For Your Failed Unrequited Love

“Sunbae!” 

Lucy rushed over and grabbed Felix’s arm. She looked so alarmed that Felix let go of Noel 

Noel, freed from Felix’s hold, breathed heavily against the wall. “What’s wrong with you?”

“That’s my line. Why do you keep eavesdropping on other people?”

“I wasn’t eavesdropping… I’ve always nap here! It’s you who came in after me,” Noel said as if he was wrongly accused. “I come here for that purpose since no one ever goes here… “

“Do you go to school to sleep? Why did you pretend that you weren’t there from the beginning?”

Noel sighed. “It’s because I missed the timing to talk! I woke up because I heard you two… Besides, you grabbed my collar when I interrupted you earlier, that’s why I didn’t show myself…” he explained, his eyes teary.

Felix still stared at him, still in doubt. Lucy immediately spoke up as if to soothe Felix. “Sunbae, I don’t think he was hiding on purpose.”

Noel, encouraged by Lucy’s words, slipped behind her. He leaned forward and whispered secretly in her ear, “Adrian-sunbae is very sweet and kind, but Felix-sunbae is a little scary.”

“I can hear you,” Felix said, looking stern.

Lucy gently pushed Noel’s shoulder away from him. “No, I’m not afraid of Felix-sunbae,” she said, looking at Noel. “He has a surprisingly friendly side to him.”

The classroom was covered in silence as soon as Lucy finished talking. Felix’s frown, which had been permanently creased with irritation, began to soften. Even the rage in his eyes as he glared at Noel began to wane.

He repeated what he had just heard.

A friendly side.

Lucy clearly said so. Although he caught the word ‘surprisingly’, he clearly heard ‘friendly’.

Really? Do I really look like that to her?

The anticipation in his eyes was palpable as he looked at Lucy.

Lucy seemed to be startled by the words she had unintentionally said to Noel. Soon she continued frantically as if trying to fix her own words.

“If there’s anyone around him who’s in trouble, he comes forward and helps… If you’re carrying something heavy, he will carry it instead… He went to town with me… He makes me laugh with his jokes… Anyway, that’s that.” Her voice tapered off at the end. She looked down and tapped the floor with the tip of her shoe.

“Ah, that’s it.” Noel suddenly snapped his finger after Lucy’s explanation. He took a step forward, and he spoke as if he had realized something. “Felix sunbae-nim, you seem to be kind only to women.”

Lucy, who was looking at the floor, raised her head. Her face darkened at Noel’s reasoning. She titled her head with a ‘is it so?’ expression.

“Are you only kind to your cute juniors?” Noel asked, looking disappointed. “I’ve been told that I’m also a cute freshman.”

Felix’s patience grew thin. He wanted nothing more than Noel to shut his mouth. “I’ll adore you now. Will you leave?”

Noel hid behind Lucy again at Felix’s harsh return, but his action only made Felix even angrier.

“Why do you keep hiding there? Do you think I won’t see you if you hide behind her?”

Another confrontation broke out between the two. Nervous and stuck in the middle, Lucy flailed her arms to deter them. 

“Stop, stop!”

At Lucy’s words, Felix stopped trying to catch Noel, but his eyes didn’t stop glaring. 

“Both of you, calm down and sit down!” Lucy said, pulling out the chairs when she saw Felix’s glare. “Come on, stop shouting. Some are still in class right now.”

The two boys went to the chairs she had pulled out and sat down. One still glaring at the other fiercely and the other sitting with his butt over the edge of the chair as if preparing to run away.

“That’s Lucy’s seat,” Felix said to Noel, who sat awkwardly across from him.

“Lucy-sunbae told me to sit down.”

“Lucy, tell this bastard to get off right now.”

Lucy stood there with her palm on her forehead. “Why are you two fighting? If we run into each other in the library, will you fight again?”

“I didn’t pick a fight!” Noel shouted; he felt like he was wronged. “I was taking a nap, and the next second he grabbed me by the neck and dragged me out of my slumber unilaterally,” he said, showing his bare neck.

Felix sat cross-legged and snorted, “Hmph! You’re exaggerating.”

The two turned away from each other. Felix wanted nothing more than to hurl Noel to the ground, but he held it in due to Lucy’s presence.

The classroom quickly fell silent as there was no longer a war of nerves. The only sound was of Lucy organizing the books scattered on the desk. 

After a while, Noel, watching Felix from the other side of the desk, asked, “Anyways, are you still looking for your school uniform?”

“Why are you so interested in my school uniform? Did you steal it?” Felix questioned, full of doubt.

“No, absolutely not.” Noel denied it, his voice raised more than necessary, and Felix instantly became more suspicious. “I was just asking because I wanted to help.”

“What do you mean help? I told you. Don’t do anything.”

“What are you going to do if you find the thief?”

“What do I do? His wrist…” Felix stopped talking, conscious of Lucy.

“What about his wrist?”

Felix put his palm to the side of his cheek so that Lucy couldn’t see it. Then he spoke in a low voice to the ever-curious Noel. “I’m going to crush it.”

Noel frowned. “Sunbae, you have a lot of money. Is the uniform that important? Enough to go that far?”

“What do you mean far?” Lucy asked, her eyes shining curiously. 

“Nothing.” Felix avoided answering. “Anyway, you’re a little weird. Why do you keep asking about my school uniform?”

Noel, who was sitting, crept up from his seat shortly after Felix began to raise doubts.

“Why are you running away?”

“I’m not running away.” Contrary to his words, Noel dashed to the door with lightning-fast steps and left the classroom. With only his head sticking out through the door, he said, “Anyway, I won’t disturb you two, and I won’t come to this classroom anymore, so do whatever you want.”

“W- What?”

Ignoring Lucy’s bewilderment, Noel disappeared through the door.

“What a strange kid,” Felix muttered as he stared at the door where Noel disappeared.

Lucy heaved a deep sigh. She cleaned up the desk, which was messed up by the childish chatter of the two boys. “I want to study, but I can’t help…”

“I know. I can’t study today either.”

Lucy raised her head at Felix’s words and looked at him, puzzled. “What? I’m still going to study.”

“Uh… Aren’t you hungry?”

At that question, Lucy suddenly pushed the books she had piled up in front of him. Her gaze was cold as she said, “Sunbae, you can’t go anywhere until you finish reading this.”

Lucy was always calm and shy, but she was as strict and thorough as the Berg family tutor when it came to studying. Like what happened in the library last time, he was not allowed to ask questions that had nothing to do with his studies or take a walk. 

Felix flipped through the book in the silence where there was not an ounce of romance in the air.

“Senior, focus! Focus! Don’t pretend to read it.”

Sometimes Lucy’s tapping on her desk was the only sound he could hear in the classroom. Under Lucy’s close watch, Felix’s continued to flip through the pages. In the end, the thick book that he never thought he could read at all came close to the last chapter.

They finished their study just as it was getting dark outside the window. Felix closed the book he had read and let out a sigh of relief. It was as if all the moisture in his eyes had evaporated. Lucy also began to organize the books and notes she was reading with a slightly tired face.

“Then… Shall we go eat dinner?” Felix asked, a bright smile appearing on his face after hours of studying. 

Lucy did not share the same feeling. She shook her head and said, “There’s still one thing left.”

She picked up the book in front of Felix and opened it. She was deep in thought as she turned the pages where she had marked the important parts. ” 

Emperor Astrino conquered the Kingdom of Sulan for how many years?” Lucy suddenly asked a question. “Five, four, three, two…”

“200 years according to imperial history,” Felix answered without hesitation. 

Lucy looked at him, pleasantly surprised, and nodded her head. “That’s right.”

She flicked through the pages, her eyes sharp.