Chapter 20: The White Rose

**Sebastian's POV**

"Damn! Why did I only find out about this now? Alex, did you know about this?" Nathan asked.

"Nope!" Alex replied.

"Damn! What a waste we didn't join. Basti, have you heard about this race?"

I looked up.

My mind was completely blank; only Jasmin's face was there, and I couldn't wait to see her again.

"Basti, are you lost or something...?" Nathan said, snapping his fingers in front of me.

I smiled faintly, feeling a little stupid.

"Ohh! Definitely lost!"

I stood up from where I was sitting and left the classroom where we were hanging out.

I walked toward the other building where Jasmin was.

When I arrived, I immediately spotted her. Same room, same spot as the first time I came here.

"No wonder—hmmm..."

I turned around, startled to see the two of them.

"What are you two doing here?" I immediately asked.

"We just wanted to know why you're so out of it, hahaha," Nathan answered, laughing.

"So, it's all because of Jasmin, huh?" Alex teased.

"Tsk! Get out of here—hey!" I hadn't even finished my sentence when the two of them went inside.

I quickly followed them.

"You're an art major?" Alex asked.

That caught Jasmin's attention, and she looked at me—at the three of us—with surprise.

"W—why are you here?" she asked, glancing between me and the two, who were grinning mischievously.

"We just happened to pass by—let's go, let's leave now." I tried to pull the two of them out, but they dodged me.

"You drew this?" Nathan asked, looking at a drawing.

It was a sketch, a family portrait, but the faces of the people weren't drawn.

Jasmin nodded while also looking at the drawing. She seemed to get a little sad, but the expression quickly disappeared.

"Do you need anything?" she asked.

She covered the drawing with a white cloth and started packing up some of the art materials she had used.

"We just wanted to get to know you—" Nathan started, and Jasmin looked up at him.

"By the way, my name is Nathan, and this is Alex, Basti's friend. And we are the Wonder Pets—ouch!" I smacked him on the head.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Alex," she said with a small smile.

She smiled shyly at the two of them.

"Group hug—" Nathan started.

I immediately stepped in front of Jasmin as they tried to hug her. I pushed them away from her.

They gave me teasing looks and grins. Idiots...

---

"Jasmin, look at this! Isn't it great? Perfection..." Nathan bragged, showing off his drawing to Jasmin.

Jasmin looked at it with a furrowed brow.

She was still with us now; the two wouldn't leave, so we decided to hang out here instead. At first, Jasmin seemed a bit uneasy with them, but eventually, she got comfortable.

I didn't mind that she got along with the two—except for the fact that she wasn't paying attention to me.

It was always those two she noticed. Annoying...

And when I tried to send them away, she'd give me a sharp look.

Pshhh...

"Are all these drawings yours?" Alex asked her.

"No, just some of them. I sell some of the others," she said, pulling out a portrait of a flower—a white rose.

"This was the first one I made when I started studying here at the university," she said with a smile while looking at it. It seemed to hold a beautiful memory for her.

I stood up from where I was sitting and walked over to her. I took it from her hands and examined it closely.

"I'll keep this," I said.

"Hey! That's not for sale," Jasmin said, trying to grab it back from me. But since I was taller than her, she couldn't reach it.

"I said I'll keep it, not buy it."

"Still, give it back to me," she insisted, trying to take it from me.

I stepped back, keeping the painting out of her reach. Then, she accidentally pushed me, causing me to lose my balance.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her close to me. We almost fell, but luckily, there was a table behind me, and I was able to steady myself with one hand.

I looked down at Jasmin, who was now in my arms, her face buried in my chest.

"1... 2... 3... smile..."

She lifted her face and looked at Nathan, who was holding his phone up and taking pictures of us.

She quickly pushed me away and stepped back, her face red with embarrassment.

"I'm going to put this on a billboard," Nathan teased.

I secretly smiled. I straightened up and walked over to Nathan, snatching his phone to check the photos.

I sent all of them to myself before deleting them. He frowned when he saw I had erased everything.

"Aishhh! Why did you delete them?!" he complained.

I looked over at Jasmin, walked up to her, and snatched the painting she was holding.

She glared at me, but I didn't back down. I just smiled at her.