The last rays of the evening sun gently touched the glass window. Ann walked behind, the wind tousling his hair, causing a few strands to fall over his forehead. He still hadn't completely shaken off the suffocating feeling in his chest from earlier, when he met Vivian and Cross.
Robert walked ahead in silence. When they reached Ann's classroom, he tilted his head to the side and gently touched Ann's cheek.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I won't make you feel suffocated again," he said, his voice low, barely audible, but clear.
Ann turned to him, pressing his lips together. In that moment, he didn't dare say anything. He just nodded quietly.
That afternoon's class was held in a large lecture room, with the fans whirring and the sound of laptops clicking rhythmically. Ann's group gathered in a circle. The group leader, Leon Lam, an Alpha, a year older than Ann, wore one earphone, his eyes focused but not cold.
"Ann, you're doing the visual part like last time, right?" Leon asked, waiting for a response, but there was no reply.
"Ann... Ann... ANN!!!!" Leon grabbed Ann's shoulder, calling him out loudly. Only then did Ann snap back to reality.
Ann jumped. "Huh? Oh… yes, I will."
Leon asked, "Are you okay? You've seemed a bit out of it today."
"No, I'm fine," Ann replied, "You all carry on."
Jay Nguyen, part of the group, sitting next to him, chuckled lightly and pushed a stack of papers toward him. "What were you thinking, Ann? The visuals from last time were great, just keep going."
Rina Tran, a Beta girl of the group, didn't say anything, but placed a stack of statistics and some printed reference links on the table near Ann.
The group continued assigning tasks, rehearsing lines, and keeping track of time. Ann tried to keep up, but his mind kept drifting back to the voice from earlier:
"I won't make you feel suffocated again."
After class ended, the group decided to grab noodles near the back gate. Ann smiled and shook his head, giving the excuse that he needed to go back early to fix the slides.
"Be careful on your way back," Leon said. It was a casual remark, but his gaze lingered a little longer than usual.
Ann looked at him and smiled. "I'll be careful. You guys eat quickly."
Leon hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to confirm something, then turned and walked away.
When everyone had left, Ann stood there quietly for a long time before heading back.
—
On his way home, the evening wind brushed against the handlebars, and Ann's hair fluttered with each gust. He wasn't in a hurry, nor was he sure of what he was thinking—his mind was just drifting through fragments of thoughts from the class, from Robert Wilson's gaze, and from the words that Milena Yuong once said.
"You need to open up a little, make new friends. Don't keep holding onto old memories."
Her voice echoed in his head, both gentle and firm. He hadn't answered back then, only lowered his head and pressed his lips together. But now, in the quiet moment with no one around, her words suddenly felt like a drop of ink in water—spreading out and stirring things up.
Ann suddenly realized that he had passed the place he meant to stop. He braked, blinked, looked around, then sighed softly and turned the bike around.
Down a small alley on the left, there was an old yarn store sitting quietly under a bougainvillea trellis. The weathered wooden sign hung loosely, and inside, yellow lights spilled out, hugging the wooden shelves stacked with spools of yarn. Ann stopped his bike in front of the store and stepped inside.
Inside the shop, the scent of aged wood and yarn was faintly in the air. Ann stood in front of a row of brown and black yarns, his hand lightly brushing over each spool.
He'll like this, won't he?
I hope so.
Ann wasn't sure what exactly he wanted to pick up. But he just stood there, choosing different colors, lost in thought. About the yarn, about relationships that hadn't started yet, and about a heart that perhaps needed someone to step in.
That night, in his rented room, the only light was from the desk lamp. Ann sat cross-legged on the floor, crocheting, trying not to let his mind wander. His hands were working on the first double crochet, but his mind had no clear picture of what it would become.
The phone rang – it was Robert calling for a video chat.
After Ann and Robert exchanged phone numbers, they had started texting frequently, and recently, they had begun video calling like this.
Ann adjusted his shirt and then pressed the answer button.
"What are you doing?" Robert's warm voice came through, his hair slightly messy.
"I'm crocheting," Ann said, holding up the bag of yarn. "I'm practicing my hands."
"Practicing your hands? Are you planning to crochet something for me?" he raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.
Ann felt as though he had been caught. He turned his head, looking away. "No… nothing."
"Are you sure?"
Ann bit his lip. He didn't answer.
Robert smiled lightly. He tilted his head and looked at Ann, his voice soft:
"Are you okay?"
Ann paused for a moment before asking:
"Huh?"
"About this morning."
"... I'm fine."
But Robert still stared at him, not taking his eyes off. His gaze wasn't just polite—it was waiting for a real answer.
Ann pressed his lips together. After a while, he spoke quietly:
"I guess... not exactly."
Robert was silent, not interrupting, just waiting for him to continue.
Ann looked down, his hands clasped together in his lap.
"Vivian Gadnon... she's beautiful... Really beautiful. She's confident, kind. But I'm not sure... It feels like when she talks, even though she smiles, her eyes don't really open up to me." Ann hesitated for a moment before adding: "But I really like her. Even though she seems hard to get close to, she's very kind."
Robert raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Ann continued:
"As for Lucien Cross..."
Ann paused, as if looking for just the right words.
"... It feels like he looks at others as though he's evaluating an object. Whether it's attractive or not, whether it fits his taste or not, whether it's fun or not. I'm scared." He looked at Robert, his gaze sincere. "I'm really scared."
Ann liked Robert. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but he did like him. He doesn't know anything about the relationship between Vivian Gadnon and Lucien Cross with Robert. Were they close? He was afraid of saying something wrong, that Robert might not like him anymore.
But unexpectedly, Robert's response was very different from Ann's worries.
Robert's voice became low, serious:
"Vivian Gadnon is the kind of person who always knows how to make others feel at ease." He spoke slowly. "Her smile, her words, her gestures... everything is perfect. But don't let that exterior fool you."
He looked at Ann, his gaze deeper than usual.
"She's extremely logical. Everything she does, whether it's chatting or giving small gifts like keychains, has a purpose. She never wastes her time on unnecessary people."
Ann swallowed lightly. He could sense that already, but hearing Robert say it out loud made him shiver.
"But didn't she seem warm towards me?" Ann asked. "I don't think she's trying to do anything to me. I don't have anything for her to be interested in..."
Robert shook his head gently, dismissing Ann's description of Vivian's warmth.
"Vivian is hot on the outside, cold on the inside," Robert continued. "The more she smiles, the more she gets close, the more you should be careful. Because sometimes that gentleness is a warning: you're entering her territory."
"As for Cross..." Robert looked directly at the screen, his eyes narrowing slightly. "He never shows his true intentions. If he smiles at you, then you might be in the middle of a game he's playing."
Robert stared directly at Ann.
"With Cross, you just need to stay away. But with Vivian, you need to be cautious."
Ann nodded, trying to process what Robert had said. But in a way, he was still a bit swayed by Vivian's charm. The one he was initially afraid of had been replaced by Cross in his mind.
Noticing that Ann's face had paled a little, Robert realized he had made the conversation a bit too serious. He worriedly asked:
"You... you're not uncomfortable, are you?"
Ann gripped the yarn tightly in his hands. "I'm fine."
Robert was silent for a moment, then said, "So, if anything happens, don't hesitate to call me. I'll come right away."
Ann bit his lip. Suddenly, he felt a warmth in his chest.
Later, the two of them changed the subject. They chatted about school, their group, and the slides.
After a while, Robert lowered his voice, speaking sincerely:
"After the exams... let's meet up one day? Not by chance, not for school. But just to hang out officially."
Ann didn't respond immediately. His eyes widened a bit, his heart skipped a beat. But then, he nodded.
"Yeah."
The Crown Club's meeting room was on the third floor of building H, with white LED lights shining down on the glass meeting table. A group of students was busy with their tasks. Among them, Vivian sat with her legs crossed, flipping through documents. Cross, however, was lounging on the sofa, one earphone in, his lips curling into his usual sardonic smile.
The door opened.
Robert walked in, his tall frame in dark clothes, his expression neutral.
No one spoke.
He set his bag down and curtly said, "Let's get to work. I don't want to waste time."
---
Bonus:
Me: They will meet up at the basketball court.
Milena: But why did Robert choose that place? He's too elegant to make people think he can play basketball...
Nina: You know... Some man will want to impress their crush by playing basketball even if they don't know how to play. For a kiss from the beauty you know~
Milena: Ahaha~
Nina: Ahahaha~
Me: Ahahahaha~
Kai: NOOOO!!!!