Chapter 4
Chapter 4
If Milana had average grades or a halfway feisty personality, things might not have gotten this bad. But everything about her was extreme. Dirt poor but miles ahead of the second-ranked student. Studied so fiercely but was too soft and too small to snap back even when insulted to her face. The whispers turned into loud remarks, and it didn’t take long for those to turn into straight-up harassment.
‘This is nothing new. It’s fine. None of this matters…’
Milana bit her lip. But no matter how hard she tried to steel herself, tears welled up in her hazel-brown eyes anyway. Her small hand mechanically wiped at the moisture. As she stumbled away, sharp laughter rang out behind her.
Don’t dwell on what already happened. Just figure out what you can do now. Her heart hadn’t gotten used to any of this, unlike her hair, dried out from all the hardship. It pounded anxiously. Crossing the campus with shaky steps, she didn’t see the stone jutting out of the ground. She threw out her other foot to catch her balance, but her arm went slack and the reagent bottles slipped right out of her grasp.
“No, no, no!”
Those were the reagents she’d managed to protect even during that whole mess just now!
“Milana!”
A voice cut through as she squeezed her eyes shut, too afraid to look at the damage. A baritone voice, still a bit boyish but deep and resonant. A hand wrapped around her shoulder and her eyes slowly opened.
“Got them!”
What she saw: a towering height, a muscular chest and shoulders, and thick glasses covering a fine, handsome face. He was breathing hard, like he’d sprinted here, and his big hand awkwardly clutched three small glass bottles.
“Bova!”
Her one support. Her only friend at this school. Milana practically jumped.
“You’re my savior!”
“Ah, sorry. I don’t think I made it to savior.”
His apologetic tone made her look down. One bottle was shattered on the ground. Milana’s small face went pale. A sloshing green liquid spread across the floor in a stain, dark and ominous like a swamp.
“It’s fine. Really. Thank you so much!”
It was a reagent she needed to do the assignment well. But what was done was done. Mandrake juice, saved up for with two weeks of dishwashing pay… Milana’s lashes trembled as she forced a smile. She took the rescued bottles from Bova’s hands and casually stepped on the puddle with her left foot. Luckily there wasn’t much. That was enough to hide the stain.
Milana beamed at her friend.
“I almost lost three more bottles! Seriously, thank goodness!”
“It was nothing…”
“No, you’re like a real knight. Not scary like the other guys in the Swordsmanship Department. You’re kind. You’re seriously the best friend ever!”
Bova’s pale cheeks flushed at that, but with the thick glasses in the way and Milana being a bit dense, she didn’t notice.
“Once I get my paycheck, I’m treating you to a meal! The bakery owner likes me, she’s giving me a raise!”
Milana poured out her thanks, completely sincere. Bova always helped her when things got hard. She didn’t get why someone so decent and kind would be friends with someone like her.
“I could buy you a meal…”
“What are you talking about? You’re always the one feeding me! Just wait. I’ll get you something really good this time, not the cafeteria food!”
Milana waved her hand and hurried off to start her assignment, too rushed to catch the look in her friend’s eyes behind those glasses. Her small face full of smiles, she turned and ran off in a flash.
Bova, no, Vladimir, watched her back for a long time. Then he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, tired. Over the brown hair that had already shrunk to a dot in the distance, a scene from moments ago kept playing. Dew clinging to those long lashes, making her chocolate-candy eyes glisten. That sweet smile to match, soft as cream. You could bite into it and sweetness would seep out.
“Ah, this is driving me crazy…”
Just like that, his crush had landed another clean hit to his chest. K.O.
His delicate features twisted, brows drawn fine as if sketched with a thin brush. He couldn’t take his eyes off the tiny woman who was now just a speck. Then, as if he’d made up his mind, he broke into a sprint after her.
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