170 Cycle (2/2)

”Can you please give me some time? It's not like you're not important or anything,” I said. ”You're important to me, but there's just something that's going on in my life that's been drawing away all my attention. So, can you please just give me some time?”

I looked up at her face and was surprised to see that there was a gentle smile there. She took a step forward and reached a hand for my hair, gently stroking it.

”I'm sorry,” she whispered. ”I...didn't realize what you were dealing with and just got caught up in myself...I should be the one apologizing to you, Alevian. I should've noticed earlier that your odd behavior was due to stress...I'm sorry for being such a burden to you.”

”It's not you—”

I wanted to reaffirm that this wasn't her responsibility and was mine instead but was interrupted by her. She brought her left index finger to her lips to silence me as she smiled.

”It's my fault as well,” she whispered. ”I don't want you bearing all the guilt, taking all the blame, and playing as the bad guy in everything. And the answer to your request is: yes. I can wait.”

”Irina...”

”So let's have everything return back to normal,” she took a small step back and smiled.

”Yeah,” I softly whispered.

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[Irina's Perspective]

He apologized to me, even though in the end, it was totally my fault. I didn't take into account things that are going on for Alevian in my selfish little ramble...

But in the end, I'm saved by Alevian once again. I had thought that was the end of our relationship, that we would just fracture and drift further and further away from each other. I thought that I had sealed the fate of our relationship by that outburst. I was afraid to be disliked by him. However, he made an effort to try and restore it... Does that mean he actually values my relationship with him?

”You're important to me.”

He said that...

I smiled as I felt my face warm up from blushing.

So I'm not just a random nobody in his world... Just knowing that is enough for me right now.

With a content feeling in my heart, I walked down the empty hallway towards the clubroom, replaying that scene in my head over and over again. Then, my face turned an even brighter shade of red as I cringed at the embarrassing actions that I had done.

I...I stroked his hair... It was so soft—Oh my God why did I do that? That's so embarrassing!

I buried my face in my two hands out of embarrassment. I was tortured by it, but... it wasn't extremely painful or anything. With a smile, I continued on down the long hallway and towards the clubroom.

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[Alevian's Perspective]

After my apology with Irina, I guess things are back to normal now. I should be happy, which I am, but I am still disappointed in myself. Instead of solving it, I've simply pushed the date back further into the future. I didn't solve anything today. Instead, all I did was lessen up the tasks that I had to focus on... But... I guess that's still a win for me?

Either way, I am glad that Irina didn't hate me after all that. I'm actually quite happy that she was able to forgive me after all the scummy things I've done...

Walking down the long hospital hallway, I had my eyes set on the door leading into Luna's room. For some reason, I wanted to inform her of this triumph. Maybe it's because she's one of the people who knew of our situation and does not have direct access to the newest information in regards to it whereas Muria could find out immediately when Irina enters the room? I believe that might be how my subconscious was functioning.

With a smile, I stopped before the closed doors to her hospital room. However, I was reluctant to reach my hand for the door handle as Loyd might be in there with her. He did say he was coming to visit her after school, so there's the possibility that he has yet to leave. What would I say for my reason for visiting if he sees me? With a soft chuckle, I tossed that worry out of my mind as I was in a good mood that has been extremely rare for me these days. Things will just work itself out in the end.

With a smile on my face, I reached for the door handle, but before I was able to make contact with it, the door slid open. The person who had caused it was Loyd. I was surprised and astonished by this sudden opening of the doors as I was unprepared for it, but I was also unprepared for what I saw.

”Coming to see Luna?” Loyd smiled when he saw me. ”I'm heading home now, so see you tomorrow at school.”

He placed a hand on my shoulder as he walked past me. After he passed by me, he brought his fingers back to the top buttons on his disorderly outfit and buttoned them up. Slowly, I looked my eyes into the hospital room and towards the messy bed where Luna was located in. She was combing her hair with a comb in her hands, tidying herself. Her face was slightly red, possibly from exhaustion or from pleasure. In addition, her hospital gown was opened in the front, exposing her small stomach as well as her lingerie, the lingerie that I had bought for her...