paintings and giving praise, they immediately rushed to the stage area. He thought that there might be someone whose appearance they wanted to see. But it made him ask, "Who?"

Then suddenly, his mom came over and grabbed his arm. "Mom?! Where are you taking me?"

"Shut up, Kev, and just come along, okay? There's someone else you need to meet," his mother said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. It had been a very hard day, but he couldn't hope that his mother hadn't planned something else. "Who? And why are we heading backstage? Mom, I'm from art class!!"

"So why are you from the art class, eh? After all, they are waiting backstage for Kev."

He never told his mother about the two-class feud at school. So, he had to swallow the strange stares from the music class students who saw him being pulled away by his own mother. Ugh, next year my life will be worse, Kevin thought.

He continued to grumble to himself until they finally stopped. Kevin took a deep breath and was still paying attention to his surroundings. The stares from the music class students made him very uncomfortable, and he wanted to go back to the dorm and sleep. Or maybe see Jacel once, just before he returns to the dorm to sleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The hall is too big and very crowded." Kevin heard his mother talking, but he still didn't pay attention.

"It does not matter. I think we should just go to a restaurant. The atmosphere here is not good enough."

"No, going out to eat together can be planned for another time. After all, now was the right time," said Kevin's mother, who then grabbed his arm to get his son's attention. Kevin turned and stared at the person standing in front of him.

"Jacel, this is Kevin Wu, your aunt's son. And Kevin, this is Jacel Kim, John's son. Kevin, I hope you can be nice to her. Because she will be your sister."

Oh, shit!!

*****