Chapter 3

“You’ll read a book with your partner, write a reflection, and then compare differences and similarities. Any topic is fine, but if it’s about love, that’s even better, since I’m the love teacher.”  

At least that was a relief. With something like that, she wouldn’t have to spend too much time together or meet outside class. They could pick a book, write their reports, and do the rest during break time.

“I’ll give you three minutes to discuss which book to choose.”  

Nice, three minutes should be enough.  

She could just go with whatever Harensys suggested or vice versa. She already had a book in mind.

“How about the book <Understanding Emotions is Hard>?”  

“No. Sounds boring.”  

But Harensys wouldn’t cooperate. No matter what she suggested, he rejected it.  

She named every book she could think of, but he refused them all. Even ones he could have agreed to—he rejected everything and said he didn’t have any he wanted to read.  

“That’s it.”  

Three minutes passed without any decision.

“Sigh…”  

She kept sighing. Being partners with Harensys was bad enough, but he wouldn’t cooperate at all.  

Class started again. But instead of paying attention, Harensys scribbled in the blank space of his book and then pushed it toward her.

<Since I don’t really know what it’s about, let’s go to the library together and find something to read.>  

She firmly scribbled a reply under his sentence.

<No.>  

She rejected him with just two letters. Go pick from thousands of books in the library? Absolutely not. He’d just keep refusing until they finally picked something, and her whole day would be wasted. She didn’t want to spend that much time with Harensys, nor invest that much in him.

‘Why risk getting killed again?’  

Harensys should have given up, but he wrote again and pushed the book toward her. He kept tapping his fingers on the desk, staring at her, so she quickly read it.

<Aren’t you going to listen to the teacher? This is homework, isn’t it? Not going to do it? You want to get scolded, get bad marks, and clean the bathrooms?>  

Ugh. She hated that. She disliked Harensys, but bad marks would delay graduation. The teacher’s opinion of her would drop. Especially bathroom cleaning…  

That was hell. She’d have to clean up the messes everyone left behind, dirty and smelly. She didn’t have a strong stomach and hated strong smells.

<I’ll do it. Let’s go after class. We have to finish in one hour, no more.>  

Her limit was one hour. No more than that. Even one hour was generous, considering how many books there were.

<Okay!>  

Ha… That’s how her after-school appointment with Harensys was set.  

She listened to class with enthusiasm, hoping it would end soon. She was thrilled inside at the thought of not having to sit next to Harensys any longer.

Yes!  

She quickly packed up, but Harensys, who sat on the outside, didn’t let her pass. He looked down at her and grinned.

“Let’s go.”  

Ah, right. She’d agreed to go to the library with Harensys. She really didn’t want to go. Regret washed over her for agreeing.

She couldn’t back out now, so she trudged along like someone being dragged to prison, staring at the ground and sighing deeply.

“Are you sick?”  

Harensys leaned in close. He was handsome, but the sight of his annoying face made her frown. She tried to avoid him and answered coldly.

“I was fine until you talked to me.”  

Then, instead of the wide hallway, she saw the ceiling, and her perspective changed. She realized she was in Harensys’s arms—he was carrying her like a princess.

“What are you doing!”  

“You said you weren’t normal, so I thought you were sick. Is there a problem?”  

“Just put me down already.”  

She struggled and demanded to be put down, thinking he’d give in if she made it difficult.

“No.”  

But this handsome lunatic just smirked and refused, even adjusting his hold so their bodies were pressed closer.

‘This is really…!’  

She thought she should show him a taste of her fist—maybe then he’d come to his senses and put her down.  

But her eyes met those of a boy and girl watching them nearby. The boy gave her a thumbs-up. The girl applauded. Then they started whispering.  

“Prezia finally got her wish. She chased after Harensys all the time.”  

“Yeah, but why does her expression look so bad? Are they fighting?”  

“If one side is smiling, do you think they’re fighting? Harensys probably said something embarrassing, and Prezia’s just shy.”  

Are they crazy! Like she’d be shy in front of him? Sure, she had been, but that was long ago—she’d graduated from that!

“Ah, well, it’s not like Prezia would suddenly stop liking Harensys. If she did, she’d be the type to fall in and out of love quickly, or she’d push people away as soon as they liked her, feeling superior. Then she’d move on to loving someone else right away.”  

…Crazy.  

“They should write a novel. As if Prezia would do that. But if she did, it’d be creepy. It’s like throwing away the fish once it’s caught.”  

“Exactly. I hope I’m just being paranoid.”  

Crazy, crazy! Now those kinds of stories were spreading? If those words became rumors, she’d be finished. People would point fingers and insult her.

She was afraid of those stares. She’d seen about five people get harsh looks from others over a single mistake or misunderstanding. People had cursed loudly and shunned them, acting like they were demons, not humans.  

Whether it was true or not, outsiders never stopped talking. She’d wanted to reach out to those kids, but they’d all left school before she could.  

Rumor had it, they still hadn’t met decent people.  

After seeing those kids, she realized that people’s stares were the cruelest thing. She promised herself never to let that happen to her.

When she’d talked about her ideal type, it was just to say that such a guy didn’t exist here—go look somewhere else.  

Thankfully, when her confessions were rejected, she’d been too embarrassed to tell anyone, so even the fact that she confessed never spread.  

But this time was different. On top of that, she thought she seemed like a strange girl. Chasing someone and suddenly drawing a line and avoiding him—if she hated him, she’d seem weird, maybe even crazy.

‘It can’t be helped!’  

She decided to act normal in front of others, to avoid harsh stares.  

She wiped the look of disgust from her face and forced her lips into a smile. Smiling brightly, she let Harensys carry her out of the main building.  

Just for a moment, but she felt like she might cramp up.

Even outside the main building, there were students everywhere. To endure the cramp, she kept her smile plastered on.  

Ah, why had she made her feelings for Harensys so obvious to everyone?  

She regretted her past behavior. She should have kept things quiet and liked him secretly.

“Where should we go?”  

While she was regretting, Harensys asked her a question. They’d arrived at the library, and he wanted to know where to pick books.  

Since they’d arrived, he should just put her down.  

“I’ll walk on my own, so put me down now.”  

“You smiled earlier, so I thought you liked it.”  

“Don’t flatter yourself. I wasn’t smiling at you.”  

His delusions were ridiculous.

He’d treated her so badly, stared at her, smiled, and now he was delusional? Ridiculous.  

“Aww. Too bad.”  

He tried to act cute, but it had no effect. She wasn’t about to fall for a bit of cuteness.

She turned her head sharply and twisted her body to the right, not wanting to see his face anymore.  

“I’ll go that way. You go over there. Let’s each pick what we want to read and decide after. Be back in thirty minutes.”  

The library was big, so if they went to opposite sides, they wouldn’t run into each other. And in the library, talking should be kept to a minimum.

She pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh and climbed the stairs to the second floor. But behind her, she heard footsteps different from her own—heavy and dull. Harensys.  

She’d clearly told him to go the other way, so why was he following?

After making sure she was safely up the stairs, she turned and spoke firmly.  

“Why are you following me? Go over there.”  

“The book I want is here.”  

“Ha.”  

Fine, she’d go somewhere else. There were plenty of books, so wherever she went, she’d find something she wanted to read. She started to go back down the stairs, but Harensys grabbed her wrist without permission.

Ha. How long was he going to keep doing whatever he wanted?  

She turned to scold him, but saw Harensys’s face on the verge of tears. For a moment, her heart almost wavered. But she steeled herself. While she was firming up, Harensys, looking like he might cry, spoke.

“You used to follow me everywhere—why are you avoiding me now? Do you hate me?”  

Harensys let a few tears fall, making a pitiful kitten face. Even if he cried with that handsome face, she wouldn’t fall for it. Her heart was set.