Ebri spread his hands when Joe turned to him, "What was that?"
Joe just shrugged his shoulders and leaned his back against the sofa.
Ebri's brows furrowed as he continued, "What did you just do, bro? Never in a split second crossed my mind you would do something like that. What were you thinking? Are you kidding?"
Joe sighed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to explain, "I'm giving up! You know, last night I stayed up until dawn, took your advice, and found someone on Instagram who looked like her. This girl that I found last night, she's following me, but the only difference is this girl has pink hair, which I find it hard to imagine Shea, that I met a week ago, having pink hair."
Joe then held out his phone to show the message he sent to the pink-haired girl on Instagram, "But the funny thing is, this girl from Instagram is not replying to my DM, for God's sake!"
Ebri took Joe's phone and read Joe's message to the pink-haired girl before putting it back into Joe's still open hand.
"Okay," said Ebri after a moment, "at first glance, this girl looks like Shea, but you're right. Imagining Shea from the restaurant with pink hair is kind of off."
Joe shrugged again.
"And you said this pink-haired girl is following you?" Ebri inquired.
Joe nodded.
"If this girl is really Shea, chances are Shea is your fan?"
Joe answered wordlessly, just shrugging his shoulders, and added a smile for good measure.
Ebri shook his head in disbelief, "I'm really losing my words, you know!"
Joe leaned back and sighed, "Well..."
"I think you're really in love with this Shea girl!" Ebri looked deep into Joe's eyes as he said this.
Joe met Ebri's gaze with the same look, "I've never felt this attracted to a girl before, you know? You've known me my whole life, and this? I don't even know what this is!"
Ebri didn't say anything, letting Joe pour out his feelings.
"There's something about her that I can't even describe. It makes me lose my words, and believe it or not, at the restaurant, I felt weak when talking to her. It was like I lost all my words, didn't have any energy, my knees buckled, my heart raced, and even when I asked her name, I could hear my own heartbeat! I've never felt that before. Not even when I met my first girlfriend in junior school!"
Ebri, hearing Joe's heartfelt confession, just smiled, letting his friend express his emotions.
"You know what?" Joe continued, "You're right. I think I'm in love."
Ebri grinned, "And the craziest thing is you don't even know who she is, where she lives, or anything about her. What if it turns out she's already married and has children? What are you going to do?"
Joe looked thoughtful, "At least I can get to know her better and maybe we can be friends," he then grinned mischievously, "and if she and her husband get a divorce, well, you know, I'm here!"
Ebri laughed, "You're really crazy!"
With his chin resting on the palm of his hand, Ebri said, "And if you look back, since you set your eyes only on her, you've never paid any attention to the women who approached you."
Joe turned when he heard Ebri's words, he thought about it and was surprised to realize what Ebri said was true. But he was silent, only the look on his face showed that he was surprised by that fact. Then he remembered something and took out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his jeans and gave it to Ebri.
Ebri accepted the folded paper and opened it, reading it carefully, "What is this?"
"Probably will be a chorus in my new song," Joe replied.
Ebri read the paper again, "Oh, Shea, right?"
Joe raised an eyebrow and smiled.
Ebri grinned, "I pray that Shea is still single, man!"
Joe laughed at his best friend. At the same time as they laughed, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" said Joe, almost screaming.
Duncan and Cemre entered and joined Joe and Ebri in the room.
"What are you talking about?" Cemre asked as she threw herself down onto the red sofa next to Joe.
"Joe's going to make a new song!" Ebri laughed as he answered Cemre's question.
"Oh, good!" said Cemre excitedly.
Duncan, now squatting across from where Ebri sat, frowned, "Why are you all laughing?"
"The new song will be about Shea!" Ebri chuckled.
Duncan laughed along with Ebri. Meanwhile, Joe, like a teenager who had just fallen in love, sat there with red cheeks and a shy smile.
Cemre leaned forward, "Shea? Who is Shea?" she asked as she watched Duncan, Ebri, and Joe take turns speaking.
Duncan explained with a smile, "Joe is in love with this Shea girl, and no one knows about her. Not even him!"
"Or maybe, I'll make a special album for her," Joe said spontaneously.
Ebri's laughter exploded.
Duncan, who was laughing at the same time as Ebri, suddenly stopped, "Are you serious?"
"Album?" asked Cemre, still with a smile.
"I said it's a possibility, not a sure thing, but there is a possibility!" Joe explained.
"Oh god, you really are in love with this girl, aren't you?" Duncan teased.
"Yo, he's not just falling; he's deeply falling in love this time! Joseph Ilyas, the player of all time, is finally falling in love with a girl. A mysterious girl!" said Ebri, laughing heartily.
Cemre sat there, listening to the three of them teasing each other, a warm smile on her face. It was moments like these that made their friendship so special.
"Wait!" Duncan interrupted as he received a message on his phone.
"What?" Ebri turned around.
"They accepted me at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona!" Duncan exclaimed, jumping up and down with joy.
Ebri, Joe, and Cemre immediately stood up and hugged Duncan, who was now crying with joy. They cheered and danced a little to celebrate this exciting news. As soon as Duncan realized he had a tear on his cheek, he quickly wiped it away.
"Well, to celebrate my acceptance, how about I treat you all to lunch?" Duncan suggested, one arm around Ebri's back and a bright smile on his face.
"Sounds good to me!" Ebri quickly agreed, nodding his head.
"Oh yes, let's invite everyone!" Cemre suggested.
Joe took a step back from where he was standing earlier, "I guess I'll follow, but I have to finish writing the lyrics first because I already promised Ted to record tonight, so..."
"It's okay! But don't forget to come, I'll be waiting, okay?" replied Duncan, lightly patting Joe's chest with the palm of his hand.
The room was filled with a sense of excitement as they prepared to celebrate Duncan's acceptance.