First, Harold’s gaze landed on Ruite, who was standing still in the middle of the warehouse.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m perfectly fine.”
Ruite scratched his head with an awkward smile.
He was already standing a good distance away from Chester.
“But why is Chester sprawled out over there?”
Harold pointed toward Chester, who for some reason was tumbling on the floor.
“I think he tripped while trying to get up. Haha…”
“Well, I’m glad nothing happened. It’s a relief the other kids noticed something was wrong, otherwise, it could have been a real problem.”
Apparently, Magnus was the first to feel something was off when Ruite didn’t return after a long time from dropping off luggage at the warehouse.
Then, one of their classmates mentioned that the warehouse door was strange and sometimes locked on its own.
They called a professor and came looking for them just in case.
“For now, let’s head out.”
Harold led the other classmates outside.
As Ruite tried to follow him out of the warehouse, Chester suddenly pulled up beside him.
“Wasn’t pushing me a bit much?”
“Are you really one to talk?”
The two spoke in low voices, as if they had made a silent pact.
“Forget it, Ruite. Just keep what you said. You clearly said you wouldn’t avoid me.”
Ruite bit his lip hard.
Yes, as Chester said, he had definitely said it.
But that was only because the doorknob had fallen off, and he answered out of desperation to avoid being caught in such a close embrace by Harold and the others.
“Fine.”
Regardless of the circumstances, he couldn’t take back what he had already said.
“Don’t avoid me.”
“I said I get it.”
Ruite let out a long sigh. It felt like too many things had happened today.
Yet, he still felt a persistent gaze from his side.
Sure enough, even as Chester walked forward, his eyes remained fixed on Ruite.
“I won’t avoid you. No, in the first place, it wasn’t that I was trying to avoid you… Sigh, never mind. I really won’t avoid you, so stop staring.”
“What are you two whispering about?”
“Whoa, you scared me!”
Magnus suddenly approached from the side.
Perhaps because he was so focused on Chester, Ruite was startled by Magnus’s sudden presence and reflexively leaned into Chester, grabbing his forearm.
“What kind of fun story are you telling?”
Magnus was the type who could never stand being left out of a fun conversation.
“It was nothing special.”
“Really?”
While Ruite dealt with Magnus, Chester looked down blankly.
To be precise, he was staring at his arm that Ruite was holding.
Not to mention their close proximity.
“…”
The corners of Chester’s mouth twitched awkwardly.
His earlobes, hidden by the darkness, were slightly red.
It felt as though all the negative emotions he had felt recently were washed away at once.
“But Ruite, how long are you going to keep holding onto Chester?”
“Huh?”
Magnus pointed with his finger.
Only then did Ruite realize he had been holding Chester’s arm the whole time. Startled, he quickly let go.
“It’s because you scared me!”
The group that left the warehouse split into two directions.
Magnus’s side went back to the booths, saying they still had cleaning to do.
Ruite and Chester headed toward the dormitory after explaining the circumstances of their confinement to Harold.
Ruite climbed the dormitory stairs, his body feeling completely drained.
His shoulders ached, his back was sore, and he had no energy; he had never craved his bed more than at this moment.
“Ruite.”
Ruite stopped at the low voice catching his heel.
Looking back, Chester was standing on the landing, looking up at Ruite who was ahead of him on the stairs.
“What is it?”
“I’m going to do as you said.”
“About what?”
“You said it. That how I use my value is my own choice.”
Ruite scratched his head and gave a half-hearted reply, “Uh-huh, I did.”
He hadn’t realized it inside the warehouse, but recalling the words he had spoken now that they were in a bright place made him incredibly embarrassed.
He wasn’t even a professor.
He wondered why on earth he had lectured Chester like that.
“So, I’m going to think for myself and make my own choice, just like you said.”
“…”
Chester’s pupils sparkled for a moment.
Furthermore, the corners of his mouth, which were usually set in a straight line, were clearly curved upward in a smile.
Ruite couldn’t say anything in the face of Chester’s smile.
Strangely, a sense of discomfort and an unfamiliar sensation washed over him in that moment.
“…Sure. Do that.”
With those words, Ruite turned around and continued up the stairs.
He had just listened to Chester’s bold ambition, so why did he feel so embarrassed?
Ruite went straight into his dorm room and lay down on the bed without washing or changing his clothes.
Chester’s smile kept flickering through his mind.
By the way, what was he planning to choose all of a sudden?
‘It must be about joining the Knights,’ he thought.
“Ah, I’m tired.”
Ruite lay flat on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
It was the same for Chester.
Originally, Chester never lay on his bed after being outside.
But right now, he couldn’t help it because he couldn’t control his body or his heart.
As he stared at the white ceiling, the events of the day flashed by like scenes from a movie.
Participating in the monster subjugation with Ruite, Ruite fighting Harrison to pay off a debt, the words in the warehouse saying he was included in that debt, and the words that melted the lump in his heart while listening to his story.
“…”
And even the moment he held Ruite in his arms—every single moment became a vivid scene passing through Chester’s vision.
Chester stared blankly at his left hand.
It felt as if Ruite’s warmth from the hug still remained if he just put some strength into it.
“Sigh.”
Chester suddenly let out a deep sigh and buried his face in his hands.
“Why am I only realizing this now? Like an idiot…”
As he muttered those words, Chester’s earlobes and cheeks were flushed a deep red.
“Are you in a good mood?”
Dylan asked abruptly.
“Yeah, I’m great.”
Ruite said as he took a large bite of the bread served as dessert for breakfast.
It was Ruite’s favorite bread among all the dessert options.
That was why even Dylan, who would snatch away anything else, never touched that bread.
“You really are simple.”
“I don’t want to hear that from a sword idiot.”
“A sword and bread aren’t the sa— oh.”
Dylan trailed off.
This was because Chester had naturally placed his tray down and sat in the seat next to Ruite.
Dylan looked around just in case.
He wondered if this was the only seat left, but that wasn’t the case.
If they didn’t get along, why would he insist on sitting next to him?
In Dylan’s mind, the relationship between Chester and Ruite was already engraved as not very good—specifically, the image of Chester hating Ruite.
After all, Dylan had witnessed Chester glaring at Ruite before, and he had personally heard Chester pouring out aggressive words about Ruite when they were returning to the academy from Milblue Street last time.
Furthermore, while Chester was somewhat kind to Rhea, who had confessed to him, he had been openly unkind to Ruite.
So, it wasn’t surprising that such an image had solidified in Dylan’s mind.
“Ahem.”
Dylan cleared his throat.
Now was the time to use his specialty—his sociability.
Before Chester could say something mean to Ruite like last time, shouldn’t he take the lead and keep the conversation going?
“Um…”
But Dylan couldn’t even properly start.
Surprisingly, the atmosphere was nothing like what he expected.
While Ruite was focused only on eating the delicious bread without a thought, Chester was a bit different.
While eating, he would occasionally steal glances at Ruite, but it wasn’t the gaze of someone looking at a person they hated; it was, well, quite soft.
“Ruite, you’ve got something on your chin again.”
“Really? I’ll just take it off after I’m done eating.”
“What if someone sees? Take it off quickly.”
“Crumbs are going to keep getting on me anyway, so I’ll just do it all at once later. Don’t you know about efficiency?”
“Since when did you care so much about efficiency?”
Moreover, what was up with that conversation?
Dylan stared blankly at the sight of Chester clicking his tongue in annoyance while trying his best to remove the crumbs from the corner of Ruite’s mouth.
“Is it that good?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you can have this, too.”
Chester even placed the bread he had received for himself onto Ruite’s tray.
Ruite stared at the extra bread and swallowed the food in his mouth.
“Chester, they say if your appetite suddenly disappears, it might mean you’re not feeling well.”
Dylan let out a faint gasp.
From any angle, wasn’t it more like Chester was giving it to him because he simply wanted to?
“Well, if you don’t have an appetite, this poor thing will just be thrown away without being eaten, so I’ll eat it for now.”
“Okay.”
“Still, it’s a big deal if you keep losing your appetite, so go see Professor Philia for a consultation.”
“Sure.”
As Ruite chewed on the bread Chester gave him, he suddenly started lecturing about why appetite is important to humans.
But what baffled Dylan even more was that Chester was quietly listening to Ruite’s meaningless chatter.
Resting his chin on his hand without even touching his food, he stared intently at Ruite’s face.
Dylan kept tilting his head at the ridiculous sight.
My boy finally realized his own emotions and he’s already whipped.