Thin Ice (M/M Transmigration)

Chapter 7

He lowered his gaze to the stone table in between them. Licking his lips again, he shook his head and bit down on the urge to whine. "I don't know how," he squeezed out.

He brought his hands down to his laps and splayed them out on his legs. Fiddling with the frayed edges of the thin coat that he was wearing, it hit him how odd it was. It was nearly minus degrees outside, yet he wasn't cold at all. The coat he was wearing was the same one he wore in the summer, when he had to have one on to be polite. He wasn't wearing any special winter shoes, or thick socks, or mittens or even a hat.

But he wasn't cold at all.

If anything, he felt rather pleasant. Like a lukewarm spring morning, the temperature was just right.

Magdalena sighed and closed the book she was reading. He looked up at her. She faced his gaze head on with a determined one of her own. "Julius would never do anything to make you unhappy. If marrying him won't make you happy, you need to tell him. The sooner, the better."

Cale nodded. Then he frowned, a thought hitting him. "Didn't you think he was spying on me for Sayer?"

"That was before," she said and adjusted the hat on her head so it covered her ears again. "I've seen him with you. I've never seen him like that with anyone else before, not even Sayer. Also, I haven't actually seen him spend any time with Sayer for weeks now, much less seen them speak to each other. I'm pretty sure Julius just stopped talking to him. That seems like something he would do."

Cale glared at her. "Okay, okay, he wouldn't do that. To you. But that's what I'm saying! You mean more to him than anyone I've ever seen him around. Except maybe his parents. And if you're not sure, if you don't want to do this, then you should tell him."

He lowered his gaze to the table. She gave a low laugh, "He won't take it badly. You'll still be friends, I promise. And if not, I'll kick his ass for you."

Cale barked out a half-hearted laugh. He smothered it quickly before rising from his chair. She was right. Julius was a tactless, blunt person, who never said anything that he didn't mean. Having conversations with him was surprisingly easy, if somewhat frustrating, and this wasn't something that Cale could solve on his own. Even if he did feel like he was taking advantage of Magdalena; only seeking her out for her advice and ignoring her otherwise.

In the future, he should spend more time with her. Maybe they could take a trip somewhere, once the school year was over. From what he remembered, she would be graduating this year too.

"Thank you for your help," he said, "I'll tell you how it turns out."

She smiled at him, amused, and nodded. Then Cale set out to track down Julius, so that they could have a sorely needed conversation. Because really, if he was going to marry Julius, they had to talk about some things first. Like, did Julius even have any feelings for him? Cale couldn't really remember what had been said after the word marriage had left Julius' mouth, but he was pretty sure that no mention of emotions had come up.

And Cale wasn't going to marry somebody that didn't love him. Or that couldn't grow to love him — that was, after all, what the courting period was for. Getting to know one another and a chance to let feelings sprout naturally.

His steps sped up as he increased his pace. The first place he looked at was the cafeteria, because it was still early enough in the morning that it was open for breakfast. Julius wasn't there. The next place that Cale checked was the library, because he was simply used to Julius being there so often. But he supposed that that was only when Cale was there too. In the end, Cale found him in Julius' dorms, the location of which he had had to ask of a passing student.