WHAT?!

"W-why?" asked Alyssum yet she couldn't find a perfect word to ask him. 

She was stunned when Chance grabbed her wrist and stopped her track. 'What was he thinking?' She thought to herself and couldn't find an answer from his gaze. 

Her eyes locked on his eyes, who was extremely staring at her and didn't even utter any words. He was stopped there, holding her wrist, and slowly, she felt the grip tightened.  

"C-chance…" she called him yet he didn't answer. 

So she snatched her wrist and lightly, caressing it to ease the sting around it because of his grip.

"You stopped me yet you didn't say anything." She finally mumbled after a moment of silence. 

His eyes wide and suddenly looked away, scratching his nape and striving to alleviate his embarrassment. 

"Ah yes, I'm sorry… I forgot."

Alyssum scratched her head in frustration while glaring at him. "You got to be kidding me." 

Then, she lifted her hands and abruptly pinched his cheeks as Chance whined and strove to remove Alyssum's hands. She just chuckled when seeing his cute squishy face. 

"D-don't laugh at me, Aly! I-it hurts!" He whined while tapping her hands. 

She laughed at him, seeing him fussing so she pinched his cheeks hard. He cried out and tapped her hands, striving to let them go, however she kept squeezing it. 

"Aly! Pwease, l-let go of my c-cheeks!" 

"Okay… I'll let this go if you are going to tell me what's your problem!" She uttered while pinching his cheeks. 

He lifted his right arm as a sign of withdrawing and nodded vigorously. Alyssum smiled widely when Chance easily surrendered. And knowing him, he was committing to what he said so she trusted him. 

Slowly, she removed her hands from his cheeks, gave him some space, and waited for him to utter his problems. But she was wrong, Chance formed an unnerving smirk and abruptly, he dashed away from her, yelling, 

"BROTHERS, ALY HURTS ME! YOU NEED TO STOP HER!"

Alyssum was stunned when she saw him running away from her direction and went to his brothers. She couldn't even react to his actions. Yet, when it was completely processed inside her head, she rolled her eyes and ran towards him and yelled back, 

"Come back here, Chance! Or I will kick your balls!" 

"No! You are going to kill me, you monster!" 

"You need to shut up, stop from running, and tell me what's going on!"

"Promise me you aren't going to hurt my cheeks!" 

"I promise!" 

"I don't believe you!" 

They kept running around the hallway like a child, happily playing in the playground. On the other hand, Caine and Christian we're watching their mischievous action and laughing at them. 

"Come back here, Chance!" She yelled while grabbing her shoes and threw them away from him. 

Yet, he dodged it easily and made a face to tease her. She groaned in frustration and removed her shoes completely. 

"You know you can't Aly!" 

He continually annoyed her when seeing her frustration. Then, she sprinted in his direction which made Chance stop and cross his arms. 

Abruptly, she yelped when she strode on her shoes, where they were placed on the floor, her eyes closed and ready herself to stumble on the floor yet it didn't happen. 

On the contrary, she felt strong arms around her body so she slowly opened her eyes and glanced at the person, who was holding her tight. Her heartbeats skipped as her blood rushed to her cheeks which formed into a blush.

Their eyes locked on each other and didn't say anything. Chance kept staring at her as if she was an angel that had been out of Heaven. 

Her eyes were brown like the earth that compliments her lovely smooth face, her rosy lips kept inviting him, wanting to steal her lips as if he was committing a crime. He couldn't believe he was seeing her beauty, closely. 

'She was so beautiful and no doubt, many guys wanted him… even my brother.' He thought to himself. 

"Ehem! You two need to stop staring at each other! It's getting gross, watching you two!" Caine exclaimed. 

They were both stunned with their eyes wide and separated from each other, looking away as they strove the embarrassment from their face. However, Caine wrapped his arms around Chance and Alyssum's shoulders and formed a smirk while giving them a suspicious glance.

"Embarrassed? Don't be…" said Caine. 

Alyssum furrowed her brows, confused from what he was saying. And so, she removed his arms and walked towards Christian. 

"Let's go, Christian. Cain's is getting weird and I don't want to be infected by his weirdness." She uttered while fairly shuddering her body.

Christian was just laughed at her and responded with a nod. "You are blushing, do you know that?" 

She glanced at him with her eyes wide and cupped her cheeks, feeling the burn around them. She nibbled her lips, looked away and slightly, slapping her cheeks. 

"I-I don't k-know what you're talking about." 

"Yeah, sure…" replied Christian. 

She glared at Christian and smacked his shoulder as he just snickered at her, who was very ashamed of what happened. 

Then, they walked inside the dining room where their parents were waiting for their arrival. Alyssum's mother signed her to sit beside her as Mrs. Park did the same to her three sons. 

Mrs. Byrne leaned closer to her daughter and asked, "where have you been?" 

She glanced at her mother and saw the annoyance from her mother's gaze. She bit her inner cheeks, striving to ease the tension inside her chest. She knew that she was in trouble. 

She sighed before replying to her mother, "Chance invited me to have a picnic date." 

And to Alyssum's surprise, her mother began to smile, widely as if she was happy hearing her daughter having a date with one of Mrs. Park's sons. Alyssum perceived that she had a plan inside her mind.  

Then, Mrs. Byrne glanced at the other family, who was dawdling for her announcement. 

"Let's have a deal, Mrs. Park." Mrs. Byrne said while crossing her arms. 

Mrs. Park smiled at her and asked, "what deal?" 

"Let's have a marriage arrangement for my daughter, Alyssum, to your youngest son, Chance." 

Alyssum's eyes widened when her mother giving a foolish idea to Mrs. Park where his best friend will have a marriage arrangement with her.

"WHAT?!" 

Chance and Alyssum cried out in unison.