Chapter 16: Getting Bullied?
"Leo? You’re late?"
"Hey, Leo! First time seeing you show up this late."
"Good afternoon, Leo."
"Good afternoon, Leo. You’d better hurry to your class before the bell rings."
Leo blinked, momentarily taken aback. It wasn’t the students calling out to him, but rather the workers—the janitors, cleaners, and maintenance staff—who were pausing in their tasks to smile and greet him with an unusual level of warmth.
He looked around, his brows raising slightly in surprise.
Yup, it wasn’t students... these were the workers who usually swept the hallways, carried supplies, fixed pipes—people most students barely noticed.
Yet today, they were greeting him with kind eyes and friendly voices, as if he’d done something extraordinary for them.
Leo gave them a small nod, his expression a bit confused.
Just then, his attention was drawn to the staircase. An old lady—one of the senior janitors—was making her way down with a heavy water bucket. Her steps were slow, and the burden clearly weighed on her. As she reached the middle of the steps, her foot slipped slightly, and the water sloshed out, spilling across the stair.
"Oh—careful!" Leo shouted, leaping forward instinctively.