* * *
My eyelids felt unusually heavy today.
My eyes traced the ceiling at a sluggish pace.
Ruite trudged out of bed and stared blankly into the air.
Even in that brief moment of rising, his body felt weighed down as if lead weights were attached to it.
The heaviness didn’t disappear even after washing up.
‘Is it fatigue from going out yesterday and then staying at the training ground to oversee Dylan and Rhea’s training without resting? Well, after the exams, I was called here and there because of that incident, so I haven’t really had a proper rest.’
It seemed his body was drooping because the accumulated fatigue hadn’t been properly resolved.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t skip a meal.
Ruite went down to the first floor and entered the dining hall.
Scanning the interior naturally, he saw Dylan raising a hand in the distance.
It seemed he had come down early and secured a spot.
After eating together for three years, a rule had formed where whoever arrived first would grab a seat without needing to say a word.
Ruite nodded toward Dylan, indicating he would head over shortly.
At that moment, his head spun again, and his body tilted forward involuntarily.
As a result, his head bumped lightly against the shoulder of the person in front of him; he felt that shoulder flinch in surprise the moment they touched.
“Ah…”
He tried to offer an apology, but the gaze fixed on him from above was unsettling.
As luck would have it, the person standing in front of him was Chester.
With an expressionless face, Chester looked back and forth between Ruite and the spot where their shoulders had touched.
“I told you not to touch me.”
It was his forehead, not his hand.
And since it wasn’t intentional but rather a sudden headache, Ruite felt there was no need for a long-winded explanation.
“Yeah, sorry.”
Chester turned away coldly and did not look back once until he finished receiving his food.
After receiving his own portion, Ruite headed toward the seat where Dylan was waiting.
“Ruite.”
“Yeah?”
Ruite wondered if Dylan was calling him to steal his food again, but he felt Dylan staring intently at his face.
“Stop looking at me like that; your face is so intense I feel like I’ll get indigestion.”
“Are you feeling sick somewhere?”
“Suddenly?”
Ruite tore a large piece of bread and put it in his mouth, tilting his head.
“No, it’s just… how should I put it…”
Dylan put down his utensils and began to slowly scan Ruite’s face.
Just as Ruite really started to feel like he might get sick, Dylan spoke.
“You look different from usual, though I can’t put my finger on what it is… should I say you look a bit listless?”
“Hmm, it’s just that I’m a bit tired.”
He had already felt that his physical condition was slightly off this morning.
However, he didn’t have any specific symptoms like a cough from a cold or a feverish chill.
Except for his body feeling heavy and the occasional headache.
“I’m definitely going to get a full night’s sleep today.”
“Right. Now that you say it, you do look tired.”
Fortunately, there were only morning lectures today.
Consoling himself with the firm resolution to become one with his bed for the rest of the day—to the point where he wouldn’t notice if someone carried him away—he finished the rest of his meal.
After going up to the dormitory to finish preparing for school, he headed to the classroom.
However, in the hallway where the classroom was located, he saw a familiar back.
“Rona.”
Recognizing Rona’s back, Ruite walked up to her side and stood next to her.
“Ah, you startled me… Ruite.”
“Good morning.”
“Mhm.”
Rona’s voice was still spiritless.
After the incident, thanks to Professor Harold soothing the student’s mind, it didn’t seem to have left a trauma, but the problem was that she became dejected whenever she saw him.
Usually, she was the type to offer a pert greeting.
Even now, Rona was fingering a transparent bottle without saying much. Inside, he could see seeds of an unknown name.
“Are you going to plant those in the classroom vines again?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I want to try an experiment.”
“I think Professor Harold will catch you again… last time, it didn’t even last a day.”
“That was because that plant looked so conspicuous.”
Rona’s voice rose slightly.
“Oh, are you confident this time?”
“Of course! I bet he won’t notice for at least a week.”
With that, Rona began to chatter away about what species the seeds she was going to plant secretly were.
Of course, the content didn’t really register in his ears this time either, but the sight of Rona explaining things excitedly seemed no different from usual.
“Ah… hmph, I talked too much without realizing it.”
Rona, suddenly snapping back to her senses, cleared her throat with a dry cough.
She was undoubtedly possessed by the guilt that she had put him in danger during the exam.
But it was an accident in every sense of the word, and since no one was hurt, it wasn’t a stretch to say it was a happy ending.
However, he knew that no matter how much the party involved comforted her, the knot of guilt she held wouldn’t be easily untied.
“It’s fine. Well, I still don’t quite understand what you’re talking about.”
“Is it that you weren’t listening properly?”
Ruite curled his lips at the usual retort.
“I’ll cheer for you so that Professor Harold doesn’t notice for about ten days.”
Ruite lightly patted Rona’s head.
If they just kept acting like this as usual, Rona’s burden would gradually disappear.
“Thanks. But Ruite… did you not sleep today?”
“I know, right. I’m especially tired today. Since there are only a few lectures anyway, I’ll have to endure.”
“Aren’t you going to doze off during the lecture again?”
Ruite scratched his cheek with a startled face.
There was a high probability of that happening, but he intended to try and hold out without dozing off this time.
After all, hadn’t Chester told him yesterday that he flopped over and slept during every lecture?
“Fine, I’ll cheer for you so you don’t doze off.”
A few hours after hearing Rona’s words of encouragement, Ruite was fighting a fierce battle against sleep, making his resolution pale in comparison.
But it was a bit different from his usual sleepiness.
It wasn’t just that sleep was pouring in because the lecture was boring; it was closer to his body sagging.
Strangely, his breath was a bit short, and it was even hot.
“Ah.”
Ruite, who had dozed off again and snapped his eyes open, rubbed his heavy eyes.
Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t been caught by the professor, who was passionately lecturing.
By the way, he didn’t quite understand the content of the professor’s lecture.
Looking at it now, the professor was explaining something different from the page of the textbook he had open.
He had lost track of the progress while dozing.
“Chester.”
Ruite leaned his body slightly to the side and whispered softly.
“Which part are we on now?”
“…”
But Chester gave no response.
Was it because he spoke too softly and wasn’t heard?
He had no choice but to steal a glance at Chester’s textbook.
He dozed off a few more times after that, but luckily, the lecture ended without him being caught by the professor.
As soon as the professor disappeared, Ruite let out a deep sigh and slumped over his desk.
If he could just endure one more lecture, he could return to the dormitory.
‘I wonder if I can hold out. It feels like my condition is getting worse.’
At that moment, Chester, who was preparing his textbook for the next lecture, cast a sideways glance at the slumped Ruite.
Then, as if he had made a decision, he headed toward the professor’s office.
“Professor.”
“Oh, Chester. Is something the matter?”
Harold welcomed Chester, who had paid a sudden visit.
“There’s something I’d like to consult you about for a moment.”
“Is that so? Shall we go to the counseling room then?”
Leading Chester, who nodded, Harold headed to the counseling room right next door.
And as soon as they sat down, Harold’s expression was dyed with bewilderment at the words Chester uttered.
“You want to change your mate?”
“Yes.”
“No, why so suddenly? It’s been quite a while since the change, hasn’t it?”
It wasn’t a request to change right after the mates were picked, but a request at a time when they should have sufficiently adapted, so Harold couldn’t help but express his doubt.
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“Ruite is?”
When Chester nodded, Harold naturally thought of Ruite.
As his presiding professor, he knew well that the boy’s personality wasn’t one to specifically make anyone uncomfortable.
Of course, he had no intention of allowing a change to a mate once decided for any reason until the next drawing.
“Specifically, what part?”
Still, Harold couldn’t suppress his curiosity and threw out a question.
He wanted to know what on earth Ruite had done that Chester would come here himself to ask for a change of mate.
“…”
Chester was silent.
He couldn’t easily open his mouth at the professor’s question about what was uncomfortable.
It was because he himself didn’t know how to explain this discomfort.
He simply felt unpleasant at the fact that he was feeling such emotions.
He felt like he would be better if he were a bit away from Ruite.
“Well, I understand what the request is, but…”
Harold checked the time, letting his words trail off.
“As you know, changing mates in the middle is not allowed. For now, it’s almost time for the next lecture to start, so go to the classroom. Let’s talk again next time.”
“Yes.”
He already knew that mates couldn’t be changed for personal reasons.
However, he didn’t want to continue feeling this stifling sensation inside the classroom.
Chester, who came out of the counseling room without much success, pressed down on his stiff eyes and went up to the floor where the classroom was located.
However, he felt an unusual atmosphere in the class.
As he got closer, the whispering voices coming from inside grew even louder.
The moment he opened the back door and entered, the first thing that caught his eye was that his classmates were all gathered at the back of the classroom.
“Oh, what should we do? Someone call a professor!”
“Ruite! Are you okay?”
“It looks like he’s completely lost consciousness…!”
At the unusual atmosphere and the name Ruite, Chester reflexively squeezed through the crowd.
Ruite was lying there, surrounded by his classmates.
Breathing seemed quite difficult for him, and cold sweat was pouring down his forehead like rain.
“This won’t do. Guys, I’ll just carry him on my back to the infirmary. Someone please just call Professor Harold.”
“Ah, yes!”
Colin reached out toward the fallen Ruite.
The moment his unhesitating hand was about to wrap around Ruite’s shoulder, Chester swatted Colin’s hand away as if to restrain him.
“Chester? What’s wrong? We need to take Ruite to the infirmary quickly…”
“…It’s right that I do it, not you.”
* * *
