CHAPTER TWO- DANGEROUS

Chine did end up tutoring Lucius after all, but before she did, of course, she made him pick up the mess of papers they were supposed to bring to the faculty. Scolding him for his sudden action and recklessness, all while lecturing him about gentlemanly manners and how you should not hug people when you're carrying stacks of papers.

After the embrace they shared, she became a bit wrecked. Her head racing ten thousand miles per minute as she remembered every single thing about that hug.

She doesn't get it, it's not the first time they hugged each other either. Lucius, more often than not, likes to hug everyone he's close to. Which includes her. It's both a paradise and a hell for Chine. He'll hug her and then proceed to do the same thing to his friends. Well, she is his friend, no matter how many times she fantasized about the other possibilities, the truth would always be there.

Like a pain that always reminds itself is like a recurring itch on a healed wound. The skin may be smooth, and the pain is gone, but the slightest change in weather, a brush against something coarse, will bring back a phantom sting, a persistent reminder of what was.

And now here they were, sitting together at the library while her every chaotic friend frantically wrote each word of his assignment right in front of her.

"Do it properly, or else I'm going to leave you here," Chine said, reading a book on the seat beside him and glancing at the paper he was currently writing. The boy is trying his best, scribbling down each idea while thinking of things that could relate to the topic.

"It's not easy, alright? I'm trying." Lucius sighed, pausing in his writing. "I just... I don't know, I feel like something is missing or like, something is supposed to be there, but I can't put it into words..."

Then there was silence, which made Chine sigh. She knew it was too much to expect him to learn everything in just one sitting. Despite that bright mind of his, he's bound to have some setbacks.

"What's it supposed to be for anyway?" She asked, putting the book down and finally turning to face him. Almost chuckling at the frown that sat on his face, it looked more like a pout than anything.

Lucius rested his head on the table, groaning. "Mrs. Guanzano instructed us to write a love letter. Since, you know, Valentine's Day is coming up."

That made Chine wheeze, February 14, the day of hearts. It'll never fail to make her cringe every single year.

"Right, that day..." Chine got up from her seat which immediately caught Lucius' attention as he sat right back up when he noticed her about to leave. "It shouldn't be a problem for you then, you're a hopeless romantic yourself."

"Hey, imagining versus actually writing about admiring someone are two different things." He replied, defending his point.

"And how are they different?"

"Just because it is!"

"Hey!"

The duo turned to see the librarian glaring at them, which stopped the two of them from arguing. This is the library, after all; the silence is the most and foremost that must be upheld.

Chine glared at Lucius as if silently telling him it was his fault that they got called out. And then she started walking away.

"Hey, where are you going? You're not actually gonna leave me here all alone now, are you?" He whispered, not wanting another round of the fiasco, a bit panicked that she might actually just abandon him all alone to deal with this.

"I'm just gonna go and get some romantic books, it might help with your... dilemma." She huffed before going to the back of the library.

He watched Chine's retreating back disappear from the back of the library. Looking intensely as if guarding her from actually walking out and leaving him alone.

He looked at his paper which only contains two sentences so far. For someone like him, it felt unreasonable to write a letter about loving someone. He believes in actions, the grand gestures that actually show and don't just happen in the imagination of the mind. He wants to show, to be proud of the love he has. So he doesn't get it. Just why? Why do people love receiving things like these?

Lucius frowned before picking up the paper, crumpling it, and shoving it into his bag.

"Love letter... How stupid."

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Before Chine knew it, she found herself browsing the romance section of the library. It felt foreign; she had e never stepped a foot in this section of the library, always biding her time at logic and psychology books.

She browsed through every title, cringing at some while reading the synopsis of the others. She never thought a day would come that she'd willingly come here. Furthermore, she was never a romantic person; the circumstances she lived her life in had no room for such things as romance.

"People actually like this kinds of books?" She murmured to herself as she saw another book with horrendous choice of words for a title.

'The things I do for that guy!'

Chine thought, grumbling as she took a couple of books with her. The guy in question suddenly sneezing out of nowhere and glaring at her.

'She's definitely killing me in her head.'

After a couple of mental suicide and mental cringing sessions with herself, Chine finally came back to their table with stack of books.

"Here's everything I got. The least cringy ones! I'm gonna have a mental shutdown if I ever pick up the other books I saw." Chine took a seat beside Lucius once again, a frown on her face.

Lucius on the other hand, chuckled on the scene before him. The very composed and perfect Chine Alvein, looking all pouty just because of romance books. What a fun story to tell.

"If anyone could see you right now they'd all go, 'Chine Alvein, usually a perfectly balanced scale calibrated to composure, was now a meticulously crafted porcelain doll, knocked off its shelf by a carelessly tossed romance novel. The flawless facade, normally radiating serene confidence, was cracked with a pout, like a hairline fracture in the glaze, betraying the unexpected tremor of romantic longing beneath. What a delectable fall from grace to witness.'" He joked, even throwing some gestures just to mess with her more.

"Look at you, being so creative with words when mocking me. Why don't you put that genius into something that would actually elevate your grade, my dear? And since you're so good now, I'm free to go home now, right?"

Chine was about to stand up, clearly ticked off when Lucius practically pounced on her. Arms around her waist like a stubborn octopus latched onto something.

"No. You're not going anywhere, you're stuck here with me. Nope, you'll sit your pretty ass back down here, help me with my essay, and then I'll treat you to that new ice cream shop that serves the toothpaste that you like." He ranted, face pressed against her back, muffled by the fabric of her clothes.

Shit.

This is dangerous.

Deadly dangerous.

He had no right to make her heart skip like this. Her heart beating so fast it almost hurts, like she can feel it ringing in her ears. The proximity between them making her nervous as she wondered if he can it.

But of course, she can't show it. So she huffed, face turning into a scowl as she replied. "You dare call my mint chocolate chip ice cream toothpaste'?"

"That seriously caught your attention more than everything else that I said?" Lucius broke away just enough to look up at her, his arms still sitting comfortably on her waist.

Well, she did pay attention. She engraved everything he said in her mind, even the pretty ass comment, of course she wouldn't let him know how it affected her.

"Anyway, just let go already, everyone's staring." And with that alone, he let her go. Though everyone is already used to it, there are still some rumors going around about the two of secretly dating. Lucius doesn't want to add any more ammunition into that fire.

Chine turned to Lucius, staring at his lost puppy face. He actually thought that she'd leave him, huh? Too bad, she can't physically do that.

With a sigh, the doubts and the questions in her head cleared, taking a seat beside him again. She shouldn't lose her focus. After all, she's a friend first before anything else.

"You better make this worth my while. Because I'm not gonna read this romantic cheesy stories just for nothing." She said, already picking up the book, Lucius' eyes soften. Even with her walls built so high that it was reaching heavens, there's still that small light gaps that he'd gladly break with his stubborn will.

Yup, he's dangerous.

"Don't worry, you know I'd always do anything for you." He smiled. His smile was a supernova, outshining even the most brilliant, distant stars in the vast and cold expanse of space.

Chine could only smile to herself, an ice cream shouldn't worth so much.

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