And so, the hot and stuffy afternoon lecture session finally came to an end. Without any delay, the students quickly packed up their things. Slowly, the tension began to ease, and everyone felt relieved. Some stayed behind, chatting in front of the classroom.
"You're so mean, your question earlier was too tricky!", said Damian, the class representative.
"If I'm going to do a presentation, I think I'll block Kriss's questions, hahaha"
"What do you mean tricky?" asked Kriss, confused.
In the corridor there were several students chatting with each other, discussing the Q&A discussion that had been held earlier.
"Next time, if you want to ask a question, think about what you want to ask first!"
"That's what I wanted to ask!"
"Ugh... I feel sorry for Andre, hahaha"
The light-hearted conversation was a stress reliever, and they all laughed together.
"By the way, how's the selection process for your organization going?" asked one of them.
"It seems to be going smoothly, we just need to wait for the decision from the Student Department Council," replied Damian.
"Oh yeah... the Head of the Department of History Education Students has a scary face, right?" Kriss added casually.
"Shh! Don't talk weird about it!"
"Why not?"
Damian glanced around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. Luckily, the corridor was quite empty, although there were still some people passing by.
"I heard rumors from the senior students that the head of the Student Department in our program isn't an ordinary person. It's best not to talk about it, especially in such a strange way," Damian whispered.
"Is he really that big of a deal? I heard a student named Dellon Harrison and his secretary are not ordinary people who came to this institute," Kriss said.
"Maybe, but the rumors I've heard about our Student Department head aren't good. There's even been saying that if we talk about him, he'll get close to anyone who dares to mess with him."
Their whispered conversation seemed to disturb the ears of the blonde-haired guy. Besides, talking about rumors was not his thing.
"What are you guys talking about? It's clear that there are many extraordinary people here, including those with important backgrounds or exceptional talents," Kriss added calmly.
After hearing that explanation, they all fell silent. Whether true or not, Kriss didn't seem to care too much.
"HEY!! KRISS!"
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud voice from inside the class that seemed to be angry. A student who had been the presenter in front of the class since earlier appeared, walking impatiently. He was so furious that he almost kicked a door when he was leaving.
"Andre? What's going on?" Damian asked.
Without answering, he immediately grabbed Kriss by the collar and pushed him against the wall.
"Andre! What are you doing!?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't control my emotions when I have to remember what happened today. Kriss asked me weird questions and embarrassed me during the presentation."
"What? How is it my fault? I was just asking!"
"Think about what you're going to ask, you stupid fool! Don't ask anything outside the material I presented."
The class president and others immediately tried to intervene and break up the fight.
"This dumb blonde just ignited my emotions and made my headache worse. Do you want to embarrass me in front of the class, huh?"
The two of them were still trying to break up the fight. This incident only made the hallway more crowded.
"Enough already! You should apologize to Kriss right away.", Damian asked.
"What? What did I do wrong?!" Kriss asked irritably.
"Just do it quickly!"
The problem didn't have to become bigger. Kriss still considered this issue trivial. Of course, he didn't feel guilty, after all, he was just asking. Besides, what's wrong with asking outside the material?
"So, you feel ashamed because you can't answer questions that should be answered using your own thoughts?"
"WHAT?!!"
"If your critical thinking is not honed because you still think this is high school, you better get used to it! We are college students, you know!"
Kriss's answer only infuriated Andre even more.
"You..."
Without thinking twice, a punch flew from Andre's hand that was about to hit Kriss right in the middle of his face. Kriss was aware of it, but he hadn't had time to dodge and could only remain alert. Until suddenly the attack stopped because someone suddenly grabbed Andre's hand tightly, as if intending to stop him.
TAP~~
The atmosphere became more chaotic because there was a fight, especially after someone nearly threw a punch. However, everyone there was surprised by the sudden appearance of a person in the middle of the incident. This young man had promptly held Andre's hand about 10 cm before it could hit Kriss. He just remained silent, trying to hold back the attacker's energy to avoid causing further problems. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing his red eyes that stared directly at the clenched hand.
"Zeyn?" Kriss exclaimed in surprise.
Andre, who found his attack stopped, was also shocked. He was more surprised because he was curious why suddenly there was someone beside him who had already held his hand. After all, there was no one there earlier.
"Calm down," Zeyn muttered flatly.
"Huh?"
"A lot of people watching, especially the surveillance camera at the end of the hallway. Don't let you get into more trouble and get sanctioned."
They turned towards the end of the hall there. It is true that there are surveillance cameras that are used as security for the school building. If a lecturer or whatever were to see them now, things would get even more complicated.
"Tsk!" Andre let go of his grip with force and took a deep breath.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief because a fight was narrowly avoided. The tension dissipated just in time before it escalated further. It could have been dangerous if the commotion had grown, even though some of them had already taken out their gadgets and were ready to record the incident. Perhaps, for some people, commotion was an enjoyable thing? A viral and exciting content, especially if it had to be uploaded on social media.
"Say sorry," Zeyn muttered softly, glancing at Kriss.
"Huh? Me?"
"Regardless of right or wrong, provoking someone's anger is always a problem that must be resolved immediately."
Kriss remained silent for a moment, feeling like he was not guilty for merely asking a question during the discussion. Andre also didn't feel guilty because he felt himself right. But it seemed it would be wiser to apologize, they were adults after all. Fighting like children would only embarrass themselves.
"Okay, okay, forgive me, bro. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry for my words earlier because I almost got carried away."
"Hmm... okay. I'm sorry too"
"By the way, it was an interesting presentation topic."
"Ah... umm... sure, thanks" Andre replied, still feeling a bit awkward.
They both shook hands, regretting their actions, making the class representative smile in relief. Fortunately, it didn't become a serious issue and it could be resolved now. Regardless of the disappointed crowd who seemed to have been hoping for a fight, the important thing was that the problem was solved.
"Ey man, good work," Damian said, patting Zeyn's shoulder.
"..."
Unfortunately, Zeyn didn't pay attention to the compliment because he was now staring towards the end of the hallway. There were a few people there who seemed to be approaching him.
The crowd that had about to leave now stayed instead, because their attention was focused on several people who were walking past them. Whispers were immediately heard about the three figures who were walking towards the students who were almost making a fuss earlier.
Two girls who walked elegantly with a man who looked tall, and sturdy followed behind.
"Hey hey hey, isn't that... the head of our Student Department? muttered Andre.
"Oh no, this is bad. What if we get caught causing a scene?"
"So the rumors were true after all. We shouldn't have talked about him."
"You idiot, do you want to believe that rumor again?" Kriss responded.
Zeyn looked at the third person from the back, the one who was just mentioned as the head of our Student Department, with a serious expression.
"Hey, aren't you surprised that those two girls are also here?" asked Damian.
The whispers among the guys became even louder when the "Queen Bee" of the campus appeared before them. She currently held the position as first secretary of the Student Faculty Council for the Faculty of Science and Technology this year, and frequently appeared everywhere as a campus influencer. She came carrying a slightly faded light blue wallet.
"Hi, we meet again," said Aidera.
The five of them turned to Zeyn, who was directly questioned, and just like that, everyone's attention shifted towards him as if he was the new spotlight.
Once again, those red eyes fixed on the pair of blue sapphires that made the girl so attractive. The atmosphere became silent again because no one expected Aidera to aim at him. Now they are silent and waiting for an answer.
"Unm... sorry. Who are you, actually?" Zeyn asked in confusion.
* * * *