For Your Failed Unrequited Love

Rumble, rumble.

The warehouse door opened wide. Three people appeared at the door. Adrian entered, followed by the literature professor, Mr. Peter, who was pulling on Colin Connor’s ear and dragging him inside.

“Ouch!” Colin cried, grimacing in pain.

“What’s going on?” Felix asked, a little confused.

“Well, this guy has been hiding alcohol in secret!” answered Mr. Peter, twisting Colin’s ear. Then, with a terrifying expression on his face, he waved the bottle he had confiscated from Colin in the air.

Adrian also reprimanded him in a stern tone. “Colin Connor! How wonderful of you to bring alcohol into wholesome art and cultural event. Thanks to you, the night of literature has become more mature. What kind of award should I present you?”

“I just brought it to relax before reading a poem! Please let me go, Mr. Peter!”

“Relax?” Mr. Peter pulled Colin’s ear harder.

“Argh!”

“If you want to relax, you should take a deep breath. Why did you bring such a strong drink?”

“I told you! I was too nervous to go up on stage, so I just sipped a little.” Despite Colin’s explanation, Mr. Peter and Adrian didn’t seem to believe it at all.

“Are you going to keep talking nonsense? I don’t think a hundred letters of apology would be enough!”

“Ouch!”

Adrian sighed as he watched Colin scream once again. Then, turning his head towards Felix, he soon found Lucy sleeping soundly, leaning on his brother’s shoulder.

“Lucy?” Adrian approached them and gently shook Lucy’s shoulder. She didn’t move at all. “The smell of alcohol! Did she drink it too?”

“What? Did you give the drink to Lucy?” Mr. Peter questioned Colin.

“I didn’t know she’d be that drunk”, Colin gasped. “… She’s too shy to dance. I just gave her a sip to lessen her nervous energy! I mixed it with her juice … Argh! Mr. Peter! My ears are falling off!”

“Colin Connor! You must really want to get in trouble. Follow me to my office right now.”

“Argh!”

In the end, Mr. Peter dragged Colin out of the warehouse by his ear.

“I’m exhausted,” Adrian sighed and rubbed his forehead as he heard Colin’s shouts fade away.

“What are you going to do with her?” Felix said while eyeing Lucy, who was fast asleep. “I think you should take her to the dorm straight away.”

“What should I do? I have to stay and wrap up the event …” Adrian muttered with a troubled face. Finally, he looked at Felix and said, “Can you take Lucy to the dorm?”

*

Close to midnight. The road back to the dormitory was dark and quiet.

The moon and the stars shone brightly in the night sky, guiding Felix as he walked along the dimly lit path. Lucy was sleeping soundly on his back. He could feel Lucy’s body temperature and hear her breathing softly; her warm breath brushed against his ear.

The girl who was busy avoiding me whenever she saw me is now on my back.

It was so frustrating but fun at the same time.

This is a hundred years’ worth of teasing. I’ll have to tease her a little later when she wakes up.

The corners of his mouth slowly turned up, and he chuckled, imagining Lucy’s expression, which was certain to be embarrassed.

“Ughh” Soon after, Lucy groaned and moved her body. She mumbled something incoherent and blinked with a hazy look as if she hadn’t quite recovered from her intoxication. “Sunbae…”

The smell of alcohol hit Felix as Lucy opened her mouth.

“… Sunbae…” Lucy lifted her arm and placed her hand on Felix’s head without warning. She stroked his head gently.

“What, what?” Felix stiffened. But Lucy, being drunk, didn’t seem to know what she was doing.

“… I wanted to touch it at least once … Sunbae’s blonde hair …” Lucy put her hand into Felix’s hair and tenderly swept it down.

He felt the warmth of her fingertips touching his scalp.

“… Hmm… As expected, it’s soft ….”

Felix felt like all his hair was standing on end at the chilling thrill that wrapped around him.

Lucy, who had been muttering something incomprehensible, became quiet again. The hand that was running through Felix’s hair quickly fell.

“Haaa…” Felix barely let out a breath he had been holding back. His heart, which he thought had stopped for a moment, soon began to beat like crazy.

  *

Midday class.

As soon as class was over, the room erupted into a boisterous commotion. The screeching sound of chairs dragging across the floor resounded in the classroom, and the students bolted for the door at once.

In the midst of the commotion, a young man sat alone at his desk and stared blankly at the blackboard.

Adrian, who was in a hurry to pack up his bag due to the busy student council work, looked at Felix, who didn’t get up. He was concerned.

“Hey, Felix.” When Adrian shook his shoulder slightly, Felix, who came to his senses, slowly raised his gaze. “Is something the matter? You seem off all day. What’s going through your head?”

“Oh…” Despite Adrian’s worried tone, Felix still acted sluggishly and picked up his bag slowly.

Adrian watched him, puzzled, as Felix walked out the back door. Unfortunately, his abnormal behavior did not end there. A freshman walking out of the next classroom didn’t notice him and bumped into him.

“I’m sorry, Berg-sunbae-nim!” The freshman repeatedly bowed and apologized to Felix. However, he simply waved his hand when he received the apology, signaling the freshman to go away. His eyes glazed over, staring into the air.

Adrian, watching the scene unfolding, grew even more concerned. “What’s wrong with him?”

Felix didn’t even hear Adrian as he trudged through the hallway. His mind was empty, and nothing came to mind. He began to resemble a zombie from a horror story.

It was when he walked past an empty classroom. A hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him by the collar, dragging him into an empty classroom.

The sudden yank jolted Felix awake. In front of him stood Rosé Millard, her eyes burning with anger.

Ah, right. Rosé.

Felix closed his eyes tightly and then opened it; a memory from the night before flashed through his head.

Since returning to his dorm room, he had been losing his mind, so he had entirely forgotten about Rosé.

“Hey, you…” She slowly approached with a terrifying face. Her eyes were red with rage, and her teeth were clenched; she looked almost like an incarnation of vengeance which had just escaped from hell.

Felix swallowed his saliva and tried to respond. “Oh, sorry. I’m not Felix.”

A cruel smile appeared on Rosé’s face. “Oh, really? The Berg whom I met earlier said the same thing.” Her smile became more unsettling. “What should I do if both of them say no? Should I kill them both?”

Felix raised his hands in surrender. Rosé didn’t sound like she was joking, so he confessed. “Sorry, I must be out of my mind. I am Felix.”

“Are you kidding me?” Rosé immediately fired at Felix; her voice sharp. “How dare you leave me alone? Do you know how embarrassed I was when you disappeared without telling me?”

“I’m really sorry. I apologize. But yesterday, something unexpected happened, so I couldn’t help it.”

“What was unexpected? What’s more important than escorting me?” Rosé snapped; her teeth clenched even harder. He had never seen her so angry.

If he told her the truth, Lucy Keenan would be in hot water.

“Well, I just had to go back all of a sudden. Just know that I didn’t mean to humiliate you.” Felix held out one cheek to Rosé. “Do you want to hit me?”

Rosé’s brows drew closer together; bewilderment etched on her face.

Due to her lukewarm reaction, Felix added another offer to sweeten the deal. “Do you want to hit me over there?” he said, pointing to the courtyard, where the students were sitting.

“Won’t there be more interviews with ‘the girl who slapped the Prince of Berg’ cheeks than ‘the girl who the Prince of Berg escorted’?”

Rosé narrowed her eyes for a moment, thinking about Felix’s proposal as if she was tempted. But the next moment, her expression turned icy, and she spat out her words. “Are you crazy? You want me to put a hand mark on the Duke’s son’s face!”

Rosé stood with her arms folded and stared at Felix. Her fierce eyes remained, but she seemed less angry than before. “Never mind, you owe me this time. I’m never going to let it go. You will pay this debt somehow, so be prepared.” With those words, Rosé turned around.

Felix heaved out the breath he was holding as he watched her unexpectedly backing down. In a flash, Rosé turned around and kicked his ankle. He groaned and grabbed his ankle from the unexpected blow.

“Ugh.”

“This is the interest.”

Rosé walked out of the classroom after kicking Felix.