Chapter 10: "My Rival's Secret"

"Jian..." A sweet voice called me.

"M-miya?" I answered.

She walked towards me as she caress her hair to her ear.

"W-why are you here?!" I nervously asked.

She looked at me and smile. "Don't you have something you want to tell me?"

I gulped, not knowing what to do.

"Actually... I-I have something I had always wanted to say..." I looked down and gathered a lot of courage to hold her hand.

"I... L-like..." I hesitantly said.

I slowly raised my head, "—You!"

When I raised my head, it's not my pretty Miya that I saw. Instead it was Zen Liang.

I am holding his hand instead of Miya's. And I just confessed to him!

"Stupid red head." He replied.

"AHHH!" I screamed on top of my lungs.

I woke up with my body covered in sweat.

"W-what kind of dream was that?!!"

It turns out it was just a nightmare.

I stood up with my whole body in pain from running yesterday.

"Damn it..! I will never sleep again!"

----------------

"Argh! Seriously?! Why did no one wake me up!" I complained as I run my way to the school gate.

"This is all that guy's fault! He's messing with me even in my dreams!"

I woke up late and had to rush to school. My body still hurts and my shoes are not the right size, looks like I grabbed my father's shoes instead of mine, but after of all of that misfortune I still manage to arrive there.

"W-wait! Please let me...in!" I leaned on the school gate, catching my breath.

"No can do, boy. You're already 10 minutes late." The school guard said and left after locking up the gate.

"What?! H-hey! Oh come on!"

I guess I have no choice but to climb that wall again.

I went to the back fence and climb the wall.

"How could they not let their student in?!" I mumbled while climbing up.

I successfully landed on the ground this time.

When I turned around, I saw the school's guard dog chewing on a bone.

He dropped the bone on the ground after he saw me. He looks in shock too.

"Damn it..." I sighed and ran as fast as I could.

The dog chased me as I struggle to run because of the shoes. He kept on barking at me.

All of the sudden, one of my shoes fell off while I was running. I stopped and so did the dog. We just stared at each other. He then slowly took the shoe with his mouth.

"Put it down..." I cautiously ordered.

A moment of silence fell upon us. Seconds later, he ran away with the shoe.

"That's my father's shoe! Give it back! He'll kill me!" I screamed as I chase the dog.

----------------

After the wild goose chase with the school's guard dog. We got to the botanical garden. I eventually cornered him.

"You little rascal... I missed two classes because of you!" I exclaimed as I was holding the edge of the shoe while the dog was biting on the other.

"Bad boy!"

I don't plan to let go and so does he.

"This brat..."

Upon struggling to retrieve my shoe, an idea came up to me. I reached for my pocket with my free hand.

"I hope it's here..." I mumbled as I search for my pocket.

Luckily, my sausage-shaped pen is still on my pocket. It is quite a unique design. I can use this to distract that dog.

"Here! Fetch!" I threw the pen away.

The dog's attention was shifted unto it. He let go of the shoe and went for the fake sausage instead.

I fell down on the ground as he let go. He looked confused as he bit the decoy pen, he then realized he was tricked.

"Haha! Gotcha!" I laughed at the dog and stuck my tongue out.

I was about to stand up, however he tackled me down and licked me endlessly.

"H-hey... Haha! Not fair." I giggled. It seems like the strict school's guard dog is a little cute after all.

I sat down straight on the ground and patted its head.

"You're not that bad."

He cutely barked and licked my cheeks one more time.

"Hm... What should I call you?" I asked while petting him.

"How about... Monster Zenzen?" I chuckled "You resembles him with that poker face. Except that you're way cuter than that jerk! Hehe."

It just looked at me with a confused face.

Yeah. Zen Liang always put up a poker face. Although, I think he's actually a little bit cu...

"Ugh! Enough of that Zen Liang!" I exclaimed and shove my face on Zenzen's fur.

----------------

"My grades are going downhill, for sure." I mumbled to myself and sighed.

I attended third period due to what happened earlier.

Chet turned his back and whispered. "Why do you look like you've been chased by a dog, dude?"

"Haha. Only if you knew." I sarcastically laughed.

"Alright, we're going outside today to collect moss for your activity." The teacher instructed.

The class went out and everyone was doing the activity. I went separate way from everyone to collect more moss.

"I like you." I heard a girl's voice, not so far away.

As I was strolling around, I accidentally overheard someone confessing.

"I should get going... This is none of my busine—"

"Okay." A familiar voice replied coldly.

"Hold on..."

I sneak and peek to see who it was. I hid behind the tree not so far away from them.

"Is that... Zen Liang?" I thought to myself as I squint my eyes.

"O-oh... Does that mean..." The girl awkwardly scratch the back of her neck while standing in front of Zen Liang.

"It doesn't mean anything."

"The heck? What a jerk..." I mumbled to myself.

"I don't feel the same." He added, just staring at the poor girl with his emotionless eyes.

"A-ah! R-right... I'm sorry about that..." The girl left in a hurry, feeling embarrassed.

"This guy is ruthless..."

I was about to leave when I suddenly dropped the bottle I was holding for the moss I'm collecting.

"Damn it!" I quickly picked it up.

"Another nuisance." He's now standing in front of me with his arms crossed.

"What did you say?!"

He moved closer to me. I can feel the intimidation he is putting right now causing me to step back. I felt the surface of the tree on my back, indicating that I have no way out anymore. He then placed his hands on the tree, cornering me.

"Tell me... Are you one of them?" He asked, looking directly on my eyes.

"W-what are you talking about?" I avoided his eyes.

Has he gone mad?!

He moved his face closer to mine.

"Arf!" A bark broke the tension between us.

It was Zenzen. He came running as soon as he saw me.

Zen Liang moved away. By that, I mean really far away. He stood by on a distance as soon as the dog came to me.

"Uh... Are you good?" I asked.

He just nodded and looked away.

What's the matter with him?

Zenzen licked my cheeks as I pet him.

"Haha. You're so energetic, aren't you?" I chuckled as I pat its head.

I looked at Zen Liang, still not moving an inch from where he is standing.

"Do you want to pet him?" I asked as Zenzen and I look at him.

"No." He quickly answered.

"Huh? But he's adorable!" I said as I softly pinch Zenzen's cheeks.

Wait a minute... Is he...

"Are you scared of dogs?"

He flinched as I utter those words.

"What? Haha! You really are!" I laughed so hard.

"I'm not." He answered, not looking at my direction.

"Then prove it. Pet him." I smirked and went to his direction.

"No."

"Come on!" I pulled him closer to Zenzen, but he kept on resisting.

"It's just a dog!"

"Don't wanna."

I whistled with my finger to call Zenzen. He ran to me causing Zen Liang to move away.

"Get him!" I ordered and Zenzen followed.

He chased Zen Liang around and I can't help but laugh at him.

"Would you look at that! The ruthless top student and council president is scared of dogs. Haha!"

As I was out of breath laughing, I didn't noticed them coming my way.

Zen Liang bumped on to me.

"H-hey!" I closed my eyes.

We both fell on the ground. When I open my eyes again, I saw him on top of me. His hand on the ground beside me preventing his whole body to fall over me, while the other is under my head, protecting it to bump on the ground.

"Are you hurt?" He asked.

I was just staring on his eyes. My head spinning and my heart throbbing. I can't determine if it's because of the fall or it is something else.

"I-I'm fine..." I eventually snapped out of it.

We got up and sat down in silence.

Must be heat stroke...

"H-hey... Are you really scared of dogs?"

He sighed, "No."

"So, that's why you didn't help me the first day we met."

"It is because you're a slacker."

"Haha. Come on, man. It's not something to be shy about." I mocked him.

"At least now, I know your weakness. Is this a little secret?"

"I'm just not fond of animals. Particularly, dogs."

"What? You serious? How could you?"

I grabbed Monster Zenzen closer to me and showed his cute puffy face.

"Look at him! Monster Zenzen is adorable!" I exclaimed.

"Monster Zenzen?"

"Uh..." Right, I named the dog after him. "A-anyway... Why did you reject that girl?"

"Why not? I don't feel the same." He heartlessly answered.

"You could have put it nicely, y'know!"

"If I did that, she would think she have a chance. It'll hurt more if that happens."

I sighed, "He's hopeless..."

"What would you do then?" He suddenly asked.

"Me?" I looked at him in surprise. I'm actually having a real conversation with this guy.

"I guess... I would check what I really feel for them first. I don't want to end up regretting my decisions."

"Is that so."

"Yeah. You never know. But I doubt that will happen. No one had ever confessed to me." I pouted.

"I can see that."

"What does that supposed to mean?!"

It was not that bad talking to him after all. He might be a meanie sometimes. Although, it was really comfortable being with him.

"Jian!" One of my classmates came up rushing.

"What is it?" I stood up and asked.

"Class E are looking for trouble..."

We went directly to the quadrangle where Luke and Chet are.

"So what? Are you protecting your little princess now?" One of them said while mocking Chet.

"Haha! Homo bastards."

"What the hell did you say?!"—Chet.

Luke grabbed one of the guy's mouth and shove his face on the ground.

"The hell?!!" The rest flinched in fear.

"Luke... That's enough! Let's just leave those idiots alone." Chet stopped Luke.

Luke glared at them with a death stare. "Do you want to see hell that bad?"

"C-crazy sicko..!"

"W-we'll get back to you!"

"Let's go!"

The four of them walked away. When they passed by, they saw me and Zen Liang.

"It's you two again?!" One of them exclaimed.

"Hey, pal!" I teasingly smiled.

It seems like they were the guys from before.

"What a small world." I added.

They looked frightened, especially because of Zen Liang, standing beside me with a displeased look.

"This isn't o-over!"

They almost ran away and left.

"Luke, don't mind them, okay?" Chet reassured him. "Those guys are losers. They didn't mean that! You're not like that."

"I wasn't angry because of that." Luke sighed, "Okay..." He patted Chet's head.

Chet can be a little dense at times. However, I'm confident that Luke will eventually win him over.

"Haah... I guess I don't have to worry about them." I mumbled.

Zen Liang looked at me. I can feel his eyes boring.

I stared back at him. "Don't go easy on me, alright?" I said and smile.

"Yeah..."