Chapter 20

I awoke in a pitch-black room. It was really chilly, in fact, it was extremely cold. The entire room was filled with air condition, making it appeared as if there was snow within the room.

I closed my eyes and thought back to what had happened earlier. My co-members didn’t intentionally catch me; instead, they allowed me to tumble on the hard floor of the facility.

Slowly but steadily, I became consumed by rage. Why would they do something like that? What exactly did I do to them that was so wrong? As far as I was aware, I had nothing to do with their personal lives.

I moved my body slowly to see if anything was still hurt in me. Despite that some of my bones made a cracking sound, I wasn’t hurt. It seemed like I’d just finished a good stretch.

I took a quick peek around the room, and I was pretty sure this was not my mine. I didn’t have a particularly cold room, and it wasn’t particularly large either. In the distance, I could see the lights from various residences scattered over the province. Was this a hotel or a condominium? I didn’t know. As far as I was aware, this room was located on the top floor of a building.

I took a seat and glanced at my completeness. The only thing I was wearing was a plain t-shirt and boxer shorts; I was not even wearing my school uniform anymore. I could still feel my underwear on the inside, so I presumed nothing had changed?

“You’re awake.” The room door suddenly opened. I quickly looked at it. When I saw Pierre, who was dressed in a white tee-shirt and gray pajamas, my eyes immediately widened in surprise. His hair was neatly groomed, and he was also wearing glasses. What was he doing here? Was this his home? Why were we together?

“What am I doing here? What time is it?” I couldn’t get the question out of my head. The last thing I remembered was lying down in the middle of the gym before falling asleep. It was possible that Nellie was the only one who knew where I was.

I met him before entering the gym earlier, did he follow me? Or he wandered through the entire campus again and came across me unconscious in the gym?

He sat in the swivel chair in front of his desk, he drew the chair closer to me. He sat back in the chair’s backrest and crossed his arms in front of his chest, as if he were prepared to smite me with a barrage of questions.

“It’s 8:25pm, I saw you at the gym as I was about to leave for home. I went there because the door was open, and then I saw you, drenched in sweat and completely unconscious. What happened?”

The fact that I had nothing to say caused me to blink a few times. Was it okay for me to tell him? But it was not something I wanted to do. I didn’t want to rely on others to solve my problems, I preferred to deal with them myself. I was sure that if I told him and he confronted Nellie, that woman would get much more enraged with me. She would accuse me of flirting with her man once more.

“Hello?” His two brows were raised, and he waved at me for a few seconds, during which time I had nothing to say in response to him.

“I asked Nellie to leave first because I was still getting dressed. You all know that I’m physically weak, and I believe that my body was unable to endure the intense practice that we had earlier, which is why I passed out.” I couldn’t look him in the eyes while I spoke. Why was I even explaining?

He was, without a doubt, the one who looked after you, Aurie. If he didn’t go to the gym, you could still be there, asleep.

“That’s not what Nellie told me. When our teacher inquired as to why you were absent, Nellie said that you had an emergency at home. Iris is sick, right? Why were you still at the gym?” I swallowed a few times since I couldn’t think of anything else to say. The question was, what would I say? Nellie might become even more mad at me if I told Pierre what happened, and she might repeat what she did.

I said then, as long as I could, I would not get into any trouble.

“As I already stated, I instructed Nellie to leave first because I was still getting dressed. Perhaps they assumed that when they left the gym, I would immediately go home. They already left when I collapsed in the middle of the gym alone.” I’d like to congratulate myself on my ability to deceive.

Could someone kindly award me with an Oscar?

He scrutinized every inch of my face, as if he were trying to determine whether or not I was telling the truth.

“Let’s eat dinner. Can you stand up? You look so weak earlier, maybe you’re still in pain.” He rose to his feet and extended his hand to me. I exhaled a sigh of relief when he didn’t ask any further. If he continued to ask me, I had nothing to say in response.

“I haven’t had lunch yet, so I’m still feeling pretty weak at the moment. Thank you for your assistance.” I pushed myself from the bed by reaching for his hand. Pierre left for for a while so that he could go get some extra slippers. The floor was freezing due to the air conditioning.

The slippers were very large in comparison to my feet. This was most likely his, as I believed he lived alone.

While I had hoped that the temperature would be lower when we left the room, my expectations were drastically disappointed when the temperature was the same outside as inside the room.

“It’s freezing here. What’s the deal with your air conditioning being so strong? You can just place a fan outside your room to cool down,” I remarked with an emaciated brow.

“I dislike warm weather; are you cold?” he asked, picking up the remote and turning down the air conditioning throughout the condominium. I watched him in his full; this was the first time I’d seen him wearing glasses. It fit him perfectly. Even his thin white t-shirt complemented his jammies well. He didn’t appear to be cold at all; in fact, it appeared as though this cold temperature was usual for him.

We went to the kitchen after he turned down the air condition. There were dishes prepared but no rice or meal. While he was preparing the food, I sat on the chair and stared at him.

I’d like to help, but I was completely ignorant about his kitchen. I was afraid I was going to harm some of his things.

“Did you cook this?” I inquired as he set the meal down. It was not as grand as Iris’ dishes, but it did look delectable. I didn’t recall Iris creating this type of food, which was frequently because hers was excellent.

“Yes. I live alone, I’m constantly cooking for myself.” He sat across from me and handed me the rice. I served it to myself before returning it to him.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked. “I’m sure Iris is already looking for me.” I poured soup over the rice and began eating. As expected, it tasted delicious. Simply by smelling the soup earlier, you could tell you were going to be full.

“Iris is ill, right? If I drive you to your house, the maid will look after you both. Another thing, I don’t know your address. Don’t worry, I called Iris and told her that you’re here. You may call her later and inform her that you’re already awake.” I didn’t respond and simply nodded. Of course, I’d call her directly. I could imagine Iris speaking to Pierre without showing any emotion earlier. Wasn’t she enraged at Pierre?

I was sure I’d get some preaching again because I passed out. I hoped Pierre didn’t inform the dean that I passed out earlier; if he did, he might expel me from school.

“Where are my clothes? Is this your shirt that I’m wearing? Who changed me?” I asked. He came to a halt and raised an eyebrow at me.

I felt immediately humiliated. Too naive, Aurie. You ought to have asked later; the man was still eating.

“All well, you can answer it later.” I averted my eyes out of embarrassment, but quickly regained them when I heard him chuckle.

“Your clothes are stored in a paperbag in my room. Yes, that’s my shirt; even the boxer is mine. I live alone, so yes, I was the one who changed your clothing. You were bathed in sweat earlier, so I changed what you’re wearing so you wouldn’t dry out,” he said, still suppressing a smile.

For a little period, I was silent. He was the one who changed my clothes. Did this mean he saw my half naked body? That was embarrassing!

“Don’t worry, sleeping beauty; you’re still a virgin. I didn’t remove your underwear or brassiere; I simply wiped your body to keep it fresh and non-sticky.” I groaned in response to what I heard. The prospect of him seeing my nearly naked body made me want to vanish.

“But you saw my body almost naked; don’t you understand how humiliating it was?” I felt the heat on my cheeks, and I was afraid I was going to die from my heart racing so rapidly.

“You have an attractive figure; why would you feel humiliated?” As a result of what he said, I felt even more embarrassed. I raised my eyes and locked them on his.

“Shut up,” I said, continuing to eat and ignored him. My previously controlled smile erupted on my lips a few seconds later.

I volunteered to wash the dishes after we finished dining. He initially refused, but upon my urging, he let me to wash the dishes.

This was my way of expressing thank you for the meal and allowing me to rest here; I’d express my gratitude by dishwashing.

A few minutes passed when I completed what I was doing. Pierre was not in the living room, which meant he was most likely in the bedroom. I brushed my teeth with the toothbrush he had left unused in his cabinet. Following that, I cleaned my dripping hands before I proceeded to Pierre’s bedroom.

He was seated in a swivel chair facing his desk. Although the laptop was open, his gaze was fixed on the book.

“You done?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

I strolled over to the bed and climbed in without saying a word. He never took his gaze away from the book he was reading. I was curious as to what the earlier lesson was. I hoped they hadn’t done too much in order for me to keep up with them.

I snatched up the tiny backpack that had been sitting on the side table. Next to the backpack was a brown paper bag that I believed had previously contained my uniform.

I extracted the cellphone from my backpack and dialed Iris’ number. It only rang for a split second due to her prompt response to the call.

“How are you doing?”

“Oh my goodness, Aurie! I should be asking you that! What happened and Pierre found you unconscious in the gym? Oh my gosh, I nearly died when he called me!” I averted my ear from the cellphone due to her loud voice. I wouldn’t be shocked if Pierre heard her cry as well.

“I’m okay, Iris Marguerite; I’m just tired of practice. How are you feeling now?”

“How do I feel now? I feel as if I’m about to have a heart attack at any moment. This is what I’m telling you, Aurie. I know your body can’t handle the fatigue, which is why I previously barred you from joining the cheering team. See? You fainted again! Fortunately, I pleaded with Pierre not to inform uncle about your unconsciousness, because once uncle finds out, you will undoubtedly return to your house. You know, I’m not sure if you really wanna live long because what you’re doing will kill you earlier!” I giggled a little because she reminded me of my father, who was always overreacting when he was preaching to me.

I cast a glance at Pierre, who was absorbed in his reading, but I was sure he was listening to Iris and me converse. I was relieved that he didn’t speak a word to our dean about what happened; I was not looking forward to returning to our home.

“I’m serious here, Iris. How are you doing right now? Have you taken any medication? It’s late.” I heard her sigh from the other line.

“I’m still feeling queasy, but I’m wide awake. Do you believe I can sleep soundly knowing you’re still unconscious? It’s a good thing you called; otherwise, my eyes would stay open all night wondering if you’re still alive or not. And yes, I took medicine.”

“All right, now that you know I’m well, you should relax. It’s awful to be wide awake when you’re feeling sick, so you should go to bed early. As for me, I’m going to rest as well, as I’m still a little drowsy. I’ll call again tomorrow, bye Iris.”

“All right, bye.”

She, herself, ended the call after saying her goodbye. I sighed and stretched my body gradually. I was sleepy even when I’d just awoken. I had the distinct impression that my body was extremely exhausted because of what occurred earlier.

“Your hair was quite lengthy.”

When I heard Pierre’s voice, I turned to him. He was looking at my phone, more precisely the image within the clear casing.

“Yes, dyed and chopped it prior to the start of class.”

“Is that your natural hair color?” he asked, his attention still fixed on my photograph.

“Yeah.”

“Why did you cut your hair? It was very long, don’t you have any regrets?”

“I kind of regret it; I did it for personal reasons, but I still like my hair right now.” I finger-combed my hair. If only I’d known that my mother would still recognize me after a haircut, I wouldn’t tell Iris to cut it this short.

Pierre raised his eyes from my phone and scanned my face.

“Yes, I like your short hair more than the long, and I prefer the younger version of you than the matured version; it fits your personality.”

I lifted a brow and locked my gaze on him. What was he referring to? Did I resemble a child?

“Are you saying I’m childish?” I asked. He bit his lower lip and shook his head.

“Stupid. What I mean is that you’re innocent and pure, just like a child. What do you mean childish? You kissed me at the supermarket, is that a child-like act?”

My eyes expanded rapidly in surprise. He still didn’t forget that? I attempted to delete it from my thoughts, and then he would casually mention it? My cheeks grew hot with humiliation. I wanted to hurl a pillow at him, but I was afraid he’d tease me even more since I’d appear guilty if I did.

“Oh, I’m reclaiming the innocent and pure aspects of your personality; innocents don’t kiss.”

“Oh my goodness, shut up!” I could no longer contain my embarrassment.

“Oh wait, I’m mistaken again; it’s true that you’re still pure and innocent; I recall how you kissed me that day, and it’s clear that you lack experience.”