Chapter 12

LEVI'S POV

"Are you mad?" I said, almost raising my voice. I stopped from walking and turned to her.

She halted and tilted her head to face me.

"I'm not the one who's mad here. It's you!" she yelled back, almost giving me a glare which was a surprise to me.

"W-why are you s-shouting?" I asked.

"You're the first one who raised your voice here!"

"So, you're mad?"

"I'm not!" she denied keeping a strong gaze against me.

"So why are you shouting?"

Instead of giving me an answer, she turned her back at me which made me realiz that we were in front of our classroom.

Everyone was watching us, looking confused and surprised. Adalee didn't mind and entered the room straight to her table. Those eyes of them, it's full of questions and curiosity.

"Why?" I shouted. My voice echoed as I made a step inside.

"Aren't we allowed to shout? Tsk!" I snorted as I inched towards my desk.

"You know what?" Caius suddenly had spoken. He was there beside my chair, crossed arms.

"It's similar to how my grandparents started their love story. Shouting, quarrelling, then spending time with each other, going to—ouch!"

I automatically hit him hard in his arm with his notes on his table.

"Shut up, Caius! You and your jokes!" I fumed as I almost threw my bag on my chair.

"Mr. President, it's all set."

I just nodded upon hearing what Pino said, the Department's secretary, and a classmate as well.

"All set? What?" Caius exclaimed as he turned his head to Pino. "What are you talking about?"

Pino just shrugged, looking at me as I made my way in front of the class.

"Everyone, please listen," I said as I looked over my classmates. They immediately stopped from their businesses and pay attention to me.

They were confused, as I expected.

"We will have an important meeting right now about an important matter," I continued.

"About what?" they asked.

"All of a sudden?"

I just smiled and said, "We'll talk about that later. This will be short so please cooperate. Now, please proceed to the hall."

I marched outside the room after the announcement I made. This would be a help, at least, for Caius.

Students from the Engineering Department were already inside the hall when I arrived. They shut their mouths the moment I stepped inside. That's power, I guess? I walked until I was already on the stage with a microphone.

"Alright," I said when my classmates already found a comfortable seat for themselves. "Hi everyone. This is Levi. I know, you're all busy with your own thing and businesses, but this is important. Forgive me for the sudden meeting, but this will just be short so bear with me."

"What's the important matter, Mr. President?" a student asked.

"That important matter? We'll proceed to that later, but before that..." I turned to this guy in the front seat who had just asked a question. Instead of giving him a direct answer, I threw a question for him, "Do you fear anyone or anything?"

He was a bit surprised by my question, but he still managed to answer.

"Y-yes, I have."

"What is it? Can you tell us?"

"Um... I do have stage fright," he answered and everyone started laughing.

"Quite!" I announced in the microphone. The noise immediately went down as I stared at them.

"Instead of laughing, why don't you guys help him to overcome that fear?" I said as my eyes landed in a girl on a thick make-up.

"You, miss. Miss Sanchez," I called her.

"Y-yes?"

"Do you have any phobia?"

Instantly, she nodded and said, "Um... y-yes, I have."

"Would you mind if I ask what is it?"

She turned to her left and right as if she was checking the reactions of everyone, then she looked at me again before she gave her answer.

"I'm afraid with spiders..."

I made myself looked more terror the moment I saw some students trying to laugh at her answer.

"Please continue," I said.

"I'm afraid with spiders since I was still a kid. A playmate made a prank, so I started to fear spiders that eventually developed into a phobia," she continued.

"Are you still afraid with spiders?"

"Yes, very much."

"Boys laughing at back!" I almost shouted when a couple of boys laughing at the back of the hall caught my attention. "Can't you understand me? Are you all stupid?"

Everyone gasped. I was a guy who seldomly say bad words, but these boys were just getting into my nerves! When I turned to Caius, he was just silent, looking intently to me.

"Okay," I mumbled. "I know everyone has a fear about something or anything from the past or even until now," I said and roamed my eyes to everyone in front of me.

"And it isn't a joke. Fear that developed within a person isn't a simple joke that you can make fun with. Stop laughing with the things that you think isn't a big deal because it is a big deal to the person who suffers!"

I didn't hear any word, or noise from them anymore, just my voice that echoed throughout the hall.

"I have this friend... a male friend," I said and looked at Caius, "who has a great fear from the past that he's still carrying until today. I wasn't sure about how it really feels, but the moment I saw him reacted to something that he has a fear of? I could feel the pain and the fear as well. It's a big burden, don't you know that? Have you ever been afraid to the extent that you're going insane? Crazy? If not, then you people who laughed have the guts to make fun about it without putting yourself on the same shoe? Or even thinking?" I exclaimed as I let my voice engulfed the hall.

"Are you guys crazy or just a plain stupid? I didn't call everyone to attend this meeting just to let you laugh or just to let you make fun with your fellow students! I called an urgent meeting because I have something important to talk about with all of you so that you can make a reflection about it, at least. This is a lesson for everyone, even for me, so please put yourself together!" I bursted out of frustration.

No one dared to look at me that moment, except Caius. "You may not know... that the person you're laughing at... already wants to disappear," I continued.

"He's like an easy-go-lucky guy, a person with a funny personality, he's even fond of teasing me, yet he has that fear that badly wanted to tear him down, to destroy him, and that will never be a joke. Never!"

I heaved a deep sigh as I tried to calm myself.

"Today, I wanted all of you to be careful towards everyone. In regards with the important matter that I said earlier, never bring a rope," I said that made everyone to react. Surprised? Confused? They started to make a noise about what I said.

"A rope?"

"We're not sure about who is the guy that you're talking about because you're almost close to all the boys around, but is he afraid of rope, Mr. President?" a freshman student asked.

I nodded and said, "I don't want anyone to make a mistake about it, so I'm telling you all right now, never let that thing just be seen anywhere. Especially to our department because once I caught someone who would have the guts to bring and leave a rope around mistakenly or not, I won't let that slide."

I glanced at Caius. He was still silent, but already in drooped shoulders.

"There will be a punishment to anyone who will forget about what I told today. I hope that I already made myself clear. Dismissed!"

One by one, they left the hall in silence. I remained standing on the stage, just watching them walked outside the place.

I was the only person left inside the hall with him... with Caius. I inched towards him, and still as silent as he was earlier, he tilted his head when I was already in front of him.

"Are you... okay?" I asked.

He stared at me for about 30 seconds before he could open his mouth and say a word.

"It's me, right?

"Who else could that be? Of course."

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "Maybe because it's my responsibility to protect my brother?"

"I'm serious, Levi," he snorted and made a face.

"Well, I'm..." I mumbled as I scratched my forehead, "serious as well."

He bent over his knees and looked down. I tapped his shoulder and told him, "Obviously, I simply did that because I love you. I don't want to see you crying over the past. You know..."

But then, I just heard him sniffed. I tried not to laugh, so I bit my lower lip.

"Hey? Are you thrilled? I'm so sweet, right? I said, I love you. Aren't you going to respond, huh?" I joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"You're... m-making me... cry, Levi!" he said between his small sobs.

I just smiled and pat his head.

"Don't cry. You look gay, you know? Come on. Let's go! Move now! Stand up!" I chuckled, pulling him up as I tried to look at his face.

"Ya! Nappeuda neo, jinjja! Dwaesseo!" Hey! You're bad, seriously! That's enough! he yelled as he covered his face with his both hands. I laughed and draped over his shoulders as we walked outside the hall.