Chapter 2
After barely managing to shove her bag into the luggage compartment, Anita found herself consumed by worry.
What if Rutger comes looking for me? What if he asks why I ran away? What am I supposed to say?
But her concerns were unfounded. Rutger didn’t show so much as a strand of hair before the train let out a loud whistle and pulled away from the station.
Maybe I’m just too self-conscious. Did I really think Rutger would spend all day thinking about me? Sure, he enjoys teasing me, but that doesn’t mean he actually cares enough to chase me down just to bother me.
No one could hear her thoughts, but Anita’s cheeks still burned. Pressing her face against the cold window, she shuddered with embarrassment.
Get it together, Anita. Rutger doesn’t care about you—not even a little. The only time he ever interacts with you is when you’re in his way. He probably forgets you exist most of the time.
The station rattled with a deafening noise so intense it could’ve been mistaken for an earthquake. Amid the shaking and rumbling, a dark-haired young man leaned lazily against a wall—Rutger.
It was just past 7:30 AM, and the train to Balder had already left. Now the station was nearly empty, and Rutger, clearly bored, yawned endlessly.
Maybe getting up earlier than usual had thrown his body into protest.
Yeah, normally I’d still be in bed at this hour…
Running a hand through his messy curls, Rutger pulled a train ticket from his inner pocket—12:30 PM to Balder.
Just as Anita had guessed, he originally planned to leave around lunchtime—until he heard she’d be taking the early morning train.
She clearly had no idea how dangerous an empty train station could be.
When Rutger had just arrived and hadn’t even called out to her yet, he noticed several shady men already eyeing her. She probably had no clue. The mere thought of them bothering her made his blood boil. Thankfully, they backed off the moment she was joined by others.
Now what was he supposed to do for five hours?
Rutger glanced slowly around the station, his face painted with boredom.
Seeing nothing of interest, he sprawled out across a bench and covered his face with a newspaper to block the sunlight. He probably looked like a homeless man, but he didn’t care. As long as he could get a bit more sleep.
Later, passengers walking through the station were startled by a strange sound—like air leaking from somewhere.
There, still covered in a newspaper, was a man quietly laughing to himself.
Rutger couldn’t hold back his laughter when he remembered Anita ripping the cover off a book just so he wouldn’t tease her about it.
Passengers passed by, casting wary glances at him as if he were crazy.
Anita had always had a radical streak. On the surface, she seemed calm and gentle, but when upset, she charged forward like a bull seeing red.
Even now, lying with the newspaper over his face, Rutger burst out laughing again.
He could just picture her in her room, dead serious, tearing that cover off.
Peeeeep!
Another train pulled into the station, and his laughter was drowned out by the blaring whistle.
Meanwhile, completely unaware that Rutger had laughed like a lunatic because of her, Anita stared blankly at her book.
The text was clearly black on white, but for some reason, she couldn’t read a single word.
It was one of her favorite books—one she had read more than twenty times.
Is this even written in Imperial?
It looks like it…
Anita squinted and held the book up to her nose. Her eyes, unwilling to cooperate, went cross-eyed and refused to focus.
She blinked furiously to fix them.
Then it hit her—this wasn’t her room. She was still on the train.
Startled, she glanced around, but thankfully, the other passengers were too focused on their own affairs to notice her odd behavior.
Letting out a small sigh of relief, Anita set the book down and looked out the window.
The scenery outside began to change. The trees and plains blurred and gradually turned into tall buildings and brick houses.
Time to get ready to disembark.
After getting off the train, Anita instinctively glanced around.
I’m not looking for Rutger. I’m just admiring the view.
Even she didn’t buy her own excuse. With an awkward cough, she gave up both on scanning the station and on pretending not to look for him, and stepped outside to wait for a carriage.
When she arrived at the school, Anita didn’t bother exploring the campus. She went straight to the dormitory.
After unpacking, she skipped dinner and headed out again.
Hours on a shaking train had left her feeling queasy. She needed fresh air and wanted to stop by the Royal Library of Aberdeen University.
The dormitory and the main building were separated by a long park with carefully maintained landscaping.
Walking along the well-trodden dirt path, Anita let out a long sigh and made a firm resolution:
Avoid him as much as possible. Stay out of sight.
She had no choice but to attend the same school as Rutger, but the campus was as large as half a city, and they wouldn’t be in the same classes.
The chances of running into him were low.
If you wanted to put it nicely, Anita had a natural talent for going unnoticed.
Put less kindly—she had no presence.
Rutger, on the other hand, was always the center of attention, no matter where he was.
No overlap. Nothing to worry about.
Anita stepped carefully, as if the fallen leaves were landmines.
She had always been good at playing alone.
She was so focused on watching her steps that when she finally looked up, her face turned pale.
Tall—taller than most.
Thick, curly black hair.
Broad shoulders.
It was Rutger. Even from behind, she could tell.
As she feared, he was already surrounded by a group of students.
Anita hated crowds, and she was trying to avoid Rutger.
No way could she walk straight into a situation with both.
Even though no one had noticed her, she spun around slowly, like someone who had just remembered an urgent errand.
She tried to act as casual as possible, relieved when nothing happened after taking a step back. She took another step—
“Anita!”
“…”
“Anita! Where are you going?”
She didn’t have eyes on the back of her head, but she could easily imagine him waving those long arms, calling out to her.
But Anita had no intention of responding. She kept walking, pretending she hadn’t heard a thing.
After calling her name a few more times, Rutger must’ve thought he had mistaken someone else. He soon stopped.
Only then did Anita let out a breath of relief.
But she still felt like something was lodged in her chest.
She placed a cold hand over her heart and exhaled slowly.
Her heart seemed to think she had just run a marathon.
It had always been like this. Just hearing Rutger’s voice—or catching sight of his hair—was enough to do her in.
Her fingers turned cold. Her heartbeat raced. Her mind went blank.
Her voice would become unstable, her words would come out in a jumbled mess, and her eyes would dart around, desperately searching for an escape.
Anita couldn’t tell—was she afraid of Rutger…
Or did she like him?
