Chapter 22
Even though Leticia didn’t want to grow closer to Vallon, seeing him appear injured didn’t sit well with her. If even a stray cat being hurt could tug at her heartstrings, how could she possibly feel at ease seeing a person in front of her, bruised and battered?
Deep down, it had bothered her that she had passed Vallon by without a second thought. The truth was, she hadn’t been able to completely shake off her discomfort. Perhaps the dream she’d had was a manifestation of that guilt.
‘I was hurt, you know. Why did you just leave me there? It hurts…’
In her dream, Vallon had reproached her, as if blaming her for abandoning him. Thinking about it now, she felt a little guilty for avoiding him just because of his gloomy appearance. She had rejected and avoided him simply because he was different from the others.
She had never once stopped to think about what might be going on in his mind or what pain he might be enduring. Vallon, after all, was a person who felt emotions just like her.
“Vallon, about yesterday… I’m sorry. Did you get treated?”
As Vallon straightened up after picking up his pencil, Leticia had to crane her neck to look up at him. Aside from his height, she had no sense of what his body might be like underneath his oversized clothes.
“Are… Are you mad at me?”
Vallon remained silent. And honestly, it would have been strange if he wasn’t upset—after all, she had ignored his request for help and simply walked away.
Perhaps when he had asked for help, it had been because there was no one else he could turn to. It was possible that he resented her for coldly rejecting his desperate plea.
Why didn’t I realize that sooner?
In this academy, there was no one willing to help Vallon. After the rumors spread that he had pushed Eric, people avoided him even more, leaving him to live in complete isolation.
“No, it’s just… strange that you’re suddenly being nice to me,” Vallon said, his voice quiet.
Leticia touched her cheek awkwardly. It was true—she had been avoiding him every day, too busy trying to escape his presence.
“Oh… it’s just… I felt bad about yesterday… You looked really hurt. How did it happen?”
“It just happened.”
Vallon brushed off her question, unwilling to provide any further explanation. Perhaps it was too painful a memory for him to speak about.
“Leticia!”
“Huh?”
Just then, someone called out to her from the classroom door. It was Kyle. But for some reason, Leticia didn’t feel as happy as she normally would upon seeing him. Her dream, in which Kyle had crumbled into dust, flashed through her mind, making her gulp nervously.
Glancing at Vallon, Leticia gestured to Kyle to go on ahead. She still had something she wanted to discuss with Vallon.
Kyle, looking slightly disappointed, gave a reluctant nod and disappeared.
“Shouldn’t you have gone with him?” Vallon asked.
“No, I wanted to walk with you today… if that’s alright?”
Leticia smiled awkwardly at Vallon. It must have seemed ridiculous for her to suddenly want to walk with him after treating him so coldly the day before, but Vallon didn’t seem to mind. He simply nodded in agreement.
What Leticia didn’t notice was the slight bulge pressing against the front of Vallon’s clothes as he turned away.
As they walked back to the dorms together, Leticia struggled to figure out what to say. She wanted to start a conversation, but she had no idea how to begin.
“Vallon, about yesterday…”
“It’s fine.”
“Huh?”
For some reason, Vallon seemed to be in a good mood today. As they walked closely, their hands brushed together. Leticia flinched at the contact and quickly pulled her hand away, startled.
Vallon, who had been watching her closely, kept his eyes fixed on her hand and asked,
“Leticia, can you hold my hand?”
“What? You want to hold hands?”
She didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the idea.
“Yes. I feel like the people who hurt me might come back.”
He didn’t seem particularly affected by the fear he was describing. His words spoke of fear, but the emotion she sensed from him didn’t match.
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hiraheth
Obsessive peony