Thin Ice (M/M Transmigration)

Chapter 6

It took Cale over a week to recuperate. During that time, Julius would visit every day, bringing food and medicine with him. No matter how much Cale assured him that he was getting better and that he could get these things for himself, Julius would simply scoff in his face and ignore him.

Somehow, that only made him seem more adorable.

Cale blinked himself to awareness as he shook his head and pulled on the final layer of his uniform, stepping into the boots as he went to the door. He flung his satchel over his shoulder, opened the door and left.

While he had diligently done all his homework and kept up with his studying as much as he was able to while stuck in his bed, he had no doubt that he had only fallen further behind. No matter how many notes Julius scared off of his classmates, without the context provided by the teacher and class, they were next to useless. Studying them, in the end, hadn't done him much good.

He sighed as he locked the door and started traipsing through the hallways, on the way to the cafeteria for the first time in almost two weeks.

As he walked, he only passed a handful of students, all of them going in the same direction as him. At this point, it was a small enough number who were awake as early as him that he could recognize each and every one of them, even though he had no idea who they actually were. They nodded to each other as they passed through the hallways, an unspoken agreement of leaving each other alone keeping them from making conversations. The sun hadn't even risen yet; the only people awake now were those like Cale, who valued studying over friendship.

That wasn't to say that they were rude, they simply didn't force themselves to make nice and distract each other from valuable time that could be better spent learning.

Julius wasn't in the cafeteria when he arrived, which was for the best. Cale had taken advantage of Julius to the degree that he wondered when the teenager had had time to sleep, and he didn't fault Julius for taking the time to sleep in. He also didn't expect Julius to keep him company when eating, just because he had taken care of him and Cale had gotten used to it.

He clicked his tongue as he gathered his tray full of the breakfast that he usually enjoyed and that he had been robbed of for the last time. It was lucky that they served hot chocolate drinks, though Julius had told him that there usually weren't any left by the time the teenager got there. Cale though, early as was, had never had a problem.

Going to his usual table, he sat himself down, putting his satchel sitting on the opposite chair and slowly ate his breakfast, savoring it.

His eyes drifted over the rest of the cafeteria as he ate, humming slightly due to the good taste. The breakfast offered by the school was simple but that didn't mean it wasn't tasty. His eyes shut as he could finally taste it properly, his appetite having entirely abandoned him during his illness.

"Puhh..." He put his hand over his stomach as he leaned back on his chair and stared up at the high domed ceiling.

He smiled. That was a good meal.

His eyes slid over to the old clock on the wall and he sighed. It was a little passed half to seven, which meant that he had over an hour until classes started. And the library opened at seven in the morning on the dot, every day.

Cale stood from his seat and deposited the tray on the shelves. He wandered back to his table and pulled out a book and a notebook, settling in to study until the library opened and he could move there. It would still be a while until the cafeteria filled up anyway, and this was how he usually spent his days.

Before he knew it, he looked up at the clock and saw that it was only a few more minutes until the library doors opened. He packed up his stuff and grimaced as the volume in the room rose as more and more people entered to eat their breakfast.