NOVEL NEXT Chapter 274
274 Legal Guardian
(Jane’s PoV)
Turning my head to look at the source of the voice, I was startled as a body hit mine in a hug. Excited squeals pierced my eardrums as my body shook the way her body moved.
“It’s really you! I’m so glad you came back! Where have you been? You’ve never contacted me after you took a leave. How dare you!”
“Mi-Mia, easy!” It wasn’t easy to talk with her arms encircling my neck in a tight hug.
“Let me see you! You’re getting taller! No wonder it didn’t feel as comfy as it used to be.” Mia pushed herself a length away and looked at me from top to bottom repeatedly. I could only laugh helplessly at her comment.
The shy and nice Mia turned so chatty in a year time, what did I miss?
“Welcome back, Jane. Mia has been missing you this whole time.” Senior Dino, looking more mature than before, greeted me with a warm smile. He approached me calmly, unlike his old self who would jump on people casually.
Seeing the both of them truly brought back some memories. I wonder what changed them?
“Thank you, Senior. It’s nice to be back again.”
.....
“Hey, you chose to speak to him first? I asked you first, why didn’t you respond to me?” Mia protested with a pout.
“She would, if you let her go first and asked your questions one by one.” Sanji pried her hands from my body forcefully with a threatening smile on his handsome face.
Mia looked too stunned to protest and the way she was looking at her hands while stepping back from the force was too comical. Her eyes went to look at her hands to Sanji then to me repeatedly in confusion. Was it hard to get the clue?
“Baby, she has a protector now.” Gently, Senior Dino pulled his girlfriend towards himself. A helpless smile mirroring mine was plastered on his attractive face.
“Sir Sanjaya is her protector?” Mia looked so cute being clueless like that. She used to hide this side of her and chose to ask it quietly when it was just the two of us. Now, however, she let it out and I couldn’t help but think that she resembled the protagonist in a Japanese manga of clumsy and a little bit foolish girlfriend of a cool and smart President of Student Council.
“Yes.” Senior Dino nodded and indicated at the way our fingers were still intertwined to each others. He also nodded at Sanji who was emitting cold air around his body. As the person who was the closest to him, I wasn’t spared at all.
“Ah!” Mia’s eyes widened as the realization hit her. In a split second, her surprise look changed into a sheepish smile with teasing glint in her eyes. “You and I are going to have a lo~ng talk.”
I seriously wanted to know what happened to her to change drastically.
“Well, we’re leaving now. See you.” Senior Dino didn’t wait for our response as he started to drag his girlfriend a bit forcefully but still gently nonetheless.
“Call me! I still use the same number!” Mia shouted. Her head was trying to look back in every step she was taking. Reluctance was clear in her eyes, but she couldn’t overpower Senior Dino’s strength.
“Okay!” Only after I replied then she walked properly with a big grin on her cute face.
“Now, let’s check on the announcement board. I heard that there’s something big for this semester. By the way, that’s a lively friend you have there.” Sanji’s voice lost the excitement he had before the both of them came.
“Trust me, she wasn’t anything like that before. She was a cute and shy girl back then and I’m curious for the reason of her changing.” I said. “Also, you don’t need to put your guard around them. He has Mia already.”
Sanji smiled, but somehow I felt like he was hiding something from me. “It’s never wrong to be more guarded. Here we are.”
My attention was diverted before I could argue. My eyes caught an interesting looking pamphlet on the board. It was an activity held by the Students Council of Civil Engineering Department in the name of ‘bonding through the ages’ where all the students -seniors and juniors – would form a random group together and go through several trials together. From the way they described the activity in the pamphlet, it was more like a big scale treasure hunting game for three days straight.
Such a big scale of game, who was so generous to provide for everyone? Not to mention all the participants were required to camp in the hunting ground. To rent the whole hunting ground and camping site, the committee must have a lot of money.
“Apparently there’s a rich and generous junior this year. He is the sole investor for this event. Actually, that camping site and hunting ground is his family’s asset. His parents were the one who proposed this idea to the Dean and the Dean accepted it. So, they made a special change for this semester curriculum and syllabus to arrange this three days and nights trip for the whole Civil Engineering’s students.” Sanji seemed to know what attracted me and generously gave me an explanation.
So, that’s what it was. I noticed the date for the event and the requirements. Even though they said that it was free for all civil engineering’s students, there were still a few requirements that these students need to do to be able to join in the fun.
First, all the participants needed to sign an agreement that they would obey the rules in the hunting ground and camping site. Any immoral actions and bringing harms upon others would result in the suspension from the Dean and would be blacklisted from the hunting ground and camping site.
Second, all the participants needed to submit the form of participation with the sign of their legal guardian or parents. It sounded childish since most of these people were old enough to mind their own business, but since it was an activity for students, it was for the sites’ administration.
Third, all the participants needed to attach a letter from a legal medical institution which stated that the participant was in good health and able to follow the whole courses.
The deadline to submit the registration form was today before noon. It was just a couple hours away.
“Do you want to join in the fun?” Sanji asked when I unconsciously looked at him.
“Of course. But, who will sign the form for me?” I mean, both my parents were having their second honeymoon in England and I didn’t want to disturb their time.
“I am your legal guardian here, don’t you know it? Of course I will sign it for you.” Sanji pointed at his face with a matter of fact voice.
I already knew that he was my fiancé, and my father knew him a lot longer than I knew him, but when did my father appoint him to be my guardian here?
“You must be wondering when I became one.” He smirked. “After we rescued your father, I had a talk with him and he asked me to take care of you.”
I blinked my eyes in disbelief. They had a secret talk behind me? I only knew the situation after I rescued him was pretty much in chaos. I only knew my father had a talk with Tom, but with Sanji? When did it happen?
“Don’t overthink it. Let’s get you registered before they close the registration.” Sanji pulled me into the Students Council’s room and got me a registration form in no time. He was taking advantage of his position as a lecturer to get me registered as soon as possible while the others were taking a long line to submit theirs.
Of course, there were nasty stares being directed at me but I didn’t care about it at all. The only stares that I felt conscious was the stare from Senior Mario when he saw Sanji signed the part for the guardian.
He looked like he had something he wanted to ask me, but at the same time he felt like we were not familiar to each other to ask anything. It was strange. Even though I wasn’t that close to him, I was sure we sat down and talked to each other more than I did with other people. Why did he act all weird now?
“You... Have we met before?”