The assignment

When everyone saw the exchange between Adelia and Charlie, whispers immediately broke out.

"Hah, did you see that? God Charlie was so cold to the goddess."

"Maybe the ship isn't happening? I do have a chance!"

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Don't forget, guys usually bully the girl they like."

Adelia smiled mockingly at the various speculations and rumors. None of them are even slightly right or close to the truth. Not bothering with them anymore, she began to play around with her phone.

Oh, if anyone was wondering, Ms. Cornelia just stood there until the bell rang.

The rest of the day passed without any major incident and recess came. Now, in the recess of a high school, there are three types of students.

The first category consists of students who act like animals locked up in a cage. Even before the bell rings, they are ready with their bags fully packed and run like crazy animals finally granted freedom.

The second are moderates, who pack leisurely and go after the over-enthusiastic ones have gone.

Now, for the third group. The ones who are a little panicked, their books scattered on the table, kit near the leg of the table, basically a huge mess. Don't even ask where the water bottle is.

Oh wait, there's a fourth category too. Students like Adelia who just sit there with their phones because they never unpacked them in the first place.

Willow, of course, belonged to the third category.

When the loud bell rang, he was startled and books slipped from his hands. "I-I'm sorry!" He apologized, bending to pick up the book which fell near Charlie's foot. "I, I'll pick it up right now."

As he bent down, Willow accidentally knocked over the stack of assignments on the table, scattering them on the floor.

"I-" Willow felt like crying at this point. Barely keeping himself together, he said, " S-Sorry about that-"

"It's alright," Charlie also knelt down and began to help him pick up the assignments. "It's okay, Will. It's just some assignments...We can pick it up, okay?"

Willow looked down, trying to hide his red-rimmed eyes. He knew it wasn't a big deal....but he couldn't help but feel anxious in this type of situation.

"I...I'm so clumsy. Look, I even made such a mess-"

Charlie gripped his trembling hand and assured, "It's okay. Really. Let's pick them up now, alright?" He laughed, "Or else, Ms. Wells will have our heads if she sees this."

Willow gave him a small smile and nodded. They began to pick up the assignments, stacking them in two separate stacks.

Their hands brushed as both of them reached for the last assignment.

"Uh...You can have it!" Willow said hurriedly, handing him the sheet of paper.

"No! you can take it, Will!"

"No, no, you reached out first-"

Charlie tried to place it in Willow's hand. "You can take it-"

"THUD!"

He lost his balance, falling on top of Willow. They just stared at each other, too stunned to do anything.

"I, I-" Charlie stuttered, blushing profusely. This was the closest he had ever been with Willow. His heart was beating like crazy as he looked at his most important person in this whole world, still not able to believe it. The Charlie before couldn't even imagine getting a smile from Willow, much less something like this.

A light summer breeze blew in through the window. Sunshine seeped through, making the male lead's perfect features even more clear. Willow's cheeks became slightly red on being in such proximity with someone. Since he wasn't exactly the touchy type, this was the first time he'd ever been so close to anyone. He awkwardly said, "...Uh, Charlie? Can you get up, please?"

Charlie was startled, Willow's voice breaking his trance-like state. "I- I'm getting up now!"

He quickly got up, extending a hand to Willow. He apologized, "I, I'm sorry!"

"No problem! It, it's alright!" Willow was still flustered from earlier and even something as simple as touching Charlie's hand made him feel panicked. Why was his heart beating so fast all of a sudden-

"You done flirting?" Adelia, who had walked there at some point, rolled her eyes. "It was just an assignment, duh. How the hell did you manage to make a romantic moment out of it?"

Normally, Adelia would've been happy since Willow was advancing the plot, but she was dying of heat here! Couldn't they do their PDA in an air-conditioned room or something?

She asked, "Now, should we go home, or do you plan to spend the night here, Will?"

Charlie couldn't help but scowl at the leech trying to steal away his precious Willow from him. Adelia looked at Willow impatiently, ignoring the burning gaze of a certain someone. If looks could kill, the world would've suffered the loss of a peerless beauty today!

Willow, completely unaware of the heated staring contest going on, got up and packed his bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he was about to follow Adelia out but looked back.

"Bye, Charlie!"

Charlie's expression did a 190-degree flip as he softened. Ah yes, we know that it's usually 180-degrees. But that's for the average extras! This is the male lead, above the peasant-like normal people!

"Bye, Will."