Silence lingered between them. Kael exhaled slowly.
"That was the mont I realized sothing."
He t her gaze directly.
"To everyone else... I was invisible. But to you...you saw . Not just what I looked like on the outside... But everything beneath it."
His chest rose slightly as he spoke the final words, his voice quieter than before.
"And that was the first ti... My heart started beating for soone."
For a mont, Martha fell silent.
She had never thought that Kael would have such a side to him, such a hidden story.
Now that she thought about it, it almost felt unreal.
Indeed, she had always carried a quiet fondness for Kael, but it had never been born out of his handsoness.
Rather, it was sothing far more selfish, far more dangerous... she had been attracted to him from the very beginning.
In fact, when she got transferred, she already knew about Kael.
’I need to surpass him... no matter what.’
That thought had burned inside her back then.
She had pushed herself relentlessly, staying up through endless nights, her eyes stinging from exhaustion, her fingers trembling over books and notes, just to overtake him.
When she finally did, when she stood above him, she expected satisfaction... victory... sothing.
But there was nothing.
Instead, what lingered was an emptiness and a strange, gnawing desire.
She had wanted his attention.
She rembered how she had subtly searched for his reaction, her heart tightening with anticipation.
Yet when she saw his plain, indifferent expression, it felt like sothing inside her cracked.
’So... he never noticed at all...’
From that mont onward, she buried everything. Every flicker of emotion, every foolish hope... she suppressed it all beneath her ambition.
She had even thought that if she secured the first rank, Kael might approach her.
Maybe he would say, "Can you tutor ?"
But he never did.
Her lips curved into a bitter smile as she looked at him now.
"What was that supposed to an?" she said, her voice calm but carrying an edge sharp enough to cut.
"If that was really the case, then why didn’t you ever approach ? Why didn’t you confront and tell everything you were doing behind my back?"
Her fingers tapped lightly against the table, her gaze unwavering.
"Looking back, I received so many scholarships... I survived because of them," she continued. "If all of that was from you, then it only ans one thing..."
She leaned forward slightly. "You were paying attention to the whole ti."
She believed his story. That was the unsettling part.
Kael chuckled softly upon hearing her question, the sound low and almost self-deprecating. He looked at her, his eyes carrying sothing unreadable.
"Do you even know how you looked from my perspective?"
Martha froze.
Kael continued, his voice steady but tinged with old frustration.
"From where I stood, you were too ambitious... so ambitious that I thought you would never, ever approach soone like ."
He let out a quiet breath.
"I even thought... maybe you weren’t interested in n at all."
He gave a faint, awkward smile.
"There was a point where I genuinely wondered if you liked won instead."
Martha’s eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing.
"I was frustrated," he admitted. "Really frustrated. But I had no choice except to hold it in."
His fingers clenched slightly as if recalling those days.
"As ti passed, I just kept waiting... waiting for you to approach . I thought maybe one day, you’d notice on your own."
He paused, looking at her intently. "After all, you’re intelligent."
Martha felt speechless.
’This guy... his EQ is unbelievably low... how does soone even function like this?’
She stared at him for a full ten and a half seconds, her expression unreadable. Then, her thoughts drifted.
’Ivy...’
A faint sigh escaped her mind.
’Well... Ivy is just like him...’
Before Silas ever ca into the picture, Ivy’s emotional intelligence had been just as disastrous.
Taking a slow breath, Martha straightened and looked at Kael.
"If that’s the case," she said calmly, "then you’re a very dedicated lover."
With that, she turned back to her work, her pen moving as if nothing had happened.
Kael stood there, stunned. ’That’s it...?’
He recalled Silas’s words clearly.
’When you get the chance, open up to her. Once you do, she’ll soften.’
But now, looking at Martha’s expression, it was obvious... she wasn’t softening at all. If anything, there was a trace of disgust lingering on her face.
And truthfully, Martha did feel that way.
Even though Silas had advised Kael to present his story in the most heartfelt way possible, he had delivered it in the most blunt, clumsy manner imaginable.
’Seriously... what a dumb way to confess...’
Yet, it wasn’t completely ineffective.
Her lips curled ever so slightly before she spoke again without looking at him.
"If there’s nothing else," she said, her tone dismissive, "you can leave."
Kael sighed softly and nodded before walking out.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Martha leaned back in her chair and let out a quiet chuckle.
"What a dummy..."
Her gaze drifted to the table where a strawberry milkshake sat, condensation forming tiny droplets along the glass.
She picked it up, the cold surface pressing against her fingers, and took a slow sip.
The sweet, creamy taste lingered on her tongue.
If Kael had seen her at that mont, he would have realized sothing significant... for the first ti, Martha hadn’t left his breakfast untouched.
When Kael returned to her office later with lunch, the atmosphere felt subtly different.
Martha looked up and, to his surprise, smiled faintly.
"What did you bring for lunch?" she asked.
Kael froze for a split second. ’She... asked?’
This was the first ti Martha had initiated a conversation like this.
In the past, no matter how many tis he brought her food, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, she would ignore it completely. Eventually, he would just give it away to others.
But today... was different.
"It’s sweet and sour ribs," he replied quickly, almost too quickly.
Martha nodded, her expression thoughtful.
"You really understand my preferences well," she said.
User Comments
0 comments from readers