Chapter 19. Midterms (4/7)

“Hey, is it fine if we skip?” She asked me.

“Are you okay with missing class?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

I extended my left hand out and grabbed her right hand, interlocking our fingers together.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit cold out here?” She asked.

“Want to head back inside?” I teased despite picking up on her cue.

“Don’t play dumb all of a sudden.”

“I am dumb so I’m not playing at all.”

“You’re really making me say it?”

“I’m not understanding.”

“Is it fine?” She asked, pouting her lips.

“Sure.”

She moved in closer to me and curled herself up a bit.

I wrapped my arms around her, placing my right hand behind her head to hold it close to my chest, tucked under my chin, then my left arm behind her waist to keep our bodies glued together.

She wanted to ask if I could hug her like this but was embarrassed to outright ask.

“Jeez, if you knew don’t play dumb. Girls aren’t going to like you if you do that you know.”

“It seems I have a girl who likes me even though I just did it though.”

“Shut up. I said, like. If it’s a girl who loves you it might be fine.”

“Oh? Love you say? And where is that girl?”

“I love you, okay? You got that? I’m not saying it again.”

“Sorry, I didn’t quite hear you. I love you. Is that what you said?”

“Don’t try to sneak in yours in such an underhanded way.”

“And here I thought it would fly.”

“Are you going to say it or not?”

“I love you too, Rosa.”

I kind of just went along with it. I didn’t really know what love entailed. It wasn’t something I really understood very well.

“It’s warm. Is this what love feels like?” She asked me.

“You’re really asking the wrong person. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“I’ve never been in love before so I don’t really get it. What I’m feeling right now is a first for me.” She whispered quietly in my arms.

Am I really in love? As an adult, I tend to lie a lot. Am I just lying to her? Or am I lying to myself?

I don’t really want to think that I’m lying to anyone right now though, so I’ll believe it’s the truth.

“Hey Rosa, by the way… I have a question about something you said before. I’d like to clear this up right now.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Earlier you mentioned you intended to end things after you graduated from high school, is that still the case?”

“Now, I don’t think I want it to end. No, let me correct myself, I wouldn’t let it end now even if you wanted it to end.”

“I see. And one more question…”

“What is it?”

“About your family, are they assassins?”

“So you did figure it out.”

“You’re not even going to laugh it off?”

“Did you consider that I’m just messing with you by playing along?”

“That possibility certainly does exist. But really though.”

“You know, if you asked me this before you were my boyfriend, I might have had to kill you.”

“For real?”

“Who knows? Maybe, maybe not.”

It was impossible to tell whether she was just playing with me. She neither confirmed nor denied it definitively.

She pouted, twirled her index finger around in a circle on my chest then said, “Jeez, it’s really not fair when you know my greatest secret and I still don’t know yours.” Without warning, out of nowhere, she dropped that sort of bomb after making me play guessing games with me.

She’s got to be messing with me again. Maybe her greatest secret is that she loves me. She didn’t specifically clarify. No, actually, I should only believe it if I see it.

“Anyway, would anyone really believe it if someone said they’re an assassin?” She asked.

“That would be a definite no.”

“Exactly. Unless you see that person kill someone, you definitely wouldn’t believe them.”

“Right.”

“But let’s say in a theoretical situation, on the off chance your girlfriend was an assassin, would you still love her the same?”

“Yeah, I would.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that, are you? Like, let’s say you saw some crazy stuff because of her? Say, dead bodies and rotting corpses?”

“I honestly wouldn’t care. I’m pretty indifferent to those sorts of things. I’d love my girlfriend just the same no matter what. Even if my girlfriend assassinated me I’d still love her.”

“You really are my Mr. Perfect.” She hugged me tight, pressing her cheek up against my chest.

“By any chance, are you planning to assassinate me in the future?”

“Only if you want me to~”

Honestly, this conversation is just too out there to take seriously.

I half want to believe it, and half just can’t believe it.

“I kind of feel like you don’t believe it. Would you like me to prove it?”

“And how would you do that exactly?”

“Can you give me your hand for a second?”

I held it out to her.

She held it with her left hand and then stuck out her index finger on her right hand. She then lowered it and drew something on the back of my hand with her fingernail. I didn’t feel anything but when she finished blood came out revealing what she’d drawn on the back of my hand. A heart with our names inside.

I wasn’t freaked out by it, rather I just raised a brow when I saw it. I didn’t even feel like I was cut when she did that.

“The nail polish on my nails can numb skin so you don’t feel it if you get cut. The reason I’m always filing my nails is to keep them sharp. They’re actually as sharp as a knife. I’m just skillful enough with it that I can control whether I cut something with it or not.”

“I see.”

“You don’t seem that surprised about it.”

“I’m more surprised by how pretty your nails are than their sharpness.”

“You’re just a sweet talker, aren’t you?”

She lowered her lips to the back of my palm and kissed it.

“What are you doing?”

“Making the cut I gave you get better with love~”

She’d gotten my blood on her lips but she didn’t seem bothered. Rather, she took her finger and wiped it over her lips dying her lips a dangerous crimson.

She gave me a peck on my neck and left behind a kiss imprint in my blood.

“What are you doing?”

“Making the mark on what’s mine visible.” She licked away the remaining blood on her lips and said, “It’s unexpectedly sweet.”

Like that, the two of us remained cuddled close together, idly passing the time while whispering sweet nothings back and forth on top of the roof.

Time seemed to fly when we were together like this and before we knew it the bell rang signaling the end of the day.

As I had to head to work, unfortunately, we had to return to the classroom.

I held her hand and we walked down the stairs together all the way back until we arrived at the classroom.

With how midterms had just finished, there wasn’t anyone who stuck around in the class after the bell had rung. Everyone was probably excited to be free and be able to go outside so no one stuck around. The two of us collected our bags from the room before we headed out.

Before I headed off on my bike alone I looked back at her and told her, “Text me your address. I’ll head over to your place after 9:00 PM today and start helping you study.”

“Huh? Uh… yeah. That’s right… I have your number now, don’t I? I almost forgot, haha. I can contact you whenever I want now that I have it, can’t I?” Despite us parting ways, she didn’t seem too sad when she remembered she had my number now.

She pulled out her phone then saved my number from the first text I sent her. Immediately after I heard her take a screenshot of something but since I had to get to work I couldn’t stick around for much longer so I didn’t bother to ask her about it.

“See you tonight.” I kicked down on the pedal and headed off without hearing her reply but a few seconds later my phone vibrated in my pocket.

I stopped for a second and pulled out my phone. I received a text from her. I’d expected her address but my phone indicated it was an image she sent. I unlocked it and opened it up. It was a screenshot of our text conversation. The first text read ‘Follow me to the roof.’ Written in the text box where she would type was her address. I didn’t understand why she hadn’t just sent that through text message but when my eyes focused toward the top of the image I figured it out.

‘♡♡♡MY BOYFRIEND♡♡♡’

I couldn’t help but find it funny.

I sent her a text back right away, ‘Don’t copy me.’

I received an immediate response with an emoji sticking their tongue out playfully.

After that cute little exchange, I slid my phone back into my pocket.