Paul? I’d never heard her say that name before. And judging from how she reacted… It was for good reason.

“I met Paul during my sophomore year when we took the same class together. We were seated next to each other and eventually got placed in the same group. And initially, all was good between the two of us.”

Althea’s face slowly turned darker and darker as she recalled her first encounter with the man.

“We shared many similar interests, we were in the same course, and Paul he… He wasn’t like the other guys that I’d met. Paul was calm, gentle… and he was interested in me. Not my physical body, but me as a person.”

Ah, I kind of understood what she meant. Althea was a beauty; there was no question about it. No, based on her looks, Althea could easily become a movie star or a supermodel. For most of her life, Althea must have been the centre of attention for her beauty.

So when someone tried to get to know her on an emotional level, Althea would certainly be happy.

“Paul treated me like a princess, and… I was slowly gaining interest in him as well. So, even after our modules ended, we kept in touch and went on a few dates. Though we weren’t officially dating, I did begin to think that… Paul might be the one.”

An innocent love. Perhaps it was Althea’s first love as well.

“But… everything changed after a month… One day, Paul suggested that we watch a movie in my room.”

The words coming out of Althea’s mouth turned grim at that moment. It was as if her soul had been sucked out from her sockets. Like a broken puppet on strings, the feeble girl trembled in fear as the memories started to surface.

“I… was stupid… I was so stupid… I actually thought that Paul only wanted to watch a movie… So, I obliged… We went back to the dorm, and...”

At that very moment... Althea’s eyes turned red. Curled up into a ball, Althea hugged her knees as if fearing that something was about to happen to her. Crystalline beads dripped down from her emerald eyes and stained the jeans that were attached to her mouth.

“Althea... Are you okay?”

Of course, she wasn’t, you idiot! How could she be? Why would you even ask that question?

“If you don’t want to continue, we can stop. You don’t have to tell me everything.”

“N-No, it’s fine...” Althea bit on her lower lip and tightened her grip on her pants. “I don’t want to remain afraid anymore….”

“...”

There was nothing I could do for Althea. So I waited… I stayed silent and allowed her to continue her story.

“After the movie started playing… Paul made a move. He tried to kiss me, but I refused. I tried to push him away, but it was useless… He grabbed onto me and shouted that he deserved something for his patience. He said...”

Tears choked up the young and feeble girl as she shivered uncontrollably.

“He said… We had been dating for over a month… He said that… He wanted a physical relationship… And so, he pushed me down and slithered his hands down my pants.”

That decides it. This guy is scum. Not only is he a scum, but he’s also a scum beyond scums. I wanted to get angry in Althea’s place. I wanted to punch this guy’s teeth out. I wanted to break his arms so that he could never touch another girl again.

“I was… so scared... I was… so scared… I didn’t know what to do.” Althea sobbed. “The Paul that I knew… was no longer there. He wasn’t the guy that I was attracted to anymore. He was… so… scary...”

Althea continued to shake.

“I didn’t know what to do… I was defenceless… And so, I screamed. I screamed and screamed, praying that someone would help me. Or at least, I prayed that my screams might stop him. But… it didn’t...”

At this point, my anger was at its boiling point. I wanted to stop the girl from recounting her harrowing experience, but Althea beat me to the punch.

“I was lucky… My screams didn’t go unheard. Grace, who was next door, came running in and pulled Paul off me. At that point… Paul turned back to normal.”

Althea’s tears began to stop as a bitter smile crept up her face. “That’s when he realised the gravity of the situation. Paul apologised and ran out of the room. Isn’t it funny? When I’d told him not to do it, he forced his way. But when someone else told him off, he apologised and ran away...”

“... what happened next?”

“What happened next… was the worst part...” Althea took a large sip of her tea to calm her nerves, but based on her constant shivering… It was far from helpful.

“With the help of Grace and my parents, I lodged a complaint with the school board. There was an internal investigation and a hearing at the end of it. But in the end… the school just gave him a slap on the wrist, and the case was closed.”

“... What?”

The verdict was so unbelievable that I could barely process it in my mind. Shouldn’t this guy be charged for attempted rape and sent to prison? What do you mean, a slap on the wrist?

“There… there wasn’t any evidence of force being used. And since I allowed him into my room… the university believed that it was a lover’s spat gone wrong. Paul he… He also showed remorse for his actions… So in the end, he was only suspended for a semester.”

These motherfuckers! Just because Althea wasn’t physically harmed doesn’t mean that a crime wasn’t committed! Seriously? He was ONLY suspended for a semester?! A slap on the wrist doesn’t cut it. Wasn’t this guy basically let off scot-free?

“After that I… I couldn’t bear to live in the dorms anymore. The idea that I may see him again… I couldn't stand it. That’s why I moved out.”

I see… So, that’s the reason why she lives alone in an apartment rather than staying in a dorm like every other student. And that’s why Althea was so afraid of me when we’d first met.

If she was a victim of sexual assault, it was normal for Althea to be wary of all guys, especially strange men like me.

“Why didn’t you move back in with your parents then?”

“I… didn’t want to bother them. They were both so busy with their work, and if I moved back with them, they would only be worried.”

“...”

This girl… Even after being dealt such a trauma, she could still care for her parents.

“It must’ve been tough.”

“Yes… Yes, it was...” Althea fell silent while holding her shaking knees.

“I would often think… If Grace wasn’t there that night, what would have happened to me? Would I have been...”

The words were unable to escape from Althea’s mouth. How could it? She was almost violated, furthermore, by a person she’d once trusted. It would be stranger if Althea could be nonchalant about it.

“There were so many times where I’d thought… Was I to blame? Should I never have brought him to my dorm room? If I made it clear that nothing was going to happen… would Paul still behave that way?”

Althea murmured out all of her anguished thoughts.

Of course, it wasn’t her fault! How could it ever be? However, as a victim of such an experience, there was no way that Althea could think clearly. Especially after months of suffering and turmoil.

“Desir… What should I do?”

Althea’s voice was soft and yet… I could hear the fear and pain within it. The girl had been enduring her feelings alone, and there was no one that she could count on.

“After so many months… I’d thought that I’d gotten over it. But, when Grace mentioned him again… All of those feelings came right back.”

Trauma wasn’t easily cured.

“The despair that I’d felt… The helplessness that I was in… It all came back to me…”

I could only imagine the pain that Althea was going through.

“Desir… Please… Tell me… What should I do?”

Althea looked up and met my gaze. Her emerald eyes had turned entirely red as sorrowful tears dripped down her snow-white skin. The girl was in pain… She was… pleading.

Althea knew that she was suffering, and she wanted it to stop. However, the girl didn’t know how to make the pain go away. How could she? Althea had only just turned twenty-one. An innocent lamb like herself was thrust into the cruel world, and she was almost taken advantage of.

No wonder she developed a case of androphobia… If the first guy that Althea had ever fallen for had betrayed her trust, how could she ever put her faith in another man?

The girl had a mental scar and if it wasn’t treated, it would be there for the rest of her life.

But that wasn’t important…

What was most important to me was…

Althea is in pain.

So I must help her.

“Althea… Let me ask you a question. Is Paul more physically imposing than me?”

“H-Huh?”

“Ah, let me rephrase it. If Paul and I got into a fight, do you think he would win?”

“No...”

Of course he wouldn’t. While I’d never met Paul before, I was confident that my body frame wouldn’t lose to any guy in the world. After all, I was the tallest and most intimidating person I’d ever met.

“Okay then,” I smiled and stood up while spreading my legs. I now looked like an upright starfish, but I didn’t care about my image. Sucking in my breath, I said: “Althea, kick me in the balls.”

“... what?”

“Kick my crotch! With everything that you have!”

I took multiple deep breaths while exposing my most vulnerable place to the girl. Obviously, Althea was confused by my actions, and she shot me an incredulous look.

“... what’s going on?”

“Just trust me! It’s going to be fine!”

Of course, it won’t, but I can’t tell her that now.

“Okay...”

While she was confused, Althea bent her knee and got ready for a full-forced stomp. She held her body weight up and was prepared for that singular motion. Wait a second… When I said kick, I didn’t mean to put your entire body behind it.

However, before I could stop her…

“ARGHHH!!!”

Althea’s foot slammed right into my groin, and like a rubber band, I flew three metres in the opposite direction. A surging pain permeated through my loins and into my upper cranium. At that moment, I felt as if a thousand bees were spinning around above my crotch. Waves of pain targeted the deepest parts of my nether regions, and I felt like my world had been turned upside down.

Curling up in a fetal position, I felt tears swelling up in my eyes as the lingering pain continued to pierce my limited consciousness. It felt like I was sucked into a vortex of nauseating pain, and the Gods have given me no respite.

“D-Desir! A-Are you alright?”

“... give me a second,” it took everything I had to muster up those words.

In the end, after twisting and turning for a full minute, the pain gradually subsided, and my cognitive functions were slowly coming online.

“That… was a good kick...”

“Thank you?” Althea tilted her head and questioned my behaviour.

“Hah… You must be wondering, why did I ask you to kick my balls.”

“Y-yeah...”

“Althea… The reason why you’re afraid… The reason why you’re feeling fear… Is because you don’t know how weak men really are.”

“H-Huh?”

“Althea, touch my arm.”

“... huh?”

“Just touch it.” I lifted my biceps near her face and prompted the girl to touch them. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to grab it. Just poking it will suffice.”

“O-Okay...”

Naturally, Althea was confused by my request. However, since there was nothing to lose, the girl reached out with her index finger and gently nudged my skin.

“How does it feel?”

“It’s… soft...”

“Now, try my face!”

“... what?”

“Just try it!”

“O-Okay...”

Althea reached out to my cheeks and poked them in the same manner that she did with my arm.

“It’s softer...”

“What about my chest?”

As I was crouching by her side, Althea was able to reach all parts of my upper body without much effort. While she was still confused about the exercise, Althea still obliged and gently made her way to my relaxed chest.

“They’re all soft...”

Slowly but surely, Althea’s fear melted away. Life came back to listless eyes, and her shivering body gradually came to a halt.

“Althea… Men and women are made of the same compounds. We are all flesh and bones. We feel pain when we are hit; we bleed when we are cut… We are not invulnerable like you feared.”

Althea was afraid of men because of her prior trauma. So, to rectify that, I needed to show that men weren’t all that powerful.

“Even I, as someone who trained my body rigorously, is weak against a well-timed kick to the balls.”

“I-I see...”

“But seriously… That kick was amazing! Were you trained in karate or something?”

“... this is the first time I’ve seen someone praise the person who kicked him,” Althea replied with a slight chuckle. Her face brightened up for the first time in hours, and the sadness she exuded was no longer present.

Ah, as I’d expected. The girl was most beautiful when she smiled. Taking a deep breath, I gathered myself and gently raised my hand towards her small, fragile head. Althea was fidgety at first, but seeing as I wasn’t going to do her any harm, the girl allowed my audacious actions.

So soft… Her hair was so soft…

Althea blinked, not knowing how to react as I brushed her hair. Intoxicated by the mood, both of us locked eyes, and neither were willing to back down. The fear she had was gone and in its place… I could feel Althea’s confusion.

“Althea… What happened to you, it was horrible. No girl should have ever gone through what you did.”

“...”

“I can’t do anything to change the past, neither can I do anything for your trauma.”

“...”

“But… I can be your support. Whenever you need me, I’ll be there.”

“...”

“Whatever you need, just tell me. I’ll do my best for you.”

“...”

“And if your insane groin kick doesn’t work… Well, just leave the rest to me. I’ll make sure that no man would dare touch you ever again.”

“... thank you, Desir.”

After a brief moment of silence, Althea finally mustered up the courage to look at my face. There was no longer fear or anguish in her crystal emerald eyes. Rather, there was a newly found emotion, one that I could not identify.

“I’m really sorry, Althea. If I had known you back then, I could have protected you from assholes like that.”

“Haha, why are you apologising for that?”

Althea cackled up. As I’d anticipated, a smiling girl is the most beautiful one.

“Hey, Desir… May I borrow your chest?”

“By all means!”

I extended my arms and welcomed the young girl. If it were three months ago, Althea would have unquestionably cried out and run in the opposite direction. But now…

“Desir… You’re so warm...”

The gorgeous angel wrapped her arms around my waist as she dug her cheeks deeper into my chest. Now that we were close together, I had an intimate touch on Althea’s body.

She was so small… so fragile… It felt like she was a twig that could be snapped in two at any given time…

And yet, this girl carried just a burden on her.

This fragile little girl...

“Althea… You’ve endured very well...”

“...”

I brushed Althea’s hair ever so gently as I felt the grip of her hug tighten. I couldn’t see her face, but my chest started to feel wet. Resolving to my fate as a carebear, I continued to stroke the girl’s head and allowed her outpour of emotion.

“Althea, don’t worry. You’re okay now...”

“...”

“You’re okay now...”

“...”

No words came out from her mouth. There was no need for it. I could feel her beating heart pressed next to mine. And I’m sure that she could feel the same.

And so… On this cold winter’s night, our hearts melted as one.