I continued hitting my back on the tree and thought deeply about everything that Viedielle had basically freestyle rapped to me.
When I checked to see that nobody was even attempting to come to the vicinity, I let my guard down.
Viedielle. I thought she was just immature, but it was kind of wild to imagine her living life with her head full of thoughts.
I had bumped into Karim in the morning, so I had asked him some questions about Viedielle. From what Karim explained, Viedielle was extremely prideful and seemed to have little thought behind her words or actions, but she was always trying to achieve some kind of goal. Apparently, a lot of kids followed her and cheered her on in her endeavors.
I didn't know her reputation amongst those older than her, but at least in her age group, she was known to be tenacious, regardless if she was right or not, and that a lot of people trusted her. Of course, this was what kids her age thought of her.
As I remembered yesterday's conversation with Viedielle, I remembered how she seemed to be interested in Karim.
Karim and Viedielle, huh.
I kept hitting my back on the tree with my arms folded across my chest.
Karim's looks were definitely up there recently. He wasn't athletic, but he was brilliant and was incredibly smart, had a great personality, was understanding, was cute and sensible….
And he'd even grown heaps taller recently. He was slightly shorter than me last year, but he'd jumped up in height and now had to look down to look at me. He always talked about how his knees hurt, but he'd grown in an instant and had become a teenager already.
I was kind of sorry to Viedielle, but I felt like our Karim was slightly too good for her.
Moreover, Karim seemed to be interested in Hestia.
He pretended he wasn't from a long time ago, but I'd known that he was interested in Hestia. Both Harun and Karim seemed interested in her.
I didn't know why, but Karim kept pretending to not like Hestia in front of me. But whenever Hestia came over, he always visited my room, and he would bring in snacks for Hestia. It was obvious that he had some feelings for her. And whenever Karim looked at Hestia, the gaze he shot her was definitely not one you gave to your sister's friend.
It was an incredible romantic situation. Viedielle liked Karim, Karim liked Hestia, Hestia seemed to like Harun, and Harun liked Hestia.
If even one of the four characters joined, then it'd be a sight to see. It might even be a complete disaster. But all of them seemed to be interested in Hestia, but their affections all died out. I was a bit shocked at that, but they didn't feel like characters in a book anymore–they just felt like friends 1, 2, 3, and 4, so it was up to them. They weren't ugly or anything too, so they'd be fine.
Once we became seniors, Hestia became more outspoken about her opinions and showed the boys that kept following her exactly how much she disliked them. Thanks to that, I was done being the de facto ojakgyo. It had been super annoying, so I was ecstatic.
My back thumped loudly as I thought about my hardships during junior year.
I was too deep in my thoughts as I slammed my back onto the tree to notice an oncoming issue.
I had relaxed too much and had stopped checking the vicinity.
Someone was approaching me, but I hadn't even noticed.
I continued slamming my back on the tree until I noticed a familiar male student with long orange hair, let down on his shoulder.
I had been too deep in my thoughts.
"....."
Yves just wordlessly watched me slam my back on the tree.
I didn't realize what was wrong as I looked straight at Yves before a few more seconds passed and I realized what had happened.
My body stiffened and cold sweat dripped down my face. I felt like my brain had stopped for a moment.
Yves had his typical smirk on his face as he spoke.
"You were really bored, weren't you?"
I shook my head.
I couldn't seem to speak. I was so embarrassed that I felt like my voice would shake.
Yves just kept staring at me. It would've been nice if he could just ignore me and leave, but he just gazed at me with an amused gaze.
"Then what were you doing?"
When he asked, I responded with a "My back ached...….." with a voice as quiet as humanly possible.
I didn't think that he could hear, but Yves and his incredible auditory abilities just huffed out a laugh through his nose and looked as if he understood.
"Should I help you relax?"
"What?"
Yves sat on a nearby bench and gestured for me to come close.
"I'm good at relaxing muscles. Where do you feel stiff?"
Yves seemed confident that I would head over to him as he put the documents he was holding next to him. He waited for me as he warmed up his fingers. I could hear the sound of cracking joints from his delicate, long fingers.
He seemed like a professional, so I couldn't help but sit next to him and explain my situation.
I even told him that my body felt stiff because I slept wrong, and where exactly I felt stiff.
Yves pressed his fingers into my back a few times and told me that he could feel how stiff I was.
"If you want, I could even do acupuncture on you."
Yves showed me a small assortment of needles that he carried in his shirt pocket.
He really did work in the black market–he knew some weird stuff. Yves was definitely an expert when it came to important parts of the body. He knew exactly where to stab to kill someone and how to paralyze someone's arms and other exact areas.
It wasn't too much of a surprise to learn that he knew acupuncture, but it was still a surprise when I heard it. I let out a "Ooh." out of amazement.
"But you'd have to take off your shirt completely if you do."
Yves said as he smiled. I immediately refused.
I wasn't in grave pain or anything. I didn't need it.
"Do you want to lie face down on the bench?"
I narrowed my eyes at Yves' words.
"I have good hearing. Nobody's coming, so you don't have to be wary of others."
Yves said gently, laughter mingling in his voice.
When he tilted his head downwards to talk to me, his untied orange hair slipped off of his shoulder and flowed down.
At his words that he'd keep watch and help me with my back, I hesitated for a moment before lying down without a word. He told me to relax so I relaxed my body completely.
I breathed in and out, following Yves' instructions. He watched my breathing and when the time seemed right…
Crack!
"…..uuhhhh."
Yves quickly relieved the area that I felt pain in and helped me up so I could sit up on the bench. Yves sat me down so I was leaning on him.
I couldn't help but be in awe. As soon as the crack sounded, it felt like a sense of relief skimmed through my bones. My muscles weren't stiff at all. My body felt lighter.
My surprise was visible on my face as I leaned on Yves. He laughed quietly.
"Are you feeling better now?"
I nodded at his question. It felt like I had been born again. The freshness I felt was akin to using minty shampoo on my hair after a long hiatus. It was incredible.
Yves fixed my stiffness at once and continued to massage other parts of my body that were good for me. It felt nice, so I just stayed still. I usually wasn't a fan of Yves' excessive touchiness, but this was good.
When he massaged the areas with just the right amount of pressure, it felt incredible. I couldn't help but marvel at it. Yves seemed to find this funny as he laughed quietly.
While he helped relax my shoulder and back muscles, I became bored and took a peek at the documents he had been carrying.
They were documents that needed to be submitted for the student body president role. Yves' name was written on the introduction application.
The application was filled with his writing, so I took a look. Most of it were lies.
"Are you going to be the student body president?"
"Well, I've been looking for other avenues but that seemed the easiest."
After that loud crack, I thought that my body possibly couldn't feel any better than that, but it seemed like I had a lot of tense muscles. My body felt better and better. Yves was currently working on my shoulder. Yves' hand was big, so his one hand covered my entire shoulder. He could massage a huge section at once. The conclusion was: it felt great.
"The attack on the DuBois. Are you applying for president because it's connected to the academy principal?"
When I asked the question after skimming through Yves' documents, he abruptly stopped moving his hands.
"...How did you?"
When I turned my head to look at Yves' face, his face seemed stiff.
What do you mean, how do I know. I heard about the incident in a dream. Of course I know.
I stared at Yves' slightly surprised silver eyes, then turned my head back. Yves stayed quiet for a while. Then, not long after, his hand resumed moving as he pressed down on my shoulder.
"You're right. That's why I'm trying to find out for myself."
Yves admitted it. He didn't ask any questions about how I knew that piece of information. Then, with that response, Yves grew quiet again, as if lost in his thoughts.
Then, Yves suddenly shifted his body closer to mind and put his face close to my ear. Yves' hair tickled my neck.
He whispered something my ear, voice sultry.
"But, aren't you a bit too focused on only Cory these days?"
Yves' voice was kind of ticklish, and I suddenly had goosebumps run up my arms so I raised my shoulder to block my ear. It felt like he was tickling my ear with foxgrass.
"I'm already taking care of Cory, so you don't need to worry about him."
When I shifted my body away and turned to look at him, his face was directly in front of mine.
"Worry about me instead."
Yves said, lips in a pout. His eyes stayed on me and my hunched over form.
T/N: ....yves i can't deal with u (slow chapter but also…yves, p l e a s e)