Chapter 10

The sight of the crowd makes me walk faster. My eyes accidentally met with a group of girls, who were glaring at me with disapproval, making me lower my gaze to the ground.

The hate in their eyes is enough to tell me that my presence is not welcome here. They seem like they are ready to pounce on me and don’t hesitate to skin me alive. I have never been so scared before.

Of course, they are fuming with rage. They have never accepted me. In fact, they have always hated the idea of me, a poor scholarship student, breathing the same air as them. The photo of Kai and me, without a doubt, had ignited the fire within them. I stop walking when a girl blocks my way.

I don’t have a choice but to raise my head and look at her. The outrage in her eyes makes me want to step backward. She makes a gesture of wanting to vomit, looking at my face. Thank goodness that she walks away after doing that. I fasten my steps without looking at anyone else.

I can finally catch my breath as soon as I enter the library. Here, people don’t mind me that much. I can feel at ease here. My mouth instantly curled upwards to make a small smile as soon as I spotted Luna at one of the tables.

It’s unusual for me to meet her at the library. She’s the one who insisted on coming here after I refused to go to the cafeteria. I’m too embarrassed to face everyone.

“Are you alright?”, Luna asked me as soon as I sat in front of her.

I nod and give her a wide smile.

“I’m fine”, I said, lying straight to her face. “I’m sorry for not going to the cafeteria. There’s a quiz next week and I need to study”, this time I’m not lying.

I need to prepare for the quiz. My scholarship is at stake here. I couldn’t afford to mop around for the whole week.

“You look pale. Do you get enough rest? Are you eating properly?”, she asks with worry.

I feel so useless. Why did I always make her worried about me?

“I’m fine. I guess I just study a bit too much”, I said, grateful to her for always taking care of me.

She doesn’t say anything and only looks at me. I’m a bit anxious when she stares at me like that. To be honest, I’m scared of her. She could read me like an open book. I can’t hide anything from her.

“Hanna…”

“Luna, I want to apologize for breaking our promise. I… I saw it… The things on the university board”, I said with guilt.

“I knew about it already”, she says calmly. I look at her with a puzzle. How? How did she know about this? “Well, someone suddenly becomes a Hulk. It’s kinda scary to look at though”, she laughs after that.

There is a long pause before I ask, “This someone, is it Kai?”

“Yes, Hanna. It’s Kai”, Luna’s answer makes me fall into a deep silence. “Hanna, I want to apologize to you for what has happened. I should have done something about this. I should have…”

“Luna, please don’t apologize to me. You have done nothing wrong to me. Instead, I’m the one who should be thankful for everything that you have done for me. You’re always here with me. So, don’t be sorry to me, please”, I hold her hand tightly.

Everything that has happened is not her fault. I don’t want her to blame herself for this. As I said before, I’m the only one who is at fault here. My existence has caused so much trouble for everyone else.

“A pure and kind soul like you doesn’t deserve this place”, she says as she grabs my hand tightly. “Kai is doing everything he can. The post on the university board has been taken down. Everyone who wrote the malicious comments has been summoned by the disciplinary committee. He’s doing everything to protect you”.

I stay quiet, too stunned to speak.

“I… Don’t know”, I said after the long pause.

“He seems different when he’s around you. I have to admit that I’m worried when he tries to approach you, but I have never seen him get mad for the sake of other people. But then, he just did what he should have done. Now, come with me to the cafeteria. I’m hungry. Please?”, she pleads to me.

I couldn’t ignore her request, so I nodded my head. She smiles brightly at me and walks with me to the cafeteria. My mind is occupied with Kai. After every hurtful thing I have said to him, he is doing everything he can to put everything back in its place. Now, I feel so guilty.

***

It’s been minutes, but I’m still standing in front of my locker, staring into space. I let out a small sigh when I recalled my mistakes earlier. I have made a huge mistake with customers’ orders. Not once but twice. It has never happened before as I’m so meticulous with everything, but I guess today is the exception. Thank goodness Victoria is cool about it.

I’m too distracted by Kai. I can’t do anything except think of him. I don’t know. I just can’t get him off my mind.

Sighing once again, I take my phone out and tap to open the university board. The post about me and Kai has gone, just as Luna said to me before. I can’t find anything related to it. It’s like the post has never been there in the first place.

“Something’s bothering you?”, Victoria’s voice startled me.

“No. It’s nothing”, I look at her with a small smile.

Then, I grab my books and bag in the locker room. I said goodbye to her and walked out of the staff’s room.

As soon as I open the door, I am beyond shocked to see Kai in front of me.

He smiles at me, but I notice his smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Hanna…”, he seems hesitant to speak. “Just ignore me, I’ll just walk you home”, he says.

I look at him for a while. He looks hurt and tired. I close the door quietly and walk passed him. As he said earlier, I really ignored him.

He remains quiet throughout our way to my home. As we hopped off the bus, he just quietly followed me from behind.

I stopped when I reached my home. After thinking for a while, I turned around and faced him. He seems shocks at my action.

“Kai”, I call his name softly. He looks scared while waiting for me to speak. “I want to apologize for blaming everything on you. I’m being so awful to you, I’m really sorry”.

I finally mustered my courage and apologized to him. I have been thinking for the entire day about this, and I’m glad I did it because he finally smiles at me. A bright smile that makes me relieved.

“You don’t have to apologize to me. It’s all my fault. If only I had done something about it sooner, you would not have been hurt by it”, his smile disappears and his face falls all of a sudden.

“No, you have done everything you can. Why didn’t you tell me about it? If it’s not for Luna, I would never know about this”.

“I’m scared. You make it clear that you will never forgive me if I come near you. But I can’t let you walk alone to your home. Your safety is far more important to me. I can’t live if something happened to you”.

I fall into deep silence at his confession. He makes it look like I’m so important in his life. I feel weird all of a sudden. It feels… No! Don’t even think about it. Shaking the weird thought in my mind, I give a small smile to him instead.

“I’m really fine, Kai. Nothing will happen to me, but thank you for everything”.

He shakes his head at me.

“I will give everything for you, Hanna. I will give the world if you ask me for it”, he told me with a serious face that made my heart skip a beat.

“Next time, come inside the cafe. I told you I don’t like it when you’re waiting outside”, I pretended not to hear what he said before.

I can’t let my heart sway by him. He’s a playboy, he sure knows how to impress a girl.

“You mean I can be around you?”, he asks me excitedly. I nod my head as an answer to his question. “Really? You won’t be mad at me?”, he asks once again.

“Yes, Kai”, I said.

“Promise?”

“Promise”, I told him.

My heart is finally at ease when I see his big smile. I don’t know how to describe my feelings. It feels right to let him be around me. Maybe I’m already used to him hanging around me. It actually feels nice to have someone to talk to.

“You really can’t take it back. You promised me. I will haunt you forever if you change your mind”. I let out a small laugh at him for his childishness. This is him, the mischievous five-year-old kid. “I miss you. I miss you so much, Hanna. You have no idea”, he suddenly said.

My laughter dies down in an instant. I slowly feel the warmth in my cheeks. Am I blushing right now? Oh, God! This can’t be happening!

“So, goodbye. I’m going inside”, I told him and hurriedly turned around to head to my home.

“See you tomorrow”, he said excitedly.

It’s nothing much, but once again, my heart betrayed me and skipped a beat for him.