It didn't take long before the air shifted, the classroom door opening again. The lecturer walked in, holding a neat stack of papers. A hush fell, tension crawling back into the room.
Test results.
Kael's stomach dropped. His eyes widened just slightly as the pile hit the desk with a sharp smack. His soul sank.
"Mia," the lecturer called. "Help share these."
She stood, graceful, the movement enough to stir Kael's nerves worse. Paper by paper, she moved down the rows, handing results, her expression unreadable. Then she reached Kael's row.
Her eyes locked with his, lips twitching into the smallest smirk. She placed the paper face-down on his desk… but not before she glanced at the score herself.
Her lips parted then snapped closed as her hand rose, covering her mouth. Her shoulders shook, laughter strangled in her throat.
Kael's blood froze.
He didn't need to flip it. He knew.
Groaning inside, He turned his face sharply back toward the window, pretending to be interested in clouds that weren't even there. His palm pushed against his forehead, wishing he could melt straight into the wood of the desk.
The paper sat there, taunting him. His own name stamped above a score so pathetic it was almost an insult. He didn't touch it. He didn't dare.
The muffled sound of Mia's laugh hidden behind her hand... stabbed sharper than any blade.
And Kael thought, not for the first time that week "
Just kill me now.
The paper still sat there, face-down, screaming at him without a sound.
Kael's jaw tightened, eyes stuck on the window. If I don't look at it, it doesn't exist. Simple. Easy. Not real.
Then—tap.
Jacob leaned over from his desk, brow raised. "Yo, bro…" He squinted at Kael's untouched paper. "Why you look like somebody just told you your funeral date?"
Kael hissed through his teeth, hand dragging down his face. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Jacob wasn't buying it. With a grin too wide for comfort, he leaned further, trying to peek at the paper. "Oh-ho… wait a minute. Don't tell me you bombed it. Again."
"Shut up," Kael muttered, still not looking.
But Jacob already caught Mia's small shake of shoulders as she stifled a laugh from two rows up. He froze, then smirked like a fox. "Ohh. Now I get it." He pointed subtly. "She saw it, didn't she?"
Kael's head snapped, eyes narrowing. "Shut. Up."
Jacob chuckled under his breath, whispering, "Man, she's over there holding in her laugh like you just confessed you can't spell your own name."
Kael hissed, fingers gripping his desk so tight the wood creaked. "I said it's nothing."
Jacob leaned back, biting his knuckles to hold back laughter. "Damn, bro. First, you trip in the doorway like a broken NPC, now this. Your life's turning into a full comedy special."
Kael's eyes twitched. He sat stiff, pretending he couldn't hear, pretending he was a rock–while inside, his pride was being shredded into confetti.
The sound of Mia's faint giggle slipped through again, like salt on a fresh wound.
Jacob caught it, grinning wider. "Oh, she definitely saw your score. That laugh? That was a 'you're-done-for' laugh."
Kael dropped his forehead onto his desk with a heavy thunk.
"Just… end me here," he muttered into the wood.
Jacob snickered. "Nah, bro. This is way too entertaining."
Kael sat slumped at his desk, still trying to burn a hole through the window with his eyes. Jacob, of course, wasn't letting it slide, and neither were his so-called "gang"—three guys leaning in from the back row, snickering like hyenas.
"Yo, Kael," one of them whispered loud enough for half the class to hear, "I bet he scored higher than me… if zero counts."
Another slapped the desk, laughing. "Nah, man, don't do him like that! Kael's a lover, not a reader. Books can't compete with thighs."
Jacob grinned, pointing with both hands like he'd just solved world hunger. "Exactly! Bro's too busy building his own personal harem to remember the alphabet."
The table shook under Kael's palms as he hissed through clenched teeth, "Shut. Up."
The whole gang laughed harder. Even Mia, across the room, covered her mouth again, shoulders trembling with quiet amusement. Kael wanted to melt into the floor.
And then silence.
A sudden click of heels broke the noise. Everyone straightened. The teacher's shadow cut across Kael's desk like a guillotine.
"You," she said, glasses sliding low on her nose. Her sharp gaze pinned him like a dart on a board. "You're Kael, right?"
His throat dried instantly. "Y-Ye—yes, Ma'am."
For a long, torturous moment, she just studied him, her lips almost curling into something unreadable. Then she nodded slowly, straightened, and walked out of the class without another word.
Kael exhaled so hard it hurt. Jacob leaned over instantly. "Bro…" he whispered, eyes wide, "she said your name. You're done for. Pack your bags. New chapter of your life just unlocked."
The gang snickered. "Yeah, bro. Better start writing your will. She looked at you like you're dessert."
Kael groaned, dragging his hands over his face. Why is this my life?
The bell rang, students gathering their stuff and spilling out in groups. Kael was just about to escape too, freedom finally in reach
"Kael," a voice called softly.
He froze. Turned.
Mia stood there, holding a stack of files almost taller than her. She walked closer, each step deliberate, her smirk faint but impossible to miss. "I need your help with these."
Jacob's muffled laugh carried from the doorway. "OHHH. Bro's really done for."
Kael's heart hammered.
He dragged his feet over, his body feeling like it was made of bricks. Every step toward Mia was a battle, but refusing wasn't even an option not when she was looking at him like that. He sank into the seat beside her, shoulders slouched, head heavy.
The air around them shifted. Quiet. Charged. Mia leaned a little closer, the faintest whiff of her perfume teasing him, sweet and dangerous. The stack of files rested on the table, but Kael barely noticed his vision blurred at the edges.
Her voice blurred, too, fading into background hums. His mind betrayed him, flashing pieces of last night, of Selira, of Lucy in the hallway… and now Mia, right here, curves brushing the corner of his sight. His chest tightened.
The air felt erotic, soft, and slow, like the world itself had decided to smother him in velvet.
Kael's head tipped forward, his lids heavy. The warmth of her presence pulled him under like quicksand.
Then
"Kael."
"Kael!"
"Kael!!!"
He jolted upright, eyes wide. "Uhm—s-sorry!" His voice cracked embarrassingly.
Mia tilted her head, smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "You fall asleep on me that easily? Tch. Must be exhausting being you."
Kael muttered under his breath, "You have no idea."
Jacob, from the doorway, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "BRO DON'T PASS OUT ON HER NOW!" before running off, laughing like a maniac.
Kael covered his face with both hands.
Rubbed at his temple, shaking his head slightly. "I'm… I'm not feeling fine, Mia," he muttered, his voice lower than usual.
Her brows lifted, and for a second, there was actual concern on her face. "Hmmm… you sure?" she leaned closer, her tone a mix of suspicion and something softer.
He nodded quickly—too quickly. "Yes, yes. Please, I just—" He snatched his bag up like it was a lifeline. "I'll catch up later."
Before she could even respond, he was already halfway out of the chair, fumbling with the strap and making for the door.
Mia blinked, lips parting, then slowly closed them into that smile again. Not sweet. Not kind. That smirk. The one that followed him like a brand.
She tilted her head, watching his back as he bolted. "Running away, Kael… hm." Her voice was barely a whisper, but laced with amusement, like she already knew this wasn't the end of it.
Kael, rushing down the hallway with his bag bouncing awkwardly at his side, hissed under his breath, "Damn, damn, damn " as if escaping meant winning.
But her smile no, her smirk stayed carved in his mind all the way home.
He slammed the door behind him, his bag sliding across the floor like it was thrown from a cliff. He leaned against the wooden frame, chest heaving, sweat slick on his forehead as if he'd just outrun a pack of wolves.
Finally dragging himself toward the bed, he collapsed onto it face-first, muffling a groan into his sheets before flipping over to stare at the ceiling.
His heart wouldn't calm. It thudded heavy, uneven, pounding like he had just escaped the electric glare of Mia's eyes.
"I barely escaped her this time," he whispered, the words trembling out like a confession to no one. "If I stayed one more second damn… I might've been in a big mess by now."
He squeezed his wrist, the faint burn of the sigil under his skin flickering back to memory. Everything was spiraling: Selira's teasing possession, Clara's sudden message, Lucy's smirks, Aimee's eyes, and now Mia—always Mia, closing in like she already owned him.
Kael groaned, covering his face with both hands. "It's all just escape. All I do is run."
But deep inside, he knew… there'd be no running forever.