When Flynn came back to the airport entrance after sending Xander back, he saw a scene that he hadn't seen for a very long time.
Rhea was crying!
Flynn stopped midway.
She was staring at the entrance and crying and also wiping her eyes.
It has been so long since she cried the last time. Now she was crying, and the reason was not that difficult to guess.
Flynn moved towards her. Patted her head.
"What's wrong? Are you a cry baby?"
Although he knew what went wrong, he didn't know what else to say. He had never consoled anyone before in his life.
She turned towards him, hurriedly wiping her eyes. She struggled a lot to stop herself from crying.
With a sigh, Flynn hugged her. Patted her back.
"It's ok. Cry all you want. But only today. Just end this here. I don't want to see you cry tomorrow" he sloppily comforted her.
After a while, she stopped. The two started to move towards the car. Both of them were silent. until they reached the car.
When Flynn was about to get in the car, Rhea spoke.
"Flynn!" she called him.
He turned towards her.
"I think you were right"
"Mmm???"
"Flynn, it seems like, I… I love him!"
"Huhhhhhh????"
Hearing her say that, Flynn's jaw dropped.
When Rhea returned home, she locked herself in her room for three days. Her dad was away on a business trip. Therefore she didn't think twice about anyone before doing so. But Flynn came to her house every day. He came, knocked on her door. She would always reply but never opened the door.
On the third day, she didn't even reply at first. Flynn was really upset about the way she behaved.
"Hey cry baby, open the door!"
"…."
"Are you going to live in seclusion for the rest of your life?"
"….."
"Rhea, listen. Uncle will be back tomorrow. If he comes to know that you are living in seclusion, he won't just tolerate it"
"….."
"Let's talk it through. I need to talk"
"…..."
"Please!"
Finally, she opened the door.
"Wow. You look fine. I thought you will look so exhausted, with dark circles around your eyes. So you weren't crying all these days?" Though she looked a little exhausted, Flynn casually spoke with her and tried to cheer her up.
"Why are you here?"
Rhea sat on the bed leg crossed. With her disheveled hair and pajamas, and the way she was sitting, she almost looked like a patient in the hospital. 'Ah, this is too much. I must be careful and not fall in love' Flynn thought.
"Did you really ate? These days?"
"Yeah!"
He sat on a chair. After a pause, he spoke.
"Have you thought what to do about this?"
"Mn"
"Good girl. So what are you going to do?"
"There is nothing much I can do. I'll just forget him with time"
"Forget him?"
"Mn"
"Can you?"
She looked at him then let out an "Mn"
"Rhea, don't you want to pursue this love?" Isn't that what people usually do?
"Flynn, are you here to console me or confuse me?"
"No, I just wanted to let you know one thing" he paused. "Whatever your decision is, I will support you!"
Rhea was really touched. When did he grow up into such a man? She didn't know.
But...
"Thank you! But it's really hopeless. I shouldn't have let myself fall for him in the first place. I was wrong, very wrong!"
Though Flynn didn't understand what was wrong, he continued to ask her, "Why is it hopeless?"
"It was not mutual"
"I see" he tilted his head and rested his cheek on his hand. "But from what I saw, that's not the case"
"Don't joke around."
"I saw him kiss you"
"I said don't joke aro… What… What did you just say?"
"I saw Mr. Ryan kiss you," he plainly said those words.
Rhea picked up a pillow then threw it at his face. "Get out before I kill you!"
"I'm serious!"
"Don't you have anything else to play with today?"
"Rhea, trust me. This is not a joke. I seriously saw that."
"If he had kissed me, I should be the one to know it first" she threw the second pillow with a lot of force. "You…" He caught the pillow this time. "You were sleeping!"
Without any more pillows to throw Rhea snatched the alarm clock next to her!
"I promise!" he held the pillow as a guard before him and talked from behind it.
"….."
She placed the clock back in position. Flynn usually doesn't make any promises. If he does, then he must be serious. He wouldn't promise if it's a lie.
"Where?" she asked.
"On your forehead!"
Her face immediately flushed. She lifted that clock again and raised it towards him, ready to throw. "You dumbhead! Where means, where did you see that?"
"Ah… Ah… In Denali, when Xander and I returned after buying dinner, I saw him kiss you!" he settled him in a defensive position. He didn't know when she will throw the clock at him.
"Did you really see?"
"Yeah"
"Could it be that you misunderstood?"
As far as she remembers, that time Ryan was just seated next to her.
The window... She suddenly remembered that she left the window open that day.
"Maybe he tried to close the car window?"
"No. There is no need to get that close to you if he was really closing the window. Also, I didn't misunderstand because of the angle. I'm sure. He kissed you."
"...Then why did you stay calm back then?"
It didn't make sense. As a cousin, he should've been angry when he saw that if he really cared for her. Flynn is not someone to care less about her. She had known Flynn for a very long time. If what he saying is true, he would have made a scene back then.
"It's not that I didn't care for you. At that time I was really convinced that both of you like each other! I saw it in his eyes and of course, from the way you behaved around him. I needed some time to think it through. That's why I really went to buy dinner and took a lot of time to come back. No matter how much time I spent analyzing, the results were the same. I was so sure about Ryan when I saw him kissing you, and I felt that you really like him as well. Finally, you too agreed once he left, that you love him. Isn't my analyzing skills too good?"
"….."
"Also, he kissed you on your forehead. I may not have any experience in kissing but I know that one was genuine. He looked at you with so much sincerity. That one didn't seem perverted."
"….."
"Also if I had asked him then and there, would you have felt ok? That would have been too awkward. I pitied him since he had a flight that night!"
"….."
Whatever it is, I know he was wrong, doing that. I was wrong too. But I was confused, and I followed the less disastrous way possible. Forgive me, for not reacting immediately"
"….."
"What do you think? Was he a pervert?"
She shook her head. That can't be true.
"Then I was right doing that, Ain't I?"
Rhea who was looking down and was lost in her thoughts, while listening to him, now slowly looked at him. She felt thankful that he didn't react then. Their farewell would have been awful if he did.
She slowly nodded.
"Then can you please put down that clock?"
Now only she realized that she was still holding it. She put it back in place.
Flynn came near her, throwing away his defense tool, the pillow. "Cry baby, Are you alright?"
"Thank you, Flynn. It must have been hard on you!" He must have been struggling to take such a decision.
"Finally you understand!" he shamelessly accepted her thanks.
"Flynn, what should I do now?"
"Ahh? Are you asking me?"
Ryan may have kissed her. But is that enough to prove that he loved her? No, it may be a spur-of-the-moment kiss. He may have felt sad as he was leaving her so he impulsively kissed her. Only Ryan knew why he kissed her.
"I still don't believe that he loves me"
"…."
"If he did, he would have let me know Flynn. There must be some confusion"
"...."
"If I made an assumption and trusted that he loves me, I may end up... pathetic. I will never make such assumptions!"
"You must know better than me anyway. Maybe you're right!" Flynn replied.
"Let me think it through on my own" Rhea smiled.
"Ok, as long as you don't seclude yourself!" Flynn replied with a smile, then the two went to have dinner.
Flynn was really proud of Rhea. The way she handled the issue was quite impressive from his point of view. She was still a teenage girl, but when it came to decision making, Rhea was really good.' As expected from my little sister', he thought.
But when he heard her final decision, he had to desperately take back all the compliments above!
The next morning Mr. Frank came back from the business tour. Rhea had invited Flynn for dinner. When the three of them were dining, she had started to talk about her university applications.
"Dad, can I go abroad to study?"
Abroad?
Rhea was living in a country that had plenty of amazing universities, which had a worldwide reputation. She was also a brilliant student who was able to get admission to a very high reputable university. There was no reason for her to move abroad.
Mr. Frank looked puzzled. He knew that Rhea wouldn't be able to stay in Alaska during her university years. He knew that she had to stay away for a while. But he never thought of sending her abroad.
"Which country?"
"China"
The steak which just entered Flynn's mouth fell on his plate. His jaw had dropped once again!
"Why? Any specific reasons?"
"I'm fond of Chinese culture. I want to learn the language more."
Mr. Frank was keenly listening to her.
"I want to research them too. Also, I'm planning to publish my comic there."
"The one you finished recently?"
"Yes dad"
"….." Mr. Frank took his time thinking.
Flynn was speechlessly staring at those two.
After a few minutes, Mr. Frank spoke.
"Are you sure you won't regret this decision?"
Rhea's dad usually asks this final question, whenever she is about to take an important decision in her life. He gave her the freedom to choose but always stayed there to guide her.
"Yes dad!" she nodded.
"I don't really mind that. But will you be able to visit me, in the vacations, like Flynn?"
"I will. But... she paused with a serious expression, "you'll have to pay for the tickets" she smiled.
Though Mr. Frank didn't feel fine about her decision, he smiled and patted her head.
Rhea was happy since Mr. Frank didn't object to her idea. She happily went back to her room. Flynn was left alone with his uncle.
"Flynn!"
"Yes, uncle" Flynn switched on his obedient nephew mode.
"Is this about Ryan Jin?"
Flynn who was about to drink some water now choked on water.
*Cough*
" What…"
*Cough*
"What did you ask uncle?"
Mr. Frank glared at him.
"No… No uncle. What will it have to do with him? Hahahahaha…." He tried to smoothen the situation.
Mr. Frank continued to stare at him.
"Uncle, seriously I don't know anything. Nothing of that sort happened, as far as I know" he lied. He was too guilty to look at his uncle and just ate a few pieces and stopped eating.
Mr. Frank went back to his room early so Flynn went, knocked on Rhea's door.
Once she opened the door, he threw a tantrum!
"Did you sell your brain?"
"Flynn, I..."
"Why do you want to go there?"
"I told the reasons."
"Do I look like an idiot?"
"Believe it or not. I'm not going there for Ryan Jin"
"I won't believe this!"
"You have to" she smiled.
"This is totally reckless Rhea!"
"Flynn. I need some time to recover. Four years will do right?"
"How can you recover if you go there?"
"I'll just go there and study. I not going to try to meet him."
"Can't you do that here?"
"I told you. It's not about him. I just prefer to study there and improve my language proficiency"
"Then at least don't go to Shanghai. Beijing would do right?"
"Flynn, Shanghai is two big and hugely populated. Do you think I can accidentally meet Ryan there? It'll never happen."
"….."
"Even if I want to, I can't meet him."
"…..."
"I'll just stay there four years and come back. I'll only be studying."
"What the hell?"
"Calm down and let it be. I've already told you that I'm not going to meet him. Didn't I?"
"Rhea, give me a valid reason. What you say sounds like excuses, excuses that you make to stay near him."
"Ok, Flynn. I'll give you a reason. I want to prove myself that I'm totally over him, by staying in Shanghai."
"I don't understand"
"If I can forget him when I am staying near him, that means I'm fully over him. Then I will never feel this way towards him!"
"...."
"If I stay far away, hide, and tried to forget him, these feelings will surface if I happen to see him again, in my life. I'll have to suffer then. It can't be called 'fully getting over'"
"...."
"I would like to face this head-on and forget him!"
Once she said that Rhea frowned at how dumb she sounded.
'To forget him, I want to stay near him. Does this even make sense?'
Though she wanted to give Flynn a reason, the real reason was hidden in her heart!
Every minute that passed by, she missed him, like crazy! She couldn't help but hide and cry every night. Though she pretended to be ok in front of Flynn and her dad, she was not ok at all.
She fell in love...
Her love for him was like a slow poison that killed her from inside. Even though she wanted to, It seemed like she can't get over him anytime soon, for sure. Therefore she had decided to give herself and this love some more time to heal.
The four years! She was going to use those four years! She wanted to stay near him and love him all she wanted from afar, but as much as closer as she could ever get. Even though it was unrequited, she wanted to keep it with her! Only for four years! When that four years come to an end, she would let go. She would forget all those memories and love! She would return to Alaska!
But she was not willing to share this abnormal idea with Flynn.
"Rhea, is that possible?"
"Yes, Flynn. Isn't your cousin a capable one? And strong too!" she smiled.
"I'm still not convinced but you won't listen to me anyway. I'll just try to trust you this time," with a stern face, Flynn reluctantly gave up.