Chapter 47 47

Chapter 47 47
“Azxel, Azxel, Azxel… don’t pretend you aren’t hearing me!”

Jaelen’s voice echoed down the corridor, sharp and cracked with strain.

Azxel kept walking. His steps were even, unhurried, like the sound didn’t belong to him. Students turned to look surprised he wasn’t walking with Sky, some whispered as he walked ahead with Jaelen followed behind him but he didn’t stop.

Jaelen caught up and grabbed his wrist.

Azxel stopped immediately.

He looked down at the hand on him, then slowly lifted his eyes to Jaelen’s face. There was no anger there and no confusion either. It’s just, his eyes felt so distant.

“Let go,” Azxel said flatly.

Jaelen didn’t. His grip tightened instead. His eyes were red rimmed and exhausted, like he hadn’t slept. “I’ve been calling you since morning. You won’t look at me, you won’t talk to me—”

Azxel pulled his hand free. “I’m busy.”

“With him,” Jaelen snapped. “You’re always busy with him.”

Azxel tilted his head slightly, studying him the way one might study a stranger who was speaking too loudly. “Why does that matter to you?”

The question landed wrongly . Too calm and very empty.

Jaelen flinched.

“Because it’s your birthday,” he said, his voice dropping low. He swallowed hard and lifted the box he had been holding under his arm. “And this was supposed to be for you.”

Azxel’s gaze moved to the box, it looked familiar it not that he cares. But what attracted him was the size, it was the same size and it was wrapped carefully but the ribbon was different, tied clumsily, like someone had redone it after failing the first time.

Jaelen held it out with both hands. “I kept it. I wanted to give it to you myself. I didn’t know Damien already kept mine on your bed but anyway, I’m giving you yours! I just wanted to say happy birthday.”

Azxel didn’t reach for it. He didn’t even smile. “My birthday already passed,” he said.

Jaelen stared at him. “It’s today.”

Azxel shrugged lightly. “Sky already gave me everything I wanted.”

Jaelen’s chest hitched. “Azxel, please. Just take it. You don’t even have to open it.”

Azxel’s eyes finally lifted fully to his. There was something wrong in them, he looked… absent.

“You shouldn’t hold onto things like this,” Azxel said quietly. “It makes you look desperate.”

The words hit hard. Jaelen’s hands trembled, but he didn’t drop the box. “You used to care.”

Azxel frowned, genuinely puzzled. “Did I?”

A shadow fell across the corridor.

Sky.

He stood a few steps away, watching like this was entertainment. His smile was small and weirdly satisfied.

“There you are,” Sky said lightly. “I was wondering where you wandered off to.”

Azxel turned instantly. His posture shifted without him noticing. He stepped closer to Sky, his shoulder brushing his arm. “You said we were leaving.”

Sky’s hand settled on Azxel’s lower back, possessive and casual. “We are.”

Jaelen laughed once, his voice really broken. “You see this? This is what you’ve done to him.”

Sky looked at him, amused. “No. This is what he chose.”

Azxel didn’t react.

Sky leaned down, placing his lips close to Azxel’s ear. “You ready?”

Azxel nodded. “Yes.”

Sky glanced at the box in Jaelen’s hands. “You can keep that,” he said pleasantly. “He doesn’t need reminders, one box was enough.”

Azxel didn’t look back as Sky guided him away.

Jaelen stood there alone, the gift box heavy in his arms, watching them disappear down the corridor.

The ribbon slipped loose in his shaking fingers.

“Happy birthday,” he whispered to no one.

Jaelen went back to his room without speaking to anyone.

He shut the door behind him and leaned against it for a moment, staring at nothing. His chest felt hollow, like something had already been taken out and he was only just noticing the space it left behind.

He dropped the box onto his bed.

The ribbon came off easily. Inside was a backpack.

It looked simple, it was black and practical. The kind Azxel liked. It had a meaning tho, to Jaelen. Azxel looked simple but he had many turmoil and holes inside himself, Azxel had completely gone dark, so everything fitted Azxel even if it was his taster.

There were many other things tucked inside it, small, thoughtless details that suddenly felt too intimate to touch. Jaelen didn’t sort through them.

He grabbed the backpack, shoved everything back into the box, and left the room in slow unhurried steps. One could tell he was hurting.

The back of the school library was empty at that hour. The cameras there weren’t even working because of a certain person we all know, the place was just filled with unnecessary shadows and quietness. Jaelen crouched near the wall, set the box down, and lit it.

The flame caught fast. The cardboard curled in on itself. The fabric blackened, the zippers warped and the plastic melted. He watched it all without blinking.

“This is it,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and rough. “I’m burning you out of my head.”

The fire crackled softly. He swallowed and shook his head, a humorless breath leaving him. “Yeah. Right.”

The smoke stung his eyes, but he didn’t move away. He stared until the backpack collapsed into itself, until there was nothing left but ash and a smell that clung to his clothes.

“You don’t just disappear like that,” he muttered. “You don’t erase someone and walk away clean.”

The fire died down. Jaelen stood there a long moment after, his hands clenched at his sides, knowing exactly how pointless it was.

He could burn the gift.

He could burn the box.

But Azxel?

He knew better.