Women

The blonde beauty before us waved her hand with a friendly smile. If this were any other girl, I would have waved back and replied with a flirty joke. But, this wasn’t any other girl. My body may have stood as still as a rock, but my heart pounded against my chest like a boxer freestyling with his punches.

“I didn’t know we had the same major. This is such a funny coincidence!” Suvi said.

She leaned her head towards Annika and gave her a smile.

“You must be Kwan’s friend, right? I’m Suvi Summers! Nice to meet you!” She extended her hand.

“Nice to meet you too!” Annika shook her hand. “Your interpretation of Jung’s shadow was pretty good! You explained it very well!”

“R-Really?” Suvi scratched her head with a sheepish smile. “Thank you!”

“Ah, I forgot.” Annika raised her finger. “By the way, my name’s Annika Frio. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Suvi!”

“Annika….” Suvi fell silent for a while and massaged her chin.

“What is it?”

“N-Nothing!” Suvi shook her arms. “It’s just…..it’s a beautiful name.”

I felt shivers run cold through my spine. That girl knew exactly what that name meant.

Annika’s cheeks flushed. “Well, you have a beautiful name too.”

The two women chuckled, then the conversation fell into silence. Both Annika and Suvi appeared to be thinking of something to say, but it seemed like they didn’t have any ideas at the moment. They both may have had a great start with each other, but the event of them meeting was the worst case scenario I could ever think of. They should not have met. It was a mistake to let this happen. Things are only going to get worse from here, I’m sure of it.

This is terrible. I wanted to leave this conversation and act like nothing ever happened. Someone, please turn back time. May this all just be some stupid nightmare. Please wake me up from this reality. There’s no way this is real.

“Kwan….you’ve been awfully quiet this whole time.” Suvi switched the topic over to me.

Tsk, she did this on purpose!

“You’re right…” Annika turned her face towards me. “With a girl as pretty as her, you’d normally be giving some stupid flirty lines by now.”

I opened my jaw, but I couldn’t get myself to speak. All it could do was tremble in place.

“He’s just starstruck after seeing me.” Suvi giggled. “It’s been a long time since we were last together.”

“Wait.” Annika gestured a stop with her hand. “T-Together? Who are you to Kwan?”

“Well….” Suvi rolled her eyes around and placed her hands back. Then she curved her lips to a gentle grin. “Let’s just say he’s a veeery special friend of mine.”

Annika raised her eyebrow and looked at me. I wiped the sweat off my brow and stepped back.

“Sorry, I have to get going now. I don’t feel so….”

I felt my body lean forwards uncontrollably, but Annika caught me before I could fall down to the ground. She placed her hand on my forehead and winced.

“I knew it. You have a fever.”

“T-Take me away, please,” I muttered.

“H-He’s sick?” Suvi raised a look of worry. “Oh no! Allow me to help!”

Suvi tried to extend her hand towards me, but I lightly pushed it away.

I don’t want your help.

She tucked her lips and retraced her hand back.

“I’ll handle this!”

Max appeared into the scene and took me away from Annika’s arms. He carried me on his back and gave them a thumbs-up.

“Are you sure you can handle it on your own?” Annika said.

“I wouldn’t want any of you cuties to get sick because of Kwan.” Max gave them a wink.

“But you’d have to carry him by yourself!” Suvi protested.

“Don’t worry, I have Frey on my side.”

Max looked around for a while, but Frey was nowhere to be found.

“I said, I have Frey on my side!”

Still no sign of him.

“Frey?! Where the hell are you?!”

“I’m right here,” Frey casually said, right beside Max this whole time.

“How did you just appear out of nowhere? Are you a teleporter or something?”

“What do you mean? I was here the entire time,” Frey scratched his hair.

“No way. You definitely snuck up on us!” Max snapped at him.

“I just have a weak presence.”

“Ugh. Whatever! We’re leaving now!”

“Let me come with you!” Annika said. “I brought some medicine!”

Heh…does she always bring medicine with her…?

“You can just hand us the medicine and we’ll be on our way.”

“But!”

“It’s best if you don’t come with us. We’ll need you in case me and Frey get sick.”

“I…..” Annika tried to utter another sentence, but she stopped herself. Instead, she looked at Max straight in the eyes with a serious sapphire stare.

“You better take care of him.”

“We will, Boss!”

Max and Frey went on their way and escorted me out of the room. The duo carried me all the way to the exit of the university, without any time to stop or rest. Well, it was mostly Max who did the heavy lifting, but I appreciated Frey’s efforts to support my weight in some way. They called for a taxi nearby, then they lifted my body into the backseat of the vehicle. Frey decided to take the front seat, while Max placed my head on his lap.

“How do you like my lap pillow?” Max asked.

“Disgusting. Thanks.”

Max chuckled, then his lips formed into a wince.

“I didn’t think she would be in this university.”

“Thanks for helping me get out of there,” I said.

“It’s no problem, bro. We’re always here to help.” Max massaged my hair. “But now that she knows you’re here, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to explain everything to Annika?”

“I ... .don't know. I don’t want to think about it right now.”

“Just call us if she gives you any trouble, okay?”

“Okay.”

The taxi continued to move forward, with the occasional brake swinging my body back and forth. Surprisingly enough, Max’s thighs kept my head stable, and they felt rather comfy for some reason.

“Imaschleeep…..”