Low-Hanging Forbidden Fruit

Len chuckled before facing the mirror again. His smile dropped as he hated the stupid scarf he had just worn. "Your teeth aren't sharp enough to draw blood, but they're enough to scratch me. I looked like I tried scratching off my sticker. Brush your teeth. Some of it must have gotten on them."

"I'm sorry…" Claude looked to the side, visually searching the room. He then cleared his throat. "Uhm, where are my clothes? I have to leave now…"

Len gave up on the scarves and dumped them on the vacant couch in the room. He walked over to the bed. "I sent someone to get clothes from your room. Just wait for him to get back. For now…"

He got on the bed and scared Claude into a corner. He crawled closer to the other person, pinning the blanket under his knee so Claude wouldn't escape. "You might have to deal with this injury for me, Lavallee. I only allowed you to put the sticker. Now that you scratched me…"

Claude gave up pulling the blanket. He just sighed and looked at Len. "Won't plasters work? Just admit to being adventurous with a girl or something."

"Do you want me to say that?"

"If it gets you out of trouble."

Len pulled back and chuckled. He sat on his ankles on the bed. "All right. I will admit to getting adventurous with the person responsible for this bite."

Claude stared at him and slowly frowned. "Why does that sound so ominous? No matter. Let me leave today. I promise I won't bother you with my presence again. I'm sorry for what happened last night. Someone you saved shouldn't be that rude to you."

"Are we talking about the bite… or the kiss?"

"Both."

Len's brows rose, but Claude only exhaled. He then glanced at Len again. "…did I break your glasses? Why aren't you wearing them today?"

The other person looked at his nightstand, where the pair of glasses lay. Len answered, "I don't wear them if I don't have to. It's only helpful to balance my vision, allowing me to focus my eyes. What was there not to focus on in this room?"

Claude snorted, reaching out to pick up the glasses from the nightstand. He even tried to wear it. "Balancing your vision… Right. That's what glasses… do…"

He quickly took the glasses off before trying to wear them again. The glasses didn't improve his vision; they did the opposite. Claude felt like he was staring through frosted glass as soon as he wore it. He just took it off in disgust. "Hey, why do your glasses make your vision worse? Are your eyes very sharp or something? What is this?"

"Like I said, it balances my vision." Len chuckled and looked intently at Claude's face. He even leaned his arms on the bed again. "I don't need to wear it if I want to see someone as clearly as I can."

"Stop staring at me. You're making me conscious…" Claude covered his face with a hand. He didn't pay attention to his skin too much.

By then, the door opened. Claude and Len looked at the person who came, but Irving wasn't alone. Eugene stared at Claude for a while before sliding his gaze toward Len. From where the friend stood, he could see the reddening scars on Len's neck. His eyes moved to Claude again, realizing that his friend was more than shirtless on the bed.

Claude's cheeks flushed red, but his teeth gnashed in annoyance. "Don't. Say. Anything."

…

The walk back to their room was the quietest Claude had had. However, it was merely because Eugene was holding back his noises as long as they were in the General's dorm. When their feet stepped inside the metal gates isolating the stairs from the Cavalry's dorm's guests, Eugene exploded. He waved his hands as if demanding answers.

However, he could only wheeze to avoid screaming. "You fucked Valentin Dietrich? Like THE Valentin Dietrich? Lavallee, what went through your head?"

Claude regarded him like an annoying fly. "Shut up. He said nothing happened. Stop badgering me about it. Also… he said his name was Len."

"Va-LEN-tin…!" Eugene screeched again, only stopping when someone descended the stairs and passed them by. He even caught how that person glanced at them. The person vanished, and Eugene started again. "The whole school knows you at this point. Aren't you scared of all the women who will tear you into pieces after hearing this?"

"Why? I was drunk and didn't give him my key. He just put me up for the night." Claude also caught the person's glance at them earlier. However, he was only annoyed and embarrassed.

Eugene stared at him, soon keeping quiet. When they got to their room, Eugene locked the door behind him. He hurriedly closed the window Claude had just opened. He said, "Don't play! Don't play! You're letting them know where you are!"

Claude frowned. "What is happening to you? Is it really that bad? I'm not gay. Nothing happened between me and Len. He said so."

His friend took out his phone and fiddled with it. He even did so with a mocking yet bitter laugh. "Not gay? Really? Who are you lying to? Though I won't blame you. That's Valentin Dietrich."

Before Claude could get angry, Eugene's phone was almost pressed against his face. Claude took a good look at the forum post Eugene wanted him to see. It was a dedicated forum for the Psi Saint Alpha, and the photos from last night were all organized for maximum interest. One post, however, had thirty photos of him and Len kissing while leaving the party.

"…he wasn't lying when he said we were getting attention…" Claude remembered Len saying something like that before he completely lost his mind. He covered his mouth, and his face and ears turned red in humiliation. "Oh, no…"

"Oh, no? Yeah, oh, no…" Eugene gurgled with his laughter. He put his arms akimbo. "Man, when I saw those, I thought they were shopped… or that the person only looked like you. But that guy showed up in our doorway, asking me to let him in so he could collect your clothes. Well, it's not that condemning. We're in contemporary times now, and Dietrich is like a low-hanging forbidden fruit."

Eugene dropped his head and cried. "It's the girls I'm worried about. Huhu, no one will go out on a date with us anymore. Lavallee, why…?"

Claude sat down and perused the photos from last night. However, they only took photos until Len left the courtyard. Based on the poster, Len's friends stopped them from following. When the pursuers managed to leave the courtyard, Len and Claude were already out of sight.

At that comment, Claude furrowed his brows. "His friends stopped them from following us. Does that mean they don't mind him taking up another guy into his room?"

"We're talking about Dietrich, anyway." Eugene sighed. "He could mess with everyone he wanted. I think it doesn't matter if it's a guy or a girl."