He is Enchanted

I Happen to Like Him

Nothing special happened, but Ethan was satisfied when the meeting finally ended, even though it finished an hour more than the plan.

But Ethan can understand that because dad has to be the best representation compared to everyone else in the office and Ethan, has to learn about it.

Then what a coincidence, it turned out that they had just decided the place, and it was at Duke's cafe.

Even though Ethan wished they could go somewhere else, he even hoped they accidentally went to Roman's friend's cafe.

Since Ethan decided to continue his education abroad, the city's layout has changed a lot since he went aboard, and many new cafes have sprung up. They remind Ethan of a mushroom colony.

Even though his friends sent videos of the grand opening videos of the cafes to their group chat, even visited some, Ethan still couldn't find where that old man's friend's cafe was.

Although he has also taken some screenshots of some photos he thinks are the cafe from Roman's ** account.

Does Roman know that Ethan often visits his ** page? So he never included the location of the photos he posted, so Ethan really didn't know where to start looking for information. 

But he also couldn't possibly visit all the cafes in this town one by one.

After doing a few more things, Ethan immediately went to his father and asked permission to meet his friends and possibly have dinner with them. His father nodded indifferently. Ethan didn't mind it either, and the important thing was that he got permission to go anyway.

When he arrived at Duke's cafe, Ethan first took off his suit and tie, then unbuttoned the first button of his shirt. Before finally smiling at Hunter, Emma, and Dante, who had arrived before him. 

Ethan sat in the chair where the three of them were seated. "Where's the other?"

"They decided to watch a movie after you left, but since the three of us had already seen the film, we ended up separating ourselves."

Ethan nodded. "Then come straight here?"

"Not really," said Emma, shaking her head.

"Earlier, we had accompanied Duke to buy something before deciding to meet here."

Ethan then looked left and right, he even looked at where the coffee machines lined up and the cashier, but Ethan couldn't find Duke anywhere. 

"Duke was out for a while, and he said earlier that he ran out of milk."

Ethan nodded slowly.

There is no longer any conversation. Ethan is busy choosing what drink he will order, he has read the menu many times, but his mind has not been distracted from Roman.

Roman might now be in his friend's cafe. Maybe even he is looking at the menu like Ethan is doing right now.

Hunter, Emma, and Dante stared at each other, and due to their years of friendship, they didn't even need to speak to agree that something was bothering Ethan's mind that made Ethan unfocused.

Then they smiled mischievously. Of course, what else could make Ethan unfocused other than Roman? 

Ethan had finally finished looking at the menu, and he decided to leave it to Duke. He would say he was in the mood for a sweet drink, as long as it wasn't coffee.

"Ethan."

Ethan directly looked at Emma. He lifted his chin as if to ask; what's wrong?

"Is something bothering you? You look sad."

First of all. Ethan knew it was a trick from Emma because this had happened once when they were still in high school when Ethan had a crush on a shy girl from the class next door. 

During break time, Ethan saw some kids bothering that shy girl, but Ethan didn't dare to come and help her because, at that time, it was kids that usually made trouble for their school. If Ethan helped her, there might be a fight, and maybe even better if Ethan didn't help at all, then no one would fight. They wouldn't possibly take a girl into a fight, and it could hurt their pride. 

However, on the one hand, Ethan actually felt guilty for only watching her, even making him not focus in biology class after that break time. 

Emma, of course, could feel that. She forced Ethan to say what happened, but Ethan held back even until the biology class was over.

However, one sentence from Emma, before the English teacher came in, made Ethan unable to stop himself from telling the story, and the sentence was pretty much the same things that Emma had just said.

"This is the fourth time you've said that, and I won't be fooled again, Emma," said Ethan with a smile, making Emma's face change to an annoyed look.

Oh yeah, two more things happened while they were on campus. When Ethan had a crush on a girl who was three years older than him, she was a final-year student still doing her thesis. They meet at the equestrian club, and Ethan is so fascinated by the way she rides a horse, reminding Ethan of a fantasy film where one of the main female characters fights alongside the boys. It's hard to explain how she looked at the time, but in the end, Ethan decided that she looked both beautiful and strong. 

Ethan was confused why he had come to that conclusion because after thinking about it, they were two things with opposite meanings, but Ethan's didn't mean that someone couldn't have both. It's just that such rare charms were only possessed by a couple of people, according to Ethan.

Emma also said the same statement, and at that moment, Ethan finally confessed his true feelings, and without his consent, Emma told all of it to Hunter, who was in the same club as Ethan.

Then Emma and Hunter made a kind of collaboration, where Emma would tell what Ethan had told her, while Hunter would tell how the girl was at their equestrian club.

But Ethan wasn't upset that Emma had indirectly told his story. After all, he only said it to their close friends, and this was actually an advantage for Ethan because Ethan didn't have to tell it with himself.

Ethan himself did not know, but it felt strange to tell about the person he liked, even his close friends.

"Emma always uses that phrase because you do look sad when you can't find one thing about the person you like. You look frustrated, Ethan, and it shows on your face."

Hunter nodded as Dante spoke. He must have remembered the girl at their equestrian club. As for Dante, he remembered one other girl.

Ethan was heartbroken when the girl he liked finally graduated, and he never saw her again even until he graduated.

But Ethan was able to recover from his broken heart in a fairly fast time because a few months later, when the new students had entered, Ethan already had a new girl he liked.

Then coincidentally, Dante was in the same club as the girl, the orchestra club. Dante and the girl were both violinists, which made Dante automatically become her mentor because, at that time, Dante was the only member actively participating in club activities.

At that time, Ethan wanted to know which room the orchestra club used to practice, but he didn't want to ask Dante directly. This causes Ethan to become unfocused, and the cycle repeats itself; Emma says that and tells it to the others while collaborating with Dante, who describes how about the girls from his perspective. 

But his story with the girl also didn't go smoothly because, after a few days of Dante trying to help Ethan approach the girl, they found out that she was more attracted to girls. 

Ethan sighed. Yeah, what can he say?

"But Ethan, there's one thing I want to ask you," Hunter said. 

Emma, Dante, and Ethan glanced at him in the same second as if to give Hunter permission to say it.

"Actually, I'm not bothered by who you like, Ethan. But don't you remember there was once a rumor that Soren likes you?"

Ethan immediately recalled the time Hunter had talked about. 

Soren was the last person to join their group, even though they and Soren had known each other before. No one can remember for sure, and even Ethan doubts his memory. That at that time, Soren approached them because he liked Ethan. At that time, Ethan did not show that he was interested in men because he was always liked a girl. Maybe that's what caused Soren to abandon his feeling for Ethan immediately. 

Plus, when the first time Soren got close to them. He often asked Ethan to go, and Ethan, without feeling anything strange, always accepted Soren's invitation.

But without Soren realizing it, he was comfortable with them and eventually became close with all of them.

The rumor was actually spread by a student who was jealous of Soren's achievements in the basketball club, and he initially thought that by spreading the rumor, Ethan and the others would leave Soren. But what happened instead is everyone protected Soren, especially Ethan. 

Soren himself admits that it's just a rumor, but all of them except Ethan can clearly see that Soren is lying. But in the end, they decided not to force Soren to tell the truth. Because at that time, Soren looked down because of the rumors.

"So now, you're attracted to men, Ethan?"

Ethan held his breath for a moment, staring at Hunter, and a few seconds later, he exhaled heavily and lowered his head.

"I don't know. What I do know is I have a feeling for him."

Everyone was silent. Even Emma and Hunter swallowed all the sentences to tease Ethan that had been on the corners of their lips.

How surprised the three of them were when the Duke came with a few boxes of milk and the other things, with Judith, Vivian, Isaac, and Soren giving Duke their help.