Vega's breathing raged. Nevertheless, Vega kept looking ahead, searching for a speck of dust carrying her traces in the air. His limping right leg left behind a trail of blood in his footsteps.
Vega was sick. A vortex of chaos ruthlessly trampled on his sound mind. He couldn't even recognize his own feelings anymore. He didn't understand what he was trying to do. His intuition enticed him to trust the pounding heart to reach her. Even though somewhere in his mind, he just knew it wasn't supposed to be like this.
His legs weakened the closer he got to the lakeside.
The fuzzy silhouette slowly took the shape of a young girl. The girl's black hair danced in tune with the tender breeze.
Vega's breathing hitched. His throat went dry as he inched forward little by little.
In Vega's innermost place, the banging sound of a body against an iron loudly roared as if to prove its existence. It was desperate. Bits of flesh were torn when its outstretched hand grabbed a handful of air outside the prison bar. It had awoken from slumber after a long time just to meet the young girl. It yearned for her. That piece of existence buried in Vega was on the verge of a rampage from the never-ending pain of being unable to touch her.
His heart went berserk, yet Vega's mind was strangely calm. Vega had long been used to such a contradiction. Once Vega had a good view of the young girl, his senses returned.
She looked.. pretty and youthful.
There's nothing special Vega could find from within her eyes. She was a normal pretty girl and it was very weird for Vega to have a huge reaction. Moreover, staring at her made his head numb in pain again.
Vega was stumped. Meanwhile Ruby had been eyeing Vega vigilantly. Her defense system was alert and her body tensed under the pressure of readiness to attack.
Both of them expressed their opinion about each other.
Vega, 'Strange'
Ruby, 'Weirdo'
After waiting for so long without any sign of the ice breaking, Ruby decided to speak up first.
"Why are you bleeding?"
Vega's head drooped, noticing the small pool of blood under his feet. The corner of his lips twitched. Nothing came to his mind.
Vega blurted out, "I was attacked."
"In this secured area?" Ruby asked in disbelief. She would rather believe that he was a murderer on the run instead. It was much more reasonable judging by his nonchalant attitude.
It was an expected response. Vega stuck with his lie and said with an unperturbed face, "They were trained. It's unfortunate that I can't fend off their combined attack all by myself."
Ruby was suspicious, she kept staring for a while before the tension in her body greatly lessened. Nevertheless, Ruby surveyed the vicinity just in case there would be an unforeseen situation.
The bleeding man didn't seem to lie, because it's true the cases of wealthy people being targeted were quite common in the upper class.
"Is it okay for you to stay here?"
Vega nodded, "It's fine. My people will come sooner or later."
"What about your wound? I guess you will die from blood loss before your people came to pick you up."
"...."
Vega solemnly took off his suit and threw it carelessly. Afterward, he tore his expensive white shirt with sheer power. The fabric covering the length of his arms had gone to bind the wound on his thigh. Even so, the loss of blood was enough to make Vega feel faint. His eyesight blurred. Vega pushed through his limit to stay awake.
Ruby was silent the entire time, watching Vega with an indescribable expression.
"Do you need help? I can call the ambulance for you."
"No need."
"Mmm. I think you should at least sit down."
Vega glanced at the grass and shook his head. "It's not necessary."
"Suit yourself then," Ruby said her final words while shrugging her shoulders.
Vega's face darkened. He was vexed by Ruby's unsympathetic bearing. "How can you be so cold?"
Ruby stopped in her tracks. She softly laughed and explained patiently, "Well, I already gave you the bare minimum of attention I should've done. I've even asked whether you need help or not. It's your choice not to. Therefore, what more could you ask from me?"
Besides, she doesn't want to be involved with this guy who smelled nothing but trouble.
"You're supposed to wait until help comes before leaving the injured. Isn't that common sense?" Vega replied matter-of-factly.
Ruby chuckled again. The smile on her face was carved beautifully. Vega almost lost his focus on that smile. Though Ruby instantly destroyed her image by saying, "There was bound to be an irregular among the people. You are a pretty narrow-minded fellow, huh? It's a pity."
Vega's inside churned in irritation mixed with anger. He was dizzy from the lack of blood and somebody just needed to boil the remainder of the blood. Not to mention that he was being uselessly chatty with this girl. He began questioning his action of stabbing himself. Was it necessary?
He indeed had undergone a momentary madness from god knows what.
The suffocating remorse and longing had evaporated to thin air from his heart. The rationality that was being forgotten came back online. Thinking back, why is he so desperate to meet this annoying girl?
Vega's deep eyes were penetrating. "Have we met before?"
Their eyes met and Ruby was incapable of pulling over from his clear eyes that reflected Ruby's shadow on it, causing an odd feeling to sprout.
"I'm not sure," Ruby answered half a beat late while also looking a little unwell.
Whew, she almost lost her reason.
Not good. Not good.
"I'm going first."
Ruby was in a hurry to leave but a man got ahead of her. The man ran like there was a fire on his butt. The whole person was panicked and terrified. Snot came flying and tears streamed down as if it was a broken dam.
"Young Master Vegaaa! I-..I was wooo...worried.."
Secretary An was worried about his head getting chopped if he couldn't bring the injured Young Master back. Truthfully, he had called all the available bodyguards to search the premise but was too scared to cause a commotion and get scolded when the Young Master found out. He was tangled to death regarding the action he should take.
Fortunately, the Young Master was safe and sound. Although a little damaged.
Ruby stammered, "Ve-Vega?"
"'You know me?" His eyebrow was raised, waiting expectantly at Ruby who was dumbfounded.
I am an idiot if I didn't know you!
No wonder he was so attractive and his aura was lethal, unlike any ordinary wealthy man.
It turns out she was the brainless one who couldn't identify him as the male lead.
"No way! I was wondering why I felt that I've seen you before. It must be from the internet, right!"
Ruby awkwardly laughed. Her attitude went 180 degrees different from her previous haughty act. Because she remembered precious little Noah is nearby.
Right at the same time, Ruby slipped past Secretary An, Vega was attacked by a burst of dizziness. He could no longer hold on. When Vega's knee was an inch away from the ground, Secretary An caught him.
"Hang on, Young Master!"
"No, wait.."
Before Vega fainted from total blackness. He caught the fleeting figure running away from him without regard for his well-being. Vega was both angry and helpless.
It reminded him of a memory he couldn't recall. A memory that enveloped his heart in the warm sunshine. A fuzzy, tickling feeling scratching his soft spot.
Ruby picked up the confused Noah and sprinted home. They entered the apartment looking like a mess. Ruby had to take a minute to control her pulse.
Oliver's little face was full of questions, "Did something happen?"
"I don't know. I only remember I was being carried home." Speaking of that, it was a total disaster. Ruby carried him like a bag of cabbage in her arms. His waist was encircled from behind and he was lifted up facing the ground exactly like that!
Noah felt humiliated. He wasn't going to share the story with Oliver. Noah stared at Ruby viciously. Cold air blew towards Ruby but was mostly ignored.
"Hisss. I'm tired."
She had to bring Noah from the school like a true kidnapper since Vega's people were roaming around. Ruby's conscience hurt but she didn't want to give up halfway.
"Ask Noah if you are curious about the school."
"Even if you didn't say it, I was going to."
"Sure. Whatever you say."
Oliver harrumphed and walked away holding hands with Noah who was still sending daggers from his glare at Ruby.
Ruby slumped to the soft bed listlessly. She muttered incoherently, ".. didn't expect.. he.."
Meeting Vega was out of her calculation because it was too soon for them to encounter each other according to the plan. If the plotline hadn't gone awry far from the original line, it would be when Crystal and Vega met at the academy that Ruby was going to see Vega and watch them from the sideline. The strange thing is that Vega was wounded.
Ruby's brows' scrunched. She didn't have a recollection of Vega being hunted and badly wounded. She felt a little uncomfortable thinking about the possibility of it being her fault for forcibly changing the beginning of the plotline.
Huft. Better be careful next time. She didn't want the male lead to die so early.