Chapter 38: Fantasy in the middle of the night

“Well, we’re stuck here for a bit, so… how about we have a little chat? There was something I wanted to talk to you about, anyway.“

“…I don’t have anything I want to say.”

The reply was blunt, but Izana didn’t mind in the slightest. Her smile remained perfectly in place as she fixed her gaze on Sia’s face. Her dark green eyes shimmered with audacity.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“And if you are?”
“Well, that’s fine. After all, it was my fault last time. But still… I wanted to say sorry for that.”

She lowered her voice like a defendant in front of a judge—soft, crawling, full of mock shame.

Her head dipped low in apology. Perhaps Sia hadn’t expected an actual apology, because her shoulders gave a small jolt.

“I’m really sorry. I was completely out of line back then.”
“Hey…!”

The memory rises faintly, like the ghost of perfume. Izana trying to lure her in with money, Sia coldly rejecting her. Izana slipping on the stairs.

Sia catching her just in time. It had only been three days, but already it felt distant, dreamlike—like a fairy tale.

Just imagining it made Izana’s breath quicken. She pulled herself back from the grayscale flashback and into reality.

Though her eyes seemed glued to the ground, she could easily guess what kind of face Sia was making right now.

Probably flustered beyond belief.

She stole a peek, and bingo—there it was.

That confused, helpless expression, like a puppy desperate to pee. She mentally filed the image away into her private “favorites” folder.

“…It’s fine. I didn’t care that much to begin with. If anything, I should apologize for yelling at you to shut up or get lost.”
“Fufu, I don’t mind. I wasn’t exactly a saint either, after all.”

“Then… that’s that.”

With her hands neatly resting on her knees, Sia glanced over timidly.

The sight was painfully cute. Izana nearly launched herself at her right then and there.

She wanted to pin her down and breathe in the scent of her sweat—but she held back.

Izana knew better than anyone: timing is everything. Before s*x, there’s foreplay; before foreplay, there’s kissing. Sure, these days plenty of people skip straight to the main course, but Sia wasn’t one of those. She was pure—like a pet mouse, delicate and needing gentle care.

Izana looked up, locking eyes with those alien black pupils. Sia’s eyes curved slightly, like a soft crescent moon.

“You’re a good person, Sia.”
“…Hah? Me?”

The compliment seemed to baffle her.

“Yes. I can tell just by looking into your eyes.”

Izana said it sweetly, even as she muttered in her mind: what a load of crap. Anyone who sincerely believed that kind of nonsense had to be either a psychic or a complete pushover.

Izana was neither. She hadn’t known Sia was kind because of some dumb intuition. It was because, even while hating her, Sia had saved her life. That, and a little background research.

“Can I sit beside you?”
“…Suit yourself.”

At her lukewarm permission, Izana scooted closer—so close that barely a fist could fit between them. She let her chest lightly brush against Sia’s damp shoulder.

Sia immediately shifted away, butt scooting a few inches over.

A clear sign she found Izana’s presence uncomfortable.

Her ghost-pale cheek had turned the faintest pink.

She didn’t look like a girl; she looked like a boy who’d never even held hands before.

Izana grinned at the adorableness.

“Sia, Sia, Siaaa~”
“…What.”

“Hehe, this kind of feels like we’re friends already. Actually, why don’t we become real friends? I even got myself a phone recently! No one’s in my contacts yet, though.”

At the word friend, Sia clenched her jaw. Her brows furrowed deeply—not with anger, but fear.

With slightly pale lips, she forced herself to speak.

“…Sorry, but I’ll have to decline. And please… don’t come near me again.”
“Huh? Why?”
“You don’t need to know why. Just… stop talking to me. Don’t act like we’re close. I don’t need friends—they’re just a pain.”

“But I really do want to be your fri—”
“I said, don’t come near me!”

Sia’s voice exploded. She was panting hard now. Izana simply watched her.

“You’re freaking me out, okay? Just… go away. Please. I’m begging you, just f*ck off.”
“Is it because of Kang Seon-ah?”

“…How do you know that name?”

The mood crashed into ice. Sia’s face turned a ghostly white at the sound of that name. Her reaction was almost cartoonishly obvious.

“Anyone who saw you groveling to her in class would know. It’s clear you’re completely dominated by her.”
“You don’t know anything about me—!”

Smack.

The sound of flesh on flesh echoed through the storage room.

Izana’s cheek reddened instantly from the force of the slap.

She looked up calmly at Sia, who now had her by the collar, eyes blazing with rage, terror, and despair all at once.

That stinging heat—was this what pain was? Not unfamiliar, but never something she got used to. And yet, if it came from Sia, it wasn’t so bad.

“But I want to help you, Sia.”
“Ha. Just because I caught you when you fell? You think I need to repay you or something? Screw that. Just—”
“That’s not it! I want to be your friend because—”
“Friend?! After I cursed you out?! You’re insane!”
“Yes! I know it sounds crazy, but thanks to you, I was able to change! You were the only one who ever said something real to me—even if it was harsh!

So why is it so wrong that I want to be your friend now?!”

A boldfaced lie.

Izana was not the kind of person to extend a hand to someone who humiliated her.

She wasn’t a masochist.

Anyone who insulted her—regardless of who they were—she would crush without mercy.

That was how she’d been raised, and how she lived. Ask her if she regretted it, and she wouldn’t even bother answering.

But Sia was different.

If it was her, Izana could accept insults—or even true hatred. But her love came after all that.

Strictly speaking, Izana’s reason for loving Sia wasn’t born from kindness or patience. It was simply destiny—and no explanation could define it better.

Still, her feelings now were real. Beneath all her lies, all her manipulations, this one truth stood firm: Izana Greze, or rather Isaka Paul Reidrikh, loved Lee Sia.

And because of that, she could cry. Not fabricated tears, but the real thing. Genuine sorrow.

“Hh… hhkk…”
“…Are you seriously crying?”

Sia hadn’t expected that. Her words faltered as tears began to stain Izana’s flushed cheeks.

The silence that followed stretched on—until a teacher, searching for the missing girls, suddenly yanked the storage room door wide open.