Chapter 38

The moment Kathryn stepped inside the hospital, she stopped for a while and took a deep breath. She couldn't believe she just spoke to those men! It was her first time facing them head-on and she wasn't going to lie that she didn’t feel scared a bit. Heck, the first time she saw them was before the trip, and they were following her like crazy. Kathryn wanted to report them then, but when she discovered they were men from Zachary's father, Kathryn became even more frightened and unwilling to speak. She had the urgency to stop the plan, but she also didn't want it to end yet, not when she hadn't proven her worth to be by Zachary's side. 

The men were actually harmless. Not even once did they touch Kathryn and Kathryn was thankful for that. But she couldn't be at ease, not when they were following her almost every second of every day. Even David and Chad discovered them. It was a miracle Earl's hawk eyes and Zachary's dragon eyes failed to notice the existence of these men that secretly roamed around their university all day. 

Kathryn has had enough though. If this was a way for Zachary's father to check on her and her character, whether she was suitable for his son or not, Kathryn didn't like it. Especially when she thought back on how these people weren’t useful enough to help Zachary when he got into an accident. For Kathryn, this was utterly, indeed, upsetting. They could have prevented it at least when they were following Kathryn and Zachary like stalkers. 

Sighing for the thousandth time, Kathryn pushed open the door to Zachary's room. 

"Oh, Kathryn's here. Hi, Kathryn," someone from the swimming team whom Kathryn remembered as Ryan, greeted with a smile. 

"Hello," Kathryn smiled and greeted back, noticing five other faces from Zachary's team, including their coach. 

"Zachary, I know it'll be hard for you for the following days. So, I will let you off for a week to recover," Coach Brix said. 

Zachary made a stink face, whispering, "Just a week? So stingy…" 

Kathryn rolled her eyes, smiling at her lover's response. There were just some things that never changed, and one of them was Zachary's love-hate relationship with his mentor. 

Coach Brix smacked Zachary's head, "Don't ask for more, you stubborn child. If you're going to die, next time do it more accurately!" 

Zachary rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." 

Everybody laughed and soon chatted about different topics related to sports all while eating Kathryn's takeout food. Zachary was grinning the whole time and that alone made Kathryn have her own smile too. It reminded her of Zachary's family. They should've been here. They should be the ones to laugh with Zachary, take good care of him, ask him if he was feeling okay. But they weren't. 

"Hey, you okay?" Zachary asked his lover beside him once he noticed she suddenly became silent. 

"Ah, I'm okay," Kathryn replied with a smile. 

Zachary gave a quick peck on Kathryn's lips and rubbed her hand, "Tell me if it's uncomfortable. I'll tell them to leave." 

"No, no, it's fine," Kathryn reassured with a light squeeze on Zachary's hand. 

"Hey, hey, hey, stop flirting before our eyes! It's sickening!" Ryan said with a disgusted look on his face. Kathryn blushed at the comment. Zachary just laughed and squeezed Kathryn's hand even more while telling Ryan to fuck off. 

"You're just saying that because your girlfriend dumped you a week ago. Get over it, man," Jeffrey shook his head. 

The room erupted with laughter once again. Only then Kathryn noticed another figure outside that the smile on her face disappeared. Realizing who it was, Kathryn excused herself, giving a knowing look at Zachary who looked like he didn't like Kathryn to leave at all, then went out of the room. 

 Outside, she saw Chad leaning against the wall. 

"Why are you here outside? Also, where's David?" Kathryn asked the tall man. 

Chad looked hesitant at first, looking a bit strained, confused, regretful, all at the same time as he stared at Kathryn. He breathed in deeply before opening his mouth, but no words came out. 

Kathryn, upon noticing the older one's agony, spoke instead, "It's okay…I already told him everything." 

Chad looked surprised, "Y-You did? And what did he say?" 

Kathryn took in a deep breath, "He thought we're both serious. I told him the truth. That it's all an act…" Then she stared at Chad, "And that you're sorry for kissing me. You didn't mean it." 

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry, Kathryn," Chad apologized sincerely. It was probably the millionth time he did, but there was no way he was living without doing it.

"Chad…You already explained," Kathryn gave the older a small smile. 

Chad wasn't actually having any romantic feelings towards Kathryn. The times when he wanted to comfort Kathryn, protect Kathryn, make Kathryn smile—everything was brotherly. When he kissed Kathryn that day, Chad felt awful. It was like kissing his own family member and it felt so wrong. That was when he realized they weren't romantic feelings but natural protective instincts for an older brother to feel towards his younger sibling. The fact that Chad had younger cousins he used to take care of when he was a child probably triggered this emotion the moment he saw Kathryn cry. Why he kissed Kathryn back then though… Chad could not explain. And he chose to leave it unanswered. 

Kathryn tapped Chad's back, trying to comfort the older then promptly looked around, "So, where's David?" 

"He has some family matters to attend to. He said he'll come visit tomorrow," Chad looked more relaxed now as he replied. 

Meanwhile inside the room, the swimming team looked like women who loved to gossip once Kathryn went out. A few went to the door and peeked over Kathryn and Chad, while others went to Zachary's bed.

"Say, man, are you really good with Kathryn now?" Ryan asked with curious eyes. Coach Brix, on the other hand, was snoring like an old man on the couch by the wall. 

Zachary frowned at his nosy teammates, glaring at the two people who were currently eavesdropping Chad and Kathryn's conversation outside. "Why the fuck do you care?" 

Ryan looked not even the slightest hurt as he nudged Zachary's arm, "Chad is outside, my bro. Aren't they together just last week? Aren’t you bothered by it? Tell us the truth, we’re like brothers now." To others, he probably looked like some auntie who wanted to hear the latest gossip of the neighborhood early in the morning. 

Zachary made a loud "tsk" as he glared at the door then faced his teammate, "They're not together. Kathryn is mine. She has never and will never be anyone else's but mine."

"Ooh," the boys inside made a loud cheering whistle on that. "That's our boy! Atta boy! My man is the real man!" Clearly, Zachary's possessiveness was known throughout the entire campus. Not even a single man could touch Kathryn, not even speak to her for more than five minutes unless necessary. It was like a rule created by the people themselves for they didn't dare nor have the courage to face the wrath of a Zachary Robertson once stricken with jealousy or shown any tendency to hurt his lover. That was the main reason why it was like a bomb when the couple suddenly broke up. They didn't expect Zachary would easily let Kathryn go just like that. 

Though Zachary actually didn't. He still met with Kathryn. He never planned to let Kathryn go and wasn't having any plan to do so. Of course, this was another event that people didn’t need to know about. It was enough that only Zachary and Kathryn knew how their feelings for each other could become so intense and uncontrollable at some point.