Silent Hearts: Operation Breaking His Ice Heart (Complete)

Chapter 14

Ada's POV:

Over the next few weeks, our relationship began to shift in ways I hadn't anticipated. Rhythm was still the same in many ways—quiet, reserved, and sometimes impossibly stubborn—but a new side of him emerged, one I never thought I'd see. The Ice Prince everyone knew seemed to have melted away, replaced by someone warm and attentive.

He smiled at me now—not the rare, polite smile he used to reserve for formal occasions, but genuine, soft smiles that lit up his entire face. They were the kind of smiles that made my heart race, the kind I found myself replaying in my head long after they happened.

Ceidence, ever the observant older brother, couldn't help but tease us. "Possessiveness runs in the family," he told me one day with a knowing smirk. "You should've seen Dad back in the day. Rhythm definitely inherited that from him."

He wasn't wrong. Rhythm had become fiercely protective, sometimes to the point of being overbearing. He didn't like me mingling with our other classmates, which, as their class president and a student assistant, was practically impossible to avoid.

"What should I do, Rhythm?" I asked him once, only half-joking. "You know I can't just ignore people."

His reply was simple, delivered with a faint pout that was more endearing than intimidating. "Just don't get too close."

I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head at his seriousness. Even with his possessiveness, there was something incredibly sweet about how much he valued my attention. It felt like we were already in a relationship, even though we'd never talked about our status.

And so, I continued my little tradition of leaving cookies in his locker, something I'd been doing long before any of this started. Watching him enjoy them, seeing the slight curve of his lips as he savored the taste—it made everything worth it.

"Looks like the Ice Prince is officially dethawed," Sunoo teased one afternoon after I showed him one of Rhythm's texts. As usual, he was relentless in his commentary. "Next thing you know, he'll be writing you poetry or serenading you under your window."

I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop myself from smiling. "He doesn't need to do all that," I said softly. "He's already... enough."

And he was. Every small gesture, every lingering glance, every quiet moment we shared—it all felt perfect. At night, he would flood me with messages, our conversations stretching on until I unknowingly dozed off. My family had started to notice too. They knew I liked him—it wasn't exactly a secret—but I had a feeling they suspected Rhythm felt the same.

Despite all of this, we didn't have a label for what we were. We never talked about it, never defined the relationship we had. But I realized I didn't care. Labels didn't matter when everything felt this natural, this right.

I was happy. Rhythm was happy. And as long as that remained true, nothing else mattered.

One evening, while I was finishing my duties as a student assistant at the registrar's office, every after class, I have 5 subjects every day. I have a Late night duty every wednesday since I only have 3 subjects. I didn't noticed Rhythm standing outside, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. It wasn't unusual for him to pick me up after my shifts lately, but tonight, there was a tension in his posture that caught my attention.