Chapter 192 - Ruby And Emerald (1)
Chapter 192 - Ruby And Emerald (1)
Chapter 192 – Ruby And Emerald (1)
"I want you to see you wearing it. It would be my greatest honor," Mason replied with his bashful smile. "If… if you allow me, can I be the one who put the earring on your ears?"
"Putting the earring?" I was surprised by his request. I mean, putting on a bracelet or necklace was already very intimate for me. When Logan clasped the necklace for me, I felt that it was unnecessarily intimate.
But now, Mason Hall wanted to put the earring on my ears?
I hesitated and asked him first, "Do you even know how to put on earrings? Since it's… you know, girl's thing."
Mason smiled mysteriously, "Don't worry, I know how to put on earrings. I did it once, and she didn't complain at all."
"In fact, she looked gorgeous when I put it on her," Mason said while staring at me meaningfully. I got curious since I never heard Mason be close with anyone, let alone putting on earrings to a girl. That was another level of trust.
Because I honestly wouldn't trust a boy to put on my earring, it was too risky that they might rip my ear in the process.
"You did that? To who?" I asked.
Mason smiled thin and shrugged, "Just my mom. When I was in elementary, he often told me to put on the earrings while she was busy with makeup. So I got used to it."
"Really?" I still couldn't believe his statement. Somehow, I felt it was a bit off. Mason said he lived alone for a long time, so I guessed that his parents were probably divorced. Mason didn't want to follow anyone, nor did his parents seem to care about him.
So I deduced that Mason had a terrible relationship with his family.
But now, he suddenly said that he often helped his mom put on the earring? That was a bit weird…
But I couldn't ask more about that, it was a private matter, and Mason would be offended if I pried on his personal stuff.
I wanted to say that I could put it on by myself, but by the looks of it, it seemed that Mason was really eager to put the earring on my ears. I swallowed my saliva as I tried to calm myself before accepting his offer.
"You… are you sure that you can do it? Can you really put on the earring?"
"I can do it, Em."
"J—Just be careful, okay? My piercing is a bit tight because I rarely wear earrings," I said. And that statement was a lie, by the way, because I often wore earrings in my room when I was alone.
I couldn't wear it in school because I was afraid of getting bullied, and the earrings in my stash were mostly cheap came in many shapes and colors. It was a source of ridicule if anyone found out that I also liked collecting colorful knick-knacks and jewelry.
"Don't worry, Em. I understand in the back of my head. Trust me," Mason gave me reassurance, and I finally accepted the offer.
"Just be careful…." I warned him again. I tucked my hair behind my ear to show him that I accepted his plea.
Mason looked so happy that it made me wonder why he would overreact to something like this? I saw how his dreamy blue eyes sparkled with joy as he thanked me.
Mason Hall took the ruby rose first and carefully approached me. He stood on my right side and then put on the ruby rose. I closed my eyes, afraid that he might do it wrong, which would end up hurting me in the process. But as I closed my eyes, I could feel the cold stainless steel slide through the hole on my right ear smoothly.
"Done," Mason said.
I opened my eyes and frowned instantly. It was really strange that Mason was really good at this. I touched my right ear, and I felt the rose-shaped ruby.
"You… you really can do this?" I asked, still couldn't believe that he knew how to do it.
"Told you that I know how to put on earrings, right?" Mason giggled lightly. He took out the emerald rose and then walked to my left side. "This is the emerald rose, Em. I personally relate to this emerald rose the most."
"Hm? Why?" I asked.
"Because it reminds me of someone. Someone that I keep close in my heart," Mason replied. He gently put on the second earring, and this time, I didn't close my eyes because I knew that he could put it carefully without hurting me.
"Done," Mason Hall said. He took a few steps back to stare at me from a distance, and his smile became even warmer, "You're gorgeous, Em…."
My cheeks reddened by his compliment. The way he uttered it, I wouldn't lie that it was lovely and warm. Mason's smile warmed me up.
"The ruby rose reminds me of you, Em. You're beautiful and bold. You're mysterious yet alluring."
"And the emerald rose reminds me of something else. I just hope that you will understand…" Mason said vaguely. His eyes suddenly pooled with tears as if he was about to cry soon.
"Eh? Why are you crying, Mason?" I asked as I approached him.
"Ah—I'm sorry, it must've been weird for you to see me like this," Mason said.
Well, yeah, it was weird to see the perfect Mason Hall suddenly cry like that. But I wasn't someone who would invalidate you for having a feeling. Mason must've been thinking about something that made him emotional.
"Can you… hold me, Em?"
"Hold you?"
"Yeah, hold my hand…" Mason said.
"Um… okay," I said. I gently intertwined my fingers with his, and he held my hand tightly. I could feel the warmth from his hand, and it made me realize that mine was actually quite cold.
"Em, are you cold?" Mason asked. He looked worried for some reason, even though cold hands-on winter was very common. I was actually surprised that his hand felt really warm.
"My hand was cold before, but since yours is very warm, I'm fine now," I showed a smile at him, and Mason Hall got emotional again. A tear dropped from the edge of his left eye. "Mason, why are you crying? Is there something wrong?"
"N—No, it's nothing. I'm just happy that I can hold your warm hand…" Mason said. "It's very important for me, Em."
Another tear dropped from the edge of his right eye, so I gently put my other hand to his cheek and wiped the tear with my thumb.
"Mason, I don't know what you're talking about right now. But trust me, everything will be okay," I said. I guess that was the most proper advice I could give him because I had zero idea of what he was talking about.
Mason smiled bitterly, and he closed his eyes. He rubbed his cheek on my cold palm, and he got even more emotional than before. His tears started streaming down.
I quickly retracted my hand, afraid that my cold hand might hurt him. Maybe his face was thin and sensitive since he always looked so clean without pimples whatsoever.
But Mason Hall suddenly grabbed my wrist, preventing me from retracting my hand, "M—Mason?"
"Em, please caress me like this. I really want to feel your palm brushing on my cheek," Mason said. He continued crying in silence, which showed a deep, unspeakable pain that got me wondering what happened to him. But if this would help him relieve his stress, I wouldn't mind at all.
I didn't dare to ask him questions. I just allowed him to rub his cheek on my palm because it seemed that Mason had such a deep pain that he couldn't tell, just by looking at his face, and he seemed to be comforted by doing that, much to my confusion.
"Em, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me…."
"Forgive you? For what?" I asked. "I never have any bad beef with you, and you've always been so sweet to me, Mason. I don't even think it's possible to find someone else sweeter than you."
"I'm so glad that you think like that, Em," Mason said. I still didn't understand what made him like this, but if this would make him feel better…
"I'm sorry that I cannot confess to you officially. It tortures me every day because I'm afraid that something would happen if I confessed and we are dating," Mason said. "Em, I'm so sorry…."
"En, I forgive you," I said. I felt that he was overreacting. He did tell me that he liked me, and he wanted to confess to me formally, so we could date. I still had zero opinion about us dating, but at the same time, I wouldn't lie that it would be such a hard choice.
Still, he was overreacting.. We had a lot of times anyway.