Days passed by quickly when you were busy. Even though gate's appearance frequency had reduced, ruptures – which only happened at most twice a year, showed up for the third time this year.
My team finished closing the rupture and reported to Francis. And this marked the end of today's work.
"Yo, Ethan."
I was standing in front of a vending machine when I heard someone approaching me.
"Harold."
"Didn't you just close a rupture this morning? Aren't you scheduled for guiding?"
I pressed a random drink and popped open the can.
"No, Ilyas is busy with his final exam, he said he would graduate within two months."
"Oh! Tell me when his graduation day will be, I want to congratulate him."
Harold said cheerfully which made me chuckle, "Sure, Ilyas would definitely like it." then rubbing the corner of the can, I asked, "By the way Harold, is your offer still available?"
"Hm? What offer?"
I turned my eyes away, "You know, that one, the love advice one."
Something clicked in his mind and he laughed out loud. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and nudged me, "Ohhhh! Haha! Our Ethan finally finds romance in his life huh? Who's the lucky one?"
Sipping my drink, I mumbled, "It's not me falling in love with others though, the others are the ones falling in love with me..."
"What? Someone confessed to you instead?" Harold widened his eyes at my words.
"Yeah, two of them in fact."
Harold clicked his tongue, "You lucky bastard, you have the face and money, of course people will like you."
"Hey, do you think people fall in love with me just because of that? I have other qualities too you know?"
When I grumbled in protest, Harold patted my shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, let me guess, one of them must be that guide of yours and the other... Don't tell me it's one of those two?"
Even without mentioning the names we both already know who Harold was addressing. His instinct was really something else, the guess was spot on. I was honestly impressed.
"Wait, that look on your face, don't tell me you don't notice?"
"Notice what?"
"Good heavens, bless your oblivious soul. The three of them literally exude love in their eyes, especially that guide of yours, one glance and you could tell. The office is literally talking about you guys' love story every day and you don't notice at all?!"
What?
My team was talked about because of our love story? What in tarnation was he talking about?
I walked by this office every day and I didn't hear or see anyone talking about any love story.
"You're such a fortunate but unfortunate guy, it takes skill to be that oblivious." Harold shook his head.
"Anyway, about your love advice, it might be cruel, but as you know, we can't date more than one person at the same time, so I'd rather turn down one and settle for the one I'm comfortable the most. Who is who is up to you, I can't give any more advice than this. It would be better for you to quickly give them answer and not hang their hope for too long. Sometimes false hope is more bitter than the harsh truth."
I stored Harold's words in my mind. What he said made sense.
Not delaying or avoiding giving them my answer and settled my heart for one person.
This problem was actually already solved in my mind, I was just too afraid to actually do it.
"It's time to go home, see you tomorrow Ethan."
I thanked Harold while sipping my drink.
To accept or to reject them.
My heart wasn't ready to build a romantic relationship with either one of them.
With the author's influence still tightening around my throat, was it a wise decision to give my heart to one of them? How about me and my family in my original world then? Would I be able to return?
These questions were the ones holding me back from giving them my answer.
'But personally, what does my heart want to do? Who, out of them, will I choose?'
DING!
The notification from my phone pulled me from my thoughts. It was a message from Ilyas.
[Finally done with all my exams! Will I make it there if I go now?]
[The others have gone back, you must be exhausted too, just rest for today. Wait, I'll drive you home.]
I swiftly replied and got to the parking lot. Another notification popped up on my phone.
[Then, do you want to come to my place instead?]
A cute emoji followed at the bottom of his message.
Reading his text, I thought to myself.
'Why not?'
I needed to be sure of my feelings, so maybe spending more time with them would help me decide.
So once I arrived at Ilyas' university, I planned to tell him that I agree to his invitation, but I didn't find Ilyas anywhere in his usual waiting place in the parking lot.
"There he is!"
"Ethan! Come here!"
Instead, his friends were waiting for me.
"Hey guys, what's the matter?"
We rarely talked because whenever they approached, Ilyas quickly dismissed them. He seemed to prevent our meeting as much as he could, maybe he's the type to separate his work and personal relationships.
"Ilyas got called to the principal's office, so we're here to inform you."
"He did? Did something happen?"
"We don't know either, but it doesn't seem like something serious."
I pulled my phone to check if Ilyas sent me a message, but there's no notification from him.
"Anyway, congratulations. Today marks the last day of your final exam right? How was it?" I asked, starting a small talk with them.
"Ugh, don't get me started. It was hell."
"Even if it's a minimum mark, I'm praying to any god out there to let me pass or else all these years I spent were useless."
"True, I sacrificed so much money for student loans, if I can't graduate, I'll be doomed."
Each of them groaned in frustration when they recounted their struggles. It took me back to the moment I graduated from the university in my previous life. I was also lost.
"How about you Ethan? You graduated from university too, right? Did you experience the same feeling as us?"
"Me? Ahaha, that was a different case."
The original Ethan was different from my previous self, he enjoyed going in and out of bars until his study was neglected. He rarely attended class and graduated with minimum score.
"You could say I wasn't that worried about graduating, I enjoyed life too much."
"Wow! So you're that confident you'll graduate with good score?!"
"I see, why worry? You just need to enjoy life as is, be confident that you'll graduate."
'No, you guys misunderstood it…'
They thought too highly of me, completely twisting my words into a positive light. But I kept my mouth shut, not intending to straighten this misunderstanding and just awkwardly laughed it off.
"By the way, has Ilyas confessed to you yet?"
The sudden question made me raise my gaze.
"Ahh, judging from your expression, he already did huh?"
The three of them grinned with an all-knowing look on their face. So even his friends notice Ilyas' feelings for me.
No, it's me that keep denying it.
I had noticed the signs, but I decided to ignore it.
Out of the three male leads in the story, Ilyas chose me. He's willing to give out his heart and all that's left was for me to sort out my feelings about him.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ilyas approaching. Without even allowing me to greet him, Ilyas hurriedly dragged me away from the group.
"Sorry I'm late, let's go now Ethan, bye guys!"
"Huh? Wait-"
Ilyas immediately guided me back to my car and got inside. Confused by his behavior, I asked.
"What's the rush?"
"I want to hide you away."
"Hm?"
I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant.
"Geez, this is why I need to hide you. You don't know your own charm, I'm afraid someone might snatch you away when I'm not looking."
Ilyas pouted, turning his head away as he put on his seatbelt.
Hide me away? From his friends? We were just talking though?
'Don't tell me he's jealous?'
Finally realizing what he meant, I laughed out loud. I didn't know our protagonist had a possessive side.
"So this is your attempt at hiding me away?"
Ilyas glanced at me then shyly nodded. He fidgeted in his seat as he looked out the window.
Gripping the steering wheel, I decided to shift the topic.
"Why did the principal call you?"
"Ah right! Because of my job as a guide, the principal decided to finish my paperwork faster than other students."
Ilyas gave me a beaming smile.
"That means I'm graduating early."