The reason why he was currently in the library was because, the class was too noisy, he couldn't focus on reading because Martin, Raphael, and Edward kept laughing near his seat. Alex, the man with glasses, the only quiet one. Sometimes Ezra wondered why the introverted, studious guy named Alex befriended the noisiest guys in this class, Martin and Edward.
The three of them always followed Raphael, and Raphael always followed Ezra, so whenever Raphael was near him, the idiots would automatically surround him.
He was fed up with their incoherent loud conversations, so Ezra stood up, walked out of the classroom without saying anything, then decided to spend some time reading a book in the library.
Final exams were approaching, and they should be studying, considering that in their previous lives Martin and Edward had remedial classes, both of them had to study harder.
However, Ezra didn't plan to tell them about it, he occasionally scolded and reminded them to study but they always ignored him.
Whatever, none of his business anyway, if Martin and Edward get remedial then he could care less.
Unlike the mysterious man who never seemed to study even once, Raphael, always got perfect scores. It wasn't fair, a cunning idea suddenly appeared in Ezra's head, considering that he already knew some of the questions that would be on the exam. Perhaps he would use this opportunity to beat Raphael's test scores.
Speak of the devil, he felt a figure move closer, it was Raphael, smiling at Ezra and taking a seat right beside him. The library was very quiet, and he was a bit happy not to see a bunch of stupid idiots following Raphael.
"You've been so diligent lately... I'm getting a bit scared."
Raphael said sarcastically, Ezra gave him a glare.
"Yeah, I'll beat your score."
"Hm, can you? but I don't think it's possible. I always get the highest score in class."
Seeing Raphael's sneering face, Ezra clicked his tongue. Yeah, this man was disgustingly very smart, Raphael always got the highest score in class. Though Ezra already knew what kind of questions would be given in the exam later, and for some reason he wanted to use this opportunity to make Raphael realize that there was still someone who could compete with him.
Although of course it was no different from cheating.
"What if this semester ... I'm the one who gets the highest score in class."
Ezra actually didn't know why he said that, maybe because Raphael's smug face provoked him, he somehow wanted to see someone like Raphael lose once in a while.
"Okay ... that's interesting, then..."
Raphael's head leaned closer, "Let's make a bet."
"A bet?"
"If you win then I will do anything for you, I will give you anything you want, whatever you wish."
His eyes widened, a man named Raphael Winchens said that, someone from the Winchens family said he would do anything for him, someone who could easily buy an island, or give as much money as you desired. On second thought, what did he want from this man?
Ezra thought seriously, he involuntarily frowned, 'What do I want?'
Unfortunately, he wasn't a materialistic person so he wasn't going to ask for things like a property or money but then the image of wagyu came to his mind, Ezra felt his mouth watering, it had been a long time since he had eaten such high quality expensive meat.
He gulped, "Uh, okay, that's a good offer..." but then Ezra realized that in order to make their bet official, he would also have to offer something equal.
What do I have to offer? That man already has everything.
As if able to read his mind Raphael chuckled, "I can hear your thoughts loud and clear Ezra, ... then if I win, you also have to do whatever I want."
"Ugh, you know damn well that I can't do anything impactful to make this bet even."
"There are so many things you can do for me, there are so many things from you that I want."
Raphael raised an eyebrow, speaking in a low breathy voice with a distinctly gruff tone, he felt his cheeks getting warm. Raphael stared intently at every side of his face, there was a covetous glint in his eyes that sent chills down his spine so Ezra averted his gaze, pretending to be back reading a book.
"O-okay." he stammered, trying to clear his throat and speak again, "Sounds fair ... but."
"No 'but' Ezra, you are the one who started this so try to win, because I don't plan to lose."
"I don't plan to lose either! after all I've never seen you study at all! ... don't expect to win easily!"
"I don't need to study."
"Right. You are being arrogant, Raphael. We'll see whose score is the highest."
"Yeah, you are so eager ... Haha, a competitive Ezra, that's your nature."
His soft laugh reached Ezra's ears, slightly soothing. There was light dancing behind those blue-greyish eyes.
He felt his face getting hotter, this was foreign, a feeling that made his chest tight, his chest ache because of loud thumping heartbeat, something strange that scared him.
He had to go, he shouldn't be around this man as he felt his chest was going to explode, Ezra closed the book tightly, still not daring to make direct eye contact, he scratched his temple.
--What to do? what should I do?
"Raphael, I finally found you! I was looking for you in class."
A soft, feminine voice made Ezra look up, this woman— he remembered her very well. Bella. A graceful beauty from the literature class.
"Ah, Bella, is there something you want to talk about?"
Raphael greeted her back with a smile, Ezra saw her cheeks turning red. "Yes, I want to thank you properly for lending me that Noah Sire 1980 book, I've always been curious about the book, so I'm very grateful to you ...."
"Aha, no need to thank me, I'm glad there's also someone who likes rare books."
Bella gradually became nervous, her eyes trembled slightly, "So ... I thought, I want to talk to you ... outside, if you don't mind."
Hearing Bella speaking shyly, Ezra looked at the two of them in turn. Yes, he remembered this moment, how could he forget this important timeline?
Many things that had never happened in Ezra's life before, happened. But there were also many things that did not change as if they were fate, and this was one of them.
Some events could not be changed.
"Aha," Raphael laughed softly, he glanced at Ezra before standing up. "Okay."
Right after hearing the answer Bella's face got even redder. Raphael nudged Ezra with his hand, "I'll be back."
"Why?"
"Well, it's been a while since we had such a casual chat."
"We talk a lot in class."
"But you don't talk much, you just listen and nod, and I want to hear your voice a little longer."
Ezra was speechless, he really didn't know what to say in response so he looked again at Bella who was still waiting while watching the two of them speak.
"That girl is waiting for you, Raphael."
"Ezra. Your name right? I heard you are Raphael's childhood friend, you two grew up together, is it true?"
Ezra didn't expect Bella to greet him, he had never spoken to this woman before, Bella would occasionally glance at him whenever she saw Ezra, but never had the chance to say hello, maybe because they never had the right time to start a conversation back then, the two of them had never met this close.
Ezra tried to smile, but before he could answer, Raphael ruffled his hair. "Yeah, we are childhood friends. Where do you want to talk to me, Bella?"
Now he could see this woman up close, she was really pretty, long wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, she was also a friendly kind girl who was smart, her smile was so sweet, her appearance was simple with light makeup. Her way of speaking was soft and elegant, typical feminine woman who triggered a man's desire to protect her.
Perfect to accompany a strong man like Raphael.
His chest was tight, strange— he knew they would end up together, in his previous life Raphael was dating Bella. At that time, Ezra also felt a tightness in his chest, but he ignored the feeling. The two of them really fit together.
A charismatic masculine man paired with a beautiful feminine woman.
He used to clearly remember Raphael dating Bella, remember when the news caused an uproar throughout the campus. Unfortunately, their relationship did not last long, they only dated for a month.
Ezra was curious about what would happen in this timeline, would they continue to be together?
Ezra felt his heart beat unsteadily.
"Maybe we can talk in the back garden near cafeteria." Bella answered in a weak voice, Raphael nodded, he stood up. Before walking towards the exit, Raphael ruffled Ezra's hair and gave him a warm smile.
The two walked side by side, Ezra's eyes fell on the back of the man whose figure was getting further away.
*
*
*
"This sickens me, absolutely sickens me."
Martin slumped in his chair, whining while massaging his forehead, another man sitting next to him also nodded in agreement to Martin's complaint.
Ezra who was cleaning his desk to put all the books into the bag, looked at Martin, it was the last day of the exam, then he suddenly remembered that, Martin, in his previous life failed his tests. Ezra almost let out a chuckle, but he quickly shut his lips.
Luckily, almost all of the test questions were familiar to Ezra, he certainly didn't remember everything but he could answer the questions easily, so he hoped to get a high score, the exam was only for a week, so after this there would be a holiday. Ezra sighed with relief.
The sigh reached Martin's ears, Martin put his head down on the table, looking at Ezra with tired eyes.
"Ezra, you ... you seem to be answering the tests easily, you study hard so it's natural if you are better than me, but I studied too! And somehow my head felt like it was going to explode after reading a few questions."
It's because I already knew some of the questions— but there was no way he could answer like that, so Ezra just stared blankly at Martin whose face looked like he was about to cry.
"That's because you're stupid." Alex who was sitting beside Martin commented while fixing his glasses, hearing the words that came out of Alex's mouth, Edward burst out laughing.
It was really noisy, he did not know why all these idiotic men decided to sit near him today, but then Ezra shrugged trying to ignore the three men who were already chatting randomly, he glanced at the clock on the wall, it was already lunchtime.