Chapter 44.2

Without looking back, I quietly left the room following Gloria sunbae . As soon as we stepped out of the room, she grabbed me by the shoulders and apologised profusely.

“Are you alright? I am still inexperienced at using aura, so at that time, I didn’t know……”

That face that had looked so bloodthirsty had now regained its former kindness. I felt a sense of relief without even realising it.

Ah, there’s the sunbae I know.

The words of apology that she had been rattling off one after another suddenly stopped.

“……Are you crying?”

“What? No, not at all. These are just physiological……”

I stammered as I wiped away the tears that had suddenly formed.

“……I was scared,” I mumbled.

Sunbae stroked my hair slowly, as if she was at a loss with what to do.

“Sorry. I am so sorry. It was my fault……. Don’t cry,” Gloria sunbae stammered and hugged me tightly.

“I am not crying,” I repeated, rubbing my slightly red eyes. Sunbae had nothing to apologise for. In fact, it was she who got me out of there. This was just me being a scaredy cat.

“Katelin!”

I turned towards the familiar voice. Noah sunbae was breathing hard. Probably because he had come running down the corridors, his glasses were askew and his silver hair was dishevelled. I was standing with red eyes in front of Gloria sunbae who seemed to be at her wits end. When he saw me, he pulled me into his arms with so much strength that all my breath left me.

“What did you do?” Noah sunbae asked, his voice low and threatening, his body shaking as he spoke.

“I just……”

After trying to object to his question, Gloria sunbae fell silent and chewed on her lips.

“……I am sorry.”

“No, it’s alright sunbae . You can let me go now.”

After I said that, perhaps feeling embarrassed for hugging me the way he did, Noah sunbae ’s arms relaxed and he released me.

“……sorry.”

Now out of sunbae ’s embrace, I scratched my arms awkwardly.

“Oh my goodness! What’s going on? Kate, were you crying?”

Flora sunbae, who had come running with the snacks that I’d left strewn all over the corridor, was surprised to see me and dropped all the snacks again.

“What… What happened? Is… Is that… ice…!” said Flora sunbae , stunned after seeing the frozen doorknob of the social club’s room.

“The kids from the social club dragged Kate here. That…… It’s because I couldn’t control myself,” Gloria sunbae said with an exhausted face. Then she asked me.

“What did they say to you?”

“They told me to bring Gloria sunbae to the social club,” I replied in a small voice while rubbing my nose.

Gloria sunbae frowned deeply.

“Ha. I should have expected that.”

The three of them took me back to our club room and sat me down. At least, I had managed to stop them from taking me to the infirmary.

“Do you really not want to go to the infirmary?” Flora sunbae asked, worried as she covered me with a blanket.

“Yes, I’m completely fine,” I answered while munching gloomily on the snacks.

Seeing that I was still down, Noah sunbae scolded Gloria sunbae.

“Why did you use a power you can’t even control? Now you’ve scared Katelin.”

“But…… I said I was sorry.”

Normally, Gloria sunbae would have fired back at him with some smart quip. But now she replied in a feeble, drawn out voice.

“I am really okay.”

I had even greater worries than that.

Ersel, Count Ersel. What do I do? Dad, I am so sorry……

As I worried, biting my nails, Gloria sunbae comforted me.

“Don’t worry. After all that fuss I made, Linda must have gotten the gist of things.”

She clasped my shoulder and muttered gently.

“Don’t worry. Unni will handle everything.”

* * *

I returned to my dorm room and sat on my bed with a blank face. My head was completely empty. I was a little nervous, but Gloria sunbae said that she would help me. So I guessed everything would work out. Although I did feel like she was always helping me.

I rolled around on the bed and took in a shallow breath.

Come to think of it, Noah sunbae and I hugged. The situation was a mess and the hug was mostly one-sided. But still, for a moment, I had been within his arms. Because of how crazy things had been, I hadn’t realised it, but it was the closest skinship we had had till date.

His arms were strong, as was his shirt covered body. He appeared slender, but when I was close to him, I found that it wasn’t true. His waist was slim, but his chest was wide.

I recalled the smell of jasmine that had come from his silver hair.

His arms were very warm. I also want to hug him next time.

Having gotten lost in my imagination, I hurriedly lowered my head.

You are crazy, Kate.

“Hey, are you okay?” Dora asked, startled when I started kicking my blanket.

“……nope.” I mumbled, covering my face that was probably red.

I was not okay at all.

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