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Chapter 8

Khaiser reaches for the wardrobe and opens it. A few folded clothes stacking on each other become his focus. He takes them out and brings them to the suitcase on his bed before putting them inside it neatly. He returns to the wardrobe and repeats the same actions a few times until he is certain that he got everything he needs in the suitcase. The project that had been told by Elena before the holiday is on the next day. Thus, he needs to get back to his house today to get some rest before starts working.

"Hey, big bro." A few knocks on his bedroom door pull Khaiser's attention away from his suitcase. He can easily guess who is currently standing behind the door from the soft voice. Besides, only two people in this world call him like that. He arranges his steps towards the door and opens it.

"What is it?" The sight of Julianne grinning at him is the first thing he saw. He raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes a little.

"Nothing really important. I'm just bored." Julianne leans against the wall next to the door with her arms crossed.

"Where's Mari?" Khaiser glances around for a while before returning back to his sister.

"She's in the library, doing her homework."

"Why didn't you join her?"

"I did earlier. But I no longer have the motivation to keep doing homework." Julianne scratches the back of her head, still facing away from her brother. "It's not like I didn't do anything at all. I managed to answer three questions. That's actually pretty good if you asked me." A wide smile formed on her face. Hearing his sister's answer while looking at her proud expression sends Khaiser to the edge of laughing. However, he manages to control himself.

"Okay...so, what do you want?" Khaiser clears his throat.

"I want to play some games." Julianne pushes her body against the wall and stands straight. She steps in front of her brother and faces him with a grin on her face. Khaiser stares at her without any words before slowly cracking a smile. He is not sure why, but the way his sister grins at him tickles his little heart.

"Alright, wait a second." Khaiser steps back into his room without closing the door. Julianne is waiting loyally on her spot, watching her brother as he heads to his table to get his game console. Without anyone noticing it, the grin on her face is slowly disappearing. There is something deep in her heart that has been bugging her. It is the real reason why she knocked on her brother's room in the first place. The 'bored' reason was just a minor one. However, she suddenly felt hesitant to voice her thought when Khaiser answered her. She decides to keep it to herself and waits for her confidence to return.

***

Marianne stares at the questions in the book with her eyes half-closed. Her head is resting on her left arm on the table. Her pen is still dancing between her fingers, but it gradually becomes slower until eventually, it drops onto the table. She brings her right hand which is now empty to her mouth, covering it as she yawns. She finally closes her eyes, giving in to her tiredness and relaxing a bit. Besides, she has been stuck on the same questions for a while now. Her heart starts to feel irritated the longer she gazes at them. However, she still does not have any intention to sleep. She still wants to continue with her homework.

After a few minutes of silence with only the soothing sound of the ceiling fans as a company, some other sounds are barging into her ears. Her just relaxed heart becomes irritated again.

"This girl, I swear I'll strangle her." Marianne whispers to herself. Her posture remains unchanged. She takes a deep breath and releases it, comforting herself. She knows that her sister will enter the library soon from sounds that are getting closer and louder and she just waits for her.