Chapter Seven: Give Him The Chance!

"Bwahahahahaha!" Charlie's laughter echoed inside Cedric's bedroom.

The friends gathered together— not physically— but rather through the screens of their phones.

Right after his embarrassing and heart-stopping reunion with Dylan, Cedric immediately ran to his home and locked his home. He was freaking out so badly that he decided to enlist his close friends' help.

So, he quickly made a conference call with both Kelly and Charlie.

But now, he kind of regrets that part, especially when he heard the malicious laughter of his goddamned friend.

"Charlie!" Cedric shot a glare at the clown. "I need help here, okay? Don't just tease me. I am desperate. What should I do?"

"Desperate, my ass," Charlie devilishly smirked. "Did you ever stop and check yourself in the mirror? Your cheeks are blushing, and your expression is all over the place. If you would ask me, I would say you are excited!"

"Frightened!" Cedric corrected. "I am frightened. You're not there when he cornered me in the elevator and insisted that we will talk."

Boogh!

Charlie hit the table he was sitting on and exclaimed, giggling, "Wall-slam! Oh my god! What is this? A tacky romance drama? That is straight out of your novels! Don't tell me he's your avid reader."

Cedric glared at the laughing jackass and turned to Kelly for help.

Unfortunately for him, she's also enjoying this as she's giggling while seated on the sofa.

"I never felt so betrayed until now."

Kelly cleared her throat. "I'm so sorry. It's just I am so happy for you. It's been a while since I saw you like this."

"What? A wreck?" Cedric raised his phone and flexed his hair, which was all over the place thanks to the countless times he grabbed and pulled them like crazy.

"Horny?" Of course, Charlie wouldn't be Charlie if he didn't join in the fun.

Kelly smiled, "Glowing. It's been a while since I saw you ultimately failed in hiding your true expression."

"What do you mean?" Cedric asked, confused.

"You know, Cedric," Charlie answered instead of Kelly. "You're a very expressive person. It is easy for people, especially those who know you well, to tell if you are really happy, sad, excited, or disappointed. However, you try your very best to hide that with this fake frown or blank face. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it won't."

"Okay?" Cedric can't understand what Charlie is getting at.

Kelly came to the rescue. "You're a very expressive person who tends to hide your emotions. Sometimes, you can successfully fool others, but of course, not us, and very rarely, you're unsuccessful in both. Guess what state you are in right now, Cedric?"

The 29-year-old didn't answer.

"Your emotions are simply overflowing. That even strangers could say that you are…"

"What?" Cedric quickly asked, impatient.

"Excited." Kelly dropped the bomb, so firmly Cedric was speechless.

"Again! I am not excited!" Cedric once again emphasized, a little frustrated.

Why do they keep on pointing out that he is excited? He and Dylan hadn't seen each other for more than ten years! They are basically strangers to each other.

Can't they see that he's freaking out because a stranger cornered him in the elevator and forced—or threatened him to talk in private about an issue that turned cold after all these years.

"There's nothing to be excited about this whole mess, Kelly." Cedric reiterated again, blinking fast. "Okay, I would be honest with you. I am amazed in a very negative sense by how this played out. I mean, what are the chances? What are the chances of him picking the apartment I own? In the entire Seoul, why mine?"

Charlie pursed his lips and wore a fake, exaggerated frown, "Seoul is not that big of a city, you know. You can actually meet almost all celebrities if you dine at all restaurants and bars in a month."

But Cedric ignored his antagonizing statement.

"And that football. I refuse to believe that he didn't deliberately kick that to my face because history could prove how many times he did that to me back in high school."

"And because of that, I would like to thank him," Kelly interrupted. "You were immersed in your thoughts while crossing the streets, Cedric. You know that cars here wouldn't stop for you if you found yourself in the middle of the road."

Cedric shut his mouth. Okay, he's admitting he's doing the wrong thing in that part.

"But seriously though, don't you think this is too dramatic? He is actually the one who helped you home when you're passed out drunk, and you discover that he's actually your neighbor when you're ready to push him away. You know, if this happened to me, I would drop all past grievances and ask him to marry me," Charlie said with such great passion Cedric choked on his saliva.

Kelly shook her head on the sidelines.

Charlie continued, "It's like destiny; the entire universe is pointing out that he's the one."

"God, no! Absolutely no!" Cedric rejected the idea like a rotten cheese was dangling in front of his face. "He's my ex-crush, my first unrequited… infatuation. I was not seeing him clearly before, but now I see him differently, and he's definitely not the type for me."

"How so?" Charlie teasingly raised his eyebrows.

"Firstly, he's straight," Cedric stated firmly.

"As if you didn't dream of getting rammed by straight men."

"Oh my god!" Cedric covered his lips in shock, scandalized. Kelly was also shocked by Charlie's straightforward words, but she's giggling and loving how the conversation goes.

Charlie laughed evilly before continuing. "Okay, fine, regardless of whether he's only into girls. What you had from the very beginning was very special. You're best friends. You and Dylan are so close that you get to the point of living in your house with your mom. You shared a bed with him. Cared for him when you're sick and called you his "home." Now, I never experienced anything close to that."

"But considering how close you came to having all that. I think it is not a wonder if he kept you close to his heart. Well, at least it's close enough not to disappear in your life without saying anything. Don't you think so?"

Cedric paused. What Charlie said was possible— at least his latter point was plausible. Probably, Dylan felt bad about disappearing without sorting out their indifferences. No matter how much of a playboy and rascal Dylan was, Cedric knows that he's not that heartless to throw away their friendship just because one of them is gay and he's as straight as pole.

He remembered that, according to Mr. Kang, Dylan is only entering college this year. Something big must have happened, and he could not continue his education for years. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Dylan. Before he knew it, Cedric felt something warm in his chest.

Cedric's feelings are starting to simmer down.

"Which is why you should at least listen to his words?" Kelly joined in. "Based on your narration earlier—"

"Which is, by the way, I deem unreliable since you are prejudiced against him." Charlie cut in before stepping out of the camera to get something.

"—Dylan seemed desperate to explain his part of that dark history. Maybe that will be able to shed light on some truths that have been buried for years. This is also your chance to get over your past grievances so that you can continue writing your new novel."

Kelly's words were reasonable, and they helped Cedric to regain his cool. Right, isn't an explanation what he wanted all along?

This is his chance to break free from all things that made him bitter about some aspects of love. Imagine how many stories he could fearlessly write if he managed to get over the trauma Dylan gave him.

"Fine! I will do it!" Cedric said after a while. Just in time, Charlie came back with a glass of coffee, gearing himself up for his overtime.

"What? What is it?"

Cedric sat straight on his bed before saying with confidence. "I will talk to Dylan and show you, Charlie, that I'm no longer into him."

"Ugh. I never said that you're still into him. Kelly, did I ever say in this entire conversation that he's still into him?"

Kelly shook her head. "We never said anything that resembles that line."

Cedric looked like he choked on his own tongue. "You're messing with me! You're rubbing it in my face that I am excited!"

"It's because that's how you look to us!" Charlie said then he clicked his tongue. "This is the thing about guilty people. Sooner or later, they will be caught due to slip of tongue."

The friends talked for more until Charlie had to start his overtime and Kelly had to go to bed.

As for Cedric, he didn't have the chance to sleep since he's been asleep for about fifteen hours. He then found himself staring in the ceiling and thinking about the crazy encounter he had.

"Charlie was wrong when he said Dylan, and I had something special. We only had the most normal friendship. The typical dynamic one would see between male best friends," Cedric uttered before going down the memory lane.