"Hey, Mel, can I just e-mail you after I finish my part? I'm really sorry, but I caught a terrible flu two days ago."
Melanie who had just exited the cafeteria after finishing her lunch looked at her friend who appeared somewhat pale. She smiled apologetically, perhaps thinking that Melanie would consider her words just an excuse to delay their group assignment. However, when Melanie nodded and handed her phone over, the young woman with shoulder-length black hair beamed with gratitude.
"We still have three days. If you're still feeling sick, just do the last part and send the final to the professor. You don't mind that, right?"
With an enthusiastic nod and a tearful expression, she linked her arm with Melanie's, looking at her with deep appreciation. "Thanks! I mean it!"
After saying that, she waved goodbye and turned to leave Melanie. She merely shrugged, then continued her step toward the restroom. That was her first intention until the vibration of her phone made a click escape her mouth.
Unknown: "I just want to let you know that I am on my way to pick you up since yesterday you did not give me a clue about what I should do today. Tell me where I should wait for you."
With lightning speed, Melanie typed her reply, "Didn't you say we were going at night? It's still noon, you fool! I still have one more class and should return the books I borrowed to the library."
Unknown: "The first piece of information I give you today is 'I reside a bit far from your campus.' Let's say it takes one or two hours until I arrive. So maybe when your class ends, I will just arrive."
Melanie stared at her phone in silence, deciding to sit for a moment on a long bench near the stairs after she was done in the restroom.
"Aren't you tired?"
She immediately regretted typing that after seeing the reply that came in a moment later.
Unknown: "Are you worried about me, Pumpkin? I really appreciate that. But it is really not a problem if it is for you."
She ignored the sweet words that appeared on her screen, wondering what she should do to this freak. After a moment of indecision, Melanie finally typed a reply with a heavy sigh.
"Just wait in the dorm lobby. They have a soft couch and vending machine if you get thirsty. And if you're lucky enough, you might meet an old lady who'll give you some snacks."
Without waiting for more reply from the anonymous, Melanie hurriedly turned off her phone and rushed into one of the classrooms when she saw her professor arriving up the stairs.
~𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 4 𝘱𝘮~
Melanie slowed her pace as she finally saw her dorm building in front of her eyes. As she stretched her aching shoulders from carrying a stack of new books she had borrowed from library, she straightened her back and walked up the small steps leading to the dorm door.
Automatically, Melanie turned 45° to the left toward the stairs to reach her room on the third floor. However, before she could step onto the first stair, a big hand wrapped in a thick parka jacket snatched the stack of books from her embrace. Spontaneously, Melanie turned to reclaim her books. But when she saw the figure standing beside her, her voice got caught in her throat.
"Let me. I cannot just stand still and see you carry these thick books."
For some reason, Melanie felt her ability to speak vanish when she encountered the figure who had always disturbed her through messages from his unregistered number. She knew she was tired, but she also knew that wasn't the reason she couldn't utter a word right now. In her silence, Melanie could only stare at the broad back of the figure in his thick jacket, walking confidently as if he knew exactly where to take the books in his arms.
"Melanie, snap out!" he spoke again, make her jolt a bit. "Let us in. You would not suddenly say if you forgot where you put the key, right?"
With her eyes blinking, awakening from her reverie, Melanie stepped forward to open the door. After a brief exchange of glances with the hidden face behind the hood of his jacket, Melanie stepped inside and saw the man walking in behind her casually. He froze for a moment, before placing the books in his hands on the nearest coffee table.
"Uh, Melanie? I do not intend to offend you but ... are you living in this wrecked ship?"
As if pinching her deepest consciousness, those words made her tongue move again.
"Are you insulting me?!"
"No, no. I told you, I did not mean it that way," He defended himself, raising both hands in front of him as a shield to protect himself from Melanie who looked ready to explode. "Forget what I said. You should just freshen up. You look dead tired even from afar."
Melanie sighed, slowly walking toward the bed. At that moment, she knelt and buried her face in the mattress. Suddenly, she felt someone standing behind her, trying to remove her backpack's strap carefully from her shoulders. As quickly as she could, Melanie lifted her head and craned her neck to peek at his face from below. Unfortunately, she was still too slow against the large gloved hand of the man which immediately covered her face and blocked her view.
"So eager to see my face, Pumpkin?" Melanie felt that nickname sounded increasingly annoying when he spoke it directly. Not to mention the irritating chuckle that accompanied it. "Slow down. For now, I will let you hear my voice."
"Yeah, muffled." That low laugh echoed in Melanie's ears, making her nearly shudder. "I'm not even sure if that's your real voice."
As he placed Melanie's backpack on the chair behind her desk, he raised one hand and pointed at his covered mouth. "That is because I am wearing a mask, so my voice sounds muffled in your pretty ears. Also, I am not an actor who has the skill to use different tones of voice. It is the only voice I can use."
Melanie turned her sitting position around and stared at the man with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She squinted her eyes at the black cloth mask that motorcyclists usually wore to cover the mouth, nose, and down to the lower ears. With that, she should be able to see the eyes of the man in front of her, but he cleverly used his hood to cover his eyes and never took it off even after he found warmth inside Melanie's room.
"You rode a bike?"
Melanie's sudden question seemed to successfully break the man's focus as he was tidying up the mess in her room. He turned around, paused for a moment, and then chuckled. "Well observed, Pumpkin. But no. I cannot stand the cold. I could freeze even before I arrive here if I rode a bike."
"Oh?" Melanie murmured. "So, what you're wearing right now is not merely for cover-up?"
This time, he laughed. Not loud enough to be heard downstairs, but a genuine laugh as if it was the first time in his life he had laughed.
"Yup. I really am weak when winter starts coming."
"But it's still autumn."
"That is my point, Pumpkin," he said while laughing softly. Melanie fell silent for a moment, trying to understand his meaning, before she slapped her forehead. "That is also why I am really glad to feel the warmth in your room, especially with your permission. I can just step aside from whatever ruckus happened here before."
Somehow, Melanie gathered the courage to step closer to the man and slapped her hand right on his broad back, creating a loud sound in the silence. While grimacing and rubbing the spot where she slapped him with one hand, he said, "Hey, look here! I help you tidy up. So why not just say 'thank you' rather than slap me?"
Melanie said nothing, only glaring at where his eyes should be behind his thick hood. Remaining silent for a long enough moment seemed to make him uneasy.
"Ugh, okay, I apologize. So why not you start preparing while I continue tidying up your room?"
With her eyes still squinted suspiciously, Melanie slowly turned her back and walked toward the bathroom. However, before she entered, she glanced back to ensure that the man was indeed busy with whatever his doing.
"Don't you dare poke your eyes in while I'm bathing! Or else I'll kill you!"
Turning around, he paused for a moment before replying with a teasing remark, "I will not, Pumpkin. At least until you ask it yourself willingly."
"Pervert asshole!"
Melanie slammed the bathroom door from inside, which only made the man laugh heartily, causing his body to shake and making the hood on his head fall down, revealing the short dark hair that had been covered by the hood all this time.