Chapter 9: Noel (2): Leaving was never an option
"Noel!"
The voice sliced through the hallway.
Noel turned, brows furrowed, to see a girl standing at the far end of the corridor—staring straight at him.
’What the hell?’ he thought, the frown deepening.
A strange weight pressed down on his shoulders—the eyes of dozens zeroing in on him from every corner. Whispers fluttered like insects.
"Um... is she talking to you?" the group leader beside him asked, half-turning from the conversation they’d just been having.
They had been discussing a class project the lecturer had shuffled students into. Being the most financial.... ’troubled’ among them, Noel had offered what help he could—handling the paperwork, the research, and stepping up as the de facto vice leader. Somewhere along the line, their topic had derailed into a conversation about how broke he was.
He swallowed.
"I think... yeah," Noel muttered.
Tch.
He clicked his tongue.