For the rest of that morning, Ryan didn't say another word.
Daisy could hardly believe her eyes. While she was eating fries and listening to a podcast on her phone in the dorm, Ryan actually walked in carrying Emily! Clumsy as ever, he placed Emily on the bed, tucked her in, and ordered her to sleep.
Then, he turned to glare at the stunned Daisy, strode over, and turned off the buzzing phone:
"No external sound! It will disturb Emily!"
Daisy's mouth fell open, unable to find her voice. In the classroom, she had thought Ryan was just having a temporary mental breakdown, but she hadn't expected the episode to last this long.
Ryan grabbed the fries from her hand and growled:
"These are too noisy to eat!"
Daisy stood there, her eyes wide open, too stunned to blink.
Ryan glared at her for a while longer, then frowned and said, "Go to the library! Emily needs rest, and you're making too much noise in the dorm!"
The dormitory door slammed shut!
Daisy, tossed out by Ryan, stood there dumbfounded. She shook her head, unable to understand what was happening. Wait, wasn't this her dorm? And wasn't Emily supposed to be her friend? And wasn't Ryan always harsh with Emily?
Also—
Shouldn't she be taking her backpack to the library?
Coming to her senses, Daisy pounded on the door:
"Hey! Open up! My backpack is still inside! Besides, you should be the one leaving! If you're taking care of Emily, she'll only get worse!"
The door opened.
Daisy nearly stumbled inside, unable to stop herself in time!
A backpack was thrown at her face, and before her feet could even touch the ground inside the dorm, the door was slammed shut behind her with a loud bang!
Ryan's angry voice roared from inside:
"If you dare disturb Emily's rest again, I'll strangle you!"
What a fierce shout!
Daisy shivered, and after a moment of internal struggle, she decided to give in. She crouched down to pick up the backpack, preparing to obediently head to the library, when her eyes suddenly widened—
Ugh!
Ryan had thrown out Emily's backpack!
Ryan was an idiot!
Ryan was a pig!
From that day on, except during the late hours of the night, Ryan forbade anyone from "disturbing" Emily while she was recuperating, leaving Daisy, Yuki, and Katherine to wander outside every day. Yuki didn't mind much since she spent most of her time in the library anyway, but Daisy and Katherine had a hard time. Katherine was so furious that her face turned an angry shade of grey, but she dared not act up in front of Ryan. Her amusing expressions became Daisy's only source of entertainment these days.
However, Emily's condition did improve rapidly.
"If you don't get better soon, you won't care about us anymore," Daisy said with a sigh of relief while lounging comfortably on the dorm bed.
"Hmph!"
"I'm sorry…"
"Hmph!"
"Daisy…" Emily scratched her head, her face full of distress.
"Hmph!" Daisy gave her a sidelong glance. "You're the precious one, and we're just weeds! It's driving me crazy!"
"I'm sorry, Daisy," Emily lowered her head. She knew Ryan was being unreasonable, but he never gave her a chance to explain. As soon as she tried to speak, he would yell at her to be quiet. If she persisted, he would cover her mouth with a blanket.
"Ryan is an idiot!" Daisy said, once again voicing the opinion she had expressed countless times over the past few days.
"Yes."
"Yes what! He's an idiot, and you still like him. You must be an even bigger idiot!"
"Yes."
"Again with the 'yes'!" Daisy glared at her.
"Idiot, yes, I'm an idiot, so of course I say 'yes'," Emily said with a silly grin.
"Tch! I can't deal with you!"
Daisy couldn't help but laugh, and once she started, she found she couldn't stay mad anymore.
"So what do you like about Ryan, Emily?"
Emily's smile gradually faded, and her expression became calm. In that moment, Daisy felt as if she could see a deep, profound emotion flowing in her eyes. Then Emily smiled again, this time with a gentle, wistful smile, like the afternoon breeze outside the window.
"I like everything about him, no matter what it is."