Free Web NovelChapter 111: Chapter 109
I immediately looked up.
’Why am I suddenly noticing male anatomy like this?! What is happening to me?!’
"Bella?" Sebastian said, blinking in mild surprise. "You know my room number?"
Then his eyes shifted.
"...Why are you also here?" he added, looking at Silvano.
"We were just going to give these books you dropped—"
I turned to Silvano, waiting for him to do the normal human thing and hand them over instead he just stood there frozen.
"...Silvano?" I nudged him lightly.
"..."
He looked like his soul had temporarily exited his body.
I nudged him again.
That seemed to reboot him.
"Oh—yeah." He handed the books over, though a little too stiffly, his eyes narrowed slightly. "...Do you have someone else inside?"
Sebastian grinned. "There’s no one here," he said casually, grabbing the books, except Silvano didn’t let go.
"I’m not that dumb," Silvano said through gritted teeth. "My sense of smell still works."
I blinked. ’Smell? What kind of smell? Do they smell something I don’t know? Maybe... food?’ frёeωebɳovel.com
"If you recognize the scent..." Sebastian said, smile widening just enough to be annoying. "Then it seems she’s been helping you too."
I looked between them.
She? Helping? Scent?
What in the very suspicious and highly questionable context was happening here?
Was this some kind of secret club?
Did I miss a meeting?
Was there a sign-up sheet?!
My brain was spiraling as I shook my head.
I refuse. I am not getting involved in whatever... this is. I immediately dropped all curiosity.
"Silvano..." I tugged his sleeve lightly. "Can we go now?"
He finally let go of the books but before we could even take a step, Sebastian caught my hand.
"Bella," he said, voice low, eyes sharp. "Why are you with him?"
"We were—"
"She’s also ’helping’ me," Silvano cut in smoothly. "You got a problem with that?"
I looked at him. "...I’m sorry, what?"
Sebastian’s grin stretched wide. "Really?" he leaned towards Silvano and sniffed. "Then why can’t I smell her scent on you?"
There it was again.
That word.
’Scent.’
I frowned slightly... then, without thinking, I sniffed myself. Left arm. Right arm. Hair.
’Do I smell bad? I didn’t even shower before coming here—wait, do I smell like sweat and saliva?’
Sebastian burst out laughing.
"Oh, Bella," he said, amused. "Don’t worry. It’s not that kind of scent. And even if you were drenched in sweat, you’d still smell good."
Before I could process that, he lifted my hand, sniffed it, before giving it a kiss.
My brain shut down.
"SEB!" I yelped, recoiling like I’d just been electrocuted, immediately hiding behind Silvano like he was a human shield. "I knew you were a playboy the moment I met you, but please—your attacks won’t work on me, so stop that!"
Sebastian laughed even harder, completely unbothered by my distress. "Relax. It’s just a thank you for returning my books."
"Who thanks people like that?!" I hissed from behind Silvano’s shoulder.
Before I could launch a full verbal attack, Silvano grabbed my wrist and pulled me away.
"Next time, don’t entertain him," he muttered. "He’s a complete lunatic."
"Other than being a playboy, I already knew that," I nodded seriously.
"Also..." he added, suddenly pulling out a wet wipe out of nowhere as he started aggressively wiping the back of my hand.
"Hey—what are you doing?!"
"He’s full of bacteria."
"...Even though he literally just came out of the shower?" I asked. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"Yes."
"...That feels like a personal attack on hygiene."
He ignored me and kept scrubbing like he was trying to erase Sebastian from existence.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "...Are you jealous?"
He paused then scoffed. "Me? Hah! Why would I be? With a—"
I cut him off, nodding thoughtfully. "Don’t worry. Next time I’ll make sure to maintain my distance from him."
He frowned. "What?"
I sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder like I was about to deliver tragic news. "If I knew earlier that you liked him, I would’ve left quietly so you two could have your moment togeth—"
"What kind of bullshit are you spouting now?!" he snapped.
I blinked innocently. "Sylvie."
"...Get out."
I blinked at him, then slowly gestured around us. "But we’re already in the hallway?"
"Just leave."
"I am leaving," I shot back, already walking. "So why are you still following me?"
He looked like he was two seconds away from throwing me out himself.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
BOOM!
The door exploded open so violently the walls shook.
Smoke poured out of the room in thick clouds, immediately flooding the hallway like we had accidentally summoned a demon instead of creating art.
Coughing echoed everywhere.
"Cough—!"
"Cough!"
"COUGH!"
"DAMN YOU, SYLVIE!" I wheezed, crawling out on all fours. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CARVE THAT PART!"
"You didn’t specify which part!" Silvano snapped back through coughs.
"THE PART THAT EXPLODES!"
"How was I supposed to know it would explode?!"
"BECAUSE I SAID DON’T TOUCH IT!"
We were literally dragging ourselves across the floor to escape from his room and honestly we probably looked insane.
The hallway alarm hadn’t even started ringing yet, but the smoke alone was dramatic enough that nearby doors were already opening one after another.
Students peeked out cautiously, only to freeze at the sight before them.
Smoke flooding the hallway, a destroyed room, two students crawling out like survivors from a battlefield.
Said students were me aggressively coughing while trying to murder my project partner.
Honestly, from their perspective, it probably looked very concerning.
Whispers immediately started to spread.
"Did something explode?"
"Why is there smoke?!"
"Is that Blanca?"
"Blanca Frostine?"
"Again?"
"What did she do this time?"
"Why is she on the floor?"
"Why is Silvano on the floor?!"
"I think they blew up the room—"
"We’re not dead yet!" I shouted between coughs.
That only made them stare harder when three pairs of shoes stopped right in front of us.
I slowly looked up through watery eyes.
Stephano stood there with his arms crossed, already grinning like my suffering personally healed his soul.
Beside him, Vivienne looked shocked.
And Ravian looked like he was one second away from exploding when he saw us.
"Blanca? Silvano?" he said, brows furrowing as if he was trying to confirm whether what he was seeing counted as a violation of school policy or a natural phenomenon.
"Sil?" Vivienne gasped, immediately rushing toward Silvano as she helped him stand up. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Meanwhile I was still on the floor covered in soot and coughing up what felt like my remaining lifespan.
I stared at her in disbelief.
Wow.
Not even a fake "are you okay" for politeness?
Rude.
Before I could complain, Ravian’s hand appeared in front of me. "What did you do this time?" he asked calmly, helping me up.
"It wasn’t my fault!" I pointed accusingly at Silvano the moment I could breathe properly. "It was his!"
"Well technically," Silvano said while dusting ash off himself, "this is your fault."
I gasped.
"I instructed you very clearly what NOT to do!"
"Instructions unclear," he deadpanned.
"...."
I went completely silent before pure, unfiltered rage fille me, lunging for him instantly.
"I’M GOING TO KILL HIM—!"
Ravian caught me around the waist with one hand before I could commit attempted murder in public.
"LET ME GO!" I shouted while struggling like an angry raccoon. "JUST THIS ONCE! LET ME HIT SYLVIE!"
The hallway suddenly went quiet.
"...Sylvie?" Stephano repeated slowly.
"Who’s Sylvie?" Vivienne asked.
"Who are you talking to?" Ravian added, still restraining me like an experienced handler dealing with a feral animal.
Me and Silvano froze completely.
My eyes slowly shifted towards him.
His eyes slowly shifted towards me.
There was a full three seconds of absolute silence before a grin broke out on my face.
Silvano immediately shook his head like he already knew I was about to make things worse.
"Oh," I said brightly, "if you still want to keep it a secret then admit it’s your fault, Sylvie."
He immediately dragged a hand down his face like he already knew disaster was coming. "Yes it’s my fault. I didn’t listen to her resulting to me destroying my room."
Stephano suddenly burst out laughing. "Wait—that’s your nickname for him?!"
"It’s cute but you could say that," I only said.
"It’s humiliating," Silvano corrected immediately.
"Oh? Then should I choose your other name?" I smiled sweetly
Vivienne looked between us, visibly agitated. "Since when were you two close enough for nicknames?"
"We’re not," Silvano answered instantly.
"We are," I answered at the same time.
Silvano looked ready to commit murder. "That room," he said through gritted teeth, "was supposed to contain the explosion, not create another one outside."
I immediately pointed at him again. "See? That’s exactly something Sylvie would say."
"I hate you."
"No you don’t."
Another puff of smoke escaped from the room behind us.
We all turned to stare at it then slowly turned back to each other.
"Sil," Vivienne asked, still processing the chaos in front of her eyes, "what did you do inside to create a mess like that?"
"We were creating our project in Contemporary Carving class," I said calmly, brushing soot off my sleeve like I wasn’t personally responsible for minor structural damage.
"...Maybe I should just call the manager," Ravian muttered, glancing at the surrounding students who were still peeking out from behind doors. "There’s nothing to see here. Go back to your rooms."
He didn’t even raise his voice yet ever single door shut instantly to the point that it was honestly impressive.
Just like that, the hallway went from chaotic audience to complete silence, leaving the five of us standing in the aftermath
Stephano crossed his arms, looking at me like I was the only one who caused this mess. "If you plan to do your project, can you at least do it in a place where you won’t burn a whole building down?"
I smiled innocently. "That’s not what happened."
"Blanca," Vivienne sighed, rubbing her temples like she had just aged ten years in five seconds, "you know it’s dangerous to carve inside the dorm. Why would you break the rule—and drag Sil with into your... silly ideas?"
’...Why is everyone only blaming me?’
Before anyone could answer—
"Viv, Stephano," Silvano cut in calmly, brushing soot off his sleeve. "it’s my fault. Not Blanca."
Silence.
Vivienne’s eyes widened instantly. "You? But you always follow the rules..."
Silvano shrugged like it meant nothing. "Well... it’s fun to break the rules sometimes."
Then, without warning, Silvano grabbed my wrist and pulled me slightly closer.
"We need to go," he said, already walking. "And request a proper room before we actually do burn a whole building down."
I stumbled a bit, then quickly matched his pace.
"...Thanks for saving me there," I mumbled.
"I did not save you," Silvano replied flatly. "I saved my grades."
I nodded anyway. "Still... thanks."
He didn’t answer.
I glanced at him sideways.
"So," I continued, "when we carve, follow my instructions exactly like I told you. I don’t want a repeat of... whatever that was."
He finally looked at me then, expression unreadable. "You mean the part where you told me to ’trust the process’?"
"I said trust me," I corrected immediately.
"That sounds worse."
"It’s not."
He exhaled through his nose. "You turned my room into a disaster report."
"Correction," I said. "YOU turned your room into a learning experience."
He let out a sigh and ignored me.
