Chapter 21 - Menthol

"It seems like you are having so much fun with her." Rei was looking at Kira with a mischievous smile carved on his face. He never thought that Kira would be affected like this just by hearing her name. Could it be that he was already falling for her?! That's fast…

"Fun? She's not fun at all. She just keeps on frustrating me. That squirrel is… she's weird. She's strange. All she ever does is either stare at me or eat! She's frustratingly irritating, I'm telling you. I don't have any idea on what the hell she thinks about. And she's so damn strong. Can you believe that?! She already runs like a cheetah and climbs like a monkey. I just found out she's actually as strong as a gorilla, too. It's like she came from the planet of the apes, if they also had cheetah monkeys. She's absolutely strange!"

As Kira suddenly burst as though Rei just poked a balloon using a pin, Rei simply rested his chin on his knuckles and had an amused look on his face as he listened to his friend ramble on.

"Hmm… indeed, she's different and very interesting." Rei stated with a smile when all of a sudden, Kira's expression changed.

"You… are you saying you're interested in her?" he suddenly asked with a cold gaze and invisible sweat drops could only fall from Rei's forehead. H-huh? Don't tell me this guy's already jealous? Wow, this is really surprising.

"Would you be jealous if I said I am?"

As soon as those words left Rei's mouth, Kira's expression turned black. Rei was again surprised. He couldn't believe that Kira would react like this over some little words.

"Pfft! Hey, I'm just kidding. Why are you so serious? Your squirrel is yours alone. Don't worry, no one will snatch her away from you. You don't have to be jealous. Haha." Rei was grinning as spoke. It seemed like the fun had really started and the boring and monotonous days had finally ended. "I can't believe you're already jealous and-"

"Me? Jealous? Nonsense!" Kira cut through Rei and said those three words before he finally moved and put some food on his plate, while Rei simply continued grinning as he watched him. Was he still unaware? Or just in denial? Either way, this is amusing… Zeri Kim, you're really interesting… I can't believe you turned this calm, cool and collected guy into a raging jealous monster within a very short period of time.

…

The school had an event that afternoon so the gate was closed and no one was allowed to go home. The students were all gathered in one part of the school but Zeri managed to sneak away midway during the event.

She went straight towards the stairs, thinking about going up the rooftop and take a nap or at least have some rest.

However, as she was about to reach her destination, something unexpected happened. Someone was walking down the stairs so she lifted her face. To her surprise, the chubby girl that was walking while looking at her cellphone suddenly jolted and lost her balance the moment she saw her.

Zeri's eyes widened when she saw that the girl was already falling towards her and…

A loud 'tudd' echoed as Zeri opened her eyes. They both fell on the floor. Zeri landed on top of the girl with her hand under the girl's head. She managed to at least prevent the girl from hitting her head on the floor but her knuckles suffered and had a few little cuts and bruises because of the impact.

"Are you alright?" Zeri asked as she quickly got up and the chubby girl smiled.

"Y-yes, I'm fine! Thank you so much. I was fl.u.s.tered a moment ago." She replied and after Zeri helped her up, she nodded a little and she turned her back to leave when the girl gasped.

"Ahh! You're hand, it's bleeding!!" she exclaimed and Zeri simply glanced at her hand before turning to her.

"This is just a small wound, don't worry about it." She said and she started walking down the stairs as though nothing happened.

Zeri didn't continue her plan to go to the rooftop and walked straight towards their classroom instead.

The classroom was empty so she relaxed and immediately sat on her chair. After a short while, Zeri fell asleep. Her face was lying on her arm which was on her desk, as she finally took the peaceful nap she was seeking.

However, after some moments, someone quietly entered the classroom. He walked towards the girl sleeping on the desk and stared at her before heaving a sigh.

"Tch! This squirrel! I've been waiting at the rooftop but you're actually right here, sleeping so soundly? As expected of you." Kira pulled a chair in front of her desk and sat across her.

He rested his face on one hand as he stared at the girl's hair. After a long while of silence, he stretched out his hand and carefully touched some strands of her hair.

He quietly played with hair long black hair and the next moment, he sniffed it. The moment Kira smelled the scent of her hair, his brows creased.

"T-this squirrel! Why does her hair smell like menthol? Are you using men's shampoo?!" Kira exclaimed as he again suddenly felt frustrated. He didn't even notice that he pulled her hair a little and his voice was loud enough to wake her up.

When he saw her move, Kira was about to speak when…

Zeri's palm suddenly flew on his face, face palming him.