THE OTHER SIDE. aa

sieben.

     A YAWN LEFT your lips just as you sat down in your physics class. beside you was none other than your blond best friend, reiner, who walked with you the whole time. he eyed your slumped form suspiciously and with concern like you were hiding a dark secret, and you in return turned to look at him with tired glaring eyes.

     "what?" you asked, tone sharp.

     he shrugged and held up his hands in defense, "geez, no need to be rude. i was just wondering why you're tired."

     you sighed and rubbed your eyes, laying your head on the table. other students were filing in but the professor was still nowhere to be seen. a little part of you hoped that he'd be absent or late for a few minutes so you could nap for the time being. it's been weeks since you started meeting up with armin and although you learned a lot about him and enjoyed your time together, it left you tired and sleepy, like a sloth in a cold morning. you had to get up around five in the morning when everyone was already buzzing about just to get to college in time.

     and as soon as you step into the enormous campus, you would be whisked away with activities and noisy classmates with no chance to even rest. it didn't help that you had a job after classes to balance with your friends and college life.

     "y/n... this is the fourth time you look fucked up." reiner dragged out your name, poking your cheek with a pout. his eyes were narrowed, but the concern was clear as day. "did you sleep late, hm? or did you visit the beach again even when we told you not to?" he asked with a pitiful sigh.

     "eh." was all you said, too tired to reply properly. this didn't sit well with the blond and he poked your cheek once again, making you irritated.

     "can't leave me alone for even a minute." you taunted, laughing slowly as you sat up straight. he flashed a grin and ruffled your hair, one of the things he usually does to you whenever he wanted to, making you pout at your now disheveled hair.

     "just wondering why you're tired, idiot." he rolled his eyes after leaning on his desk, "seriously, you've been like a zombie since last week."

     you stuck out your tongue before pulling out your phone from your pocket, checking the time to see that the professor was already five minutes late. you laid your phone on the table before going back to your original position; arms crossed on the table with your face hidden as you close your eyes.

     luckily, reiner didn't pester you about your sleeping schedule anymore and you allowed yourself to succumb to the faint calling of sleep.

     "hey, y/n... you have a boyfriend now?"

     reiner's question piqued your interest and slowly, you looked up to see him looking at your phone with narrowed eyes. your eyes widened in realization once you figured who he might be referring to, causing your heart to plunge deep into your empty stomach. you sat up on your seat and grabbed your phone from his hand, looking at the screen to see a picture of armin smiling brightly at the camera.

     "i, well--"

     "who's that?"

     you flinched at the tone of his voice. it was sharp and almost hostile, and you were perplexed. why would he be furious over something remotely innocent? was it because he thought you do have a boyfriend and you didn't tell him? or was it something else?

     no matter what his reasons were, it didn't calm your thoughts that continued to run frantically. this was the first time reiner sounded truly mad and it frightened you because the giant teddy bear rarely gets mad. you ignored him and looked at the multiple pictures you took of armin every meeting (he asked you to) with a frazzled look in your eyes, sighing once you realized that his tail wasn't visible in every picture. yay for your cropping skills.