CHAPTER XXXII: Experience of Fulfillment

After escaping the continuous surge of people flocking around me, I finally made it in the garden.

I tried to catch my breath in the middle of this grassy landscape.

I didn't realize how cold it would be during this time of the night.

The chilling night breeze made me slightly shiver.

Allowing my eyes to freely roam around the comforting place, I was surprised when a piece of cloth was suddenly wrapped around my shoulders.

"What is a goddess doing here freezing?" Ross's head popped out from my right.

I flicked his forehead using my fingers.

"If I recall correctly, you were the one who summoned my divine presence." I turned to him with my eyebrow raised.

"And so I did. By the way, where is your bouquet Ms. People's Choice?" He teased me.

I grimaced at his lousy attempt.

"That thing? I left it with Solar. I couldn't really run with those in my way." I recalled.

He chuckled.

"I thought you just didn't want it."

"Yeah, that too." I answered and looked at the starry sky.

I could hear him whisper the word 'typical' under his breath.

I'd have to agree with him on that.

"How do you feel, you know, after the event?" I heard him ask.

"I guess confidence doesn't live up to everyone's expectations."

"You know, people may see you now, but you have always been my favorite, even with just being the sarcastic, frequently hungry, stubborn, and arrogant lady."

"Did you make me come here just to insult me?" I diverted my eyes from the sky and glared at him.

But what I didn't expect was that I would directly come face-to-face with a single rose.

"Yet, is it also selfish of me to want the you who dazzled on that stage?"

I tried to search for the right reply to what he just dropped on me, but the only thing I was able to come up with was silence.

After regaining my composure, I was finally able to blurt out the question that's dying to be answered.

"What is this for?" I pertained to the flower in his hand.

He smiled warmly and held my hand before holding the rose closer to me.

"It's not fair that I don't get to give you my fair share of admiration, right?"

"You do realize I gave the bouquet to someone else? What made you think I'll accept this?" I smirked at him.

"Won't you?" He closed the distance between us, to the point I could feel his breath fan my warm cheeks.

I gulped.

This man knew how good-looking he was and he definitely knew how to use it.

I moved my face away from his.

"Who said I won't?" I took the flower from his hand without bothering to meet his eyes.

I tried to twirl the rose around. It sparkled under the moon's soft light with its color turning deeper and richer with every stroke and nudge.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite flowers. I don't know if it was purely a coincidence or what, but this isn't something I could really ignore.

I also don't know if he knew the meaning behind giving someone a single rose but if he did…

…should I allow my heart to assume the sincerity behind his actions?

"I'll be going now. I'll see you later. I need to finish the report for the event." He said after a few minutes of silence.

I merely nodded in acknowledgement.

He patted my head, "Don't miss me too much."

"Don't worry, I won't."

He laughed at my response and left shortly after that.

I stood there for a while more before I decided to leave and look for Haru and Solar.

Just as I was passing by one of the classrooms along the long hallway, I saw that there was a small light coming from the architecture department's gallery.

When I got nearer, I realized that the door was slightly open.

Who would come here in the middle of an ongoing celebration?

Was it Gwenne?

I braved myself and proceeded to check on the room. I don't even know what urged me to do such a thing but I felt that it is something that I should do.

Walking closer, the light was indeed there, coming from the back.

It was particularly bringing shine upon the painting I did.

I didn't notice, but it looked even more majestic to look at as both the moon's glow and the warm tone of the lamp. Making an almost contrasting clash of two views.

What I failed to see, however, was the standing figure observing the same artwork as I.

My heart began to throb as I grew more and more aware of whose back it belonged to.

My feet froze completely as he began to turn around to face me.

And when he did…

I felt a huge load press on my lungs, hindering me from freely breathing.

"Dia." His voice called out.

Several thoughts and ideas popped inside my head but all I was able to utter was…

"Forden…"

He smiled and took a step closer to me.

When he witnessed how I flinched, he stopped and turned back to view the painting once again.

He tried to hide it but I was able to see a glimpse of his sad expression which made my heart throb harder.

"You created this?" He asked.

I debated how to respond.

"You don't need to answer because I know this was made by your hands. There's no way I wouldn't recognize it."

It was a relief that he had his back turned to me because I could slowly feel the tears well up on the edges of my eyes.

"I hope you don't run away this time. Just…I just want you to listen to me."

When I stayed quietly standing, he took this as an okay sign to keep on going.

Honestly, I did want to run or to hide but I thought maybe it was time for me to face him head on, not in its entirety but as small bits and pieces.

And maybe this was probably one of those small bits.

"This woman, it's her right?"

I gulped at his question, "Yeah."

"I see. Were you okay while doing this?"

"Yeah. A little." I answered quietly.

He stepped forward and hovered his hand on the woman's face but not to the point his fingertips touched it.

He still remembered.

"Don't touch that!"

"Blah, blah, it's not like anything will happen if I touch it."

And the stupid fool did touch it, making the paint smudge. That artwork took hours to finish and he freaking ruined it in a second. This made me cry all day which earned him a major scolding from her.

It was those types of memories that forged my concept of a happy reality.

"Is this how you saw her? Is this how she looked to you?" He mindlessly mumbled.

I hummed in agreement. Yes, for me, she looked similar to how a person continuously pushes you towards adventure.

Taking another step towards a more colorful world, somewhere I haven't gone and also back to where I initially shouldered the joy.

She was the definition of warmth and to me she always will be.

But to him, she's much more.

"You made her feel alive in this. You painted her absolutely stunning." I swear I could hear the crack in his voice as he whispered those.

A small tear slid down my face as I continued to watch him.

He remained quiet for a sum of minutes which made the night air colder as time passed with the lack of words spoken.

I clenched my fists, an effort to at least prevent the further explosion of my emotions.

"Thank you…really. I appreciate the big effort and courage you had to take to accomplish this, especially when I knew that you're not yet ready to accept it."

I turned my head away from looking at his lonely back.

I couldn't bear to watch him reminisce about her with such obvious sullenness.

Yet, at the same time, a tiny portion of that heavy burden was finally out of the way.

When he was done glossing over the painting, he then faced me with a gentle smile.

"Could you walk me out?" He asked.

I whipped my eyes in the opposite direction and nodded.

"I guess so."

We trudged our way outside of that room without a single word shared.

It was a little awkward because I still cannot bear to withstand being in the same space as him.

Feeling uncomfortable, I couldn't help but tuck myself in the soft cloth covering me.

When he took notice of my movement, he decided to break the ongoing silence between us.

"By the way, you did great on that stage."

So, it really was him.

I nodded.

"I didn't stick around too long, did you win?"

"If being the 'people's choice' is considered as winning, then I think so."

"Yeah, of course. It's never really determined by the title to be acknowledged as a winner."

I didn't reply and stared at the flower in my hand instead. I could feel him looking at me but I had already reached my quota of interaction with him.

It felt as if there was a huge pile of water dumped on me, making me realize our situation, especially the distance between us.

It's not really something that can be overturned easily.

"Di-"

"DIA!" Forden was cut off by a very recognizable voice.

Solar came running into view with Haru slowly catching up to her from behind.

These are the times where I wouldn't expect Haru to be an athlete. It's either he's truly slow and boosts up when playing or Solar is just unnecessarily fast.

"DIA! I've been searching everywhere for you! Where the heck have you been hiding?!" She instantly took hold of my arms and squeezed it.

"You made me your scapegoat like it's the most natural thing to do and-" She paused her rambling as she gazed at the person next to me, "Ooh, lala, who's this hotty? Are you cheating on Ross?"

First, I literally scrunched up my face in disgust at the former.

Second, I literally scrunched up my face in disbelief at the latter.

"Calm your fucking hormones." I pushed her away.

"Your friend has great eyes."

"KUYA!" I called out to him in surprise.

What is he saying?!

"Hey, what's kuya? Is that his last name or somethin'?" Solar asked in wonder.

I almost laughed at that if only the cringe wasn't making my hair stand up.

I sighed. They looked expectant of me, even Haru was waiting for what I was about to say.

"No, kuya means elder brother. Everyone, this is Mirforth Claiden, my brother."

"You can call me Forden, since it seems you're friends with my sister."

I rolled my eyes at that.

"Oh, hi! I didn't know Dia had a brother? And a cool one at that. I'm Solar by the way, Dia's bff." I smacked her arm right after she finished her sentence.

"That cute one over there is Haru." I pointed at Haru who shyly smiled and nodded at Forden.

"Whoa, wait. The difference in the introduction was a little bit biased, don't ya think?" Solar cut me off.

I ignored her.

"Oh! Ross!" I was shocked when Forden yelled that.

I looked at the direction he's looking at and saw Ross walking towards us.

When he got near us, he shared a good man's handshake with Forden like they've been doing it all the time.

Yes, I was skeptical.

"How do you know each other?" I came in between them.

"Ah, it's because-" Forden was immediately cut off by Ross.

"I'm the student council chairman. Who wouldn't know me, my lady?" He smirked.

I don't believe that completely, I can't necessarily tell why, but my gut feeling was never wrong.

However, I didn't get the chance to interrogate the both of them.

They all conversed for a long time while I quietly walked with them towards the parking lot.

When we finally reached our cars, that's the only time they stopped.

"I hope you all come to our house sometime." Forden added.

I frowned unconsciously.

I was going to counter that but Solar covered my mouth with her hand and took this opportunity to speak.

"Really?! Of course we will! Can I have your address? Dia, here, won't give to us."

I glared at my brother but he just chuckled at her energetic tackle and gave it to her.

Defeated, I let it go and said farewell afterwards.

Of course, I wouldn't leave without casting my revenge on Solar.

She regretted it later on.

When I got to our house, it was back to being slightly awkward.

Even the helpers and the guards were looking at us as we arrived together at similar times.

Exhausted and a little bit bothered by the states, I went to my bedroom and slept it off.

The next day, the awarding ceremony happened according to plan.

The order of awards were from the small competitions, then to the athletics, and lastly the departmentals.

I couldn't help but be proud as Haru wore his medal and held their trophy.

Although he wasn't deemed to be the MVP, the smile he flashed us was so contagious that we couldn't help but be gleeful.

When it was time for the departmental awards, the auditorium was once again filled with competitive spirit.

The second runner up was given to the engineering department.

The I.T department was later hailed as the first runner up.

Lastly, as though it was expected, the architecture department won the departmental contest.

Gioffer was the one who received the trophy since he was the one in charge of the designs along with Gwenne who was the actual representative of the entire department.

It had been a long time since I saw that sexist jerk that I almost thought didn't exist anymore.

Soon after, we received a message from Gwenne, telling us to come to the room because we were going to celebrate.

I'm not even questioning it anymore how she found me and dragged me towards the meet up place.

We simply took quite a handful of pictures which was only accomplished after they crowded me like crazy.

It was a bit unsettling to see them so nice when they were all spectators to my torments from before.

But I merely kept a straight face and wished for it to be done already.

As usual, Gioffer kept on glaring at me without any particular reason.

The only thing I was relieved to know was that no one really knew about the painting's original painter.

I would have to take it back eventually but I'll think about that next time.

All in all, it went smoothly. Right after leaving that spontaneous gathering, Solar, Haru, Ross, and I celebrated on our own.

We ate at a Korean Samgyupsal place near the academy, courtesy of me paying because, according to them, I was the one with the most wins for the festival.

I agreed, nonetheless, since I definitely didn't have much of a choice.

I experienced so much in the past few days.

There are things I didn't expect to be a part of my life.

There are also people who I didn't pay attention to but are now closer to me than before.

Was it fun? A little.

Was it exciting? Not much.

But what can I truly describe it?

Nothing but fulfilling and I wouldn't have it any other way.