Silent Hearts: Operation Breaking His Ice Heart (Complete)

Chapter 22

Rhythm's POV:

I never thought we'd reach this point. I never thought I would reach this point—falling in love with someone who already had feelings for me. I first knew him as my mom's scholar and as the son of my uncle Nat's friends. He's smart, bubbly, and liked by everyone. There's a charm about him that's impossible to ignore.

For three years, I was captivated by the cookies he left in my locker. I'll admit, the first time I saw him leaving them, I didn't know what to think. It was after basketball practice, and I needed to change when I noticed him sneaking them in. I pretended I didn't know who it was and let Olivia, my only friend at the time, fuss about investigating the mystery, afraid someone might be trying to poison me. Little did she know, I already knew who it was.

At first, I wondered why he did it. I even considered confronting him, but I could see he had no bad intentions. When I tasted the cookies, I couldn't explain the flavor. I even gave one to our chef, asking him to replicate it. But even he couldn't.

"Sir, why don't you just ask the one who made them? I think we're missing something that only the baker knows," our chef suggested.

Ceidence, my brother, loved to tease me, claiming he already knew who was behind the mystery. His closeness to Ada didn't surprise me; after all, Ceidence has a knack for figuring things out. He's like Detective Conan—he always knows the answer before asking the question. He just likes to trap you in his game first. Honestly, whoever ends up with Ceidence will need a lot of patience.

Every day, while eating Ada's cookies and pastries, I found myself falling in love without realizing it. I've always been indifferent to my surroundings—like my family says, I'm the "Ice Prince," cold and detached. But every time I saw how much effort he put into making something just for me, it made my heart flutter, even if I didn't understand why at the time.

"Why doesn't he just give them to me directly? Why sneak them into my locker?" I wondered while munching on another cookie.

"Because he's scared of being rejected. Look, you humiliate everyone who confesses to you," Kyle said, leaning against the counter.

"And you think you know everything about my life, huh?" I shot back.

"Of course. Want me to give you all the details?" Kyle chuckled, clearly enjoying himself. Typical Ceidence—always ready to talk too much. I shook my head, deciding not to entertain him further.

I couldn't stop myself from watching him—Ada, with his best friend Sunoo always by his side. I often caught him sneaking glances at me, only to look away quickly, his cheeks turning a soft pink.

"Cute," I muttered to myself, shaking my head to refocus on the lesson.

"Hi Rhythm. Are you free later?"

I glanced up from my notebook, not moving my head. It was Lea, my classmate. I knew she liked me—she always made it obvious, even bragging about it to my parents.