Part 5: Curious in Love

The night well spent then we all headed to our homes after celebrating our Victory.

On the next morning Helena went to the university with Farris and Fatima.

As she entered the university gate, her gaze fell on Alex's car. Alex was sitting inside the car along with John and Zaim, talking with them about the last night then he drove his car closer to where Helena stood, although he was unaware of her presence.

Helena thought to herself that Alex did this because of her, he might be attracted to her following their recent encounter. She felt her heart racing so fast but she tried to control herself.

Meanwhile, Zaim hadn't noticed Helena because he was engrossed in a conversation with his father on the phone. Just then, as Helena found herself lost in a thought again.

Mia appeared and grabbed her arm while saying,

"Babe, what are you doing here, huh? Let's go inside, our class will start soon."

Helena was startled by Mia's voice then she turned her gaze towards Mia with a shocked expression and said while patting on her arm.

"Yahh Mia I'll kill you if you do this again."

Mia noticed her face and laughed at her reaction, then she said while grabbing her arm,

"Did I startle you, huh?

Helena shook her head and tried to hide her reaction then she replied,

"No I was just thinking about the assignment. Let's go to class."

Mia raised her eyebrows with a smile then she said while going to class .

"I can say you looked like you'd seen a ghost. You're so coward Helena. "

Helena smiled a little then they headed towards the classroom.

After the class ended, Helena and Mia were busy with their work. Meanwhile, Alex, Zaim, and John were discussing the assignment. That's when John suggested while looking at them, "Should we go to the business administration class to pick up some students for the assignment?"

Alex looked up at John then he said while shaking his pen, "Yeah, I guess this is the right time to go as all the business administration classes have ended, so we can find someone who is worthy. What do you say, Zaim?"

Meanwhile, Zaim was lost in his thoughts, then he remembered the guy who was talking to Helena the other day. He realized and muttered to himself,

"I should ask Minho about the girl as he must know about her since he was talking to her that day, yes I should ask him,"

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard John's voice,

He replied in a neutral tone,

"Guys do you know where Minho is ? "

John replied.

"I don't know bro may be in the cafeteria."

Then he asked him in surprise.

"Well why are you asking about him.?"

Zaim replied after standing from his seat,

"I'll tell you later, I have something to ask Minho."

He grabbed his book in his hand and then left from there.

Alex said to John while closing his notebook.

"Let's go John I don't think Zaim is even a little bit interested in this assignment, now we have to do something on our own we can't wait for him. Besides we don't have much time left to submit this assignment, and you know how lengthy it is.

John nodded his head and then they headed towards Helena's class.

As they reached, Alex and John rolled their eyes to see the classroom then Alex's gaze fell on Helena's figure seated among her classmates.

He smirked and gave a flirty look after seeing her there since he was too flirty with every girl and every girl always sticked around him to be with him though he hadn't commited to anyone.

Then he said to himself,

"Oh so your majoring in the same as me, should I test you hmm? Yes I guess I should."

He turned to John with a smirk then he said,

"Let's go, bro. I think I found the perfect pair for us."

John looked towards him then he asked while joining his eyebrows in confusion.

" What do you mean bro?"

Alex again smirked then he grabbed him around his neck and said.

"Man You will see soon."

They both went closer to Helena's chair. Alex excused while saying.

"Hey excuse me?"

Helena turned her head towards Alex with wide open eyes, just then she felt her heart skipped a beat, and found herself lost in his grey orbs for a while.

Alex shifted his eyes towards John then again rolled his eyes towards Helena, looking baffled. He asked again with gentle smile.

"May I sit here?"

Helena realized, she lost in his eyes right then she tried her best to hold herself, clearing her throat then she spoke hesitantly.

"Um mhmm uh what so you w.. want from me ?"

Alex looked back and forth into her hazel green orbs then he muttered to himself,

"Huh seriously ? She didn't even bother to ask me to sit instead she questioned me back. How rude is that huhh ? She's the first girl I've seen who hasn't been excited to see me.

Alex scoffed at her statement.

John moved closer to Alex's ear and whispered making sure Helena couldn't here him.

"Bro I think she is a Muslim, I can guess by her appearance , and as far as I know Muslim girls maintain a distance from men they are not close to, so i think we should find someone else because if she is not comfortable with us so how can we communicate with each other. you saw she hesitated while talking to you, let's look for another student Alex.

Alex kept looking on Helena meanwhile Helena was looking down into her lap and rubbing her hands together and trying her best to manage her emotions.

Right then Alex turned his head towards John a little while still keeping an eye on Helena and said,

"She is a scholarship student , she got here on merit and her name is at the top of the list of the university, if we miss the chance to have her in our group, I don't think we'll find another student as intellectually capable as she is."

However something was bothering him then he said in his heart while looking at her,

"Why didn't Helena get excited after seeing me? Even though she bumped into me the other day, she doesn't react like the other girls, not even looking up at me."

He narrowed his eyebrows, then he whispered to John,

"Let me ask again John just wait for a moment."

Alex asked her again gently while smiling and Leaning down his body to her level,

"Hey let me introduce myself properly then you will know what I want from you."

Helena felt again her heart skipped a beat , she looked up at him with her innocent eyes then she heard him saying.

"I'm Alexander Wilson from the third semester of business administration., I'm here to find partners to forming our group as you know we have given an assignment and professor Soejin asked us to complete it in group with students from other semester. Would you and your friend like to join our group so we can start our work from today.?"

Helena listened him and then she moved her eyes towards Mia. Mia blinked assuringly then she turned her eyes back towards Alex , gulped down her saliva then she cleared her throat and replied.

"Ok we'll. But we need one more student as the requirements is for there to be five members in a group."

Alex smiled a little then he responded.

"There is no need for that, we already have one other member."

Helena joined her eyebrows in confusion after listening him and made an ohh face.

Meanwhile Zaim found Minho with a questioning expression on his face, he then rubbed the back of his head and asked him hesitantly.

"Min-hoo do you know the girl who was talking to you the other day in the garden? "

Min-hoo made a thinking pout then he replied.

"Helena.,? "

Zaim raised his eyebrows, twitched his lips while tracing his forehead with his index finger then he responded and asked in curious at the same time.

"Umm ahh yeah H...helena, I was asking about Helena, do you know about her section ? Actually I've something important to ask her about the assignment but I don't know her major. So I came here to ask you because I saw you with her the other day so I thought you might know about her."

Min-hoo looked at Zaim and responded neutrally.

"Yeah I guess she is from Economics, I saw her going towards the Economics classroom one."

A big smiled plastered on Zaim's face though he didn't realize it,

"Thanks buddy will see you later.

He said with wide smile,

Min-hoo remained shocked at his use of term "buddy" Because everyone knew Zaim's reserved nature that he barely talked to anyone unless it was necessary he always stayed with John and Alex.

Zaim was about to go from there right then Min-hoo asked while stopping him.

"Well have you formed a group?"

Zaim looked at him while smiling then he replied.

"Yeah almost."

He then patted his shoulder and ran from there.

Min-hoo still lost in confusion then he shrugged his shoulders and also left from there .

Zaim went straight to the Economics class where Miss Park-Shin-Yoo was delivering lecture, he excused and looked around the whole class to find Helena so he could ask her to join the group but he didn't find her, and his excitement turned into disappointment.

Meanwhile Fatima was there and her gaze fell on Zaim , she found herself lost in his perfect handsome appearance and muttered to herself.

"Wallahi who on earth is he huh, I've never seen such handsomeness before in my whole life."

Right then, Miss Park-shin-yoo asked Zaim,

"What are you searching for Zaim?"

"Umm ah I was actually searching for a student but I guess she is not here , I should go, thankyou mam for your time."

He bowed a little before leaving then he went while hanging his head down in disappointment then he muttered to himself,

"may be she is absent today. I'll have to come back tomorrow."

When Zaim reached his classroom he saw Alex and John nowhere then he asked one of his classmates about their whereabouts but they didn't have any information.

Then he left from there, as he walked through the corridor he saw John and Alex heading towards the library.

He called them in a loud voice.

Hey Alex John, wait for me ,

They stopped in their tracks and moved towards the direction of the voice.

Zaim came near to them, and started walking alongside them.

John asked him while heading towards the library,

"Where have you been Zaim, we've been waiting for you."

Zaim replied in a neutral tone,

"Nowhere bro let's head to the library."

Alex and John noticed Zaim's sad reaction but didn't say anything.

Then they reached the library and settled down on the chairs, Zaim's took out his books from his bag and placed them on the table , while Alex set his laptop and John placed his notebook to note down the key points. Alex then informed Zaim while using his laptop,

"Bro we've got students from semester 1 of the business administration, they are about to join us and then we will start our project."

Zaim was busy in his books, writing down basic content in the notebook, he nodded at Alex's statement but didn't pay much attention , unaware that Alex was referring to Helena without taking her name.

Suddenly, Zaim's phone started ringing he saw his father was calling him, he excused himself from the table, took the call while standing from his chair then he informed Alex and John while putting his books inside the bag.

He said to them in hurry,

"Sorry, guys, I need to go home. My father has arrived in Korea, and he's expecting me. I can't continue here. I'll take these books with me and work on the plan at home, will cover everything from chapter one. See you tomorrow,"

Right then Alex said.

"I'll text you after completing my plan so you can incorporate it into yours, and then we'll continue from there tomorrow."

Zaim nodded his head and left from there, after Zaim left from there Helena and Mia entered the library and went to Alex and John sitting area.

As Helena saw Alex, she felt her heart going faster than ever but she tried to hold her emotions and started to taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

Alex noticed Helena and gestured for her to sit. Helena found herself once again lost in admiration for Alex, but she composed herself and shifted her gaze away from him. She then took out her notebook from her bag and placed it on the table in front of her.

As Helena continued to feel her heart racing she quickly took out her water bottle from her bag side pocket and drank few sip to calm herself down. Meanwhile Alex kept looking at her and noticing her each and every action.

Then he asked Helena while narrowing his eyes.

"Would you mind introducing yourself so we can get to know each other better and become good partners?"

Helena hesitantly pulled away the bottle from her lips then she looked at him with her wide hazel green doe eyes, she gulped down her saliva and wiped the water from her side lower lip with her thumb, then she gathered courage to reply him.

"Is it really n... necessary? I mean y.... you already know my n...name and my major so I don't t.. think an introduction is needed.

Alex and John kept looking at her in wonder, then Alex chukled a little while looking at her hazel green orbs then he muttered to himself in heart,

" Aahh girl, why you always question me back instead of just answering huh"

Right then John also chuckled at Helena's hesitancy and stuttering then he reassured her while opening his laptop,

" It's ok Helena just relax and make yourself comfortable don't think of us as your seniors, think of us as friends hmm."

Helena furrowed her eyebrows in embarrassment, then she waved her hand to indicate "no" to John.

"Ahh no this is not like that I'm perfectly comfortable with you guys , let's just start our work."

She stopped for a moment then she again asked John with a thinking pout.

" You mentioned earlier that we have another."

Alex looked up at her, moved leaning a little closer towards her face and replied instead of John because he was enjoying Helena's responses.

"Why need of him when I'm with you hmm? Alex smirked a little.

Helena kept looking at him with wide open eyes and felt her heart skip a beat again, she suppressed her blush, Alex noticed her reaction, he smirked again then he cleared his throat and said in a neutral tone,

"Mhmm Yes we do have another member in the group but he left a while ago to attend to some other work.

He added teasingly.

"it seems you are nervous, don't worry I'm with you and I'll be, what do you say huh? "

He smirked and winked playfully.

Helena kept looking back and forth in his eyes then She replied, clearing her throat, she felt her cheeks getting burning but she tried her best to suppressed her blush again.

"Ah no it's not like that.

Alex shrugged his shoulder then they all got busy discussing their project as they all gathered to work on their Market Management project.

Then Helena said,

"let's start by dividing up the tasks."

She started to distribute the planning that she had written on sticky notes to everyone, explaining each one as she goes while distributing,

She started share her ideas that she had prepared before at home and discussed who would take on each topic.

Then Helena looked at the clock and realized that her Duhr Salah time was about to end,

She stood up from her chair and said to Mia in hurry.

"Mia I need to go perform my Duhr Salah , I'll be right back after completing it."

Mia nodded her head assuringly then Helena left from there.

Meanwhile Alex kept looking at her retreating figure in wonder and thought in his heart,

" Duhh is anything else important than this project? She could have performed later if it's that necessary "

He then turned back to his table.

It was already afternoon; they had finished their classes, and everyone headed towards their homes.

Afterwards It was 9 pm. Zaim sat at the dining table with his father and stepmother for dinner but he didn't talk to them.

Mohammad Ali noticed Zaim who was sitting silently and barely eating .

Meanwhile Mrs Ali was serving some rice onto Mr Ali's plate but he gently stopped her with his hand.

he grabbed a tissue paper and wiped the corner of his mouth then he placed the tissue on the table and asked to Zaim in a neutral tone.

"What has gotten into you, why aren't you eating you food?"

Zaim didn't respond to him, just then he grabbed the spoon, he scoffed and made a frustrated look. He aimlessly moving the rice back and forth across his plate with the spoon.

There was a moment of silence , Mr and Mrs Ali kept noticing at his action then Mr Ali asked him in a dominant voice.

"I'm asking you something, where have you lost Zaim. Stop playing with your food and Eat you dinner properly."

He threw his spoon onto the plate in anger and looked into his father's eyes with a helpless expression and then he said.

"Stop being this fake and pretending to be concerned dad, I know how much you care."

Then he again said while turning towards at his stepmother and said in anger with pained eyes "take care of what you have"

After that he walked away from there, Mr Ali and Mrs Ali kept looking his retreating figure.

_______________________________________

A/N

"Beginning of the love is sweet."