Golden Melody (Editing)

Chapter 80

Chapter 80 – The Quiet Between Thunderclaps

By the next day, Wayne Academy had returned to its usual rhythm.

Digital boards flashed rankings and test scores.
Robots zipped down the hallways delivering files.
Students whispered, laughed, and competed.

Everything looked normal.

But inside Class 1-1— Something was wrong.

Everyone was seated. Styluses in hand. Screens open.

Pretending.

Because everyone felt what was happening.

Zatariel Wov and Jayson Dom—Wayne Academy's golden duo— weren't speaking.

Zatariel sat at the corner, staring out the window.

His notebook had written, "You promised Idiot".

His pen tapped lightly against the page, over and over, like he was trying to keep time with something only he could hear.

At the back, Jayson looked like he was studying.

He wasn't.

Every few seconds, his eyes flicked up— toward Zatariel.

Then back down.

Again.

And again.

His face stayed calm.

But his grip on the stylus was just a little too tight.

Asha Dom sat between them, sipping her iced Americano.

"Nope," she muttered under her breath.
"Not dying between these two today."

She had tried joking earlier.

Zatariel gave her a look that could freeze fire. Jayson didn't even react.

She gave up immediately.

At the front, Thyron Sebastian sat stiffly, occasionally throwing sharp glances toward Jayson.

Still bitter.

Jayson didn't look back. To him, Thyron barely registered.

Jayson leaned back in his chair, spinning his stylus between his fingers.

He'd seen the replay.

The kiss was real.

The audience cheers too loudly.

The way it looked, it wasn't an act.

He exhaled slowly.

He hadn't meant to hurt anyone. He was just doing what he was supposed to do.

Miexha was his fiancée.

If he didn't act like a proper groom, people would talk. And Miexha would be the one humiliated.

So he didn't hesitate to be intimate with her even in public.

But now— Now he didn't know what to say.

How do you apologize for something that wasn't wrong... but still hurt someone anyway?

Zatariel looked calm.

Too calm.

But inside— everything felt off.

"I'm such an idiot."

He wasn't really angry.

Not at Jayson. Not even at Miexha.

If anything, he understood them too well.