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Chapter 47
“Lionel doesn’t really come here. He ran away a long time ago, saying it was too noisy.”
“Oh, I… I didn’t know.”
“Still, he drops by from time to time, so maybe people come hoping to catch a glimpse of him? Anyway, since there are lots of people around, Nathan is really enjoying himself.”
Stefan pointed at the door and repeated firmly.
“Hurry up and get out of here!”
“No! I’m staying here. I like it here better.”
“This isn’t even your club. Only people who like stars are allowed in. Otherwise, you can’t come in. So get out!”
“No. It’s quieter here.”
“Then just go to the library!”
“The library’s too quiet, I don’t like it.”
“Arghhhh!”
Frustrated that things weren’t going his way, Stefan flailed his arms around.
He was desperate to kick Sasha out, but Jaelin felt differently.
Through Sasha, she was learning sides of Lionel she normally wouldn’t know. Even beyond that, Jaelin simply wanted to be friends with Sasha.
Before coming to the Academy, Jaelin hadn’t had anyone she could really call a friend. Of course, Stefan was a good friend, but she wanted Sasha as one too.
So without realizing it, Jaelin ended up defending Sasha.
“B-but… you’ve never actually gone stargazing anyway.”
“That’s…! That’s true, but still…”
Stefan, who was about to say more, pressed his lips shut and pouted. He looked upset that Jaelin hadn’t taken his side.
Sasha stepped in to mediate.
“Put your lips back in. I’ll buy you something tasty next time.”
“What? You’re planning to come again? No—”
Before Stefan could say no, Sasha cut in.
“Ten cream buns.”
“Oh! Nice. Deal!”
Stefan accepted Sasha’s offer, and the two of them shook hands with satisfied expressions.
He caved for just ten cream buns? Compared to Lionel, this guy’s threshold is ridiculously low, Sasha thought. No, it’s not low—it’s practically nonexistent.
After dealing daily with a steel wall like Lionel, who never let anyone get close beyond a certain point, this kind of negotiation felt absurdly easy.
“Oh, right! Jaelin, come to think of it, you ended up on the same team as Lionel, didn’t you?”
“Uh-huh. Somehow…”
Jaelin’s eyes flicked toward the sofa where Adrian was.
Since Adrian hated being teamed with Lionel, she couldn’t help but be conscious of him.
Fortunately, Adrian had already dozed off. He had complained that the heat kept him up last night, and it seemed true.
“Wait! Now that I think about it, isn’t Nathan’s ex-girlfriend on Lionel’s team too?”
Stefan, who was always up to date on Academy gossip, butted into Sasha and Jaelin’s conversation.
“Right? Iliana and Nathan broke up last year.”
Sasha nodded, confirming Stefan’s words.
“Wow. Are they really okay with that?”
“Nathan won’t care about something like that.”
“Ugh… I don’t think I could ever be in the same group as an ex. How can you look at each other like nothing ever happened?”
“Well, it’s not like you’ll ever have to worry about that. To break up, you’d first need to have dated someone. And you’ve never had a girlfriend, so how could you have an ex?”
Sasha gave him a genuinely puzzled look.
“W-what?! That’s not true!”
“Oh, really?”
“I have had a girlfriend! It’s true! I swear!”
“Holding hands with someone when you were a kid doesn’t count as dating.”
“….”
Sasha, reading his silence, chuckled. Stefan’s face flushed bright red in an instant.
“So it’s true.”
While Stefan was busy being teased by Sasha, Jaelin’s wrist-comm stone suddenly lit up.
Who could it be?
Everyone who might want to message her privately was already here.
When she opened the community window, the name she saw made her heart leap. It was Lionel. A smile spread naturally across her face.
[Lionel] Where are you?
It was nothing special, just casual small talk. Jaelin quickly typed a reply, happy.
[Jaelin] I’m in the clubroom.
[Lionel] Yeah? Is something going on in the clubroom? Why aren’t you at the library?
Library? Did I promise to meet Lionel-sunbae at the library?
Jaelin searched her memory but nothing came up.
Lionel had suggested studying together only back when they were preparing for midterms. After the exams, she hadn’t gone to see him at the library.
These days, she either stayed in the clubroom or, if she did go to the library, she studied in places other than where Lionel was.
What should I say?
While she hesitated, Stefan leaned in close.
“Whatcha doin’? Who’s that, huhhh?”
“N-no one!”
“Doesn’t seem like ‘no one’ to me.”
“It really is nothing!”
“Hmmm.”
Stefan eyed her suspiciously.
Jaelin quickly propped up a book on the desk to block his view and focused on her reply.
What do I write? ‘Why?’ No, that sounds too confrontational. Rejected. Then maybe, ‘Did we plan to meet at the library?’ No, that sounds like I’m nitpicking. Also rejected. Then what…?
If Lionel asked why she wasn’t coming to the library, then it meant he wanted her there.
I’ll just say I’m going.
After much thought, Jaelin carefully typed out her reply.
[Jaelin] Yes! I’ll be there!
But the moment she sent it, regret washed over her.
No, that sounds way too stiff! Even subordinates aren’t that formal with their bosses…!
She tried to delete and rewrite it, but it was already sent.
Ahh! No! I didn’t mean to send it like that!
All her deliberation felt wasted. She couldn’t believe she had sent Lionel such a clumsy answer.
While she despaired, Lionel’s reply arrived.
[Lionel] Okay. Hurry up. I’ll be waiting.
He’ll be waiting… for me? Lionel-sunbae… waiting for me?
Jaelin shot up from her seat. Her chair screeched loudly across the floor, but she didn’t care.
With hurried hands, she stuffed the books and assignments scattered on the table into her bag.
Startled by the sudden commotion, Stefan blinked wide-eyed.
“Whoa, what’s with you all of a sudden? Something happen?”
“S-something urgent came up. I’ll go first!”
“Go where?”
“Uh… the library.”
“Huh? Since when is going to the library such an emergency?”
“W-well, I need some materials right away.”
Stefan gave her a dubious look but eventually shrugged.
“Fine, go on then.”
Just as Jaelin grabbed the door handle, a voice called out.
“Hey. Peanut.”
It was Adrian, who had been lying motionless on the sofa until now. He had woken up at some point, and the fever that had plagued him seemed to have cooled down a bit.
“Y-yeah?”
Still holding the doorknob, Jaelin turned to him.
Adrian wasn’t looking at her directly, his gaze fixed somewhere else. He mumbled in a low voice.
“…Thanks.”
Maybe it was because of the distance, but Jaelin didn’t catch it.
“Huh? What? I didn’t hear you.”
“I said thanks! For the design drawings!”
Adrian grumbled with his usual gruffness. The tone was sharp, but the meaning behind it was clear.
Jaelin beamed. For Adrian, who rarely expressed himself, to say thank you meant her drawings must have really helped him.
“It… it was nothing! I just tweaked my own assignment a little. A-anyway, I’m off now!”
Words tumbling out in a rush, Jaelin dashed out of the clubroom. Stefan clicked his tongue at her speed.
“Wow, Jaelin really loves studying. She’s so happy to go to the library that she’s actually running.”
“Do you really think she’s running because she likes studying?”
“Yeah. Isn’t she?”
At Stefan’s innocent answer, Sasha closed the book she had been reading. His eyes showed he genuinely didn’t get it. With no need to explain, Sasha just shook her head.
She didn’t know exactly what was driving Jaelin either—but she was willing to bet her lunch that it wasn’t love of studying.
Jaelin ran toward the library, heart pounding with excitement. A soft breeze brushed her cheeks.
Lionel, as always, was in the deepest part of the library—the secret place only the two of them knew.
Resting his chin on his hand, his gaze fixed on the books and assignments spread out on the table, Lionel looked looser than his usual suffocating perfection.
Jaelin liked the flawless Lionel she saw outside, but she loved the Lionel she found here even more.
He wasn’t smiling faintly like he usually did, and his clothes were slightly rumpled, but he seemed far more natural and relaxed.
Here, she could notice little habits of his that she could never see outside.
Out there, Lionel always held himself straight and moved gracefully, without a single wasted motion.
But here, he propped his chin in his hand while reading, rubbed his forehead with the end of his pen, bit at his lower lip when things didn’t make sense, or sprawled across the desk or sank deep into the sofa when he was tired.
Things she would never see outside.
And suddenly, Jaelin realized: it wasn’t that the Lionel outside wasn’t genuine—it was that the Lionel here was closer to his true self.
