Dreams

Chapter 7: Lost Dreams

Rin wanted to cry badly. Here she was struggling to control herself from going insane because of his voice, but he was not making her life any better. He had suddenly spoken to her in a low voice a moment ago asking her if she was hungry and his voice, nevertheless, sounded as sexy as ever. The way he had looked at her through the corner of his eyes had added on to that effect as well.

As she stared at the orange pudding, she could feel her heart skipped a beat and she immediately looked back at him again. He was staring expectantly at her in the hope that she would open up the container and eat the pudding. While she was staring at him, she even realised that his cerulean eyes were as bright and beautiful as ever.

Although she hated to admit it, Len was so gorgeous.

"You are trying to kill me, aren't you?" he spoke with a hint of slight fear in his voice.

She snapped out of her thoughts and was taken aback a little as he gave her a glare. What had she done to make him think that she was trying to kill him?

"Yeah, I want to kill you!" she blurted with a blush on her cheeks. "Do you have a problem with that?"

No, that was not it.

She bit her lower lip and held her breath.

Her answer was not supposed to be this way.

"I'm sorry that the pudding is a little watery because it was taken out from the refrigerator since this morning," he claimed and pointed at the pudding. "If you don't want to eat it, it is fine with me because I can eat it instead."

Before he could even reach for the container, her hands quickly grabbed onto his wrist, preventing him from taking the pudding away. He was flabbergasted by her action and looked at her in puzzlement.

"I want supper, idiot! I will eat your whatever handmade pudding! Don't you dare to take back what you have given me, idiot!" she said bashfully and removed the lid from the container with a hand skillfully.

She sniffed the dessert and grinned a little. It was her first time seeing an orange pudding and would be her first time eating a pudding too. Her eyes sparkled in delight and looked at the seemingly distraught boy next to her.

"It looks delicious!" she exclaimed. "And I hope it is not spiked."

There was dead silence.

"Fine! I am going to take that pudding back."

Rin saw his hand trying to reach for the container again and she wanted to stop him again, but she was immediately stunned.

How could she not realised that she had been holding onto his wrist with her free hand since awhile ago while trying to stop him from taking the pudding away at first?

At this moment, she wished that she could just die in embarrassment. For the love of herself, she just held a man's hand for the longest time ever! Furthermore, that man was the cause of her frequent high blood pressure lately, she was very sure of it.

She removed her hands from his wrist and stuck her tongue out of him. Then, she took a spoon and ate the pudding. She liked it. She liked how it melted on her tongue when she gently squished it against the teeth. She liked the sweet, yet sour flavour which made her squeal in delight. She had never personally liked orange before but this pudding had changed her taste in seconds.

"Puddings... are nice," she mused and looked excitedly at Len like a small child. "It is my first time eating a pudding."

His eyes widened and gradually softened as he smiled at her.

"Is that so? That's great to hear that," he said and continued to eat his ramen.

Rin could feel the familiar heat rushed to her face and she kept quiet. She slowly turned to the container and ate the pudding without making any sound at all, much to Len's relief.

Finally, the both of them finished the food. Len stood up and left the stall, leaving Rin who was throwing the empty container into the bin behind. However, Rin was fast to notice him and she immediately ran to catch up with him.

"Hey, wait for me! Give me a ride back home! Wait up!" she yelled and managed to block his way before he could even reach his vehicle.

He eyed at her and smirked. "I will charge you this time."

"And I will pay you just like always," she replied sweetly with a pair of pleading eyes. "So, please?"

She could tell by his expression that he was not in a good mood, probably because of his work which was true; a crazy female passenger had spoken ill of him and thrown her tantrums inside his cab just because of a radio.

Len quietly nodded and she stepped aside to allow him to access his vehicle. She got inside the cab and sat at the front seat next to Len as he started the engine.

When the cab started moving, Rin turned to him and asked, "Say, was it you who made that pudding?"

"Nope," he replied. "It's my mother who made the orange pudding. Why did you ask?"

Rin intertwined her fingers with another blush and muttered softly, "I was just curious. I thought you made the pudding."

"Anyway, I'm glad that you like it." Len's lips curled into a smile as he continued. "If you want, I can tell my mother to make more puddings for you."

"Oh, really?" Rin beamed in excitement.

"Yes, but this only applies if we were to meet again in the future."

She rubbed her chin in deep thought and sighed deeply. "It's... hard."

"Why is that so?"

"That's because I cannot predict when I can meet you again."

Though his focus was supposed to be on the road, he turned to look at her and raised his left eyebrow.

"I was sure that there is such a thing called handphone device," he said sarcastically.

Rin hesitated and hung her head very low.

"I... I have no handphone."

It was indeed embarrassing. Almost everyone had a handphone in their pockets but she had never have one before in her life. Her parents refused to get her one, although she did plead with them for days. They said that handphone would be a distraction to her and her studies would hence be affected.

"I'm sorry then. We'll see about that later on," he could only say this in response and continued driving.

-:-:-:-

Rin yawned and looked around her in boredom. She had nothing to do and the both of them did not say anymore words to each other along the journey. Surprisingly, Len could still remember her address and that made her happy inwardly. If she were to have a handphone, she wondered if he could remember her contact number as well.

As she was chuckling to herself, she caught sight of the same old book which was hiding in between the driver seat and the radio. She looked hesitantly at Len and then back to the book. Since he was not paying any attention to her, she had decided to check the book out for any secretive information which he had tried to hide from her the last time.

It was time for revelation!

Without warning, she stretched out her arms and took the book within a split second. She flipped open the cover and looked at the first page in awe.

"Hey! Who drew this?" she said amusingly and flipped to another drawn page. "Oh! And who drew this too?"

Len tried to keep his focus on the road as he asked her, "What are you doing? Are you..."

"Yes, I am looking through the pages of your little old book."

"What?" he shouted and shifted his attention to her. "Please put that away, woman! I say, put that sketchbook away."

Rin smugged. "No, I won't unless you tell me who drew these clothes designs."

"You are really a brat," he hissed angrily and returned his gaze back to the road.

Rin flipped through the pages and admired the designs. She wished she could draw very well like him. He must be a very talented person.

"It's nice. I wish I could draw something as good as these," Rin mused and giggled at one of his designs which was a puffy floral dress. "So, answer me. Who drew these?"

There was silence.

"Don't tell me that you are the one who drew these!"

Len remained quiet.

Rin laughed and said, "I know, I know. It's impossible for guys to draw dresses. It's... weird but cool."

Rin looked at Len again to see his response. Unfortunately, he still did not respond to her. She snorted and crossed her arms angrily. She hated to be ignored, especially when she was trying to ask questions.

"I drew those things when I was younger. Laugh if you want, because it is unusual for guys to like fashion designing."

Rin looked up and saw Len signing away in remorse.

No, it was not unusual. It was cool and fascinating, she thought to herself.

"They are beautiful," Rin mumbled as she traced the outline of a sketched blouse. "Though I hate to admit it, I would love to wear them."

Upon hearing that, Len's grip tightened on the stirring wheel. Rin scratched her head for a moment and closed the book. She was confused. If Len could design so well, why didn't he become a fashion designer instead of a lowly-paid cab driver? Wasn't that a waste of talent? What a pity.

"It's great to hear that you like the designs," she heard him speak with a little hint of hesitation in his voice. "Fashion designing... used to be my dream, but..."

He paused and bit his lips sadly.

"Forget it. You won't understand."

His voice was soft and low. He sounded sad and she somehow knew his situation. It was just an unknown feeling inside her.

He was the same as her; their dreams were never fulfilled due to certain circumstances which she had no idea what his was.

"I do," Rin spoke gently. "I used to have a big dream but it was never fulfilled. The environment that I am living in has prevented me from pursuing that dream. I have already tried so hard but it's fruitless."

"For my case, I have to quit my education in order to work and support my mother and myself. My mother is sick so I am the only one whom she can rely on."

"Is that why you become a cab driver?"

Len nodded and asked, "What about you? You have the chance to continue your education in a university and have a promising future ahead..."

"What kind of promising future will I have?" Rin interrupted him as she gave him a snubbed look.

Feeling unhappy about her rude way of talking to him, Len cleared his throat and said, "You can be a lawyer, politician or maybe, pursue a Master in Law."

"And do you think this is my dream?"

"I... don't know."

Rin stifled a laugh. "Like you, I have been unsuccessful in fulfilling a stupid dream of mine. Even up till now, I am still finding ways to achieve it."

Len raised his eyebrow in curiosity and queried, "What is your dream then?"

She furrowed her eyebrows while her lips formed a straight line, as if she was in deep thoughts. Should she tell him- a man who probably knew nothing about her? But he had already told her his useless dream.

Maybe she should tell him in return to be fair.

"I've always wanted to be a model," she spoke. "That's my dream. The truth is that I have always admired many famous models and even Luka Megurine since young."

She laughed again. She knew it was a stupid and childish dream, and that Len would surely laugh at her.

But she was wrong.

As he moved his car towards the pavement and stopped driving, he carried a deep frown on his face. It seemed to her that he was troubled after she had announced about her dream. Was being a model that bad?

"I'm sorry. We've arrived," that was all he mentioned in a soft mumbling voice.

Rin pouted. What was wrong with him? If he disliked models, he should have just said so.

"It's... great... to know more about you today." Rin tried to change the subject and slotted the sketchbook back to its original position. "Here is the fee. See you soon!"

She shoved the money to him and got out of the cab quickly.

She could not believe it.

Len too.

They were so similar not only by their looks and family names, but also their lost dreams.

Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 7.

Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 6. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D

Here are the reviewers:

- YellowFluffiesForever22
- Gruesome Deaths
- seraphim.159

Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story.

Here are some common questions which are being asked by some of you or you might be currently thinking right now:

1) Who is the person who appeared in Len's dream (at the beginning of Chapter 6)?

The person is none other than... his childhood friend whom he had never kept in contact with since a long time ago because of an incident. Maybe he did keep in contact with that person but he just did not realise it. You'll see more of Len's flashbacks or dreams of this person in the later chapters, then you'll soon figure out who he or she is. *refraining myself from giving too many spoilers*

2) Does Kaito like Rin?

Yup! ;)

3) When will Len and Rin get together (as in a couple)?

Maybe many chapters later...because this is a slow-paced romantic story.

4) Why are Rin's parents 'so restrictive'?

Why... hmm... I have to admit that I did exaggerate their behaviour but sadly to say, there are some parents who are extremely authoritative like Rin's parents in this story.

5) Did I purposefully make this story deep and meaningful?

It depends on how you look at it. It is only meaningful when one finds it meaningful.

Deep... maybe because I used some real-life contexts in this story? (I don't think so though...) But if there is any questions about some parts which you find confusing, just raise them up. I will be happy to answer them. :)

Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.

Before you leave this page, don't forget to leave a review! Thank you! ;)