"Dammit!" Leo huffed and threw the glass against the wall, shattering into pieces. "She definitely pulled some sort of trick, I know it!"
He paces back and forth in his room, and the furniture was flung with evidence of his tantrum all over. Leo still refused to accept the achievement Hani had made. Throwing himself onto the sofa that was misaligned from its usual position, he threw his head back and thought. Well, since she seems to want to act strong, let's see if she can handle herself. Find out once and for all if she really is this magical genius people seem to think she is.
Leo got some people he knows and decided to devise a plan to 'test Hani's abilities'. With it, he arranged to find three guys to set this plan in motion.
---
[5 days till school festival]
Everyone is busy. Being a prestigious school, even the school festivals were not normal. In the vast area the school owns, everyone has constructed their own stalls, with actual temporary buildings being erected. The festival runs for two days, and a lot of effort was put in, it just shows how much people are able to pull in to actually afford it.
Starting to understand that she has become a big story in school, Hani feels the eyes and whispers around her. People tried to approach her, but it is fruitless as Emma is always by her side, one look from her is all it takes to chase these people away. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the Wang family. Emma knew that she wouldn't be able to keep this secret for long, especially cause Hani insisted on this tournament and even made that whole fuss with Leo over it.
Hani can be damn stubborn sometimes. But if she is able to take this as a learning experience and is actually able to win this, she could get a base strong enough that she won't be messed around with easily. I hope this all goes well. Emma sighed at the thought of this whole situation. On top of everything else, she was not happy that there was one bug she couldn't seem to get rid of, Stella.
It was lunchtime, and Emma, Stella, and Hani were sitting on one side of the table with Hani in the middle. With Emma's friends filling the rest of the spots, lunch had become uncomfortable. Blocking people from all sides and the two girls bickering over Hani's attention was a lot to take in.
"Why are you here, Stella? Why don't you go hang out with your friends? What about Leo? You should be consoling him, no? You guys were always together?" A smirk on her face as she points at Stella with her fork.
"No, we are just acquaintances due to family relations. But nothing can forgive what he did to Hani, so regardless, I will never hang out with him again, trust me." She gives Emma a tight smile.
Hani, who was in the middle, felt the tension and was silently eating. Are they okay? Why does it feel like they are fighting? Well, at least that dirty man is not gonna be around Stella anymore, that's great~
Lunch is finished, and Stella grabbed Hani's hand, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Run, Hani." Flustered Stella runs, dragging Hani along with her. Emma was unable to do anything as a blushing Hani was lost in following Stella's antics.
"Hahaha, did you see Emma's face, Hani?" Stella laughed as they stopped running. They were heading towards the area where the classes were planning for the school festival. All afternoon classes are replaced with the school festival preparations. One of the training grounds was being used for the tournament for class 1-C. Even the teachers were excited to see this match because, compared to normal, how each year group only battles their own year, this platform allowed them to see the kids from all year groups fight each other.
Hani joins in with Stella's contagious laughter. Suddenly, Stella stops, and they are on an empty path towards the arena. Since it's still lunch period, there are not many people out here yet. The long path is adorned with flowers and benches, a beautiful path matching the school's prestige. Stella propped herself on the bench, patting the space next to her, inviting Hani to sit with her.
"O-oh!" flustered, Hani scurries along to the space next to her.
Stella faces Hani, eyes shining with curiosity. She did not know why Hani, who usually is just studying and a scholarship student, decided to suddenly act out of character with a physical battle. Hani's life would have been comfortable even as an F-rank due to her intelligence. "So, Hani, why did you even sign up for this tournament? I heard you trained really hard for this!"
"Oh...um..." Hani did not know what to say. I cannot tell her the reason, can I? That is so embarrassing!
Hani took a deep breath, she tried to rack her brains, but ultimately decided to muster up the courage. It's now or never, Hani! You guys have become very close recently, and she even promised to keep your secret! So maybe it will be fine...
A deep breath in and out, too many times, the silence had become loud. The awkward moment increased. Hani made up her mind. "Well... I wanted to win and get the date with you, Stella! I just wanted to get close to you because I like you!" Tightly clenching her eyes shut, Hani blurted it out loud, shocking Stella. After her confession, Hani slowly peeked, one eye slightly open, curious to see what type of face Stella had, disgust? Confused? Instead, she was faced with a face full of smiles.
Eyes wide in shock, Stella looks at Hani, who was trembling for a second. Then she grabs Hani's hands, grinning, "Oh Hani! I did not know you wanted to be closer to me! I like you too!"
Hani looked at Stella in astonishment. Face glowing from this sudden outcome, staring at Stella's eyes for the first time. What?!? Stella likes me, too? Are my feelings being returned?
"Should we become best friends from now on? I look forward to your win, Hani! Just for you, if you win, I will go on as many outings as you want instead of one! But don't tell the others, they may get jealous." With a gleaming grin on Stella's face, she hugged Hani.
Hani, who had a sudden close skinship with Stella, was frozen. Not only because she could feel Stella's body press against her as she wrapped her arms around her, but also because she has been terribly misunderstood.
Ahhhhh!!! She thinks my confession was a friendship request?? This is so embarrassing. I need to dig myself a hole so I can wither away from it! Hani's eyes are watering, and she sits there as Stella hugs her.
I guess I should not expect much... I don't even know if Stella likes girls, so I can't expect things to turn out my way. It's not like I am significant enough for her to even look my way. For now, I should just enjoy the fact that I can be her friend.
They begin their path towards the arena again, this time, a happy Stella went ahead, skipping towards her destination. Yay! I can't believe that Hani wants to be my friend. I have never really talked to her much before...I think I did once a long time ago, but I can't remember much. Oh well, we are close friends now!
Hani, on the other hand, was the complete opposite as she dragged herself lifeless behind Stella. I even confessed... will I even be able to muster up the courage to do that again in the future? Maybe I will just be single for life. Who knew it could be this hard? All those romance books are useless when it comes to real life. Ah, my forever solitary life...