Unrequited | SB19 Stell [SB19 Series #3]

6

Stell's POV

"I'm friend-zoned!" I moaned to Gelou and Josh the next day at practice.

We were at Gelou's house, practicing for a KPOP gathering at Fisher Mall. I had arrived shortly after Josh, and the first thing that I said when I arrived was, "I'm friend-zoned!"

Gelou and Josh had rolled their eyes. Gelou then unearthed her backpack from beside the couch. She unzipped it and pulled out her laptop, then she video called Mhai.

"Why are you calling her?" I asked Gelou indignantly as soon as my brain was able to process Gelou's actions. I attempted to close her laptop, but Gelou snarled at me.

"Hands off, Stell," she roared.

Whoa! Okay, girl. Calm down.

I held my hands up in surrender. Sheesh.

"Mhai, Stell was friend-zoned," Gelou said as soon as Mhai answered the call.

We had positioned ourselves in Gelou's living room. Gelou set her laptop at the table, and we crowded around it on the floor.

"Uhu," Mhai replied nonchalantly. Uninterested. Very un-friend-like.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I moaned at my friend, who was separated from me from a thin scrap of metal called a laptop.

"Stop being dramatic, Stell," Josh nudged me. He scooted over and waved at Mhai. "Can you come over and smack him? Pretty please?"

Mhai shrugged.

"I'm friend-zoned guys. This is a big deal," I told them. It was a big deal. The girl I like just said it's good that we're friends. This is terrible. Very terrible.

Josh and Gelou sighed. I swear Mhai just sighed, too, even though I did not hear her.

"Of course, she would consider you as a friend first, Stell. Katrina and I were friends before we became a couple," Josh pointed out. Katrina was Josh's girlfriend.

"Girls would like guys who are their friends first before considering if they are boyfriend material," Gelou explained.

"I agree with Gelou," Mhai piped up. "A girl would not say yes to a relationship if she is not friends with a guy. She would have to get to know him better."

"But if it's Jimin, I would immediately say yes to a relationship," Gelou honestly said.

"Gelou! Come on," Mhai protested.

Gelou sheepishly smiled. "Sorry, Mhai." She then turned to me. "But you get the idea, right? Being friend-zoned is not a bad thing. Especially now that you just met. You need to get to know one another. Who knows, in the near future, maybe you'll be together," Gelou finished hopefully.

"You think so?" I asked.

"Yes," the three of them answered in chorus.

"Like this could be temporary, right?" I asked.

"YES!" All of them replied. I could feel the exasperation waving in the air.

"So, should I get my hopes up?" I asked again.

"You should be a good friend to her. Katrina and I were good friends," Josh said. "The friendship that we had was a strong foundation for our relationship."

"Being friends is not a bad thing, Lester," Mhai said. I drew closer to the laptop as if the proximity would matter. She was still kilometers away from me. Mhai assuring me was comforting. "Besides, any woman would be crazy not to like someone like you," she pointed out.