Chapter 12: Valentine's Plan

February 14, Tuesday

"Good Morning!" The delivery of such line is the most cheerful and heartwarming thing I've ever heard. Says by the chestnut-haired girl beside me sitting on the bed. Her smile really beams toward me as her simple gaze simply makes my day worthwhile. It's been the usual that she greets me every morning with the same happy face and a cheerful tone. But wow, she looks way more astonishing than usual. Her sparkly green emerald eyes, and her smile combined with a wonderful touch of red takes my breath away. Her beauty is just unbeatable in my eyes.

Of course, I totally expected that the way she would act will be different. In fact, I've never planned to forget this day either but I'm really looking forward to it.

Because it's Valentine's day.

Ah, Valentine's day, may be also called lover's day. It is the day wherein couples around the world would celebrate their love relationship. On this special day, couple will spend their time with each other doing things beyond on what they do on their day to day relationship. A few things include, giving gifts with each other, taking a trip everywhere else they wanted to, having a date, may also travel on a far place, or even going all the way. Of course, it's not restricted to couples, even families and friends could enjoy the day together buuut we would not talk about them to much. What's important is how Monika and I will spend the Valentine's day together as a couple.

Knowing how cunning and organized Monika is, I'm sure she planned a lot of things for us to do on Valentine's day. I wonder what surprises she got me in store. Did she already plan every minute of the day so far? What about the places that we would visit? Are we gonna spend an ero-? Oh, how exciting! I'm so so so anticipating this.

"Ummm, Rex?" she stared at me while having her hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Your face haven't moved a single muscle, and yet its turning red. Are you sick?"

"Oh what? No no, I'm totally fine, haha," I immediately responded. I removed the blanket that is atop me and sat down on my bed. Monika then looked at me weirdly as she began to chuckle a little bit with her eyes closed.

"Oh, thank goodness," she stated. "I'm going to start cooking our breakfast for today, okay?" she continued as she stood up from the bed, giggled at me and went straight to the kitchen. Ah well, she really knows how to charm me, eh?

As soon as she left the room, I started to leave the bed as well and fix it. I then looked around and went on to fix my things that I needed for today. Yes, it's a weekday and I have work today. Though I already asked Boss to take half the day of for "important errands" but weird thing is, she didn't even argue, laughed for a moment, and gave me a go. I truly wonder what she's thinking.

Well anyway, what's important is Monika probably never planned this thing to happen, so this will be my first surprise for her. I then started following her in the kitchen to assist her on her cooking.

There she is, with her hair tied on a bun, humming again a familiar tune as the sizzles from the frying pan synchronizes with her rhythm. She seems to be simply cooking bacon and eggs for today, well I didn't really expect anything special since that's what's in the room today and I'm sure we will be eating in an elegant place later. I approached her from the back and while I was doing it, I cheerfully greeted her.

"Good morning, cheesecake!"

"Oh good morning cheesecake, how is your morning?" she cheerfully responded.

"Umm, it's really really good so far," I said with a tune. I then placed my head over her left shoulder and wrapped her waist with my arms as I responded with "How about you?" I heard a little expression of shock from her, I bet she didn't expect that.

"I'm doing fine as well, as you can see, I'm preparing you a wonderful bacon and eggs for breakfast!" she happily responded.

"Oh that's great…" I softly answered while whispering it in her ear and kissing her fragrant and sweet-scented neck. I then felt a light tingle from her.

"Oh wow cheesecake, you're being quite assertive today! Did something happen?" Monika asked with a bit of a squeal.

"Huh? You DO know what day today is, am I right?" I asked with utter confusion.

"Of course I do, it's Valentine's day," she responded energetically with a slight jump. "So that's why you're like that today, it's rather cute!" she complimented.

"Hahaha, of course! Did I surprise you?" I asked.

"Ahaha, absolutely!" Monika expressed. "I actually never thought you could swing that way! And here I thought you're such a small little squishy bun that is fun to pamper every time you're tired," she teased.

"Hey hey, now you're destroying my confidence," I stated with disappointment.

"No no, don't take it as an insult, I just adore both sides of you, ahaha," she immediately assured.

"So Monika, my cheesecake, what are the things that we would do at Valentine's day?" I simply asked.

"Huh?" Monika was confused. "I haven't planned what we would do," she answered with a bit of an apologetic tone.

Silence ensued on the kitchen, nothing to hear except the sizzling of bacon and eggs.

"Oh, breakfast is ready!" Monika happily expressed. "Let's get the table ready, cheesecake!"

"Oh yes, certainly," I clicked after spacing out.

After that, I let go of my embrace, gathered the plates, and readied the table silently, still with a confused and surprised face that says, "Oh fuck, I messed up, how are we gonna have our Valentine's day?"

"Time to eat!" Monika cheered as she brought the cooked food on the dining table alongside with a cooked rice.

"Oh we're having rice again?" I commented.

"Ah yeah, a rice every morning will certainly make your tummy throughout the day!" she advised pointing her finger upward. "Don't you like it?" she worried.

"Of course I like it, haha, I always appreciate your effort on making me full," I answered.

"Then, let's eat!" Monika initiated as she prepared to prepare a portion for each of us.

"Didn't you know Rex, the history of Valentine's day is quite morbid and gruesome," Monika stated.

"Oh really? I didn't know that," I replied.

"Well back in the pre-Roman Empire, in every 13th to 15th of February, there was this celebration named Lupercaria. During this celebration, various animals such as dogs and cows and goats were sacrificed to an altar as an offering. These offerings were offered by a Luperci, which is oftentimes called as the brothers of the wolf. Quite an amazing name and meaning, actually. It's like what a kid would nickname themselves, "brothers of the wolf," ahaha…" Monika continued spewing interesting facts and history about this special day while eating her breakfast. But while Monika's story sounds quite amusing, I'm just right in front of her…

THINKING ABOUT HOW I MESSED UP!

Ah crap! This is bad, this is bad. But from the looks of it, I acted like a spoiled brat for relying too much on her to celebrate this day. All I know about her is that she's insanely organized and usually plans ahead on doing something that she desires. What would happen on this day? I simply just planned to give her flowers and chocolates and that's basically it! Would she hate me for being too dependent on our relationship? Would she comment about how boring we treated this special day? Would she regret transported in this world just to be in a relationship with me? Ah, this sucks hard…

Well, thinking about it, I remember one thing my uncle once told me.

"Little Rex, did you know that if you failed to impress a girl on a special day or time of her life, she would respect you less. Look at what got me, for being so focused on my work, I forgot to celebrate the most important days of your aunt, like her birthday, Valentine's day, and even our anniversary. Now she's married to a much younger gentleman with a six-digit lifestyle, ahahahaha, so always be thoughtful on your girl, okay?"

AAAHHHH! WHY DID I REMEMBER THAT OF ALL TIMES!

At this rate, I'll end up being a nobody to her. I need to think of a plan to make this day be worthwhile and memorable.

"...Cheesecake, cheesecake? Are you feeling okay?" Monika asked worriedly. She snaps her fingers in front of me to respond.

"Huh? W-what?" I regain my consciousness from spacing out.

"Oh Rex, was my story too boring for you?" she cooed. "I thought you are asleep with your eyes on, and you haven't even touched your food, it's getting cold, and you wouldn't taste the breakfast I prepared while at best," she continued with a frown.

"Ah, I'm really sorry!" I apologized as I quickly munched down the meal continuously.

"You know for a moment there, I felt like I was in that void again, talking by myself, unsure if the person in front of me is listening or not," she stated as she finishes the meal.

I faced her with a really worried look. Crap, her disinterest with me is slowly starting to begin, it's all downfall from here, and what's worse is, I made her remind of something about her dark and empty past. I'm really sorry Monika for being a worthless boyfriend, I thought while bowing down and gripping my knees.

"Cheesecake, are you troubled?" Monika asked tenderly. "If there's something bothering you, just tell me. That rollercoaster emotion of yours scares me a lot, from being so forward to being so scared on something," she grabbed my hand on my knees as she kissed me on my forehead. Damn it Monika, your excessive kindness makes me feel so worthless.

While looking at Monika with sad eyes and a smile, I felt something came across her mind as she suddenly widened her eyes and opened her mouth.

"Could it be that? If so, then I'll try to make a…"

"NO! It's not that," I suddenly shouted. While regaining my composure, I responded with, "Work, it's just work, I just realized that workload today would be extra heavy, so I got troubled for a bit…"

"Oh…" her worried look grew worse. "Is that so?"

"Yeah… but I'll try to find a way to accomplish at the best way I can…" I lied.

No, nothing is going wrong with my work. Pardon me for lying but I cannot let you be the one pushing the relationship alone. I need to man up and think of the best ways to make it work. I was too naive relying on you to plan for this day despite you knowing nothing about any wonderful places in my world yet. I'll try to think this through while I'm spending my day at work. Hopefully, I can ask for someone to give me date advises without them realizing that I have a girlfriend. If I couldn't then, I'll ask sincere forgiveness and promise her to make the next Valentine's day better…

"Ah… that was a wonderful meal, I felt that my mood is getting better again. Thanks a lot, cheesecake!" I regained my positive attitude. I slammed down my utensils as we both stood up from our chairs to clean the table.

"Really, that's great to hear!" she beamed. She beamed but I can still see her growing worry behind that face.

Please do not worry any longer, I'll think of a best way to spend Valentine's day that will make you forget your worries that you experienced this morning.

After finishing preparing myself in the morning, like taking a shower and fixing my things, I tried to assure her.

"Oh and please continue that history you're telling me, that sounds incredibly interesting," I requested while picking up my backpack to get ready for work.

"Huh? But I already finished it," her smile turned into a mix of confusion and unease.

"W-wait what?" I shrieked. "How long have I been spacing out during breakfast?"

"Spacing out?" Monika was further confused. "Th-three or four minutes, I guess?"

"H-huh-huh?" I panicked. "Well, I gotta go, I'll pick you up later, okay? I immediately skedaddled away from the room just to avoid seeing further that face of unease from her.

"Uh sure, take care…" she said anxiously.

As I flee from the room, I glanced back to see her face stricken with discomfort. I saw her forming her hands together while biting her left index finger. Never have I seen her this uncomfortable, if anything, I need to pay back big time from her later.

I just simply hope this won't end up being a bad Valentine's day for the both of us.

Smartshot Company. About 10 in the morning.

I already finished the tasks that I held off yesterday, and as of now, customers are few and workload is a lot more light than what it usually is. I guess nobody really goes on a photography center during Valentine's day. Good for them. But what I'm really worried about is…

Getting an advice from my colleagues.

Sure, it is a quite easy to talk with my colleagues now that I'm quite close to them, but as I said, I need to seek advice without them finding out that it's from my relationship. I thought about it more on a second, my co-workers weren't as busy today and I'm sure they'll help me out on love relationship advice. Ah, I've already thought about a plan, hopefully this works…

I approached Fred and Blaise, since these two guys are what I assume are popular with girls. I started asking them this question as casually as I can.

"Yo, sup guys, you know my friend was asking me to aid him on his Valentine's date today," I charged in as I coughed a bit. "And um… since I don't have enough relationship experience, I was wondering if you could help me help him," I nervously chuckled while still trying to be so nonchalant.

Ah yes, the old trick. A friend asked for help tactic. Instead of carrying the need as yourself, it's about carrying the need of someone else that doesn't exist, it's quite an old and outdone tactic but it's still considered effective. Now, I should just place it cool and avoid a line stating about myself.

"Could it be?" Blaise smirked. "Could it be that our little boy Rex is finding love advises? That's adorable," Blaise teased as he stared at me with quite a serious look. Oh crap, did he found that out?

"Woah Rex! Y-y-you got a Valentine's date?," Jeff expressed from behind as I started to feel panic and stress. Shut up you loud madman.

"Oh seriously? Seriously? Is she a hot girl or what?" Harry approached from behind.

"Oh shut up! It's just about my friend. About my friend. F-R-I-E-N-D. Are you guys deaf or something?" I expressed with an irritated tone as I shut close my eyes. Shortly after, I opened my eyes wide open and saw the whole shocked faces of everyone in the room, excluding that idiot Sean who is in the comfort room.

Quickly enough, I acted cool with a response, "Sorry for shouting guys, it's just that my friend is so desperate and I…"

"Apologies, apologies. I was just teasing you and besides you're asking Fred and I to help you out, right?" Blaised asked boastfully.

"Well, yeah but anyone can…"

"You've asked the right person kiddo," Fred cackled as he tapped my shoulder roughly. "You see, you're talking to a guy who was once called the dating legend," Fred boasted.

"Woah seriously?" I beamed.

"Don't trust him kid, he got rejected a lot of times," Blaise snarked.

"What did you just said to me, you idiot?" Fred initiated a quarrel. "Well, let's see how better you are, tell him your dating advise, Blaise," Fred furiously commanded.

"Huh?" Blaise lets out a stupid grin. "Well let's see what I did last Valentine's day?" Blaise stared upwards and started thinking. "Well, I just slept with a few people last year…" Blaise muttered yet still everyone in the room heard that, even Sean who just left the comfort room.

Everyone just stared at him silently as he immediately shut his mouth with his hands. It was so awkward. It was really really awkward. Blaise sweats profusely and his face turned full red. Somewhere, somewhere inside this deep room, one brave soul commented.

"What a manwhore," Tony commented.

Our stares shifted to him, glaring at him with a scared look and which he responded with another terrified look that screams "What the fuck are you guys looking at?"

The angry and embarrassed Blaise quickly approached the snarky Tony as he grabbed his shirt and lifted him upwards.

"What did you just say? You emo dumbass!" Blaise fumed glaring at him as if he's going to kill him with his right fist raised aiming at him.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I swear it just slipped off from my mouth. Please I don't want to die," Tony quickly stated with an expression filled with terror as if it is his judgment day.

We immediately ignored the two and huddled to talk more about the advises. Yes, now I remember, we're talking about that.

"Well, I didn't expect Blaise to be that bad in relationship advises, I guess it can't be helped" Fred boasted with his hands sideways. The poor guy's screams can still be heard from behind.

"Anyways, I guess it's my turn now," Fred resumed, completely ignoring the things happening behind.

"Hey, what the hell are you guys talking about? I'm out of the loop," Sean asked from the side in which everybody ignored.

"You see when it comes to dating girls on Valentine's day, you need to be extra, like really extra as if buying gigantic amounts of flowers, getting too assertive and repeat how much you love her so many times! Message her a lot of times as if there's no more distance between you two..." Fred advised with his arms crossed and nodding continuously.

"Wouldn't that tick her off?" Jeff asked.

"No wonder girls break up with you," Lara criticized. Fred was shocked and embarrassed he went back to his cubicle and started working again.

"Oh, I guess I need to get to finish more work," Fred calmly said as tears began to fall across his cheeks. He tried to cover it though, at least he tried.

"On Valentine's day, it's important to give the girl lots of gifts!" Lara advised. "Maybe give her wonderful presents such as chocolates, teddy bears, delicious food, red teddy bears, yellow teddy bears, especially the We Care Bears set, I'm sure any girl would enjoy teddy bears!" Lara beamed with both of her fists raised. No way that's just what you wanted.

"That won't do, that won't do!" Jeff shook his head sideways. "You should show yourself how alpha you are, show them that you are a tough guy, a tough tough romantic chad!" Jeff continued. Now seriously, what the fuck is he talking about, I don't understand anything.

"Sewwiouswy guws, you'ww nowwhing wwut hopewwess," Tony stated from afar after having a beatdown from Blaise. Tony ended up having PTSD as he still continue to comment while he's beaten.

(Quicknote: This is fiction, I do not condone beating your colleagues, please don't take this seriously)

"Just du wwings wwat you'ww passhhonnate wwith," Tony mumbled. "And maybeee, just twwake an extwwa sthwep along wwith it," Tony continued.

Everyone stared at Tony silently once again, but instead of terror it's a face of smile, hopefulness, and proudness. Then everyone but Sean, Fred, and Blaise started clapping.

"Wow, I expect no less from you Tony, you're such a genius," Lara complimented.

"Now that's a real chad," Jeff added.

"I am?" Tony beamed a smile from his deadbeat face.

While everyone is having fun inside the room, Harry tapped and approached me from my shoulder and started whispering an advice of himself.

"Always remember Rex, Valentine's day is no special day, just be yourself and treat her as equally as you love her, okay?" Harry advised with a reassuring smile from him.

"Got it," I smiled back.

"So where did Blaise go?" Lara asked while still looking around the room. Everyone answered with a shrug.

"He just went outside, saying that he'll be finding a time machine," Fred answered.

"Aw, I felt bad for him, I bet this Valentine's day would be too memorable for him now, I guess," I commented as the whole crew laughed and laughed.

Once our laughter starts to calm down, someone stubbornly asked this question.

"So what the fuck are we talking about again?" Sean asked.

As we stared at him, we couldn't help holding our laughter, so we continued cackling meanwhile Sean boils in anger as she shouted really hard.

"Answer me, you stupid idiots!"

We continued laughing throughout the day.

It's quite wonderful actually. Though, I'm not yet sure if they're still naive at the fact that I'm the one who needs this advise, or if they even remember that I'm the one who started such discussion. It paid out, I guess. Being with this crew instantly makes this Valentine's day memorable enough for me. And it might seem subtle, but it also became a celebration of our cohesive friendship.

Until Boss came after and got furiously mad and basically shouted at us to get back to work.

It's a few minutes after noontime and as agreed upon with Boss, I get to leave early due to an inevitable errand. But the truth is I'm planning to spend the rest of the day starting this afternoon with Monika on our Valentine's date.

I still wasn't sure how I would plan our date but what Harry said to me earlier this morning got stuck in my mind.

"Just be yourself!"

Sounds overly cliche, but I can't help but use that advice to start our Valentine's plan. Hopefully, I can think of a dating plan by the time I reach my room…

The elevator reached the floor of my room and as it opened, I saw Mark and Monika chatting casually each other near the trash area. My heartbeat immediately rose and sweat started to pour over my body, not because of jealousy but of pressure on how well Monika covered her identity and how our relationship would be found out without preparations for excuses.

I slowly approached the two, and by the time Monika noticed me, I noticed the slight surprised look on her face. Momentarily, she instantly greeted me cheerily as she waves her right hand gracefully.

"Rex, hello!" Monika greeted while happily skipping to approach me. Mark also showed signs of genuine surprise.

"Y-y-you two, you know each other?" Mark asked nervously.

My eyes widened at the thought that Mark doesn't even know how related are we. Because of that, I got pressured by the fact that I have to explain and make excuses on our relationship.

"Uh-uh-uhm…." I stuttered.

"Of course, Rex and I are a happy and lovely couple," the girl beside me butted in. She afterwards linked her arm into mine and started rubbing her head on my shoulder like a cute little kitten.

"Ah, I can't believe it! Rex? You have a girlfriend? And here I thought you're a pathetic single guy just like me!" Mark answered in surprise. He doesn't need to be that harsh, doesn't he?

"Yeah, I guess I never told you about that… ahaha," I chuckled nervously as I placed my hand on the back of my head. "But more importantly, don't you have school today?" I asked him.

"Well if you can't tell, I'm actually feeling sick, so I skipped school today," Mark answered with the most confident tone.

Actually I can't really tell nor do I think you're really sick, I thought to myself.

"Well boys, I'll be going back to the room, hope you have a nice chit-chat," Monika stated with a merry tone. "Thank you Mark for helping me pick up our trash, ahaha," she continued.

"Ah no problem about that! See ya Nikki!" Mark excitedly answered as the two waved each other and finished when Monika entered the room. As soon as Monika closed the door….

"W-w-w-woaaahhh, you two are roommates?!" Mark immediately freaked out as he grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me back and forth.

"Y-yeah… What about it?" I asked.

"Oh Goodness! She's so cute and hot!" Mark continued to freak out. I instantly plugged my ears with my hands as he kept shaking me full of excitement.

"So how long have you two been together? How did you two met each other? Did the owner knew that there are two people now in your room? What nationality is she? Where did she previously live?"

Lots of questions. Infinite load of questions. My head started to ache as he continued asking and my stress meters went beyond the stratosphere.

"But what I really wanted to know, is…" Mark beckoned me as he whispered softly in my ear. "How great is she in bed?"

I instantly pushed him as I snapped with all of these stress and the rudeness of his attitude.

"WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?" I shouted as hard as I could. Mark reacted nervously as he started apologizing repeatedly.

Few moments later, the guy regained his cool and started speaking normally, "Sorry, that was a weird thing to ask…"

"Jesus Christ Mark, you really went berserk there and started acting like an obsessed fangirl," I commented. "Just because we're friends, you're not allowed to joke and say rude things like that, especially with my girlfriend," I furiously commanded while pointing a finger at him.

"I get it, I get," Mark followed nonchalantly. "I mean she's hella attractive…"

"Don't tell me, you're trying to hit on her?" I asked with a menacing tone.

"i mean to be completely honest, I would…" Mark answered bluntly. "…but since she's already taken, I obviously would not continue it," Mark continued answering frankly as I just responded with a smug look.

"I commend your honesty on that, but yeah, she really got her own charm, doesn't she?" I commented.

"Yeah, the first time I saw her, I felt my heart racing fast like it goes doki doki," Mark also commented as he chuckled with a wink.

"Y-y-yeah whatever," I completely ignored his comment as I turned away and planned to go to my room.

"Hey, hey dude, you haven't even answered any of my questions!" my neighbor exclaimed from my back. I suddenly got nervous once again.

I turned my head back coolly at him to answer all of his questions with a simple excuse, "Seriously Mark, I'll tell you all about it don't worry," I answered with assurance.

"Haven't you ever wondered, why I'm here so early at noontime?" I interrogated.

Mark suddenly figured it out and felt embarrassed.

"I see, I'm really sorry about that! So how will you treat her today?" he asked in an apologetic yet sincere manner.

"Does it really matter with you?" I answered coldly.

"W-w-well… If I may suggest something, you should go to the Whiteridge Park today," Mark nervously stated. "They decorated the entire park with Valentine's decorations, the scenery there looks amazing and you're gonna have fun with all their booths and foods they serve there."

"Whiteridge Park, huh?" I asked to myself.

"Well, it was just my suggestion, if you two have plans already for your date, don't consider it…"

"Nah, it's actually perfect there," I beamed at him as I grabbed his shoulder. Mark gazed at me with a confused look.

"That's actually a brilliant idea! Thanks for suggesting it, Mark!" I let go and waved at him as I head back to my room and devise a brilliant Valentine's plan.

"Huh? Sure, you're welcome… I guess," Mark answered with a rather bewildered face as he waved weakly in return. "Good luck on your date…" Mark answered monotonously.

As I enter my room and closed the door shut, I peeked at Mark and assured him with the worried look on his face.

"I apologize as well for acting cold earlier, I promise I'll let you know anything about us…" I said. "And I assure you, I don't hold any grudge on you. Happy Valentine's day!" I continued and smiled as I closed the door shut.

I leaned on the door as I started breathing heavily.

Pressure. So much pressure. Damn it, that Mark shouldn't have been that extremely nosy today. Good thing, I managed to avoid his interrogations. Monika and I should really talk about the excuses we should both make after this day, I swear.

Well enough of that, I should really check what my girlfriend is up to today. I wish she wasn't as worried as earlier this morning.

Once again her relaxing hums echoed throughout the room. I followed her sweet little humming coming from the bedroom. I then started walking my way to the bedroom to meet and talk to her for my Valentine's plan for today. And once I reached the bedroom what caught my eyes is a wonderful scenery that I will soon to forget.

I saw her there sitting on the bed, staring at the mirror while simply covered in a bath towel. Her back facing me as I gazed on her slender figure. She was out there drying her hair with a hair blower gracefully as she sways sideways while humming that familiar tune again.

I continued staring at her as she does her thing, constantly amused by her soft wavy hair flowing against the hair blower. Her silky smooth chestnut hair fascinated me a lot and her enjoyment while doing this melted my heart. The Valentine magic is just too much!

"Oh Cheesecake, you're already here," she glanced at me through my reflection on the mirror.

"Oh hey cheesecake," I immediately shook my head to regain consciousness. It felt like I was hypnotized earlier there. But despite that, I lost my control and instantly hugged her from behind.

Haaah! She smells so good!

"Kyaah Rex! What are you doing? You're overly bold today!" Monika expressed with a blush on her face.

"Oh, you're still wet, sorry about that!" I apologized. Crap, I just made it more awkward.

"C-c-could it be?" Monika looked away shyly still with a red face. "That you went home early to practice the Valentine ritual?" she continued with a more shy tone.

"Please be careful, okay?" she smiled, giving herself in.

I gulped for a second there, but after realizing what she meant, I immediately jumped out away from her in shock. And for another second there, I remembered Mark's most stupid words.

"How great is she in bed?"

AAAAHHHHH! NO! NO! Get a hold of yourself Rex, it's still 1:00PM. And don't forget the plans you have for this day. There's more things to do first before going to that part! Control yourself!

"No! No!" I panicked. "But I just wanna talk about our plans for today, but let's start it when you get dressed, okay? I asked while looked away from her face just so I cannot see her face full of embarrassment.

But then out of nowhere…

She grabbed my wrist, pulled me closer to her, and pushed my shoulder to the bed leading up to her pinning me on the bed.

She inched her face closer to mine with our lips about to touch. She whispered softly to me in a seductive tone, "Why should we talk about our plans when we could easily start, right here and right now?"

I gulped and my face immediately turned to a full shade of red. I can't do this, I can't control anymore this type of pressure, but it ended shortly when Monika smiled and told me this.

"I was just teasing, okay? Ahaha…" she laughed hard as she moved away farther from me, and started sitting down on the bed and continued drying her hair.

"This is payback for hugging me from behind twice on this day, ahaha," Monika continued teasing.

"Ah, damn it, you really gave me a lot of pressure out there earlier," I exclaimed.

"Ahaha, you should have seen how cute you are when you are full on flushed," she added as she hilariously laughed.

I just simply responded with a pout and started leaving the bed and stood up.

"Fine, fine, let's hear your plans later after I dress up," Monika sighed. "But you should get yourself changed as well, you're clothes are really wet," she commanded as she pointed at me.

"Alright, but this is your fault for pinning me at the bed earlier," I smirked.

"Yeah, but it did get wet, because you hugged me, remember?" she rebutted.

"Okay okay, I admit defeat once again," I surrendered with my hands up in the air.

"Also can we stop all this wet talk, it's getting really weird, ahaha," she laughed as she commented on it.

"Ahahaha, you're absolutely right," I agreed and laughed in return.

I afterwards changed my attire to someone fitting on a Valentine's date. A white shirt and a light red jacket on top, denim pants on bottom, and finished with a brand new black Adidas shoes, I can say that I'm well-dressed for the date. I also sprayed myself with a fitting cologne, checked if I wore my watch and thoroughly fixed my hair the way I wanted to. Whilst I'm staring at the mirror, I imagined my reflection as if it is Monika and began spouting some cheesy lines and wondered if I did it right and how my girlfriend would react. I grabbed my breath spray and sprayed it to my mouth to eliminate the potential aversion due to bad breath. Sprayed just a little bit…. A little bit… just a little… and I sprayed a few more.

"Ah, I'm really nervous about this… it's just Valentine's day yet I felt the weight of having a Valentine's date for the very first time… I wonder how far we will go today…" I muttered to myself.

It's already 2 PM, I wonder how Monika is doing right now. Honestly, she just takes too long to prepare herself. I guess it's time to approach her and talk the plan.

"Hey cheesecake! Are you ready for our- ah,"

I instantly froze, seeing Monika in yet another form of her disguise.

She may not be done yet fixing herself, but her disguise this time is quite simple compared to her previously oblivious design. She wears a long light-red jacket, the same color as mine and a baby blue colored camisole on top, a wavy and frilly skirt that resembles the color of her camisole, and a cute white shoe to compliment the rest of the attire. Such simple attire yet so elegant, I can say that Monika has a really great sense of fashion and I guess she's been wanting for this day to wear such outfit.

But one thing that stands out which differed the Monika we know from the disguise is her hair. From her wavy long hair in a ponytail matched with a ribbon to a completely smooth and silky straight hair paired with bangs in front. I almost didn't recognize her yet once again and still she is as pretty as ever. Right now, the fair wasn't fully straight as she haven't straightened yet some ends of her hair.

My girlfriend with a new look once again noticed me, as she greeted me with a smile and started asking.

"So how is my disguise?" she softly asked.

"Incredible!" an immediate response. "I still don't get it, how is this possible? How can someone still be equally as cute or maybe even cuter everytime they change their look… I mean look at you," I said with disbelief while pointing at her and her outfit.

"Aww, you flirt," Monika smiled and blushed while still straightening her hair with a hair iron.

"No seriously, I'm genuinely shocked and astonished," I added.

"Well, I guess I got some few tips from the internet," Monika calmly shrugged as she puts down the hair iron and threw her long and straight hair backwards making it flow so smoothly.

Such fragrance! Her hair it's too perfect.

Monika pulled something from the drawer and from what I saw it was a colored contact lens.

"Hey, hey! No need to pull that off!" I screamed.

Monika jumped from surprise as she lost hold of the case of the contacts as it fell on the floor.

"H-huh? What's happening?" Monika shrieked.

"Sorry, I just meant that… there's no need to put that contact lens," I shyly apologized.

"But it's part of my disguise, don't worry this thing doesn't affect my vision," she pointed out.

"No, I meant- I always wanted to see your sparkling green eyes so changing it to another color might make me feel sad," I explained with a shy tone.

"Kyaah!" Monika freaked out looking away from me and covering her face with her hands. "You-you love my eyes that much Rex, I'm s-so happy," the green-eyed girl squealed.

"Ahaha, absolutely," I beamed with a blush on my face.

"So you do like it when I stare at you, right?" Monika asked getting her face closer to my face making our eyes meet.

"Yeah, your stare alone was the reason I am attracted to you and also the main reason why I fell in love with you," I boldly complimented.

"Aww," she kissed my nose as I kissed her forehead back. We then started to hug each other as we felt our hearts beating in sync.

"This is the greatest Valentine's day ever, cheesecake," she said while digging her face to my shoulder.

"Oi, we haven't even started yet, Monika," I chuckled.

"I know but I'm so happy," she answered.

She pulled away from me and asked me in a serious yet in a somehow ridiculous manner, "So how are we gonna slay this Valentine's date," she asked. Wow never knew she would use such slang as slay.

I walked back away from her to grab my bag, I silently put some items in there and while Monika picked her bag and was staring at me, I felt the tension in the room. She continued staring at me with a determined look as I began to speak.

"We're going to a park," I stated seriously.

"And then…" she asked.

I walked to the other side of the room to grab my wallet and some few things on the drawer. Monika and I stared at each other while I was moving around the room. Our stares, our determined stares alone built suspense in the room, with Monika biting her lip and gulping as I continued staring at her with a really serious look.

After I put all the things I needed in the bag, I simply smiled at her as she responded with her eyes widening.

"Ahaha, that's all!" I beamed.

"What?!" Monika shouted. "After all that suspenseful staring that's all we have to talk, you could've told me even before we get fixed," she complained. Upon complaining, Monika folded her arms and pouted while looking away from me.

"Ahaha, actually I was planning to have a long talk about it but then I realized, I'm just basically ruining the surprise," I reasoned out.

"Hmph, you jerk!" she continued the complaints.

"Come on, don't get mad, you'll still know what is it about later, anyways," I clarified.

"True, but still… Don't fill me in with suspense, when you're just gonna drop the ball," she smiled as her mood completely changed back.

"Ahahaha, you could've seen your face when you are staring at me, you look so funny when you're so serious and determined about nothing, ahahaha," I bursted out laughing once she got back to her mood.

"Ah seriously, I'm getting mad now," she shouted angrily.

"Enough of that, let's go," I suddenly grabbed her left wrist and pulled her with me as we leave the apartment.

"Okay Rex, don't be in such a hurry," she yelled.

"What's wrong with that? Aren't you excited?" I asked.

"No, not that!"

Monika held my hand that is grabbing her wrist and pulled of that arm towards her. My hand suddenly let go of her wrist as her left arm grabbed my right arm. She then leaned towards my arm.

"You should've held your Valentine more gently and relaxed," Monika commented.

I smiled in return as we looked at each other and I answered, "Yep, you're right, now I know where I'm wrong this morning."

"Wrong? What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"Nevermind that. Let's enjoy the rest of the day, shall we?" I comforted her.

"Of course," she cheered.

And this is where our Valentine's date will commence.

A/N: Valentine's chapter on May? Well, this is new. The Valentine's arc was supposed to be a single chapter but since I got more ideas surrounding it and it might end up way too long, I'll divide it to two chapters. Hope you readers enjoyed this chapter, and tune in next chapter to see the couple have fun at Whiteridge Park to celebrate the occasion.

Bonus: The story told by Monika was about the holiday named Lupercalia. You can do a quick Google Search in case you are interested to it, unlike Rex who is distracted by his overthinking.

Leave your questions at the review section or at PMs and I'll answer it on the next chapter's A/N.

Also leave a review so I may know what you've thought about this chapter. Until next time…

Have a nice day!