Checkmate

III

"Please be my friends!"

The trio's jaws dropped when Yulia suddenly bowed in front of them.

She thought about it long and hard. That feeling she had when Luciel and Genesis spent their time last afternoon listening to her cry— she wanted to keep it.

Apart from her sobs, the room was completely silent. It was the first time she broke down in front of acquaintances, but she felt all time in the world pause in her hands. Her grief wasn't rushed, nobody told her to calm down.

Nobody told her it would be okay.

And for some reason, it was the best assurance she got.

They just listened. No voice, no words, no unnecessary comments, no false hopes and no judgements, but it was enough to let her know that someone was there. She wasn't alone.

Nobody told her it would be okay and she was thankful as someone had finally been honest with her, despite expressing it through silence.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Luciel chuckled, his tone suddenly turning dry. "You were being noisy and troublesome so we had to wait 'till you calm down. That's all there was to it."

What...?

Yulia gripped her skirt, trying to swallow Luciel's cold dismissal. Was she going too fast? Or was there really no chance for her to befriend them at all?

"But... I can tone it down," Yulia quietly muttered. She knew it would not be easy but she did not expect Luciel's blatant refusal to shake her resolve so easily.

Luciel snickered. Elijah just gazed at her still bowing figure uncaringly. The guy knew Yulia wasn't keen of him so he didn't bother. Commenting further would only lead to the poor girl's humiliation.

"Then, call me Gen, okay?"

A small gasp left Yulia's lips when a figure blocked Luciel's stare. Genesis extended his hand for a handshake. "What should I call you, Miss Tutor?"

"What the fuck...," Luciel muttered, throwing a stash of tissue to the green-haired guy's back. The tissues flew in different directions, creating a subtle distraction and leading Yulia to smile.

"Yulia or... well, anything is fine."

She took his hand and gave it an excited shake. There it was, her first ever chosen friend— Genesis Yoo.

"I'mma call you Yules, then. Let's eat breakfast first, ya? I'm starving." Genesis basically dragged her to their table, ignoring Luciel's murderous glare and Elijah's disbelief.

"I didn't allow this," the smaller guy with light orange hair spat, a look of displeasure all over his face. He forked all the cucumbers out of his salad and placed it on Elijah's lunchbox. Their youngest nonchalantly cut out the yolk of the sunny side up and passed it to Luciel's plate.

"Don't mind him," Genesis grinned playfully, passing Elijah a bottle of grapefruit drink and then pouring water for Luciel. "He's just jealous 'cause I have a date later."

All traces of annoyance vanished on Luciel's face. He was looking rather smug when he sent Genesis a jeering chuckle. "Nah, I actually can't care less."

"We're in front of food," Elijah shook his head, sighing. "If you're gonna argue about dates and all that here, then get away from the table and let us eat in peace."

"Excuse me, then," Luciel stood up, exiting the cafeteria with a carefree grin. He headed to the direction of the restroom, Genesis following suit without his knowledge.