It seemed that I had no resistance to the gap between his usual mature atmosphere and the expressions of a teenager that suited his age.
Watching his constantly changing expressions, I somehow felt a little restless in my heart.
"Alright, alright, don't look at me with such resentful eyes!"
I couldn't bear it anymore and took out my phone from the bag in my hand. Blake's face instantly bloomed into a brilliant smile like a flower.
"Thank you."
Seeing him happily smiling like a teenager because of such a small thing, I couldn't help but laugh.
"But I don't often send text messages or make calls."
"It's okay. I will text you after my part-time job. If the time is right, please reply to me."
"I know."
What was this feeling? It was a little itchy.
I remembered some almost forgotten feelings, and my heart warmed slightly. The sudden surge of emotions made me a little overwhelmed.
"Teacher... your phone charm is very cute."
"Um? Ah, this one. It's a bit embarrassing."
Blake's fingertips twined around the slender chain and the sparkling blue stone on my phone.
"Was it given by your girlfriend?"
"Oh, no, no. My sister likes to make such things, and unconsciously, I hung a lot of them. I can take them off and put them on, and I've given up."
I said this and smiled. The wrinkles between Blake's slightly furrowed eyebrows smoothed out.
He obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and that look made me feel a little itchy.
It was only until now, seeing his behavior and reaction like this, that I truly felt that Blake really liked me.
"Teacher."
"... Um?"
Blake, who was walking shoulder to shoulder with me, suddenly stopped.
I looked back puzzledly, and Blake respectfully extended his hand.
"Can I touch you a little, just a little?"
"Ah?"
Blake suddenly made an unexpected request, and my voice became sharp, and my behavior became unnatural.
I hurriedly looked around and felt pathetic.
"It doesn't mean anything strange. I really just want to touch you a little."
Blake smiled a little troubledly, gently took my hand, and gently stroked my hair like treating a fragile object.
I stood still, and suddenly he pulled me over, and my body pressed against his chest.
In an instant, I smelled Blake's faint fragrance, and for some reason, my heart felt painfully unbearable.
The sudden event made my heart beat violently and almost stop.
When I moved, the hand that Blake wrapped around my back tightened.
"Just a little, just a little bit."
"Don't run away -" he whispered in my ear, and strangely, my body lost its strength.
I tried to distract myself from his touch and voice and find a way to get through this moment.
But no matter how much I pretended not to care, the sound of Blake's heartbeat clearly transmitted from the contact area could not disappear.
It was like an infection, and my heart also began to beat faster.
"I'm sorry."
"No."
I don't know how long it had passed.
Blake suddenly left my body, and a gust of wind blew, taking away my warmth.
But he lowered his head apologetically, still holding the tip of my finger.
"... Blake."
I gently called his name and squeezed my finger a little harder. Blake reluctantly let go of my hand.
The loneliness that came from the tip of my finger seemed to infect my mood as well.
"Be careful on your way home."
"Yes."
It was only a few meters away from the station. I forced myself to quicken my pace, not giving him a chance to speak.
If I stayed with him like this any longer, I was afraid I would be swallowed up by Blake's rhythm.
Blake seemed to want to say something, but he sensed my mood and quickly nodded.
"Well, then."
I patted Blake's back, who was walking more slowly, urging him, and then pretended not to notice his hesitation and raised a hand.
"Thank you for your hard work, teacher... See you tomorrow."
Seeing a trace of loneliness on his face, my heart ached faintly, but I wouldn't say it out loud.
"Ah, see you tomorrow."
I nodded and watched Blake's back as he quickly walked towards the station.
He looked back several times and then disappeared into the crowd before I let out a deep sigh.
"My heart is beating so fast."
His somewhat mature demeanor and expressions.
Blake was the kind of person who could consider others' feelings in advance and was a very nice man, so nice that one could accidentally be charmed by him.
"I really couldn't strongly refuse when he asked like that. I'm so useless. It's so frustrating."
I hung my head in despair and scratched my hair randomly. I still felt the sensation of being touched by Blake.
"Why am I so shaken?"
My easily influenced personality was now exposed, making me want to cry.
I was never good at refusing, and when someone approached me, I couldn't resist. Blake somehow couldn't be ignored. He seemed assertive, strong, but also a little fragile, making people want to get close to him.
"If he keeps doing this, will I really be swept away by him?"
I felt that I had been caught by his gap and his straightforward gaze that couldn't be avoided. Was this my illusion?
"Ah, is this a trap? Is it a calculation?"
Zoe's words suddenly flashed through my mind.
But being with Blake, I felt that everything was not fake, and I couldn't sense that he was lying.
"Whether it's a strategy or something."
Even if he didn't set a trap, I would accidentally be attracted to him.
Blake just had such charm. The annoyance in my heart didn't disappear at all. I sighed and dragged my heavy steps towards the station.
"By the way, Blake has a feeling that makes people worried. He seems so reliable, why is that?"
The road to the station with Blake was only about twenty minutes.
But the time I walked shoulder to shoulder with him gave me a deeper impression of him as a person.
His gentle and beautiful smile was very warm, and he was also very caring about small things. He was a very considerate person.
He always wanted to touch hands and hair, which made people feel at ease. And his hands were big and gentle.
But he always expressed his feelings directly, which made me panic and my heart beat faster.
My love deviation value had been almost zero recently, and such sudden emotional ups and downs were not good for my health.
But annoyingly, I not only didn't hate everything he did, but I didn't think it was bad at all.
I'm very happy to see you today. Good night.
I received Blake's text message for the first time.
Just such a simple sentence made me very shaken, and I hit my forehead against the door of the tram.
The long-lost excitement and the beating heart made me feel that it wasn't my own.
I had this kind of feeling for the first time for someone I hardly knew not long ago.
And then, for some reason, he was now smiling kindly in front of me.
This was the teaching preparation room where I spent most of my day, a remote place where few students visited.
After the noon bell rang for a while, he appeared here with the same gentle smile as yesterday.
But I didn't expect to see him again so soon. To be honest, I was a little surprised.
"Teacher, do you have things you like and dislike?"
"No, not really."
"Do you like sweet or salty egg rolls?"
"Well, sweet, I guess?"
While I was facing the table correcting test papers, Blake looked at my face with a smile.
His elegant crossed long legs and the way he held his cheek made him particularly dazzling in this somewhat dim room.
"Then, what is this question about."
He had been asking me about my food preferences since just now.
I couldn't help but look at him, and he blinked in surprise.
"It's about your food preferences, teacher."
"No, of course I know, but."
I was confused by Blake's immediate answer.
Suddenly he stood up.