In Zephyr Academy, Leonel was walking near the gate entrance with his backpack hanging loosely in his arm while his hand clutched his stomach. He puked too much that his stomach and throat were hurting.
Why did they drink so much last night, knowing both of them couldn’t handle their liquor?
“Leo!”
Leonel flicked his gaze at the Rolce Royce hovering at the cobbled road and saw Isolde’s haggard face. Her driver stopped the car, and she immediately got off and walked side by side with Leonel.
“What happened to you?” Isolde asked, noticing Leonel’s greenish face.
“We drank too many last night. Ren and I. We received so much money in the game that we celebrated the whole night, and now the drinks wanted me to pay.”
“Oh yeah. I heard about those guys who became millionaires overnight. It’s all over the news. Congrats to you two. You’ve become one, I see.” Isolde was genuinely happy for Ren and Leonel that her smile stretched her face.
Leonel smiled happily while his chest puffed a little in pride before he buckled and covered his lips with his hand when the acid went up his throat.
He swallowed that bitter bile and groaned, thinking why he even came to school in the first place.
“Anyway . . . what happened to you?” Leonel threw back the question at Isolde. “You look like you hadn’t slept. How many kilos are there in the bags in your eyes?” he teased.
“Ahh . . . this . . .” Isolde gently touched her puffy eyes and rapidly blinked them. “I played all night last night. Though I was asleep, I woke up this morning looking like this.”
“What did you do in the game? Don’t tell me that you’ve been killing players?” joked Leonel.
Isolde wryly smiled and looked dead to the side. “If only I could . . . Let’s just say that . . . it had something to do with my family tonight.”
When Leonel heard about family, he didn’t pry anymore. “Sounds complicated.”
The two chattered towards their department, and they parted ways and went to different rooms, though their rooms were just beside each other.
Inside, Leonel slumped on his seat and threw his head on his desk while shutting his eye tight. He regretted coming to school. He should have slept the whole day.
Who cares if his grades suffer?
He’s rich now.
Despite his head and stomach in pain, Leonel let out a creepy laugh while saliva dripped from the side of his lips.
It was a good day to be alive!
Leonel didn’t know how much time had passed since he took a nap when he woke up with a tap on his shoulder. Snorting, Leonel wiped his saliva and looked left and right with a clouded gaze.
His vision was blurred until it steadied on a pretty face of a man with grey hair and blue eyes.
Leonel blinked because he thought he was dreaming. After all, the man before him was so pretty.
“Leonel, right? Sky, by the way,” the man said with an amiable and soft smile that wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Leonel returned the smile and shook Sky’s hand. “Leonel. What’s up?”
Sky sat beside Leonel. His face was innocent as his voice. “Do you know Isolde? I saw you two walking together coming here.”
Leonel nodded. “Yeah. You know Isolde too?”
Sky huffed a laugh and looked down for a moment before he said in a friendly voice. “Isolde is my ex.”
Leonel was quite for a moment. His hurting head was buffering and when he finally processed the information, his eyes rounded. “Oh! I see!”
Leonel was surprised because the boy seemed too perfect. He was like a male lead in a boy band. Cute and nice. No offense to Isolde, but . . . he really didn’t expect that the tomboyish girl could snag a pretty man like Sky.
Leonel then gaped in understanding. Could it be that the guy wanted to get back together with Isolde? Was he threatened by his presence? “Ah! You don’t have to worry about me. Isolde and I are only friends! So if you want to get back together with her. By all means.”
Sky paused for a moment before he laughed. “I think you misunderstood me. I’m not here to get back together with her. I just want to know if you’re planning to make a move on her and I’m going to tell you now . . . You might want to stop.”
Leonel paused, and his head tilted to the side while a flower sprouted over his head. “H-huh?”
Sky’s smile was still on his lips, and there was no malice on his face. But Leonel felt uneasy all of a sudden.
Sky’s lips curved downward at the corners in an expression that was probably intended to be sympathetic but succeeded only at being pompous.
“Isolde is . . . unique. I know because we have been together in the past. But her personality is stronger than you think. She’s more of a man in the relationship than you’ll ever be. She might look sweet, but on the inside, she’s ready to kill an innocent rabbit.”
Leonel suddenly thought of the poor deer that Isolde shot in the head. “Yep . . . that’s definitely sounded like her.”
And contrary to Sky’s expectation, Leonel only laughed, and he even repeatedly tapped Sky’s shoulder.
“I know, right? You should have seen her shoot that innocent-looking deer in the game. I still have hives remembering it.”
Sky’s face brightened, and his smile widened. “Right. Being with her is always awkward because you can’t be a man if she’s around.” He was about to add another word to his sentence when Leonel chimed in with a half-shrug.
“She’s not so bad. In fact, I lost count of how many times she saved me. She’s brave and very good at shooting too. She’s kinda cool that way.”
Leonel captured Sky’s eyes and grinned. “Too bad that you two broke up, huh? Isolde is rich, nice, brave, and very good at sports. She’s kinda perfect if you ask me.”
He then cocked his head to the side and asked, “Why did you two break up by the way?”
Leonel was innocently asking, but Sky felt embarrassed all of a sudden. It was like Leonel was implying something.
Sky kept his face friendly, but Leonel felt that he was smug when the former’s lips twisted into a half smirk.
“You like her then?”
“Yeah,” Leonel said straight to the point, and Sky was taken aback.
Leonel chuckled. “She’s a good friend.”
Sky stared at Leonel for a while before he shook his head. “You’re only saying that because it’s only the first few weeks. But when you’re with her for months, you’ll feel your pride shatter because she’s much better at being the man than you. You’ll even question your gender when you’re together. And you’ll realize that she’s no fun to be around. Lots of our classmates can attest to that.”
Leonel was silent for a moment before his face broke into a laugh and Sky’s didn’t know what was going on.
“Ahahaha. Don’t tell me . . . the reason that you two broke up is because Isolde is manlier than you?”
What kind of reason is that? Leonel found it funny, but Sky didn’t.
Sky’s usual swagger fled faster than a gambler from a bookie, and his face contorted in anger and embarrassment, but only for a split second, and he was back to being a nice man with a sweet smile on his face.
“It looks like there’s something wrong with your head. No wonder that you two get along.”
Leonel was a bit slow, so he was processing what Sky told him, and before he could make a conclusion that the guy had just insulted him, Sky stood to his feet and left with only four words and a wink.
“I wish you luck.”
—-
A/N
In the succeeding chapters , we’re just going to tie some loose ends in the real world before we go back to the game.
Patience is key ��
