For Your Failed Unrequited Love

Felix, who was watching the scene from outside the door, took a deep breath. The sharp sound of the vase breaking against the wall still seemed to echo in his ears.

Is that the Adrian….. I know?

He blinked his eyes as if his vision was blurry. However, the person who was standing still with a cold expression was really his twin brother.

Like Felix, the other book club members stood there, with a slightly surprised expression on their faces.

They looked more shocked than ever. No one seemed to be able to speak or move first.

Time went by in silence.

Adrian’s expression, which had only been as cold as ice, gradually loosened. He let out a long sigh and ran his hand over his face.

Moments later, the anger was completely gone from his face, which was revealed behind the palm of his hand. Instead, the usual gentle atmosphere resurfaced.

Adrian finally opened his mouth to the members who were standing looking at him with a bewildered expression.

“…… sorry. Were you all surprised?”

His voice was terribly calm.

“It’s because you didn’t listen to me.”

He spoke patiently, adding:

“Leave the vase alone. I will clean it up.”

“I, I’ll help you!”

Noel came to his senses and followed Adrian as he went to collect the cleaning tools. As soon as Adrian disappeared towards the warehouse, Colin frowned and turned to Alan Gross.

“Sunbae, you are so amazing! To make that gentle Adrian sunbae throw a vase!”

“What? Are you saying this is my fault?”

Alan responded to Colin, contorting his face likewise. The library was in danger of becoming noisy again.

“Everyone, stop!”

Lucy, who was quietly looking at Adrian’s back, shouted.

“That’s enough. Allen-sunbae, you are free to be dissatisfied with this collection of literature, but please don’t make any useless speculation. If you have something to say, go directly to Mr. Peter, who made the decision. Or can I deliver it for you?”

At Lucy’s words, Alan bit his lips. At a time where Adrian was so angry, he thought that if Mr. Peter intervenes, he might end up in trouble.

He looked at the book club members who pushed him with a stern expression and left the library. He ran into Felix, who was standing in front of the door, he flinched and ran away.

Moments later, Adrian and Noel returned with broomsticks and started sweeping the shattered vase. In the awkward atmosphere, the rest of the members also wandered around and pretended to help.

Felix wondered if he should go in and check Adrian’s condition, but he soon gave up.

He probably didn’t want to show himself somehow getting out of control. This time, Felix thought it wasn’t a time to intervene.

Fortunately, as time passed, the book club members began to calm down and understand Adrian’s behavior.

“Still, you didn’t throw it in his face! If it were me, I would have hit him in the face!”

Leaving behind Colin’s sparrow-like chatter, Felix turned away.

* * *

As expected, when Adrian returned to his room, he didn’t reveal anything about what had happened in the library.

Felix also did not say that he had gone to the library and had seen such a sight. In fact, as time went by, he wondered if it was necessary.

Even if Adrian was a model student representing the academy, he too was only a person. He’s also just about to step on the borders of adults.

His patience was not infinite. When he thought it might have happened at least once, Felix just felt sorry for Adrian.

And Felix didn’t seem to be the only one worried about Adrian.

The next day, Lucy quietly approached Felix, who was passing by the hallway, and asked:

“Adrian-sunbae, is he okay today?”

She hesitated and added her explanation.

“There was a bit of an argument at the library yesterday. Adrian-sunbae didn’t seem to be in a good mood when he was stopping us.”

“Well….. I didn’t notice anything special.”

Lucy nodded her head in response to Felix’s answer.

There were only the two of them in her hallway, but she was in a hurry to leave, fearing she would be caught with him.

“There, wait!”

At that moment, a loud voice resounded in the hallway. Felix and Lucy turned their heads at the same time.

At the end of the hallway, an old man with sparse gray hair stood with a grim expression. It was Mr. Arkel, the history teacher.

Felix and Lucy’s expressions hardened at once.

Being caught in Arkel’s attention, even by chance, was a bad omen. That cranky teacher would usually call his students and give them humiliation or ridicule them for their low grades.

There were not a few people who were taken into his office and came out in tears.

“……I guess he’s planning to scold me.”

Suddenly, Lucy spoke as if muttering. When Felix turned to her, her complexion was unusually dark. Her body stiffened like a mannequin doll.

“…… I missed two questions on the history test this midterm….”

As if to prove Lucy’s words, Arkel was staring fiercely at their side with his bulging eyes. Lucy closed her eyes as if she thought she was going to be called to his office.

But then……

“Berg!”

It was Felix that Arkel called out with a terrifying expression. He flapped his hand at Felix. He gestured for him to come closer.

“You go now.”

Felix said to Lucy. It meant that she should leave before she gets caught up in it.

“Keenon!”

However, before Lucy could even leave, Arkel’s scream-like shout flew in again.

As Lucy turned around, twisting her eyebrows, Arkel raised his hand just as before. Then he slowly opened the door to his office as if asking to come inside.

It was an unwelcome invitation.

As Lucy and Felix stared blankly at him, Arkel opened his eyes wide. He looked like he was thinking why they were hesitating to come.

Like cows being led to the slaughterhouse, Lucy and Felix slowly made their way towards Arkel’s office.

As they stood in front of him, they could see a glimpse of Arkel’s office through the open door.

A desk, chair, and bookshelf full of documents. It looked no different from other teachers’ offices, but because the owner was Arkel, a dark and evil energy seemed to be flowing out.

Arkel immediately pushed Felix and Lucy into the office. He looked like a jailer pushing prisoners into a cage.

Arkel’s office seemed to be a three-dimensional representation of a man.

A clean, shiny hardwood floor with no dust and no stains on the wallpaper. A neatly organized desk.

Even the books on the bookshelf were not simply classified according to their type, but were neatly arranged based on their size and shape.

Felix got tired of looking at the wall where strange standards were visible, he quickly turned his head away.

However, in the place where the eyes were turned, there was a more terrifying scene than anything else, and it was the students’ assignments that Arkel had been grading.

Almost all of the assignments were marked with an X in red ink without mercy. It was an eerie sight indeed.

Arkel came in after closing the door and looked at Felix and Lucy with his eyes flashing. He had dark shadows under his eyes like a man who had not slept well at night. Perhaps because of that, he seemed more sensitive and grumpier.

“What did you call…”

The moment Felix opened his mouth to ask a question, Arkel put his finger to his lips and made a ‘shh!’ sound.

He glanced around the room with his eyes twinkling and spoke quietly in a low voice.

“listen carefully. this sound…… .”

Felix and Lucy held their breath without making a sound at his serious expression. They listened to the sounds around them, wondering what they were trying to listen to.

After a while, a strange sound started to be heard from somewhere.

“…… Isn’t that the sound of a cat?”

Felix tilted his head at the strange cry coming from somewhere and spoke.

“Yes. That’s right! I couldn’t sleep all night because of that noise!”

All of a sudden, Arkel screamed and shouted.

The very sound of a child’s whining was coming from outside the open window. Arkel, who threw an annoyed look toward the window, immediately said to Felix.

“You have to take care of that demon!”

Suddenly, Arkel pointed his finger at the window and made an absurd request.

“Take care of it?”

“Literally! Kick him out, catch him, take him away, it’s up to you!”

Arkel recklessly gave the order, and Felix, reluctantly, walked to the window.

“I…… Wouldn’t it be better to just call the janitor?”

Lucy hurriedly grabbed Felix’s hem and said to Arkel.

“This is the third floor. What can Felix-sunbae do?”

“It’s okay because there’s a roof underneath!”

Arkel shouted with a brazen face. At those words, Lucy, with an uneasy expression, stuck her head out through the window.

Felix also stood next to her and looked down. Then, on a really narrow two-story roof, he could see enough space for a person to step on.

Just then, another cat crowing was heard from under the window. At once, Arkel’s expression changed and urged Felix again.

“What’s so scary about this height! You’re still young, so falling from here won’t kill you! But the old me might really die if I can’t sleep tonight”