* * *
Before being reincarnated, there was a saying in the world.
That even a dog wouldn’t catch a cold in the summer.
Of course, the weather wasn’t exactly “full-blown summer” yet, but Ruite had generally been the type who rarely caught minor illnesses like a cold.
Yet, lo and behold, he woke up one morning with a pounding head, a stuffy nose, and a throat that felt like it had been scraped with a blade.
“Is it a cold?”
A sigh escaped him at the unpleasant sensation.
It really had been too early for short sleeves.
It was likely due to the drastic temperature difference between day and night.
The only saving grace was that he didn’t have a fever.
Before leaving his room, Ruite rummaged through his drawers and found a mask.
He didn’t want to spread it to others, so he put it on carefully before heading down to the dormitory dining hall.
“What’s with the mask?”
Dylan asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
“I caught a cold.”
“Tsk, tsk. A cold in this weather? You really have no luck. If you’re feeling that bad, go to the infirmary and just rest.”
“But I don’t actually have a fever. Even if I go, Professor Philia will just say it’s not enough to skip lectures.”
Dylan nodded as if he understood perfectly.
Philia was fundamentally a gentle and kind person to the students, but she had a hawk-like gaze for spotting those who tried to fake illnesses or use a minor ache as a legal excuse to skip class.
Her diagnoses were so accurate that unless your condition was genuinely poor, you wouldn’t be getting the paperwork necessary to miss a lecture.
“Dylan, in that sense, let’s eat separately—”
But before he could even finish, Dylan had already claimed a seat far away.
Ruite had been worried about infecting him and intended to suggest sitting apart, but Dylan had moved incredibly fast, as if he had read Ruite’s mind.
‘I really picked a good friend,’ Ruite thought dryly.
Left with no choice, Ruite ate quietly in a corner by himself and went straight to the classroom.
As soon as he sat down, he felt a piercing, intense gaze from beside him.
“Good morning.”
Ruite greeted Chester first, feeling like the side of his face was about to be burned through by that look.
“Did you catch a cold?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry. I’m not taking the mask off, so there’s no chance I’ll give it to you.”
Ruite pointedly pulled his books away, creating as much distance from Chester as possible.
He knew all too well how much Chester would resent him if he caught a cold because of Ruite.
“That’s not what’s important right now. Do you feel that bad? What about a fever?”
“I d-don’t really have one.”
“Did you take any medicine?”
Ruite shook his head. Chester furrowed his brows deeply, clearly not pleased with the answer.
“You should have gone to the infirmary. Why are you just sitting here?”
“I’ll go during lunch.”
“Seriously, who told you to pull out the summer uniform already? You should have considered that the morning and night air is still chilly.”
Chester was being strange lately.
His voice was still prickly and he was still nagging, but if you listened closely to the content, it sounded like there was a different meaning hidden underneath.
“Chester.”
“What.”
“Are you… saying that because you’re worried about me?”
“…”
In the noisy classroom, the space around the two of them suddenly became silent.
This wasn’t the reaction Ruite expected.
Usually, if he threw out a line like that, Chester would snap back with something like, “Who’s worried about who?” or “Me? Worry about you? Are you crazy?”
Instead, Chester just kept his mouth shut.
The air turned strangely awkward.
As the silence stretched on, it felt almost like an admission, leaving Ruite feeling uncharacteristically embarrassed.
“If I said I was worried…”
“Yeah?”
“Would you hate it?”
Chester’s gaze locked onto his with persistence.
Looking into those pitch-black eyes, Ruite found it impossible to look away.
For the first time, he felt flustered to the point of being speechless by Chester’s sudden gravity.
What was the right answer?
His goal was to avoid getting on the nerves of a Chester who hated him, and to smoothly deviate from the “villain” setting of the future.
So, what should he say in a situation like this?
Countless question marks floated in his head.
The eye contact between them grew longer.
“Good morning, you two!”
Whether it was good timing or bad, Magnus broke through the strange silence between them.
“Ah, yeah. Good morning.”
Ruite jumped slightly and stuttered out a greeting.
Thanks to Magnus, he was able to escape from the dark eyes of Chester that had felt inescapable just a moment ago.
“Ruite, did you catch a cold?”
“As you can see.”
Ruite deliberately used the conversation with Magnus as a refuge, avoiding looking in Chester’s direction.
However, the thought of how he should have answered Chester’s question still lingered in his mind.
After lunch, Ruite visited the infirmary.
He told Philia his symptoms, and she examined him closely, but it was just a common cold.
Since his temperature was normal, she simply prescribed medicine and told him he was fit enough to attend lectures.
To be honest, he had secretly hoped she would tell him to go rest in the dorms.
When he returned to class, Chester asked, “The medicine?”
Ruite showed him the pack, and Chester turned away without a word.
Following the weird conversation in the morning, Chester’s behavior returned to normal.
He didn’t bring it up again, and he focused on the lectures as usual.
Ruite decided to let it go.
His belief that Chester was acting strange remained unchanged, but he pushed the thought that Chester had looked a little different for a split second into the back of his mind.
“You don’t need to come to the library today.”
“Why? What about the assignment?”
“You can start again once your cold is gone. It’s almost finished anyway.”
“Ah, okay.”
‘So, since I have a cold, don’t bother coming to the library and just rest in the dorm?’
Ruite scratched his head and nodded.
In truth, as time passed, his body was feeling heavier and he was getting tired easily.
He accepted Chester’s suggestion without complaint.
After the lectures were over, Ruite found himself walking toward the dormitory building alongside Chester.
“Ruite—!”
Dylan, who was about to enter the building, spotted Ruite and familiarly slung an arm around his shoulders.
Perhaps it was the force of the friendly gesture, but Ruite, weakened by the cold, stumbled slightly.
Chester’s eyes grew cold as he watched Dylan’s hand casually draped over Ruite’s shoulder and the lack of distance between them.
“Ah, right. You said you had a cold.”
Dylan pulled away quickly, and Ruite, feeling a bit annoyed by the sudden rejection, poked Dylan in the ribs with his elbow.
“Ow, hey, that actually hurts.”
“I’m not eating dinner today, so eat by yourself. Not like we could’ve eaten together with my cold anyway.”
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“I don’t have much of an appetite because of the cold.”
Having said his piece, Ruite headed up the stairs first.
Dylan and Chester were left standing in the lobby.
Feeling the awkward standoff, Dylan laughed sheepishly and gave Chester a light nod.
Since they had met in the plaza once and returned to the academy together, he seemed to be acknowledging their acquaintance.
But Chester simply stared with a blank face and didn’t even return the greeting.
“Did you know Ruite was sick?”
“Huh? Yeah, I saw him this morning.”
“Then I think the way you acted just now was a bit dangerous.”
Dylan scratched his head, confused.
He muttered “The way I acted just now?” to himself, but he couldn’t figure out what Chester meant.
Chester wasn’t really looking for an answer.
Leaving the dazed Dylan behind, Chester headed toward the dining hall.
Even while eating, he couldn’t stop worrying about Ruite.
He hadn’t seemed to have a fever, but he looked increasingly exhausted as the day went on.
He had suggested delaying the assignment so Ruite could rest comfortably, but he hadn’t expected him to skip dinner too.
‘But don’t you have to eat to take the medicine? And what if the cold gets worse? He doesn’t have a fever now, but it could spike in the middle of the night. What if he collapses alone…?’
“…What am I thinking?”
He was letting his imagination run too wild.
Ruite wasn’t a child; surely he wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave himself unattended until it got that serious.
But looking back, Ruite had a track record.
During the midterm practical, he had been caught up in a monster evolution incident and ended up collapsing because he hadn’t taken the stabilizers the infirmary gave him.
After finishing his meal and returning to his room, Chester sat on the edge of his bed for a long time, lost in thought.
Every single thought was about Ruite.
The logic that it was just a cold and he’d be fine vied with the worry of what would happen if his condition suddenly took a turn for the worse.
The period of hesitation didn’t last long.
Reaching a conclusion, Chester bolted up from his bed.
He left his room without hesitation.
“Just going to check on him for a bit… that should be fine.”
* * *
