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It was a day like any other, when Alberu Crossman was asked to come to the headmaster’s office. It was no unusual thing, given that he was student council president, so naturally, he didn’t think much of it. Even as he knocked on the door and then entered the office, he didn’t notice anything amiss. Perhaps, he thought, it was Choi Han causing trouble again. If not that, maybe another student such as the overly arrogant Clopeh Sekka, the fight-seeking Archie Whales or the aggressive Rasheel who only listened to the headmaster or his arts teacher Miss Mila.In any case, it wasn’t like Alberu wanted to deal with either of them at the moment. As student council president though, for some godforsaken reason, it was part of his tasks to help the out ‘the students in need’. Why did he agree to become student council president again? Ah, right, it was because of his father, or rather to prove a point. Ugh, just thinking about it annoyed him. Being the second youngest child sucked.”Headmaster-nim, you called?”Yet, after Alberu entered the headmaster’s office, he was met with no one but the man who seemed to be in his early thirties. He had his long, golden hair tied up in a lose bun as he gestured for Alberu to take a seat in front of him. The student council president immediately did as asked, a small frown appearing on his handsome face.“Mn, Alberu Crossman, as student council president, you are partly responsible for our school’s student’s well-being. Now, while I am not obligated to share any kind of information, I do feel like I have to inform you that our school will be getting a new student in mid fall.”Alberu frowned, confused. He had more than enough reason to be, honestly. The school he was attending, the one he was student council president at, was an elite boarding school. It was an incredible achievement to get in in the first place – given that the entrance exam for Roan Academy was harder than its competitor’s, even hard enough to be comparable to Harvard’s. If the entrance exam was like that, the exam for students that’d be joining in the midst of the year was even more difficult, akin to impossible. Never before had a student joined in the middle of the year (even if the middle of fall was fairly close to the beginning of the new school year).Another reason for his confusion would be that Eruhaben had summoned him just to share that information. He could have easily sent him an email or handed in a notice – like he usually did with anything important yet not majorly important. While getting a new student in the middle of the year was unusual and unheard of, it was nothing that needed to be discussed with him in person.“Here, read over this and you’ll understand why I requested to speak to you in person.”The headmaster had handed over a neither too thin nor too thick file which probably contained information about the new student. Alberu received the file with both hands, nodding his head at the unspoken task that Eruhaben had just given to him.‘Great, now I was demoted to a babysitter.’“Anything else, headmaster-nim?”Eruhaben seemed to think for a moment, a serious expression on his face as he actually nodded.“Yes, one more thing. The new student seems like he’d be a good addition to the student council.”Eruhaben didn’t say more, nor did he explain what he’d meant with his words, leaving Alberu’s unasked questions also unanswered. But the file in his hands, it should contain all answers, no?With a low bow, showing his respect, Alberu left the headmaster’s office again. The moment he stepped out, he was met with a smiling, red headed girl who had her long hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her fiery red eyes, which matched her hair, seemed energetic as she pushed herself away from the wall she’d been leaning against while waiting for Alberu to come back out of the office. She hadn’t accompanied him here, nor should she have known that he had a meeting with the headmaster, but Rosalyn Breck, his vice president, always had her ways of finding him.“And president, any exciting news?”Alberu gave her a soft smile while waving the file in his hands. Despite his expression, Rosalyn could immediately tell that he seemed disgruntled for some reason. Her smile got a bit smaller as she attempted to reach for the file, which resulted in failure.“Haaa, Rosalyn, let me take a look at it first, alright? It was just handed to me.”Rosalyn rolled her eyes, yet stopped trying to reach for the file. She nodded, then went back to pestering Alberu about the meeting. And in the end, given that it was Rosalyn he was talking to, he gave in.“It appears our school will be getting a new student in mid fall.”Just as Alberu had reacted, Rosalyn halted her steps in shock.“A…new student? Joining after the school year’s begun? Something like that is actually possible?”Alberu chuckled at Rosalyn’s surprised expression, then nodded his head seriously.“I was quite shocked to hear that as well. Given that it’s our school, he couldn’t have bought his way in, no matter how much money he possesses. And if it wasn’t money-““He must have gotten decent exam scores. Wait, president, is that file about the new student? Because if it is, shouldn’t we be able to look at his test scores?”Taken by surprise, Alberu nodded his head, his hands automatically opening the file of the student, skipping past the first pages where his personal information was displayed without even properly glancing at it. The subject of interest were this new student’s test scores.Roan Academy was a special elite boarding school, which rather than focusing on a student’s grades, tried to help them grow as individuals. Naturally, grades weren’t completely unimportant, but if you passed, you had all the freedom in the world. Don’t want to attend classes? You don’t have to. Want to joke around? You’re more than welcomed to.As said, as long as you passed the exams, you were free to do whatever. Ah, one thing was mandatory though, which was the rule that students had to attend at least one club. Club activities happened once a day – a means to socialize students who were naturally gifted and wanted to skip classes because they were too boring. Though even in those cases, students could chose to attend the classes of upperclassmen or advanced courses. As said, Roan Academy was quite the special school, though the price for it wasn’t something to scoff at.In any case, given that that was the way the school worked, the entrance exam was unusual as well. Rather than testing all subjects, it tested its possible future students in three fields: school related subjects, sports and an individual’s natural intellect. Even if you failed in two fields, if your score in the third one was above 60%, you’d get in – though if you couldn’t pass your exams, your spot in the school could disappear just like that.In any case, each field had three exams. The school related subjects were ‘just’ exams in three subject of the examinee’s choice while the sports field tested the examinee in three different sports of their own choice. The natural intellect part of the exam was much different though. The examinee would have to converse with three different teachers of Roan Academy, solve riddles and answer seemingly senseless questions.Just recalling the last field which the principal favored for some reason unknown gave both Alberu and Rosalyn the chills. But if it was an examinee that wanted to join in the middle of the year, they most likely had absolutely no choice in the subjects nor in the sports they’d be tested in. The last field of the exam would most likely be almost impossible to get through…“Wait…president, please tell me you’re seeing this as well.”Alberu’s eyes were opened wide as he stared at the test scores of the new student. Despite being supposed to be tested in three fields, this student was only tested in two – rather than getting tested in sports, he had taken six exams in the school related subjects field, which, despite being unusual, was an option for students with handicaps or those who simply weren’t good at sports. But even if that was a shocker…“The new student, his scores, aren’t they better than yours?”Rosalyn stared at the paper sheet with the new student’s exam scores. The subjects the new student had chosen were Math, Physics, Chemistry, English, French and, surprisingly enough, History. While the first three subjects were somewhat intervened, given that they were all science-related, and English as the main language in Roan Academy was understandable, why chose History? Even worse than History, why French of all languages? Or wait…was this new student French? But even if, it made little sense to chose both French and History.While Rosalyn was still caught up on the subjects the new student chose to be tested in, Alberu’s eyes were glued to the third exam field, the one that tested an examinee’s overall intelligence. While the 100% in the school related subjects were surprising, it wasn’t like Alberu didn’t get the same results (though he was more than aware that getting 100% in three exams that were the normal entrance exams was a bit different compared to getting 100% in all six exams that were more difficult than normal ones – honestly, it was quite impressive).But even more than that, was the new student’s result in the last field.
Field 3: 99%
Alberu couldn’t get his eyes off the number that was printed on the sheet of paper that was in his hand. Not even he himself managed to get a result over 96%. While people may argue that 96% wasn’t that far away from 99%, it actually was. Getting 20% and below was normal, while getting anything between 21% and 40% was impressive. The students with a result above 41% passed while examinees with a result above 61% were extremely rare. The average result would probably lie somewhere around 53% for all of Roan Academy’s students. In any case, getting a score higher than 70% was deemed impossible, let alone anything above. For example, in the entire Roan Academy, which roughly 200 students attended, there were only ten students who scored in the intelligence part of the entrance exam above 80%, while Alberu Crossman was the only one who managed to achieve a score higher than 90%.With that said…“Oh my god…”It seemed Rosalyn had noticed it too now. Alberu simply nodded his head, his usual gentle expression on his face. There was no way he’d let anyone notice just how shocked and yet impressed he was by this new student’s exam results. While it was strange that he didn’t participate in the sports exams, it should be fine this way too. Maybe he was just a lazy bum – though there was no way he was only ‘book-smart’, not if his overall score was that high.“President, what’s the new student’s name?”Rosalyn’s slightly shaking voice finally broke through to Alberu, breaking him out from his train of thoughts. Naturally, the heir to the Breck Cooperation didn’t notice, waiting for the student council president to state the name of the new student. Alberu shrugged as he went back to the first page of the file; which he previously skipped, given that it contained all of the new student’s personal information.Respectfully, Rosalyn glanced away and waited for the crown prince to close the file, which he eventually did.“And?”A strange expression was on Alberu’s face for a change as he shook his head. Seeing the student council president’s rare frown, Rosalyn was a bit startled, yet nonetheless curious.“…His name is Cale, Cale Henituse.”Almost immediately, Rosalyn’s excited expression fell as it got replaced by one of pure shock.“What? President, could you please repeat what you’ve just said? I think I misheard-““You didn’t mishear, Rosalyn. The new student is Cale Henituse – the rumored ‘trash’ of upper society. I checked the file and confirmed it.”Rosalyn’s face got paler, and that it did for an understandable reason. Cale Henituse, it was a name not known to many, but one anyone at Roan Academy would recognize, given that all of them came from wealthy families from upper classes. While the person behind the name had probably never been seen by anyone before, his title as ‘trash’ preceded him. Anyone knew the story behind that name; Cale Henituse the alcoholic bastard that behaved like the worst thug known to mankind even at the age of twelve. It was said that, not knowing what to do with such a child, his father had handed him over to Cale’s uncle Kim Seung Jong. No questions asked, his father must have been at least partly at fault for letting a twelve year old drink, but the way he caused a scene at one of his father’s parties in front of other people, throwing things at one of the attendees for reasons unknown-How could someone like that get in Roan Academy?Furthermore… the new student seems like he’d be a good addition to the student council?! Alberu still clearly recalled the headmaster’s words, and if he were to look at the exam results alone, he kind of understood. But really? There was no way he’d allow someone like Cale Henituse to join the student council. Hell, now that he knew the name of the person, he was convinced that these scores weren’t even real. A 99% in the intelligence department, really? No way someone like Cale Henituse could receive a score that high. His uncle must have had enough of him, handing him back to his father, who again decided to send him off to the next best boarding school. Though then again, why Roan Academy, and not some other boarding school? Hm, perhaps it was because of the freedom Roan Academy gave its students – in order to not endanger others.“President, it seems like our work will at least be doubled when the new student arrives in a few weeks.”Alberu nodded his head, putting on his gentle smile again.“Don’t worry too much about it, we’ll deal with him somehow, as we always do. I mean, we manage Archie and Rasheel, how much worse can Cale Henituse be, even if he is an alcoholic trash?”Rosalyn seemed uncertain of Alberu’s words, yet gave a nod nonetheless, patting the dark haired and dark skinned boy on the shoulder. Alberu simply smiled as he watched Rosalyn walk away. He himself decided to head to the Student Council Room in order to go through Cale Henituse’s files again as well as to do some needed research on this guy. There was no way in hell he’d go in unprepared.*“Young master-nim, please get up, it’s already past eight in the morning.”Annoyed, a young, sixteen year old boy with crimson red hair rolled over in bed, grumbling words no one, not even the old man in the butler’s uniform who had extremely good ears, could catch. Sighing, Ron Molan, the man in his early sixties, shook the frail body of the boy he pretty much regarded as his grandson again.“Please get up now, young master-nim, it is time to eat breakfast after which we shall head to your new school.”Almost immediately, Cale Henituse sat up straight in the bed. While he was still sleepy, he was giving his best to stay awake, half-opened eyes staring at Ron as if to ask him to repeat himself again. The old man sighed and sat down on the bed next to Cale. Gently, he patted the youth’s head as if he was still a small child, which, in Ron’s eyes, was the case.“Young master-nim, today is the day that we get you out of both the Henituse Residence.”Ron would never be able to forget the way Cale’s eyes widened in realization. The dull, reddish-brown irises, in that moment, seemed to shine brighter than they had in years, something the old butler couldn’t help but bitterly smile at. Whose fault was it that Cale was like this? Of course, he could blame it all on Deruth Henituse and Kim Seung Jong, but he certainly wasn’t innocent either.Despite having raised Cale, he hadn’t fought for him when Deruth had decided to send him to Kim Seung Jong, and despite visiting him every now and then, he had never exactly questioned Cale’s happiness over there. He failed to notice the way Cale always seemed to be wearing a bandage whenever he met up with Ron and his son Beacrox, or the way his smile disappeared from one day to the other. The way he lost weight, the way his skin got paler and the way he fell without anyone catching him until he hit the ground.Shaking his head at those memories, Ron focused his attention back on the small child who, despite being sixteen, looked nothing like it. His thin and honey body spoke of the years of malnutrition he’d lived through and even if no one would notice, his body also spoke of his strength.“…It is really today?”The way Cale’s eyes sparkled at that thought, it made Ron’s old heart ache. He had failed his grandson – even if he was there for him now, he had already failed him. He hadn’t been there when he was needed the most and turned a blind eye on most things despite noticing them, thinking it was nothing. It may be Deruth Henituse’s and Kim Seung Jung’s fault, but he wasn’t innocent either. Neither was any of the adults around Cale, even if they’d rather point their fingers at the young redhead and hide behind a title so old that ‘made everything that happened to Cale Henituse okay’.Only because of one event, one incident, everyone called Cale Henituse ‘trash’. No one cared about why the back then twelve year old acted the way he did, no one questioned it even once. It was-“Yes, young master-nim, it is today. Beacrox is already waiting downstairs. Since he knew you’d wake up late, he packed breakfast for the car ride. Everything’s ready – only you are missing now.”Ron’s benign smile turned soft and gentle after seeing the way Cale’s eyes widened in shock. He attempted to jump up, which made Ron grab his arm carefully, not to accidentally hurt him. Sudden movements were things that the redhead should avoid, though that was just one of the countless things.“Careful now, young master-nim, we can’t have you hurting yourself by accident.”Cale seemed honestly startles as he gave a weak nod. With Ron supporting him, he got up from the bed, his cheeks flushing red from embarrassment. He knew that due to his condition, he had to be very careful, but he hated the way he needed help with every little thing he did. People around him were always so damn conscious, so damn careful. Couldn’t they just treat him like they’d a normal person? Just because he had anemia, it didn’t mean that the world would end if he accidentally fell over or something like that.“…Sorry.”Ron simply smiled benignly, though his eyes displayed how much it hurt him to baby his grandson so much. It wasn’t like he didn’t know that Cale detested the way he was treated as if he could break any second. But fact remained that after everything that happened in those short eight years after his mother’s death, if Ron didn’t treat him the way he did, didn’t baby him…things could go back to what they used to be six months ago.“Don’t worry about it, young master-nim. After all, I will be with you at all times besides during your lessons.”Cale gave a firm nod. While he did think that it was unnecessary for Ron to accompany him to the dorms – the old man even went as far as to ask for a special excuse so that he could stay with Cale even in the dorms – he didn’t actually mind. Being alone…well, for Cale it wasn’t good if he was left alone. Even if he was doing better now, it didn’t make the things that did happen to him go away, or hurt any less.His strategy of simply not thinking about it, of suppressing everything, pretending that nothing ever happened – if it all came back like back then, if Cale was to relapse-“Alright, I’ll still be more careful, as promised.”Ron nodded, then finally let go of Cale’s arm. The young redhead quickly opened his closet, taking out a simple hoodie and the next best pair of pants he had. Both clothes didn’t fit him, being too big on him, yet with one being a hoodie and the other getting a belt, it didn’t make that big of a difference, making it seem as if Cale was going for the oversized-clothes-style.It was the middle of fall and quite cold outside, which was why Ron put a scarf around Cale’s neck as well as a jacket. With that weak body of his, he didn’t even want to imagine what a small cold could cause Cale.“Do you think that people think it’s strange that I’m joining in the middle of the year rather than in the beginning? I mean, it’s only a five week difference, but still…”Cale frowned at his own words and looked up at Ron as the two of them walked downstairs. The servants of the Henituse Residence they walked past either ignored them or frowned at them, showing their disdain for whatever reason. If Ron could, he’d behead every single one of those imbeciles. Despite knowing that Cale was sick, that the incident which caused everyone to call him ‘trash’ had been years ago they still treated him like this. Even if they didn’t know how much it actually hurt the youth, this was beyond human indecency.“Young master-nim, please don’t worry about it. If someone indeed says something, please tell me and I’ll take care of it.”Cale scoffed at that, rolling his eyes. He may be dense, but even he knew that if he were to tell Ron that someone said something inappropriate to him (which, given the circumstances, would be inevitable), Ron would more than just ‘take care of it’.“Ho, my young master-nim sure looks like he doesn’t want to. Maybe I shall accompany you everywhere then, so that I can take care of such imbeciles at once.”Almost immediately, Cale shook his head.“No need, really Ron, I can deal with things like that myself. Really, I doubt anyone could say anything that’d actually hurt me, so it’s fine.”Wasn’t that the actual problem? The reason Ron wanted Cale to tell him? The redhead, he was used to too much, making things that weren’t alright or normal seem that way. It was all because of that fucker Kim Seung Jong-“Haaa, if the young master-nim asks me like this, there is no way this old man can decline. But if-““Yeah, yeah, if someone says something hurtful, I’ll tell you and let you deal with it, happy?”Ron nodded his head.“Of course, young master-nim.”Letting out a sigh, the two of them finally arrived downstairs and exited the Henituse mansion through the gates. There, in the front court, stood Beacrox with a paper bag in hand. With that deadpan expression of his, people could easily mistake him for someone who disliked everything and anything, including people, yet Cale knew better. The way the talented cook’s eyes lit up when he noticed Cale and his father, his gaze was full of love.“Good morning, young master-nim. You seem quite excited today.”Cale nodded as he received the paper bag.“Yeah, I am.”After all, how could he not be excited when he was finally leaving this hellhole? How could he not look forward to all the freedom he’d get once he was out of this golden cage? How could he not be happy now that he was free from his father’s grasp, his step-mother’s cold eyes that held nothing but fake pity and his step-siblings sad gazes?The moment Beacrox nodded with a small smile gracing his lips and opened the door of the black car for Cale and Ron to get in before sitting down on the driver’s seat himself, the moment he started the car and finally drove out of the Henituse Residence – that was the moment Cale was finally free of the shackles everyone had tried to put on him so desperately.Even if he was still known as trash in noble society, even if people would keep their distance from him at first, everything was better than staying inside those four walls of his suffocating room. Furthermore, he had Ron and Beacrox by his side, so nothing could possibly happen.And what if he was a sickly child? What if he had anemia and a weak body? What if everything went to shit? He was free, so goddamn free after all this time. If he was attending Roan Academy, his father wouldn’t be able to touch him, no one would. And in two years, when he’d be done with school and be eighteen, no one would be able to tell him what to do.It took eight long years filled with torture for the crimson haired youth to achieve this freedom, but it should be worth it. Yes, it was definitely worth it.
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“Today’s the day, ain’t it council pres?”Alberu rolled his eyes as he did his best to get Witira’s arm off his shoulder. She chuckled lightly as she instead leaned on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Rosalyn had the faintest of smile on her lips, yet quickly lost it again. Contrary to her though, Alberu was smiling ever so brightly, just like he usually always did.“Yes, indeed. I was asked to go to the headmaster’s office and to show him around.”‘And to ask him to join the student council for some godforsaken reason.’Alberu did not say that last part out loud, knowing that it would only cause an uproar in the council. Given Cale Henituse’s trash reputation, the chances of him actually joining the student council were little, and if he did, oh well, Alberu had dealt with Archie Whales and Rasheel Vin’s occasional fights as well as Clopeh Sekka’s mad talks about becoming the most famous idol to have ever existed, so dealing with a ‘trash’ should be akin to child’s play for Alberu, no?“Good luck, president. If you want to, I can accompany you as your vice…?”Despite asking the question, Rosalyn clearly didn’t want to. Alberu shook his head, his smile never leaning his lips.“No need, Rosalyn. Showing the new student around will take the entire day, so you’re responsible for today. Don’t forget the committee meeting in the afternoon, we still need to discuss the Halloween part. Furthermore-““Okay, okay, got it, pres, we’ll stay back and take care of everything. Just relax and leave everything to Rosalyn~”Alberu chuckled at Witira’s words, nevertheless nodded his head. Rosalyn was a reliable person, he was glad to have her as his vice. She was a year older than him yet didn’t try to act as if she knew better than he did. She helped him when he needed it and gave honest and helpful advice whenever he didn’t know how to go on. She had his back, something Alberu hadn’t been used to. Perhaps it was because of that that he could be so carefree.“Yes, I’ll count on you.”Rosalyn simply smiled, but he could tell that she was taking this serious, as she always did.“Of course, president.”With that, Alberu exited the student council room and headed to headmaster Eruhaben’s office. It was already nine in the morning, but it was a Monday so most students skipped early classes. Alberu usually didn’t, but he’d gotten the entire day off given that he’d be showing Cale Henituse around.It wasn’t like he wanted to do that though, yet it was his task as student council president. It wasn’t like he had any choice in the matter, or that he could complain because of it though.Letting out a long sigh, Alberu stopped in front of the closed door to the headmaster’s office. It was his last chance at peace for today, given that he had to spend the day with someone called ‘trash’. Nodding, as if to firm his resolve, Alberu then knocked on the door. He was as ready as he could be for this, after all.“Come in.”Eruhaben’s calm voice sounded through the door and finally, Alberu pushed it open. The old, wooden door was by no means heavy, yet for some reason today seemed to be an exception. It was as if a heavy weight had placed itself on the young man’s shoulder – a burden called Cale Henituse.“Good morning headmaster-nim, new student-nim…”Alberu stopped in the middle of his sentence as he was met with the two (or rather three) people sitting inside the room. The headmaster, Eruhaben, was smiling at him, the same way he usually always did, his blonde hair tied up in a lose bun, but something about him was different, something Alberu couldn’t exactly put his finger on. Yet the headmaster wasn’t what interested Alberu Crossman the most.In this office, there was supposed to be only one other person besides himself and Eruhaben, that person being Cale Henituse, the new student. And yet, behind the seated Cale, stood an old man in a dark grey suit who was smiling benignly.Alberu was too focused on the old man that he didn’t even glance at Cale until the principal cleared his throat and hinted at the redhead.The moment Alberu laid eyes on Cale Henituse, he almost chocked on air. That person sitting on the chair, that person with the narrow shoulders whose clothes were clearly too big on him given that his body appeared thin, too thin for his own good, was the ‘trash’ Cale Henituse? That bastard alcoholic that had to be sent away to his uncle for the safety of his remaining family?Cale wasn’t exactly looking at Alberu, but the student council president was still able to take every single detail of his appearance in. The short, crimson hair which appeared wild and not styled yet still looked just right the way it was, that pale face with the sharp jawline and those clear, big, reddish-brown eyes framed by long, black lashes-Cale Henituse was just so goddamn pretty, a different kind of drop-dead gorgeous compared to anyone Alberu had ever seen before.Keeping himself from gaping at the boy for too long, the student council president bowed down respectfully, then walked to to stand behind Eruhaben, his usual smile on his face. Even if Cale Henituse was so goddamn pretty, it didn’t change any of his past actions. And what if he appeared so weak and frail? Clopeh did too and he could easily slam a person twice his weight into the ground. And despite Choi Han’s normal body, he was most likely the strongest guy in the entire academy.“Yes, good morning to you too, Mr. Crossman. If I may introduce you two to each other, Cale, this is Alberu Crossman, the student council president. Mr. Crossman, this is Cale Henituse. As I told you, he will show you around the campus today.”Alberu frowned upon hearing that Eruhaben was addressing Cale by his first name, yet quickly hid it behind his ever so gracious smile. He stretched out his hand for the redhead to shake it, which Cale eventually did – only after exchanging a glance with the old man standing behind him and receiving a nod of confirmation.‘Is he some sort of dog, or why does he wait for the old guy’s approval to shake someone’s hand?’Alberu ignored his thoughts and cleared his throat.“As the headmaster-nim stated, I’ll be the one responsible for you today. If you have any questions regarding the Academy, please feel free to ask.”Cale simply nodded his head, a stoic and flat expression on his face, almost as if he was currently bored out of his mind – which he was.“Alright, now that that’s done, you two boys are free to walk around. Ah, Mr. Crossman, you should be a bit careful around Cale, yes?”Confused at the headmaster’s words, Alberu nevertheless smiled and nodded.“I will. Then, let us go, Mr. Henituse?”Once more, before getting up, Cale turned around to look at the old man and waited for his nod of confirmation. With a sigh, the redhead then followed Alberu out the room. The student council president looked back inside, to see that the headmaster’s smile fell as the old man took a seat in front of him, seemingly talking about a serious topic. Well, it must have something to do with Cale’s alcoholism or misbehavior control or something along those lines – nothing of his business.“Mr. Henituse, is there someplace you want to see or should I just guide your around our campus?”Cale nodded, which honestly didn’t help much as it wasn’t a clear answer. Alberu did his best to suppress his sigh as he continued to keep up his gracious smile.“Alright, since Roan Academy is one of the biggest schools in the country despite only having around 200 students attending, we can start off by visiting the Northern Campus, given that it’s where the dorms as well as the shops and libraries are.”Cale gave a simple nod and followed behind Alberu as the taller boy began to walk. Alberu could feel that today was going to be a long day, even longer than anticipated. Walking out of the main building, Alberu led Cale to the bus stop on the other side of the street.“You see, Roan Academy’s property is estimated to fit a small village, we have our own transport links. There are five different kinds of busses that go here, but I suppose you already know that?”It was more of a question than a statement as Alberu turned around. Cale, contrary to his expectations, nodded his head. Sure, all new students received the basic information, but honestly, who read through it? Well, Cale Henituse seemingly did.“Well, if you’re already aware of it, it’d be unnecessary for me to repeat it, no? In any case, I will still tell you that the bus that drives to the closest city only comes once every half hour and isn’t available during midterms as well as finals.”Once again, Cale simply nodded instead of properly replying, which made Alberu sigh.“Of course, you could always organize a car, either bring your own or get one of the school’s, though it does cost extra. Still, most students prefer driving their own car rather than go to school by bus.”Alberu then pointed at the bench for Cale to sit down, which the redhead did without questioning it for even a second. Alberu cringed on the awkwardness on the inside, yet didn’t let it show.“Anyways, we’re waiting for line 1 which you can say is the express line that brings students directly from the dormitories to the school’s main building. I should probably say that there are two other parts of the school building, each one is in the Eastern and the Western Campus. Those are the specialized faculties. The school building in the Eastern Campus is basically the sports faculty. It has a swimming pool, an arena, and anything other that’s sports related.”Alberu stopped for a moment as he recalled that Cale probably disliked sports.“Well, in any case, the school building in the Western Campus is a bit more interesting, given that it’s where the science labs are stationed. Basically, all physics, biology and chemistry lessons are only taking place in the Western Campus building.”Alberu nodded at his amazing explanation, despite still wanting to sigh in annoyance. Getting absolutely no answer from Cale Henituse was just so annoying! Or was he not getting an answer because that old man from before wasn’t there?“A-Achoo!”Startled, Alberu looked down, only to realize that Cale had just sneezed. And that sneeze- that sneeze it was just so goddamn- well it was just freaking cute. The student council president then noticed that there was a warm scarf around the redhead’s neck while his nose as well as his cheeks were red. Don’t tell him…“Sorry, I think I’ve caught a cold or something. Please continue. What’s in the Southern Campus?”Cale’s voice was raspy and hoarse, clearly it was difficult for him to talk. Ah, so that was why…Alberu felt very stupid.“…Of course, please don’t apologize. In any case, the Southern Campus is similar to the Northern Campus, which is akin to this school’s entertainment district. In any case, there’s a big theatre and hall where the school’s mandatory main events happen, like the graduation party or the coming Halloween party.”Cale nodded his head, yet he was frowning for some reason – which Alberu immediately noticed.“Something the matter?”Looking up, Cale stated what was on his mind.“These mandatory school events, I’ve read that a student’s family is forced to attend those as well. Is that the case?”Alberu, not thinking much of Cale’s question, it was pretty much a given that he didn’t have the best of relationships with his family, shook his head.“No, not really. It’s only mandatory for us students to attend. We can buy cards for our families or people we’re close to to attend the event with which they can get in, but without these cards they won’t be able to attend. A lot of students don’t have very good relationships with their families, so they don’t buy the cards and their families can’t attend.”Cale nodded his head, his frown disappearing as he went back to his usual expression. He seemed relieved, for some reason Alberu didn’t further question. The awkwardness between the two of them eased a bit and the remaining two minutes until the bus arrived practically flew by.“Transportation per bus is free for everyone inside the campus, no matter if you’re student or not, though you don’t see here many non-students in the first place.”Cale nodded at the new information as he continued to follow behind Alberu, sitting down on the seat next to the window Alberu pointed to as the older then sat down next to him.“The bus ride takes around twenty minutes, other bus stops inclusive. It’s quite fast actually, considering the distance. You can look outside the window, there are a couple other buildings which belong to our Academy’s main building. It’s quite a lot room for just two hundred students, but considering that a class roughly contains five to seven students per lesson it’s alright. Most classrooms are empty and are used by students for club activities or to simply study.”The redhead frowned at that and turned his face around, something unexpected. While Alberu had spoken, he’d unintentionally leaned in towards Cale, resulting in their faces being way too close to each other as Cale turned around. Quickly, Alberu leaned back again, thankful for his darker skin so that his embarrassed blush couldn’t be seen.“Isn’t it still too much room though? Looking at the size of the buildings, there are more than three hundred classrooms.”Alberu nodded his head, returning to his usual, calm self.“Yes, but it’s not exactly like they’re standing empty. Roan Academy’s school grounds are used by many other schools in the district that either don’t have enough room or too many students. Furthermore, in February, exchange students from our partner school, White Star Academy, will be staying here until late April or even the beginning of May. While White Star Academy is not as prestigious as Roan Academy, nor is it a boarding school, our schools have a long history and you could say that it’s pretty much tradition.”Cale’s frown said it all, though it wasn’t like Alberu was a big fan of that exchange either. He was a second year, so up til now he’d only experienced it once before, yet he still clearly recalled that bastard Adin Mongoru, the council president of the White Star Academy. He was just so utterly disgusting, trying to sabotage all events the Roan Academy had planned without anyone noticing. Luckily, Adin was a year older than them, making this the last school exchange he could take part in, though Alberu still preferred it if he wouldn’t come at all. Furthermore, there was that disgusting bastard Redika, and who knew who else would come this year besides those two pests.“Isn’t the White Star Academy Roan’s rival?”Alberu snorted at that, yet nevertheless answered.“It is. For example, the soccer game in two weeks will be against them, but that doesn’t change anything in our two academy’s history with each other. Something about the two founders knowing each other and deeply cherishing their bond as friends, brothers not by blood but by soul or something along those lines. Some nonsensical bedtime stories, if you ask me.”“I see.”Alberu’s smile got a bit wider as he continued to go on about the rivalry between Roan and White Star Academy, seeing that it was the first topic that clearly pulled Cale in, well, compared to his usual. His hunch told him that entertaining a trash in order to keep him at bay was by far better than to just do his duties and leave him to entertain himself – with alcohol and the game of throwing bottles at moving targets aka students in other words.“In any case, in my opinion, the students attending White Star are quite…unique, but not in a good way.”At that, a chuckle left Cale’s lips for the first time in weeks, even if Alberu didn’t know that that was the case. Still, seeing the stoic-faced boy chuckle, give his best to prevent his chuckles from turning into laughter…Alberu couldn’t help but smile a small, real smile, yet quickly returned to his usual smile again. Even if Cale’s laughter (despite sounding hoarse and raspy) was a strangely pleasant sound to the ears, it was still something coming out of a ‘trash’s’ mouths. Maybe, after spending the past couple minutes with Cale, the boy wasn’t that much of a trash. No, actually, he didn’t appear to be a trash – while sober. Who knew how the tables would turn if the boy got drunk, huh?“Well, you’ll see for yourself at either the soccer game or the exchange.”At that, Cale finally managed to contain his laughter. Nodding, he listened to Alberu’s calm voice as he continued to explain the ways of the school, only stopping as it was time for them to get off the bus.“You already received your dorm room number, right? As well as the key to it?”As expected, Cale nodded, yet a frown appeared on his face in the next second.‘Don’t tell me he gave it to that old guy-‘“I can tell you my room number, but Ron has the two keys to it.”How fucking stupid did one have to be to hand over both keys to one’s dorm room to some old guy? Okay, perhaps it wasn’t just an old guy to Cale, but why hand over both keys instead of one? Or was it that the old man took both keys for people’s safety? He seemed like Cale’s caretaker – wait, would he be staying with Cale? For other student’s safety so that they didn’t get attacked by an alcoholic such as himself-“If it’s that big of a problem, I can call him.”Already taking out his phone, Cale seemed a bit annoyed at the situation, yet before the redhead could press the call button, Alberu raised his hand.“No need, I just planned to show you around anyways. The doors are a bit tricky to open, but I can just show it to you later. In any case, what’s your apartment number?”Cale seemed to be contemplating something – whether to tell Alberu or not – yet decided to give in with a sigh.“It’s 11A.”Alberu’s eyes widened ever so slightly at the number – given that it was the empty two-room apartment next to his, the one that has been empty for forever – yet quickly managed to get back to his usual expression. Smiling gently, he began walking in the direction to his own apartment, 10A.“That’s actually great.”‘No, it’s not great at fucking all.’“Mine is 10A, so we’re neighbors.”‘Fuck, did the headmaster make it like this so, if anything happened, I could go over and get Cale Henituse under control? Ugh, I know that it’s my responsibility, but really? Give me some peace! Why make that bastard my neighbor?!’“That’s really practical, especially since, if you have any questions, you can just ask.”‘Please don’t ever knock on my door or go home when I am there. Oh god, please!’“Okay.”Cale’s causal answer made Alberu cry and whine on the inside, yet he naturally didn’t let his frustration show. Widening his gentle smile despise feeling like frowning, Alberu continued to lead Cale inside the first building, then pushed the button to summon the elevator.“You see, each dormitory is about three stories tall, plus the basement, which makes it technically four. In any case, each dormitory fits around ten students, given that there are five apartments per story. The first one doesn’t have any apartments for students, but four apartments for four teachers each. In case you have any concerns, you can just go down and knock on their door, it’s very easy to find.”Pointing at the hallway behind the elevator which led to four maroon doors, Alberu continued.“In our dormitory, there’s Miss Mila, the arts teacher, Mr. Van Ejellan, a maths and physics teacher as well as Mr. Orsena, an English teacher and Miss Litana, a biology instructor. Personally, I’d suggest to go to Miss Mila or Miss Litana if you have a problem, but that’s a personal bias of mine.”Frowning, Cale nodded, then the elevator came and Alberu gestured for him to get in the elevator. The redhead was contemplating whether to say something or to stay silent, and while Alberu didn’t know what it was, he could tell that it must be something important to him, which was why he stayed silent and waited. Better to not get a trash riled up, no?“Council President, there’s a teacher under the name of Lee Soo Hyuk here, no?”Alberu wanted to scoff at Cale’s question, yet didn’t. Of course Lee Soo Hyuk was a teacher at Roan Academy, but he was the sports instructor, so how come Cale asked for him? Furthermore, how did he know about someone like Lee Soo Hyuk? Well, it was none of Alberu’s business in the end.“Yes, Lee Soo Hyuk is the sports instructor who’s also our soccer team’s personal coach. If you’re looking for him, he lives in 02T, the last dormitory in the very back. To get there you need to stay in the bus for one more stop.”At that, Cale gave a small smile, which quickly disappeared again. He was glad that Alberu only answered his question rather than asking for why he wanted to know. It was something not anyone would do. The elevator arrived and opened its doors, at which Alberu exited with Cale following him.“In any case, here, this is my apartment and that one opposite to mine is yours, okay? As I mentioned before, the door’s a bit tricky, and rather than putting the key in the lock, you have to put it in here.”Alberu pulled out his own key, then put it into the hidden lock on the doorknob, after which he turned it and a klick sounded – the door opened.“You only use the obvious lock to close the door. It’s something utterly unnecessary and a new kind of door lock which has been installed last year. It’s the engineering club’s doing, so feel free to complain to them, you definitely wouldn’t be the first to do that.”“It’s a good door lock to use in dangerous areas.”Hearing Cale’s calm reply, Alberu nodded and turned around, locking his door again.“Well, it’s also been designed as such. The headmaster thought that the idea was so good that he installed it in our academy too.”Cale’s eyes widened a little bit, but it was neither in shock nor disbelief, but rather something Alberu could only recognize as curiosity and excitement.“And these door locks are already in use?”Alberu gave a simple nod while putting his key away, his gentle smile never leaving his face, no matter how much he wanted to both frown or scoff.“Yes, they’re quite popular even. One of the students that’s been in the engineering club, Eric Wheelsman, a third year, has a father that works in the business of selling things, while another student’s, Amiru Ubarr, mother is a CEO of a cooperation that produced innovative security devices. Of course, the other students that took part in the design are getting their share of the money as well.”Alberu enjoyed the way Cale’s eyes sparkled in excitement as he looked at the door once again, this time his curiosity had won over.“That’s quite impressive.”“It indeed is.”Alberu couldn’t help but smile at Cale’s cute behavior. Well, he must say, the redhead was quite cute despite that stoic and flat expression of his. How ridiculous that someone like that, when drunk, behaved like some mannerless ape.“Do you want to continue to look at it or shall we continue…?”Seemingly broken out of some sort of trance, Cale quickly nodded and continued to follow behind Alberu, who walked to the staircase rather than the elevator.“The same as everywhere, in case of a fire use the staircase, though ours is a bit, well, special.”Cale frowned, clearly not understanding what Alberu meant with saying that the staircase was ‘special’. After all, how could a staircase possibly be special? What did that special even mean?Seeing Cale’s confusion, the Student Council President sighed.“Follow me, I’ll show you.”Cale nodded and followed behind Alberu, down the staircase – which was when he finally noticed that the dark haired boy was right.“You could say that because we live in house A with Miss Mila, our house is being used as a playground for the arts course. So watch out not to fall down when you walk down the stairs, though I’d generally advice you to use the elevator for your own safety, heh.”Alberu chuckled at his own joke, clearly thinking that he was funny – which he wasn’t. With a permanent scowl on his face, the two boys arrived in the first story at last. The moment Alberu realized the shift in moods, he wondered whether Cale’d cause a ruckus, yet nothing of that sort came. He was simply quietly scowling.“…Be it as it may, shall we move on to the entertainment district? It’s like a five-minute walk from here, really not that far away, and it’s where the libraries are. It’s the place most students spend their free time at, given that it basically has everything, though I can show you around.”“Alright, let’s go there then.”Nodding, Cale followed Alberu out of their dorm, down a wide street. The northern campus was near the forest, perhaps it was because of that that so many trees were growing there. The landscape was green and quite beautiful, given that there were quite a handful of people who were taking care of Roan Academy’s gardens on a daily basis.True to Alberu’s words, after a mere five minute walk, the two boys arrived at a bus stop called ‘Entertainment District’, after which Cale could clearly see a couple buildings standing close together, almost as if it was the middle of some older town.“These are the basic shops, everything you can get outside the Academy, you could technically get here.”Alberu began walking again, as he pointed at buildings and explained what they were, given that the names of the buildings weren’t giving away what they sold exactly.“If a shop doesn’t have what you need or want, you can always go outside and buy it or order it through the internet and let it be sent to our Academy. The mail will be delivered straight to your room. Of course, if you’re too lazy to do that, you can go to a shop and let them order it for you, which a lot of students do.”Cale frowned at that; not even he was that lazy. The only thing that brought was more work for the workers – making that option totally useless.“Well, basically this is it. If we continue to go down the road, we get to the cafes and restaurants. Despite the canteen existing, the food in these establishments may suit your taste buds better, so feel free to eat wherever. If I recall correctly, there should also be a Starbucks somewhere down there as well as a McDonalds, though I could confuse it with another fast-food restaurant…I’m not often here, haha.”Letting out a sigh, an unwavering smile on his lips, Alberu then pointed at the other road, given that the way split here.“That’s the way to the libraries though. We have four, the main one being down there. It’s also the biggest. The other three libraries are spread over the entire campus, a bit tricky to find if you’re not used to the way there, so I’ll lead you to each of them later. Shall we go down there or is hinting the way enough? In case you get lost, there are always these signs that show you the way.”Waving his hand, Cale showed that this was enough, resulting in the two of them walking back to the bus stop.“Since it’s so early in the morning, it’s relatively empty here. The shops open at ten in the morning and close around nine in the evening. Once again, during midterms, they’re closed. The restaurants and cafes all have their own opening hours, though I strongly believe that McDonalds is open all around the clock.”Alberu’s voice was purely businesslike, clearly he was just talking about the things he needed to say, contrary to before, when he’d spoken of Mongoru and Roan Academies’ rivalry – not that Cale minded either. Purely businesslike was fine with him, as long as it wasn’t some emotional stuff like anger. Right, if someone was to yell at him or something along those lines-‘Let’s not think about bullshit.’Cale shook his head, then continued to listen to what Alberu was saying.“…well yeah, then let’s move on to the Eastern Campus first. After we can take a look at the science labs in the Western Campus and then go to the theatres in the Southern Campus. There’re a couple restaurants and cafes around the area there, so we can do a quick lunch before I show you the other libraries and the rooms in the main building.”Alberu waited for the redhead’s nod of confirmation, after which he began talking about all the bus connections they could take, which were quite a few actually. After a roughly fifteen minutes ride, the two of them arrived at the Eastern Campus, which differed from what Cale had imagined it to look like. Rather than some school’s sports ground with some swimming pool, it looked more like a bunch of stadiums – really.For the Eastern Campus alone, there were roughly twelve bus stops which all lead to the various sports fields. There was a soccer field and a basketball field outside, then there were two large halls one of which was a swimming pool. A bit farther away would be the stadium for runners and an outdoor-swimming pool as well as a football field and a gym. The other hall was an indoor sports hall the size of twice the football field – which was a normal sized football field.Cale almost fainted from listening to all the things Alberu listened. Hell, Alberu even said that he could show him around – which Cale naturally immediately declined. He wasn’t mad enough to waste more of his time than necessary.“If you don’t want to, just look at the names of the bus stops of the bus plan, they each tell you what building or field you’ll be at when you get off then.”Cale nodded, still a bit too baffled. He knew that Roan Academy was the elite of the elite, but this…“In any case, ‘round here you can find a small kiosk around every second corner selling small snacks and drinks. They too are opened all around the clock, so is the entire campus area besides the two training hall. The gym is also a 24/7 facility, so feel free to use it as you wish. As long as you show your student ID, you won’t have to pay for it, though I will warn you that it’s not a Roan students only facility.”The redhead coughed due to his cold, then nodded, blowing his nose with one of the handkerchiefs he had with him in his jacket.“Okay, then the Western Campus it is now. From here, it’ll take around fourth minutes to go there, so it’ll be around 11 – meaning that most science majors will be there. Hmmm, you don’t mind going inside a lab that’s getting used, do you?”Cale quickly shook his head.“I don’t mind at all, but wouldn’t it be bothersome to the one who uses the lab?”Hearing Cale’s respectful words, Alberu almost chocked on his own spit. Could it be that Cale Henituse had something akin to split personalities? Whenever he wasn’t drunk, he was a normal, quite cute and nice human being, and when he was he turned to a devilish trash? Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Alberu smiled brightly.“Don’t worry about it. Almost all of our science majors are love to show their work to others, flaunt themselves you could say. In case they are working on something and need to focus they’ll lock their lab doors, so we’ll immediately know.”At that, Cale nodded and waited for the bus with Alberu in silence, which soon came. As the two busses before, this one was as good as empty with the exception of a student in headphones in the back, who seemed to be drawing something on his iPad.While the silence wasn’t as awkward as before or exactly uncomfortable, it didn’t mean that it was very comfortable either. Alberu was fighting with himself whether he should simply start talking about something, yet it was unnecessary as Cale turned his head away from the window and towards him. Those reddish-brown eyes were clear, yet a strange dullness seemed to be hindering their true shine from coming out.‘But he isn’t drunk, is he…?’“You wouldn’t have a bottle on water on you, would you?”Frowning at that unusual question, Alberu raised his brow in question, making Cale sigh, yet before he had to explain anything, the student council president took out a small bottle of water he’d stored in the big pocket of his knee-long cloak. It was but a 0.2l bottle, but to Cale it seemed to suffice.“Here, I didn’t drink out of it yet or anything, and you don’t need to give it back to me.”Cale gave a small smile in exchange for the water bottle, which, honestly, startled Alberu a bit. Quickly, the council president looked away, trying to ignore the sort expression that had just appeared on Cale’s stoic face.‘Cute.’The dark haired youth also ignored that thought of his just now.He could hear Cale fumble something out of his own jacket pocket, then his curiosity won and he turned his head back around, watching how Cale put a pill between his teeth, then swallowed it with some water.‘Cold medicine, probably?’As if sensing Alberu’s question, Cale quickly gulped all the water down, making a disgusted face. Right, medicine wasn’t supposed to be tasty, huh?“It’s just medicine, nothing illegal, council president.”Alberu smiled at the way Cale said that while closing the water bottle again.“Yeah, I guessed that, else you must have been crazy to be doing drugs in front of me.”The redhead rolled his eyes at that, turning his head around so he could continue to look outside the window.Well, Alberu didn’t exactly mind the silence, which was much different than before. It was quiet, yes, but it was comfortable. He didn’t have to think about saying something, nor did he think about it at all, letting his thoughts wander to all the things he still had to show to Cale Henituse.It was, to be frank, a very nice kind of silence, something Alberu hadn’t experienced in quite a while if he were to notice.Cale, in the meantime, crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes. He was a bit tired, and it was a whole forty minutes ride, no? He could at least try to get some sleep in…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
To keep it short, Cale fell asleep very quickly, leaving Alberu on his own. At first, the student council president didn’t notice – that is until he turned his head to try to make some sort of small talk, given that fifteen minutes of silence were a bit much. Sighing, Alberu shook his head and pulled out his phone, checking through the messages he’d ignored up until now.Most of them were from his eldest brother Austin who was just checking in on him. There was an age difference of ten years between the two of them, as such Austin hadn’t been exactly there when Alberu had needed him the most; being busy with first high school then college. In recent years, now that he’d gotten engaged to Mary Yoo, he seemed to have realized the importance of family, or at least a good relationship to family – making him much more engaged in Alberu’s life. It wasn’t like he minded that, it was quite nice to know that his (half-) brother cared about him.Still, if most of these messages were strange memes that showed how ‘lonely’ Austin was…Alberu chose to wisely ignore them, instead checking out the message Rosalyn had sent him – which was just a thumbs up.Sighing, Alberu lastly checked the message from his father, in which he, once again, asked him to come home soon. Alberu tapped on the message bar, his keyboard appearing, ready for him to type his reply. He’d have loved to text ‘Never, adios, don’t text me anymore’, yet found himself unable to. His father, similarly to his eldest brother, was trying to mend their broken relationship. It wasn’t like Zed had been a very bad father, but years of neglect showed that he also wasn’t the best. It wasn’t like Zed Crossman had abandoned his kid though, but rather that he’d been a bit too busy with work to spend some quality time with them. He had always tried to be there, but in fact, failed at it. Seemingly having realized that, he had retired a few years back, only occasionally working from home, helping out Austin.
‘Idk. Am busy with council work. See you at the Halloween Party anyways.’
Nodding at his response, which he had rewritten around three times, then reread even more often, the student council president pressed at the sending button, quickly putting his phone away after. Dealing with family…well, it was a bit difficult for Alberu. Besides having a ten year older brother, he also had a brother that was five years older than him, Charles Crossman. He wasn’t much different from Austin and wasn’t as involved in his life as he should have been, but he wasn’t trying to get close to Alberu either. He was just…there, kinda. He was an asshole, a self centric narcissist, but at times, Charles Crossman could treat Alberu as a normal brother. While he had bullied him back when the two of them were younger, he had grown out of it, you could say, only focusing on himself nowadays. Next to those two, there was also Giselle, his three years older sister and his by three years younger brother Robbit Crossman – and despite the difference between them being just three years, Alberu couldn’t exactly say that he was very close with them either.Haaa, generally, siblings and siblings’ bonds and relationships were a bit lost on him. In any case, now was definitely not the time to think about any of that though. He was showing around Cale, not looking to traumatize himself all over again just because of his cracked up family.“Haaa…”Alberu didn’t even notice the sigh that escaped his lips, let alone the way his smile slowly disappeared from his face. In moments like these, where no one was watching, it was easier to just not smile.The forty minutes in the bus passed by quicker and before Alberu knew it, it was the bus stop before the one they needed to get off at. It wasn’t really a quick decision before he was gently shaking Cale’s shoulder – begging that his personality wouldn’t make a 180 degree turn when he returned from dreamland. Truly, with someone who was rumored to be a trash, one could never be safe enough.“Mn, you better wake up now or we’ll have to walk ten minutes.”Almost as if on cue, a frown appeared on Cale’s peacefully sleeping face.‘Did I fuck up…?’Alberu’s mind was already working at the highest speed possible, thinking of the damage control he’d need to do, yet none of his worst fears came to live as Cale simply opened his reddish-brown eyes, a sleepy haze still over them. He blinked several times, his frown deepening, before he shook his head and let out a small, cute yawn.‘So…he’s only trash when he’s drunk, right?’Relief washed over Alberu as he nodded at that thought. Right, it must be the case given Cale’s cute and respectful behavior as of now.“…I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”Cale’s hoarse voice paired with the sleepiness in it…well, it created a very innocent picture in front of Alberu’s eyes. The council president sighed and waved his hand in order to dismiss that matter.“Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind. You woke up just in time for us to get off.”Cale nodded his head and as if on cue, the bus stopped, making Alberu get up and off, Cale following behind him like a stray puppy. He stumbled a bit, which made Alberu’s smile falter. Grabbing the redhead’s arm in order to support him, he realized that his arm was quite, well, thin.“Still sleepy, huh?”Cale didn’t reply and simply steadied himself.“Well anyways, try not to fall over in the lab, who knows what that might cause.”Just at the thought of it, a sour expression appeared on the usually smiling student council president’s face, an expression which made Cale frown as well. If even Alberu was like that, it could only mean that something bad would happen. But that was to be expected, given that the students of Roan Academy were free to experiment with whatever chemicals they’d like – under the condition that they didn’t endanger another living and breathing being, themselves inclusive. Let’s just say that while they kept that rule, they’ve found some sort of grey zone when their experiments didn’t directly injure them, but sure had the potential to if they weren’t careful.“Mn, on second thought, I can just show you an empty lab?”Alberu turned around to Cale. He was sniffling his nose. Being sick while going into a laboratory was never a good idea anyways so…“Yes, I think that’ll do just as well.”Glad that he didn’t need to try to convince Cale or debate let alone argue with him, Alberu nodded then walked up to an incredibly large building with glass walls – it truly did look like a professional science lab and not just someplace students were learning how to do the real thing. Though then again, Roan Academy was pretty much the real thing, more of a college than a school, but for incredibly talented young children. Now that Cale thought about it, Roan Academy’s graduates had no need for college or university education, though they were always free to continue their studies there.Perhaps that was why most students stayed in the school despite having graduated already? They were definitely free to do that as long as they could pay and prove that they were still smart enough…Finally entering the building, Cale was met with a clean and typical science faculty design. Black marble floor in combination with white marble walls and a clean reception in the front next to three elevators. Given the building’s size, Cale was certain that there were more elevators in another place. There were two people in formal, black suits at the reception, a man and a woman, who bowed down respectfully, greeting the two newcomers. Alberu quickly stepped forward and showed his student ID, then pulled out another student ID, which Cale realized was his. Wow…how great that Alberu received his student ID rather than him. So that was what Eruhaben meant with ‘you’ll get your ID soon enough, don’t worry about it’.“Have a great stay here, Mr. Crossman, Mr. Henituse.”The receptionist woman smiled at the two boys, one of whom was a whole head taller than the other – Alberu nodded, giving his thanks before pushing the elevator button yet again.“Our science faculty is, as you can see, quite advanced, mostly due to donations to our school. The laboratories are all the size of a normal laboratory, which is why there are ten stories plus the two underground stories – making it twelve stories in total. Generally, the first underground story, B1 and eight of the ten normal stories are all open laboratories while the 9th as well as 10th story have the private labs which are of the size of our normal classrooms. The second underground story, B2 contains all of our science equipment and bigger machinery which shouldn’t be used in smaller rooms.”The elevator doors closed and Alberu pushed the button of the tenth floor.“Usually, private laboratories have to be reserved in advance, but since the majority of students do team projects, they prefer to use the normal labs – so a lot of the private labs aren’t in use.”Cale nodded at the new information as he looked around the elevator which was also built out of marble and gold. He honestly didn’t even want to guess the network worth of the building, let alone all the science equipment inside.“The science faculty is basically open 24/7 besides on Sundays. It opens on Mondays at eight in the morning and then closes Saturdays around ten in the evening, mostly for cleaning and maintenance.”Cale knew that it was information he’d read before in the countless pages Eruhaben had handed to him, but he still nodded. It was quite impressive, now that he saw the entire building in person.With a ‘cling’, the two boys arrived in the highest story. Contrary to the first floor, the floor was the same as the white marble walls. There was a wide floor which had countless turns left and right with white doors in it – which could only lead to the private labs. Now that Cale took a closer look at them, he noticed that next to the doors stood a golden sign, some of which had a name engraved in them while others didn’t have that sign at all. Seeing Cale’s confusion, Alberu immediately explained.“The golden sign just shows that a lab is currently in use, and the name on that shield shows the first letter as well as full last name of the person that is using it. This lab for example isn’t used by anyone, so you can take a look at it.”With a nod of his head, Cale followed behind Alberu as he pushed open the white door, revealing a clean, white laboratory behind. It was basically a mini version of a real laboratory, though its size was nothing to scoff at. It was equipped my an iMac as well as countless other technical devices to make a student’s research easier.“Contrary to the gym and our sports grounds, the science faculty is only accessible for Roan Academy students, though exchange students are allowed as well during the exchange period. Ah, I should add that the library is the same, all of them are only available for Roan’s students.”Cale couldn’t help but raise his brows. This building, it could easily fit five hundred scientists – if not more. It was quite a waste to only use it on two hundred students, most of which are most likely not even interested in stuff such as this.Seeing Cale’s frowning expression, Alberu couldn’t help but chuckle.“I think you misunderstood me, please excuse my vague words. Even if the building isn’t accessible to other students from other schools, it is very much accessible to certified scientists and Roan’s former graduates that are dedicated to their research. You see, else such a faculty would be quite a waste.”Relief washed over Cale as he nodded, another thing at which Alberu chuckled. While leaning against the door frame, he watched the redhead sit down on the black office chair and trying out this and that on the iMac, eyes lighting up as he noticed that he could access all past experiments and their results’ data.“This is amazing.”Alberu didn’t reply, but Cale didn’t even notice as he continued to explore everything. In the end, he spend roughly half an hour inside the room. During normal school guiding trips, new students were only allowed to take a look at the open labs, and even that was only allowed to take ten to fifteen minutes max. Alberu had contemplated many times to simply rip Cale away from the iMac, yet he didn’t have the heart to. He had even stopped thinking along the lines that it’d cause Cale to turn to his ‘trash’ self, and rather than that, he thought that during the entire trip, Cale hadn’t even looked once this excited to see anything. It took them forty minutes to get here, the least he could do was to let Cale enjoy this.And naturally, the redhead was soon done, a pleased expression replacing that stoic frown of his.“You seem to like the private labs. We can go to the reception and reserve one for you.”At that, hope flared up in Cale’s eyes, yet he quickly shook his head, a strange expression appearing on his face.“Mn, I don’t think it’s necessary – I won’t be using a private laboratory.”Hearing Cale’s somewhat reluctant response, Alberu couldn’t help but wonder why he’d said that. Clearly, he liked the private laboratories, going as far as being all excited like a small kid when entering and exploring it. His eyes had been so lively and excited…It wasn’t any of Alberu’s business anyways.“Alright, if you change your mind, you can always hit up the reception. Usually, there’s always a free private lab.”Cale nodded his head, his expression returning to his usual stoic face. Alberu sighed as he put on his gentle smile and pushed himself off the door frame.“You wanna take a look at the equipment too or should we move on? It’s nothing too special and reminds of an old storage room rather than a high tech equipment room.”Cale contemplated it for a moment, then ended up shaking his head.“I think I’ve caused enough delay in your plans already by spending so much time in here. I am really thankful that you let me, though.”Alberu was a bit startled, yet nodded nonetheless.“It’s fine, it wasn’t that much of a delay.”‘Well, if you consider our travel time here of fourth minutes, spending thirty here is totally worth it. Furthermore, twenty minutes isn’t that much of a delay, right…not at all.’Cale seemed unsure of Alberu’s words, but before the council president could or had to say anything, the redhead brushed it off with a shrug.“If you say so.”Glad, that things didn’t turn to some uncomfortable discussion, Alberu nodded his head.“So…wanna visit the equipment room or not?”Cale was startled at Alberu’s suggestion, but the dark haired boy didn’t care. And what if his plans got delayed even more than they already were? They could spend less time someplace else like the theatre ground. Unsurprisingly, the younger of the two let out a defeated sigh accompanied by a resigned nod.“Yeah, I’d like that.”Smiling, Alberu pointed in the direction they came from.“Then let’s go. You got a private tour with the student council president as your guide, you better use it properly.”*Alberu had never seen someone look so excited to visit the storage room of the science faculty before, and even after the two of them exited the building and departed for the Southern Campus, Cale’s somewhat cheerful expression didn’t fall. Even with his hoarse, raspy voice, he continued to ask questions about certain materials and how some all of the machinery seemed accessible as long as another person was present.Usually, the almost seventeen year old wasn’t a fan of loudmouths, especially if it came from an almost sixteen year old kid, but listening to Cale’s excited voice somehow didn’t annoy him as much as others’ voices did.The Southern Campus was only a ten minute bus ride away, which was why they arrived rather quickly at the incredibly large theatre which was perhaps twice the size of a big stadium and definitely fit more than a thousand people easily.The moment Cale laid eyes upon that building, his cheeriness waved goodbye as his usual frown appeared on his face. Seeing that kind of expression, Alberu quickly intervened before the redhead’s mood could get any worse – making him turn to alcohol or something like that.“We don’t have to go inside if you don’t want to. The building is split in seven halls, two main halls on the first floor for big events and five smaller but still overly large halls for smaller events on the second floor. One of the two big halls can be used as a stage for a theatre act or even show while the other is purely used as a banquet hall – hence is build as such. The other halls are all quite similar, given that you can use them as you please for school events.”Alberu immediately noticed how Cale’s shoulder relaxed again. Ah, he didn’t even notice that the redhead had been tense before. In any case…“This theatre building, while it belongs to Roan Academy, gets used by others as long as they pay accordingly. For example, most rich people hold their banquets in here rather than at their own homes, so you can’t really come here and enter however you’d like. You can always ask on the reception though. If I recall correctly, tomorrow evening, there’ll be a charity event in the evening.”Cale nodded, his frown getting a bit smaller.“In any case, then we won’t take a closer look in there. The Halloween Party that the school committee is preparing will be held in the main hall too, so if you’re attending it, you’ll see how everything looks then at the latest. You hungry? It’s past one already, so we should grab a quick lunch, no?”The redhead let out a sigh at that, then agreed with Alberu and followed the taller man to a much smaller building a five minute walk away from the theatre building. It was a small restaurant which seemed to be something in between a café, a fast-food restaurant and a normal one.Entering it, the two of them were greeted with a mostly empty building besides two other people, who appeared to be students attending Roan Academy, at least age-wise. They didn’t wear their uniform, which was a red suit-jacket and black pants with golden ornaments as well as a white shirt for the boys and a red suit-jacket and either a black skirt or another pair of black pants for the girls, though they were allowed to do that. The only times school uniforms were mandatory was during exams or during formal events organized by the school rather than the school committee or student council.The two people, a quite small boy (even Cale was taller than him) with pink hair and matching eyes as well as a skin of similar dark color as Alberu’s, and an extremely tall boy with grey hair and light grayish-blue eyes, both looked over, then the taller boy waved his hand, an exciting glint in his eyes.“Council pres, whatcha’ doin’ over here? Don’t you usually eat in the canteen?”The smaller boy had a bright smile on his face as he got up from his seat and walked over to Alberu and Cale. He wore a red hoodie and grey sweatpants, clearly something one’d wear at home rather than at some public place. Nevertheless, Alberu didn’t seem startled or surprised, and neither was Cale. The other boy stayed seated, given that Alberu was walking over to their table, there was also no need to get up.“Well, I am showing the new student around campus.”Immediately, both boys’ eyes widened in surprise, and while Lock seemed a bit taken back – given that he was one of Rosalyn’s closest friends despite being two years younger than he, she clearly warned him about the new student that’d be attending Roan Academy in the near future, the ‘trash’ Cale Henituse – the other boy, Dodori, had the opposite reaction to his friend.“Really? Wait, then Cale’s here?”Almost immediately, the pink haired boy jumped behind Alberu, where Cale was standing (or rather hiding, Alberu noted with an amused smile).“…Yes, nice to see you again, Dodori.”It wasn’t until the words that left Dodori’s and Cale’s mouths finally reached Alberu’s brain that the council president realized that the two of them knew each other already. Raising his brows in question at the both of them – Dodori had quickly hugged Cale the moment he realized it was him – at which he didn’t immediately get a reply, but rather a strange sounding cough which wasn’t because of the redhead’s cold, he could tell.“Cale! It’s so great that you’re finally here! Mom told me that there was some delay cuz of that bastard, so I was worried!”Cale nodded, then patted Dodori’s head – clearly familiar with him.“…Well, it was nothing too important, so there was no need to worry about it. Ron took care of it quickly.”Dodori immediately pouted and was about to retort something, as both Alberu and Lock cleared their throats at the same time. Almost immediately, Dodori pulled back, a somewhat embarrassed expression on his face.“Oi, sorry, I was just so happy to see Cale, hehe.”Sitting back down on his seat from before, Dodori patted the chair next to him, looking at Cale expectantly.“Certainly you can eat with us, right?”Alberu sighed and was about to decline, given that he didn’t really know either Dodori or Lock too well, but Cale already took off his jacket and sat down on the seat Dodori had pointed to, looking at Alberu expectantly.‘Ugh, wait, how do these two know each other? Dodori is pretty much an elite student, so how does he know some trash-‘“Are you not going to sit down, pres?”Hearing Lock’s quiet voice, Alberu looked down to the usually shy boy who didn’t dare meet his eyes before. Today though, the grayish-blue eyes were seemingly begging him for an explanation, which he didn’t have. In the end, Alberu did sit down next to Lock and opposite to Cale.“Caleeeeeee, we didn’t order yet, so you came at the perfect time!”Dodori’s cutesy-voice took Lock off guard and he quickly glanced at Cale, doing his best to find some sort of change in his stoic and flat expression. Either he was too bad at finding such change or there wasn’t any change – which was natural, given that Cale was quite used to Dodori’s way of talking to him. For a reason he couldn’t comprehend, the year younger boy seemed to adore and idolize him – from the moment he first met him in that goddamn hospital- no, Cale would rather not think about that.“…Cale, if you know Dodori over here, do you also know Miss Mila?”Looking away from Dodori, Cale simply shrugged at Alberu’s late question, which was answer enough. Contrary to him though, Dodori scoffed as if Alberu had asked the most offending question there could be.“Council pres! Of course Cale knows my mom, she’s the one that helped him get in so fast!”At Dodori’s words, Alberu frowned. What did Dodori mean with getting in so fast? While it was indeed true that Cale didn’t attend Roan Academy from the beginning of the school year, he still had to hand in his documents in time, no? You know what, Alberu decided that it wasn’t any of his business, even if it was a bit unusual.“Why do you wanna know tho?”Hearing Dodori’s question which he asked in his usual voice, Alberu simply shook his head.“Simple curiosity, I suppose? Cale knows quite a few people here, no?”Dodori had a proud smirk on his lips as he nodded at that.“Well, I wouldn’t say I know that many people besides Dodori and Miss Mila.” At that, both Dodori and Alberu scoffed at once – something that made the two of them lock eyes with each other.“Well, you do know Mr. Lee and the headmaster too.”Alberu spoke in his usual, calm voice, making Lock let out a shocked gasp. Dodori, on the other side, simply smiled knowingly, yet no one paid too much attention to it.“Oi Cale, did you catch a cold? Your voice sounds hoarse, now that I think about it…”Dodori’s cheerful voice turned a bit duller and a worried expression appeared on his face, which confused both Alberu and Lock. Was a cold really a reason to be so down and worried? Well, to Dodori, who was friends with a trash and seemed to even respect someone like that, strange things must be reasons to worry, no?“…Mn, nothing too bad, so don’t worry about it, okay?”Cale’s response was actually normal, so it truly was like that; that he had two different kinds of personality when drunk and when sober.“Don’t worry about it?! Ugh, you always say that!”Before Cale was forced to answer, a server came up to the table, a gentle smile on her face as she asked for the boys’ orders – which turned out to be Cale’s escape. While Dodori didn’t seem to notice, Alberu sure did. It was strange, how relieved Cale appeared to be, and despite being curious about the reason – it was none of his business. He was solely there to show Cale around as it was his duty as student council president, not to involve himself in his life.“Alright, two steaks with fries, one soup and one lasagne with two hot teas, one hot chocolate and one coffee?”Dodori nodded at that and quickly turned his head around to face Cale, a wide smile back on his lips.“Oi Cale, it’s a bummer that you ordered the soup, next time you’re here you should try the steak with fries, though Beacrox’ is better, of course.”A small, almost invisible smile appeared on Cale’s lips at that. Beacrox Molan, Ron’s son and someone he regarded as an older brother. He had done so much for him without getting anything in return, he’d given his best to always be there for him just like Ron, had stayed by his side without expecting or even wanting anything in return-“It’s hard to compare anything to Beacrox’ cooking.”Dodori smiled, and the two seemingly old friends continued to discuss Beacrox’ cooking skills, seemingly unaware of the rising confusion in the two individuals who each had no clue about who Beacrox was, nor what was actually going on.“Uh, pres, I know it’s kinda rude to ask, but isn’t Cale Henituse a, uh, you know, trash?”Lock whispered the last word, and it clearly wasn’t heard by the other two people besides Alberu. The council president frowned, then simply let out a sigh. It’s the very thing he’d been wondering ever since he started showing Cale around school grounds.‘Why is he behaving this way?’‘Why isn’t he all arrogant and complies with anything I suggest?’‘He doesn’t act like a trash.’Alberu’s conclusion was Cale having two personalities when drunk and sober, but even that seemed kind of unlikely with the way Cale looked like – the way his eyes looked like. He just appeared to be so…innocent? Not like some trash? Ugh, Alberu decided not to care about it and let things turn out however they’d without getting involved in it, but with Lock’s question that required an answer…“The rumors sure call him by that title.”The dark haired boy shrugged, a mischievous grin appearing on his lips, though that boyish expression didn’t reach his eyes.“I wouldn’t be too sure about it though, after spending half a day with him I can fairly say that.”Lock’s eyes widened in shock, then he turned his head in Cale’s direction quicker than Alberu had seen anyone turn their head before. Well…perhaps he himself should listen to the words that came out of his mouth as well, rather than believe in his two-personalities theory.
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The guiding tour Cale received continued with not just the student council president guiding him, but also Dodori, who excitedly went on and on about all the details he himself still remembered from the usual guiding tour the first years received in the beginning of the school year. Dodori remembered most things perfectly, yet every here and there Alberu still added additional information he was required to tell Cale, which Dodori either forgot or didn’t deem important enough. It was to the extent that Alberu wondered why he was there in the first place. If Dodori’s mother was the reason Cale got in, shouldn’t the headmaster be aware of Dodori’s connection to Cale then? Why not ask him for a guiding tour but the student council president? He was busy enough as was, even without needing to guide some supposed trash around.“And this, Cale, is what I refer to as the forsaken library!”Dodori’s eyes were sparkling as he pointed at the last stop of their tour, given that they had already been to all the other required new students’ tour stops. Honestly, Alberu was free right now, given that he didn’t have to tag along to Roan Academy’s fifth library.Yes exactly, there were actually five libraries.Confused, the redhead glanced back at the council president who was keeping up his ever so gentle smile.“Aren’t there just four libraries?”Cale’s voice sounded a bit less hoarse compared to the early morning, though it could just as well be that Alberu simply got used to it. Seeing the curious glint in Cale’s strangely dull eyes made the council president clear his throat.“There are just four libraries in Roan Academy. I believe the one Dodori is referring to is the building of the fifth library which was fully built but never put to use. Currently, it’s under the student council’s surveillance and gets used for all kinds of events, though most of the time; it’s basically just an empty building.”At that, Dodori scoffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The sky was beginning to turn dark, given that it was almost six in the evening already.“Hey! It’s more than that! Lock told me that Rosalyn-noona said that the library is haunted! Furthermore, it hasn’t been used in forever!”Lock nodded his head in agreement, recalling when he asked Rosalyn about this empty library building. She had, of course, smiled and laughed, though she did hint that it was just a mostly useless building standing around right in front of the forest with no other building close to it.Alberu, on the other hand, simply raised his brows, glancing at Cale who was giving his best to hide his laugh behind his (not forced) cough.“Well, then it’d be my pleasure to inform you that the building of this library will once again be put to good use this year.”Hearing Alberu’s somewhat cryptic words, Dodori immediately started to ask about the way it’d be put to use – naturally Alberu didn’t answer. Even Lock seemed a bit confused, given that Rosalyn had said nothing of the sort.“Mn, council president, isn’t the Halloween party held in the Southern Campus? You mentioned that there were cards we could buy for our non-student friends to attend.”Alberu glanced over at Cale, his prior non-genuine smile a bit more genuine now. He nodded his head. Well, he should have known that someone with Cale’s exam scores would figure out the use of a so called ‘haunted library’ located near the forest as quickly as this.“Are you implying that the student committee plans to hold an after-party here?”Dodori’s eyes sparkled and he grabbed the sleeve of Alberu’s coat, looking up at him with those shining eyes. Honestly, he looked more like some kid about to receive some candy rather than the elite student that he actually was.“…Technically, I am not allowed to answer that question. You’ll find out soon enough either through the school newspaper or an official announcement.”Alberu’s words were pretty much an indirect confirmation to Dodori’s words and while he and Lock were caught up in their excitement, Alberu turned to Cale to answer his question.“Yes, the main event will be held in one of the Southern Campus’ halls, yet Halloween is supposed to be a fun event rather than one you have to spend with your family, so the representative of the student committee, Bud Illis, suggested to have a student-exclusive after event, so to speak. What exactly that event will be, that is to be kept a secret for the time being.”Alberu’s smile was mischievous and boyish – a bit teasing, so to speak. It made the corners of Cale’s lips move up for a split second. The redhead stepped a bit closer to Alberu, then waved at him to bow down a bit, given that he was a head taller than Cale. Once again, Alberu was thankful to have inherited his mother’s darker skin color, given that the sudden closeness to this cute redhead (no, sober trash, Alberu had to remind himself) made him feel unnecessarily embarrassed.“The committee is planning to make a haunted house out of this library, no? I know it’s none of my business, but wouldn’t it be a lot more fun to do more than just a haunted house for an after party? Like a themed haunted house party or something along those lines.”Seeing that Cale was done, given that he stepped back, Alberu’s smirk grew a bit bigger as he took a step forward, leaning once again in so that his lips were close to Cale’s ear.“Well, who said it was a simple haunted house, huh? But a themed party would certainly be a bit more interesting than what the committee had in mind~”Cale was just about to turn his head around to ask more about to upcoming event – it wasn’t that he was curious about the even; he was just interested in knowing how much information he could get out of Alberu despite him saying that he wasn’t allowed to talk about it – yet couldn’t test it out when Alberu pulled his head away, standing up straight yet again. The smile on his lips couldn’t be called a smile as it was more of a knowing grin, and the glint in his eyes- he knew.The head smaller redhead could immediately tell that Alberu Crossman, the student council president, knew. And the only reason he had given him any additional information at all; well, Cale didn’t really know but he guessed that it was either because of a sort of game or just the council president teasing him in his own way.Cale wasn’t going to lie, it had been fun, a lot of fun even – despite his obvious loss this once.“I see, council president. I’ll be looking forward to what you’re planning, then.”Alberu’s grin widened ever so slightly as he winked at Cale. He was about to retort something, yet didn’t get the chance as Dodori practically jumped at Cale, making the redhead stumble back a few steps as he was caught off guard.“Cale! It’s getting late and I’m sure that Ron will worry if you stay out too late.”Immediately, the redhead’s causal attitude changed as he pulled out his phone, glancing at the time that displayed 5:13 in the afternoon. Alberu could only guess that this ‘Ron’ was the old man he’d met in the headmaster’s office before.“What building’s your room in, Cale?”Glancing up from his phone, Cale gave Alberu a questioning look. Ah, right, he did tell him that while his room was 11A, he didn’t explain that the A stood for their apartment building.“Coincidentally, Cale’s room is the one right next to me in building A. It’s where Miss Mila-nim lives in as well.”Dodori’s eyes immediately widened, yet everybody could tell that he was very happy, before his expression turned a bit sourer.“Building A? The one where Mr. Van Ejellan lives in too?”Alberu nodded, ignoring Dodori’s strange words. As the young boy then grabbed onto Cale’s two hands, a desperate expression on his face, Alberu couldn’t help but frown, seeing Cale’s partly annoyed expression didn’t help.“Mr. Van Ejellan? Why’s that a bad thing, Dodori? Sure; he’s a bit strict, but he’s not a bad teacher.”Alberu, while he didn’t exactly agree with the ‘not a bad teacher’ part, given that in his opinion, Fredo van Ejellan completely overwhelmed most students (which is why his classes were the ones that were skipped the most), but he truly wasn’t a bad person – otherwise the headmaster wouldn’t have hired him.“It’s a bad thing cuz, ugh, how should I best say this?”Dodori finally let go of Cale’s hands and put both of his arms on his hips, as if he was in a heated argument.“He’s obsessed with Cale! He always says that Cale is his son!”Hearing Dodori’s yelled words, Alberu almost chocked on the air while Lock looked like he’d heard the biggest nonsense of the century. Cale, on the other hand, simply sighed and patted Dodori’s shoulder as if to calm him down.“It’s not as bad as it sounds like, so please stop acting as if it was the worst thing that could have happened to me. He just…cares and shows it in his own…Fredo-kinda-way.”‘What the fuck am I witnessing right now? So it is actually true?!’Alberu couldn’t believe his ears, nor his eyes or any other senses right now. He stared at Dodori and Cale, then quickly forced himself to control his expression again. Whatever, so what if Cale knew yet another teacher? Honestly, after spending almost the entire day with the redhead, Alberu was convinced that the ‘trash’ rumor surrounding him couldn’t be true. He didn’t appear like an alcoholic and it simply didn’t fit in his personality. Cale knowing so many teachers simply proved his point.“Ugh, you’re so stu- clueless!”Dodori’s for once frustrated voice brought a smirk to Lock’s lips as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and watched how his pink haired friend did his best to convince Cale that Mr. Van Ejellan wasn’t a good person. And while Lock was listening while the redhead and Dodori were caught up in their discussion, Alberu was still trying not to laugh about the way Dodori was about to call Cale ‘stupid’ instead of clueless. The redhead was, by no means, stupid, but that didn’t have to mean that he was the smartest in everything. No one was.“Yes, yes, I’ll be careful. You told me that you were going to meet a friend of yours later today; don’t you have to get going?”Dodori immediately stopped his whining and took a look at the digital clock on his arm, his eyes widening in shock as he exchanged a glance with Lock, who’d be accompanying him.“…We can still accompany you to the dorm, what if you get lost?”Cale’s raised brow was answer enough. He didn’t get lost, that was the one thing Cale Henituse didn’t ever do. He had a unique memory which allowed him to recall places he’d been to and the way there perfectly. It was his very memory which made studying so easy and fun, though the way his brain worked naturally played part in it as well.“The dormitories are a thirty minute bus ride away from here, and if I recall correctly, didn’t you want to meet up in the science faculty?”Dodori’s expression fell as he groaned in defeat. He nodded his head. His ‘depressed’ mood didn’t hold on for too long though, as he looked up at Alberu, a wide grin on his lips.“Oi council pres, you said that Cale lives right next door to you, so, by any chance, are you heading home?”Alberu’s first thought was to respond with no, given that he’d promised to meet Rosalyn later so they could discuss the things she managed to get done today, or to solve the problems she encountered while doing it. He also had to go see the headmaster and report to him – as they’ve discussed in advance. What he was to report was a big mystery though, but he guessed it was regarding the upcoming Halloween party. He had lots of things to do, so there was no way he could simply go home.And yet…“Yes, I was about to head home now.”Dodori’s eyes flashed brightly as he looked at Cale, then once again at Alberu before his eyes returned to Cale then Alberu once more, his silent question weighing down in the air. Cale was about to sigh, yet Alberu waved his hand before he patted Cale’s frail shoulder.“Cale, it appears to me that your friend wants me to accompany you to the dormitories once again. Given that I’m your escort for the day, I’m more than willing to offer my services to you yet again – though it’s a unique offer for the new student by the student council president only for today.”While both Dodori and Lock stared at Alberu as if he was mad, his words managed to get Cale to laugh, a small smile tugging on the edges of his lips yet again, replacing the annoyed frown from a few moments ago. His quiet laughter was a nice change compared to his usual silence.“Right, how could I dare say no to the student council president’s offered services?”Alberu couldn’t help but chuckle himself, as he nodded his head, trying to stay serious – which didn’t work very well at the moment. He stretched out his hand, and Cale took it.“Oi council pres, make sure to take care of Cale! I’ll entrust him to you!”Alberu ignored the way he felt like the male lead out of a modern romance book about to take his love interest out to an important event. Ugh, the thought alone sent shivers down his spine Nevertheless, he still nodded, waving his free hand that wasn’t holding on to Cale’s cold one.“Don’t worry, as far as I know, I’ve yet to be charged with a crime.”While Dodori frowned about Alberu’s strange sense of humor, it once again got a small laugh out of Cale, which kind of meant that it had been worth it. Alberu’s practiced smile got a bit more genuine once again as he bowed his head dramatically, then waited for Cale to say his goodbyes as well.It wasn’t long, then the two of them were sitting in the last rows of the bus again, this time it was anything but empty, filled with students who wanted to get home from god knows where.“Out of curiosity, why did you chose to attend Roan Academy two weeks after school begin? The entrance exam for transfer students is rumored to be nearly impossible.”Alberu couldn’t say that he wasn’t curious, but he wasn’t exactly interested in the reason either. He simply asked because for one, he feared that Cale fell asleep again and for the other, the silence between them, while not uncomfortable, made Alberu feel a bit awkward. As if he needed to fill it – perhaps because the people he was usually with, including his family, were rather loud people who never knew when to shut up. Being with someone so quiet like Cale the entire day sure felt a bit…unfamiliar, new.The redhead turned his head around, looking away from the window and at Alberu. The back of the bus was lowly light, which made Alberu’s skin appear almost as dark as his hair and eyes. While it was true that his skin tone was much darker than anyone else’s, it wasn’t too dark either, though the darker tone did suit him a lot too.“Mn, you could say that I couldn’t go earlier.”Couldn’t go earlier? Alberu wondered what those words meant. Was it that Cale had been physically incapable of attending school when it started or was it something else? Once again, it shouldn’t be Alberu’s business, but this time he couldn’t help but be honestly interested.“You couldn’t go?”Cale shook his head, shrugging his shoulders as if it was not that big of a deal.“Well, it’s a bit complicated to explain. My…uncle has been put in jail and it’s kind of a shock for the family.”When the word ‘uncle’ had left the redhead’s lips, a strangely empty look had appeared in his eyes – and stayed there ever since. While those reddish-brown irises had never been very shiny and always a bit lightless and dull, it hadn’t been as bad as at the moment. As a person who could read other people very well, even if he had a few difficulties with Cale due to the (most likely false) rumors surrounding him, he could say one thing for certain, this topic, be it the reason for him attending school two weeks after school start or the matter of family and his uncle, was not something that Cale could easily talk about.The silence held on for a while after that, Cale seemed lost in thoughts as his face remained just as expressionless as his eyes were empty and dull while Alberu thought of a way to ease the suddenly heavy and depressed atmosphere between the two of them. And the only solution he could think of was…“Must be rough, man. With an uncle in jail you can at least pretend that you’re a hell of a cool guy. Was it drugs or illegal gambling?”Alberu was ruffling Cale’s hair, at which a small frown appeared on the redhead’s face. But that frown was so much better than whatever kind of expression he just had had on his face. Raising his hand to get Alberu’s hand off his head, Cale grumbled something before shaking his head.“Neither, though it’d be kinda cool if it were indeed drugs, you know? He could have made a lot of money which I could have stolen, heh.”Alberu shuddered at Cale’s vicious words paired with that scary smile on his lips which could only be described as a ‘scammer’s smile’. He knew he deemed that there was no way Cale was the ‘trash Cale Henituse’ as the rumors pictured him, but if he was talking about looting his uncle…‘Whatever. It’s none of my business. His file did say that his guardian is a certain Ron Molan, that old guy from before, so his relationship with his family ain’t the best. It’s none of my business.’Ruffling Cale’s hair one last time, Alberu gave him a mischievous smirk.“It seems like you’ve forgotten that you’re in the presence of the student council president, but I’ll pretend to not have heard any of this just this once, yeah?”Cale’s frown turned into a cute pout at the very next moment, then he couldn’t keep it up as a small smile tugged on the corners of his lips.“Sure, and I’ll turn a blind eye on you destroying my hair.”Alberu couldn’t help as he laughed out loud at that, immediately gaining the attention of students sitting nearby. Some of them seemed confused and quickly turned away, giving the two boys privacy, while some others, more shameless students, immediately started gossiping; both about their student council president and the boy he was with. Truth to be said, none of them actually recognized the redhead as Cale Henituse, rather stating that he was a hell of a beautiful guy and must be some rich ass friend of their president’s.“Then it’s a deal?”Cale nodded his head and then tuned back around to look out the window. Now, the silence between them didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable anymore. Rather than that it was…peaceful.‘Maybe the headmaster is right to say that I should bring Cale to the student council. His grades will probably be as good as mine and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s also smart. Furthermore, while I don’t completely believe in the rumors that he’s trash, as long as we keep him away from any alcohol – just in case of course – things should play out.’Alberu nodded at his internal dialogue, proud of his ability to see opportunities and use them. He took out his phone from his pocket, checking on first the time, which was 5:36, then at the messages he’d received – both were from Rosalyn. Rosalyn: Tired of waiting for you in the office. Threw the documents and reports in your post box, so let’s discuss them tomorrow instead
Rosalyn: :)
Alberu couldn’t help but smile upon reading her messages. That was why he especially enjoyed working with Rosalyn. She was not only reliable, but she didn’t beat around the bush. She may judge you based of your appearance and attitude as well as come off as arrogant in the beginning, but she was a good person at heart. Furthermore, while she did act quite straight forward, she was someone who was willing to learn – both school-wise and people-wise.‘This makes things easier on my end. Now I only have to meet up with the headmaster after dropping Cale off.’In two stops, it’d be their bus stop. Alberu cleared his throat as he broke the silence once more.“So, you mentioned that you read through the school rules before, right?”Cale let out a low hum, glancing at Alberu, curious why he was asking such a thing. The taller boy had a strange smile on his lips which was neither a genuine smile, nor his fake gracious smile he put on as a front. No, this smile, Cale was all too familiar with it. The alarm bells in his head went off, making him frown. The feeling that he was about to get scammed wrapping its claws around his gut.“That means you’re aware of the rule that all the students have to attend at least one club?”Cale got a bit wary as he reluctantly nodded his head, his senses screaming at him that he was about to get involved in something he had absolutely no interest in, given that it’d disturb his peace.“Well, you don’t actually have to join a club – that is if you are willing to join the student council.”As soon as Alberu’s words were out, Cale’s expression turned sour as if he’d eaten a lemon just a moment ago. It took all of Alberu’s self-restraint not to burst out in laughter (and the thought that if he laughed, all his chances of Cale joining the student council would disperse to dust).The bus halted and the driver announced their stop, which made Alberu and Cale get off. Lanterns were lighting up the way to their dorm building and Alberu used the time he had to try to make his offer more attractive to the redhead.“You see, if you were to join, you would be informed about all coming events in advance – especially the ones that are to be kept a secret from other students. Furthermore, it’s not even half as much work as one’d expect-““It’s not much work?”Cale stopped in his tracks the moment those words left Alberu’s mouth, looking up at the taller youth, a strangely excited glint in his eyes. This time, it was Alberu who got the bad feeling, almost as if he was making a deal with the devil promising his soul for a single piece of candy (though that piece of candy sure was the sweetest of them all).“…No, not at all. The position that’s open is that of adviser and generally, you don’t have to do anything but come to meetings every so often-““Why’s it open, then? There must be something repulsive about it if a position such as this is still open.”Alberu’s smirk grew a bit wider and he forced himself to ignore the iffy feeling he got from Cale’s sudden interest in the position. Rather than that, he shrugged, pointing at himself.“You see, the adviser’s role is to advise the student council, or rather than that, the student council president – which means that while students may apply to get the position, without my approval they won’t be accepted.”Cale raised his brow in question, crossing his arms in front of his chest.“And you’re telling me that you’ve rejected all the applicants so far and want someone like me to get the job instead?”Alberu’s smirk widened a bit at that. He stretched out his hand to pat Cale’s shoulder, an action which made the redhead frown.“Precisely. Welcome to the student council, adviser-nim.”The moment those words left Alberu’s lips, the council president’s senses were telling him to retreat quickly, which was why he turned around on his heels and speed-walked to their dorm building, ignoring the angered screams following him. Subconsciously, a wide smile appeared on his lips as he turned around in his speed-walking and waved at Cale.“You’ll be expected tomorrow morning at eleven thirty, it’s when lunch break begins anyways, so don’t be late!”The dark haired man then quickly slipped past the doors and rushed up the stairs, knowing that using the elevator would definitely not benefit him this time. Opening his apartment door, he quickly slammed it shut, trying to calm his quick breath.He didn’t really recall the last time he’d ran so fast away from someone, hell, not even in PE. And he also didn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this. It wasn’t that he was happy, well, kinda. He felt funny, mischievous and not like some leader but just a kid playing pranks on someone.‘Hell, I just got to know him and now I’m already pulling such stunts on him?’Alberu couldn’t help but chuckle at his own antiques. He had promised to stay serious and just do his job as student council president – and nothing more. Well, turns out that was impossible. But given the turns of events, he had never expected Cale Henituse to not be a trash. No, even more than that, he was a guy Alberu didn’t feel (too) wary of (if he disregarded that strange smile he had had on his lips when Alberu said that the position of adviser didn’t require any work).“You bastard president!”Alberu couldn’t help but burst out in laughter once again as he heard Cale’s annoyed yell from the hallway. He knew that he should feel insulted – but for some reason, he simply didn’t. Perhaps, just maybe, he “invited” Cale to join the student council not only because headmaster Eruhaben advised him to do so.He could hear the door next to him being shut after a low mumbled conversation. Probably he’d been right and that old man, Ron Molan (he only realized the identity of the old man during the day he spent with Cale), really did live with Cale. His new neighbor sure seemed like a fun guy to be around and not like some trash – that’s something, no?“Heh, so I was wrong?”Indeed, Alberu’s fist opinion of the youth was only listening to the rumors surrounding him. Perhaps Rosalyn’s attitude rubbed off on him, who knows?In any case, this school year just got a bit more interesting.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“…”Cale was at a loss of words, so was the old man standing behind him. It was Tuesday morning and technically the first day of school for the redhead, which was why he had opened the door. His legal guardian, Ron, had simply followed behind him so he could give a proper goodbye before watching that young child head out on his own – only to be met with a certain someone leaning against the wall opposite to their apartment door.“Morning, adviser-nim.”Alberu waved his hand, his usually graceful smile replaced by a mischievous one. The startled and then annoyed expression on Cale’s face was simply too good. The council president knew exactly that the redhead in front of him, his adviser, wouldn’t react too kindly to him waiting like this in front of his door, but that look was gold.Furthermore, after his meeting with Eruhaben yesterday, he couldn’t exactly leave Cale to get by on his own. For one, the rumor that he was trash was still going around in school, and while most students wouldn’t care, there were quite a few that’d love to pick a fight with him (Toonka, for example). Most students were also hostile and since they were rich bastards themselves and most of them didn’t lead difficult lives, there was little anyone could do to change their minds once they’ve set them. And for the other…Alberu couldn’t lie to himself and say he wasn’t curious about Cale. He couldn’t, no matter how hard he thought about it, figure out why there was a rumor going around calling a not even sixteen year old kid an alcoholic trash who couldn’t behave himself. He knew that the rumor originated from a social event when the teen had been pretty young though…Whatever, in any case, it wasn’t adding up with the way the youth was acting.“Oho, who do we have here? If it isn’t the student council president.”Despite the old man’s benign smile, Alberu felt cold chills run down his spine. Was it just his imagination playing tricks on him or did the old man’s eyes turn cold the moment he spotted him? Nah, it couldn’t be…hopefully.“Young master-nim, why didn’t you tell me you’ve already made a friend?”As if Ron’s words were enough to get Cale out of the shock he’d been in from seeing Alberu, he quickly wiped his head around, cheeks flushing red in embarrassment.“He’s not my friend, just a person that showed me around school yesterday.”Alberu crossed his arms in front of his chest, his amusement growing bigger by the second. The old man nodded his head, but even he could tell that he didn’t believe the redhead’s words.“Forgive this old man for assuming things, then.”Once again, Cale turned around, holding his chin up high, though his cheeks were still red. He cleared his throat and said his goodbyes to Ron before walking to the elevator, ignoring the council president who was following behind him.It wasn’t until the two of them were inside the elevator that the redhead payed attention to the smirking brunette. If looks could kill, Alberu would have been dead.“You-, ugh, whatever, what have you been doing in front of my door and why are you following me?”Alberu shrugged, putting on the most innocent expression in his arsenal.“What? Following you? I’m simply escorting you to school since we met outside, adviser-nim.”Cale’s blank look that followed made Alberu appointing him as his adviser once again all worth it. Truly, this was more fun than he could have hoped for.“And that’s why you’re been leaning on the wall waiting for me, right.”The redhead rolled his eyes and exited the elevator as its doors finally opened. So far, he was the first person who had performed such a ‘disrespectful’ action in front of the student council’s eyes and it was…exciting, new. The smile on Alberu’s lips got a bit wider as he quickly followed after Cale, catching up to him in no time. He teasingly pulled on the long, maroon scarf around the fifteen year old’s neck, getting him to stop in his tracks.“Yep, I enjoy starting my mornings with a couple minutes in which I lean against the wall opposite of my new adviser-nim’s apartment.”Cale scoffed, yet didn’t retort with anything else. In silence, the two of them walked to the bus stop, noticing that there were already a few students waiting for the bus to arrive, though most of them were busy staring at their phones while the others were staring at their IPads or books, studying before school even started.“So, adviser-nim, you look a lot better than yesterday, your voice sounds better too, you slept well I assume?”Alberu stretched his arm, nodding to himself. Cale simply replied with a hum, leaving the conversation relatively one-sided. While Alberu wouldn’t have tried to keep the conversation going with anyone else per usual, given that the redhead obviously wasn’t too interested in talking to him, Alberu found himself searching for words and things to say.“Which is good, given that this lowers the possibility of you calling in sick to our meetings this week – especially the one today.”Upon hearing the last part, Cale quickly turned his head, a frown present on his pale face.“…Council president, will all due respect, I certainly fail to recall agreeing to take on that position.”Alberu pretended to be shocked and gasped, then simply shrugged.“Oh well, nothing we can do besides that you have to accept fate. Look on the bright side, all the heavy lifting is done by the council anyways.”Cale let out a deep sigh, then shook his head, a tired expression appearing on his face.“…Whatever.”Alberu smiled upon hearing Cale (more or less) agreeing to take on the position of student council adviser. Well generally, he didn’t exactly leave that big of a choice to the redhead, now did he?“So, now that that’s over, what subject do you have now?”Cale turned his head around, brows furrowed in irritation and annoyance, a feisty response on the back of his tongue which didn’t leave his mouth in the end. Letting out a deep sigh, Cale simply shrugged.“English.”Alberu nodded, trying to ignore the distaste in his mouth upon noticing that he and Cale weren't in the same course, as he himself had politics.“And after?”Cale’s frown deepened a bit, yet the redhead replied nonetheless, whereas a bit more hesitant this time.“…French.”Upon hearing that, Alberu couldn’t help but laugh, setting aside the matter that he too had French for his second lesson.“What a shitty combo. Who made that?”Cale simply shrugged this time, his frown subsiding slowly but surely as his expression returned to that somewhat blank face. Alberu chuckled at that, then let out a long sigh.“If I recall correctly, the Korean course takes place at the same time, just in case you wanna change courses.”The redhead rolled his eyes at that, shaking his head.“Not interested, but thanks for the option, president.”Alberu’s usual smile grew a bit smugger and more teasing, boyish could be said, as he patted Cale’s small shoulder.“Just doing my job as the representative of all students and their guide to a happy school life.”Cale was about to retort something, yet didn’t get the chance to as the bus arrived and the students went inside, looking for the best seats to occupy. Luckily, all of them found a suitable one, with lots of extras must be said. On that note, Cale recalled Alberu telling him about the possibility of renting a school car or bringing one’s own, which was more comfortable. Didn’t someone like Alberu, the student council president, have his own car, or why was he using the bus?Despite being curious, Cale decided not to question the brunette sitting next to him while smiling so creepily – which was the right choice, honestly. There was no way he could show interest in the council president, else the older would forever pester him with all sorts of things, even more so than he already was doing.Sadly, that fate had already been sealed in advance.The bus arrived, and the students got out quickly, some entering the main building while others walked up to their friend groups. Expectantly, Cale looked up at the brunette standing next to him, but Alberu showed no intention to walking away. It didn’t take a genius to know that he was waiting for Cale – wanting to walk with him and match his steps.
Whatever.
Cale had no other choice but to ignore the boy right next to him. The thought of not having the same lesson as him enough to carry him through – even as Alberu walked him to his class, reminding him of the student council meeting.And then, after he successfully survived his first two hours of English lessons with Professor Van Ejellan, Cale was once again greeted by the brunette student council president and no, it was not yet time for the meeting.Freezing in his steps, Cale walked out of the classroom again to check whether he’d walked in in the wrong classroom which, no, this was room Mb 202. He certainly had his French class (once again with that annoying douchebag like guy) inside this room. And, by the looks of it, with student council president Alberu Crossman.‘Let’s just pretend that I didn’t see anything and sit down in the back.’Nodding at his plan to avoid everyone’s attention, especially a certain council president’s, Cale entered the classroom again, carefully staring down on the ground, hoping that Alberu, despite locking eyes with him before, could at least pretend not to have seen anything either. The redhead intended not to walk close to Alberu’s desk, but he didn’t account for the possibility of the brunette getting up, coming to a halt in front of him.“My, my, adviser-nim, are you avoiding me?”Cale couldn’t help the awkward cough which was supposed to cover up his utter surprise at the direct question. He stopped staring at Alberu’s black shoes, yet looked away from Alberu’s eyes as soon as he noticed the slightly amused expression on his face.“I have absolutely no idea what you might be talking about, council president.”A low chuckle accompanied Alberu’s response.“Well, then I must have been mistaken.”Frowning, Cale nodded.“Yes, you must have been.”Alberu chuckled once more, then pointed at the desk he’d been sitting at just a few moments ago.“Well, now that that’s cleared up, I can invite you to sit next to me.”The redhead’s frown didn’t change, neither did anything on his face, but Alberu could clearly tell that the redhead was disdained by this new ‘seating arrangement’, not that the brunette actually cared. Chuckling, Alberu swiftly got Cale’s light backpack off of his back – which had only been possible because Cale was wearing it on just one shoulder – and put it down below the desk on his left, which was the seat right next to the window.‘Invite me my ass, that bastard wants me to be stuck next to him. Argh, why is my life this frustrating, huh?’Cale did not voice his true thoughts as he silently followed Alberu and sat down on the chair next to the brunette’s. The only good thing about this entire situation was that the two of them were alone. The other students either decided to ditch today’s class (or French class altogether) or hadn’t arrived just yet.But that teeny tiny bit of comfort was not nearly enough for the redhead. He still felt utterly frustrated. What about his reputation? If people saw him sit next to the fancy student council president, would they think that he wasn’t trash?Obviously, Cale didn’t exactly fancy his title as trash, but he couldn’t say that he didn’t think it wasn’t the truth. In the end, the title of trash got people to leave him alone, which was something he appreciated.Then again, did it really matter now? He’d already been ‘included’ in the student council, so even if he didn’t sit right next to Alberu, people would start to wonder why that brunette student council kept him close anyways.“Or is it that you are keeping your distance, adviser-nim? Haaa, I didn’t expect you to be so shy-“Before Alberu could finish his teasing and obviously joking sentence, Cale sat down on the chair next to him, his thin arms crossed in front of his chest. He crossed his legs as well and leaned back, brows raised as if to dare Alberu to finish that sentence. In the end, the brunette didn’t.Contrary to a lot of boarding schools and private schools, Roan Academy didn’t force their students to actually wear the school uniform, only on big events such as school-related meetings and charity events hosted by the school to help out all sorts of organizations which involved the students. Otherwise, students were free to wear whatever clothes they’d like.This was why Alberu was a bit surprised upon taking a closer look at Cale’s clothes. While his shirt was a warm, thick knitted sweater in a calm beige color, Alberu immediately noticed Raon Academy’s typical black pants. While he had no other choice but to admit that they looked unusually big on Cale, almost as if it wasn’t formal clothing but one of those oversized-trends, the golden insignia of Roan Academy’s logo was unmistakably there. Then again, perhaps Cale was just some odd guy who liked to wear school uniforms or whatever. It’s not like any of that really interested Alberu anyways. He was just a bit intrigued, that’s all.The two of them continued to sit next to each other in silence. Once again, it wasn’t exactly an awkward silence, but it wasn’t all that pleasant either, at least in the brunette’s opinion. He pretended to read the book "L'Étranger" (The Stranger) by Albert Camus, one of the few books that were required in Fredo van Ejellan’s class. It wasn’t like Alberu hadn’t read the book before, simply not in French, and Cale simply glanced out the window.After a while, in which Alberu repeatedly read the same paragraph over and over again, not fully understanding why he couldn’t read normally, he gave up on it. Closing the book, Alberu glanced at Cale. A few more students, seven to be precise, had entered the classroom so far, which was already a lot more than Alberu had expected to come, given that this French class in particular wasn’t that popular. Well, it was, given that twenty three, now twenty four, people were part of it, but it was rare for more than four students, Alberu included, to be present during class.Maybe it was because the rumor of the trash Cale Henituse’s presence had already spread in those first two hours of school.“Oi council pres, who’s that cutie next to ya?”…Or maybe not.Seeing one of the students – no, not one of the students. It was Neo Tolz in particular, heir to Tolz’ Industries hence incredibly rich and yet powerless in the wide world of politics ever since their company had given around 60% of the company to the Stan Family, their sole investor – call Cale out like this…No, he wasn’t just calling him out, was he, eh, hitting on Cale?Wait!Did he think Cale Henituse was a girl?A ‘cute’ girl?Alberu didn’t know whether he was supposed to laugh, to cry or to explain to Neo that the person sitting next to him was actually boy, so, in the end, he did neither and just frowned. But then again, he didn’t need to do anything. Cale was more than capable of taking care of himself.Turning around, the redhead raised his brow. His hair was short unlike before, so he didn’t quite get how it was possible for him to get mistaken for a girl (again), utterly oblivious to his incredibly narrow shoulders and overall feminine appearance. His height, which had already been on the smaller side for a Korean, was the average height of a girl here.“Are you calling me a cutie?”Cale’s voice, while soft, sounded utterly cold and sharp, devoid of any actual emotion that could portray his actual inner feelings. The way his dull eyes just glanced (he didn’t even glare at Neo) at the tall boy, his look indifferent and almost bored, Neo wasn’t the only one who got the chills.Seeing that Neo, intrigued by his reaction, was about to explode on Cale, Alberu had to act quickly. Putting a hand on the redhead’s shoulder, then patting him gently, the council president smiled his usual, diplomatic smile while looking at Neo.“Ah, Neo Tolz, my adviser-nim over here sure is cute, isn’t he?”Internally, Alberu slapped himself. How could he call someone like Cale cute? The redhead was undeniably pretty, him being small and frail sure were factors that led people to believe that he could be cute, but to Alberu that gaze of his made it impossible for the brunette to think of Cale as cute. There was something off about the redhead, and while Alberu was rather curious about him, hence interested in finding out more about him, he didn’t believe that he was cute. It simply didn’t match that persona of his.“Cute?”Almost as if on cue, both Neo and Cale spoke at the same time. While one voiced his disbelief, the other’s voice sounded almost grossed out (that homophobic asshole, typical behavior for one of Venion Stan’s minions).Deciding to stick with his words, Alberu nodded, putting on the most confident front he could muster up at that moment, crying at himself on the inside.“I was simply repeating your words, Tolz. I don’t judge anyone for their taste, so if you-“Before Alberu could continue, he stopped. But it wasn’t because of the partly terrified expression that found its way to Neo’s face, but rather because of Cale’s glare that he could feel despite not facing the redhead. He cleared his throat, swiftly pulling his hand away from Cale’s shoulder, almost as if he was afraid that Cale would bite or scratch him like some sort of cat.“Ehem, pardon my words. I fear that my adviser-nim is of different opinion.”“You-!”Neo didn’t finish whatever he had wanted to say, instead he simply scoffed and scurried away like the cockroach that he actually was, his tail between his legs. It was quite amusing how timid he behaved whenever Venion wasn’t with him, backing his bully attempts.Turning around to face Cale, who was still staring at him with that scary expression, Alberu pretended that nothing was wrong and smiled his usual, gentle smile, though he couldn’t prevent the corners of his mouth from rising higher than he intended them to, resulting in a brighter smile.“Dear adviser-nim, it appears that Tolz’ successor has taken a liking to your unique appearance.”Alberu nodded his head, as if to convince not only Cale, but everyone else as well. The redhead simply rolled his eyes, scoffing in disbelief.“Obviously, that guy has no taste at all.”Alberu didn’t question Cale’s unusual reply, simply chuckled again. This time, as the two of them stopped conversing and Alberu picked up his book again, he didn’t get stuck on a single paragraph and was able to even finish the chapter before Fredo van Ejellan decided to enter the classroom and start his French lesson.~Lunch break came sooner rather than later and with Van Ejellan ending the class early (which was something most regular attendees didn’t think to be possible), so came the student council meeting. Packing up his IPad in an especially slow pace, Cale dreaded the future mess he was about to get into. Just thinking about all the responsibility, the work, the lack of laziness-!He wanted to go cry in some corner. Hell, forget that, he didn’t even want to cry anymore. Just bury him alive at this point.“Adviser-nim, do you intentionally drag this out or is it that you’re physically unwell so that you can’t pack your bag at a faster pace?”If he had had the time, Cale would have stopped to glare at Alberu- oh wait, he did have the time. Holding his IPad up mid-air, so that it didn’t quite touch his bag yet, Cale stared at Alberu until the brunette held up his hands, which meant that he surrendered. Finally, a few moments later, Cale actually packed his device into his backpack and even closed it, putting it over his shoulder while looking at the student council president expectantly. The latter had given his best to suppress his rising laughter.Gosh, Alberu had never met anyone like Cale before.First of all, Cale was the first and so far only person that treated him with such disrespect and in such a casual way which, to be frank, Alberu didn’t detest. Cale’s entire behavior was incredibly odd and unlike anything Alberu had ever seen or experienced before, enough to make the boy utterly curious. Alberu Crossman wasn’t someone who got intrigued by a lot of things. Actually, for an incredibly long period of time, there hadn’t been anything to make him feel this interested in anything, or rather anyone.“So do I have to walk incredibly slow too or-“Not letting Alberu finish his half-sarcastic, half-teasing sentence, Cale walked past the taller boy with fast steps. He turned around with raised brows upon noticing that the council president was following him, which made the older chuckle.As it turned out, Cale was over his childish antiques and wanted this meeting to get over with, hence followed Alberu not just quickly, but quietly and obediently. Walking up the staircase to the third floor, Alberu led Cale to a room that was close to the headmaster’s. On its number plate wasn’t a number but the word ‘Student Council’ engraved, symbolizing its use immediately.“Before we go in and officially introduce you to the others, please keep close to me. Just in case anyone says anything that may offend you-““Yeah, yeah, I get the gist of it; you’re not my grandfather to say this.”Not thinking about the meaning of Cale’s words, Alberu took a deep breath which he let out as a long, very long actually, sigh. Guess he had to get used to getting interrupted by Cale from now on.“Alright, adviser-nim, whatever you say. Just don’t tell me that I didn’t warn you in the end~”Cale rolled his eyes and Alberu begun to push the door open. The student council room was more than a simple room – that was the first thought that went through Cale’s head upon seeing the thing that was too much and big for a simple “room”. There, on the dark wooden flooring, which was the same as in every other classroom, lay a big and wide red carpet. That carpet, anyone would be able to easily tell, was a hell of an expensive carpet. On top of it, there was an oval desk that fit around twenty people, if not more. Judging by the twenty four chairs standing around it though, it definitely could fit more people.The room was about as big as a small audience room, no, it had the size of a normal meeting room of a large corporation. On the left, there stood a large, movable blackboard with a few ideas regarding the Halloween event still written on it in the form of a mind-map. On the ceiling hung a projector which faced the only white wall inside the room. The other three walls (besides the wall with the four windows) were filled with shelves. Some contained simple (or not so simple) books; others contained folders with important documents inside. There was also a large couch on the window wall, which gave the room a more comfortable vibe compared to when it hadn’t been there.And yet, that teeny tiny comfortable feeling vanished as soon as Cale realized that he’d ignored the people that were sitting at the large meeting table, staring at both the student council president and him. Some seemed shocked, others didn’t recognize him or didn’t even know about him, and a few others didn’t care to turn their heads around, fully engulfed in some discussion with each other.Altogether, there were twelve students sitting on the table and Cale didn’t recognize a single one of them.Before his thoughts could drift off any further though, Alberu cleared his throat and, once again, patted Cale on the shoulder.“Everyone, listen here, this is Cale Henituse, my adviser, so please welcome him fondly and treat him with the same respect you treat me with.”Alberu then nodded and gave Cale a thumbs-up, before ‘dragging’ him to the head of the table. He sat down, and with him, Cale had no other choice but to do the same thing. The ten students were silent as they stared at Cale, realization hitting some of them, making them frown, while others tried to smile at him.Cale looked away, instead looking at Alberu.He, at the very least, didn’t fake his smiles like that. While Alberu’s ‘fake’ smile was a façade to seem reliable and kind, those forced smiles felt wrong. As if they were cracking up on the inside at him. Cale did not need to look at those kinds of smiles, especially not if they reminded him of his family-Immediately, Cale’s shoulders tensed, yet he quickly forced himself to relax again. Sighing he leaned his face on one hand, still keeping his eyes on Alberu. For a boy of seventeen years, Alberu sure looked quite mature. He was tall, lean and handsome, no questions there. Maybe, if all that shit hadn’t happened to him, Cale could have looked that masculine as well, rather than however he actually looked like.“Ehem, I initially thought that you guys would start introducing yourselves, but if all you’re gonna do is to stare quietly, I’ll take over.”Alberu’s voice was a bit chillier than before, less friendly and more like a silent warning and threat. His ever so gentle smile averted anyone’s attention from the cold and unsmiling look in his chocolate brown eyes. Yet, as soon as he looked away from his council and locked eyes with the redhead, that cold expression disappeared.‘How odd.’Despite noticing, Cale didn’t question it. It was because he didn’t care and didn’t want to know about troublesome things.“In any case, let me introduce you to the vice president, Rosalyn Breck.”Alberu pointed at a red-haired girl, her eyes of a similar fire red color as her hair. She had long lashes and porcelain skin. Contrary to Cale’s though, hers didn’t look as sickly. She smiled at him, even though she still gave off the impression that she disliked him. Maybe it was because of the way she seemed to be looking down on him, or because of the way her face twisted ever so slightly as soon as she thought Cale wasn’t looking. She didn’t hold out her hand for Cale to shake it and didn’t attempt to do or say anything else in that regard, so Cale didn’t try to either.“Right next to her is Witira Shickler, she’s the head of the school committee with her vice-““Clopeh Sekka is my name, I can introduce myself very much, thank you council president.”Next to the beautiful woman with the wavy blue locks of hair, sat a tall guy with striking features. Honestly, if it wasn’t for his snake-like complexion, Cale would have called him handsome. His green eyes were of an unusually light color, similar to poison. His smile gave the redhead the chills and he quickly turned away, nodding while trying his best not to frown.“Pleased to meet you, Henituse. I didn’t expect an adviser to join this year’s council, so it’s a bit sudden.”Clopeh’s voice was the same as his looks, if there hadn’t been this undertone which made Cale think he had ill intentions towards him, it’d have been nice to listen to. Clearing his throat, Cale nodded.“Yeah, same.”Cale almost facepalmed as he realized how stupid he must have sounded. But in the end, or rather after a short glance at Alberu where he realized that the student council president seemed amused, he gave it up.Whatever.It’d be for the best if everyone in here thought that he was the epitome of thoughtless and stupid so that he’d not get invited to council meetings in the near future.Seeing Clopeh introduce himself, the other council meetings stopped relying on their president and stated their names and some formal greetings for Cale themselves. Besides Eric Wheelsman, whom he’d met when his mother had been alive during a big celebration, he didn’t recognize anyone inside the student council. The third year representative was Taylor Stan, whose name he’d heard before though. Seeing his pale blonde hair and green eyes looked gentle, and yet, the moment the older boy locked eyes with him, Cale immediately got the chills. He mentally noted that he’d rather not get involved with the Stan household, not at all.Out of all the members of the council, Cale thought that the Head of the School First Aid Service appeared to be the friendliest. Contrary to most students, he didn’t come from a wealthy family and got in due to his raw talent. Not only was he utterly smart, as in incredibly intelligent, but he was also an incredibly compassionate and kind person. He was a bit awkward, but the moment he locked his eyes with Cale that awkwardness seemed to fade away. He didn’t have an ounce of pity in his eyes, rather than that he seemed to be genuinely happy, for whatever reason that guy had. But Cale couldn’t lie; it’s been a long time someone had looked at him that way and it didn’t feel that bad either…The second year representative, Paseton Shickler, who was also the school committee’s leader’s younger brother, was a bit distant. He was one of the people who tried to not look at Cale and either pretended or really didn’t care about him being here. His introduction was short, and that was it. Cale decided that out of everyone, he appeared to be the most efficient, with him not beating around the bush, nor hiding his feelings and all.As if this was a joke, the first year representative, Pen Breck, was the vice president’s younger brother. He was an arrogant boy who didn’t hide his dislike of Cale. Frankly, Cale thought that he’d grow up to become more than just a simple menace and nuisance.The secretary of the student council was Amiru Ubarr, rumored to be Eric Wheelsman’s girlfriend. The way the both of them were sitting close to each other, constantly whispering something into each other’s ears at the end of the table while the others introduced themselves, made Cale think that the rumors may be true.Apart from those people, the last member to introduce himself was Billos Flynn, the Head of the Finances. The boy who was a year older than Cale but much shorter – and that meant a lot, given that Cale was not someone who was considered tall – had a piggy-bank like body and expression. Despite the season being fall, his face was red and he was even sweating a bit. His expression was unreadable, but nonetheless unexplainably greedy. It was as if he was like a money-smelling dog, waiting for its opportunity to bite his new golden goose owner.And it appeared that he’d finally found that owner.Cale got the chills just thinking about the possibility of getting involved with that guy. Alright, he’d gotten the chills just thinking about getting involved with most of the people inside this room, especially a certain dark skinned brunette with a “gentle” smile. Ugh, and look where that got him. Compared to most of the council members, Cale actually preferred Alberu Crossman. Look how far things have already gotten, huh?Things then got a bit uncomfortable as no one spoke again after the introductions. Alberu seemed to be contemplating something, and in the end, it was the redheaded girl, the vice president Rosalyn Breck, who spoke up first.“Well council president, now that you’ve introduced all of us, can we move on to the actual meeting?”By the sound of her voice, Cale could immediately tell that she was irritated. He’d listened to those kinds of voices a lot, when he got to move back to the Henituse Estate after his uncle Kim Seung Jong, with whom he’d been staying with ever since his father remarried after his mother’s death, got charged with all of those crimes. Violan Henituse, his father’s new wife, voiced her displeasure about his presence a lot. She was a very difficult woman to please, and yet, if she decided that she didn’t like you, no matter how good of a person you became, how rich and influential, she wouldn’t like you. And she didn’t like Cale. No, strike that, she didn’t just dislike him, no, she utterly despised the boy. It was because of how similar Cale looked to his mother. She probably feared that Deruth would feel reminded of his first wife, which wasn’t and wouldn’t ever be the case. In any case, she usually avoided Cale, and yet, those incredibly scarce and few times where she couldn’t, she always spoke with that kind of voice.Pushing back the memories of his interactions with Violan Henituse, Cale forced his attention back to the current conversation. He’d missed some of it, yet nobody seemed to have noticed so far, which was a good thing.“-yes, I think so too. But let’s hear my adviser-nim’s opinion first. What do you think?”Expectantly, Alberu faced Cale. His expression, while the same as usual, was also curious this time. He failed to hide his interest in Cale’s opinion, how he’d answer. Whether he’d just agree with him or actually think about other solutions.Cale, who could easily tell what Alberu wanted him to do, couldn’t help but frown. He hadn’t listened at all, but based on the body language of everyone, he could easily tell that this was about finances – given that Billos was the only one who was leaning forward nervously, letting his finger tap on the table in an irregular rhythm.And if it was about money, it could only be two things; either a way to get more, or it was about spending it on something. And as Billos seemed to be a bit disdained, it didn’t seem like it was the former.In the end, while Cale did get the gist of it, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact topic of the conversation, hence went for a vague answer in the hopes to get Alberu to formulate a more precise question. For some reason, he just knew that Alberu would ask him again if he didn’t answer properly.“Well, the thing about money is that it’s pretty tricky to handle it, so it depends on your opinion, president.”The way the ends of Alberu’s lips wandered up ever so slightly, turning his gentle smile into a boyish and mischievous grin, before quickly returning it to its former state made it obvious that Alberu knew. Furthermore, the expression in his eyes clearly said ‘You didn’t listen to a word we said, did you?’.Cale ignored the way Alberu seemed to see right through his façade, simply straightened his back a bit. Nevertheless, Alberu played along, though it was in a different way Cale expected him to act.“Really? But what do I have an adviser for if he were to just ask for my opinion? Wouldn’t that mean that I’d become my adviser’s adviser?”Cale scoffed, raising his brows. He crossed his legs, turning his face a bit more so that he could fully see Alberu.“Given that you’ve chosen me to be your adviser, your Excellency, I’d think you’d not doubt my advices. If you want a more detailed one containing my personal opinion rather than an actual advice, feel free to ask for it.”Alberu’s expression faltered as soon as Cale’s new title for him reached his ears, yet he quickly hid it before anyone, besides Cale that is, could notice anything amiss. The redhead’s frown turned into a victorious smile, only for a split second, before it returned to the usual frown again. Alberu almost jeered at Cale, yet kept it in. He’d let the redhead be victorious, just this once.“Well, adviser-nim, then please do share your personal opinion about extending the funds of the school committee while shortening the funds of the private research institute.”Cale raised his brows, and for some reason, he knew that Alberu would understand what he meant by that simple gesture. The student council president, for that matter, gave a short nod, as if to agree with Cale wordlessly calling this suggest utterly absurd.“Well, your Excellency, I wouldn’t call it a necessary thing to happen. By the looks of it, the school committee doesn’t lack any money-“Before Cale could continue, Witira had gotten up of her seat, clearly interrupting Cale from saying what he wanted to say. She snorted, her expression absolutely neutral but also arrogant as she glared at Cale as if to challenge him before locking eyes with Alberu.“President, how can a student who hasn’t attended a full day of school yet know anything about the school committee’s funding? He doesn’t know the scale of the events we plan, nor does he know what kind of money we have or use, that is unless you’ve discussed all of this with him in advance, which I doubt.”Pausing in her words, a complicated expression appeared on Witira’s face and she turned to look at Cale.“Frankly, president, I believe that I speak for most council members when I say that it’s a bit unusual for you to choose someone like that as your adviser. Despite this being his first week of attending our school, the things that are being said about him are not things that should surround a member of the student council.”As absurd as this may sound, Cale internally cheered after the gorgeous girl finished her speech. Finally someone who possessed common sense! It appeared that he’d gotten the wrong impression because of her arrogant looks.Cale nodded on the inside.He had no way of knowing that once Alberu made a decision, he wouldn’t change it, no matter whom or what was against it. Oh well, he’d find out about that at some point though.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Miss Shickler, do I understand correctly that you’re saying the council doesn’t agree with the choice of my personal adviser?”Witira straightened her back and sat back down again, crossing her arms in front of her chest.“President, it’s ridiculous to choose someone like that, who’s rumored to be an alcoholic trash – a rumor that doesn’t just start out of nowhere – as your adviser. While I could have ignored him being a new student, what do you expect the students to think of our council now? A lot of them wanted the position of your adviser, and you declined all of them, choosing someone like that over all of the role models.”Alberu’s smile slowly faded and he was about to reply, when Cale nodded his head, unable to hide the small smile that spread on his lips. While few such as Paseton and Eric thought that he’d gone mad, others, such as Amiru and Taylor thought that Witira had just unlocked the ‘alcoholic trash side’ of the redhead.But to everyone’s surprise – more or less – that was not the case. Rather than that…“Yes, you are right. I am trash. And I do not deserve to be your Excellency’s adviser. If you’d please excuse me now, seeing that I am not up to standard-““What, you’re listening to someone else’s words now?”Contrary to usual, it was Alberu who interrupted Cale. A strangely serious expression was on the usually gently smiling crown prince. Cale, who had been about to get up, quickly sat down again, and no, it was not because he was afraid of Alberu Crossman.“Miss Shickler, there’s also the rumor of me being the son on a concubine out there, or me not being related to the Crossman Family in the first place. Just because of that, do you think I should resign as the council president?”Witira frowned, clearly getting ready to argue.“That’s not the same, president. The rumors around you weren't caused because of your behavior and-““So you’re saying that my adviser-nim, Cale here, behaves like an alcoholic trash? Adviser-nim, how come you don’t smell anything like alcohol? Are you wearing some sort of perfume which covers the stench or is it just that my nose doesn’t work properly?”Obviously, Witira was about to retort something, yet it was the vice president that answered in her stead.“Then let me ask you, Alberu, do you know him well? Well enough to guarantee that he isn’t an alcoholic trash?”Without wasting a single breath, Alberu answered. And as convinced as he sounded, Cale wondered for a second how the hell someone like him, whom he’d just met yesterday, could sound this convinced while speaking so positively of him. He had no idea who Cale was, probably didn’t know about his background either, and yet, he behaved like this…‘What an idiot. I didn’t expect someone like him to actually be this stupid.’Cale did not think that Alberu Crossman’s actions right now were smart. On the contrary even, how could someone like him speak positively of Cale after spending the day with him? The redhead ignored the annoyance he was feeling after realizing that there was no way for him to leave the student council now. Talking out a handkerchief while the others were still talking, he blew his nose.He was still a bit sick, but it’s gotten a lot better compared to yesterday. Hell, even Ron seemed positively surprised this morning as Cale’s voice didn’t sound as hoarse anymore, almost completely back to normal.“Alright, if that’s the case, fine. But if it turns out that he’s trash-““I’ll step down as student council president, satisfied?”Cale almost chocked on thin air upon hearing Alberu’s cold and incredibly annoyed words. For a second, he wondered whether the two of them had met before, or whether they’d been friends in their past lives (which seemed impossible to Cale, given Alberu’s blatant stupidity), but nope, the guy whom he thought wasn’t all that bad had gone mad.“Alright, then, Henituse, please continue with stating your opinion and finishing your advice.”Rosalyn’s eyes were sharp and cold, yet Cale’s indifferent gaze which didn’t change even after the two of them locked eyes made the vice president look away first. She couldn’t exactly explain why, but something about this boy seemed off.“In that case, I noticed from past finance reports, which are published on the school website, that the school committee has millions of dollars left at the end of each school year, which is the most amount of money any school institution has left. Certain events that require a larger sum of money don’t happen very often, and if that is the case, they could get an additional bonus for that specific event and not each month.”Alberu nodded, a thoughtful expression crossing his features until his usual gentle smile reappeared again.“Mn, that sounds a lot more convincing than Flynn’s ‘money is money’ argument.”Cale worked hard not to raise his eyebrows. Who, in earth’s name, argued like that? Of course money was money, but one had to add reasons as to why money was money! Cale ignored his inner voices that were screaming at him to glare at the Head of School Finances, and instead he simply shrugged.“You asked for my personal opinion, your Excellency.”Alberu nodded.“Yes, I did.”It was silent for a while in which no one dared to speak. Well, no one besides a certain crimson haired individual.“What are you thinking about for so long? Just do whatever you feel like doing. It’s not like it’d make any big difference as long as the budget cut for the research facility isn’t too big.”While Cale’s casual words sounded incredibly rude and made some council members glare at him in shock, others, such as Pendrick and Taylor seemed intrigued. So far, not even Rosalyn, who was the closest to Alberu, dared to speak that casually with him, at least not out in the open in front of others.Certainly the council president must be enraged or-Alberu chuckled. He genuinely seemed amused as he nodded.“Yes, you’re right. Let’s not extend the school committee’s budget. Since you still haven’t made the donation for last year’s left-over money, just donate half of it and use the other half as your one-time funding, or even more of it. Use it however you’d like.”Witira bit her lip, obviously dissatisfied, yet nodded nevertheless.“As you wish, president. I will tell the others.”Alberu nodded, his spirits lifted for some reason Cale didn’t understand. The people around though, did. It seemed that Alberu had taken a liking to this new student, or at the very least, to the casual way he treated him with which seemed almost natural.“In any case, what else is there to discuss today?”Turning to Rosalyn, Alberu raised his brows. His vice president nodded her head, then pulled out a few sheets of paper. Taking one for herself and handing Alberu two before handing the rest to Witira, who was giving it to the next person and so on, she cleared her throat, waiting for everyone to get one of those sheets. Alberu handed Cale one, which was a bit annoying.‘Didn’t this bastard tell me that I wouldn’t have to do anything and just listen? Such a mad liar.’Cale did not voice his thoughts, instead looked at the sheet of paper. It was more of a report, so Cale leaned back in his seat.“As all of you aware, well, most of you, we’re hosting a Halloween event this year as well, such as every year, though this year’s special event is planned to be a haunted house for which we’ll use the abandoned library’s building. We’ve organized most of the things such as decoration, food and drink, music and actors who’ll pretend to be monsters, either ghosts or vampires, or whatever else the school committee plans to make them be – but word spread around the students that this year, something special is going to happen, so the school committee reported a lot of break-ins during the last week.”At this Alberu frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He raised his brows, glancing at Witira.“Is this what you were planning to use the money for ‘additional security’ for, Miss Shickler?”Witira nodded her head.“Partly, yes.”Alberu, once again, thought about the situation, then he smiled brightly and turned to look at Cale.“Adviser-nim, what do you think of the situation?”Sighing, Cale said what he thought was common sense.“Was anything stolen?”Cale waited for Witira to shake her head, then continued.“Then we shouldn’t treat this as a problem. Certainly, the school committee has the means to properly store the documents regarding this ‘top-secret’ event and while a few students’ misbehavior of attempted theft is unpleasant to hear, we shouldn’t take this as seriously. If anything, this just shows that they have no idea about what you’re planning, which is a compliment if you think about it.”Applauding Cale’s speech ever so slightly, Alberu nodded his head.“There you have it, just leave it, and in case it does get worse, you should seek out Choi Han and ask him to hand over a few martial arts club members to guard the committee room during school hours.”Frowning, Cale ignored the odd way everyone started looking at him. Rather than that, he glanced at the paper sheet in front of him, ignoring the new discussion that had started, regarding a certain sports festival that was still four months away. In the end, this Halloween special “top-secret” event was exactly what Cale expected it to be. Glancing down at the planning team, he noticed that Alberu Crossman was part of it as well.Huh, so they were somewhat on the same wavelength.The discussions continued for another half hour, then Alberu dismissed the council members. Rosalyn and Witira were the first to go and the others, besides Amiru Ubarr, quickly left too. The green-haired girl quickly approached Alberu and handed him her MacBook she’d been writing on during the entire meeting, then quickly walked out of the room as well.Not even glancing at it, Alberu closed it and turned around to face Cale, his brows raised curiously while there was a somewhat smug smile on his lips, something along the lines of ‘see, it isn’t that bad after all’.Cale immediately snorted, crossing not only his legs, but also arms now.“Your Excellency, it most certainly wasn’t ‘no work at all’.”Alberu simply shrugged, as if it hadn’t been him who’d said that becoming his adviser wouldn’t be any work at all. Truth to be told though, Cale never officially agreed anyways.“When did you come up with that title?”Smoothly changing the subject, Alberu leaned back in his chair, observing Cale’s every move. The redhead rolled his eyes, giving up just this once.“Wouldn’t you agree that it has a fitting sound to it?”Alberu’s smug smile turned into a more amused one as he shrugged.“It sounds utterly ridiculous. It’d be the same if you were to start calling me ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Your Majesty’.”Cale seemed to be contemplating it for a moment, then simply shrugged.“Doesn’t have the same meaning, your Excellency.”Alberu couldn’t help but laugh, obviously amused by Cale’s joke. Obviously, he had been wrong about this, as it was no joke. Cale had seriously come up with that title for Alberu Crossman to replace ‘president’ or ‘council president’, given that he didn’t exactly fancy calling a person by naming his position. Using ‘your Excellency’ instead didn’t just have a nice sound to it, but also conveyed Alberu’s high position as well.“Be that as it may, do you have any plans for lunch? We still have around twenty minutes.”Upon hearing the time, Cale frowned. He’d completely forgotten about the time…“…and by the looks of it, you do. Since you’re not a sports guy, I guess you need to go to the Western Campus?”Cale rolled his eyes and finally got up from his comfortable seat. He couldn’t help but admit, the chairs were incredibly comfortable.“Well, if you ask nicely, maybe I will even drive you there, which is faster than the bus…”Almost immediately, the redhead stopped in his movement, turning around to stare at Alberu.“Didn’t you take the bus this morning? How do you plan to drive me around?”The brunette chuckled, getting up and putting on his warm coat as well.“Since I accompanied you home by bus yesterday, I left my car at school. So, should I drive you or do you plan on catching the bus that’ll arrive in like a minute?”Cale, who wouldn’t sprint even if his life depended on it, quickly decided.“Your Excellency truly is an amazing student council president, he’s taking such great care of this new student~”Cale’s glib tongue only made Alberu chuckle again.“Yeah, yeah, if you’re that thankful, buy me some lunch adviser-nim.”Cale rolled his eyes. He’d certainly not buy anyone any lunch, yet followed behind Alberu nonetheless. The taller of them chuckled; he could probably tell by Cale’s expression what the redhead was thinking.Cale Henituse was, by no means, someone who was easy to read. Even Ron and Beacrox, the two people that knew almost everything about him, found it difficult to tell what the redhead was feeling at times. He was always frowning, and whenever he wasn’t, there was an expressionless and blank expression on his face. And those scarce and few times his features did soften and a tiny small found its way to his cherry lips, it was still difficult to tell whether he was actually genuinely happy or lost in the memories of the faraway past.And yet, for some reason, Alberu was able to tell what Cale was thinking at the moment. Naturally, he didn’t think that the redhead was easy to read, hell, if anything, it was almost impossible to decipher his true emotions and feelings, but those almost invisible deep frowns did not go unnoticed.Alberu Crossman was someone who’d learnt to observe in order to survive. While his family was, under no circumstances, abusive or anything of that sort, he’d indeed been an illegitimate child whom the servants detested. His father, as your typical rich CEO, was busy, more often in his office rather at home, and his siblings didn’t exactly fancy him either. He had a rough childhood in which he had taught himself to observe to survive. Through his observations, it was easy to find out what the people around him wanted – how they wanted him to act and behave.While Alberu didn’t act as much anymore, at least not the people wanted him to act; he was still a great observer, so he naturally didn’t miss those tiny details in Cale’s expression.Now that he’d fully accepted that there was no way that Cale was an alcoholic trash, he could treat him normally, no; even on a friendly basis he hadn’t treated anyone. People might argue that he was friends with Rosalyn, but that was a bit different. The two of them had to get along due to their positions. Furthermore, it wasn’t like the two of them were the best of buddies. They did appreciate each other, each other’s work and each other’s mindsets though, no questions asked.Guiding Cale to the parking lots, Alberu opened his black Mercedes AMG GT Coupe, which price amounted to around 170k dollars and which was most certainly not one of the cars the school gave to its students for free.Opening the car with a proud smile, Alberu patted the ceiling.“Get in, I guarantee you won’t be late.”Cale rolled his eyes; obviously he had zero appreciation for the car. To him, it didn’t make any difference. Alberu could own an old Toyota or a Lamborghini, to Cale, a car was a car. As long as it got him from one place to the other without breaking down in the middle of the road, it sufficed.Alberu, who could tell that Cale wasn’t impressed, sighed as he opened the door for the redhead, closing it as soon as he got in. He then walked to his side and got in as well.The interior, that Cale had to admit, looked fabulous though. The seat was very comfortable, like some fancy armchair, and the seat heater worked well and fast, making him feel cozy. Well, this certainly was an upgrade compared to the cold bus.“So, where do you need to go?”“Science faculty.”Cale’s answer was short and it made Alberu chuckle, then he started to turn on the car. At first, the two of them were once again silent, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. After a while though, Cale broke it.“You do have a driver’s license, right?”Alberu couldn’t help but break out in laughter upon hearing the delayed question. He shook his head, shrugging.“What do you think? Would I be able to buy this car if I didn’t have one?”Cale crossed his arms in front of his chest, glancing at the council president’s side profile.“Just making sure. And just so we’re clear. You were the one who dragged me to that meeting, so this car ride is on you.”The older rolled his eyes, his unfading smile telling of a completely different tale compared to the annoyance he was trying to put on.“Sure, and I bet I’ll also have to pick you up?”While Alberu didn’t mean that, given that it was obviously his sarcasm coming through, Cale honestly seemed to contemplate it before nodding, his frown replaced by a somewhat pleased expression. In the end though, he shook his head.“No need to go that far, your Excellency. I’m sure you must be busy with your own burdens, since ‘the council does all the heavy lifting’ anyways, right?”Honestly, Cale wasn’t that far off actually. Today’s meeting had been a bit delayed, not that Alberu blamed Cale or anything, so he still had a lot of things to get done. The school exchange event which would happen right after the school-international sports event in early February until May was also approaching and Alberu hadn’t gotten all too far in his preparations against Adin Mongoru. That bastard, if that guy got reelected as student council president, the representative of all students of White Star Academy, that guy was sure to come visit again.Adin Mongoru…he was a bastard. No, strike that, he was a mad dog. Alberu called a lot of people mad dogs, a prime example for that would be Choi Han. The leader of the martial arts club was a crazily strong people who was incredibly cunning and smart. He also had a dark and twisted side to him because he was incredibly righteous and didn’t accept injustice as easily as others. For example, if an old woman was getting robbed in front of him, he’d go “take care” of the thief – take care in the sense of beating him to a pulp – before taking care of the old woman to the point she’d regard him as her own grandson. God, just thinking about that crazy guy gave Alberu the chills. So yeah, there were a lot of people Alberu regarded as mad dogs, but Adin Mongoru was on an entirely different level.Last year, for example, there were rumors that he’d assaulted (as in beating) some of Raon’s students. Naturally the three victims refused to talk and said that nothing happened, but everyone knew. It got so bad that the teachers had to constantly keep an eye on Adin and forbid him any contact with those three students.Why he wasn’t banned from the exchange and sent back you might ask?It was because there was absolutely no proof.Rumor had it that Adin killed animals when he was younger, just for fun. For such a sociopathic sadist as him that rumor sounded like the truth.Alberu didn’t even want to imagine having to see that guy again. Worst of it all was his smug and gentle, benevolent smile. He always had a hidden agenda, Alberu could feel it in his bones, but hell, he was one of the best actors the brunette had ever met. It was to the extent that, at first, Alberu had thought, for but a split second, that Adin seemed nice. But then he returned to his senses.“Of course. Who do you take me for?”Cale didn’t reply to Alberu after that, given that the answer was obvious and simply stared out of the window. Fall had always been a beautiful season, in his opinion. It was the season Kim Seung Jong had been gone for most of the time because of business. Each year, he had a business-trip around this time of year which took exactly three weeks. Cale didn’t know what kind of job his uncle had worked in, but for him to stay at home at all the other days of the year was beyond unusual. Cale decided that he’d rather not think about it.Kim Seung Jong was gone now and Cale wouldn’t have to see him again.…well no, he had to see him again…in court…ugh.Just thinking about seeing that actual human trash of a man made Cale shake in what he wanted to be fury. It wasn’t fury. Neither was it anger. At the thought of Kim Seung Jong, who’d abused him for years, Cale couldn’t help but shake in fear. Because despite him not living with Kim Seung Jong, despite him getting away from him, he still remembered all the things the older had done to him as clear as day.It was-“Hey, if you’re cold say something, adviser-nim. I don’t own a fancy car for nothing.”Alberu frowned as he turned up the heater. Cale forced himself to look away from the window. Being left alone with his thoughts had never been a good thing, or resulted in something other than him re-experiencing certain events he’d rather not re-experience again.“Thank you.”As a matter of fact, Cale was indeed feeling unusually cold. Alberu simply scoffed at that quiet thank you the redhead muttered.“It’s not like I can let my dear adviser-nim catch a cold while he already caught one. After all, I can’t have you calling in sick and cancelling the council meetings.”While Alberu’s words were obviously not meant seriously, Cale still felt a bit annoyed. It wasn’t like he asked to get sick. It was all because of his weak, anemic body. Hell, his body couldn’t even be a normal anemic body, no; it had to be one of the rare and few anemic bodies which were actually incredibly sick.“Yeah, yeah.”The redhead rolled his eyes and Alberu continued on silently. In the end, after fifteen minutes, Alberu stopped in front of the Science Faculty Building. He smirked as Cale unbuckled his seat belt. Turning around to face the brunette, the redhead couldn’t help but frown.“What?”In the end, unable to ignore Alberu’s smug smile for much longer, Cale asked in his usual casual aka read as rude, tone.“Nothing, I was just thinking that from now on, on most mornings, I’ll have a new passenger.”Cale rolled his eyes once more, but didn’t deny it. Seeing that, Alberu chuckled.“Only for winter, your Excellency. See it as payment for turning me into your adviser without consent.”“Sure, and then it’s also gonna be spring and summer, I can tell. But sure, see it done, my dear adviser-nim.”Cale got out of the car without saying thank you. For some reason, when he was with Alberu Crossman, he didn’t feel like he was burdening the older too much, contrary to when he was with about anyone else. He felt…comfortable, which was odd.Alberu couldn’t help his loud laughter as he watched how Cale practically speed walked to the entrance. He too felt oddly comfortable when he was around Cale. Contrary to yesterday, he didn’t feel the need to keep up that gentle smiling façade of his, whatever the reason was.In the evening, at around 5.15pm, Alberu waited in front of the Campus West Building 1, in which Cale would have had his lesson, and after noticing him, Cale also got in.For some reason, Alberu had found the time to pick up Cale despite being supposed to be busy. But the way the redhead’s eyes widened in surprise before a small smile settled in on his cherry lips, well, it was all worth it in the end. And the way he didn’t feel the need to say thank you this time, Alberu couldn’t help but smile himself too.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Alberu was sitting with Cale in the empty student council room, staring at the pile of documents stacked in front of him to the extent that he couldn’t even properly see the redhead sitting opposite to him. To be honest, Cale wasn’t actually sitting properly, but leaning back comfortably in what was supposed to be the student council’s overly comfortable and fancy office chair while lazily reading a classic piece of French literature for Fredo Van Ejellan’s class, but the fact that Alberu couldn’t even spot his hair over the papers in front of him was not something he enjoyed.“Adviser-nim~”His singsong voice, as usual, had immediate effect on the lazy redhead, even though Alberu couldn’t see it this time. But he’d seen it more than enough times over the past one and a half weeks to know that Cale’s eyebrow must have been twitching in discontent.“…”Still, Cale remained silent as he focused on the new paragraph of the book, hoping, no, praying, that Alberu would just give up. Then again, he shouldn’t have ever gotten his hopes up, knowing that the guy never gave up.“My dear, greatly treasured and cherished adviser-nim~”Cale’s brow twitched yet again and he lost the passage he’d been reading, needing to start anew at the top of the paragraph. He did his best to ignore Alberu’s voice as he spouted all of that nonsense.Seeing that his pleas had no effect on a certain redhead, the council president let out a long sigh as he contemplated what to do next. On the one hand he really didn’t want to break his promise to Cale, the one where he promised that the redhead wouldn’t have to do any work, but on the other hand, Rosalyn, who’d usually help him with these damned papers, had caught herself the stomach flu – he’d rather not think about how Witira called him to tell him, with Rosalyn throwing up in the background. Yeah, just the sound of it made a shiver run down his spine.And Alberu, with all the things and studying he had currently going on, well, he’d rather not focus on this stack of documents for the entire afternoon. And seeing how Cale was here, oh well…“If you help me, I’ll buy you fancy dinner.”Seeing how acting all cute was annoying Cale, rather than actually improving his chances of receiving the redhead’s help, Alberu resorted to the one thing he found out would work – bribery. He was rather proud of himself, seeing how he only took a couple days to figure that one out. Readying to push half the stack over, a wide grin on his lips-“Nope.”-he was immediately shut down by Cale’s disinterested and monotone voice.“How about me doing your physics homework then? And dinner on top of that?”Cale casually turned the page of his book almost as if Alberu’s proposals were meaningless, which, if we were being honest, to Cale, they were. He’d already finished his physics homework out of boredom in the night (for one, yes, he couldn’t sleep and doing something practical was ten times better than being left alone with his thoughts) and since Beacrox had moved in in an apartment nearby, Cale also didn’t need to be invited for dinner. Beacrox’ food was the best, after all.“Fine, then how about a favor? I’ll owe you if you help me~”At this, Cale’s ears perked up and he eventually closed the book halfway, a single finger remained between the book’s opened pages. The redhead leaned forward again, moving his chair a bit to the left so that he was able to face Alberu properly. He immediately noticed Alberu’s curious expression, snorting in response. Still, that favor, Cale couldn’t say he wasn’t interested in it.“…What kind of favor?”A bright, almost, no, most certainly victorious, smile appeared on the brunet’s lips as he noticed the redhead’s interest. He leaned his head on his hand, assessing the redhead’s expression, trying to read what it was that he wanted – without success though. Well, given that the redhead was basically impossible to read most of the time, it wasn’t that unusual.“What kind of favor do you want, adviser-nim?”Almost immediately, Alberu could tell that Cale lost interest. So he was the kind of guy that was just curious about things but didn’t strive after anything in particular if he didn’t need it; that is until they were laid out on a golden platter in front of him. So Alberu did some immediate damage control.“Just kidding, how about you’ll be allowed to skip a whole meeting? How does that sound?”Alberu purposely exaggerated his words to make them sound bigger than they actually were. Still, if he was to be completely honest, this favor wasn’t worth nothing, as it was pretty big even. The student council meetings didn’t happen too often, if he was being honest, at least not the “official meetings”, in which every branch executive needed to be present, like the first meeting he’d dragged Cale to. But else, just the members of the student council met up twice a week to discuss certain matters, though last year, it could also become once a week or five times a week, depending on the situation. So giving Cale a ticket out of those actually not unimportant meetings wasn’t little.Cale too seemed to realize that as he’d put on a thoughtful expression, seemingly contemplating the ups and downs of it. Alberu could practically hear the gears in his head turning, before the redhead was done. A smile appeared on his face and it was all Alberu needed to see to know that he’d lost.“And what about permission to not work on Friday, then?”This time, there was no need to wait. The widening of Cale’s eyes was more than enough to let Alberu know he hadn’t lost yet.“Friday?”The council president nodded thoughtfully, a pensive expression on his face.“Well, if you’d rather supervise this entire office including the documents on Friday with Mr. Flynn…”Cale’s frown was more than enough of an answer.“You never mentioned that I’d have to stay here during the soccer match on Friday. Wouldn’t that be something to discuss in a meeting, huh?”Alberu simply shrugged.“Well, Rosalyn has the flu and everyone else from the student council is busy supervising the event, so naturally you’ll be left behind with Mr. Flynn.”Alberu stayed silent for a bit, doing his best to hide the victorious smile that threatened to cross his features once he noticed the annoyed frown on the younger’s face.“Of course, if you were to help me with these documents, I’d personally excuse you from any kind of work on that day.”The way Cale let out an annoyed grumble paired with a defeated sigh, Alberu finally pushed half the stack of documents towards him, then began to work on his own.It wasn’t until fifteen minutes had passed that he realized that Cale hadn’t asked a single question so far. He was so used to working on these papers with Rosalyn that he’d completely forgotten that usually, these kinds of things needed an explanation. Most of these papers were just reports from the clubs which needed the signature of a council member, no matter the position, though not all deserved a signature – hence the report. It depended on the cause and need, so to say. Another few documents were student’s complaints or improvement proposals, new club applications and all sorts of different things such as finance reports.Glancing up from his current document, Alberu noticed that Cale was actually focusing on the sheet in front of him, reading through it before disregarding it and putting it on a file of documents to his left. The next document he took from the file in front of him – the file Alberu had pushed over – received his signature and landed on the mini paper stack to his right. He was actually working.Alberu didn’t know whether he should be surprised that he was actually receiving help or that he received good help that didn’t need him to do anything in addition to his student council president tasks. And by the looks of it, even if Alberu didn’t want to admit it, working with Cale seemed just as good as working with Rosalyn, though he didn’t mind the lack of complaining and hence the silence at all.He figured he’d found himself a pretty decent advisor, huh?More than just decent. Alberu couldn’t help but notice how the redhead, one and a half hour after they started, leaned back in his seat and resumed to read the French book from before, the stack that Alberu had pushed over separated in two, the left (without signatures) and right (with signatures) one with not a single document left that hadn’t been reviewed by him.Alberu couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous even, after all, he’d been doing this for an entire year before and he took longer than someone who was doing this for the first time, at least to his knowledge. Knowing Cale though, the brunet highly doubted that he had been in any sort of student council before.The student council president took a moment to decide whether he should be petty (and push some of his paper stack to Cale) or to leave the boy be, and in the end, he decided to be the bigger man and finish his work by himself, even if it took him another fifteen minutes. Getting up to collect the papers, which was thankfully easy given that Cale had practically the same system as him, Alberu plopped down on his (well, actually Cale’s) seat again.He stayed silent, and since the redhead didn’t say anything either, it was quiet inside the student council room. Alberu couldn’t help but observe this new friend of his. Sure, he could have just gotten up and told Cale that the two of them would leave, now that their work here was finished, but for some reason he didn’t do so. This reason, it was difficult to say what it was. For one, Alberu felt a bit fascinated with Cale.The redhead was a mystery to him. Now that he knew that Cale wasn’t an alcoholic trash, the redhead made the impression of some lazy bum. The way he didn’t participate in class unless the teacher directly called out his name or spoke to him proved that, but he’d never, not once, seen him forget an assignment or homework. And just now, Alberu also saw that this guy wasn’t entirely lazy – no, he didn’t seem to be that lazy at all. He didn’t complain even once about the document stack, after all.It was a bit intriguing, now that Alberu thought about it.Subconsciously, a sigh slipped past his lips. Naturally, it didn’t catch Cale’s attention, but the redhead’s brows still furrowed in a frown.“What?”For some reason, Alberu didn’t have a problem with the somewhat rude tone Cale spoke in. Perhaps it was because the redhead talked in the same tone with about anyone, including the teachers, or because Alberu was slowly going crazy. No, Alberu was certainly going crazy, with how much time he spend with this strange new guy and how he’d taken an unexplainable liking to him even.“Nothing, just contemplating whether I should still treat you to dinner.”Cale raised his brows, glancing up from the book at Alberu to share a look that clearly said ‘are you serious’ before he resumed reading. Obviously, he wasn’t interested. And maybe that’s exactly why Alberu decided that it’d be fun to take the redhead along.“Alright, I decided, come tag along, classes were cancelled for the afternoon anyways.”Glancing up, Cale gave Alberu a disbelieving look, obviously not understanding Alberu’s intentions.“You can go by yourself, your Excellency. There’s no need for me to be present everywhere.”Alberu almost chuckled at Cale’s words, yet simply shook his head.“Yeah, sure, but it wouldn’t be half as much fun if you don’t tag along. And look at the bright side, it’s my treat~”Cale furrowed his brows, obviously suspicious, but after staring at Alberu for a few seconds, he closed the book fully, getting up from the overly comfortable office chair. Once again, Alberu noticed that even with those long legs of his, Cale wasn’t nearly as tall as him.“Where are we heading, your Excellency?”Alberu simply smirked as he handed Cale his jacket while putting on his own.“Wait and find out, it’s a surprise~”Cale rolled his eyes. He lifted his shoulder school bag up and put it on the desk, taking out a bottle of water and something that looked like pills. Alberu furrowed his brows, he recalled Cale taking them regularly and while he believed that they helped with his cold, Cale was already as healthy as a horse. In the end, Alberu decided that it was none of his business and ignored it, same as usual.Once Cale was finally done swallowing his pill, he put on his jacket as well, wrapping his long scarf around his neck loosely, and finally followed Alberu out the room. The brunet simply smirked, a teasing expression on his face.Usually, Cale wouldn’t have gone out with a stranger-, no, Alberu could almost be considered an acquaintance with how much time he spend hanging around or being with Cale, especially when he didn’t even know where their destination would be, but Alberu felt safe, he even reminded Cale a bit of Choi Jung S-Stopping in his tracks, Cale furrowed his brows. He hated to think about the past, especially when it was about something as unpleasant as a Choi Jung Soo. Because that’s all there was to Choi Jung Soo – he was an unpleasant memory Cale wished to forget and nothing else. What was the kid doing, getting involved with Cale and coming over without telling him anyways? What did he expect when opening the door to a friend’s house whom he knew lived with an unstable man who threw empty alcohol bottles as a hobby-?“Oi, you alright? Don’t tell me Rosalyn infected you with what she has?”Cale’s frown deepened as he brushed Alberu’s hand off. He didn’t even notice that the brunet had stepped closer, let alone attempted to touch his forehead. Contemplating his options for a bit, Cale decided that it was easier to let Alberu think that he was getting sick than actually getting sick because of thoughts, which, for Cale, wasn’t understandable.“Dunno, let’s just go before I’ll become a vomiting mess.”Alberu gave Cale a look. It was impossible not to understand him saying ‘If you throw up on me we’re done with each other’. Almost immediately, Cale’s thoughts cleared away like rainy clouds when the sun came out again. Cale, who usually never smiled, couldn’t stop the smirk that came to his lips as he walked past Alberu, not giving him any sort of reply. It wasn’t necessary anyways.With a huff, Alberu caught up with Cale, not that it was exactly difficult, and started grumbling how he’d still pick him up and bring him to the council meeting tomorrow, even if he was a vomiting mess, as he’d worded so beautifully.Right, that’s why Cale didn’t really mind being around Alberu. The brunet could be loud, he could also be hella annoying, but he was also someone quiet and thoughtful. He knew when to hold his tongue and he was someone who appreciated the silence almost as much as Cale did. He didn’t ask unnecessary questions, didn’t ask anything that invaded Cale’s privacy and he was comfortable to be with. There, Cale admitted it to himself. Well, it wasn’t like the redhead would have stuck around if that hadn’t been the case anyways.After the two of them sat down in Alberu’s expensive car – Cale couldn’t help but frown at the happy expression that crossed the council president’s face as he saw his car and petted its ceiling like a dog owner would pet his dog for being a good boy – they continued in a comfortable silence, that is until Alberu bypassed the school gates, officially leaving the campus.Frowning, Cale glanced at the brunet, oblivious to what the boy wanted to do. He contemplated asking, but decided that in the end, it didn’t matter where the two were going. He’d already gotten in the car, and there was no way in hell he could get out now, at least not until he felt like dying anyways.“By the way, don’t you dare throw up in my car. If you feel the need to, you know, just tell me and I’ll pull over.”Cale couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he raised his brows expectantly and stared at Alberu. Said brunet couldn’t turn around as he was driving the car, and even though he could have spared a quick glance at Cale, he felt the burning stare on him and wisely chose to keep his eyes on the road.“Your Excellency, if I actually felt sick, rest assured, I wouldn’t have accompanied you for this mystery trip, so please stop treating me as like I am.”Raising both hands in fake surrender (and letting go of the steering wheel for that split second to Cale’s disbelief) Alberu chuckled.“Whatever you say, dear advisor-nim, though you do look a bit pale in the face.”Cale stayed silent after that, realizing that it was probably true. But then again, it was cold outside, so naturally he’d look paler than usual- and what if it were just stupid excuses he came up with for himself, huh? Fact remained; he couldn’t just magically change his skin color to be as tanned as Alberu.The drive continued on in silence, the only source of voices being the music playing in the radio. At first, their rides had been filled with silence, but after a while, Alberu simply turned on the radio and since Cale never complained about the background music, he didn’t turn it off when driving with the redhead anymore.Just as usual, the silence wasn’t actually awkward, though Alberu did feel like he may have said something wrong with that last part. Obviously, Cale was one of those people who hated to admit that they were sick – why else would he take those pills? – so making comments about his appearance probably wasn’t the best thing to say. Furthermore, while Cale was that pale, he didn’t look bad. No, not at all. If Alberu was to be completely honest with himself, his pale skin went really well with his unusual crimson hair. While he was a bit too thin for anyone’s taste, there was no way he looked bad, not with his features.Alberu quickly stopped that train of thoughts, given that the very person they were about was sitting a few inches next to him. He would have become a blushing mess wasn’t it for his naturally dark skin.Quickly, he shook his head and allowed himself to take a small glance at his passenger, only to notice that Cale’s focus was shifted on the forest outside. It was almost ridiculous, but the forest that lay in the northern campus actually surrounded the entire school and school campus, like some village amidst a forest. This road was actually the only one that led to and away from the school, well, out of the forest before the roads split according to the highway.Alberu couldn’t help but let out a small relieved sigh that was overtoned by the music coming from the radio. Well, he’d prefer that Cale didn’t notice when he was assessing the teen’s beauty, thank you very much. Then again, maybe Alberu should stop assessing the beauty of someone who was sitting right next to him in general…Given how Cale is the first real friend Alberu made, he should try to keep him close and not assess his looks. With Alberu’s luck, he probably wouldn’t feel this relaxed and at ease with about anyone else – believe him, he tried. Despite attending Roan Academy for a year longer than Cale, he wasn’t that close to about anyone. Sure, the third year Rosalyn could be described as his friend, but could it really be described as a friendship if he kept her at an arm’s length at all times?Of course, Alberu was “close” to all of his classmates, but it was different if it wasn’t genuine. And with Cale, it actually was. So he’d prefer it if the younger decided to stick around for a while.After around ten minutes, Alberu finally left the forest and turned right to get on the highway, smiling as he noticed the sign telling him that their destination wasn’t that far away anymore. And as intended, after another ten minutes, Alberu finally stopped the car at a seemingly abandoned parking lot, his smile too wide for his face in Cale’s humble opinion.The redhead raised his brows skeptically as he glanced out the window. They had arrived in a small city that couldn’t have more than a hundred habitants, probably even less. It was definitely not the place Beacrox moved to, so Cale was pretty much clueless about this place. As Alberu had driven past the small and big houses just to stop in front of this especially run-down shack, well, let’s just say that Cale didn’t have the best of impressions of this place.“You look like you hate this place.”Alberu couldn’t hold his tongue, his smile getting a tad wider as the redhead silently raised his brow. He pointed at the strange shack in front of them, his brows raised.“Well, it’s definitely not a place I would expect your Excellency to know.”Alberu couldn’t help but chuckle as he finally got out of the car. Seeing that Cale didn’t follow his example, he quickly walked over and opened the passenger’s door, waiting for the now a bit cranky teen to get out.“Come on, trust me a bit, adviser-nim, I’m showing you a secret of mine~”Cale still looked unimpressed and Alberu honestly couldn’t blame him for that. He could practically see Cale wordlessly retorting “Then why are you showing this to me? Just keep it a secret”, but Alberu ignored it. Partly because he didn’t know himself.He initially planned to take Cale out to eat in one of the restaurants in the Southern Campus since they were on the fancier side; yet, his hands behind the wheel had driven him out of the school, then here. Well, since it was barely 4pm, it would have been too early for dinner anyways.“I just know you’ll fancy this place~”Cale rolled his eyes, yet followed after Alberu nonetheless. If it made the guy that happy, he couldn’t really say no. Furthermore, if Alberu was to drag him there – Cale could tell that the brunet would definitely do that if he refused to walk in on his own two feet – that would be such a drag. He preferred to keep things uncomplicated.Now that the two of them stepped closer to the building, Cale noticed that despite the exterior, there seemed to be a lot going on inside. He could hear the noise from outside, which made him furrow his brows. As adaptable as Cale was, he still didn’t like crowded places too much.
Whatever. I don’t care.
Glancing at the sign, no, the table, right next to the entrance, Cale finally realized that this place seemed to be a pastry shop, or coffee shop with lots of pastries given that there just stood ‘coffee’ and a variety of different pastries on the table. If it was indeed a pastry shop, well, that wouldn’t be too bad, if the pastries were sweet enough.Alberu immediately noticed the way Cale’s shoulder relaxed and he couldn’t help the mischievous smile that appeared on his lips. So the guy liked sweet stuff. Honestly, Alberu didn’t think Cale looked like the kind of guy who’d enjoy anything sweet. Hell, he doubted he drank his coffee with sugar or cream even. But it seemed that he got that wrong – which wouldn’t have mattered since this small pastry shop had it all – like anything.When the two teens entered the shop, Cale immediately noticed that the shank looked a lot cozier from the inside. The wooden walls, floors and furniture gave the place an old vibe, almost grandmotherly with the antique accessories and picture frames hanging on the walls. There was a stuffed bear with made Cale uncomfortable. Something about that thing-And the stuffed bear suddenly fell over, landing less than a foot in front of Cale’s feet.Yep, something about that stuffed bear definitely made the redhead uncomfortable.Almost immediately, Alberu started laughing at him, or rather repeating the way Cale remained in the same position and didn’t even care to take a step back despite seeing the falling stuffed bear. It was to the extent that Cale wanted to smack the brunet in the back of his head, and as the laughter didn’t subdue, he even did.“I hope that the next time when this thing falls over, it hits your toes.”Even if Cale intended his words to be a threat, apparently, to Alberu, they were more like a joke. The two families that were sitting inside the building also couldn’t help their laughter. Cale hadn’t noticed before, but it got really quiet as soon as Alberu and he entered. Furthermore, now that he looked around, it wasn’t as crowded as expected. So maybe these people were just really loud?“Carla, Mr. Brownie fell over again!”And the shout of the blonde family father answered his question. Almost immediately, the door from a backroom Cale hadn’t noticed before was kicked open. Out came a woman in her late fifties, her black hair almost completely grey. She was by no means thick, but hell, she was built like some former world class wrestler.She didn’t smile, only huffed as she glared at the blonde shouting man.“For fuck’s sake Gunter, you’re a young healthy man, you should have picked this smelly thing up yourself!”The woman continued to mumble something to herself Cale wasn’t too sure of and he looked up at Alberu. He’d always known that the guy was tall, but whenever Cale had to stare up at him like this, it was unnecessarily annoying, especially with him being almost an entire head shorter.It took the old woman, Carla, a while, but as soon as she arrived at the scene, her grumpy attitude immediately took a 180° turn as a wide smile appeared on her lips. Glancing up at the student council president, Cale noticed that Alberu was smiling as well.“Haiyaa, look at this arrogant brat, coming here again and spending all that money on gas. Don’t tell me that fancy school of yours doesn’t have a decent shop such as this, huh?”This Carla woman continued to shake her head before she turned to look at Cale, and once again, her attitude changed again, though Cale didn’t know whether it was for the better or worse.Even though the redhead didn’t step back when the stuffed bear had fallen right in front of him – mostly because he could immediately tell that it wasn’t tall enough to injure him and he’d rather not waste his energy on taking a single step backwards – he had the desire to take one back right now.And as the woman pinched his cheeks like a loving grandmother, his fears were confirmed.“Oh lord, who do we have here?! Alberu, spit it out, did you kidnap this sweet child? Sweetheart, what’s your name! Oh lord, oh lord, look at your face, stunning! With a face like that you don’t even need to go to school anymore!”…And Cale was officially more than just uncomfortable. But that feeling quickly disappeared after the old woman’s next words.“I don’t care what this stupid ogre says, but please order whatever you’d like and it’ll be on the house, sweetheart!”Maybe this Carla was pretty nice, huh? She did look like a kind person, especially now that she was giving Cale free food. The redhead blatantly ignored Alberu’s complaints, so did Carla, as the two of them simply smiled at each other.Yeah, Alberu was right. This place was worth coming here, was worth trusting Alberu to come here.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After introducing Cale to Carla’s, their ride back to the campus was by far more pleasant than their ride to her little pastry shop. Perhaps it was because Cale had tried out as good as every single cake while having to pay for none of it (naturally Alberu handed Carla a tip big enough to cover the price and more), or it was simply because when the two of them exited, the stuffed bear fell over once more, almost hitting Alberu’s toes, which caused the brunet to jump back in shock.Cale was still not done making fun of Alberu for his terrified expression, though he’d settled down a while ago.“Hey, I’ll make a quick stop at the gas station, yeah?”After he didn’t receive a reply, Alberu furrowed his brows and looked over at his passenger. He slowed down as he arrived in front of the gate to Roan Academy. Since there was a traffic light anyways, he had a few seconds anyways – which was definitely worth it. Maybe that was the actual reason Cale had gotten so quiet all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere before; he’d fallen asleep.With his arms crossed in front of his chest, the redhead was leaning his head against the window while sleeping peacefully. Now that Alberu looked at the teen’s sleeping expression, he couldn’t help chuckle ever so slightly upon noticing the half frown on the redhead’s face. So the guy never stopped frowning, huh?It was almost 6pm, which meant that the two of them had taken a bit longer than intended, not that either of them regretted it. Pulling up to the 24/7 gas station, which, in Alberu’s opinion, was highly overpriced, the brunet got out of the car and did his best to close his door as carefully as possible, not to wake the sleeping Cale. They still had around fifteen minutes before they’d arrive at the dorms, after all.Entering the gas station, Alberu sighed internally as soon as he noticed the person that was standing on the other side of the cash register. And he’d hoped he wouldn’t see him today now that Sports class got cancelled (even though they weren't in the same course, it was still not an unusual thing to see a certain raven haired boy sprint around the stadium as some sort of punishment. Last Wednesday, the sport teacher of the special course, Lee Soo Hyuk, decided to train with his and Cale’s course [they were in the same sport course], hence resulting that he saw that crazy guy more than he had the capacity to deal with). But with the way Choi Han was busy on his phone, his expression cold and distant, partly annoyed; well, Alberu would rather get this over with.It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Choi Han and Alberu’s relationship was complicated. No, actually, the two of them couldn’t stand each other. At first, when the two of them enrolled here last year, they just ignored each other. Choi Han didn’t particular like people who faked their entire personality and put on fake smiles non-stop and Alberu couldn’t stand some impulsive brat who always spoke his thoughts and couldn’t hold his temper, quite literally getting into fights upon the slightest disagreement, unable to settle conflicts through words.When Alberu got elected as the first year representative and became part of the student council, things changed – because now, it was partly his responsibility to deal with Choi Han. Sure, it was actually the student council president’s duty, but given that last year that position was appointed to Rosalyn and she was somehow friends with Choi Han, well, it was up to Alberu to deal with the guy. And let’s just say that Alberu didn’t like being quite literally a baby sitter for some brat like Choi Han.For one, it was annoying, for the other, it was stressing him out too. Whenever Choi Han was in that fight mode of his (since his body never seemed to choose the ‘flight’ mode between a fight or flight situation), he was like some mad wild and untrained dog – ready to attack about anyone.Sure, Choi Han could also behave civil. Hell, if he couldn’t, there was no way he would have been accepted here. As an orphan who didn’t have anyone besides some rich sponsor backing him up, he needed more than just talents and smarts to be allowed to enroll here. Of course his sob-story of a past was guaranteed to get him a step closer – given that he lost his parents at a fairly young age and then he was kidnapped by human traffickers who shipped him to a foreign land and had to fend for himself ever since until his sponsor, some rich ass guy, discovered him when he turned fourteen – but if one thought that Eruhaben would put that before civil behavior, one was so totally wrong.Perhaps Alberu should show more empathy for someone like Choi Han. Hell, when he’d first learnt the guy’s story, Alberu was shocked to the bone. Human trafficking wasn’t unheard of, child trafficking even more prominent, but it was different when you just heard of it compared to when a victim of such a rotten thing was right in front of you. Such a thing was bound to leave scars – physical and mental ones – but god, could the guy please try to behave like a human and not like some feral animal?There were others who also didn’t have the nicest of pasts, hell; Alberu knew for certain that Lock, Dodori’s friend who just enrolled this year, lost his entire family and village to a terror organization. He’d seen his parents and friends die before him – be burnt alive and tortured in front of him, had heard their screams while he needed to hide under the stairs of the veranda, hoping, begging, no, praying that he wouldn’t be found. Hell, Lock even saw his youngest sibling, who wasn’t even three years old at the time, die.Of course, his source for Lock’s information was the newspaper. The journalists, as kind as they were didn’t see any fault in publishing Lock’s picture in the news article, describing everything in greatest detail, almost as if it was a fictional novel rather than something that really happened. And while Choi Han’s story had been both in the newspaper and news, his name wasn’t named and it wasn’t until Rosalyn told him to be a bit more careful with the guy that Alberu managed to find it out himself.And no, he’d never ask either of the two to share. Trauma or whatever was definitely not something he took lightly, but still. Even if it wasn’t for that backstory, Lock could behave civil, and Alberu saw how normal Choi Han acted around some people, like his friends Rosalyn and Lock, so why couldn’t he act like that with everyone? Or at least make an attempt to?
Whatever, let’s just get this over with.
Alberu knew that the guy worked part time at the gas station, why he’d do such a thing, he had no idea. Perhaps it was just a way to waste his time, to keep himself from doing other things, things Alberu would rather not think about. Choi Han, even though Alberu couldn’t stand him, was still a complicated person – one Alberu couldn’t read no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps it was even because of that unpredictability that Alberu couldn’t stand Choi Han – contrary to Cale.The brunet sighed, yet Choi Han didn’t even look up from his phone. Well, he did ignore him as he’d entered with the door falling shut behind him with a loud thud. Perhaps it was just one of those days that Choi Han actually managed to keep himself under control, just being busy with himself while tuning the world around him out.It’s not like Alberu could blame him for doing such a thing. Dealing with such a Choi Han was by far easier than dealing with that battle hungry and cranky brat who behaved like a feral and rigid dog.“Evening Choi Han~”Putting on his brightest of smiles, the brunet bravely stepped forward, his right hand’s fingers playing with his car keys while he held his credit card in his left, waving it in front of Choi Han as if to say ‘I’m ready to pay’.Finally, the raven haired boy looked up. One thing Alberu would never get used to, were those half-lidded, almost black eyes of his. Choi Han seemed to look right through him, rather than at him, despite locking eyes with Alberu. The brunet cleared his throat and did his best to ignore the shiver that ran down his spine. Something was wrong with Choi Han and he’d rather not stick around long enough to find out what it was.Perhaps that was why the guy skipped school for the last three weeks as well, resulting in Alberu’s “vacation time”.“Pump?”And Alberu was officially suppressing the urge to get out of there as fast as possible. It wasn’t like he was afraid of Choi Han. Hell, Alberu was probably the only person in the entire world that would get involved in Choi Han’s fights, trying to tear him away from whoever he was beating this time, mostly it being Rasheel or even Archie, though most recently, he’d started fights with Venion too.But with the way Choi Han behaved right now, well, Alberu could tell that he should keep his distance. Furthermore, he'd rather hurry up altogether with that sleeping passenger of his.“Two.”Choi Han simply raised his brows, silently asking the council president where his usual attempts at small talk were, but Alberu pretended not to notice. Choi Han also dropped it, given that he wasn’t the biggest fan of Alberu’s small talk anyways, no matter how hard the brunet tried to get him involved. Today, Alberu’s silence was a welcome.“Total of 72.98$.”Alberu simply nodded and quickly paid the sum with his credit card. He hated that his father was against contactless credit card, meaning he had to stick it into the machine and type out his pin. Why was he so opposed to cash again?“Awfully quiet, pres. You in a hurry?”Choi Han’s deep voice nearly made Alberu jump. He let out a deep sigh and allowed himself to glance around the gas station really quick, before he finally dropped his smile, revealing how discontent he actually was, with this situation at the very least.“Sure, whatever takes me away from seeing your face the quickest.”Choi Han snorted as he raised his brow. It wasn’t unusual for Alberu to stop smiling when it were just the two of them, but the raven haired still couldn’t exactly get used to it.“I’d prefer not to see that visage of yours either. Hideous.”Alberu rolled his eyes, glad as the payment was finally complete so that he could get his credit card back. He was just about to turn around and get out of there as fast as possible, yet was stopped by Choi Han’s next words.“That trash guy, Rosalyn told me he’s your adviser.”At that, Alberu let out a deep sigh, shrugging.“And what if? It’s not like you ever cared about who’s part of the student council anyways.”Choi Han scoffed, almost as if he was amused, but his eyes told of an entire different tale.“Since when do you let some alcohol addict advise you?”Alberu immediately put on his usual smile as he tilted his head to the left ever so slightly. He and Choi Han were almost the same height, with the raven haired guy being just an inch taller. Straightening his shoulders a bit, Alberu pretended not to care.To be completely honest, he really didn’t care. He knew that Cale wasn’t an alcoholic trash, and he didn’t care about other people’s opinions of the redhead. Since Cale didn’t seem to mind that reputation of his either, why should it be of concern to him? But for some unexplainable reason, the derogatory way Choi Han said that rubbed him the wrong way. Or maybe it wasn’t even the way he mentioned Cale, but the way he indirectly made fun of Alberu for keeping someone like that close.“Since last week, actually.”Choi Han rolled his eyes. He knew that Alberu understood his actual question, but obviously the brunet wouldn’t tell him the reason he kept that trash close. From what Rosalyn said, that trash didn’t actually behave like an alcoholic, but she also told him that he was incredibly rude and arrogant – going as far as to treat all of them as if they were underneath him. Rosalyn also mentioned his glares – almost as if he was challenging them to a fight.Choi Han, who knew that Rosalyn’s judgement may have been a bit hard, didn’t actually care. With the vicious rumors that surrounded Cale Henituse, he redhead had already made a first impression on the experienced fighter. And because of that, Choi Han would rather not meet the guy. Because the moment he’d meet that trash, he’d beat him to a pulp – definitely.“And I thought the pres makes smart decisions for the good of the school and students.”Alberu simply shrugged again.“Did the school fall apart yet? If so, you can come scolding me all you want. Otherwise, it’s my decision. Good evening, Choi Han.”With quicker steps than intended Alberu left the gas station. And no, he wasn’t running away from Choi Han, what reason would he even have for that? It wasn’t like Choi Han would start running after him or anything, no.$Friday arrived quicker than anticipated. Once again, school had been cancelled for the entire day; given that today was the day of the soccer match between Roan and White Star Academy. It was strange, how many events bonded those two schools with each other – ugh, Alberu would rather not think about having to see that bastard Adin again.But, as fate would have it, that guy, while not part of the soccer team, was attending the match as a viewer. Alberu was standing with Witira, watching everyone who entered the soccer stadium already. The match was set to start at four in the afternoon, yet, students from both White Star and Roan Academy already came flooding in, the time being eleven in the morning.“Alright, Miss Witira, please make sure to inform the soccer team of all possibilities.”The gorgeous blue haired teen smiled generously, but as Alberu turned to face her, rather than the people settling down on their seats, he got chills and quickly cleared his throat.“Also, have you seen Choi Han yet?”Alberu couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated as he noticed that Choi Han still hadn’t arrived. Despite being the head of the martial arts club, he somehow still found the time to participate in the soccer team. Then again, with how many classes the guy skipped, Alberu should have expected that.Shaking her head, Witira was now frowning as well.“Not yet, president. Rosalyn guaranteed me that he’d show up today. If you want, I can call him?”Waving his hand dismissively, Alberu shook his head.“No need. If he said he’d show up, he will.”And show up Choi Han did, though it was after Alberu left to check on the other council members or volunteers who agreed to help with the security of this event. As prominent as Roan Academy was, they didn’t actually have any internal student led security system. Sure, there were guards stationed all around the stadium, but that was in order to protect all students. Not one group of students from the other group.“Choi Han! Where were you?!”Witira immediately abandoned her position and hurried over to Choi Han, getting ready to scold him in her girlfriend’s stead, though she halted as soon as she noticed how beat up Choi Han looked. No matter what, no matter when, no matter how, there was no student who even stood a chance at beating Choi Han up like this. Sure, some stronger students such as Rasheel and Archie put on a fair fight, but they wouldn’t ever be able to cause Choi Han a black eye, or bloodied lip for that matter.Immediately, Witira forced the tall teen to a halt, yet he brushed right past her, obviously in a bad mood.“Choi Han! Stop and tell me what happened!”To no success, Witira hurried behind the soon eighteen year old. His birthday was even less than two weeks away, now that she thought about it, yet quickly pushed that thought back as she noticed that the taller of them stopped. Yet, as soon as Choi Han turned around and proceeded to glare at her, unlike ever before, her words died down in her throat.“Met that human trash everyone keeps talking about.”Witira couldn’t control her expression as her eyes widened in shock but also disbelief. She stared at Choi Han who was half a head taller than her, meaning more than a head taller than Cale. She had seen Cale, Cale Henituse, the alcoholic human trash that was rumored to fail at controlling his temper. She’d also seen him sit quietly by Alberu’s side and only speaking when he was talked to. While there was no way she liked the guy, especially with that strange attitude of his that made him keep everyone at an arm’s length and that unreadable expression on his face, there was no way someone like him could beat up someone like Choi Han.Hell, Choi Han weighed at least double as him; with trice the amount of muscles (if not more, given that Cale appeared to have none at all). Furthermore, Cale Henituse couldn’t even lift the fat binder in their office, requiring Alberu’s help, so how the hell should someone like him be able to beat Choi Han up like that?! Witira even doubted that he’d be able to leave a mark on Choi Han if the raven haired teen just stood there and didn’t defend himself!“Cale did that to you?!”Choi Han snorted; it was as if he was questioning Witira’s intelligence.“Who else would have been able to do this?”His words were much harsher than he intended to, and with the way Witira flinched ever so slightly the teen couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. But at the moment, he couldn’t help it. He was so fucking angry with the guy – so much that he wanted to storm right back and beat him as well, though then again, he did kind of beat the guy as well, but not nearly as much as he’d deserved to. Hadn’t it been for Glenn Poeff, his upperclassman, who tore him away from Cale, he’d have knocked the guy out for good. No, maybe Choi Han would have gone even farther than that, giving him an express ticket to the hospital-“How? Did he order someone to beat you up while standing close? I knew there was something wrong with him!”Choi Han frowned at Witira’s words as he brushed her hands off his face.“No, the hell? He beat me up himself.”Witira stopped in her movement and froze on the spot, staring at Choi Han in shock. Another possibility crossed her thoughts. Maybe Cale only appeared weak and wasn’t actually powerless? Perhaps he’d fooled Choi Han with that scrawny appearance of his?“Did you just stand there, not defending yourself then?!”Choi Han furrowed his brows even more, getting even more and more annoyed with the gorgeous girl than he’d care to admit.“The fuck you think of me, huh? Of course I punched him back, that motherfucker even smirked at me.”Witira’s brain stopped working, utterly baffled. No. Way. In. Hell.“Are we talking about the same person, Choi Han?”The latter scoffed, rolling his eyes.“Yeah, he said his name’s Cale something.”“And does that Cale person have crimson red hair?”Choi Han nodded and Witira got even more confused.“Yeah, a really unusual color. Didn’t see it before ‘round here, or anywhere actually.”Witira couldn’t help but stare at Choi Han until the martial arts club president snapped at her with an annoyed ‘What’.“I just can’t believe that someone like Cale beat you up like this, for god’s sake. Did you kill him with that punch?”Unable to overhear the slight worry in Witira’s voice, Choi Han snorted.“How the fuck do you expect me to kill a person with one punch, huh?!”Witira shook her head in disbelief.“Oh god, the council president is so totally going to fight you now. You killed his best friend!”Choi Han rolled his eyes. Contrary to Witira, after all, he had no idea how familiar Alberu Crossman acted around Cale and how much time the two of them spend together. Of course, Witira going as far as calling those two “best friends” was a bit of an overkill, given that one barely thought of their relationship as friendship while the other merely considered that so called best friend as an acquaintance, but she did hit it spot on when she said that Alberu would most likely even fight Choi Han if he were to touch Cale.Hell, even Witira felt like punching the guy right now. No, she still didn’t like Cale, not one bit, but god, she saw how he looked! There was no doubt on her mind that if the wind was strong enough, it could knock the redhead over.“I didn’t kill that fucking cockroach, who do you take me for, eh? Also, what the hell are you sayin’?”Witira ignored Choi Han’s questions and simply patted his shoulder.“Alright, I hope you survive today. Quick, tell me, where did you beat him up? Who saw you and how bad is it?”Choi Han brushed off Witira’s hands and simply turned around and left without giving her any sort of a reply, getting annoyed with her growing disbelief. Rather than keep talking with her, he’d prefer to get ready with his team members and start their warm-up, even if they still had another like four hours before the match would officially begin. Perhaps he should also pay a visit to the infirmary to check on his injuries. Hell, that strong punch to his eye still stung, and not the good kind.Left behind, Witira stared at Choi Han’s back, utterly baffled at the things she heard coming from him. But for once, there was no doubt on her mind; there was no way Cale Henituse would ever be able to injure Choi Han to that extent, let alone even fight him. And personality wise, Witira honestly doubted that he ever smiled, let alone that he’d smirk at Choi Han as he’d described. Furthermore, it didn’t seem to align with the Cale she came to know in the council meeting and while personally meeting up with Alberu.But then again, Choi Han was no liar. Hell, he was anything but a liar, Witira knew that. And how many guys were there who had crimson red hair? And whose name was Cale? Hell, the hair color could even be, but the name too? Something was wrong and while Witira did her best to ignore everything, she simply couldn’t push her curiosity back this time.At the same time, a few minutes before the clock struck twelve, Cale yawned while he stretched in his bed, utterly comfortable when there were two blankets surrounding him. His bed was so warm and soft, the most perfect place to be at, no matter the time, day or season.A small smirk made its way to the teen’s lips as he thought about Alberu and how the guy actually kept his promise. First of all, he didn’t knock on his door unlike usual, and he also didn’t force Cale to do anything else – which was most likely because besides knocking at the redhead’s door, Alberu had no means to contact the redhead. Given that the two of them never exchanged their phone numbers (for one, Alberu always forgot to ask when he was with Cale, for the other Cale wasn’t exactly interested in getting Alberu’s number), Alberu could neither text nor call – a clear win for Cale.With Ron Molan, who usually always stayed with Cale, out of the apartment, since the old man told him advance that he’d need to run a couple errands, Cale could peacefully slack this day off, doing nothing but rolling around in bed, at least until Ron returned and forced some food down his throat. If it was delicious food, Cale wouldn’t really complain (being oblivious to the fact that to Cale, all food besides the most disgusting shit was delicious, though some more than other, such as Beacrox’ or now also Carla’s cooking).Looking up at the celling, Cale couldn’t help but feel quite happy and accomplished. So far, school was easy enough and his teachers – besides Mr. Orsena, that bastard – were all quite down to reality with how much homework and assignments they gave out. Since Cale was now part of the student council, he also didn’t need to join a club, hence basically had all the freedom he could have asked for.Living like this was quite good, no, really good even. Preferably, Cale would keep it like this forever. The past could stay in the past; he was done with it anyways.Frowning, the redhead finally sat up in bed, letting out a deep sigh as he drove his hand through his crimson hair. For some unexplainable reason (that reason was actually not unexplainable at all and rather plain even), Cale felt annoyed and a bit anxious even.
Fucking court trial. That shit isn’t even necessary.
Right, of course, with the legal system, the past couldn’t just stay in the past and had to be “worked through”. Suddenly, Cale didn’t feel like slacking off at all, at least not anymore. Quickly getting up from bed, throwing back the blankets, Cale hurried out of his room, entering the neither too big nor too small living room. It was strange, how this room felt so much smaller out of seemingly nowhere-Shaking his head, Cale stopped his thoughts before they could wander off anywhere else. It was strange, how these days, months after he’d gotten away from that shithead, the guy still influenced his life. Taking a deep breath, Cale decided that rather than doing nothing, he could study just as well. It was better than wasting around in his room and much better than worrying Ron in case he decided to come back early.But fuck, the room was small. Almost as small as Kim Seung Jong’s living room. Now that Cale looked at the couch, its dark grey color- Why was it stained with brown stains? Huh? Didn’t Ron just buy it like two weeks ago? And what’s with that crimson stain-Cale almost fell over as soon as realization hit him. It was just like back then, a stained couch that was standing in the middle of the room.This grey couch had nothing to do with Kim Seung Jong’s couch, the exception being its placement. With it standing in the middle of the room-
Fucking shit.
Cale hated the way his heartbeats overtoned even his own thoughts, how they got faster and how his breath hitched ever so slightly, starting to match his heartbeats’ pace. He hated the way his legs started shaking, unable to support his own weight, and the way he ended up on the floor – again. Even more than all of those things, Cale hated the way how he knew that all of this wasn’t real, how he knew that he was in one of Roan Academy’s dormitory buildings and not in Kim Seung Jong’s apartment, if one could even call that room with those four walls that – and how he started believing that he was back there. How his rationality told him that he was okay, that all of that was over, and how his mind seemed to ignore reason and jump to conclusions based on the position of a fucking couch.Closing his eyes, Cale couldn’t help but beg that Ron wouldn’t return while he was in such a state. Hell, three months ago, the old man refused to let Cale go to the toilet by himself, always remaining by the youth’s side in case something bad happened. It took Cale a lot to convince the old man that he was okay now – more or less.For Cale, things really were fine now. Sure, every here and there, something like this happened, especially when he was alone, but since there was no Kim Seung Jong nearby, he had nothing to complain about. Hence, things were okay.
What did that guy say again? Breathe in and out and in and-
Cale couldn’t concentrate very well at the moment, hence deciding that whatever he was thinking of couldn’t be that important. He pulled his knees closer to his chest in the hopes that things would get at least a bit better if he was in such a safe position.It didn’t help.It wasn’t until there was a loud knock on his apartment door that Cale finally managed to break out of whatever it was that he was having (once again, Cale refused that it was a panic attack since he “was over them” now). Getting up on shaky legs, the redhead wiped the cold sweat from his forehead; doing his best to stop his legs from shaking like some deer’s.Then, the redhead finally approached the door. For once, he wasn’t as opposed to open the door, even hoping that it was Alberu Crossman who was on the other side of it. That guy would at least be able to help him reposition the couch (and with help he meant that he would leave it to Alberu to reposition the couch for him).So, thoughtlessly, Cale opened the door. He kept his face the same as usual, hoping that there was nothing wrong with his expression given that the council president was annoyingly perceptive in such matters. Letting out a sigh and getting ready to say the usual greeting, Cale stopped before even a single loud was able to leave his throat. He then proceeded to stare up at the tall boy who was wearing shorts and a long sleeved soccer shirt with the number four.Nope, this was definitely not Alberu Crossman.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Where’s Cale?”It wasn’t every day that the redhead stood face-to-face with a guy like the one in front of him who was asking him for him. Letting out a sigh of relief – after all, at least, the guy had no idea how he looked like – the redhead simply shrugged.“No idea. Must be at the wrong address.”The raven haired man furrowed his brows, took a step back to look at the apartment number of the door, before his frown deepened.“This is apartment 11A, this is Cale’s apartment. Who are you?”Frowning, Cale thought about what to say. After all, he couldn’t really say to this guy that seemed to hold a grudge against him (who looked like he could kill him with a single punch or if not kill, that punch would be hella painful) that he was the person he was looking for. But then again, it would be embarrassing if Cale gave him a wrong name and would later meet him again while he was with someone else who knew him.So, deciding to just not say anything, the redhead crossed his arms in front of his chest.“That’s none of your business. If you’d please excuse me now, I have more important things to attend to-“Before Cale could close the door, the guy held it open and walked past the redhead, entering the apartment without permission. Cale sighed, regretting having opened the door. In all honesty, he’d prefer to deal with the annoying student council president (oh well, Alberu wasn’t that annoying) over whoever this may be. Hell, he didn’t even have the decency to take off his shoes, though thankfully, he didn’t step on the carpet, simply looked around the apartment.“Sure, go ahead and come in.”Cale’s sarcasm obviously fell on deaf ears as the boy simply turned around to stare at Cale. There was no doubt on the redhead’s minds that he’d rather be about anywhere but here.“You must be his brother or something, so tell me where Cale is and I’ll leave you be.”Cale raised his brows, crossing his arms in front of his chest, getting ready to deal with someone like this. By the looks of it (or rather after noticing the bruises in the boy’s face), Cale knew he was trouble. A hooligan or bully perhaps? Hired by one of the students to take care of him due to the rumors surrounding him, maybe? For a moment, Cale proceeded to think of what to say, but before he could come to a conclusion, the grey couch that was placed in the middle of the room caught his attention again.There were stains on the couch, brown and red and-“Hey, you, help me move that couch away and I’ll tell you.”The boy raised his brows in question, turning around to look at the couch. It looked great, the way it was positioned in the middle of the room, a fair distance away from the open kitchen and door. Clearly whoever put it there didn’t think nothing of it, since there was a matching coffee table in front of it. Then again, if this redheaded guy would tell him where Cale was if he moved it to someplace else, Choi Han was in.“It’s not ‘you’ but Choi Han. And where should I put it?”Cale took a deep breath, hating the way his feet were beginning to be a bit unsteady again. He thought that if there was someone with him, he wouldn’t feel like this, but the universe seemed to love to prove him wrong. Wisely, the redhead chose to lean against the wall, just in case, and glanced at the raven haired boy.Why was the guy staring at him like that?“Hey, did you hear me?”The guy’s eyes widened ever so slightly and he scoffed, a disbelieving smirk on his lips before he too crossed his arms.“It’s not ‘you’ but Choi Han. And I asked where I should put the couch, though you obviously didn’t hear me.”Cale ignored the way Choi Han kept looking at him, almost pitying, and cleared his throat instead.“I don’t care; just get it away from the middle of the room.”Raising his brows, Choi Han, for a split second, wanted to ask whether the boy in front of him was fine. Obviously he wasn’t, given that he was leaning against a wall, his forehead sweaty while his legs were shaking ever so slightly. But then Choi Han noticed the boy’s hair color, which once again reminded him of Cale, which was why he got right to work. The boy’s feelings were of little interest to the president of the martial arts club, especially now that he got some business to take care of, in the form of paying that human trash Cale back in an adequate way.Hence, Choi Han’s decision was quickly made and he approached the couch, taking a quick look at it. It was one of the bigger models, amounting to around 350 pounds – neither too heavy nor too light, that is if there were at least two (strong) people carrying it. Taking one glance at the crimson haired boy, and it was obvious that he had no intention of helping Choi Han. By the looks of it, even if he wanted to help, he wouldn’t be able to do anything other than get buried underneath the couch.Crouching down with a loud sigh, Choi Han started to pull the couch to the right. It was by far more difficult than he expected it to be, but also not that difficult that it would be impossible for Choi Han to deal with it. And five minutes later, he was done with the couch successfully being removed from the middle of the room.One glance at the boy, and he could tell that he was relieved. The tension in his shoulders was gone and overall, he seemed more relaxed. His knees had stopped shaking and he even looked less pale compared to before. Had he been in so much distress just because of a couch? Then again, Choi Han recalled that this guy was most likely Cale’s brother, so perhaps that trash had told him to move the couch or something until he returned, hence causing such distress.As absurd as Choi Han’s explanation was – it was the only one he could think of that somewhat satisfied his curiosity. He got back up from his crouching position, coming to a halt a few feet in front of Cale.“So, where’s Cale?”Taking a deep breath, the redhead let out an even louder sigh. He frowned and forced himself to look up at Choi Han. God, why was as good as any person taller than him, huh? Ignoring his inner dilemma, the redhead got ready to say the truth – as promised.“Right here. I’m Cale. Pleased to meet you, whatever.”Choi Han’s brow wandered up as he glanced down at Cale, unable to hide his scoff as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, mirroring the smaller youth.“Sure, and I’m an undercover detective.”Obviously, Choi Han didn’t mean what he said, but Cale simply couldn’t comprehend why the raven haired teen wouldn’t believe him. He was right, after all, this apartment, 11A, belonged to Cale Henituse – and he was Cale Henituse.“You want to see an ID or something?”Before Choi Han could reply, Cale let out a resigned sigh and stepped past Choi Han, taking out his student ID from one of his shoulder school bag’s pockets, handing it over to Choi Han.“Name’s Cale Henituse, pleasure to meet someone as kind and trusting as you.”Choi Han’s frown deepened as he took a closer look at Cale’s ID, or rather comparing the picture on the small card with the youth in front of him and yep, there was no mistaking it, this weak guy in front of him was definitely Cale Henituse.But if he was Cale Henituse, the trash Cale Henituse from the rumors, who the hell was that bastard that beat him up? Choi Han couldn’t have misheard; the guy introduced himself as Cale, though his surname hadn’t been Henituse. He too had crimson hair that was strikingly similar to the Cale’s in front of him, though the Cale that beat him up was by far better built and didn’t appear to be a walking skeleton like this Cale Henituse in front of him.“Do you have a twin brother?”Handing back the student ID, Choi Han couldn’t help but let out that question. Naturally, the redhead simply raised his brow, a frown appearing on his face.“Last time I checked, I didn’t.”As confused as Choi Han was by the situation, there was no way the official student ID from Roan Academy was wrong. Before making a student ID, the headmaster met the students in person, after all, and he was also the one to check on the IDs before handing them out.But if the Cale that beat him up wasn’t the rumored trash Cale Henituse, this weak looking guy in front of him, who was he? And most importantly, what reasons did he have for beating him? But wait-No, more importantly, how was it possible that this puny guy in front of him was known as an alcoholic trash? Sure, Choi Han didn’t know this guy at all, so he could very well be an alcoholic and behave however he’d like, but there was no way he’d be able to disturb others – unless they didn’t do shit against him, which Choi Han honestly doubted.“So, what can I do for you?”Broken out of his thoughts, Choi Han couldn’t help but stare at the redhead in front of him. Obviously, since it turned out that this wasn’t the bastard who beat him up, Choi Han had absolutely no business here and should probably leave. But then again, something about the arrogant expression of this guy rubbed him the wrong way. Ah, he so totally got what Rosalyn had talked about.But the longer Choi Han observed him silently, the quicker he noticed that the expression on Cale’s face didn’t actually look arrogant. Perhaps it gave off the impression of being arrogant due to his cold and distance glance and the casual way he was looking up at Choi Han, or perhaps it was something else entirely, the raven haired teen couldn’t exactly put his finger on what it was.Then again, whatever this mystery with the two Cales was, it was none of Choi Han’s interests. The only guy he was after was the Cale that beat him up like this, so that’d be the only Cale he was going after. Even if that meant that he’d do this Cale a favor by taking his leave sooner than anticipated.“Nothin’, wrong address.”Cale simply raised his brow, enough for Choi Han to know that Cale knew. Not that it mattered much. The guy, after all, was of absolutely no interest to the raven haired teen. Sure, he dropped by and moved this guy’s couch – and that would be the beginning and end of their interaction. Even if Choi Han was mistaken and the Cale who beat him up wasn’t the rumored trash, this guy most certainly was. And since he knew that appearances could be misleading, Choi Han would rather not waste any more of his time in sticking around with this sketchy dude.Hence, Choi Han did the very same he did when coming in. He quickly bypassed Cale and exited the redhead’s apartment, his mouth shut and brows furrowed in suppressed anger. After all, he still had a debt to repay and Choi Han, no matter the means or cost, would find that motherfucker, the other Cale.Cale, as confused as he was, couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he had been holding back. Quickly closing the door – and deciding that it wasn’t worth opening it again, ever – he slid down the wall, glancing at the couch. Now that the guy, Choi Han, moved it, it looked like a really nice couch, even if its position in the room was a bit off. It wasn’t like Cale held any value within architecture and while Ron sure did, Cale was more than certain that the reliable old man, his guardian, wouldn’t question him moving the couch. And if he asked how Cale managed to do it, he’d just lie and say that Alberu had come over and helped.Anything was better than revealing the truth that some mindless guy intruded while Ron was away. If the old man was to find out- Cale got the chills. Shaking his head, he pushed down the mental image of Ron dragging him to principal Eruhaben in order to complain thoroughly about how the gorgeous man – one of Ron’s acquaintances and even old friends – couldn’t handle a couple brats in his own school.At the very least, Cale had calmed down completely. He was still a bit shaky, but given that it was already noon and he still hadn’t taken his medication, that could very well just be caused by his anemia. Well, the iron supplements that the doctors forced on him couldn’t exactly count as medication, but whatever.Getting up, Cale quickly walked over to his bag once more, taking out the small light yellow bottle filled with pills. It was already half empty, meaning he’d need to ask Ron for another one – meaning yet another useless visit to the hospital where he was told how unhealthy he was because of this and that. But then again, if he kept silent and didn’t tell Ron anything, the consequences were major.Entering what was supposed to be the open kitchen (it couldn’t really be described as a kitchen as it was basically just a cooking isle without anything a kitchen may be equipped with, meaning it didn’t have either a stove, an oven or any other gadgets besides a small fridge, microwave and, thankfully, a sink), Cale grabbed one of the few cups from one of the lower cupboards, filling it with water before taking his supplements. It was better to take those on an empty stomach and a couple of hours before consuming food (which Cale didn’t always do, but whatever, it didn’t matter much if, in the end, they didn’t change anything on his condition, though he did get less nosebleeds since he started taking them), and he didn’t exactly feel like eating at the moment.Ignoring the strange feeling he was getting, Cale opened yet another cupboard, taking out another small bottle of pills – these being actual medical pills. To Cale, who had been diagnosed with anemia a little less than six months ago, yet had managed this strange (back then unnamed condition of his) for years, taking aspirin pills against headaches had become his routine at one point.Headaches were part of his daily life, but he was getting used to it. Sometimes, they were gone or he didn’t feel the throbbing behind his forehead at all, others it was unbearable. While the redhead didn’t feel particular pained at the moment, he could already feel that it was only going to get worse from here. It was better to be precautious than to walk around while in pain – that was something Cale knew very well. Anything was better than the pain that came from a headache.Tapping his finger on the counter in a rhythmical tact, Cale stared at the wall opposite of him. It was of a plain white color, looking simple and boring. While it didn’t make the impression of being cheap, it also didn’t look like a wall that belonged in an institution such as Roan Academy. Or maybe it was just Cale.After all he’s learned, the latter was by far more likely.Turning back around before his thoughts could wander off again (honestly, he’s had enough of that happening already, if he had the means, he’d be willing to do anything to shut em off for good for once), the redhead glanced at the clock.Quarter past twelve.It wasn’t too late to go back to sleep. Since he most likely wouldn’t be able to sleep during the night, shouldn’t he try and get some shuteye right now? Quickly contemplating the pros and cons, Cale’s decision was basically made for him as there was another knock on his door.
Back to sleep it is.
$“Hello there, how may I help you, boy?”With a benign smile on his lips, Ron addressed the brunet teen crouching in front of Cale’s apartment door, fussing with the lock – in a failed attempt to break in, probably. The old man couldn’t help but raise a brow in question as he glanced at the teen who simply got up from his position on the floor, a seemingly genuine smile on his lips as he brushed off his clothes as if he hadn’t been caught red-handed by his advisor’s caretaker.The old man, as seemingly kind as he was old, was strangely perceptive, turning Alberu’s smile brighter than even the teen intended to. But it didn’t matter.“Good day, sir, I was wondering whether Cale Henituse was in his apartment.”Ron didn’t say anything, simply raised his brow even farther up than before, making Alberu almost flinch. The council president mentally noted that the old man in front of him wasn’t just perceptive, but also scary and vicious – at least that was how he was looking at Alberu, his eyes the only part of the old man’s face that didn’t make him look like the nice old man next door neighbor.“And why would you be looking for the young master-nim?”Alberu swallowed hard. Was it just his imagination or did the old man look like he wanted to run him over with his car?“I came to check on him. There’s been an incident at the stadium involving him, and as the student council president it is my responsibility to make sure that he wasn’t involved – or if he was, to find out in what ways.”Now, both of Ron’s brows wandered up, but the way he was looking at Alberu was strange, almost as if the old man was asking whether the brunet in front of him was serious. Which, alright, given Cale’s lazy nature, Alberu could see the ridiculous part of his words as well. But it’s not like he could admit that he came here because Witira told him about Choi Han’s absence and he was a bit scared that the guy would beat up Cale.Once again, it’s not like he cared about the redhead’s safety. Actually, he came here on instinct alone. Okay, if he was being completely honest with himself, perhaps he was just a teeny tiny bit concerned about that guy. But it was all for himself in the end! After all, if Cale were to get beaten up by Choi Han, he’d need to suffer through council meetings by himself without his adviser-nim by his side. Furthermore, he was curious.Witira told him that Choi Han was beaten up by a person he claimed to be was Cale. Choi Han’s violator had the same name and, as if the name thing wasn’t unusual enough, the same hair color as his adviser-nim. It was only natural for Alberu to be curious, as to whether Cale had a twin brother or something who stole his name. Perhaps that was where the trash reputation actually came from…“If he didn’t open the door, the young master-nim is probably still asleep.”This time, it was Alberu who was left to stare at the old man, his disbelief obvious. Ron chuckled as he pulled out his key to the apartment, opening the door with one hand while holding on to a small bag with his other hand. Pulling the door open, he waited for the brunet to enter first, then silently followed behind him.Before the two could discuss anything though, Ron’s attention was on a certain grey couch that had been moved to the far right of the room, rather than standing in the middle of the room as usual. The old man couldn’t help but frown, especially as he glanced down and noticed dirty footsteps on the light colored carpet. The footsteps’ showed that the feet of their owner were much larger than Cale’s – meaning someone must have come by.It couldn’t have been any of Cale’s acquaintances; after all, they would have stayed.Yet, before Ron could dwell on that matter for much longer, Alberu cleared his throat, obviously waiting for something. Sighing, the old man decided to ignore the couch and simply placed the bag on the coffee table that still remained in the middle of the room. He took off his jacket, placing it on the couch and then pointed at it with his chin for said council president to sit down and wait.Walking up to the closed door of his young master-nim’s room, Ron didn’t even waste time by knocking, simply entered to check up on his young charge. Immediately, he frowned as he noticed that the young child was indeed still asleep in bed, almost invisible between his many blankets and pillows that were supposed to keep him warm during the night.It wasn’t unusual for Cale to oversleep – meaning, to sleep past noon from times to times – but there was one thing the old man knew for sure: once Cale got up, he wouldn’t go back to sleep that soon. After all, sleep never really came easy to the redhead; it wasn’t like Ron wasn’t aware of that.Despite his ominous gut feeling, the old man decided that now wasn’t the time to wake up the young teen to question him – something he could do just as well when he got up himself. Today was, after all, one of those few and rare days off he had without needing to either study, do homework or meet up for meetings (those were probably the most annoying of circumstances, especially since some of them happened on weekends as the student’s schedules were rather packet).Exiting the room and closing the door after him, Ron returned to the waiting Alberu, smiling his usual benign smile.“Unfortunately, it is as I said before, the young master-nim is still asleep. I doubt he left the apartment so far, but feel free to visit again in the evening when the young master-nim wakes up.”Alberu couldn’t help but nod, doing his best to suppress the confused frown on his face. He’d never met someone who could sleep for such a long period of time. But knowing Cale, it didn’t seem that out of character. As a student of Roan Academy, it was only natural that Alberu was used to the behavior of his peers. While most, certainly not all, skipped their classes either from time to time or didn’t bother to get up at all, it wasn’t like they were lazy. After all, there was a ground rule all students of the academy had to follow: If you fail your exams (there were two sets of exams, the first wave shortly before winter break while the second wave followed around late spring) in even a single subject, you’re out, no matter how much you pay to attend this prestigious boarding school.Hence, Alberu’s peers had a habit of getting up before midday in order to get their own things done, be it self-studying or personal business, all of them were rather reliable in that aspect. Well, perhaps not all, but most. The people Alberu was acquainted with certainly were.“…Alright, I’ll come again after the soccer match finishes.”Ron nodded with his usual benign smile gracing his lips. He looked just like the old butler that his father had employed back at the Crossman main residence, the old guy that had basically looked after him after his mother’s death. Alberu couldn’t stand the guy, but there was one thing he couldn’t hold against him – the man was the best in his job. He separated personal business from emotions to the extent that Alberu wondered whether he had split personalities, but oh well, what did he know? Surely though, Ron did remind him of that guy. A lot, even.“As you wish. I will inform the young master-nim as soon as he wakes up.”Now that Alberu thought of the old butler his father had employed for well over thirty years by now, he used to address him in a similar manner, as ‘young master’, and still did so on those few occasions Alberu was forced to return home. The way Ron behaved, the way he spoke, perhaps he was a butler in disguise.Given Cale’s background – him being the firstborn son of one of the wealthiest families in the world – Ron being a butler wasn’t that unlikely even. Still, it was none of Alberu’s business and while he was indeed curious, he’d rather not dwell on it for too long.After all, there were other, more important, matters that required his immediate attention – such as the “double-Cale” incident. If he were to trust Witira’s words, someone with crimson red hair had beat up Choi Han and told the guy that his name was Cale. With Cale being still asleep, it was impossible that he’d beat up Choi Han like that. And generally, the moment Witira had relayed him that information, Alberu couldn’t contain the snort. Cale was not the kind of person who’d beat someone else up – who could beat someone else up.“Thank you. I’ll take my leave, then.”Ron, ignoring the snort the teen had subconsciously let out, simply nodded, his expression unchanging. Alberu felt a bit awkward as he got up with the old man’s perceptive eyes on him. Perhaps that was because it was his first time “visiting Cale” in his apartment – he usually just stood outside, waiting for the redhead to get ready when the two of them drove to school.He cleared his throat, trying to mask his discomfort with a stoic expression – and he couldn’t help but wonder how Cale kept up that kind of face at all times, only occasionally replacing it with that frown of his. Ignoring his inner thoughts, Alberu reached for the door handle, only to be stopped before he could finally escape from that scary old man.“Mn, if this old man may inquire, do you have any plans for the 8th of November? It’s the Sunday next week.”Turning around carefully, Alberu watched the old man in an equal manner he’d watch anyone he found suspicious. The 8th of November, as far as he was aware, that day wasn’t really special, and yet, it seemed to be somewhat meaningful. He was certain that he’d seen the date before, but he couldn’t exactly put his finger on what it was. But since the old man was asking, it had to be important, no? And judging by his friendly seeming smile – Alberu did his best to suppress a shudder.“Nothing too important, sir.”The old man raised his brow, his smile getting the tiniest bit smaller before he put on an even more benign smile on his lips, nodding ever so slightly. He didn’t reply, and Alberu took that as his que to leave as quickly as he possibly could, the strange feeling that he’d fallen a couple digits in the internal like/dislike-scale of the old man.But then again, he’d prefer that than going up – he’d rather not be liked by such a scary person. If Ron was to like him, he’d naturally have to get along with the guy, which, with the old man’s quirks, wouldn’t be the most pleasant of experiences. But still, something felt a bit off about the date – especially now that the old man had brought it up himself.Perhaps he really should take a look at Cale’s personal information again; he had a feeling that he’d find the answer there.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
At four in the afternoon, the soccer match between the Roan and White Star academies was supposed to begin. With a rare frown replacing his usual gracious smile, the student council president was looking down at the field where the White Star team was still missing one of their players. The present team members were all joking around light heartedly – knowing that no matter what, there was no way the match would start without their only goalkeeper – while Roan’s team was busy standing around, either tense or even anxious, waiting for something to happen. That was the thing with the students of White Star Academy; most of them were shameless bastards and they were never not up to no good.As if that alone wasn’t enough for Alberu to worry – as the student council president only, obviously – there was still the mystery with the two Cales. Alberu had done his job; he’d kept his eyes open ever since he returned from his quick visit at Cale’s, tried to spot someone else with similar crimson hair, but it was to no avail.He didn’t see anyone whose hair color even came close to the color crimson, let alone normal red. There were a few students with colored hair, but since all of those had been girls, Alberu decided to give them a pass (it wasn’t like a girl was able to beat Choi Han up, at least not like that).He clenched his jaw, tightening the grip around his phone. As planned, he’d stopped by at the student council room previously to take pictures of the files with Cale’s personal information on them. He still hadn’t taken a proper look at them, but the way things were dragging themselves, Alberu wondered whether he should just do so now. Taking a quick glance around him, (he was standing in the very last row, a couple feet away from the last row of seats, leaning against the pillar, doing his best to stay out of sight) he finally opened his phone, zooming in on the pictures and doing the very same he’d done a couple weeks before Cale’s arrival at Roan Academy.While he’d just stared at his scores and grades back then, he didn’t even take a picture of those handful of pages this time, purely focusing on his friend’s (well, more or less) personal information.There was a short text underneath Cale’s portrait picture, the same as in every student’s file, which was about the student’s reputation, standing in high society (if they were of a prestigious family) and their achievements, if they had any so far. For instance, if one was to take a look at the dear student council president’s file, the text was rather long compared to most, more “average”, students. It described his family, the minds behind the Crossman Corporation, one of the major real estate companies, that was famous in most western countries, even beginning to move a bit to the east ever since his eldest brother, Austin, unofficially took the business over.In any case, the text in Alberu’s file described his father’s company in great detail, then moving on to his large family and lastly talking about all the things he’d already accomplished in middle school – such as leading the student council and improving the entire school to the extent the teachers, years after he’d left, still talked about him. The text also included his accomplishments outside of school, such as a private essay he’d published in the newspaper when he was fifteen, helping scientists in their research. The text also talked about the things he did to improve his hometown when he’d joined a political group for summer break before entering Roan Academy too.Naturally, there was a lot more in that text about Alberu, but that should be enough to convey a picture about what kind of text that was supposed to be. But while Alberu’s text was unusually long, Cale’s was strangely and uncharacteristically short, not even filling up more than the quarter of a page. No, even that was too generous of a thing to say, given that whoever wrote this (one of Eruhaben’s secretaries) had lavishly left one paragraph in between each sentence, even if it was just “Cale Henituse is the firstborn of the Henituse Family”. And even then, the remaining three sentences were just about the Henituse County, it being an old noble family reaching back to the 18th century.Ignoring that text, since it was mostly information he was aware of thanks to his own research about the new student, Alberu moved on to the more casual information, so to say. It was basically just data such as age, height, family, birthdate-Alberu stopped the moment his eyes landed on Cale’s birthdate.
11/8/20XX
So that was why the old man had asked him whether he had plans on that day. As far as Ron was aware, after all, Alberu was the only person Cale hung out with – he was the one that always drove him to school and mostly brought him back, sometimes even studying with him in either the student council room or one of the libraries. Now that Alberu was thinking about it; he’d never seen Cale with anyone else. The redhead was always alone whenever he wasn’t with him. Occasionally, during lunch break, he’d sit with Dodori and Lock, but given that both of them had a different schedule compared to him, they weren’t always at the main building during lunch break, sometimes even simply skipping school to focus on their individual studying – and also, they weren't even in the same grade!Alberu couldn’t help but frown. It was true, now that he thought about it more carefully. Every single day, they had at least one course together, two of their advanced courses, Math and Physics, were the same, and they also had French, Sports, Ethics and History classes together, explaining the time they naturally spend with each other, and yet, there were still so many lessons that they didn’t attend together. For example, on Wednesdays, he only saw Cale when he drove him to school, and during sports, which was the last lesson for the day. Before then, the two of them rarely saw each other, and if, only for lunch break.Did…did Cale have trouble socializing?No, that wasn’t the problem with the redhead. After meeting him, Alberu noticed that despite Cale being, well, Cale – never really talking to anyone until he was spoken to – the redhead didn’t necessarily avoid other people or conversing with them. Sure, he didn’t exactly mind being alone, but given the time he spent with Alberu on a daily basis, he didn’t seem to mind company that much either.Then again, Alberu quickly pushed those thoughts back. The reason Cale didn’t mind his company was because the both of them were rather similar in quite a lot of ways. They knew when to keep their mouths shut and when they could talk and joke around, even if they hadn’t known each other for two full weeks just yet. Alberu’s and Cale’s friendship was based on a kinship. Neither of them had noticed it at the beginning, the way they, despite how different they appeared, thought in a similar way. The way they appreciated similar things, the way they just knew each other without really getting to know the other.If Alberu had noticed that, that perceptive old man must have done so as well, hence asking him whether he had any plans on the 8th of November, on Cale’s birthday. The moment Alberu glanced back down on his screen again, his eyes widened once more, noticing that, contrary to most, Cale was turning seventeen rather than being seventeen and turning eighteen. That meant that he wasn’t older, but younger than Alberu – what a funny thing.Definitely worth knowing though, just in case he might need that fact in the future.For some reason, he imagined how Cale would frown whenever the brunet would bring the topic up – quite worth seeing, really. Turning off his phone, Alberu pushed himself away for the pillar he’d been leaning against. Without him noticing, at some point, the soccer match had officially begun, the missing gatekeeper of White Star Academy’s team must have shown up in the end, huh?One single glance down at the field was enough for him to see that their team wasn’t loosing – yet. Occasionally, the enemy team used foul tricks that weren't exactly against the rules of soccer but definitely not appreciated in a good and genuine game. A few times though, players exited those grey zones, straight out pushing Roan’s soccer team members out of their path – receiving yellow cards in response.It was a match that lay within Alberu’s expectations.With White Star Academy being Roan’s partner school (or, unofficially, rival school), there were a lot of events that involved both schools – such as these “friendly” sport matches. There was still the sports festival which, yes, it too involved the White Star Academy, and the student exchange program in which a handful of White Star’s students attended Roan Academy from February to late April or even the beginning of May. With the many events that involved both schools that exchange program shouldn’t even be necessary, but what did Alberu know?Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Alberu watched one of the taller soccer team members of his school. He could hear the boy’s loud grunts despite the cheering of the crowd. Said boy was actually his senior, Toonka Whipper. Contrary to Choi Han, who also possessed some brains (at least if one were to trust the entrance exam results and last year’s exams), Toonka Whipper purely relied on his body to stay in Roan Academy. As the heir to a small country in the south, Toonka was also filthy rich and apparently, the headmaster had taken pity on the guy, since he was allowed to stay at Roan Academy. He was, by no means, qualified. The only thing he was good at was sports – that was the only thing he was good at, but to hell with it all, he was exceptionally good at that. While every normal person, and even less normal people such as Choi Han, had their strengths and weaknesses in everything, Toonka exceeded in every- and anything when it was about sports. He could run past you and appear like some crazy fast car, or he could lift 700ibs and what else. He beat Choi Han in most normal sports with the exception being martial arts, which was, apparently, Choi Han’s quirk – not that Alberu was that interested in the raven haired guy.Rather than that, he found Toonka’s presence much more fascinating, especially with how lose Eruhaben’s regulations were around that guy. Apparently, even if he did fail most of his exams, as long as he passed in a single subject that wasn’t sports (even if said subject was art, which it was, always), Toonka was allowed to stay.Seeing his senior go all out in the soccer match below, his frame big enough for about anyone to realize who he was, even at a large distance away, well, it did make a bit of sense to Alberu. While Toonka didn’t have the brains, his muscles were indeed something unique and his talent for sports so special, well, he needed to stay here in Roan in that sense.With both Toonka Whipper and Choi Han playing, it was no wonder how after the ninety minutes of the soccer game; the Roan Academy’s beat the White Star Academy’s. Alberu put on his most genuine looking smile as he walked down the stairs while the other students from both academies were busy cheering, shouting their vocal cords out. For a moment, Alberu even worried for the hearing sense of those people, but decided that it wasn’t any of his business in the end.He arrived at the bottom of the soccer field soon after, standing still next to the teacher that taught most advanced sport courses but also a few advanced math courses, including his and Cale’s. Recently, he’d been ill, so this was the first time Alberu got to see Lee Soo Hyuk since Cale enrolled.Coming to a stop next to him, he waited for the man to start speaking first. Knowing how sociable the man was, it came as a surprise as he stayed silent, though. Turning around, Alberu was met with a pensive Lee Soo Hyuk who was looking at him rather than the team he trained.“Mn, Mr. Crossman, what a nice sight. Is that a new jacket?”In the end though, Lee Soo Hyuk did end up speaking first. While there was something strange in his voice, Alberu decided not to give it too much thought. The man had been sick, most likely he still didn’t fully recover just yet, so the student council president lowkey had to push back his own suspicions.“It is; I bought it while spending some time in Germany during summer break.”Lee Soo Hyuk nodded, his pensive expression quickly getting replaced by his usual bright smile. He patted Alberu’s shoulder carelessly, nodding his head.“Good, good, the white compliments you a lot, Mr. Crossman. I think you should wear lighter colors more often.”Alberu simply nodded, recalling a far-away memory of his older sister Giselle giving him the very same fashion advice a few years back when he started to go to middle school.“I bet you’ve also finished the math assignments for Monday already?”Alberu allowed a small but genuine smile to replace his current one, nodding.“Of course, Mr. Lee, who are you taking me for?”As expected, Lee Soo Hyuk let out a hearty laughter as he patted Alberu’s shoulder once more.“Good, very good. Let’s make a bet, how many students do you think forgot it?”Alberu let out a small sigh, his smile getting a bit wider. Lee Soo Hyuk had always been different compared to the other teachers. He was older than some of them, yet felt much closer in age due to his friendly and open personality. He was by no means a lax teacher, but he always joked around. He was an approachable guy who listened to his student’s problems – out of genuine concern rather than a sense of responsibility or duty. Hence, most of his students had an all buddy-buddy kind of relationship with him, rather than a teacher-student one, though all of them respected him greatly, some admired him even more than the headmaster himself, which was quite the feat.Pretending to think for a second, Alberu let out a small chuckle.“Mr. Lee, there’s no doubt on my mind that I’m the only one who did it, though Choi Han may have done it in his free time since he’s had so much of it last week.”As expected, the middle aged man burst out in a loud fit of laughter upon hearing Alberu’s quirky response, shaking his head in amusement while patting the student council president’s back. Yet, before he could reply, the brunet’s head whipped around, a strangely wide grin on his lips.“But there may be a third person that finished the assignment, Mr. Lee.”Immediately, Lee Soo Hyuk stopped laughing, his brows wandering up as a silent question. Alberu chuckled again, simply shaking his head, unwilling to explain his words in any way.“Just let this be a surprise, Mr. Lee, I’m sure it will be.”Lee Soo Hyuk didn’t reply and Alberu honestly didn’t expect him to as he started to walk away, or rather towards Choi Han – following a nagging feeling of his. As he didn’t turn around, he didn’t notice how the moment he looked away, Lee Soo Hyuk’s cheerful expression turned back to a pensive one, a deep frown etched on his handsome face.$He found him in the locker room.While the rest of the team was busy running around on the field, celebrating their victory, Choi Han had quietly and quickly slipped away, getting ready to leave just as stealthily as he’d appeared to the match. He was just taking off his shirt when Alberu entered the changing room, his usual gentle smile on his lips as he leaned against the lockers, watching Choi Han’s bruised back carefully. He could see the big gnashes in his back, all of them were fully healed scars, but they still looked like they must have hurt a lot, no, more than a lot even. Alberu forced himself to look away as he cleared his throat to gain the boy’s attention.Witira had already shared the full story with him, or rather the absurd story of Choi Han saying that Cale Henituse had beat him to a pulp. Alberu wouldn’t lie; he hadn’t come here to see Choi Han because of his sense of duty as the council president. No, for once, he’d allowed his personal feelings to win and he was here simply because he was a bit curious about Choi Han’s version of the whole ordeal.As expected, the raven haired kid turned around, frowning as he raised his brows in question.“What?”His voice was sharp and obviously annoyed – obviously, Choi Han wasn’t in the mood to joke around –, but Alberu decided to pretend that he didn’t notice.“Miss Witira told me about what happened. As the student council president, it is my duty to take care of this. Care to share your side of the story?”Pushing himself off the lockers, Alberu stepped closer to Choi Han, stopping a safe enough distance away from him. He may have gone a bit mad – coming here all by himself and all – but he wasn’t that mad.Choi Han silently stared down at him, his brows furrowed, almost as if he was weighing the pros and cons of telling Alberu which, let’s be honest, he was doing just that. As previously mentioned, the relationship between Alberu Crossman and Choi Han was by no means a friendly. Hell, the two of them barely even tolerated each other – making it hard for Choi Han to tell Alberu what happened.But even he understood that as the student council president, and not as Alberu Crossman, that eyesore of a guy needed to know his side of the story – especially since it sounded like it was the very Cale Henituse, his chosen advisor-nim for whom he’d step down from his student council president position, that had caused quite the trouble this time around.Only that that wasn’t the case…Letting out a deep sigh, Choi Han came to a decision. He threw his used soccer shirt at his sports bag, putting on a black hoodie. Since he’d already changed his pants, now wearing grey sweatpants rather than those shorts, he was almost completely done changing, hence ready to talk.“There ain’t much to tell.”Choi Han let out a low grunt as he stuffed his shirt into the sports bag before sitting down on the bench to put on his sneakers. He didn’t have to look up at Alberu when he was busy tying his shoe laces.“That’s quite good, that means we don’t have to stay here for too long.”Choi Han stayed silent, waiting until he was finished with tying his second shoe’s laces before he finally looked up at Alberu, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The way he was sitting there on the bench, it looked extremely disrespectful at the moment, especially with the somewhat annoyed expression that was on Choi Han’s face. But Alberu didn’t exactly care, not when he was already used to Choi Han behaving this way.“So, care to explain?”Choi Han stayed silent for a bit, before letting out a long groan.“That adviser of yours didn’t beat me up, kay? It was some other dude who’s called Cale and has the same hair color, so back off, your position is safe.”Choi Han rolled his eyes and snorted as if to make his point clearer, though all it did was underlining his annoyance caused by Alberu’s presence. But now that Choi Han had said that Cale was innocent-How did he know that Cale was innocent? As far as Alberu knew, Witira told him that the guy had been convinced that it was his Cale who beat him up, and Choi Han was, by no means, someone who changed his opinion. No, the guy was so incredibly stubborn, Alberu couldn’t help but wonder how he’d survived so far in this academy. (By skipping most of his classes, was the obvious answer, only occasionally attending his advanced courses, but that was it.)“How come you’re so sure?”Unable to hold back the question, the student council president furrowed his brows in suspicion. He had his own explanations, but he’d rather listen to the truth than speculate about possibilities.Choi Han snorted once more, rolling his eyes in the process.“Y’all ain’t all buddy-buddy with each other, huh? Didn’t he tell you?”As Alberu stayed silent rather than answering, Choi Han was left no choice but to explain. For some reason saying what he’d done was a bit, just a teeny tiny bit, embarrassing, not that he’d ever admit it.“I went there to beat that Cale fucker up, only to find the real guy. Moved his couch for him and went on with my day.”Whether moving Cale’s couch was important or not, Alberu raised his brow at that particular part. It did match the strangely positioned couch in Cale’s apartment though, and the dirty footprints he’d noticed on the carpet. Glancing down at Choi Han’s unclean shoes, those were most likely from him. But the question remained; why did Choi Han move that couch?Seemingly knowing what Alberu was about to ask, Choi Han got up from the bench and put the strap of his sports bag over his shoulder.“There was that dent on the floor and the guy tripped over it, asked me to move the couch to cover it up.”The lie was over Choi Han’s lips before he could stop it. He froze on the spot, a scowl on his face. He didn’t know why he lied; he didn’t even think it through. It was half-way true though, Choi Han did notice a small dent in the floor, the reason why he pulled Cale’s couch to the right rather than pushing it to the left. But for some reason, he couldn’t just say that Cale had something that resembled a panic attack because of a couch. At least he didn’t really feel right saying that.He had no idea what the deal was with the guy, but it was none of his concerns. He had intruded on Cale, walking into his apartment without a proper invitation due to his anger. Obviously, the redhead wouldn’t have let him in, hell, he tried to close the door again, but Choi Han hadn’t cared. So technically he’d seen Cale be in such a vulnerable state without the redhead’s consent – meaning he’d have to keep it a secret. Furthermore, it didn’t necessarily have to be a panic attack just because it looked like one. Maybe he was just exercising or something like that, what did Choi Han know? He didn’t give a fuck.“…Did he get hurt?”Alberu’s somewhat hesitant voice broke Choi Han out of his thoughts. Turning around, he stared at the student council president in utter shock and disbelief. After all, even he didn’t really believe this lie he’d spit out, and yet, one glance at the guy’s frown and he knew that Alberu actually bought that story.Just what the heck was wrong with him…?Well, since it did work out in his favor, Choi Han decided to let the smart guy’s naïveté go, just this once. Obviously, he was concerned for that friend of his, or something along those lines in any case.“Yeah, fell face first on the floor. Quite a sight, not gonna lie.”Alberu frowned, before letting out a deep sigh, deciding that he’d go visit Cale after he was done with Choi Han anyways. Schooling his expression again, read ‘putting on his usual gentle smile again’, the brunet smiled brightly.“Then the Cale who beat you up is…?”It was an open question at which Choi Han scoffed and shrugged.“How the fuck should I know? You think I’d be standing here right now talkin’ to you if I knew where that fucker was?”Alberu didn’t let his smile slip, though his eyes got a bit colder. Now that he pushed off his worries for Cale down, he was fully engulfed in his role as the student council president.And as the student council president, Alberu Crossman was responsible for all of the students of Roan Academy – their wellbeing in particular. And, as annoyed as he was at the fact, Choi Han was a student of Roan Academy and he was mistreated (even though Alberu had no doubt on his mind that the Cale who beat him looked much worse than Choi Han). Hence it was his responsibility to find the culprit and punish him.“There is no student at Roan Academy who has a similar hair color to Cale, but I’ll look into it. Since the only people who had access to the campus today were either our students or the White Star Academy’s, I’ll request our partner school’s student’s files and check through them.”Choi Han simply raised his brow, silently observing Alberu.Right, as much as he disliked the guy, there was no way he could say that the brunet was bad at his job. Hell, Alberu was so efficient with his sly and manipulative means and quirks, he was practically made to politically rule – even if his kingdom of reigns was just the Academy for now. Hence, Choi Han forced himself to give a simple nod of approval, which caused Alberu’s smile to widen ever so slightly.“I’ll inform you in case I find anything.”Alberu approached Choi Han and patted his shoulder before quickly walking past him as if he was afraid that he’d punch him for touching him. And no, it only looked like that; it wasn’t like that at all. Choi Han may be a bit scary, but Alberu was the student council president and-Anyone would be afraid of Choi Han, okay?!Left behind, the raven haired kid tried his best not to roll his eyes, yet failed at that. Snorting at how ridiculous Alberu’s actions were when it were just the two of them, the president of the martial arts club couldn’t help but wonder how he kept a straight face when other people were with them.Ah, there was this one quote along the lines of together it was less scary. Perhaps having a third party stay close to him calmed Alberu’s nerves? It wasn’t like Choi Han cared or anything like that, he just found it a bit over to top, the way Alberu always stomped away first.But it did have one good thing: He could admire how cowardly Alberu behaved despite the bold front he always put on. He couldn’t help but chuckle at those thoughts, snorting as he finally exited the changing room as well. He still needed to go talk to Lee Soo Hyuk regarding his advanced sports course – there was this one written essay assignment that would be due next week he still hadn’t fully started just yet – and he also promised Rosalyn to visit her, his poor friend was finally not feeling like vomiting every second any more, just on occasion.As Choi Han ascended the flight of stairs, ignoring his cheering team members that were busy celebrating to notice that he wasn’t in the best of moods, he couldn’t help but think back to Cale.Not the Cale motherfucker that beat him, contrary to before, but to Cale, Cale Henituse, the weak guy whom Alberu chose to be his adviser in the student council. He didn’t even know why his thoughts that were usually busy throwing stupid thoughts at him concerned themselves with that guy, but it wasn’t an unpleasant surprise.Despite the cold sweat on his forehead and his disheveled appearance, Choi Han could easily tell that Cale Henituse was a hell of a beautiful fellow. And no, he didn’t mean handsome, but quite literally the word beautiful. When the guy had first opened the door, he’d reminded Choi Han of some otherworldly beauty. The teen was drop dead gorgeous with those soft yet sharp facial features, his large, reddish-brown eyes and those extremely long, black lashes. What did he need such long lashes for anyways?Well, he did look quite pretty. No, not just quite. He was prettier than most of the girls Choi Han had seen in his life up until now, and that meant something. Still, for some reason, Choi Han felt a bit uneasy now that he was thinking back to how sickly the guy appeared to be. The cold sweat, that pale skin- there had been absolutely no color in his face when he’d opened the door, almost as if he’d seen a ghost – or as if he needed to throw up desperately.Choi Han stopped a few feet before he could reach Lee Soo Hyuk, a frown etched on his handsome features, replacing whatever disrespectful scowl had been on his face before. He found himself worry a little bit, just a teeny tiny bit, about that Cale. Sure, he was supposed to be trash and all of that could have been because of a hangover after a night in which he’d gotten too drunk but-It didn’t look like that.Cale Henituse had genuinely appeared to be struggling for air. Furthermore, he’d been leaning against the wall, his legs and body shaking with cold sweat running down his forehead until Choi Han was done moving that couch.Hm, how odd.What if he was right and the guy had been experiencing a panic attack? The reason didn’t matter, rather than that, Choi Han felt a bit guilty for just walking in on him when he was in such a state. No, not just guilty, he genuinely felt a bit terrible. Panic attacks were by no means something normal that just happened out of nowhere…He could tell, given that he’d had them as well, a few years back. Not getting enough air was the worst feeling he’d experienced, even worse than getting beaten and whipped.Shaking his head while clenching his fists, Choi Han forced the thoughts about a certain redhead down, suppressing them to the best of his abilities – which, for once, even worked out. He then approached the now cheerful seeming Lee Soo Hyuk. Right, he shouldn’t focus on some guy that’s rumored to be trash, rather than that, he should focus on himself. Ignoring strange encounters had been his specialty, after all.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Alberu returned to the dormitories in the evening, he was uncharacteristically nervous. It was, by no means, because of that lazy redhead he was about to see, but rather the old man that was with him. He swallowed hard, clearing his throat once more as he contemplated what he should say. Alberu wasn’t one to forget dates, but he honestly hadn’t known about Cale’s birthday. The only purpose of getting the files of the transfer or new students in advance was to take a look at their grades – no more, no less.Technically, Alberu wasn’t at fault at all-Forget it, the old man looked so vicious; even with that benign smile of his Alberu had the distinct feeling that he wasn’t exactly Ron’s favorite person – not that he’d want to be. Still, knowing that the old man had a great dislike of him wasn’t exactly something he appreciated. Whatever, he was here for Cale and not the old man.Before he could rethink anything, he’d already knocked on the door, waiting patiently for Cale or his legal guardian to open the door. Then he waited. And waited. And waited. Frowning, Alberu glanced at his watch, realizing that he’d waited two minutes at the very least.Deciding that there was no way Cale wasn’t home, especially at this time of day, he knocked again and waited just as long as before, then he repeated the process a few times. Just as he was about to knock a fourth time, the door was practically thrown open – almost hitting his face, though a quick step back prevented such a thing from occurring. Immediately, Alberu’s brow wandered up as he glanced down at the frowning teen standing in front of him.Cale’s crimson hair was disheveled giving off the impression that he’d just gotten out of bed. His wrinkled clothes supported that claim, but the way he was holding a handkerchief underneath his nose which was slowly but surely turning crimson showed that that wasn’t the case, not at all.“What?”Cale’s voice was muffled due to this particular situation, and Alberu swiftly ignored it, putting his attention on the nosebleed his adviser was experiencing. Alberu was by no means unfamiliar with nosebleeds, honestly, was there even a person that didn’t experience a single nosebleed? He surely had his fair share of them over the years, and yet, he’d never required a handkerchief to stop the blood from flowing, simply pinching his nose until it went away. And even then, his nosebleeds hadn’t ever been as bad as Cale’s – at least his blood hadn’t stained his hands while holding his nose.“That looks pretty bad.”Unable to push his concern back, Alberu side-stepped past Cale, entering his apartment. He immediately let his gaze wander around, looking for a particular old man without success. A small frown etched itself on his handsome features as he turned around, putting his entire attention at the redhead again.“Sure, go ahead, come in, this seems to be some public room or something.”Alberu wisely chose to ignore Cale’s words as he watched the younger close the door again, grumbling curses under his breath.“Where’s that old guy who’s always around you, dear adviser-nim? Did he decide to abandon you while you were in a pickle?”It was supposed to be but a joke, but it earned Alberu a vicious glare. Well, he couldn’t say that he didn’t deserve that one. Walking towards the couch, the brunet noticed that while it remained in the same position as before, both the carpet and coffee table had been adjusted, resulting in the couch’s placement looking more adequate now. He quickly sat down, a lot more comfortable than before, since it were just Cale and he.“And I guess your Excellency came here to take on the role of my shining knight in armor?”Well, if Cale’s tongue worked, the nosebleed must have looked worse than it actually was. Alberu’s eyes were on the carefully moving teen as he too sat down on the couch, leaning against the armrest.“But of course, good that you know.”Cale simply hummed rather than giving a retort – which wouldn’t be too unusual, but for some reason Alberu felt that it wasn’t a normal hum.“Anyways, care to share what’s going on? All jokes aside, that nosebleed looks more than just bad.”Letting out a deep sigh, Cale put the stained handkerchief on the coffee table, taking a fresh handkerchief lying right beside his used one only to use it on his nose as well. The way the white silk turned red at an unusually fast pace made Alberu’s frown deepen while his worry rose with each passing second.“…It’s not as bad as it looks, your Excellency. It’s nothing unusual. You see, my body is a bit weak.”
Yeah, no shit. Would be more surprised if you said that you’re a healthy guy. But what does it mean that it’s no unusual occurrence?
Alberu did not voice his inner thoughts as he simply observed Cale for a bit, watching him struggle while holding the new handkerchief against his nose. His hand was shaking ever so slightly and his face appeared a lot paler compared to his usual. Strangely enough, Cale looked even sicklier than usual at the moment, which was only partly the fault of the nosebleed.“I’m just going to ignore you saying that. If it’s something familiar, do you have special medication to treat it? If it’s too hard for you to get it right now, I can bring it to you if you tell me where it is.”Cale silently looked at Alberu, a strange expression on his face until it was replaced by something more familiar – a small smirk. He snorted, rolling his eyes.“Your Excellency, with all due respect, there’s no such thing as a magic pill which will stop the bleeding – though that would honestly be quite delightful. It’ll go away in a few minutes…at least it usually goes away after around ten minutes…”Cale mumbled the last part, but Alberu immediately heard it. He sat up a bit straighter, quickly thinking back to his common sense and- nope, experiencing a heavy nosebleed such as this one was, by no means, healthy. Couldn’t and shouldn’t be treated as lightly as Cale was doing.Getting up from the couch, Alberu immediately stepped in front of Cale, crouching down. The redhead simply raised a brow in question, yet the council president fully ignored it, holding up his hand.“Quick, adviser-nim, how many fingers am I holding up?”Cale rolled his eyes at Alberu’s antiques, clearly seeing Alberu holding up his index and middle finger, though it wasn’t too sharp at the moment. As soon as the answer was out, Alberu changed it to three fingers, resulting in Cale’s deep sigh. The redhead quickly stretched out his own arm, pushing Alberu’s hand away from him.“Your Excellency, please stop treating me like this. There is truly nothing to worry about. I have a medical condition which makes my bleedings nastier than they’re supposed to be. I’m taking medication and have regular appointments at the hospital and last time I got a check-up, I assure you, there was nothing unusual compared to my normal state.”Alberu immediately stopped frowning, his expression slipping for an instance, revealing how utterly thrown off-guard he was at Cale’s little statement. He stared at the redhead as if it was his first time seeing him, his disbelief but also worry extremely obvious. Cale was the first to look away, unable to keep looking at someone who was staring at him as if he was someone pitiful. And that’s exactly why he hated sharing his illness with others-“Kay, kay, good to know~ Though I do have to say, my dear and super-duper cherished adviser-nim, I feel a bit hurt. We’ve known each other for two weeks already and you didn’t even care to tell me that you have a medical condition such as this~”Feeling the couch sink next to him, Cale turned around, only to see that Alberu had plopped down right next to him, his usual grinning expression on his face. He was staring at Cale, but it wasn’t with pity. Rather than pity, he seemed genuinely hurt. Cale couldn’t help but let out a small sigh – rather of annoyance than relief, really.“It’s not like it’s important, your Excellency. I think I’m managing it rather well.”Alberu did his best to suppress his scoff, yet ended up snorting nonetheless. With his eyebrows wandering up, he stared at Cale, disbelief written all over his face.“You call that managing it rather well? If that is indeed the case, I’d rather not know what it means if you aren’t managing it well.”Cale rolled his eyes, yet didn’t reply in any other way. The two of them continued to sit next to each other in silence, neither of them trying to come up with things to say. Despite being curious about Cale’s so called medical condition, Alberu’s mind was preoccupied with staring at the redhead rather than pressuring him to satisfy his curiosity. He was more than certain that after today, if he were to ask, he’d get a reply.And just as Cale predicted, after another two minutes, the nosebleed did indeed stop. Letting out a sigh, Cale got up and threw away the two handkerchiefs. He was a bit unsteady on his legs, yet Alberu wisely chose not to comment on it. Rather than that, he put his entire attention on the redhead’s somewhat relaxed attitude, quietly observing his every step and movement.Cale didn’t just throw away the bloody tissues; he also pulled out two cups from his cupboard, pouring some water in the kettle and pouring two cups of tea which he brought back with him.“We have no snacks yet, so either you’ll wait until Ron returns within the hour or-““Or I’ll be left with no snacks?”Cale wasn’t bothered by Alberu cutting him off and simply nodded, taking a sip of his own tea. It tasted really strange – in the bad way. Frowning, Cale put down his teacup, glancing at the kitchen counter, or rather, the white box of sugar he’d used to sweeten the tea…“…”Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to put the sugar and salt in two identical, see-through boxes without any real label (given that the labels were also very similar). As soon as Cale fully realized that he’d used salt rather than sugar to “sweeten” the tea, he quickly turned around to look at Alberu, who stared back at him, a mixture of an amused but also disgusted expression on his face.“…”The two of them stared at each other silently, a wordless agreement of never bringing this up ever again between them. Usually, Alberu wouldn’t have been this nice, but seeing that Cale honestly looked more than just a bit dumbfounded and perplexed, he decided to give his friend some leeway. He too put his cup of tea on the coffee table, leaning back comfortably in the couch.“…So my dear adviser-nim, do you usually have such awful nosebleeds?”Cale simply shrugged. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t really care whether Alberu knew of his anemia or not, which was both confusing and annoying but also a bit…nice? He couldn’t exactly put his finger on it. Initially, he hadn’t planned to get close to anyone, but then this brunet next to him simply and quite literally plopped into his life, forcing him to join the student council and to spend time with him. Cale still wouldn’t exactly call Alberu a friend, mostly because he wasn’t really good at that friend-thing, but the student council president had proven himself to be a reliable and trustworthy person, one that Cale was oddly comfortable around.Seeing the thoughtful expression on Cale’s face, Alberu couldn’t help but wait patiently for the redhead to open up, and in the end, his patience was proven worth it.“Honestly, this was one of the worse ones, but still manageable. It’s really nothing too bad, just the typical effect of the lack of iron in one’s body.”Alberu couldn’t help but chuckle, even though Cale’s words were no joke. A condition such as iron deficiency should, by no means, be treated lightly – as the Cale’s nasty nosebleed proved. But still, the redhead’s nonchalant way of saying that, the way these words just casually left his lips with a sarcastic undertone, the way the edges of his lips wandered up ever so slightly, not in frustration but amusement, well, Alberu couldn’t really help it this time.“Well, I suppose it’s fine since my wonderful adviser-nim did tell me in the end~”Alberu’s tone was light and friendly, successfully hiding his slight frustration about not knowing earlier. Since Cale obviously wasn’t as perceptive as usual, the redhead also didn’t pick up on it.“By the way, you sure are great at keeping secrets from even your closest friends~”Alberu continued in his joking tone, his heart feeling a bit lighter upon noticing the frown on Cale’s face. The way he furrowed his brows while crossing his arms in front of his chest made it more than clear that he had no idea what Alberu was talking about and that he’d prefer it if the brunet spit it out already.But said brunet had a bit too much fun teasing said redhead.“You sure know how to hurt your friend’s feelings, don’t you?”Contrary to what he’d expected, Cale simply turned away, getting up from the couch to get rid of whatever devilish substance he’d come up with. Naturally, it was an excuse – an excuse to get away from Alberu, to escape his teasing question. Because if he was being completely honest, it had hit home – a bit too close to his liking.But as much as the brunet prided himself in reading people and people’s emotions by looking at their faces, he didn’t notice Cale’s inner dilemma, hence simply leaned back comfortably, allowing himself to close his eyes for but a second. It was strange, how he felt strangely at ease at this very moment despite the anxiety which had basically accompanied him for the entire day ever since he leaned of Choi Han’s beating.Even though he was still a bit…shocked by Cale’s sudden confession about his illness, he thought that it was fine even if Cale hadn’t informed him in the beginning. It was a bit strange how his file didn’t contain the information about his illness, but perhaps principal Eruhaben had made a few off-the-radar adjustments. As the principal, he could very well just do that. It wouldn’t be the first time, and most likely wouldn’t be the last time either.Honestly, contrary to what many students thought, the things that were written down in the files were very well adjustable. If you wanted to hide a specific aspect, such as your prior achievements or family relations, basically anything but grades, you just had to ask the principal and he’d carry it out. While it may sound a bit off, it was actually something that wasn’t that easy.Because you only got one chance to do that.Before you got accepted into Roan Academy, you got the chance to read through your own student file. While that may sound normal, students usually thought it was of absolute no importance, hence simply handed it back after finishing it. The moment you hand it back to principal Eruhaben though- there won’t be another chance to adjust the student file.It wasn’t common knowledge, but while reading through your file, you could ask certain aspects to be deleted or hidden – for no one but principal Eruhaben to see. Since the student files were accessible to the student council, that was something incredible. But you had to be smart enough to ask the principal – meaning you have to be brave and courageous, maybe also a bit of an outside-the-box-thinker.That would simply mean that Cale and he were more alike than he thought.Shaking his head at that thought, Alberu couldn’t help the small grin that appeared on his lips. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded to himself, proud that he’d found such an interesting person- no, friend. It was fun, how getting to know Cale Henituse wasn’t all that simple but more akin to peeling off an onion’s many layers.Then again, perhaps that comparison wasn’t that good as it’d imply that there’d be an end to the layers, which didn’t seem to be the case with Cale. At first, he made the impression of being a somewhat clueless guy – if Alberu hadn’t been so focused on the rumors that surrounded the redhead as much. But Cale was neither clueless (future Alberu would cry if he was to read through this) nor an alcoholic trash; and that was just the beginning.He seemed to be someone who didn’t want people to get to know him though.As Cale returned from the kitchen counter, he seemed a bit less paler, which might have been the case because he’d wiped away the blood which he failed to wipe away completely. His lose pullover and oversized jogging pants – undoubtedly an online purchase – hid his thin frame perfectly. Perhaps it was because both were of a grey color, but they went well with his overall complexion. Only the few blood stains on his sleeves were a bit eye-catching, but if he hadn’t known better, Alberu would have thought that they were simple food stains.Ah, maybe it was because Alberu wasn’t used to seeing Cale in such casual clothes – for once, the redhead usually wore the formal school uniform to school despite there not really being a dress code – but it was like he got to unpeel yet another one of the redhead’s many layers.
Casual clothes sure suit him.
Alberu himself may have not been as aware of that thought as he should have been. Rather than pondering on that though, he carefully observed his friend and waited until Cale was sitting comfortably in his cross-legged-sitting position.“So, why is someone as busy as your Excellency here? Didn’t you promise me that I wouldn’t have to work today?”Cale’s calm and even voice was what first broke through the sudden silence between the two of them. Honestly, Alberu hadn’t even fully registered the sudden silence until the redhead’s question was out – he blamed the redhead’s unfamiliar looks for it.“My, does my adviser-nim feel like my presence forces you to work?”Cale’s silence and his somewhat annoyed look were more than enough of an answer, which resulted in Alberu’s loud laughter. The brunet couldn’t help it – he never knew what Cale was going to do next anyways. Perhaps that was what made it so much fun?“In any case, just call it a check-up of some sorts.”Almost immediately, the mood in the room seemed to shift and Cale raised his brows.“A check-up?”Unburdened by Cale’s strange way of repeating his own words, Alberu hummed.“Yes, a check-up. You see, at the game today, there has been an incident involving someone beating one of Roan’s students up. And apparently, Choi Han, the student in question, came over earlier today. He told me you tripped over a hole in your floor?”Alberu explicitly left out the part where Choi Han apparently moved Cale’s couch for him because of that. The redhead’s expression didn’t change much, though his frown deepened ever so slightly. It was incredibly hard, if not straight out impossible, to tell what was currently going on inside his mind. In the end though, Cale simply shrugged.“I don’t know; don’t exactly remember what happened before. There was some guy who dropped by though and forced himself in here. Why are you asking?”
He doesn’t exactly remember what happened before?
While Alberu wouldn’t have believed those words had they been said by about anybody else but Cale, he redhead actually appeared to be sincere. Naturally, it wouldn’t be hard for him to fool Alberu, given that he was as good as unreadable to the brunet, but something deep inside of the student council president trusted Cale’s statement that he didn’t remember. There was this distinct part of his frowning expression that seemed genuinely confused and annoyed. Confused because he didn’t know what Alberu was talking about and annoyed, probably, at himself for not remembering properly.“Do you honestly need to ask that? My, am I not allowed to worry about my friend after some delinquent dropped by his place and told me that he fell down after tripping over a hole in the floor?”The way Cale’s frown turned to a genuinely non-knowing expression, slightly curious, slightly annoyed – the redhead honestly didn’t understand Alberu’s explanation. Letting out a deep sigh, Alberu raised his hand before Cale could say something that would make him question the guy’s upbringing.“So, you aren’t hurt or anything?”Almost immediately, Cale’s confused expression got replaced by his usual stoic façade and he quickly glanced down on himself, shaking his head.“Your Excellency, I don’t think I’m hurt. A bit tired, perhaps, but not hurt.”At that, Alberu couldn’t contain his chuckle.“Tired? You’re honestly tired? Didn’t you sleep for like, the entire day? Be honest, just now when I dropped by, you were still in bed, weren’t you?”Cale rolled his eyes, yet didn’t say anything contradictory – admitting defeat so to say as Alberu had hit bull’s eye with his words. Settling for a simple shrug, the redhead simply hummed.“Your Excellency, perhaps you should cut down the many meetings in the future. As you can see, they are rather tiring.”“Good try dear adviser-nim, not happening.”Rolling his eyes, Cale let out a deep breath before got up again. Picking up the two miserable cups of salted tea – Alberu dubbed it the tea of mystery in his mind – the redhead walked to the kitchen counter once more. This time, Alberu too got up and followed behind him. When Cale noticed, he turned around to glare at the student council president, though the latter pretended not to see it.“By the way, do you have any plans for tomorrow?”Putting the cups into the sink, Cale turned around to face Alberu, furrowing his brows while crossing his arms in front of his chest. There was no confusion written over his face, meaning he knew exactly why Alberu was asking him.“Yes. I have plans. Very important plans.”“Oh, is that so?”Alberu pretended to be disappointed as he put on a small, sad smile. Taking a step closer, the brunet leaned against the counter next to the sink, his gaze focused on Cale’s stoic face. The redhead quickly glanced away, clearing his throat in the process before he finally glanced back at Alberu.“Why would I lie?”Unable to keep up the ‘I’m so sad’ façade, the edges of Alberu’s lips curled upwards and a mischievous grin spread across his face.“Hm, why wouldn’t you?”Alberu must have hit bull’s eye as Cale’s frown eased up and turned to a slight smile. His smile, despite being almost unnoticeable, was quite pretty. It was a nice smile.“Fine, what do you want?”Alberu’s smile grew even bigger and he stopped leaning against the counter. Rather than that, he stepped even closer to Cale, making the younger roll his eyes in annoyance.“Oho, you didn’t even ask for anything in return? To what do I owe this pleasure?”Cale rolled his eyes in annoyance, obviously regretting his decision to give the student council president a chance. And yet, before he could take back his words, the brunet had already opened his mouth to speak.“Well, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth, yeah? Come with me tomorrow, to the Halloween party after the mandatory event.”Alberu pretended to make a cute face for the redhead as he leaned down a bit more, closing in a bit too much on the redhead with only about an inch separating their faces. He didn’t really know how Cale felt about it, but judging by his stoic and unchanging expression, he may as well have stood at the other side of the room. Well, that meant that he was the only one who was incredibly aware of their current position, huh?“…it’s not mandatory to go to the after-party though?”Before the student council president could think about the closeness to Cale Henituse too much, the redhead’s hesitant words managed to break him out of his odd trance or whatever that had been. Almost immediately, he leaned back against the kitchen counter and shrugged. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, a subconscious and miserable attempt of creating more distance between him and Cale.“It’s not, but it’ll be fun, don’t you agree?”The face Cale was making – one of utter disgust and shock – was more than enough of an answer, making Alberu laugh. His former embarrassment forgotten, the brunet did his best to stay serious, with little success though.“Okay, even if it’s not that kind of fun, let’s still go together.”At Alberu’s insistence, Cale couldn’t help but be suspicious. Raising his brows while mirroring Alberu’s action of crossing his arms in front of his chest, Cale looked up at the student council president’s chocolate eyes, looking for a motive as to why Alberu was asking for his presence in the after-party. Since it couldn’t be his companionship – just take one good look at him, how could anyone want to be with him just for the fun of it? – Alberu must have some ulterior motive, no?“Your Excellency, I don’t intent to work on the weekends. So, whatever it may be that you’re trying to do-““I’m not trying to do anything though? Dear ad- Cale, we’re friends now, aren’t we? I just wanted to go to the after-party with a friend, since that would be more enjoyable.”This time, Cale studied the older’s expression for a few good seconds which felt like an eternity of silence to Alberu. It was odd, how he was seemingly being judged for his words – as if Cale could see straight through him and tell whether the words told were the truth or a mere lie, though this time, it must be said, Alberu was completely open and revealed his honest feelings to the redhead. Why he did so in the first place, well, that was the actual question, not that any of those two knew.“And why don’t you go with Miss Rosalyn?”Alberu had a small smirk on his lips, one which Cale already found utterly annoying to say the least.“She’s my vice, not exactly a friend of mine.”At this, Cale did his best not to grimace. Rather than that, he took a deep breath, then continued.“…Your Excellency, don’t you have a lot of other friends you could enjoy the party with?”Alberu’s expression didn’t falter upon Cale’s question. On the contrary, rather than having any sort of negative flow of emotions overcome him, the corners of his mouth wandered up ever so slightly as he shrugged once more.“If I’m being completely honest, no, I actually don’t have any friends. Just people I know and get along with.”Before Cale could say anything, Alberu added on, his smile turning into a boyish grin of some sorts.“And no, I’m not telling you so you can take pity on me or anything. Let’s just call it even now, since you told me about your medical condition, yeah?”At this, the redhead couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. He shook his head in a seemingly disappointed manner and quickly turned back around, walking to the couch – an attempt to hide that ever so small smile that had appeared on his lips. It wasn’t every day, after all, that he met someone like Alberu who matched him as well as the brunet student council president did – someone who understood his way of doing things and dealing with situations.The redhead waited for Alberu to follow behind him, and after a short while, the youth also did. He looked at Cale expectantly, his brows raised and his arms crossed, as he came to a halt, standing right in front of the redhead rather than sitting down next to him.“So?”“Only if you let me skip the meeting on Monday.”It was a yes, and both Alberu and Cale knew it. There was no way the redhead would escape the meeting on Monday, not after there was so much to discuss partly because of today’s soccer match and the Halloween party tomorrow. Even though his role was that of the student council’s adviser and the other student council meetings didn’t manage to properly grasp what kind of contribution his presence made on the council, well, he was actually not that bad of an adviser to Alberu.Perhaps it was because the two of them thought in a similar way, but they understood each other. Sure, reading the other wasn’t too easy, but if there was one thing both Cale and Alberu knew, it was that the two of them were a rather good team.And maybe it was because of all that that when Alberu agreed, Cale already knew that during lunch break on Monday, he’d sit inside the student council room with Alberu and the others, discussing irrelevant matters of the school. Or rather than discussing these matters, he’d sit there silently by Alberu’s side, glancing at the clock without getting noticed by any other than the student council president himself, bored out of his mind. But oh well, it was for a friend, no?Cale couldn’t help but shudder at that thought.A friend.The last friend he’d had, well, he didn’t exactly remember what happened to Choi Jung Soo. Well, he did know how those things ended, though, which was in death.But at this point, it felt strange; calling Alberu a mere acquaintance now, after he dropped by like this and started calling him his friend first. And it was kind of true, over the past weeks; Cale did observe that despite talking rather casually to other students, Alberu didn’t appear to be close to any of them in particular. On the contrary, perhaps it was he himself, but he always seemed rather distant.That had not been the case whenever he was with Cale, though.
Maybe it’s because I’m trash and hence have no expectations for him which makes him comfortable around me? Contrary to everyone else who thinks highly of him as he’s the student council president?
Cale, who thought of his explanation as rather logical, nodded his head, a pleased smile on his lips. Alberu, who was sitting right next to him, now that Cale confirmed that he’d be there, easily ignored the redhead and simply continued to scroll on his phone – after all, there was one last thing he had to get done before he forgot it again.Holding out his phone, the student council president waved it in front of the redhead for him to take.“Your number, I still don’t have it.”Cale, who looked like he was going to protest (or ask for something in return), dropped his shoulders and shook his head – silently giving in as he typed in his number on Alberu’s phone.“Thank you very much~”The way Alberu’s eyes light up when he got his phone back…well, it was worth it to Cale.Even if the redhead didn’t actually understand himself as to why he gave in so easily (he blamed it on the cheesiness of the situation, since Alberu declared that he was his only friend), something inside of him prevented him from thinking too much about it.Ah yes, ignorance is bliss until the end.But then again, he’d have given Alberu his number anyways, be it sooner or later, so it didn’t even matter all that much. And it wasn’t like Cale had any reason to regret this either – since this was exactly what friends did, no?Just as Alberu didn’t notice his own bright expression, Cale didn’t realize that there was a gentle smile on his lips. When Alberu looked up from his screen and allowed himself to glance over at Cale, he did notice though, which made him soften his own smile.Right, even if the beginning of this visit was rather rocky, this was pretty much worth seeing all that blood.Alberu couldn’t help but scoff at his own thought, though yeah, it was the truth.