Luka went downstairs as he said to Ana. As soon as he reached downstairs, he heard, "Going on a date?"
It was Irene. Luka looked at her and said with a flushed face, "Yeah, something like that."
He still felt embarrassed because she saw him kissing Ana.
"It's nice to be young," she commented.
Luka didn't know what to say.
"Yeah, and you are an old woman now, mom" Ana walked down the stairs.
'How can she say something like that to her mother?' This wasn't much of a surprise for Luka to see Ana talking like that to Irene because it has always been like that. Irene has always teased Ana ever since she was a kid, and that's the reason Ana also never held back when she had something to say.
Luka couldn't even think of talking like that with his mother.
"And you are young," Irene smirked and continued, "Young enough to kiss a boy when your mother is downstairs."
'How can she say something like that to her daughter?' This also wasn't something new for Luka. He was used to seeing the same scenario many times. But… he could never imagine his mother acting like this with him.
"Luka," Irene looked at Luka, then gazed at Ana, "If she ever does something to you, just make sure you tell me. I will deal with her"
"She does… something?" There were many things Ana could do, and Luka was sorting that out in his mind.
"For example, if she dumps you or something, Just tell me," Irene glanced at Ana and said with a scary smile on her face, "I will make sure she takes responsibility."
'Is that what a girlfriend's mother should say to her daughter's boyfriend?'
"Oh! But if you cheat on her, then I am sorry I can't help you," Irene added.
'I already am cheating! But she is okay with that.'
Ana pushed Luka with her. "We are going now. Bye"
"Take care. Be back before night."
"You too! Don't fall asleep without locking the door." Ana closed the door.
Luka and Ana first went to the shopping mall.
'What now?' Luka had no idea what to do.
He had never been on a date before. He had no idea what to do, and what's more problematic was he was the one who invited Ana on a date, so there was no way he could ask her what to do--not that Ana had ever been on a date before.
"It's our first date," Ana Reported.
"Yea...h," Luka gulped down. 'It's our first date, and I am going to blow it off.'
"What happened? You look worried," Ana asked.
"Well..." He told her everything.
"I can't believe you invited me on a date without any planning."
Sigh~!! Both of them sighed together.
"It's lunchtime now, so let's go to a café or something," Luka suggested.
Ana squinted her eyes and stared at Luka. "What? If you don't want to go then, it's fine."
"It's hard to believe you have never been on a date before."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…" She started fidgeting and said in a stuttering voice, "You went to human school. I am sure there were girls. What about Suzu? You were close with her, right? What is she to you? Do you… do you also love her?"
Luka waved his hand as he denied. "No, no, no. We are not like that. We are just friends."
"You also call her 'Suzu.'."
"That's her name."
"Her name is different."
"Well…" Luka scratched his cheek. "Her name is 'Suzuha', so she asked me to call her 'Suzu'. Nothing else."
Ana pugged her cheeks. "You call her name with so much affection."
"What do you mean?"
"When you call my name, it sounds so dry and rough, and yet when you say 'Suzu', it sounds full of love."
"Then how about I call you by your full name?"
"Anything but that."
"Why not? I honestly like your full name more."
"And I hate it."
"Ayana… what a lovely name."
Ana's face flushed as she muttered, "Do you really like it that much?"
"I still don't understand why you hate that name this much."
"You know why."
Ayana was the name of a powerful witch from the old era. She was said to be incarnate of evil. Ana was teased about her name ever since she was little, and she started hating her name. Later she had everyone call her Ana.
Luka grunted and cradled Ana's face. "You know, no one can dare to tease you again. If anyone does, I will make sure they never speak a word again."
Ana looked into Luka's eyes. She knew he was serious. "Then… you can call me that once in a while."
Luka gently smiled and kissed Ana on her lips.
After the kiss, Luka once again tried to kiss Ana, but she pushed him away. "What was that?"
"You looked so cute that I couldn't hold myself."
"Don't kiss so suddenly like that, and don't kiss me in public, okay?"
Luka grinned as he said, "I will try."
They went to the cafe. Luka was drinking coffee, and Ana was eating the cake while looking outside the glass window. "Hmm?"
"What happened, Ana?" Luka asked.
"No… It's just that guy..."
Luka followed Ana's gaze and looked in the direction Ana was looking. A guy was wearing a suit and had a flower bouquet in his hand.
"He looks like Tero," Ana remarked.
Hearing that, Luka spat and choked on the coffee.
"Hey, that's disgusting," Ana took out a napkin from her small bag and wiped his face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I was caught by surprise."
'What the hell is that guy doing?' Luka cursed Tero in his mind.
"He is wearing a suit," Ana commented.
"I can see that."
"He looks cool," Ana said.
'Cool? He looks cool? He looks like a joker to me.'
"Let's go," Luka said
"I haven't finished my cake yet."
"I will buy you a new one; let's go."
"Ah, could it be that you are jealous?" Ana wondered.
"I am not."
"Well, it's natural. He is the number one hot guy in our school."
"How do you know that?"
"Vote polls, of course." Ana rolled her eyes.
'So Ana also participated in that poll?'
"I voted for you, and I am sure Liz did too" Ana knew what Luka was thinking and answered him before he could even ask.
"Is it just me, or are you being more and more honest now?"
"Well, I don't want you to misunderstand anything," She took a bite of the cake and added, "Like you did today."
"I am sorry."
"No need to apologize. We kissed, so it's okay now."
Luka had no idea what to say in reply, so he just said, "I see."
"But what was Tero doing? Maybe he is going on a date?" Ana questioned.
"A date? In a suit?"
"Why not?"
Luka pondered for a while and said, "I don't think a flashy guy like him can be in a serious relationship."
Luka then remembered what Tero told him at the construction building, 'I already have someone very important to me.'.
'Maybe he has a girlfriend?'
"Ana," Luka stood up.
"What?"
"Let's stalk him."
"What are you saying?"
"Don't you want to know who his girlfriend is?"
"I do, but we can't just stalk anyone, you know? It's considered a crime."
'And who was the one who stalked not too long ago?' Luka held himself back from asking that question.
"We don't have anything to do anyway, so let's stalk him" Luka made an excuse to stalk Tero.
Luka paid the bill and grabbed Ana's hand, then left the cafe.
They followed Tero for about 5 minutes.
"Just where is he going?" Luka wondered.
"Maybe to pick up his girlfriend?" Ana also started enjoying the stalking. In the least, she was treating this as a date with Luka.
After stalking for a while, they lost sight of Tero.
"Dammit, we lost him," Luka retorted.
"You can't stalk someone like that."
"It's fun."
"So it's fun stalking your classmate?"
"Yeah, it's super fun."
'Huh? A male voice?' Luka finally realized he was hearing a male's voice instead of Ana's.
Luka looked behind to see the person he least wanted to see; Tero. "What are you doing here?"
"That's my line. Why are you stalking me?"
"Stalking? Who's stalking? I have no idea what you are talking about?"