To Live Again, For the First Time!

Kayden didn't think about Theodore's sister any more than he had to. The remaining times he did were mainly due to curiosity.

Everything about this little sister seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of mist.

He felt like this was something that was going to give him a headache the more he thought about it and he definitely wouldn't reach any conclusions unless Theodore himself told him more.

Changing the topic was the next best thing.

"So are you planning to take the test?" Kayden Theodore about his thoughts on the trial Master Sungcha had given everyone in the lecture room.

"Sure, why not. It's not like I have anything to lose. Though it barely seems like a test. I wonder why he is so adamant that no one will succeed." Theodore tried his best not to undermine the capabilities of a Master, but just the formatting of the test was already off-putting. 

"He is giving us a whole week to try." Theodore already weighed out the pros and the cons coming up with the conclusion that the most he could lose would be some time, while he had nearly everything to gain.

It was a small gamble so to say.

"I guess you're right." Kayden thought about it a little more and agreed with Theodore. Both of them didn't seem to care as much as their classmates did.

They talked a little more about their class and Theodore spoke a little about the class he attended in the morning.

"Are you waiting for a text from your girlfriend?" Theodore chuckled.

He noticed that Kayden seemed to be a little distracted. He was glancing at his phone every two seconds as if waiting for a message from someone, incredibly impatiently.

'And he says I'm whipped, just look at him. His image right now is probably the dictionary definition of whipped!'

The sudden comment made Kayden realize how out of it he was acting, making him jump out of his seat, trying to cover Theodore's mouth before he said any more.

"Don't say that! You're going to get me killed!" Kayden looked around to see if anyone heard Theodore, but there was literally no one around.

Just when he relaxed, moving away from Theodore, sitting back down, a voice sounded from behind him.

"Oh, he's hotter than I expected."

The sudden appearance of a new voice shocked both Kayden and Theodore, Kayden more so than Theodore. 

A figure appeared behind Kayden, who had been standing so that both of the two boys wouldn't be able to see this person from their perspective.

"Is it necessary to be that shocked?" This question was directed to Kayden.

"Were you talking about me behind my back?" Her eyes narrowed at Kayden's perspiration. 

The newcomer was a female significantly shorter than Kayden and even more so than Theodore. If it were to be estimated, it would be around 168ish cm.

Her hair was a light ginger color which looked to be mixed with some darker strands. 

Her eyebrows, dark and well-defined, were well paired with her dark brown eyes, almond in shape, which were accentuated by her long lashes.

Her face full of freckles just served to top it all off.

She was a stunning beauty.

"Gen, you're here," Kayden said, nervously. 

He definitely didn't want to talk about what he and Theodore were speaking of before she arrived, so even though he wasn't guilty of anything per se, he sure acted like it.

Theodore wasn't nearly as concerned, but he was surprised to see Gen right now, though thinking back, she did seem to have said that she would meet them after their lecture…

It was just that so many things had happened since then that Theodore hadn't put that thought very high in his list of priorities of things to be thinking about.

He stood up and politely introduced himself to his senior, shaking her extended hand.

"I'm Theodore."

"Ginevra." She responded with her own greeting smiling, exposing her pearly white teeth.

To be honest, both of them found the other to be completely different from their expectations.

Well, they both expected the other to be less attractive, to put it mildly.

This was especially true for Gen's image in Theodore's mind.

With the way Gen was described, she seemed to be someone, secluded, who lived in her duvet.

[Dictionary: duvet- a soft quilt filled with down, feathers, or synthetic fiber, used instead of an upper sheet and blankets.]

Probably with some chicken cup noodles stacked up on one side, only visible due to the light from her phone screen which also reflected black circles under her eyes. 

She was also made out to be some hot-tempered demoness or child?

Now, Theodore looked at this woman in front of him and all his expectations were blown out of the waters.

She looked like...

A normal person?

Albeit with higher specs when compared to your average pretty girl.

There were no black eye circles, no messy hair, no glasses, no moody aura...

Though she didn't look like an angel, she was no devil either. It wasn't at the level where this grown man sitting next to him should be this cautious around her.

Definitely not someone who pulled all-nighters, and though she had a number of ear piercings, they didn't make her look any less... cool?

Though Theodore had many doubts, he didn't show it on his face.

Gen, on the other hand, didn't hold back.

"You're hotter than I expected." She repeated, studying Theodore's face intently.

"Thanks?" Theodore had a number of girls confessing to him before, one senior sister just yesterday, but people who so bluntly complimenting his looks were few and far between.

Not nonexistent, just a minority.

They all sat back down on the bench, with Gen sitting next to Kayden, diagonal to Theodore.

With Kayden sitting across from him, Theodore could see Kayden staring at him with a strange look.

"Hm. You're right, he is hot and he has a brain too, the world isn't as fair as you thought Gen." Kayden nodded contemplatively.

"I never said the world was fair, I just said that these cases should be in the minority is all." Gen refuted.

With everyone staring at him, Theodore didn't show signs of discomfort, but there were hints of confusion.

"Do you guys always do this?" Theodore asked. He was asking about how they were talking as if he weren't there, but his words were easily misinterpreted.

"No. I don't usually stare at guys as if I were gay, which I'm not, not that I'm against anyone that is." Kayden started rambling.

And the rambling continued.

"But as for the staring, I can't say the same for Gen. She has a thing for good-looking guys, not that she actually has a thing for them..." 

"Just shut up." Gen had to stop the misery, it's the least she could do for Kayden. A cue that he promptly took.

"What he means is I like looking at handsome guys but I don't date them. Eye candy you know. Like in a fan kind of way." She didn't elaborate.

Theodore restrained himself to a nod.

'Past relationship problem?' He theorized, not that he would know. He didn't have any experience to speak of so it wasn't exactly his expertise.

"So what were you guys talking about." Gen changed the topic skillfully, to which Kayden's face darkened a little.

"Our last class, there was a master who came in and gave us a test to finish by next week, looking for a disciple," Theodore responded.

Kayden who sat across from him gave Theodore the look of someone looking at his savior, inwardly thinking, 'nice save!'

"Really? Who?"

"Master Sungcha." Kayden joined in the conversation.

Gen's eyes widened at the revelation.

'I thought that old man was never going to take in a student. This is big news. I wonder what kind of test he's come up with.'

Well, Gen wasn't staying in the dark for long.

***

Sneak Peek into Kayden's mind while rambling)

Kayden: No. I don't usually stare at guys as if I were gay, which I'm not, not that I'm against anyone that is.

Kayden: 'God damn, what am I say!'

Kayden: 'Can't you just stop already?'

Kayden: But as for the staring, I can't say the same for Gen. She has a thing for good-looking guys, not that she actually has a thing for them...

Kayden: 'Oh I'm so getting killed.'

Kayden: 'Please pray for me. No, I'll just pray for myself.'

Kayden: 'Why am I still not stopping??!!'

Gen: Shut up

Kayden: ...

Kayden: 'Thank god.'