The Prince and The Wolf

XVII

Chapter 17: You Were Sad

♚♥♞ 

They were in the library near Min's house. This raised many questions in Min's head. And, also answered some of them. He was the one who led them here.

Which means... "Do you live around here?" She blurted out of the blue, after sitting down in front of one of the computers with him beside her.

"Yeah." He said slowly, like he was hesitant to give her too much information.

She stared at him in surprise, lips parted. "Me... too."

He looked at the computer. "Let's just start writing."

Min focused back on the screen, begrudgingly. She still wanted to know more about him, but he's always being so mysterious. She frowned at her screen, a pout forming. He noticed, but ignored it. Min pulled up the poem and started typing their initial ideas.

"Isn't it interesting." She muttered dryly to herself. "The prince sweeps her away, but at what cost? How is her relationship with him in the end? He saw her and wanted her for shallow reasons, if I were her, I wouldn't trust him."

"But she was desperate." Min was surprised to hear Carl responding. "She was being tortured every day. She would have taken anyone."

"And how would the prince save her? No one can guarantee her that he is a good man."

"No one knows that." He points out. "The poem never said so."

Min suddenly fell quiet and stared blankly at the screen, his words swimming through her head. She suddenly felt so very helpless. Everything suddenly seemed overwhelming.

"I can't do this." She breathed. "I can't always be the bitch."

He didn't flinch or look at her questioningly. His eyes seemed to soften knowingly. "Why?" He answered in the same volume she had.

"I'm not that mean." She whispered. "My motive isn't to take him away... I just—I was just flattered he wanted to be my friend. And—And I thought if I was bitchy back, it won't hurt."

He blinked slowly, staring at the table.

"But it did." She finished quietly, wistfully. "Girls I thought were kind became... scary."

"And I—" She felt her throat close up and the warm tears gathered at her eyes, her body starting to shake. And still, he did not look at her. "...I was so scared—"

He spared her the look of pity.

"I-I'm sorry." She choked, wiping her tears hastily with her sleeve. "I'm always crying in front of you and—"

"I don't mind." He answered, voice barely above a whisper. But she heard the pain in it, loud and clear. He was now staring at the table hard, like if he ripped his gaze off of it, he would break.

She stopped wiping her tears and instead allowed them to fall, her arms limp against her chair.

After a moment of silent waiting, she interrupted it with a weak, "Why?"

He finally looked at her, and she saw his resolve waver.

He looked away, closing his eyes and sighing.

"Because you offered me a donut."

And then, a smile appeared as her tear slid down her cheek.

---

Kade awoke slowly, in a state of delirium, as he heard the figure move in his room. The gears in his head started turning slowly, before he bolted upright and then winced as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"What are you doing in my room?" He barked.

His sister took one look at his messy hair and gave him a flat look. "That's how you greet your beloved sister, Angel?"

"When did you come back from Uni?" He shot back in the same feistiness. He slid out of his bed, a curse falling out of his mouth. Getting up, he walked over to her, arms folded.

"Got here an hour ago." She answered, scrolling through his phone.

Wait, why does she have my phone!?

"A call for two hours. Spam." Angel smirked at him coyly. "A picture that shows that she clearly did not add it there herself."

Kade growled, snatching his phone back.

"Is there a girl you need to tell me about?" She prodded. "A... love interest?"

He checked for new messages or missed calls. None. He frowned.

"Already missing her, I see." Angel continued, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "Are you holding back your horny tendencies for her?"

He smacked his phone back down on the counter behind her. "Oh, no." He murmured, running a hand through his bed hair. "Made out with a girl just three hours ago."

"Boo." His sister jeered, pouting.

"Also, what the hell? Angel, you nearly scared me halfway to heaven, I thought you were mother."

"What?" Angel started braiding her hair. "If it was mom, your soul would be ripped out and your phone would need to be replaced."

Kade went silent.

"Hide that girl well." Angel murmured against his ear as she walked past him, stretching gracefully as she headed to the door. Then she stopped. "Hide your feelings too."

"That girl may not want them." The door closed behind her.

He saw that Angel had left a bit of vandalism using post-its on his wall. He exhaled slowly in annoyance and tore the post-it's off in one motion, crumpling it simultaneously and then dropping it in the trash can. The paper ball came into contact with something that made a rattling sound.

My sleeping pills...?

There, in the trashcan, laid the very bottle of sleeping pills he had taken one from three hours ago.

Angel's image flashed into her mind, her expression contorted in disapproval, her eyes remained shrewdly intelligent. She had inherited those eyes from their mom, and he knew that she had inherited most of his mother's sharp mind and quick calculations.

And maybe some of her heartlessness.

♚♥♞

Here comes the family.