Chapter 42: My Subject ♡
One and a half months had passed since Liam stayed over at Miria’s house because of her mother’s arrival.
Liam’s days during this one and a half months had been very calm. His routine was simply going to school, paying attention to lessons, eating together with his friend Darren or sometimes Silvia, then studying with his study group, and after that returning home to work on several commissions ordered by clients.
Sometimes Miria would also visit his apartment to clean or even cook food for him. Liam was very grateful that there was still someone who cared about him.
Yes... those were quite peaceful days.
And what surprised him the most was that Liam had not been hypnotized by Miria for the past one and a half months. Strange, that was what Liam thought. He felt uneasy and began to fear being watched 24/7 by Miria.
But who would have thought, it turned out to be unnecessary paranoia. Miria really did not monitor him or hypnotize him.
Tomorrow was the day when the final semester exam rankings would be announced.
He hoped he could at least get a fairly high rank, considering Silvia had helped him and even given him extra attention by tutoring him.
Liam did not want to disappoint Silvia. He also remembered Silvia’s request to disappoint her very strict and terrifying mother. Liam certainly still wanted to stick to the plan of becoming perfect and taking first place so that Silvia’s mother would be disappointed and stop paying so much attention to her.
He did not actually want to corrupt Silvia.
The moonlight shone through the curtains of Liam’s apartment. He was lying on his bed, staring at his phone screen. Several contacts of people close to him were lined up on the screen.
His eyes locked onto one name.
Silvia.
Liam hesitated for a few moments before he finally tapped the contact and typed a few words.
[Silvia.]
[Y’know... I just wanna say... thank you for taking the time and giving extra attention to this study group. I hope we didn’t disappoint you or even trouble you.]
After typing that, he immediately turned off his phone and placed it on the bed.
Liam closed his eyes.
Considering Silvia’s personality, she would probably reply with just "not at all" and the conversation would end there.
Yeah, that was better. Maintaining the relationship as just a mentor teaching her classmate, without crossing the line or making it complicated.
Less than twenty seconds had passed when his phone vibrated on the bed.
***
Silvia was sitting at her study desk, writing her daily diary for her mother.
Bookshelves filled the walls of her room, packed with study materials, competition study guides, some classic poetry, and many romance novels.
Beside her bed was a small house with a wool carpet, where a chubby orange cat was curled into a ball napping. Hearing the sound of Silvia writing, its eyes opened halfway for a moment.
Silvia had just finished showering. She was wearing white pajamas with a print of three stacked bears — a polar bear at the bottom, a panda in the middle, and a brown bear on top.
Her hair was still wet, wrapped in a towel. She sat cross-legged on her study chair.
While she was focused on writing the diary, trying to find a way to lie to her mother, her phone suddenly rang and the screen lit up.
When she saw the name, she froze.
Liam.
’He initiated a message to me first?’
The tips of her ears turned slightly red. She put down her pen and picked up her phone. Her slender fingers hovered over the screen for a few seconds.
’Why is he messaging me this late at night? Is this about studying? Or... has Liam finally accepted my request from back then...’
Thump.
A slight feeling of embarrassment surged inside Silvia, followed by a strange tingling heat.
When she read the message Liam sent, that feeling immediately disappeared and was replaced by a little disappointment.
’It’s about our study group...’
She took a deep breath and started typing a reply.
[Not at all. Everyone had a great time, it was even very enjoyable for me. Also, your grades have improved significantly. So, keep it up.]
"Oh... shh... is that answer too formal?" She bit her lip lightly, looking at the cold sentence with slight frustration.
Then, Liam’s reply appeared shortly after.
[Is that so...? Thank goodness. In that case, I will study even harder, Silvia.]
Seeing that, a natural smile appeared on Silvia’s lips. She started typing again.
[Good luck. But remember, take care of your condition and your health. If you can maintain that and break into the top 50, then I will give you a reward.]
Silvia tapped send. Her heart was now beating a little faster, and the reward she had in mind had been stored in her thoughts for quite a long time.
[Just wait until tomorrow. I won’t just break into the top 50, but I will also break into the top 10, and maybe even push you out of the top 1, Silvia.]
Seeing that message, Silvia was silent for a few moments, then a very wide smile decorated her lips.
Thump. Thump.
She stomped her feet on the floor out of excitement.
She immediately typed back.
[Let’s see tomorrow ^_^]
After that, Liam sent a smug cat emoji, signaling that the conversation had ended.
Silvia could not calm her racing heart for a long time. Her eyes then shifted toward the chubby orange cat that was resting.
She stood up, picked up the cat, and buried her face in its thick fur.
Silvia then looked down, realizing the cat was disturbed. She immediately stroked its chin, which made the cat purr.
"ChubChub." She whispered, calling her cat’s name. "It seems he still hasn’t noticed."
Miria picked up her phone, turned on the screen again, and tapped on Liam’s profile in the chatting app.
Liam’s profile picture showed his hand wearing a drawing glove while holding a drawing pen with a tablet displaying his cool-looking sketch.
Silvia looked at the contact name, which was still simple.
"Liam Kent."
She hesitated for a few moments before pressing the edit button.
She deleted "Liam Kent" and typed something new.
A line of text appeared on Silvia’s phone screen.
"Clueless Dummy."
Remembering that Liam still had not noticed or remembered her from elementary school, even though they had met back then, made Silvia frustrated and changed his contact name to that.
However, after thinking about it again for a while, she decided to delete it too.
In the dark room, the sound of a girl’s typing could be heard very softly. Her eyes were locked on her phone screen, and the wide smile on her lips could not disappear.
After typing for quite a while, the new contact name for Liam appeared on Silvia’s phone screen.
[My Subject♡]