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Chapter 101
“W-why? It looks delicious…”
“Still no. You’re allergic to peanuts. Eat something else.”
Looking closely, small roasted peanut bits were sprinkled on top of the éclair.
Jaylin answered with a deflated face.
“Y-yes…”
Adrian raised one eyebrow and glanced at Lionel across from him.
“How do you know she’s allergic to peanuts?”
“I once saw her face break out red and blotchy from an allergy.”
Adrian slowly turned his head toward Jaylin. His eyes sank darkly.
“I told you not to wander off and to go straight home, and yet you still went to meet that guy?”
“N-no, it wasn’t like that… That time there were unavoidable circumstances…”
Jaylin fumbled nervously, not knowing what to do.
“You never listen to me, do you?”
“Sorry… I-I won’t do it again.”
“Forget it. Do whatever you want.”
Adrian grabbed the éclair Lionel had pushed aside, stuffed it into his mouth in one bite, chewed, and swallowed. His face looked distinctly sulky.
Jaylin, noticing his expression wasn’t softening, kept fidgeting nervously and stealing glances at him.
Adrian, arms crossed, pretended not to see her gaze. When she finally gave up and drooped her shoulders, he suddenly burst out laughing.
Only then did Jaylin realize he was teasing her. Puffing her cheeks, she turned her eyes back to the dessert in front of her.
Meanwhile, Lionel didn’t like how easily Adrian pushed Jaylin around. He didn’t like how Adrian ordered her about either.
It seemed the two had grown closer over the break—apparently from spending time together at Stephan’s house.
Adrian, laughing noisily, suddenly cut his laughter short and stared hard at Lionel.
“What? What are you looking at?”
“Nothing at all.”
It was needless provocation, but Lionel just smiled lightly in reply.
Apparently Lionel wasn’t the only one thinking this way—Sasha also threw in a remark at Adrian.
“You two must’ve gotten pretty close over the vacation. Didn’t think you even knew how to tease someone.”
“Peanut just has the perfect face for teasing.”
At Adrian’s words, Jaylin’s lips stuck out like a bird’s beak.
Adrian didn’t care. He flicked at the ribbon tied in Jaylin’s hair, tugging at the end playfully like a child.
Jaylin, sensing something odd, turned her head to confirm that Adrian was fiddling with her ribbon—but she didn’t say anything.
Even though it was a rather rude prank, she let it slide without complaint.
It was far too impolite. Of course, between close friends such antics could be excused, but Lionel disliked what he was seeing.
A violent impulse rose in him—he wanted to break Adrian’s fingers. His face hardened involuntarily, unable to mask his expression.
He quickly lifted his teacup to hide his face as if drinking. Having gotten rid of Nathan over the break, now Adrian was the one getting under his skin.
Sensing Lionel’s cold mood, Nathan rolled his eyes and quickly turned to Jaylin.
“Ah, right! Jaylin, don’t you need to buy anything? The academy sells most things, but the department store’s got better stuff.”
“Ah… actually, yes, I did need to pick something up…”
Jaylin fiddled with the ribbon Adrian had just teased. She’d been meaning to erase Lionel’s traces from it, yet she still couldn’t bring herself to throw it away.
It was uncomfortable sitting across from Lionel.
She tried hard not to look in his direction, but she couldn’t help being conscious of him.
If she used shopping as an excuse to stand up, she’d naturally separate from Lionel.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go! There’s so much good stuff here. And not just because my family owns the department store—it’s really true.”
Excited at the thought of shopping, Stephan jumped up.
Sasha, Lionel, and Nathan, apparently also done with the café, left together with Jaylin’s group.
Jaylin naturally thought she would tour the department store with Stephan and Adrian.
But things didn’t go her way. Since there were many of them leaving the café together, the group naturally split up.
Sasha and Stephan dashed off ahead, thrilled about shopping, and Adrian followed leisurely behind.
Falling behind at the rear, Jaylin noticed Lionel was also there. At this rate, she would end up alone with him.
Growing anxious, Jaylin tried to quicken her pace to catch up with Adrian. But she couldn’t match his long strides.
And for some reason, Nathan kept slyly blocking her path. Every time she tried to slip past, he would cut her off.
Jaylin hadn’t intended this at all. But before she realized it, she was walking side by side with Lionel.
And with the wall on her left, she couldn’t slip away naturally.
Looking back, Adrian spotted Jaylin walking alone with Lionel. He gave her a signal that he’d help, but Nathan was quicker.
Nathan suddenly hooked his arm through Adrian’s and held him back.
“Hey! That hurts! Let go, you lunatic.”
“Today my shopping buddy is Adrian! Wow, this is gonna be fun.”
“You crazy bastard, what nonsense is that.”
In the end, Jaylin was left alone with Lionel.
She nervously tugged at her sleeve as she walked beside him down the glittering department store hallways.
“Did you spend your vacation well?”
“Y-yes.”
“Aren’t you curious what I did during the break?”
“…”
Flustered, Jaylin bit her lip. Truthfully, she had often wondered what Lionel might be doing.
No matter how hard she tried not to think of him—no matter how busy she kept herself—his image would sometimes suddenly come back to her.
It didn’t help that Lionel occasionally sent her community messages asking how she was.
Whenever he reached out, she would always check, but she no longer replied as quickly as she used to.
She would read the messages over and over until she couldn’t hold back anymore, then send a short, perfunctory reply.
That was the most Jaylin could bring herself to do.
“That’s disappointing. I really wanted to know. And your community replies weren’t coming through well. That thing broken since the exam still isn’t fixed?”
“N-no, it works fine now.”
“Then why didn’t you contact me during vacation?”
“Ah… I was busy. Spending time with Stephan and Adrian…”
“That’s a shame. I wish I could’ve joined you too.”
“Y-yeah, me too.”
Jaylin said words she didn’t mean. But it was fine. Surely Lionel hadn’t been serious either.
Just as she was looking for a chance to slip away from Lionel, she realized no one else was around. Panicked, she faltered.
“Huh? Wh-where did everyone go?”
“Who knows? Guess they walk fast. Let’s just take our time looking around. We can meet up later.”
“O-oh… okay.”
Jaylin’s face fell. She should’ve found a way to get away earlier.
“You said you needed something, right? What is it?”
“A r-ribbon.”
“Then let’s go this way.”
Lionel led her toward the ribbon shop.
As they walked, he glanced at the ribbon tying her hair.
“Weren’t you really attached to that one?”
“Y-yes, but… I think it’s time to change it. I’ve worn it too long.”
“I see.”
Talking as they went, they soon stood before the ribbon shop.
Rows of ribbons in every color and fabric hung long from the displays.
They all looked luxurious at a glance. Delicate lace ribbons, soft pale pink ones—each was beautiful.
Jaylin fingered a ribbon of shimmering blue satin. When she flipped the price tag over, her hand trembled.
The ribbons were far more expensive than she expected. But since Stephan had given her money today, she thought maybe spending it on one ribbon for herself would be okay.
“Do you like that one?”
“Yes… The color’s pretty… but I don’t think it suits me. It’s too flashy.”
“Let me see. Hold still.”
Lionel held the ribbon up against her hair.
As she’d said, the blue was striking and would stand out even from far away. But it also matched her honey-blonde hair surprisingly well.
“It looks good on you. Though, like you said, the color is vivid, and your hair is light, so you’d be noticeable from a distance.”
“Y-yeah, right?” Jaylin asked with a gloomy face.
“Why? You don’t like standing out?”
“Y-yeah. A little…”
“Still, it’s pretty.”
