The wind blows bringing your perfume to me.
I walk closer, feeling the scent getting stronger and stronger, making me intoxicated.
I'm dancing like crazy, dancing surrounded by the scent of that perfume.
The longer I dance, the harder I find your figure.
Oh. Julia, where are you?
I'm a young man who is crazy about you, I want to hug you, take care of you until my last breath.
Oh. Julia, only the smell of your perfume intoxicates me, your figure is fading away, less and less visible.
Oh. Julia, where are you?
I am your devotee. I crave you. I want you.
We will live together, surrounded by the sweet smell of your favorite perfume.
Oh. Julia, I will always be with you.
*
Ezra had a headache in the middle of the group, Martin stood up from his seat, watched by almost everyone in the class, reading the quote from the book he was holding in an exaggerated tone, Ezra massaged his temples, too early for this stupid thing.
He certainly remembered this moment, today was the schedule for extra literature lessons and their class was assigned to quote some poetries or beautiful quotes from novels, those who dared to read it in front of the class would get extra scores for the upcoming exams.
In this time he forgot to bring the book, and a woman named Leah would sit beside him, lending a novel to Ezra, helping Ezra to quote something interesting from the book, this memory was actually a bit vague because of course there was no way he could remember everything in detail, he was not a robot.
"Martin sure is confident, huh. I'm a bit envious of his shameless personality."
The woman who took a seat beside Ezra chuckled, for some reason it made Ezra shiver because the events that happened today were expectedly still the same.
Leah greeted him, taking out a few novels from her bag. "What kind of quote have you prepared Ezra?"
The same question that happened in the previous life.
"I don't bring any."
"Oh! Then use my books ... Ah, wait let me find something suitable for you— looks like you are the type of guy who doesn't like romantic stuff —"
Leah put about five books on the table, she smiled broadly, eyes sparkling, waiting for Ezra to choose which one to borrow.
Before he could take one, Ezra felt a figure getting closer to where they were sitting, he looked to the side to found Raphael who was walking leisurely then sat on an empty chair right in front of Leah, "Leah you bring a lot of books." Raphael greeted, knowing that the man was talking to her, Leah's cheeks flushed red.
Not so surprising. Raphael, a man admired by many women, not only was his face pleasant to admire, he was also a man who came from an elite family, a descendant of the Winchens family.
Sometimes it hurts as a fellow man to admit the other man's luck.
"Uh, yeah..., I like a lot of quotes from several novels .... I was a bit confused about which one to bring, so I decided to bring some—"
"What about you, Ezra?"
Raphael's eyes fell on him, Ezra shrugged. He shook his head. Leah who watched their conversation then quickly picked out a book for him. A fantasy genre book, the book cover depicted a huge dragon with a young man holding a sword.
"Ezra forgot to bring any, so I'm going to lend him this one, some of the quotes I've marked with a bookmark so hurry copy them." Leah smiled sweetly, the dimple on her left cheek clearly visible adding to the beauty of this woman's face.
Ezra took the novel, opened a random page and started copying some quotes.
"Are you going to read it in front of the class like Martin?"
"Are you crazy?" Frowning because Raphael's question didn't make sense, he looked back to the front, Martin was still smiling proudly while rubbing his nose because he had received enthusiastic applause from his classmates.
"Martin, that idiot ... Even though the teacher hasn't come he has already put on a show, what if he runs out of energy when it's time to read it in front of the class."
"Haha, how can someone like Martin run out of energy? Have you forgotten what kind of a person Martin is?" Raphael's laugh made Ezra put on a sullen face, the laugh seemed even fresher, to the point that faint wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes.
It seemed Ezra was not the only one who thought so as several people turned their heads to Raphael, even Leah, her eyes sparkling watching at the man.
Raphael was a friendly man who often laughed, but this kind of laugh was kind of rare.
"Why are you suddenly laughing like that?"
Raphael shook his head, he rested his chin on the palm of his hand, "No, it's just that I feel so happy today."
"Happy? Because of what?"
"I don't know, it's like something I've been missing for a long time is starting to come back to me."
This time Raphael's eyes focused on him, when he said those words Ezra could see his eyes brightened. Turning his face, feeling his cheeks heat up, Ezra cursed inwardly. This did not happen in the past life, even though Ezra could not really remember in detail, but he knew very well in this moment they did not talk.
No, Raphael tried to sit near him and strike up a conversation but Ezra quickly moved seats.
Yes, that was what he did. Ezra looked bitterly at the empty seat in front, —should I move?
He was actually a bit afraid if too many things changed, whether the change would have a good or bad effect, Ezra still felt uneasy.
"Doesn't that quote Martin read sound very romantic?"
Raphael was talking with Leah, Ezra closing his eyes for a moment, trying to remember something that happened in this timeline.
Raphael and Leah were also chatting with each other at that time, even though he had no idea what they were talking about, Raphael and Leah were talking with clear enthusiasm, they were laughing, discussing about something. Ezra who was sitting at the front turned back to take a pen in his bag, when he was about to take it— his eyes and Raphael's met, there was an expression he could not read when they looked at each other, because of that Ezra quickly averted his face to avoid the gaze that sent a chill down his spine.
"Romantic?"
Leah's eyes widened as if she didn't agree with the claim, "If you read the book you'll know that quote will make your heart ache, I cried while reading it! Martin conveyed that quote like a young man who just fell in love, right? Big wrong!"
"Haha, Martin probably didn't properly read the book."
"It looks like he read it, it's just that he refuses to use the original theme."
They both laughed while glancing at Martin who fully aware that these two were talking about him, but Martin just gave Raphael and Leah a thumbs up, as if he didn't care if people gossiped, Raphael and Leah laughed again at Martin's behavior.
"You said the novel made you cry, what happened to the character?"
At Raphael's question, Leah's body shrank, as if she could recall the emotion when she was reading the book, Leah lowered her voice.
"You want spoilers? I suggest you read it for a more tearful experience."
Leah who whispered softly made Ezra's curiosity rise, Raphael who sat on the front, and Leah who sat next to Ezra, the two of them were engrossed in conversation. Ezra who sat awkwardly near the two, pretending to read the book Leah had given him, staring blankly at the random alphabet on the paper.
"I'm not much into reading romance genre, but Martin reading that quote sounds like a young man trying to find a woman he likes."
"That's right! He is looking for the woman but the context makes my heart ache."
"Really?" Raphael raised an eyebrow, Ezra who knew Raphael since childhood recognized that expression, he was not too interested in the topic but still tried to be friendly.
The strange nature of this man was always like this, a smart man, kind hearted, easy to get along with, he looked good on the outside, wearing that human mask.
Leah brought her head closer to Raphael, his voice trailing off and Ezra quietly moved his chair a few inches closer, focusing his ears to hear better.
"The man, aka the main character, never gets the chance to confess his true feelings because the woman he longs for is found lifeless in the sea, leaving her room clean as if she never lived there, but the smell of perfume from the woman still lingers on all the clothes she used to wear."
"..."
Ezra listened to Leah's words explaining the story slowly and carefully, clearly she did not want anyone other than Raphael to hear the spoilers from the book.
".... The quote that Martin read is when the man gets drunk in the woman's bedroom. The man is also found dead in the morning...," She continued. "Both of them ended up dying by suicide." Leah sighed, as if the feeling of sadness from reading the book came back to her, she pulled at her hair in frustration. "Ah, you have no idea how many tissues I spent because I couldn't stop crying reading the ending! I didn't expect the book to end like that."
"Ah, poor man." After quietly listening to the story, Raphael made a comment.
Ezra also thought the same, how unfortunate, the love story written by the author for them ended tragically.
He sighed, closing the book he hadn't read at all, then put it back on the table, Ezra looked to the front, he remembered that he wanted to change seat, but before he could fully stand up. His eyes met Raphael's, the same look he got in this same timeline.
Uh— Ezra was getting confused, even though a lot of things have changed, some things still end up the same.
Ezra who was half standing, for some reason his legs became weak, he stopped his intention to move and sat back down.
Raphael's eyes were still on him, Ezra frowned, he didn't want to look at that gaze so he reached for the book, flipped to any page, forcing his eyes to read.
".... But the book was written very well, so it became a best seller at its time, it seems that many readers like to read sad stories."
Leah, massaging the back of her neck, leaned deeper into her chair. When Raphael took his eyes off Ezra and returned to chatting with Leah, Ezra breathed a sigh of relief.
"I don't want to be that poor guy," Raphael said in a half whisper, which made Leah's face look astonished, as if those words didn't deserve to come out of the mouth of a man named Raphael Winchens.