The whispers among the guys became even louder when the "Queen Bee" of the campus appeared before them. A well-known influencer across the institute.
"Hi there, we meet again," Aidera said with a smile.
The five of them turned to Zeyn, who was directly questioned. And just like that, everyone's attention shifted towards him as if he was the new spotlight.
"Unm... sorry. Who are you, actually?" he asked, confused.
"Eh? You don't remember? Well, I guess that makes sense… We only met briefly."
"When was this?"
Their exchange felt off. Kriss, Damian, Andre—glanced at each other in disbelief. Wasn't this some kind of misunderstanding?
Aidera's expression changed to surprise. She had just met this guy a week ago, and she remembered it well. The same goes for Zeyn, who was still wondering who he was facing now.
"It was at…"
The incident on the stairs... Wasn't it just a few days ago? Even if it was, her head couldn't remember anything now. Why did she suddenly feel like it had been a long time ago?
"Milady, what's wrong?" Clara asked.
From the outside, she seemed composed, but inside, a rush of static flooded her mind. Once again, she felt dizzy in her head, with a glimpse of an event starting to haunt her like an old movie played in reverse. Her surroundings changed according to the places in her mind. She felt like she was running away from a big mansion engulfed in flames, holding hands with someone.
They ran and kept running until one of them looked back at the house. There, right in front of the door, a child who looked like Zeyn could be seen.
Aidera staggered back, grabbing Clara's arm for support. Her knees gave out, and she nearly collapsed into a seated position.
"Hey! Are you okay?" Jack's voice broke through the fog, his presence solid beside her now.
"Miss Ai, what's going on?" Clara became worried.
Strange images appeared in her head like missing pieces of memory. She didn't know whether they were true or not. She would always get a headache when she tried to remember.
Suddenly, many people looked at this red-eyed young man curiously.
"Hey Zeyn! What did you do?" Kriss asked in a panic. "Did you trigger something?!"
"Huh? I... I have no idea!" he replied, also confused. Honestly had no clue.
With Clara's help, Aidera slowly got to her feet again. Her head was still spinning, but she forced herself to breathe.
"I'm sorry. I just came to return something," she finally said, her voice steadier now.
The girl handed over an old blue wallet to Zeyn. An item that had been missing for a week.
"That's..." His eyes widened.
"My colleague found it near the cafe last week. Initially the manager wanted to return it based on the address on the ID card. Unfortunately, your home address was quite difficult to find, he said," Aidera explained calmly.
Zeyn took the wallet with careful hands, flipping it open. The wallet was complete with everything, including an old photo of a child being carried by someone in the rain, looking happy. It was one of his most treasured childhood photos.
"My wallet... It was a gift from my dad," he said softly.
"You must have looked for it everywhere. Be careful next time. Losing personal data is dangerous, you know."
"I… thank you. Really."
For a second, Zeyn simply stood there. He looked at her directly, those red eyes calm but focused. Without hesitation, he placed a hand gently on her shoulder.
"May I know your name?"
Her heart skipped. "A-Aidera. You can call me Ai..."
"Got it."
Suddenly there was a feeling that was difficult to explain. Her eyes couldn't break away from the gaze of those red eyes that had locked onto her. As if hypnotized by each other, their faces drew closer.
He leaned in slightly, his voice low. "If you ever need to go somewhere, I'll be happy to take you."
Aidera's breath caught. "Huh?"
And again, Zeyn sensed something watching. Something that seemed to be protecting this girl. There was a strange power from a mysterious entity. It felt cruel and terrifying. Unfortunately, it could only be felt from this close distance.
"Ai, you are... somewhat special."
"M-me?"
"I wonder if you've already realized it," Zeyn whispered seriously.
Meanwhile, various reactions erupted in the room's corridor. Some were shocked, confused, hysterical, etc. Clara quickly pulled Aidera away from behind. Kriss and others also pulled Zeyn away enthusiastically.
"Hey-hey. Take it easy. No need to rush," Damian said.
"Calm, bro! She isn't yours." Andre added.
Some eyes instantly looked at the perpetrator threateningly, as if to warn him to stay away. It was a reckless move that made Clara nervous and wary.
"You're an ungrateful person, don't think Miss Ai cares about you and can be taken advantage of so easily!" Clara said in an angry tone.
"Why? He didn't do anything wrong tho." Aidera protested, confused.
Not wanting the situation to escalate further, Jack stepped forward and patted their shoulder. The person still grinned, especially after seeing Zeyn's behavior earlier, which was quite interesting.
But that's enough for now, if security were to observe the events in the corridor through surveillance cameras more than this, there may be negative stigma.
"Your business is done here. It's time for me to take you back." Jack said.
"Eh? But..."
"Come on, we don't want to draw any more attention than this, right?"
Jack spoke casually but his tone was high. Moreover, he turned to look at Zeyn and was silent for a moment. Without hesitation or fear, he looked straight into those red eyes, like two lions staring at each other. Full of vigilance, full of suspicion, full of calculation.
"Now, I want everyone disperse without making a scene and keep today's story to yourselves. Got it?"
Hearing direct orders from the head of the Student Department, some people there wanted to leave the scene. Perhaps because they were afraid or felt intimidated, many seemed to be submissive to Jack. Rumors that always surrounded him made some people choose to avoid him.
"Come on, let's go, it's time to leave," Damian said to Kriss.
"You go ahead, I still want to stay here."
Kriss still wanted to stay and look around for a while. A simple order from the organization leader would not be enough to make him avoid an event that he found unique like now.
They were still staring at each other, seemingly ignoring the diminishing audience around them. The context? Of course, no one knew. The glint in Jack and Zeyn's eyes was more like people who were about to fight.
"What?! What is this? Why has the atmosphere suddenly turned so tense?" Kriss murmured.
"Okay, okay, it's time to go home," Aidera interrupted.
"..."
"Jack?"
The head of the Student Department smiled briefly until he decided to turn around. Funny enough, after seeing Aidera and Clara's confused expressions, he smiled broadly as if nothing had happened. As if he was only showing his intimidating face to Zeyn.
"Ok ladies... it's time for me to escort you both again."
The three of them finally decided to leave the scene. The goal has been achieved and it's time to go back.
"Aidera, huh...?" Even though his face has remained flat since earlier, Zeyn felt that this time he could not hide his expression that was about to smile.
"Uwaah, how could you be visited by our queen? Are you not an ordinary person?" Kriss asked.
"Queen...?"
"She's the idol on this campus, you know. Don't you know?"
Zeyn looked back at his wallet. Once again, he smiled because he finally got it back. "The important thing is, I got my wallet back."
He turned around and left Kriss, intending to go home. But this blonde guy seemed very eager to follow him and get closer. Besides, what's wrong with walking together since this is still on the upper floor.
"Oh yeah, tell me how your wallet went missing, huh?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh come on, I'm sure your story is interesting. We have plenty of time."
"Uhh..."
* * * *