â Love Rivalry: 51. can I call you mine?
A month has passed since you and Kaveh have been âcasuallyâ going out, which drives him insane. Heâs clumsily charming, wearing his heart on his sleeves rather than on his cheeks. Your dates with him were always creative; heâs never one to follow the magazineâs âTop 50 Dating Spots for You and Your Partner, as expected of an artistic student like himself.Â
However, one thing you did notice is his inability to open up about his past freely. And you aim to get to the bottom of it.Â
Today, Kaveh invited you to a park. He showed up at your door at the exact time he mentioned with a smile that could blind passerbys, and a dozen bouquets of your favorite flowers on paper. âHey,â Kaveh grinned with the usual bashfulness in his eyes as his ears flushed red.
He handed you the bouquet. You took notice of his hands, wrapped in colorful band-aids as he fidgeted fingers while holding the bouquet. Then, you diverted your gaze to his face, a proud grin touched his lips, yet you noticed a drop of sweat streaming down his cheek. You giggled softly at the sight. And his eyes. Oh. His eyes. It truly is the window of the soul. It will, and will always, display the emotions he frequently hides behind his facade. His eyes could not betray the anxiousness he was facing.Â
Itâs cruel, you know. The poor guy mustâve spent numerous sleepless nights creating the flowers by hand! Balancing his time and attention from his plates and project models to the dozen paper flowers mustâve been such a difficult task. You could tell. His eyes were dark, though still holding their shine, and the fatigue clouded his ruby red eyes, giving them their gloomy glow. ButâŠYouâre you! You came from Inazuma, the Land of Eternity. You are eternally mischievous! Â
Kaveh, seeing that you are taking forever to reply, started to feel extra nervous. 'Did I do something wrong?' His mind frantically runs marathons with his anxiety as adrenaline. 'Is this not their favorite flower?!' Kaveh internally screamed to himself. 'But ChildeâŠ!'
Panicked, you threw away your thoughts of teasing him.
âIâm so sorry,â Kaveh pathetically says. His voice is delicate and weak as his face flushed a shade akin to his eyes in embarrassment. Entertained, you laugh your ass off.
â[Name]!!!â Kaveh cries out, visibly cringing as his hands fly to his head. "Oh my days..."
You and Kaveh are now sitting on the stairs leading to your apartment complex. After visibly deflating in front of you, the manâs proud grin vanished in an instant, weakening his knees as he fell to the floor. Panicked, you rushed to comfort the blonde, blurting out, âYou just looked so cute that I wanted to tease you.â He frozeâlike, actually frozeâbefore his face flushed with a shade of red much closer to the red ink your professor uses to grade your thesis than his beautiful irises. Embarrassed, Kaveh retreated to the stairs, profusely crying out âsorrysâ for his behaviour, which you find incredibly adorable.
The paper flowers he once held are now sitting on your knees, and theyâre beautifully crafted. The petals were seamlessly cut, dyed in different colors, then individually glued together, creating a colorful, bright, and saturated flower. The stems were rolled into perfection, obviously held with care as it felt tight and hardâthe complete opposite of the careless, whimsical paper rolls you created in your high school days to beat Scara up. You smile to yourself at the thought.
Finally, Kaveh removes the hands covering his face, now lightly flushed. Nervously, he utters, âIâm so sorry.â
âItâs alright, shall we go?â
However, Kaveh didnât bring you to just any park. He brought you to campus, in a green space quite far from the main building, with a peaceful and beautiful scenery. No students were usually found in this part of the campus, making it a perfect place for a rendezvous. The sky blazes in a bright, brilliant blue, sparsely decorated by streaks of white clouds which barely cover the yellow star that softly kisses your face. The wind welcomes its role as a conductor, silentlyâyet, impactfullyâguiding its breeze stirs the tree leaves, singing a beautiful melody. The birds hidden from the sun follow the melody, chirping along.
It is, simply, beautiful.
You glance at the blonde, his hair glowing beneath the sunâs radiant beam. The golden strands of his hair catch the light, shimmering brightly as if kissed by the sun itself, seen only in movies. Softly, he shifts his gaze to you, shining you a genuine, bright grin that reaches his eyes, any trace of the embarrassment gone from earlier, like a newly bloomed sunflower in the middle of summer.
Oh, how you wish to be swept off your feet.
You wish⊠for you couldnât.
Because youâre currently standing in the very place youâve avoided like the plague!!!!!
The place where you mayâor may notâhave destroyed school property on the first day of class.
Breaking the silence, Kaveh turns to admire the beautiful scenery the campus has to offer before speaking, âI used to come here during my free time.â He slightly presses his lips into a thin line. Hesitantly, he continues, âIâm one withâŠyou could say, an explosive attitude.â
You watch him intentlyâsilentlyâa little stunned at his words. Heâs opening up.
Kaveh breathes deeply. âI usually react strongly.â âMy friends sometimes say I have no filter, yet have the filter of a saint,â Kaveh chuckles to himself.
Pause. His voice is softer now, âIâm sensitive to a fault,â Kaveh admits as a faint, self-depreciating smile slightly tugs his lips. Your heart aches.
âAlways emotionally overwhelmed,â Kaveh murmurs. âI could never find the beauty in chaos, instability, sensibility.â
âEspecially growing up in a world where logic precedes the humanities, art.â
Then, turning his gaze to you, Kavehâs ruby red eyes met yours. Your eyes hold his gaze like it's made of glass, fragile to a fault. But your thoughts betray the care in your eyes. Kaveh is fragile, yes, but he is not made of glass. Glass shatters easily. A slight, careless push could render the piece unrecognizableâbroken into millions to billions of pieces, ranging from large shards to small shards. Kaveh aches and breaksâbut somehow he finds himself among the millions of glass shards. Over and over again. The piece made of glass becomes unrecognizable once broken, yet Kaveh always, and surely, finds his soul, passions, and heart in the sea of shards.
âOn the first day of college, I neededâŠsomewhere quiet,â he says, âTo seek refuge, you could say.â
âThen, I stumbled upon this place,â Kaveh recalls that sacred day from a year ago, his voice believably lighter than before. âIt was quiet, secludedâjust what I needed at that time.â
He pauses as a memory gently starts unraveling. Kaveh recalls the first conversation he had with his roommate, Alhaitham, a man from another degree program. It was the first day, and his mind was filled with hopesâ
Because Kaveh, for all his brilliance and artistic talent, was insecure. A genius in the arts, he is. He is a man who adores creation, beauty, and perfection. He sees the beauty in the pristine, the perfect ideal. But, in a society like his, where logic and reason reigned supreme, a man of his passion was easy to disregard, to scoff at. And Alhaitham, despite his meticulous personality, unknowingly stepped straight onto that fault line.
âAlhaitham laughed at me the first time we met.â
âThough it was a misunderstanding,â Kaveh lets out a dry chuckle. âIt still took a toll on me.â
âI shared with him my dreamsâmy passions, my idealsâhoping to become solid friends someday. We were roommates, after all,â Kaveh stares back at the sky, his eyes distant. âIâm a dreamer. I told him Iâd create homesâdreamsânot soulless buildings akin to a hollow shell.â
A pathetic smile tugs his lips. âI got so mad,â He whispers. âI thought he was mocking me.â
âI thought he was mocking my desire to create something humanely perfectâto capture the beauty of the soul.â
Kaveh brings his palm against his eyes, shielding himself from the weight of the memory of his thoughts. âI thought to myself, âHe saw right through me. ââ
Then, slowly, he lowers his hand, staring directly at the yellow star. ââHow could someone like meâso imperfect, so rejected, and so patheticâcreate perfection?ââ
âSo, on the first day of college, I argued with the man Iâd end up living with.â
âEmbarrassed and ashamed, I ran. I needed to find something peaceful, beautiful.â Kaveh looks down. His voice grows rougher, desperate. âI needed perfection to heal.â
âThatâs when I came across this place,â His gaze drifts to the scenery around him, softening. Slowly, he smiles. âIt was beautiful.â
âUntilâŠâ Kaveh looks at you with a smileâa genuine smile. âSomeone came and destroyed it.â
âFUUUUUCCCCCCCCââ You internally scream to yourself. Your dark past.
âAt first, I was furious,â he says, crossing his arms in exaggerated sarcasm. âWho dared destroy a piece of perfection and beauty?!â He closes his eyes dramatically, and you just wish you could crawl into a hole.
âI-is that so..?â You meekly stutter, yet passionately beat yourself up. Out of all the people in the world, you found it in yourself to stutter. Oh, how you wish a meteor would crash into Earth, causing humanityâs mass extinction, RIGHT NOW.
Then, Kaveh drops his sarcastic act with a quiet laugh. âUntil I looked a little closer.â
âIn the midst of all the chaos, I saw it.â
âThe marble debris spreading across the green grass, the smoke clouding the blue sky, and the noise disrupting the birdsâ song.â With a wide, proud smile, Kaveh fully turns his body toward you. Mischief was seen in his eyes.
For a moment, you swear the whole world stills.
âAnd there stands you in the center of all the chaos, [Name].â A beat passes, skipping. Mustâve been your heart.
âI realized,â He whispers softly. âIt was so humanely beautiful.â
Kaveh continues, âThat day brought out everything I despised about myself.â His voice is gentler nowâtender, intimate. He breathes out slowly, his eyes still on you, unwavering and firmâyet, a glimpse of anxiousness shines out.
Kaveh takes in a shaky breath, âBut thenâŠyouââ
âIT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!!â You blurt out, far too loudly to your liking. However, you didnât care.
The wind stops playing, and the leaves stop singing as the birds fly away.
Youâre already waving your hands frantically, face flushed crimson, eyes wide and wild as you trip over your own words. âIt wasnât on purpose! I swear!!â You cry, âI didnât mean to destroy the statueâI swear to the heavens and the Earth, we didnât do it on purpose!â
You raise your right arm like youâre taking an oath in court as your heart drums its solo loudly like itâs some hot-shot drumist in a 2010s boy band.
âIt wasâŠit wasâŠâ You trail off, panicking. You needed an excuseâa perfect salvation-like excuse.
Then, at the speed of light, you found it.
âIt was Scara!!â You declare loudly.
Kaveh stares at you dumbfounded, but you do not falter.
A breeze passes, and you remain unshaken.
Kaveh laughs. Like, really laughs. The kind that aches his stomach, clutching it like a man suffering from stomach pain. The kind that brings tears to his eyes, streaming down his cheeks from the mere joy.
You stand there, frozen. Your right arm is still in its oath-taking position as Kavehâs laugh fills the silence.
Meekly, you let out a âhuh?â
âMad?â He says, whipping his tears of laughter. âHow could I?â
âI meanâŠâ You turn your gaze away. âI kinda destroyed perfectionââ
âYet it was perfect,â finally composing himself, Kaveh interrupts you. âI always thought that there was no beauty in imperfectionsâŠin chaos.â
He pauses, glancing away as if the truth is too fragile to speak all at once.
â[Name],â he says, his voice barely a whisper. âThough clichĂ©, that day undeniably changed something in meâa change always welcomed, needed.â Ruby red colors his face. âThere is beauty in chaos.â
Flustered, Kaveh tries to hide behind with a confident and knowing smile. But, it falters for he canât even meet your eyes. âThat day, I became curious,â He continued, âWho were you? Why did that happen?â
âI asked around,â his voice lowered. âI noticed you, I observed.â
âChilde was the first one to say something,â you both laugh at Kavehâs words.
âHowever, that wasnât the day I fell in love with you, [Name]--â
Flustered, Kaveh raises his hands, reaching his face to hide from your intense, intimate gaze. But you grab it, stopping him.
You part your lips, shaken, âLook at me, Kaveh.â You attempt to act bold, but your burning face betrays you.
His eyes widened slightly, filled with shock and raw, heavy emotions. He hesitates. Then, almost childlike, he meekly shook his head in refusal. ââŠNot like this,â he murmurs. Kaveh tries to pull away, embarrassed.
But you donât let go. Rather, you hold your gazeâresolute and unwavering. You say nothing.
Kaveh inhales sharply. âIâŠâ He lets out, his voice almost breaking from the words heâs about to say. Your hand is still gripping his, he admits.
âI fell for you the moment you found me in a crowd filled with people.â
Unable to contain it anymore, Kaveh finally says itâthe question that leaves him awake in the darkness of nights.
â[Name], I have loved you ever since you found me.â
You can not believe what he was just saying.
âMay you give me the honor of becoming your significant partner, [Name]?â
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Hey guys! Sorry for the VERY long wait on the last chapter of love rivalry (3 years...). In the end, I finally posted the last chapter! To those who supported the series, thank you very much. It meant--and will forever mean--the world to me. Your support has undeniably became my strength during the darkest times of my life. It gave me the reason and confidence to share my passion and work to the internet--the world. And, to my 16 year old self who took time off to personally write, plan, and share your passion, I will forever admire your courage. Writing fanfics has always been a part of your life, but finishing a work was something you never really practiced. Thus, in honor of your dreams in the past, I revived your old phone, and finished it for you. You may not recognize the type of person you have became (me), but I hope you will sincerely be proud of what you see. Again, thank you all for reading the series :)
SYNOPSIS Youâve been rejected by your academic rival, alhaitham, without even confessing or having feelings for him. You decided to go to a party to fix your damaged ego, so why are you suddenly making out with his roommate?
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