My Royal Lesson (Kingdom University, #4)

Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Between Us

The worst thing about being in the portal was the amount of attention you had to endure days or even months after the articles were posted. It took me two days to lift my head up again because I was too afraid to meet anyone's eyes. However, the first thing I saw was his figure.

My mind reeled as I shifted my gaze on my shoes, hoping that nobody noticed I was looking at him. Suddenly, it felt like I was back on that day.

***

Steff, Jess and Alice went to the café where I stayed after they bombarded me with messages. It took me a lot of courage to tell them about being an admin in the portal but this time, I couldn't bring myself to talk about Gisel even though they had already read the articles about us.

"Wait, shocked pa rin ako," Jess commented while drinking the coffee I just ordered. "All this time I thought it's Jervin!"

"Oh my god, Yna, the epiphany! Hindi rin ako makapaniwala," Alice added.

"Guys . . ." Steff said, a hint of warning on her tone.

"Oh, sorry."

I drew a shaky breath as I fiddled with my phone. My chest felt heavy after reading Gisel's messages. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to make them worry even more.

Steff suddenly reached for my hand. "Okay ka lang ba?"

The tears that I was trying to hold back started welling up in my eyes. No matter how much I tried to keep a composed façade, they knew what words would make it crumble.

"Wait, magbu-book na ako ng car," Jess said. "Doon tayo sa inyo mag-usap."

"H-how about your classes?" I asked in a strained voice.

"Wala na akong class," she replied.

"It's just an elective. Magt-take na lang ako ng makeup class if needed," added Steff and Alice just shrugged.

Few minutes later, we left the café and ended up in my room. Xander was shocked when he saw the four of us coming home early but he didn't ask anything anymore after Alice shushed him.

It was hard to talk about it at first but with Steff's help, I was able to tell them some of the things that happened, but I left out the moment that were too personal to my heart.

"Oh my god so si Gisel 'yong kasama mo sa Jeju?!" Alice exclaimed. "Grabe palihim at pailalim ka pala kumilos, Yna!"

Jess started massaging her temples. "Ship-ship pa ako sa inyo ni Jervin tapos Gisel pala all this time?!"

"You guys should learn to observe more," added Steff with a smug on her face.

I thought I would cry after telling them but their reactions made the atmosphere lighter. And somehow, I was thankful for that.

"Wait don't tell me 'yong sinulat mo dati sa notebook ko . . . oh my god. Shet ka, Yna, I'm having goosebumps!"

Alice and Jess continued recalling instances where Gisel and I were on the same space and how they didn't realize what was happening behind their backs. Meanwhile, Steff was just chuckling as she added details to some of those moments.

"Talagang mawiwindang ang buong campus sa scoop na 'yon dahil maski nga kaming friends mo ay hindi alam na may landian na palang nagaganap!" Jess retorted.

"Pero mutual landian ba?" Alice asked while looking at me.

"As far as I can tell, yes," Steff answered. "I mean, the whole Jeju thing is already enough to know his intentions, right?"