Chapter 45: As sweet as chocolates

I did not let go of Evan during the speedy ride on his motorcycle. Don't get me wrong. It was not like I was purposely enjoying the ride-my arms wrapped around him. I had the reasons to complain. Why? First and foremost, I did not insist Evan drive me going to the store. Second, never in a million ways did I think he could drive a freaking motorcycle. I thought his Mom disapproved of him riding a motorcycle, so where was the good boy gone? And finally, he drove so briskly it felt like that if I would let go even a bit, I automatically would fly away. This is it, I thought in the back of my mind. Evan will kill me mercilessly, and the National Police Service of South Korea will find my journal notebook containing all my tiny secrets, including the silly fact that I don't eat tomatoes, and take it as a horrendous sign that something had weirdly happened. Then, they would find my body likely hanging on the branches of an oak wood tree. After taking my body, it would take days to make an autopsy of it as though it wouldn't be so apparent that I flew from riding a motorcycle that seemed to have not followed a given speed limit. And the culprit of the nonexistent crime: Evan Park-a handsome culprit. And the weird part was even though the ride seemed to be so quick, Evan was following the maximum speed limit for motorcycles. He was still a disciplined citizen, after all. The problem was probably just me and my frantic panicky reaction to the situation. Nonetheless, after enduring the ride, we arrived safely at the store. "You're being quiet. What's going on in your mind?" Evan asked as he took off his helmet before running his fingers through his hair to brush it up, but it smoothly fell back on his forehead. He then wore a black mask, considering we were in a public face with more people who could recognize him. "Nothing." "You're thinking of something weird again, Misty. What? Did you really think you were going to actually fall?" he scoffed and took a few steps toward me. Not him reading my mind. Ugh. How is he so good at reading my mind? "How could I not?" I clenched my jaw. "And to answer your question, yes! I thought of that. And just a heads up, you're the culprit! So if some police officers randomly show up at your unit, don't freak out, and just politely turn yourself in!" I scowled at him with my remaining energy, not realizing that I was still wearing his helmet, so I wasn't sure if Evan heard my never-ending speech of silliness. Evan removed my helmet from my head before fixing my hair a little. That sudden gesture was completely unnecessary since I could've done that myself. But anyway, hearing how he chuckled a bit, I took that as a sign that he understood my outburst of imagination. "Misty, did you take your medications today? When was the last time you visited your psychologist?" he snorted. What the actual- "Hey! I'm not insane! You're the one who drove so- "Come on. Let's get the ingredients we need to buy." Evan unexpectedly sneaked his arm around my shoulder, encouraging me to walk to finally get inside the store. ***** Kayla had brought me to this store quite a few times before, so I had the idea of where to find the items on her list. On Kayla's list were sweet dark chocolates, a tray of dozen white eggs, gluten-free all-purpose baking flour, a bottle of vanilla extract, and a bottle of honey. I heaved a sigh of relief seeing the list. I thought Kayla was lying when she said that I wouldn't be buying a lot of ingredients. Perhaps, I was worried that I would spend a lot more time with Evan here. Here I arrived at the part where various containers, cups, plastics, and even sacks of baking flour were displayed very organised. The sight of the whiteness the flours were giving looked incredibly cool, as though I was walking in the mountains of flour. On the other hand, Evan followed me silently while occasionally glancing at the arrays of baking ingredients displayed. It was weird, though, that he wasn't saying anything. "Hey, can you help me find the gluten-free all-purpose baking flour? If you could find one, just take the one in plastic packaging." I asked him for help because the stocks of baking flour and the blurry labels were making me dizzy. "Here, oops-!" Evan abruptly threw a plastic of baking flour at me, but because I was busy searching for the right flour, the plastic went straight to my face hurting it. The plastic got ruined, so the fine flour scattered all over me as though I had washed my face with natural powder. "You piece of-" I couldn't continue talking because Evan immediately wiped my face with his soft handkerchief. It was like the handkerchief he lent me before when he damped me with his coffee. "Misty, sorry. I didn't do that on purpose." He continued wiping my face, and I let him do that because I was tired and irritated enough to complain. And besides, it was only a simple flour. "It's alright," I scoffed and took the handkerchief from him to wipe my face. "You're irritated. I said I'm sorry," Evan whispered and leaned his face closer to mine, ensuring he would see it. "Don't get mad at me, please?" I expected him to behave so that he would feel bad about what he did-to act like I was affected and furious. But when I looked at him, he gave me those kinds of sweet puppy eyes a kid would make when their mom scolds them for doing bad things. Evan, a tall, broad, ever-so handsome man making such puppy eyes right in front of me? Was he insane? Was he not feeling ashamed? I'm the kind of person who gets easily stunned and distracted by lovely, adorable things and actions, so it was no surprise that I quickly forgave him for throwing the flour at me. Well, it was an accident, anyway. "I'm fine, Evan. Stop with the puppy eyes." I dusted my hair, and Evan immediately helped me-understandable since he had a more incredible view of my head, considering his height. "I'm not mad. I was only startled." "Still, I want to say sorry." He finished cleaning my hair. "Do you want something? An ice cream, perhaps?" he asked. "What am I? A kid who just got her tooth taken out by a dentist?" Evan chuckled before a smile formed on his lips. "Excuse me, Miss, Sir." A staff suddenly appeared in front of us. "You're going to have to pay for this flour. It's a store policy," she informed us as she cleaned the floor. "Ah, that? Yes. Thank you for reminding us," I said. I got everything on the list. Kayla better make me taste this recipe she planned on doing, or I would be very disappointed. I was kidding. I don't take Kayla for granted for me to have free pastries. But, wait. Perhaps, except this time. I won't let this slide out. She purposely ordered me to buy her ingredients so that I could have a moment with Evan. Did I need this moment, though? For now, I know deep inside me that I haven't sorted out my feelings yet for Evan. Maybe I see him as a special neighbor friend-something unexpected. "You got everything now?" Evan asked with his usual cheery voice, his eyes fixed on the basket containing all my items. He offered to hold the basket as it got a little heavier than I expected. Or was I just that weak? And, of course, why would I not accept help if he was willing to give some. "Yes, I think so," I answered and rechecked the basket. Feeling a little unsure upon checking the items, I opened the list that Kayla sent earlier. And I was right; I missed out on one thing: the sweet dark chocolates! Oh, no. Kayla would make a long speech again if I had forgotten to buy the required chocolates on her list. I was never a big fan of chocolates-just a tiny little bit- so when I headed to the area where diverse types of chocolates are displayed, I stood frozen for a moment, staring blankly at the vast display of chocolates, almost consuming me. Though I was feeling puzzled, I started looking for sweet dark chocolate. I felt stupid not knowing that there was this kind of chocolate, so I had a hard time looking for that specific type. I even asked Evan for help. "Can't find it?" Evan asked as he roamed around to search for it. "Oh, here! Dark chocolates!" I exclaimed upon seeing the dark chocolate area. But to my surprise, the labels were somehow faded already, so I couldn't confirm which was the sweet-flavored one. Besides, the staff who swept the floor earlier couldn't be found around the store. She probably went to check somewhere in the back. "Should I take a guess? Kayla won't know, anyway." I asked Evan. "And how sure are you that she won't be able to tell you bought a different one?" Evan put the basket aside before crossing his arms over his chest. He was almost looking like he was about to make his speech-more like, scold me. Isn't she like a perfectionist? A good baker? Of course, she'll be able to tell," he denoted. "Right! You've got the point there." I sighed before turning back to the dark chocolate area once more and started looking for the sweet-flavored one. Evan was right, though. Kayla would definitely scold me if she found out I bought the wrong item. Kayla might be a very humorous person, but she's very meticulous when baking. One little tiny mistake, and she would know. And I didn't want to hear any further scolding from her anymore. "Did you find out which one you're looking for?" Evan asked. "Evan, which do you think is the sweet-flavored one? This one?" I pointed to a bar of particular chocolate. Chocolates sold at this store are fresh ones-bars resting on a wooden board as displayed inside a museum. They weren't wrapped with plastic or paper packaging, so it was hard to tell the proper chocolate we were looking for, considering their labels were faded. The staff hasn't returned yet so I couldn't ask for help. "Or this one?" I pointed to another one. "Or perhaps, this one? Which is the sweet one?" "You," Evan whispered. "What?" I was startled; I almost lost my balance. He snorted, almost sounding like he suppressed a burst of laughter. "You, which do you think is the sweet one?" "That's why I asked you!" "That's why I said 'you' because I find you sweet." He puffed a snort again. And I hate that I got affected by the way he said that. Of the times he could make fun of me, he chose this day when everything got confusing. "Evan!!!" I smacked his arm. "What? Did I make your heart flutter again?" he deadpanned, making me blink excessively for a span of what felt like half a minute. It seemed like he hadn't had anything today, except that he got extra time to make fun of me. Yes, how cool was that, Evan? Playing with someone's feelings? Ugh.