Around four weeks passed after the sports festival ended.
Just like Anathasia had warned me, some students did try stirring up trouble between us—asking invasive questions about our relationship, or trying to separate us so they could "talk" to us individually.
Honestly, it was more annoying than it was stressful.
It only stopped about two weeks ago, when we both finally lost patience.
—
"Could you please stop?" Anathasia said bluntly. "You're being really annoying right now."
The hallway went quiet.
She stood there with her arms crossed, staring flatly at the girl in front of her.
"I've already said Kyle and I are together," she continued, her voice tightening. "Which part of that is so hard to understand?"
The girl tried to speak, but Anathasia didn't give her the chance.
"It's been weeks of this," she went on. "You keep asking what we've been doing, twisting our words, trying to make it sound like we did something wrong—like we owe you explanations."
She gently pressed a finger against the girl's chest, nudging her back.
"And for the record, we locked our accounts because we saw this coming."
Her gaze sharpened.
"So quit it. What we have is ours. Stop butting into our relationship and find someone else to bother."
…Damn. Did she pick that up from Ilya or something?
"It'd be better if you stop before I actually lose my patience," she added, leaning in slightly before scoffing.
The girl looked like she wanted to argue, but Anathasia simply brushed past her and walked away.
I followed, offering the girl a small, wry smile as I passed.
"Sorry," I said quietly. "I'd appreciate it if you could cut her some slack."
She froze.
"She doesn't really like it when people meddle in others' business," I continued calmly.
"And honestly… neither do I."
I held her gaze.
"So let's just keep things civil, okay? We don't want this getting out of hand."
Her eyes widened.
She mumbled something that sounded like an apology before turning away, head lowered.
I glanced up—
Anathasia was already standing behind me.
[What was that about…?]
[You…] she started, brows furrowing slightly. [You're terrifying without even trying.]
I stiffened, then turned toward her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She shook her head, laughing softly as we walked.
"You're scary in that quiet way," she said.
"Like a strict professor staring at you after you disappoint them."
She shuddered.
"I don't even know when you started doing that."
"…Seriously?" I muttered.
She nodded.
—
Two weeks later, Halloween was just around the corner.
Finals were only a month away too, but instead of focusing on their majors, students were more interested in rumors.
Doors closing on their own.
Objects floating inside classrooms at midnight.
Sudden chills crawling down spines for no apparent reason.
Whispers spread fast across campus.
So when I asked Anathasia about it—
"Ghosts? Spirits?" she scoffed, stuffing her textbooks into her bag. "Those don't exist."
She waved a hand dismissively.
"And if they did," she added flatly, "even dead souls would think twice about haunting the campus I'm attending."
"…Someone's pretty self-assured," I murmured.
She glanced at me and shrugged.
"It's just the truth. Ghosts are souls of the dead, right?" she said. "Even they'd be smart enough not to cause trouble when I'm nearby."
She slung her bag over her shoulder.
"If ghosts were real, they'd be near the bottom in terms of existence. Haunting a deity wouldn't be bravery—it'd be asking for guaranteed erasure."
"Not even death," she added calmly.
I sighed, shaking my head as she stood up.
Then—
"Kyle."
I turned to see Arianne walking toward us, Robert trailing just behind her with his usual easy smile.
"What's that on your finger?" she asked.
"Oh—this?" I smiled, opening my palm slightly as the silver ring caught the light. "It's a mirrored lotus. Anathasia gave it to me after the race."
Robert stopped beside Arianne. The two exchanged a glance.
"Well…" he said, letting out a quiet laugh, just a little shakier than usual.
"Aren't you two really just something."
For a moment, Anathasia and I looked at each other.
Arianne let out a long sigh, facepalming before turning back to us.
"The rings aside," she began, "are the two of you free tomorrow? The class thought it'd be a good idea to go to a water park before finals next month."
"A water park?" Anathasia and I echoed in unison, both raising an eyebrow.
Robert immediately looked away for some reason, stifling his laughter.
"These two…" he muttered, loud enough for all of us to hear.
"Are supposed to be this class's top students…?"
Anathasia's cheek twitched.
She stepped forward.
I barely managed to grab her wrist and pull her back before she could smack him.
[Okay. Calm down. You're acting immature now.]
[No. Just let me get one smack. Just one.] Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
[No. You might accidentally erase a chunk of his memories.]
She clicked her tongue internally.
"When is it?" I asked, tilting my head slightly while still holding her back.
"And how come we're only hearing about this now?"
"A week from now," Arianne replied. "We're holding a meeting tomorrow. Just class 103 to decide which water park to go to. That's why I was hoping you two were free."
She hesitated, then offered me a small, apologetic smile.
"And… the class talked about this around the second day of the sports festival. So, well…"
Of course. I got it.
"Right," I nodded. "We didn't attend the rest of the festival."
Arianne's expression brightened almost instantly.
Now that Anathasia had stopped resisting, I gently let go of her wrist.
"Then—"
"Yeah, we're free," Anathasia and I said at the same time.
Again.
"Wow," Robert chimed in. "Do you two share a single braincell or something?"
Before either of us could react, Arianne turned around and flicked his forehead.
"Ow—!"
"That said," she continued calmly, turning back to us, "we'll see you two tomorrow."
With that, she walked off, dragging Robert by the ear as he complained under his breath.
We watched them go.
"…Think those two have something going on?" Anathasia whispered.
"Probably," I said after a moment. "A lot of stuff happened while we were gone for a week."
"Hoh…" she hummed, her arms crossed.
—
The next day, everyone from Class 103 was already gathered inside the classroom, with Arianne standing at the front.
Which made sense, she was the class president, after all.
Though she really didn't look like it most of the time.
"So," she said, clapping her hands once. "Here are our choices."
She stepped aside.
Written on the blackboard were three names:
Sunrise Spring Resort
Guadeloupe Water Park
Li Archipelago
The first two were familiar to almost everyone. You'd have to be living under a rock not to know them.
The last one, though…
It sounded familiar, yet strangely distant at the same time.
A brief silence followed, broken by murmurs spreading across the room. After a moment, someone raised their hand.
"Arianne," a student asked, squinting at the board, "where exactly is this… Li Archipelago?"
She paused, then smiled casually. Reaching for the remote, she turned on the TV mounted above the blackboard.
The screen lit up.
A montage began to play, white sand stretching across a long shoreline, crystal-clear blue waters encircling an island. At its center stood a massive water park, packed with dozens of attractions.
Slides. Pools. Floating structures.
"It's on an island about five kilometers off the coast, just outside the city," Arianne said.
The classroom went dead silent.
Some students stared, wide-eyed. Others looked like they genuinely forgot how to breathe.
"It's owned by a friend of mine," she added, glancing at the screen as more footage played. Restaurants, bars, multiple pools, even jet skis lined up along the beach.
…She's definitely talking about that Mei Li Anathasia mentioned two months ago.
I turned to my side—
Only to find Anathasia already asleep, her head leaning against my shoulder.
"And additionally," Arianne continued, raising a finger beside her face, "if the class decides on the Li Archipelago—all expenses will be covered by my friend's company."
For a split second, the classroom went completely silent.
Then—
An obnoxious roar erupted as everyone unanimously chose the Li Archipelago without even pretending to consider the other options.
At this point, it was pretty much inevitable.
That last addition was just the cherry on top.
—
The meeting wrapped up not long after, with the decision set: the trip would be next week, lining up with the long weekend starting Friday, right in the middle of the Week of the Dead.
Students filtered out of the classroom in clusters, voices overlapping as excited chatter about the fully paid vacation echoed through the hallways.
Anathasia and I, on the other hand—
Found ourselves back at the house.
I didn't even bother reacting anymore. Somewhere along the way, I'd given up questioning how we went from the middle of the hallway to our living room in the blink of an eye.
With a small sigh, I sat down on the couch, letting Anathasia rest her head on my lap. I ran my fingers through her hair, gently combing through each strand.
"Li Archipelago… a paid vacation, huh?" I murmured.
"Sounds a bit too good to be true."
"What do you think?" I continued, lightly twirling a strand between my fingers.
"She just wants to lighten the mood for the class," Anathasia replied, shifting slightly on my lap as she met my gaze.
"And don't worry. I don't see any danger in this."
She reached up, her hand cupping my cheek.
"Arianne wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything malicious," she added calmly.
"You know I altered her personality and her memories back then."
My expression turned dry as I glanced toward the window.
"Haha… yeah," I muttered. "That's true…"
Silence settled over the living room as she sprawled comfortably on the couch, pulling out her phone.
—
Three days later
Monday. The start of the Week of the Dead
By the time Anathasia and I arrived, everyone was already gathered at the port behind the mall Arianne owned with her two other friends, waiting for the boat that was supposed to pick us up.
It arrived not long after we did.
Calling it a boat felt like an understatement, it looked more like a ship. Or maybe a yacht. Either way, no one complained as everyone boarded, Arianne guiding the class inside.
When it was finally just the two of us left, she turned back.
She gave us a disarmingly soft smile. One that felt genuine, at least, to a point.
"I'm glad you could make it," she said warmly.
"Both of you."
We both nodded, then casually walked in as the boat started sailing.