I’m honestly not sure what to expect. I don’t have any expectation to begin with, but this giant hole doesn’t seem that exciting. It’s in the middle of some random forest, and there’s isn’t much to see beside endless rows of trees.

To be fair, we haven’t even reached the giant hole yet.

“Hold up.”, Song suddenly said. “Hide!”

Then I see what he saw. There are police officers patrolling the area, so we must be nearing the giant hole.

Well then, just need to keep going.

When we can no longer see the police officers, we quietly start walking again. The thing is, as we walk, I suddenly realise how stupid this is. I’m pretty sure we’re going to get caught sooner or later. I mean, how can two random university students bypass the police patrol?

But surprisingly, we didn’t get caught. And here we are, looking at the gaping hole (from a safe distance, of course). I must say, it’s way bigger than the picture makes it seems to be!

However, before we can do anything, we hear a commotion all the way across the hole. And another one on a different side. It seems we’re not the only one that tries to sneak in, which might be the reason why we didn’t get caught.

But all these commotions are not a good sign. Someone will probably…

I turn around. Oh, no!

The police officers noticed us. “Hey!”, one of them shouted.

Before I can react, Song pulls me and jumps into the hole.

“WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU…!?”, I shouted, but I couldn’t finish the sentence as I started screaming incoherently.

Above, I can see the police officers start following us. No, they don’t jump; they run on the hole’s lining.

“How are we going to survive this!?”, I screamed at Song.

“Trust me!”, he said.

As we start approaching the bottom of the hole, Song throws a ball on the ground which inflates into a giant balloon. We crashed on the balloon, and it pops, slowly deflating.

There’s no time to wait; the police officers are nearing. We quickly get on our feet and start running. But as I stand up, I look around and notice… the hole is filled with crystals planted inside the lining.

“What… is this?”, I asked.

“Let’s run first!”, Song said as he grabs my hand and runs. The police officers start to open fire.

“Aren’t they not supposed to shoot without a warning?”, I asked at Song but loud enough so the police officers can hear.

“Just run!”

But there’s so many of them, and there’s just the two of us. Before long, someone successfully shot my arm.

“Argh!”, I screamed in pain, but stopping will be a suicide here. I run and run, and now my back got shot, leading to another scream.

“Are you okay?”, Song asked without even turning back. Miraculously, he hasn’t got shot yet.

“What. Do. You. Think!?”

We keep running and running, and I just noticed now that this thing is a tunnel. This place looks like… an excavation?

As we keep getting deeper and deeper inside the tunnel, it starts to branch. We arrived at a four-way intersection, and, without pausing, choose to turn right. Bad choice! It’s a dead end!

We turn around, waiting for the doomed moment that the police officers arrive here and catch us. I can suddenly feel the pain from my two wounds that were numbed from the adrenaline. I cast a quick first aid spell to stop the bleeding and make the pain more bearable. Then I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable…

But after a while, nothing happened.

I open my eyes again. It seems Song is as surprised as I am. We walk away from the dead end, and a sudden figure in the corner of our eyes surprised us.

 It’s the police officers… Except they just stand still like a statue.

“What happened?”, Song asked.

“How should I…”, before I finish the sentence, something triggers in me. Is this… freezing time?

“Chan!?”, I shouted loud enough so my voice is echoed throughout the tunnel. I don’t see him anywhere though. We walk back right to the place where we land. I look up, and I notice a particular figure looking at us from beside the edge of the hole.

Chan?

“I… no… go… do… ther…”, his voice is barely audible from here. ‘I’m not going down there’?

“How can we go up?”, I asked Song.

Song looks back at me. He’s not sure either…

Seriously!

Well, I could fly up, of course. But I haven’t fly again since that grand welcome incident. Besides, I’m injured.

Chan doesn’t wait for us. He leaves, making Song shouts “Hey, wait!” (which of course got ignored). Then there’s only the two of us, staring at each other.

Until a hand pokes my shoulder.

“Whoa!”, I startled and reflexively turn around. It’s Chan, of course!

“You’re injured.”, Chan said matter-of-factly. His voice didn’t waver, but I notice something slightly off with his eyes. Is that… concern?

“Well, yeah… The police officers just started shooting.”, I explained.

Chan just stares at me for a while. Then suddenly, he teleports all of us back at the campus. That surprises me… It takes a powerful wizard to do long-distance teleport like this, not to mention for three people. Now I know that Chan really is something!

Song is as surprised as me. “Wait, what!? How did…”, he paused. “Why did you send us back!? We haven’t…”

“That’s for playing around.”, Chan said bluntly, stopping Song right on his track. “Get his wound treated.”, he said at Song before teleporting away.

Song looks dejected. Then he turns to me. “Oh well… All of that for nothing. Let’s get you patched up.”

“I’m sorry. For nothing!? I got two wounds!”. My anger makes the wounds open again. “Ow!”

That night, I’m back on my bed with bandage all over my torso. I’m definitely not going to talk to Song for a while.

Then I hear a knock on my door.

“Go away Song!”, I shouted.

But the door opens anyway. Wait, what!? I’m pretty sure I lock the… Chan!?

“I excused myself.”, he said before dropping a plastic bag on in front of me.

“How did you…”

“Your room isn’t hard to find.”, he explained. I realise that his eyes are green again. He then sits on the corner of my bed, scanning my studio apartment.

“Why did you go there?”, he asked.

“Song…”

“Forced you.”, he completed my sentence for me. “And you want to know why I was there?”, he said although it sounds more like a statement than a question.

“I want to know why you…”

“Went here in the first place.”, he completed my sentence again. How can he…

“Stop doing that.”, I said.

“Why?”, he asked while staring straight into my eyes.

“Because it’s…”

“Annoying.”, he said. He did it again! But then he laughs. And I realise this is the first time I see him laugh. Well, this is the first time I see him with any kind of emotion more than a subtle change in expression.

He then approaches me and starts leaning toward me.

“What are you doing?”, I asked. But he doesn’t answer. Instead, he gently lifts my shirt and checks my wounds, making me blush in the process.

“It’s not that bad.”, he said.

“Yeah, I should completely heal in a few days.” Even in the magic world, there’s no such thing as instant healing. Medical magic only helps the body to restore itself.

He puts my shirt down and leans back.

“As you know, I studied medical magic.”, he said. “I know I can ace any other subject, but I choose medical because it requires… empathy to be really skilled at it. Which you can see isn’t really my… expertise.”, he explained. Wait! Did Chan just admit that he actually has a weakness!?

But that’s weird, isn’t it? He’s the son of a major politician. If anything, he should be studying politics or international relation or something like that.

“I know what you’re thinking.”, he continued. “But I don’t want to do politics.”

That... Okay, that surprises me. He has just the right (cold) personality to be a cunning politician. But somehow, that sound exactly like him. He doesn’t seem like a guy that can stand spending time building ‘connection’ with fellow politicians and rich people.

I look at him, waiting for him to continue.

“But I have to, because of my father.”, he explained. “So I make a deal. I will study abroad, choosing whatever subject I want, and he won’t disturb me with any kind of political matter whatsoever while I’m here.”

He paused.

“But of course, that’s too good to be true. He sent his men here forcing me to go that big hole.”

“Oh, right? What’s with the hole?”

“You don’t really believe the cover story that they made, don’t you?”, he asked.

Cover story? The one about the hole being magically concealed?

“It’s an excavation. They blasted it, and it all went awry, so now we got that giant hole. And those people are not police officers.”

Ah, so that’s what the crystals are all about.

“And what’s inside?”, I asked.

“Suffice to say it’s something to do with a new power source. And a profitable one at that. Many countries, including my homeland, want their share of profit. So my dad sent me to… negotiate a deal.”, he explained. Then he stands up and points at my crotch.

No, he’s pointing at the plastic bag that he brought (which is sitting near my crotch). I almost forget it exists!

“Enjoy your food.”, he said before turning around. “And I believe you can keep our conversation to yourself.” Then he leaves.

As soon as he leaves, I check the plastic bag. He brought me some cakes. Then I notice that it’s not just any cake, it’s Tiramisu! Does that mean… he noticed me all the time I was stalking him? I mean, he is Chan, what did I expect?

Anyway, this cake would taste much better than usual!

The second semester starts. I haven’t seen Chan at all since that ‘secret’ meeting in my room. I bet he is busy negotiating a deal on the giant hole. But now that semester starts again, I’m sure he will be back.

Since we have no shared class and I obviously haven’t learnt his new class schedule, I can only wait until dinnertime before I get to maybe see him in the food court.

To my surprise, he approaches me before even I reach the food court. He just walks next to me quietly, not saying anything.

“Um… food court?”, I asked.

He nods.

Then there’s silence (although it no longer feels awkward; maybe I’m just used to it by now). But I still want to point out the elephant in the room.

I gulp and take a deep breath. “Lonely?”, I finally asked.

He stops and looks at me. “No.”, he said. “You’re just too prone to injury.”

Ouch? Is that a bad thing or a good thing?

When we enter the food court, I quickly spot Song sitting in the middle. And he is as surprised as me that Chan is coming with me.

We quickly get out food and join Song. Chan and I sit next to each other, and Song sits in front of me. While we’re eating, Song keeps staring at us like we’re alien or something. I know he really wants to ask a question, but I’m sure Chan’s presence is keeping him quiet.

Suddenly, Chan slips me a piece of paper without turning his head to face me.

“What’s this?”, I asked.

“My timetable.”, Chan said.

I take the piece of paper but not really reading it. Instead, I look at Chan’s face waiting for an explanation. He still doesn’t turn his head when he said, “If you want to meet me.”.

“Umm… Okay…”

“If you need help with your study.”, he said.

“Oh right. I got a really good mark last semester thanks to you.”, I said.

“If you want a better mark, we can do it weekly.”, he offered, still without turning his head.

I pause and look at him. The notion of having to study every week irks me (yeah, I’m a proud crammer), but I get to spend time with Chan!

“So you can take advanced class next year.”, he explained. “Then you’ll need my help even more.”

Is this what I think it is? Like, is he saying that he wants to spend time with me?

But before I can reply, he takes his tray and walks away.

As soon as he leaves, Song says, “He’s totally into you.”

“Yeah, right.”, I said. Although it does give me some hope.

For the rest of the semester, my only interaction with Chan is during our weekly tutoring session. And I see no indication that he wants our relationship to go beyond this. We don’t hang out outside of the tutoring session (and to be honest I don’t have the bravery to ask him out either; I mean, it’s like asking him out on a date!). And yeah, he still doesn’t say hi when we bump into each other; only the usual I-acknowledge-your-presence gaze.

Time passes, and the second semester is already coming to an end.

The final exams have just passed, and it’s time for me to relax as the winter break arrives. Ironically, Chan is very busy lately with helping the first-day dinner lecturers’ research, so I haven’t met him since our last tutoring session.

With nothing else to do, I wander around the university. I realised that people are setting up tents, undoubtedly for the university’s winter festival, a big event that is hosted to celebrate the end of the year.

It’s going to start tomorrow night and last for three days. But to my knowledge, Chan wouldn’t be able to attend.

Hmm… I just realised, why am I always thinking about him? Come on June, you’re better than this. Don’t be too obsessed. Find something else to do.

Then Song comes, “So are you going to spend the festival with your darling Chan?”.

“Shut up!”, my cheeks heat up a little upon hearing the word ‘darling’ attached to ‘Chan’. “But seriously, he can’t. He’s too busy.”

“Busy?”

“You know the research thing he’s helping.”

“Well then, why don’t you give him a surprise?”, Song suggested.

“Surprise?”

He nods.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. You think about it.”

Hmm… Surprise, huh? “But he’s too smart. I don’t think I can surprise him.”, I said.

“That’s true… He can read mind, so it’s very hard to surprise him.”

“Wait, he can read mind!?”, how can I not know this info before?

“Well, yes. Whenever his eyes go green, he’s reading mind.”, Song explained. “Telepathy would produce neurochemical that change iris colour. Remember that from high school?”

I completely forgot! (In fact, I haven’t even heard of it. So it probably comes from a high school class that I just slept through.)

But that means… I try to recall all the time Chan’s eyes go green. That’s a lot of time… So all this time, he knew already!?

“Wait… So that means…”

“He is probably aware of your feelings already.”, Song said matter-of-factly.

This is embarrassing.

“Don’t fret.”, Song said. “He didn’t push you away, right? So that’s a good indication. Just use this surprise as an opportunity to formally confess your feeling.”

My cheeks heat up again upon hearing the word ‘confess’. It’s weird that I’m still shy given that Chan probably already knows, but a confession is still a confession.

“But what should I do?”, I asked.

“You know what. Just ask for his address for now, we’ll think about it later.”

That’s right! All this time and I still don’t know where he lives. I go to the library and check. He is in the discussion room. Perfect! I grab a random book and wait for him.

After a few hours, he finally finishes. He immediately notices me but chooses to ignore me and keeps walking. Classic Chan!

I stop him.

“What is it?”, he asked.

“Can I get your address?”

“A surprise?”, he asked directly.

I stare at him but don’t answer. Then his eyes turn green.

“No! Don’t you dare read my mind! Do yourself a service and don’t spoil the surprise.”

He chuckles, “Alright.”. He then writes his address in a piece of paper and hands it to me with a key.

“Eh?”

“That’s a spare key, but you can keep it.”, he said before turning around and leave.

I can’t help but smile. This is a good day.

Until I realised I still need to figure out the surprise…

Alright, let’s see… What does he don’t have? He is rich, smart, and handsome… He has everything! Then what on earth should I give him!?

Ok, think about it. There must be something that he doesn’t have. Well, he can’t go to the winter festival, so that’s a start.

What can I get from the winter festival?

What does he like?

Then I realised that… I have no freaking clue! We’ve never had this kind of conversation before.

Okay, what if I infer it from his behaviour?

Let’s see… He usually eats alone; he is good at explaining difficult concepts, he can teleport far far away. They’re no help…

Then I suddenly remember… He eats two desserts!

Wait, what!?

I try to recall. When I used to stalk quietly observe him, he always had two desserts. Then in the food court… Yeah, he always eats two different desserts! So he likes desserts!

Voila! I have something to work on.

The next night, the winter festival starts. My objective here is not to enjoy the festival (I can do it later), but to buy all the desserts from all the food stalls.

“So, got a plan?”, Song asked when he meets me.

“Yeah.”, I said before explaining the plan.

“Sounds nice! Let me help you!”, he offered. So we split up and systematically buy every dessert that we see.

After an hour or so, we meet up. He gives me his many bags of desserts then pushes me out of the festival area. “Go now! You don’t know when he will go home!”

That’s true. So I rush to the address that Chan gave me.

When I unlock the door, I’m surprised to see that it’s just a studio apartment and a very simple one at that. I thought that he would have something more luxurious than this. He does have a king-size bed though.

He’s not here yet. Good.

I put all the desserts on the dining table. Let see… Cakes, puddings, pie… No ice cream since it’s winter, but I also find a bottle of… wine? I didn’t buy this; must be Song!

Well, no matter. I wander around the room to find glasses, taking my time to scan the room properly. The room is really bare, with no sign of an effort to make it more personal. No photo, no poster, no decoration. Nothing but the important stuff.

I finally found the glasses, so I pour the wine and leave it on the table. Meanwhile, I rest on Chan’s bed and wait for him.

Just out of curiosity, I take his pillow and take a good sniff (No, it’s not creepy!). It smells… soapy? Dang it, even his bed isn’t personal. It’s like he doesn’t leave a footprint at all.

So I stand up and walk to his wardrobe. That ought to be personalised, right? When I open it, I see a lot of clothes. Some of them I already saw him wearing, some of the not. But they have something in common… They’re all formal or semi-formal. He doesn’t have a casual t-shirt. Oh well, what did I expect?

This leaves only one more place to be discovered. The bathroom!

I open the bathroom door, and the first thing I see… It’s so clean! Then next to the sink, there’s a bunch of skincare product. No wonder he’s handsome!

Anyway, that’s a tour of his place! Now all I need to do is sit and wait. I lay on his bed one more time and start to drift away in a daydream, which may or may not be innocent. With that personality, Chan is definitely a top, right? So I would’ve to bottom for him? That shouldn’t be that bad, right? I’m sure I’ll get used to it…

But then, I realised that it doesn’t matter whether he’s top or bottom. I’ll gladly take what I can get.

Before I can get any deeper in my fantasy, I doze off…

After a while, I wake up. What time is it? Almost 1 am, and he’s not back yet. Oh well…

Right after that thought, I hear the lock on the door clicks. He’s back!

I stand up and sit at the dining table. Meanwhile, Chan calmly takes off his shoes and walks to me.

I’m sure he tries to hide his amazement, but I can see his pupil dilating. This surprise is a success!

“Impressive.”, he said.

“Eat all of them! You can totally pig-out today.”, I said smiling.

He then lifts the glass. “Is this wine?”

Before I can answer, he puts it on my side of the table. “I don’t drink.”, he explained.

“I didn’t get that.”, I said as if I need to explain this ‘mistake’.

“Song helped you?”

“Yes, but the idea is all mine.”

He smiles. Then we start eating. Yes, we, because he keeps feeding me.

But after a while, I start to feel a bit… hot, which isn’t supposed to happen since this is winter. And also… my manly part starts to get very distracting.

“Are you okay?”, Chan asked when he notices the subtle change in my expression.

“I’m not sure… I feel… hot.”

Chan immediately takes the wine glass and observes it. He then dips his finger in and, with magic, burn the liquid. A thin purple-pinkish smoke arises.

“Aphrodisiac of some sort.”, Chan declared. “Song obviously has other plans for us tonight.”, he said as he stands up.

“I can get to a pharmacy to get a counter-potion.”, he then hesitates, “Or…”. Whatever it is he wants to say, he decides not to say it. “Never mind. Wait here.”

“No, wait!”, I said, almost shouting, as I stand up and approach him. I turn his body around so he faces me, “Or what?”.

His eyes meet mine. “It’ll be unfair, June. You’re drugged.”

Oh… What a gentleman! He really makes my heart swoons. But being a gentleman isn’t a priority right now.

“You know I like you, right?”, I asked. “You’re smart. I’m sure you figured it out long ago.”

He doesn’t answer.

“So you should know that I’ve been waiting to do this. Drug or no drug.”, I continued. “The drug just makes me more… proactive.”

“But…”

“No but!”, I insisted as I push him to the bed and trap him between my body and the bed.

“Are you sure?”, he asked.

“Do you still need to ask?”

“Alright then…”, he conceded. He then leans to my ears and whispers “I want you inside me.”.

Eh…!?

“You… want to bottom?”, I asked.

“Yes.”

I can only blink a few times.

“I’ve been the bottom even in my fantasy.”

“You fantasise about me!?”

“Of course. Why is that so surprising? I assume you do the same.”

“Well… You know what, doesn’t matter.”, I said as I finally kiss him for the first time.

Then everything else just flows from there.

The next morning. I wake up and try to feel Chan next to me. Except he isn’t there. So I raise my head and look around.

Chan is in the kitchen, already fully clothed.

“Why do you wake up so early?”, I asked, grogginess still obvious in my voice.

“Making breakfast.”, he said.

“But I want to wake up with you next to me.”, I whined.

Hearing that, Chan sighs. I can’t see his face, but I’m sure he’s smiling (no matter how thin the smile is).

He quickly finishes making breakfast, put the plate on the dining table (next to the stack of desserts from last night). Then pop on the bed next to me.

“Happy now?”, he asked.

“Let’s stay like this for a while. I think I’m falling asleep again.”

“Can’t do.”, he quickly said. “Need to go to uni.”

I groan.

“After I’m done with their research, I’m going home for a month.”

“Holiday?”

“Politic stuffs.”

I groan again. “Life as you must be hard.”

“Just got to do what you got to do.”

He pauses. “Come with me.”, he asked.

“Really? You want me to come with you?”

“Good. We’ll be leaving in a week.”, he said nonchalantly as he gets up and heads to the dining table.

“I haven’t even said yes yet!”, I protested.

“You will.”

Oh, this guy… How did I fall for this bad boy?