"....."
"....."
"....."
(Now that I think about it, it's a bad idea to be here) thought Callum.
Duh
He's in a room of the person who confessed her love to him and here he is coming in unbothered with another female acquaintance(?).
(No wonder she looks at me that way) remembering the look Rualan gave him made him feel nervous all over again.
"Where's your seat?" whispered Aerina with her book covering her mouth despite Rualan back to them.
"There's only two" he whispered back.
"?!" Aerina's reaction at this fact made Callum nod in understanding.
(Yeah, I understand what you mean)
"...." he then went back to reading while standing.
_________
(What? Only two chairs?)
Aerina understood why since its only one person in here, and the two of them are intruders but to only have two chairs in a research lab?!
Her twin sister has more than four!
And she sits only on 1!
The rest are just for placing her magic circle stack of papers!
(Ugh~, I have become an inconvenience to Mr.Callum not once but twice already~!.....Wait, maybe it's more than twice!) Remembering how he and Laura helped take care of her during the Dungeon Incident made her feel hopeless and shameful.
Feeling bad for Callum and not wanting to inconvenience him any further or getting Rualan to be annoyed with them further, Aerina decided on a solution, one that she takes into account the event that led them to this place.
"?"
"....."
Looking at the now empty chair, Callum look at her in confusion.
'You can take the chair'
'No, thank you'
'Take the chair'
'No, thanks'
'Take. It.' watching the aggressive hand gestures from Aerina, Callum relents.
He move to the chair and sat down.
"...."
(This isn't so bad)
Then Aerina move and sat on his laps.
"....."
"....
"..." Speedy watch the two in shock with an open mouth.
"..." Rualan continue to write on her notepad, not noticing Speedy's expression.
___________
"...."
"...."
The two remained stun and silent.
"....."
(Welp, I'm screwed)
(This is pretty embarrassing, now that I think about it!)
The two sat there in silence with no books being read.....
While he is glad that Aerina gives him her seat, finding himself being sat on is something he didn't expect especially coming from the same girl who blushes deep red upon realizing that she fell asleep while leaning in his arms.
"....."
"....."
"T-This i-is much better, than...sitting all by myself" Aerina quietly spoke those words, so soft that he could barely hear it if it weren't for the distance between them.
"Yeah..." he said quietly as well.
"...." Aerina felt as if she did something wrong and think about leaving his laps and try reading a book while standing herself.
"By the way...do you want to read this together?"
"...Yes" she replied quietly.
The two then read a book together, his arms by her sides almost in an embrace while she reads it slowly while 85% of her attention is on how comfortable she is on his lap.
____________
Soon the bell arrived causing their reading to finish.
Aerina stood up quietly, with her back to him while Callum remain seated trying to think about what to say to her.
"...I enjoyed it" said Aerina quietly with her back still facing him and swiftly leave the room.
"...."
(I enjoy it as well) he thought.
"....."
".."
"So, Junior, mind explaining to me why did you bring Gear's twin sister here?", Rualan swiveled her chair to face his direction.
(Yeah, she's definitely is angry at me) now that Aerina has left she can now fully express her anger for him to see, with a gaze so harsh that made him stay seated.
"...."
Then after calming himself, Callum stood up and walk toward Rualan.
"...."
"Well?"
"I thought we could stay here to find something to do while we skip classes, just as I explained before"
"And nothing else?"
"Yes"
"Good, now leave"
Rualan then stood up and walk toward another desk where she search for some papers. Noticing something different that their usual separation process, Callum call out to her.
"Senior Rualan"
"I said leave"
Hearing that last part Callum realized something and that something was because of him.
"....I'm sorry to hurt you"
"....."
She didn't watch him walk away, only listened to his words which sound like an excuse to her as he leaves.
"...."
"...."
Bringing a girl who resembles Alaine to her lab, right after she confessed to him is despicable in her eyes, something he should've known and he acts as if nothing had happened between them. He did so naturally without blinking that she thought he didn't bother to think about her, nor the things she and he went through together.
Not the things she went through.
Not the part where she has to move due to losing a bet.
Not the part where they have dinner together.
Not the part where she has to do research alone because others have cold feet as the research goes deeper and they try various methods that bring sympathy to the monsters.
Not when she was alone.
No.
She is alone.
Now she only has herself, and a pack of monsters.
"Dammit...Why did you do this to me...?"
The cold gaze she held turned soft and vulnerable as Rualan soon cry quietly, the papers from before becoming damp as her eyes continue to release streams of tears.