The relentless ringing of the alarm clock drilled straight into Leansei ears. Groaning in irritation, he reached out blindly and cranked it off, immediately sinking back into the heavy embrace of sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept this comfortably. A wonderful, deep warmth enveloped him, making him feel as though he were floating in a paradise of hovering clouds, wrapping his arms tightly around the soft beams of light.
Slowly, his fingers began to stroke the surface beneath his hand. His brow furrowed. It was firm, heavily muscled, yet radiating an undeniable heat. A familiar, clean scent drifted into his senses—a distinct cologne and steady, even breathing.
Leansei's eyes fluttered open. The very first thing that met his gaze was a broad, bare chest right in front of his face. Beside him, sleeping as peacefully as a caged beast, was the last person he ever expected to see. The realization hit him like a lightning bolt. Adrenaline surged through his veins, completely shattering his drowsiness. Leansei scrambled backward in pure panic, his face burning a furious crimson as his heart began to race.
' How on earth did I end up sleeping next to this bastard?! ' His pulse hammered violently against his ribs, a frantic internal competition that felt like his very cells were running a high-stakes sprint.
Desperate to avoid a mortifying confrontation, Leansei moved to slip out of the bed as quietly as humanly possible. If he could just disappear before anyone noticed, he might save himself from wanting to bury his head in a deep hole forever.
He didn't make it two inches.
A firm, heavy hand clamped gently but securely around Leansei's wrist, bringing him to a sudden halt. He froze, his gaze snapping down to Xerchin, whose eyes were still tightly shut.
' He was awake the whole time! Faking his sleep! That absolute bastard! '
"Aren't you going to thank me?" Xerchin murmured. His voice was rough and deeply husky with sleep, his eyes remaining closed.
"T-thank you?!" Leansei hissed, keeping his voice to a harsh, frantic whisper so the rest of the house wouldn't overhear them.
"Yeah."
Leansei stared at him in utter disbelief. He racked his brain, but his memory was a complete blank; he had absolutely no recollection of how he had transitioned from his own space into the bastard's bed.
He couldn't help but look at him, though. Even early in the morning, Xerchin looked effortlessly infuriating attractive. He wore a simple grey sando and shorts, his messy hair falling loosely across his forehead in a way that felt entirely too attractive for someone who had just woken up. Leansei's eyes darted down, noticing the faint crimson tint dusting the tips of Xerchin's ears. Flushing, Leansei quickly looked away, forcing himself to stop overthinking the gesture.
Xerchin slowly opened his eyes, staring directly at Leansei's flushed face and flustered, pouting lips.
"You were sleepwalking," Xerchin stated calmly. Leansei blinked, completely caught off guard.
' Sleepwalking? ' No one had ever told him he did that before.
"I tried to stop you and guide you back to your own bed, but you kept doing the exact same thing," Xerchin continued, his tone nonchalant. "So I just laid you down on this mattress, and you finally slept like a log."
"R-ridiculous!" Leansei shot back defensively, his voice cracking slightly. "I don't sleepwalk! I've never sleepwalked in my life!"
"Yeah?" Xerchin muttered under his breath, a faint whisper passing his lips: (It was absolute torture).
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"You definitely said something!"
"No, I didn't."
"I know you did—"
CLICK.
"Hey! Are you two done with your little love quarrel yet?" Corshe's loud voice broke the tension as he swung the door wide open, brandishing a cooking spatula like a weapon.
Leansei and Xerchin jumped in surprise, instantly snapping their gazes in opposite directions to look anywhere but at each other.
"Move it, quickly!" Xeilin's voice echoed sharply from the kitchen. "We need to get breakfast out of the way before anything else!"
"Or all of you are going to be late!" Perial added from the stove.
The rich, savory aroma of a perfectly cooked breakfast drifted into the bedroom, making Leansei's stomach rumble. Panicking, he scrambled out of the bed, entirely forgetting what he was supposed to be doing, while Xerchin calmly stood up and began fixing his sheets.
Leansei beat him out of the room, heading straight for the bustling kitchen. Xeilin was already stationed at the sink, washing the used prep utensils, while Perial managed the stove with Corshe hovering nearby as her assistant.
Glancing toward the living area, Leansei saw the rest of the house waking up. Beidhen sat slumped on the couch, looking entirely half-asleep, while Revin stood out on the terrace, quietly sipping from a mug of black coffee. Nearby, Rell was efficiently setting the table, arranging the plates and silverware with his usual meticulous care.
"Good morning," Revin greeted, nodding as Leansei walked past.
"Good morning," Leansei replied quietly.
"How did you sleep?" Rell asked, not looking up from the plates.
Leansei's gaze immediately darted to the floor as the mortifying memory of his morning awakening came rushing back. "Fine. It was... fine."
"He slept like a log!" Corshe hollered helpfully from the kitchen.
"Did you two have fun?" Beidhen mumbled from the couch, his voice thick with drowsiness but laced with a subtle smirk.
Leansei frowned, thoroughly confused by the underlying implication.
"Don't mind him, he's just being a jerk," Revin chimed in, stepping inside from the terrace and giving Beidhen a warning look. Leansei just shook his head in disbelief, letting out a quiet sigh.
Once the cooking was finished, the food was laid out across the dining table. The superb aroma of Perial's cooking had everyone practically drooling; it was rare for the entire group to sit down for a massive, home-cooked meal so early in the morning.
"Wait!" Corshe suddenly exclaimed, holding his hand up while tapping furiously on his phone.
"What is it?" Perial asked, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth.
"This might be the very last time we're all present in the same room like this," Corshe said, his eyes shining. "So, we have to take a group picture!"
A collective groan rippled around the table, several voices immediately complaining that they weren't in the mood for photos. But Corshe remained utterly persistent. Ignoring the protests, he extended his arm wide, angling his phone to force everyone—including himself—into the frame.
Realizing there was no escaping his enthusiasm, the group finally relented, turning toward the lens with resigned smiles.
"Perfect! Got it!" Corshe beamed, looking thoroughly pleased with himself as he reviewing the snapshot.
"Alright, let's eat," Perial announced.
The group began to eat, but a strange, heavy silence quickly descended over the table. It felt as though the unspoken, unforgettable events of the previous night were weighing heavily on everyone's minds. Seeing the awkward tension clouding the room, Perial and Corshe exchanged a quick look, silently agreeing to break the ice.
"Perial, don't you have a photoshoot scheduled for today?" Corshe asked out of nowhere.
"I do, but it got rescheduled," Perial replied, chewing thoughtfully. "Actually, I believe Xerchin was invited to the same shoot. Correct me if I'm wrong."
"Mm," Xerchin offered a short, entirely bland grunt in response, keeping his eyes firmly on his plate.
Perial and Corshe winced as the awkward silence rolled right back in, thicker than before. Refusing to give up, Corshe adjusted his glasses and tried a different angle.
"Oh, right, Xeilin! When is the official announcement for the acquaintance party going up?" Xeilin paused, taking a quick sip of water before answering.
"Oh, that should be today. Felina and Luo are the ones in charge of handling the official posts for the event." And just like that, the conversation died for a third time.
Frustrated by the stubborn quiet, Corshe puffed his cheeks out, growing thoroughly cranky. "Let's all just walk to school together then!" The suggestion made multiple heads snap up in pure disbelief.
"Probably not good idea." Xeilin said immediately, shaking his head.
"Yeah, I really don't think that's a good idea," Rell agreed, clearing his empty plate.
"Agreed," Revin chimed in, gesturing subtly toward the Vcheroi brothers. "There are way too many gossipers on campus, especially around those two." He pointed towards the two brothers and stacked his dishes and stood up.
"I'm fine with whatever," Beidhen muttered, completely indifferent. Meanwhile, Xerchin and Leansei remained dead silent, focused entirely on finishing their food.
"Ugh, you guys are impossible!" Corshe whined, crossing his arms. "I'm completely out of ideas to make you talk. It's so hard to communicate when I'm the only nerd in the room."
Leansei reached over, gently tapping Corshe's shoulder to soothe his frustration. "I'll go with you, if you want." Corshe's eyes instantly lit up with excitement, and he practically bolted from his chair to head for the shower.
"Yeah, count me in too," Revin added.
"Same here," Xeilin agreed.
On the other side of the table, the two brothers exchanged a brief, tight look before turning away in collective irritation. Without another word, they gathered the remaining plates and carried them over to the kitchen sink.
.
Once on campus, Leansei tried his best to push the morning's chaotic events out of his mind. He needed to stay focused. He remained hyper-vigilant, scanning his surroundings for any sign of danger; the men who had abducted him yesterday were incredibly dangerous, and he hadn't been able to bring the gun he had managed to seize from them.
Sitting on the tiered rows of benches in the gym hall, Leansei stared blankly at his bag, lost in a daze of anxious thoughts. Xeilin noticed his distant expression. Looking worried, he walked over and gently tapped Leansei's shoulder. Leansei jolted slightly, snapping back to reality.
"What's wrong?" Xeilin asked softly, his eyes filled with genuine concern.
"N-nothing," Leansei lied quickly, scrambling for an excuse. "I was just thinking about that long test we took earlier." Let out a cynical, dry laugh, flipping through the loose papers in his hand.
"Well, congratulations on surviving his painfully boring exam. Literally nothing we reviewed actually showed up on the test."
"He's always like that," Leansei murmured. "You just have to get used to it."
Leansei's eyes drifted toward the lower benches, where Del and Vio were resting during the short break. He scanned the immediate area, casually swaying his arms to make his movements look natural, but he couldn't shake the eerie feeling that a certain annoying presence was lingering nearby.
"Looking for him?" Xeilin asked, his voice dripping with a light, teasing tone that instantly grated on Lean's raw nerves.
I immediately denied it, Lean's defenses snapping up in a fraction of a second as I tried to look anywhere but at the gym doors. "No! Why on earth would I be doing that?—and who exactly told you that I was looking for anyone?"
"Oh, come on, Kean. Your gray eyes have been wandering all over this entire room since the second we walked in," Xeilin pointed out, his lips curling into a knowing, highly mischievous smirk. "You haven't even looked at the actual memo for once."
"Isn't that completely normal for someone standing in a wide, cavernous gymnasium?" I countered, my voice raising a defensive pitch. "I'm just surveying the structural space, Xei. It's an administrative habit."
Xeilin let out a little giggle, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Yes... perfectly normal, Kean. It is an exceptionally standard administrative habit when you are actively, desperately scanning the crowd for one specific person."
I delivered a quick, friendly punch straight to his shoulder—not harsh, not hard at all, and entirely devoid of malice, just a classic way to break his annoying focus. "Aw..." he whined playfully, rubbing the joint with a theatrical frown.
"Why on earth are you even hanging around this hall anyway?" I asked, shifting my weight to look busy with my folders. "Aren't you supposed to be across the building? Unless... wait. Are you actively trying to avoid someone over there?—"
Xeilin snapped his chin up instantly, his entire posture turning incredibly rigid. "Who could I even possibly need to avoid?—I am absolutely not avoiding a single person on this campus!"
My eyes narrowed into a suspicious, highly analytical look as I took in his frantic defense. "If that's the factual case, you should be over in the acoustic practice hall explicitly monitoring the live musicians right now—"
"I am the official elected President of this student organization," Xeilin interrupted authoritatively, pulling his rigid council mask back over his features. "It is my absolute constitutional duty to inspect and evaluate every single rehearsal block on the roster today."
"But I'm pretty sure checking the dance duo's progress is explicitly Felina's designated work for the afternoon—"
Xeilin sharply turned his face away, his mouth opening and closing silently as he searched for a viable counter-argument. Leansei chuckled softly, thoroughly enjoying the reality that the usually unyielding council president was entirely out of words and believable excuses.
The small amusement withered away in a fraction of a second when Xeilin's features suddenly softened, his face and tone becoming dead-serious.
"Hey," Xeilin said, his voice dropping into a low, deeply worried frequency as he stepped a pace closer. He reached out, resting a gentle, comforting hand firmly on my bruised shoulder. "I know for a fact that something completely terrible happened to you last night. We were all truly, genuinely worried about your life, Kean. When you fainted on that rooftop..."
He squeezed my shoulder gently, his eyes locking onto mine with an unyielding, reassuring tone. "Just please remember that we are your real friends. You don't have to carry the weight alone. You can tell me—you can tell all of us absolutely anything, and we will help you." I glanced back at him, forcing a disciplined, assured look onto my features to hide the structural panic regarding Master M before offering a tight nod of gratitude.
' Kean is absolutely the luckiest guy on the entire earth to have these kinds of fiercely loyal friends, ' Leansei thought, a profound wave of sadness darkling his gray pupils. ' I genuinely hope that when the day comes and I am forced to transmigrate back to my real body... will they even be able to remember a single trace of me? Probably not. They will only remember him. '
Xeilin's eyes suddenly passed right through Leansei's face, his expression freezing instantly as a figure stepped through the main entrance of the gym hall. Walking smoothly across the court was a boy with a glowing, exceptionally attractive face, dressed simply in a casual t-shirt and loose pants.
Leansei noticed the sudden, suffocating silence and glanced behind his own shoulder. Rell was striding across the polished basketball floor, a big, confident smile painting his handsome features as he waved his hand enthusiastically toward their row—or, more accurately, waving explicitly at the rigid president.
Xeilin immediately created a sharp physical distance between himself and Leansei, aggressively turning his entire torso to face the center of the court where Del and Vio had just resumed their fluid rehearsal routine.
"Why on earth is he here..." Xeilin whispered frantically under his breath, his cheeks already warming a bright shade of pink. "He is supposed to be tuning his instruments."
Rell finally arrived at their station, his masculine presence completely filling the space. "Hey, Kean! Good afternoon!" he greeted Lean cheerfully, acting as if he hadn't just dropped Corshe and Xeilin off at the front gates in his luxury vehicle earlier this morning.
"Rell? Hey. How exactly is the band practice going?" Leansei asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Rell's light brown eyes were subtly sneaking continuous glances toward Xeilin, who was currently trying his absolute best to make himself look completely invisible against the wooden bleachers—an entirely failed attempt at invisibility.
"Oh, it's incredibly tiring—especially since the person who is supposed to act as our official supervisor is nowhere to be found, completely slacking off in a different building instead of watching over our sets," Rell noted dryly, his eyes darting pointedly toward Xeilin's rigid back.
Leansei glanced back and forth between the two boys, a quiet, knowing smirk playing on his treated lips.
"But I am honestly surprised to see him standing over here with you instead of doing his actual job," Rell added, idly adjusting his leather guitar strap.
Xeilin tried his absolute best to act as if he didn't mind the direct commentary at all. Even though his entire body and eyes were rigidly locked onto the dancers, his ears were entirely capturing every single syllable of their conversation.
Rell walked smoothly around the table, stepping right into Xeilin's personal space. He extended his hands, offering a cold can of strawberry juice—which was notoriously Xeilin's absolute favorite flavor profile—flanked by a neatly wrapped triangle of onigiri in his other hand. Xeilin glanced down at the offering, completely startled, his throat locking up as he hesitated to reach out and take the containers from his fingers.
"I know for a fact that you haven't consumed a single bite of real food during the entire morning break time," Rell said softly, his voice dropping into a sweet, devastatingly genuine register as he stared down at him.
Xeilin merely stared at the offering in complete confusion, his mind spinning into a flustered, chaotic loop.
Watching the silent standoff play out across the floor mats, Leansei felt completely invisible, as if his physical presence had entirely disappeared from their perimeter. It felt exactly as if he did not exist within the space at all, entirely bypassed by the romantic energy between them.
Leansei gave a dry, unamused look to the open air.
""-__-
Capitalizing on Xeilin's stunned hesitation, Rell reached out, smoothly took the president's bare hand, and firmly pressed the cold juice can directly into his palm, closing Xeilin's fingers over the aluminum container. He turned his head to look back at Leansei, but his movements froze mid-motion. Leansei wasn't awkwardly watching their romantic scenery episode at all; instead, he was intensely staring down at his printed schedule files, scanning the timeline columns for the numerous time to look entirely detached.
"That's weird... in the past, you only ever gave those specific types of drinks to me," Leansei murmured softly.
The words blurted out of his mouth completely out of nowhere, shattering his detached mask before his brain could catch the phrase. Leansei froze, his heart skipping a violent beat as he immediately slammed his palm right over his mouth, staring intensely at the paper sheets in his hands as if the printed text were the most fascinating mystery in the universe.
' Why on earth did I just say that out loud? ' Leansei wailed silently behind his teeth, pure panic racing through his veins. ' I have absolutely zero personal memory of Rell buying me drinks back in Levous City. Is this residual muscle memory? Is this the real Kean's subconscious forcing its way to the surface? '
Both Xeilin and Rell halted their interactions, their heads sharply snapping toward him. Rell stared at him in absolute, pure surprise, his eyes completely wide.
"Wait... you can actually remember that specific detail now, Kean?!" Rell gasped out, his voice raising a pitch of genuine hope. "The doctor said the amnesia was temporary, so does this mean your memories are coming back?"
Leansei forced a faint, highly artificial laugh to ease the sudden, heavy tension. "I... I only said the phrase completely unconsciously, Rell... but I guess a small, fragmented part of my brain does remember that minor habit."
Rell's expression softened instantly, and he quickly reached deep into his trousers pocket, pulling out a small, vibrant candy wrapper. He held it out across the table. "Then tell me... if your memory is returning, isn't this exact chocolate lollipop your absolute favorite comfort snack after an exhausting day?" Leansei stared at the candy, a quiet realization smoothing out his defenses.
' Well... at least for the very first time since I transmigrated into this life, me and the real Kean actually possess a single concrete preference in common. We both love chocolate sweets. '
"Thank you," Leansei said softly, reaching out to take the lollipop from his fingers, offering a genuine nod of appreciation. "I appreciate it."
Xeilin glanced down at the candy wrapper, and then at Rell's close proximity. The flustered tension became too much for him to manage. "Kean... I think I need to head back to the main student council office floor right now to finalize the budget files," Xeilin blurted out abruptly, his face burning a bright crimson. Without waiting for a single word of reply, he turned on his heel and walked quickly out of the gymnasium doors.
"Ah... wait up, Xei! I'll head back with you to discuss the band rosters! Bye, Kean! See you later!" Rell called out rapidly, not losing a single second as he whired around and came running aggressively after the retreating president.
Leansei stood solitary by the bleachers, watching the heavy double doors swing shut behind them with an expression of intense confusion and profound relief at the exact same time.