Chapter 74: Memory [Part-1]

Inside the memory.

A boy walked calmly down a busy street, wearing headphones and listening to loud music. Faint dark circles under his eyes hinted at another sleepless night.

He wore a normal, casual uniform as he headed in the direction of his college.

Tall buildings passed by him in a blur. After several minutes of walking, he finally arrived in front of the large campus gates.

Without wasting time, he entered the college grounds and walked toward the main entrance. Other students hurried past him, barely noticing his presence. Only a couple of familiar faces bothered to greet him as they walked by.

"Good morning, Azrael."

Azrael looked at the student. He pulled his headphones down around his neck, managing to read their lips, and gave a small nod.

"Good morning."

As the students rushed away, he kept walking. He stepped through the entrance, and the crowd of students only increased as he entered the main corridor.

His classroom was up on the second floor. He chose to take the staircase instead of the elevator, noticing a huge crowd already waiting for the doors to open.

After successfully climbing the stairs, he walked toward his classroom, which was just two doors down the hall.

Loud chatter echoed from the room as he approached. To him, the loud noise meant absolutely nothing. He wasn’t the loud type; he preferred silence over everything else.

He pushed the door open and walked toward his designated seat near the middle. However, when he noticed another student had already taken over his chair, he just stopped and stood there.

The guy sitting in his spot noticed him, leaned back, and smirked.

"Oh, you arrived. Sorry man, but from today onward, this is my seat! Sera just became my girlfriend yesterday, so I cannot let some weirdo sit next to her. Go find some other seat."

Azrael stayed silent for a second, not saying a word.

Sera, sitting in the desk right in front, placed a hand over her mouth, giving a sharp, playful look at the guy.

"Do not say that, Dane! He is a good guy."

"Tchh! Do not take his side, Sera. I am not leaving this place."

Sera sighed and looked at Azrael with a slight pleading gaze, silently asking him not to make a fuss.

Without even looking at her, Azrael decided to walk to the back row. He claimed one of the remaining empty seats and sat down. He turned off the music on his phone, shoved it into his pocket, and silently pulled his textbooks out, setting them on the desk.

He waited for a while until the teacher finally walked in. Everyone straightened their backs and scrambled to their own seats.

"Hello everyone. Today, we have a new transfer student joining our class."

Chaos instantly filled the room! Everyone was curious to see who it was. Azrael, however, looked uninterested. He just stared out the window, watching the clouds pass by.

Just as he turned his head, the transfer student stepped inside.

It was a beautiful girl with long black hair, wearing a stylish dress with a shining hairpin clipped on the side. She walked with graceful steps, her dark eyes scanning the room as a small smile curved on her lips.

"Hello everyone, I am Lia. It is nice to meet you all! I am new around this place since I came from a foreign country. However, my family’s origin is from this country, so I decided to come back here. I do not know much about this city yet, but if I make nice friends like you, I am sure I will learn all the new stuff fast!"

She spoke with casual ease, her smiling face looking around the bright room.

All the students fell dead silent. She wasn’t just stunning; she had this natural charm that grabbed everyone’s attention with a simple introduction.

While the other students immediately started asking her questions, Azrael was lost in his own little world. He had heard her speech, and he was mildly surprised she managed to get everyone’s attention so fast, but he didn’t care. She was the complete opposite of him.

After the quick chat ended, the teacher told her to take an empty seat.

Coincidentally, the only empty seat left was the one right beside Azrael. He didn’t notice her approaching since he kept his gaze fixed outside. Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder, snapping him back to reality.

"Hello? Can I sit here?"

Azrael snapped his head around, looking at her with a surprised face. Noticing the innocent expression on her face, he simply nodded without speaking.

Lia smiled and casually took the seat beside him. She placed her bag on the desk and looked around the class. Noticing all the heavy gazes directed at them, she leaned slightly toward him and lifted a palm to hide her whisper.

"Hey, why is everyone staring at us? Did I say something wrong during my introduction?"

Azrael looked at her clueless expression. He felt slightly amused by her innocence, but he kept his face blank as he answered.

"No. Maybe it is because you chose to sit beside me, and that is why they are getting jealous."

Lia pulled back slightly, placing a hand on her chest with a surprised look.

"Of me?"

Azrael couldn’t help but shake his head.

"No, they are jealous of me."

"Hmmm... Why? Did I do something wrong?"

Azrael stared blankly at the girl playing dumb. At first, he genuinely thought she was clueless, but he quickly realized she was just trying to tease him. He decided to ignore her and look back at the board.

"Hey, hey, don’t ignore me!"

The teacher clapped her hands, pausing all the bickering, and finally started the morning lecture.

Azrael just focused on the front of the room, though he felt her constant gaze on him throughout the entire class, which he tried very hard to ignore.

After the lecture finished, he took his lunchbox out of his bag and decided to eat at his desk. The cafeteria was always too crowded, and he preferred silence over everything.

But his precious silence did not last long. A crowd of students quickly swarmed the desks around him, actively trying to strike up a conversation with Lia.

Azrael felt several sharp glares directed at him, which he tried to brush off. Suddenly, the same guy who had stolen his seat earlier walked up to his desk.

"Hey, I am feeling a bit uncomfortable sitting in your old seat. Return to your spot. I want to sit here next to the new girl."

Azrael stared blankly at him. He knew exactly what Dane was trying to plan, but he wasn’t going to budge again. Even he had his limits.

"Sorry, cannot happen."

"You! That is my seat! If you do not get up, I will call the professor!"

Several of Dane’s friends stepped forward to support him.

"Yeah, man, you should go sit in your own seat."

"Exactly! Lia shouldn’t sit next to a dead guy like him. His boring vibe might rub off on her."

"So, are you going to get up, or do we have to force you?"

Azrael felt incredibly frustrated. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

He remembered his everyday life. It was always the same story. Whenever a conflict started, someone always appeared to support the other guy, while Azrael stood alone. It was no new situation for him. In the end, he always had to admit defeat—not because he wanted to fight those guys, but because he was just too tired of being their target.

Just as he decided to sigh and stand up, Lia, who had been conversing with the other girls, suddenly shifted her gaze. She noticed the guys badmouthing him.

"Hey, why should he get up?" Lia asked sharply. "He was sitting here first. You should stay in the seat you picked earlier. Do not disturb him."

Dane looked at Lia’s sharp gaze. He felt intimidated by the sudden shift in her expression as she boldly defended the quiet kid.

"But—he might bore you. Nobody prefers sitting beside him..."

Lia cast a quick glance at Azrael, who wore a look of surprise on his face. She turned her attention back to Dane.

"I said, go sit in your own seat! He is not going anywhere. If you do not leave, I will call the professor myself and tell her you are trying to force someone out of their spot."

Dane swallowed hard, nodded quickly, and backed away with his friends.

The students around them looked totally surprised by her sudden change in behavior. They all expected her to be a softhearted, easily bullied person, but now they understood they could not take her lightly.

Lia looked back at the remaining students and smiled softly. "Sorry, was I too loud?"

The students looked at each other and burst out laughing at her innocent question. As the sound of laughter echoed throughout the classroom, Azrael just stared at her side-profile. Looking at her beautiful face, which now seemed a little different from her innocent act, he felt his chest tighten for some unknown reason.

He quickly looked away, staring blankly out the window, completely lost in his own racing thoughts.