Chapter 44 He Was Human Too

Chapter 44 He Was Human Too
Whenever exam scores dropped, some households rejoiced while others wept.
For Julie, the euphoria rivaled winning the lottery. The adrenaline carried her straight through the night, burning so bright she didn't even need her alarm. She woke up naturally at five-thirty in the morning, opened her eyes, remembered her glorious Rank 24, and grinned silently at the dark ceiling.
She didn't dare make a sound, terrified of waking her sleeping roommates.
When she practically floated out of the dorm building, she looked around. The courtyard was empty. No sign of Warren. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, checked the time, and let out a breathless laugh.
This day belongs in the history books. She had actually left the dorm before six in the morning.
This meant she had five extra minutes compared to her usual desperate schedule. She could memorize one more formula. Recite one more classical poem. She practically sprinted toward the athletic field.
Just as she suspected, the track was completely deserted. Standing in the massive, empty space, she screamed into the void, entirely forgetting the autumn chill. Her blood was boiling. I can actually do this.
After burning off the excess adrenaline, she jogged toward the academic building, her body finally warm and her mind razor-sharp.
She spotted Warren standing out on the corridor, casually eating a boiled egg. She picked up her pace, her sneakers tapping lightly against the concrete. Before she even reached him, he turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto her through the hazy morning mist.
"Warren!"
Lately, Julie felt like her morning wasn't officially complete until she checked this box. "Good morning~"
Warren swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing sharply. He gave a slight nod. "Morning."
Before he could even ask what time she had dragged herself out of bed, she beamed at him. "I didn't even use an alarm today. I woke up at five-thirty. There was absolutely no one downstairs, and I didn't see you either."
"Why so early?" he asked, his voice a low rumble. "Are you getting up at five-thirty every day now?"
"Of course not!"
Julie knew herself too well. Today was an anomaly fueled by pure academic high. Tomorrow, she would revert to her true form—refusing to open her eyes until the alarm violently forced her awake.
Warren let out a quiet breath of amusement. "Normal. It's getting cold. No one wants to get out of bed."
"You don't either?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
Honestly, half the time she suspected his body didn't even require sleep to function.
"Of course."
He was human too. He craved warmth just like anyone else.
The conversation naturally tapered off as the warning bell rang. Warren quickly finished his milk, and the two of them walked into the classroom together.
Not long after, Miss Bell walked in, stifling a yawn. She swept her hawk-like gaze over the room. Before and after major exams, no one dared risk her wrath by being late. The entire class sat at their desks, quiet and obedient as quails.
Bell unscrewed her thermos, took a sip, and began her morning patrol down the aisles.
As she passed Julie, who was loudly and aggressively reciting a textbook passage, Bell tapped her knuckles sharply against the desk. "Come to my office."
Julie blinked, her mind going entirely blank.
Why is she calling me again?! Didn't I just get twenty-fourth place?!
Beth and Dan exchanged a look of pure confusion, equally powerless to help as they watched Julie trail miserably behind Miss Bell out the door.

Gary Blacker followed Warren’s gaze. The hallway outside was completely empty, but Warren was still staring at the door.
Gary pulled his midterm ranking sheet from his textbook stand. "Julie did pretty well this time."
Way better than last time, Gary thought. Last time was a massacre.
Warren didn't answer. He was completely distracted.
Hearing Andrew Cantu collecting the weekly English reports a few rows over, a dangerous, brilliant idea formed in Gary’s head. He hissed at the class rep.
Andrew looked over suspiciously. "You need me?"
"Yeah, you." Gary hooked a finger. "You taking those reports to the English teacher?"
"...Yeah."
"Give 'em here. I'll do it. I need to hit the bathroom anyway."
Andrew, thrilled to offload the chore, didn't question the sudden burst of generosity. He dumped the heavy stack of papers onto Gary's desk. "Thanks, man!"
Once Andrew was gone, Gary shoved his elbow hard into Warren’s ribs. Warren had been lazily spinning a pen between his fingers.
"Here," Gary whispered, shoving the stack of reports onto Warren's desk. "Go deliver these. The English office is right next to Bell's."
Warren shot him a cold, entirely unmoved glare. "Psycho."
It wasn't his job. He wasn't doing it.
"Fine." Gary knew exactly how to play this. He leaned in, his voice dripping with mockery. "If you won't go, I'll go. And when I bump into Julie crying in the hallway, I'll be the one to comfort her."
Warren went dead still.
He slowly turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto Gary in a silent, lethal standoff. Sparks practically flew between them.
Gary watched in deep, internal hysterics as Warren wordlessly stood up, grabbed the heavy stack of papers, and walked out the back door. Got him.
The academic building was loud with the sound of students reciting texts, but the hallways were mostly empty. As Warren got closer to the teachers' offices, his long strides began to slow.
Did he really want to see her getting scolded?
Would she even want him to see her like that?
He hesitated, his footsteps coming to a complete halt outside the door.
Just as the morning study session was nearing its end, Julie was finally granted amnesty. She took a deep breath, stepped out of Bell's office, and gently clicked the door shut behind her. The second the latch caught, the heavy, mournful expression on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a helpless but relieved shrug.
Whatever Bell says, I still think I did amazing. No counterarguments accepted.
The morning fog had completely burned off, leaving the sunlight bright and piercing.
She took a few steps down the hall and saw Warren standing by the railing, staring out at the horizon. The morning sun hit him perfectly, outlining his broad shoulders in a warm, golden glow.
She opened her mouth to call his name, but a sudden, playful urge overtook her. She pressed her hand over her mouth, muffling a giggle, and tiptoed up right behind him.
"Robbery," she whispered in a low, serious voice. "Don't move."
Warren actually startled slightly, but the second he recognized her voice, a helpless, quiet laugh escaped his chest.
"Leave your money," she demanded. "And leave your IQ and test scores too."
Stepping up beside him, she finally noticed the thick stack of papers resting on the railing. "Oh. You're delivering something for the teachers?"
"Yeah," he nodded smoothly. "It was too stuffy in the classroom. Wanted to get some air before I dropped them off."
Julie completely understood. With forty bodies crammed into one room and the windows shut tight against the autumn chill, the air inside got suffocating.
"What about you?" he asked, his gaze dropping to her face. "Did she need something else?"
"It was about my grades," Julie sighed, making no effort to hide it. "And I had to sign another life-or-death Guarantee Letter."
She had bargained with Bell for ten solid minutes. Julie promised to climb another two or three spots by the next monthly exam. But Bell was ruthless—she demanded Julie return to her peak junior-year rank of 17. Julie had almost told her to just execute her on the spot to save them both the trouble.
Warren watched her, words of encouragement already on the tip of his tongue. But Julie didn't need them.
Before he could speak, she tilted her chin up, flashing him a brilliant, defiant smile. "But I'll definitely improve next time!"
"You will," he said.
Knowing he still had to deliver the papers, Julie didn't hold him up. She waved, her steps light and bouncy as she headed back to class.
Warren stood by the railing for a moment longer, tracking her retreat until she disappeared into the classroom. Neither of them ever mentioned this tiny, accidental hallway encounter again, but the quiet intimacy of it settled between them like a secret rhythm.

Some expert on the news had claimed it was going to be a warm winter this year.
Standing on the dorm balcony and shivering violently in the freezing morning air, Julie mentally cursed the expert out. What absolute garbage.
She brushed her teeth through heavy, sleep-crusted eyes, rinsing her mouth with freezing tap water because the dorm's ancient water heaters were basically decorative. Since she was the first one awake in Room 602, there was no escaping the brutal chill.
Holding a clear, vinyl umbrella, she trudged down the dorm steps into the misty, freezing rain. Out of habit, she glanced toward the boys' dorms.
A figure dressed entirely in black cut through the gray downpour. Even through the hazy curtain of rain, she didn't need to see his face to know it was Warren Gale.
He didn't have an umbrella.
His long legs closed the distance between them in seconds. His dark, messy hair was already damp with rain, but it didn't make him look disheveled—it just made his sharp features stand out more.
Julie gasped, immediately lifting her umbrella high to shield him. "Warren, you didn't bring an umbrella?"
"Forgot."
It was a lie. He hadn't forgotten; he just hadn't cared. To him, this kind of light autumn drizzle didn't even count as rain. Carrying an umbrella was just a hassle. He had fully intended to just sprint to the cafeteria.
He hadn't expected to run into her. And he definitely hadn't expected—
He lowered his gaze, looking up at the clear vinyl canopy now stretched over his head. He hadn't expected her to cover him.
"You can't mess around with autumn rain," Julie scolded softly. "It's freezing."
Getting your clothes and hair wet in this weather meant relying on body heat to dry off. If you were unlucky, a brutal cold would knock you out for a week—and in senior year, no one had a week to lose.
"I'll remember next time," he said quietly. "Are you going to the track?"
Julie shook her head furiously. "Not in the rain! I'm going to the cafeteria. I can walk you."
Warren looked at the small umbrella again.
"It's fine. You use it."
He deliberately took a step to the side. His broad shoulders instantly breached the edge of the vinyl, the rain immediately catching the dark fabric of his jacket. The umbrella was too small. If he stayed under it, he would crowd her, and she would end up getting wet.
But the second he stepped away, Julie stubbornly took a step toward him, forcing the umbrella back over his head.
"Don't do that," she insisted. She knew he was just trying to be polite, but it was completely unnecessary. "Warren, did you forget how sick you got last time?"
Even the strongest immune system couldn't just casually endure freezing rain.
Hearing her bring that up, a flash of deep, visible awkwardness crossed Warren’s face. He genuinely wished the entire world would suffer collective amnesia regarding the stupid things he did that week.
"Watching you wear that mask all day made me feel suffocated just looking at it," Julie added. She knew exactly how miserable masks were—they restricted your breathing and cut into the back of your ears after a few hours.
Warren’s body went completely still.
He looked down at her. He didn't step away again.
The rain picked up, hitting the clear vinyl above them with a steady, heavy thump, thump, thump.