Chapter 5 Photos of Them Hugging

While inside the car, Hyacinth was smiling silently from time to time. She was staring at the sceneries outside of the window but her mind was with the last words Melvin had uttered.

"I remember! I remember!" she was even singing in a whisper while nodding her head.

The driver anxiously glanced at her from the rearview mirror. He fretted about Hyacinth's strange reaction after meeting the boy.

"I have to tell this to Young Madam!" he thought.

Meanwhile, when Melvin was done picking some strawberries, he immediately went to their restaurant.

"Mom, here are your two baskets of strawberries," he said with a wide smile.

Sandra and Milton who were both in their office just deeply stared at him from head to foot.

"The same right?" Sandra asked her husband.

"Yeah! Even the blue mask and the style of hair. There's no doubt that's our son!" Milton whispered.

When Melvin heard their odd conversation, he turned around and squinted his eyes on them.

"Why are you looking at me like I did something... terrible!" he couldn't spell out the last word.

Milton and Sandra stood straight and took a deep sigh. He tapped the desk first before he placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Better talk to him!" Sandra even advised before she left their office.

"Don't worry, dear. Our son and I will have a heart-to-heart talk!" he told Sandra which made Melvin even more baffled.

"Let's go out for a while young man. You're almost nineteen. You passed the legal age of drinking hard drinks!" he winked at his son who was still squinting at them.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"I will tell you later. Don't forget my phone!" Milton said as he picked his smartphone up on the desk.

They went to the street food stall and sat on two monoblock chairs.

Milton ordered two cans of beer and grilled squid.

"Only tonight. This is very important. Here, drink this!" he said as he gave him a can of beer.

Melvin had no choice but to get the can of beer from him and open it.

After Milton gulped almost half of the beer, he stared at his son.

"Have you browsed our Twitter recently?"

"No, I haven't. Why?" Melvin replied after sipping a small amount.

"Here, take a look at these!" Milton said while browsing some photos on their Twitter account.

When Melvin took a glance at the photos his father had shown, his mouth hung open while his forehead formed some narrow lines.

"Son, I only have one question~"

"Dad, it's not what you think it is!" Melvin cut in.

He knew exactly what his father's next words were.

"Okay, I believe in you!" Milton shrugged his shoulders as he smiled at him.

Melvin just shook his head while still staring at the photos of him and Hyacinth hugging each other on the strawberry farm.

The shots were taken when Hyacinth suddenly bumped into him. He held her elbows so that she would not fall back while Hyacinth's hands were on his chest. But because their angle was taken in a slanting position, they really looked like hugging.

"So, what's the story behind those pictures?" Milton asked him while dipping a grilled squid on the spicy sauce.

Melvin sighed first before he sternly answered.

"She bumped into me. I just held her elbows so she wouldn't fall!"

"Okay. How did you know her name?" Milton asked with a serious look this time.

"I...Dad what do you mean?" he staggered in his words.

"Your mom told me that this young lady bought some pastries in our bakery this morning. Before she left, your mom heard you call her name!"

Melvin felt he needed some air he gasped a bit and cleared his throat. When he told his dad the whole story of how they had accidentally met, Milton's eyes were smiling.

"Okay, I got it. Here, let's drink more. I'll explain to your mom everything when we get home!" he smiled and ordered another can of beer after.

When they went home, their cheeks were tomato red and their eyes were glassy.

"Go to your room!" Milton patted his son's back as he winked.

"Thanks, dad!" Melvin smiled.

When he went to his room, he lay down in bed for a while and stared at the ceiling. He was smiling for some reason he couldn't fathom.

Then he took his phone from his pocket and browsed at the pictures of him and Hyacinth again. He zoomed in and focused the image on Hyacinth's delicate face. He caressed it gently thinking he was really touching her rosy cheek that time.

"Jacinth!" he whispered with beaming eyes.

At the same time in 'The Haven' ...

Hyacinth had just taken a shower when Alyssa called.

"Aly! What's the matter?" Hyacinth asked while turning on her notebook.

She was going to visit the site of Marysville.

"Don't tell me that's you!" Alyssa frantically exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Hyacinth was bewildered by her cousin's outburst.

"Okay, you have no idea at all. I'm hanging up but I'll be back!"

Before Hyacinth could respond, Alyssa already sent a message to their group chat. It stated in capital letters 'CODE RED'.

Suddenly, an invitation from Arielle's zoom account appeared on her phone. She immediately accepted and logged in.

She was surprised that all of her cousins including Carl and Elle and her friends were waiting for her in the meeting room.

"What's going on?" Hyacinth narrowed her eyes to every one of them.

"I will share some photos and a video. Tell us your explanation!" Arielle said.

In swift seconds, photos of her and Melvin appeared right in front of her monitor. She was stunned that her almond eyes went wide as her mouth gasped.

"Sister, who's the guy in the pictures?" Arvin raised his eyebrows.

"It's not what you think it is. I accidentally bumped into him. Arielle, you said you have a video. Show it to us!" Hyacinth condescendingly said.

"Are you sure?" Arielle asked back.

"Yes, I am!" she was getting impatient.

"Okay, cool down. Here it is!"

When they saw a video of him and Melvin looked like intimately talking with each other, she was rendered speechless.

"Well, care to explain to us in detail, sister!" Mariz teased.

"Sister Jacinth, what's his name? We need a thorough investigation on that guy. I will ask my dad's assistant to check on his background!" Cendrick who's acting like a protective brother as Arvin suggested.

"I agree! Bro, do that!" Arvin even seconded.

"Why was he wearing a mask?" Carl couldn't help but ask.

"Maybe because he is a wanted criminal!" Dylan twitched.

"Dylan, sh*t up!" Arielle scolded her brother right away.

They're already planning on how to meet Melvin while Hyacinth was getting dizzy listening to them.

"Hey! All of you, zip!" Hyacinth angrily exclaimed.

They all pursed their lips at once.

"First of all, he is not a criminal nor anything like that. He is also a student in Marysville and he is the son of the owner of Hope Bakery!" she explained hoping they would stop talking about Melvin but...

"Looks like you already know a lot about him!" Alyssa uttered after an awkward silence.

"No, that's not what I mean!" Hyacinth was losing her temper with them.

"Okay, back to our plan. Sister, we're doing this for you!" Arvin interrupted her. He now led his cousins and their friends about their plan ignoring Hyacinth's plea.

"Guys, you're exaggerating things! This is not funny at all!"

When suddenly...

"Sister Jacinth, you have to leave the meeting room for a while. Sorry!" Arielle just kicked her out of their meeting room.

"What?" Hyacinth hopelessly cried out.

She had no choice but to stare at the blank monitor of her notebook.

After a few minutes, a call from an unknown number disturbed her thoughts.

"Hello! Who is this?" she asked in a grumpy tone.

"Jacinth?" Melvin was dumbstruck when he heard Hyacinth's voice.

"Rider?" Hyacinth asked back.

In another room in Vincent villa where there were cables and monitors, Vince Aliz was busy encoding and decoding some computer encryption while his three younger siblings were watching in awe.

"Bros, mission accomplished!" he reported like an FBI as he touched the earpiece on his left ear.

"I'm proud of you, Vince Aliz! You're really a techie!" Arvin proudly commented.

A while ago, Melvin had just taken a shower when he received a text from a university overseas saying that his application was granted. He had to call the written number on the text to confirm.

Out of excitement, he didn't think of anything anymore. So, when somebody answered his call, he was ecstatic. Only to realize that he had been fooled by someone.

"How did you get my number?" Hyacinth annoyingly asked.

"I'm supposed to be the one asking you that. How did you get my information?" Melvin who was still enraged thinking his hope to be accepted disappeared like a vapor in the wind angrily asked back.

"I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Princess, you think fooling someone like this is funny? Grow up! If you can't sleep, don't include me in your misery!" Melvin roared then hung up.

Hyacinth was left still dumbstricken.