At four in the afternoon, with the sun just beginning to dip westward, everyone boarded the school bus to head back.
The bus was filled with boisterous chatter the whole way. Despite having been out all day, no one felt tired; on the contrary, they were incredibly excited. University life ant more activities, a flexible schedule, and no endless tests.
As they discussed what they had seen and heard, they all grew more hopeful that their own university lives would be just as rich and colorful.
Simon Lockwood turned his head to look out the window. In the glass, he could see the faint reflection of a girl’s sleeping profile—tranquil and beautiful.
The afterglow of the sunset bathed the smoothly moving bus. The surrounding noise seed to fade away as he stared at her reflection for a long ti, only breaking his gaze when he heard people shouting, "We’re here!" and "Ti to get off!"
Joanna Kennedy was fast asleep. She must have been dreaming about sothing, because she smacked her lips and murmured sothing unintelligible.
Simon Lockwood leaned in closer and managed to make it out. In a sleepy, slurred voice, the girl called his na, "Simon Lockwood..."
Simon Lockwood’s expression froze. Before the warmth had a chance to fully enter his eyes, he heard the girl continue, "...you big dork."
Simon Lockwood: "..."
A sharp flick to the forehead jolted Joanna Kennedy awake. She looked around groggily. ’Who? Who ambushed ?’ There was no one in front of, behind, or next to her. All she saw was a tall figure getting off the bus.
Even from the back, she could practically feel his anger.
’Hmm, was I imagining things? Or did I accidentally hit myself?’
She rubbed her forehead, which still throbbed faintly. Utterly confused, she slowly got off the bus.
There was no evening self-study session today. The boarding students returned to their dorms, and the others gradually started heading ho.
Not far from the school gate, an expensive-looking black sedan was parked on the side of the road, drawing a crowd of onlookers. Simon Lockwood instinctively turned his head to look.
Joanna Kennedy walked over, backpack slung over her shoulder. The driver got out and opened the car door for her. Accepting the attentive service as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Joanna leisurely got into the car.
The black sedan started up and quickly disappeared from sight.
"Whoa, is that Joanna Kennedy’s family car?" soone said in surprise. "I rember it was a different one last ti. But I guess they’re all luxury cars."
"You think ’Miss Kennedy’ is just so nickna? She’s a bona fide heiress."
"Hahahaha, you’re not wrong. Whoever manages to marry into the Kennedy family won’t just get to skip ten years of struggle—they’ll be set for life..."
Simon Lockwood listened to the passive-aggressive, pointed remarks from the people around him, his expression unchanging. His lowered eyelashes concealed the emotions in his eyes.
For a mont, his mind flashed back to that night: the bread they shared, the "candle" they blew out, the rose that never wilted, the gaze that made his breath catch in his throat.
Simon Lockwood couldn’t lie to himself. His heartbeat was far more honest than his rational mind.
But the distance from the magnificent villas to the old, rundown alleyways was too great. He had walked that path before; he knew just how hard it was.
A young girl’s professed adoration is always prone to exaggeration and romanticism, and Joanna Kennedy’s affection felt particularly ethereal and ungrounded.
What you can’t have is the moon in the sky; once obtained, it becos a worthless white plate.
Simon Lockwood knew with certainty that the mont Joanna Kennedy got what she wanted would be the beginning of his loss.
Simon Lockwood stood for a long ti at the bustling school gate, only moving when a teacher called out to him.
On New Year’s Day, the first and second-year students had prepared performances and were celebrating together in the assembly hall. The third-years, however, who were deep in their stressful studies, just had a simple gathering in their own classroom.
Day students were allowed to skip it, but the boarders were making the best of a bad situation, blowing up balloons and hanging strears in the classroom, determined to create a festive atmosphere.
Being tall, Simon Lockwood was in charge of hanging the balloons and strears up high.
It was especially cold today. He hadn’t checked the forecast and had left the house wearing the sa clothes as yesterday.
Now, his throat felt dry and sore—the first signs of a cold.
Enduring the discomfort, he took a balloon to hang from the ceiling when he heard soone shout from the doorway, "Hey, top student, soone’s looking for you!"
’Who would be looking for ?’
A graceful figure flashed through Simon Lockwood’s mind, and in the next second, he was already walking quickly out the door.
Once outside the academic building, the cold night wind snapped him back to his senses. He felt his own inexplicable anticipation was laughable.
’It’s a holiday. Any student who can go ho would be spending it with their family.’
anwhile, Joanna Kennedy was hiding from the wind behind a pillar in front of the academic building.
The Kennedy family had few close relatives in her generation. Most of the people at their gatherings were distant relations—the kind you could barely even call family—all there to curry favor, spouting insincere flattery.
She had finally managed to slip away from the Kennedy family gathering. As she walked down the street, she saw the trees decorated with festive lights. A happy family walked past her, laughing and chatting. The entire city was brightly lit and decorated.
Joanna Kennedy suddenly felt bored. She wandered aimlessly, not knowing where she was going, until she looked up and found herself standing at the school gate.
The gatekeeper recognized her as a student and let her in.
Standing at the foot of the academic building, she started to regret her decision. Just as she was about to turn and leave, a few of her classmates spotted her on their way back from the school’s tuck shop. Confused, they asked why she had co back.
Joanna Kennedy blurted out, "I’m looking for soone."
A look of sudden understanding dawned on her classmate’s face. "The top student?"
"I’ll go get him for you!"
They were so enthusiastic that Joanna Kennedy didn’t even have a chance to refuse.
After waiting a short while, she saw Simon Lockwood coming down as expected.
’He really is a young man, so full of vigor,’ Joanna Kennedy mused. ’Wearing so little on such a cold day.’
She burrowed her face deeper into her thick down jacket and jogged over to him.
From a distance, Simon Lockwood saw a round, white ball "rolling" toward him, calling out, "Simon Lockwood..."
When he clearly saw her small face, red from the cold, Simon Lockwood froze for a mont.
’Joanna Kennedy...’
"What are you—" He was only halfway through his question when, without warning, the white ball crashed into his arms. Simon Lockwood’s pupils contracted, and his heart gave a violent lurch.
"..."
"So cold, so cold!" Joanna Kennedy, oblivious to his shock, burrowed into his chest and complained coquettishly, "Why are you wearing so little? Aren’t you cold? I’m still freezing, and I’m wearing so much."
Joanna Kennedy kept burrowing into Simon Lockwood’s arms, openly taking advantage of the situation. ’Mm, I wonder what kind of laundry detergent he uses. It slls so good, much better than perfu.’
’I want the sa kind,’ Joanna Kennedy plotted. ’I have to ask him about it later.’
The soft bundle in his arms had thrown herself at him so directly. She was slowly warming his chilled body. The hand Simon Lockwood had raised to push her away froze in mid-air.
After a long mont, he lowered it to his side as if resigning himself to his fate. "...I’m not cold."
’He didn’t push away? Did he have a personality transplant or sothing?’
Joanna Kennedy’s clever eyes darted about. She tilted her face up from his chest, her large, clear, sparkling eyes crinkling with a smile. "Wow, you’re amazing~"
It sounded like she was flirting.
Simon Lockwood’s fingers, resting at his side, stiffened. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"It’s not nonsense~" Joanna Kennedy grinned. "Simon Lockwood, are you getting shy?"
She was getting more and more outrageous. Simon Lockwood made a move to push her away. "Shut up."
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