Sentience

06

Huffing in frustration, Belle dashed forward before her hand swiftly grasped Changmin's arm - rather harshly, and the impact made the boy turn around. He was quite startled at the sudden ambush, his eyes widened when he found Belle's face.

She looked furious, the shape of her eyes told so.

But, it was understandable. She had been pestering him since they left the lecture hall and he didn't satisfy her curiosity.

"You said you would share everything with me," she said, slowly releasing the long-neck boy's arm. "You said, you will let me be informed."

Changmin sighed. "I will not break my promise. I will tell you everything, Belle."

"Then, why didn't you right now?"

Changmin turned his body fully facing her, hypnotizing her to be calm. "It's because..."

He had no words to say.

Belle wanted to know the content of the interaction he had with Mother; she wanted to know what they discussed further. Simply because she was interested. She wanted to take part in this situation Changmin was stuck in.

He could tell her, of course, he could. He could tell her how Mother's eyes lit up with excitement when he described his one and only female friend. However, spilling that one story somehow made Changmin worried. Especially when he looked into Belle's hopeful eyes right now, a voice was then ringing inside his head, doubling the fear.

"She must be so beautiful. Your girlfriend, is it?"

Mother's remark from yesterday had left him wide awake last night. He wondered what did he do wrong. Was it the way he delivered his speech, or was it wrong to talk about Belle that even Mother had a different idea about it?

He intended only to tell Mother about his one and only female friend, like how a son tells his mother about the friends he made. Telling her about someone he was interested in was absolutely not the first intention. For, they were only friends.

So, Changmin was worried that Belle would find it uncomfortable, or the worst was that she might have gotten the wrong idea too. They might have ignored all the noises within the campus, gossiping about them. But would Belle do the same if it came out of Changmin's mouth?

He didn't want to break this friendship.

Changmin sighed, staring down at his own feet while biting his lip before he mustered his courage to find Belle's orbs again.

"We didn't talk about anything important. But..." he gulped, hesitating at his best. "I told her about you."

At that, Belle flinched, taking a step backwards. "M-Me?"

God... please don't be mad Belle, Changmin diligently prayed inside his head as he took one step further to her.

"Don't get me wrong. It's nothing... I just wanted her to feel like I am really her son and so, I... I could tell about myself and my surroundings. That's all."

A pure silence fell upon them. Belle was in a deep thought while Changmin shot her a look. Somewhere there, Changmin hoped he could decipher what was on Belle's mind. His heart wrenched so much when she locked her mouth and didn't say anything. It scared him if she was really mad.

"Belle..." He reached for her sleeve, slightly tugging, which made the girl look down. "Are you angry at me? For telling a stranger about you?"

A faint gulp down her throat before her lips twitched to form a smile. Belle inhaled a great amount of oxygen before she looked up and properly grinned.