There was a quietude in the space that none dared to challenge. As if it was something sacred, something far too precious to be disturbed. And within that quietude, as the sun slowly set on the horizon, the two people wrote in their notebooks, one across from the other.

  Vex was restless, for some reason. It was as if his heart were aware of something he was not, stumbling and shaking through its beats every now and then. His gaze kept wandering, glancing toward the person in front of him.

  And the more his eyes wandered, the more his heart faltered, the more questions appeared in his mind. A fierce curiosity Vex felt could not be quenched or appeased, like a fire that only knew how to burn hotter.

  Does she like sweets?

  Does she prefer winter over summer? Or spring over autumn?

  What does her laugh sound like?

  How does she look like when she smiles?

  Vex couldn’t remember the last time he had such thoughts. That he showed so much interest toward one single person. No, actually…he was certain such a thing had never happened. Not in that way.

  All he could hear was the sound of their quill scribbling on the paper, a sound that was almost soothing. Yet soon enough, he wondered if he would be able to hear his own heart as well.

  He kept wondering how someone could be so beautiful, or smell so good. How could he find so many flaws and still find perfection in every single one of them. And the more those questions surrounded him, the more scared he felt.

  For if there was one thing he knew, was that he shouldn’t be thinking any of those things.

  When his eyes wandered again, they met hers. And in that moment, Vex thought his heart would stop for sure. That he would be dead before night ever came.

  “Is there something wrong?” Her voice was soft, almost melodic.

  “N-no. Why?”

  “You keep looking at me.”

  Vex tried to keep his composure, yet failed miserably as his cheeks flushed.

  “Th-this—I mean, I didn’t quite…”

  A faint chuckle escaped her lips as the woman leaned against her chair.

  “You don’t need to worry. I know what you must be thinking.”

  If Vex’s heart hadn’t stopped before, it certainly did in that moment. The thing more aware of Vex’s feelings than him, for all he could do at that moment, was despair.

  Without knowing why.

  “You…do…?”

  When she replied, her voice felt empty. Hollow and lacking any kind of warmth and emotions, as if she did not dare to share anything that could expose her. Show how she truly felt.

  “You are frustrated. Our midterms are next week, and Professor Bel already gave you a warning about your grades. Right now, I must be nothing but a reminder of your struggles and the things you hate most. A person you can barely tolerate—someone you would wish gone from your sight.”

  Her words shook him. They made their way right into his core, clawing their way with such force and made him dazed. Vex knew she spoke true. More than that, he was certain he should hate her. That her very existence was a threat.

  Then why he was feeling so weird? Why did her words hurt him?

  Why he couldn’t agree with her?

  “You are wrong…”

  She furrowed, the long silver hair falling into her shoulders as she moved.

  “Am I?”

  A smile escaped his lips, and even though there was some amusement filling his voice, nothing could calm his anxious and racing heart.

  “Yes. You couldn’t be more wrong.”

  She blinked a few times, curiosity crossing through her eyes. “What were you thinking, then?”

  The smile faded from his face, his hands starting to sweat.

  I can just lie.

  I should lie.

  Because the truth was not something she would accept. Not something he could accept.

  And what is the truth?

  What was his heart aware of that he wasn’t?

  Why Vex couldn’t stop looking at her?

  Why was he so curious about her?

  Why did he think she looked so beautiful at that moment, with the fading sunlight reflecting her hair and highlighting her gaze?

  What was the reason?

  …no…

  He did know the reason.

  He just wasn’t ready to accept it. There was no way he could.

  Yet in that moment, the thing controlling Vex’s actions was not his brain. It was not his reasonable self. It was his own foolish heart. The one part of him that was completely aware of everything. That had already embraced the truth with open arms.

  “…I was thinking about how much I like you.”

  The silence returned once again. Seconds becoming minutes, day becoming night. And as those words forced Vex to accept the truth for what it was, the more desperate he felt.

  Eager to hear her voice again. To see her reaction. For her to, somehow, put an end to his misery—no matter the way.

  The woman opened her mouth, Vex’s heart beating the fastest it had ever beaten, its sound so loud it could make him deaf.

  “Vex…I—”

  He woke up with a thud.

  His body was sweating, his heart was racing.

  What was that dream…?

  He stood up with shaken legs, his face red, the shame almost unbearable, making his way to the bathroom. Vex washed his face at least five times, waiting for his body to cool down. Fighting memories of that dream to resurface.

  Yet at the same time he was trying to forget…

  He kept trying to remember her face. The features of the woman who had invaded his dream uninvited, a dream that was so utterly ridiculous it was almost insulting. And little by little, Vex did recall.

  That woman’s voice.

  That woman’s hair.

  That woman’s clothes.

  That woman’s face.

  Her name.

  A new feeling washed over him, flooding his insides without mercy, making shivers run down his spine as his stomach turned upside down again and again.

  Dread.

  That wasn’t a dream…

  That was a nightmare.

  Vex took a long shower, making sure he would purge away those images from his mind forever.

  When he returned to his room, he saw something on the floor. The thing he had kicked out of bed right before he woke up. An empty box of chocolates. He had eaten those right before bed the night before. He knelt to pick the box, spotting two cards beside it.

  One was the card that came with the box itself. The other was a card sent by the person who gifted him the box.

  ‘May the sweetest of dreams reach you’

  ‘I hope you have a good experience～? ’

  Anger burst out of him as he crunched the cards in his hand, a vein popping on his forehead.

  “Angus, you bastard…”

  The next time Vex saw that man—

  He was going to kill him.