When Vincent watched Gloxinia walk out of the class, there was this nagging feeling inside of him. It was telling him that he should follow her, just in case something would happen.

But no, Vincent thought in his head. He closed his eyes and sighed. It's not like she's a baby or anything.

…

She is a baby!

Vincent grabbed his bag and rushed out of the class. He immediately spotted Gloxinia with the previous guy walking towards the direction of the main entrance.

Vincent took a deep breath and started walking slowly, following them. He was about ten steps behind them, and he had no intention to come any closer as long as nothing happened.

This is definitely not stalking, Vincent thought to convince himself.

He observed them from behind as they walked. The guy seemed to be talking about something very passionately while Gloxinia was listening to him. So far, there was nothing out of place except for the fact that it seemed like the guy was talking one-sidedly.

On the other hand, Gloxinia was actually sincerely listening to the guy's talks.

"My mom was so annoying this morning. She kept on yelling at me to get up even though I was already awake! You know?" he rambled without sparing a glance at Gloxinia.

Gloxinia stared at him talking. Even though she tried to listen to him, she couldn't comprehend or relate to anything he was saying.

She never had parents, so she didn't know how to respond to his complaints about his mother. But he looked so fired up about it that she just didn't say anything to him. She didn't have much chance to respond, after all.

"And don't get me started on my little brother, he's just so cheeky. My parents always blame me even when it's his fault," he said with a heavy sigh and shook his head.

He seemed to notice something before turning his attention to Gloxinia.

"Let's sit down there for a while!" the guy said while pointing at a bench inside a quiet park. His face looked excited for some reason.

Thinking that this is a part of being friends and going home together, Gloxinia nodded and followed him.

The guy grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. His gaze was focused up front and he didn't take a look at Gloxinia even once.

Gloxinia raised her eyebrow at this. The guy was a bit too forceful.

And if a guy forces you to do something even though you've already refused, he's most likely a bad guy!

She remembered what Lilly said once. She said that among all the naggings she did when Gloxinia almost followed a stranger who was being kind to her.

Gloxinia stared at the back of the guy's head. She didn't know him well yet, but so far he hadn't forced her to do anything she didn't want. She decided that it would be too early to decide that he was bad.

Both of them reached the bench and the guy let Gloxinia take a seat first before taking a seat himself. He smiled, looking like he just achieved something great.

"What do you usually do, Gloxinia?" the guy asked.

"Usually… I just go home," Gloxinia said as she pursed her lips.

"R-really?"

Gloxinia observed the guy's expression. He looked bashful. Why? Because of what she said?

She couldn't tell what emotions he was feeling. She was itching to touch his face so she could understand, but Lilly once forbade her to touch other people carelessly.

The guy cleared his throat.

"I feel like I've never seen you with anyone else. Why is that?" he asked again.

Gloxinia would like to know why too. She blinked as she couldn't answer that.

"Ah, I get it," the guy said and nodded, even though Gloxinia hadn't said a thing yet. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

What did he get?

He fiddled with his fingers and fidgeted every so often. He seemed nervous and whenever he was about to open his mouth to say something, he quickly closed it right after.

Truthfully, Gloxinia started to grow impatient. She noticed him trying to talk but since he wouldn't no matter how long she waited, it just made her curious.

She furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't like this feeling of being made to wait pointlessly.

Gloxinia glanced at the sky. The sun was setting and it was obviously getting late. She never went home this late before.

"I need to go home soon," Gloxinia said.

The guy's face fell. He wanted to spend more time with Gloxinia, but she wanted to go home already.

"Oh right, what's your na-"

"Gloxinia!" the guy grabbed Gloxinia by her shoulders and made her face him, cutting off whatever she was going to say.

Gloxinia was confused. His grip on her was pretty strong. His breathing became ragged and his eyes were locked on Gloxinia. He bit his lower lip in nervousness.

She couldn't understand what he was trying to do. And frankly, his grip was kinda hurting her.

Then he closed his eyes and puckered his lips, drawing his face closer to Gloxinia's. He was getting too close for her comfort.

In that moment, she understood.

That this was the force Lilly was referring to.

GRAB.

Gloxinia stopped the guy's advance as she grabbed his face with her hand.

The guy widened his eyes in shock. He was trying to say something, but it was muffled because of Gloxinia's hand. He tried to push forward, but her hand wouldn't budge. He tried to pull himself away, but she was practically clawing on him.

"So you're not a good guy," Gloxinia muttered while looking down. The guy was starting to run out of breath. His hands were trying to get himself out of her hold.

"Too bad," Gloxinia said, her eyes glowed when she looked up at him.

The guy turned pale and started to hit Gloxinia's hand in panic so she would let him go. Noticing that the blood was draining out of his face, Gloxinia let him go.

The guy scattered and ran away right after. Gloxinia watched as he stumbled over nothing in his escape, looked back for a second, then ran with all his might again.

After his figure got farther away and she couldn't see him anymore, Gloxinia sighed. When she touched his head earlier, she probed into his mind. The content was…

Gloxinia turned her head and froze when she saw a familiar figure.

It was Vincent, standing a distance away with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Before he could react, Gloxinia walked over to him with quick steps.

"Why are you here?" Gloxinia asked as she stopped right in front of Vincent. He was taken aback at how she was staring straight into his eyes, as if she was observing his every movement.

"Just passing by," Vincent said, staring back straight into her eyes, as if he didn't want to lose.

"I see," Gloxinia said while nodding.

After following them earlier, Vincent actually thought he was being pretty creepy and decided to go home. But he was stopped in his tracks when he saw what the guy was doing.

"Yes," Vincent said firmly.

He would never tell her the truth.

“Hmm. Alright.” Gloxinia nodded. She waved goodbye to him and turned around before going in the direction of her home.

Vincent raised an eyebrow. He was glad Gloxinia didn’t ask further, but at the same time, he wished she did. He sighed and walked after her.

"You should've been more doubtful," Vincent said when he reached Gloxinia's side. He didn't look at her direction, but he knew she lifted her head to look at him.

"What happened just then?" Vincent asked as they walked.

When Gloxinia didn't answer, he took a glance at her. She was staring up front, seeming like she was deep in thoughts. From this angle, her long eyelashes really looked like they were covering up her eyes.

"He was invading my personal space," Gloxinia answered, surprising Vincent with the sudden noise. And her words.

"You know about personal space?"

"What do you think I am?" she scowled.

A baby, Vincent thought. Though he would never say it out loud.

"It was the first thing Lilly taught me about," Gloxinia said and nodded to herself.

Lilly was a very touchy-feely person. She would always link her arms with Gloxinia's or rest her head on her shoulder. When Gloxinia expressed her dislike of that, Lilly understood and explained the concept of personal space then.

It was a fond memory, though Gloxinia always felt bad that Lilly was always holding herself back after that.

"Did you probe into his mind?" Vincent asked.

Gloxinia stayed silent. She did by accident probe into the guy's mind when she was stopping him from advancing earlier. She couldn't understand most of the things he was thinking about, but one thing for sure, she felt his fear for her.

"It's fine, you didn't do anything wrong."

Hearing Vincent say that, Gloxinia looked up at him.

"He was the one who did bad. You were just protecting yourself," Vincent said without looking at her.

Gloxinia stared at his face for a moment before looking forward again.

"But he was scared of me," Gloxinia said, the sides of her lips visibly arched downwards.

"Maybe I can't get a friend because I'm scary," she continued.

Vincent glanced at her hanging her head down, then he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He would probably regret this, but…

"I'm not scared of you," he said.

Gloxinia lifted her head once again to look at him. His eyes were looking up front, as if he didn't say anything just now. But Gloxinia was sure he did say that.

"Does that mean you'll be my friend after all?" Gloxinia asked as her eyes started to twinkle. She wanted to be absolutely sure.

Vincent felt her stares stinging the side of his face, and without saying anything, he nodded. Seeing him nod, Gloxinia beamed.

"My first--! No, second?" Gloxinia questioned and tilted her head in confusion. She wasn't sure whether to count that guy earlier as a friend or not.

"Heh," Vincent snorted, but his face was already back to normal by the time Gloxinia turned to his direction.

"Can you laugh again?" Gloxinia asked. She remembered that seeing Lilly laugh always made her feel strangely happy. Maybe it would happen again with Vincent this time. She stared at Vincent with a pair of hopeful eyes.

"I didn't laugh, so, no," Vincent said without batting an eye.

Gloxinia squinted her eyes at him. She was pretty sure he did, but he didn't seem like he would ever admit it. She scoffed and faced front again, giving up on any desire to press him further.

However, Gloxinia decided then. She should look into laughing and smiling more. Maybe with that she could make Vincent truly laugh.