RUN WITH ME
CHAPTER 30: PESSIMISTS

This is the second day Gavin tries to avoid Arunika, he is still not ready to face the woman. The man was actually eager to be by his side, but his determination to establish a boundary between himself and Arunika got in the way. Gavin really didn't want to mess up his relationship that had been so slickly interwoven was ruined just because of his one ridiculous act.

"Vin, how long are you going to avoid Arunika?" Gavin stops writing it in a notebook, then turns his eyes to Floyd who is also recording the historical material just described by the teacher.

"You realize that?" reply Gavin who made Floyd raise one eyebrow. What kind of stupid question is this? Her thought.

"Obviously you're doing it before our eyes and you still hope we don't realize it?" sindir Floyd made Gavin speechless. The meanings of the word 'we' are Floyd, Maverick, and Hera.

"That means Arunika is also conscious, huh?" Re-emerging silly questions from the handsome man, making Floyd feel like throwing Gavin with an eraser.

Gavin is in his lola phase because all day thinking about what other limits he should remember. Until now, he had started to know and would stop when he felt ready to return close to Arunika.

Floyd could only breathe out softly. "Arunika noticed your change of attitude and now she's frenzied. He always asks, why are you avoiding him? What was his mistake with you? And so," explained Floyd while returning to writing, while Gavin pensive. Honestly, there is little part of him to feel happy to hear it because it means his presence has an impact on Arunika.

But Gavin soon realized something, "how do you know Arunika's condition now?" he asked in a slight whisper as the teacher began to re-explain the material.

"Hera told me and Maverick" Floyd casually replied.

"Do you also know why I avoided Arunika?" Floyd was silent for a moment and then nodded, making Gavin widen his eyes. He had not once told Floyd or two other friends about his feelings for Arunika, but how could they know? Was the whole feeling clearly on his face? Then did Arunika realize it too? A lot of questions were running around Gavin's head.

Floyd glanced at Gavin who was swept away in his own mind, smiling faintly. "We realized it in Fantasy World, when you hugged after the Sea World incident," Floyd explained as if he was starting to shed light on Gavin.

"We're aware of it because we've been watching you secretly since your match with Archie. We suspect your reason for making decisions that are very outside of your nature and also pay attention to how you behave towards Arunika. Maybe at that time you were not aware, but everything was seen from your attitude to him," continued Floyd who increasingly made Gavin speechless.

"But this is all we realize because it is almost always around you. If not, it's actually invisible, really." This sentence was able to make Gavin's entire body relax again and his heart was relieved. This was the sentence he had been waiting for the most since Floyd told me.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" ask Gavin back. Isn't it faster to tell him directly?

"So, it's more exciting for us to see firsthand how you're aware of how you're feeling. Rather than you know it because it's told, isn't it more unique if you're aware of it because of a piano game?" it was Floyd who once again made Gavin speechless. Floyd finally finished writing until he put his pen to the table. He crossed both hands in front of his chest.

"Again, I think it's harder to accept the fact we have feelings for someone when told by someone else, surely we will tend to be denialist and defensive. So, it's better to just be aware of yourself and take it slowly." Gavin agreed enough with these words that he nodded slowly.

"Thank you for understanding" said Gavin, who made Floyd grunt with a smile.

"No problem, it's all just my principle in responding to feelings." Floyd casually replied.

Maverick has been told the whole conversation between his two male friends through Floyd's mouth. He laughs at Gavin's stupid response several times, making Gavin quite upset because the man's laughter is very annoying, as well as trying to cover up his embarrassment.

After putting one piece of siomay in his mouth, with a fork pointed at Gavin, Maverick asked, "what are you going to do now? About your feelings and your relationship with Arunika." Gavin fell silent, thinking for a moment of his answer.

"For a while, I wanted to hide it first because there was a possibility that this feeling was only momentary ... What is the term, yes, in your slang?" asked Gavin to his two friends, he remembered having described the term by the definition by Arunika.

"Love monkeys?" Gavin nodded at the answer that Maverick gave. Both of them understood.

"Then, what's your reason for staying away from Arunika?" Now it was Floyd's turn to ask.

Gavin exhaled slowly, "after realizing this feeling, I realized, my attitude towards Arunika will be different from before. All this time I considered and treated Arunika as a friend, but after realizing it, my view on her would change and subconsciously would treat her as the woman I liked. That's why I decided to form a boundary, however much our friendship was worth."

"Why do you like Arunika?" Maverick asked again.

Gavin muttered a little by slightly tilting his head to the right. "Actually .. I don't know," Gavin replied after a while with a laugh. He scratched his nape slowly. Floyd and Maverick remained silent, listening to Gavin's continued explanation.

"But maybe like the others. Arunika is friendly and very nice, even he first invited me to meet when I first entered here. Over time, I began to see other sides of Arunika, such as her assertiveness in leading OSIS, her intelligence in positioning herself in various situations, to her shrewdness in caring for others. I subconsciously admired all of those things, and was fascinated by how they looked, and finally loved them." Again Gavin was embarrassed to have to say it all in front of his two friends so he coughed a few times. Floyd and Maverick tried to hold back a smile— certainly didn't work— in response to the whole story.

Floyd cleared his throat slowly to ease his smile and suddenly the look on his face turned more serious, making Gavin and Maverick also follow with serious expressions. Floyd looked straight at Gavin sitting next to him.

"Actually this is just my curiosity, so if you don't want to answer it's okay," began Floyd who made Gavin more curious to know what his friend would talk about.

"Say Arunika turns out to have the same feelings as you so that later you will be dating, roughly what will happen after?" floyd kept Gavin silent for a thousand languages.

"You have a family with a history of each, will there be one of your families who is willing to give up?" Floyd emphasized the word 'bending' with the index and middle fingers of each hand flexed and then moving up and down.

Gavin laughed after a moment of silence, inviting confusion in the minds of Floyd and Maverick. Through Floyd's question, Gavin again realized, both his family and Arunika, both equally strict in determining a partner for his descendants. Her family will be more concerned with women who have a career in music, this is the main reason why her mother was not accepted because of her career as a national television presenter.

On the other hand, Gavin also knows a little how the Arunika family is because the woman herself said, her family is very hard and ancient. Based on the statement, Gavin could suspect, the Arunika family will look for a daughter-in-law who is also a doctor in order to maintain the pure-blood that has been their pride for decades. And if that's the case, then he doesn't stand a chance.

With a deep gaze as well as his own, Gavin spoke in a full tone to the unconvinced, "I'm pessimistic about it."

...⁕⁕⁕...