OPERATION: BE MINE

Chapter 6: Punishment

Birds were flying freely in the orange sky, leaves falling on the ground due to the cold breeze, and the setting sun could be seen on the east side.

It was the scenery of a serene and peaceful afternoon.

From the rooftop, Heather was staring blankly at the students playing soccer on the field. A guy wearing a black jersey with blonde hair dashed towards the goal keeper and stood in front of him.

He threw a glance at the girls cheering from a distance and winked at them.

The girls screamed wildly and chanted his name.

"Kyaahhhhh! So handsome!"

"Sebastian, look at me!!"

"Seb, you're so hot!!!"

"Go Sebastian!!!!!"

With a smirk on his lips, he stretched his leg backward and effortlessly kicked the ball. After that, loud shouts and cheers were heard from the spectators sitting on the bench.

"Damn it!"

Heather jolted and turned her head on Margaux, preparing to scold her.

But when she saw how she angrily threw punches and several kicks into the punching bag, she pursed her lips and decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Damn.."

Heather sighed and lazily picked up the reed broom leaning against the railing and reluctantly swept the floor.

"Don't put that kind of expression on your face and quickly move your asses so we can finish this faster and get home early." Cindy told them.

"Hmmph! You keep asking me what I want to eat. If I told you I wanted to eat you, would you let me?!"

Ethan murmured, his hands holding his phone. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking annoyed, but still quickly moved his fingers and replied.

Heather looked at him curiously but chose not to ask. It's been more than a week since Ethan started dating 'someone' but they still don't know who that person was.

"Are you guys hungry? Let's order some pizza?"

Cindy asked cheerfully, she looked like she was still in good spirits. Cindy has the weirdest hobby among the four.

Yes it was... Cleaning. Just by looking at her smiling face while humming a random song, it seemed like she was really enjoying what she was doing.

"Then what? So we can clean the whole campus after that?"

Margaux rolled her eyes and picked up the duster. She looked at it with disgust and glanced at the blasting rackets lined up in front of her.

"That bastard four eyes. When I see that guy, I will ...."

"You'll do what?"

Margaux flinched when she heard a cold voice from behind. She slowly turned around and looked at the guy, frowning.

"What the f**k are you doing here?"

Margaux asked irritatedly, shooting glares at him.

"What? Why can't I be here? It seems like I never heard you own this place."

Margaux raised her middle finger and just sneered at him.

'I wonder how you would react when you found out that this school belongs to me.'

"You guys done already?", Cindy asked in shock.

The man in the polo shirt nodded and replied, "Yeah."

"Wow, you sure are fast!! We're not even halfway here yet."

Ethan said, and looked at them in amazement.

"Oh oh. Are you here because you wanted to help us? You guys are so kind!"

Esther asked and excitedly approached the man, jumping up and down.

He smiled at him and opened his mouth to answer him when he was suddenly interrupted by the guy with eyeglasses.

"Don't think too much, we don't have a choice. The Dean forbade us to go home until we finished this work."

Margaux laughed mockingly.

"Men are truly lazy, they prefer doing easy work and letting women suffer instead."

Margaux said as if whispering to herself, but her words were quite higher than usual.

When the guy with eyeglasses heard her sarcastic remarks, his mouth unconsciously curved into an ironic smile.

"If only you're not too stagey to clean the comfort room, then both of us should be done with our task by this time now."

Margaux glared at him and threw the duster she was holding onto the floor.

"Are you saying that it's my fault?"

Heather rolled her eyes. 'Ugh, here we go again.'

"I'll go down first and throw away the trash."

She said as she lifted two garbage bags.

"Hey, there's more here!"

Cindy shouted after her but Heather had already shut the door.

"I'll help you there!"

Ethan said happily and offered the student in a polo uniform. He gave him a smile in response.

"Thanks."

"Oh! Now that we are six, I'll ask my boyfriend to bring extra drinks."

Ethan exclaimed.

He looked at him and furrowed his eyebrows.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Yup!"

Ethan nodded his head and opened his messenger app, typing on the keyboard. He was so immersed in his own world that he didn't notice the suspicious and doubtful gaze of the other party.

______

"Pa!!"

From the second floor, Heather jumped down to the first floor. The storage room that they were assigned to clean was on the fourth floor.

In fact, Heather was so nervous. She had heard a lot of scary stories before that this corridor was haunted.

If only she didn't want to hear Margaux arguing with the guy again, she wouldn't have the guts to leave the storage room all by herself.

When Heather heard faint footsteps earlier, she jumped down the stairs and fled as fast as she could, not caring if she'd got injured or not.

Cindy, who was following her, holding a garbage bag. "....."

"....Nevermind."

_______

Heather breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar entrance that they had walked into before. She happily swings the garbage bag in her hand while whistling.

When, suddenly, Heather saw a figure blocking the hallway. She immediately halted her footsteps and stopped five steps away from him.

The guy with his back facing him, messing his chestnut hair using his left hand, looking worried and anxious.

A minute passed by but the guy didn't seem to notice her presence. Even though she couldn't understand what the person on the side of the phone was saying, she could see his uneasy expression.

Therefore, Heather, as a natural thick-faced person, took a step forward and cheekily asked the guy.

"Who are you talking to?"

The guy flinched and immediately turned his body towards her. Heather smiled when she saw his surprised expression and walked slowly towards him. Then, she stopped in front of him and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"It's really you. What are you doing here, Josh?"

Josh averted his gaze and lowered his hand to secretly end the call. Heather pretended like she didn't see anything and continued asking him instead.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh... J-just taking a walk."

Josh gulped and answered him nervously. Heather smiled at him again before tossing the garbage bag she was holding and flinging it over the top of the piled garbage.

"The teacher said that you were absent this morning because you had something important to do. You're done already?"

Heather clapped her hands to remove the non-existent dust in her hands and threw a glance at him.

He nodded his head and threw the remaining garbage bag into the trash can.

He was distracted the whole time and didn't realize that he had only used a bit of force. So, instead of landing on top of it, it accidentally hit the middle part and the pile of garbage collapsed.

"...."

"Pfftt"

Heather pursed her lips, trying not to laugh, but she didn't manage to prevent the small noises escaping from her lips.

She found him getting cuter every time they met.

"Ahem.. let's go."

Heather nodded at him while grinning. Josh turns around and starts walking while rubbing the back of his neck. Heather once again saw the redness spreading in his ears and giggled.

'It seems like this is what he looks like when he's shy.'

No one talked throughout the whole time, but the atmosphere seemed harmonious and peaceful. Heather felt like she was walking on cloud nine, she couldn't keep herself from grinning wide from time to time while stealing some glances at the guy.

When Heather suddenly paused and her eyes lit up. She quickly took out her phone from her pocket and opened the camera.

"Josh."

Heather yelled and the guy immediately turned around.

Seeing this, Heather quickly raised her hand and showed a peace sign in front of the camera.

"Click!"

Heather pressed the shuttle.

"What are you doing?"

She shakes her head and raises her hand to look at the photo. Her expression turned into a scowl when she saw herself with disheveled hair and grinning like an i***t.

"Ugh."

Heather rolled her eyes and decided to delete the photo only to witness a handsome guy in the background, frowning at the camera. She almost forgot that she had taken a picture because of this guy.

"Nevermind. Let's just take another shot next time.

Heather whispered and saved the photo in her gallery. Tomorrow, she'll show off this picture with her friends. She instantly feels excited and happy inside just by imagining the envious gazes of her friends. Heather chuckled and held her phone with both hands, treating it like a treasure.

"Uh..why are you the one throwing trash instead of the boys in our classroom?"

Heather froze for a while and met the gaze of the guy. This was the first time that Josh took the initiative to start a conversation with her.

"..... It's a punishment. The Dean punished us by cleaning the storage room."

Heather answered while looking away from him. Just by looking at the guy in front of her, she can feel the emotions stirring up inside her.

'Damn you heart, stop beating fast and wild. Are you trying to kill me?'

Heather ranted in her mind.

The guy was taken aback for a minute and looked at her in astonishment.

"What, why? What did you do?"

Heather stopped walking and stared at the guy who was now one step ahead of her.

"Why are you asking me? Weren't you with those seniors yesterday?"

_____

"Ahh so you are sophomores."

The guy with the polo uniform said and took the cup of bubble tea that Ethan handed him.

"Uh-huh. Actually, we're supposed to be juniors this year. If only not for that fool Heather, we wouldn't be stacked as sophomores just like now."

The guy chuckled and took a sip of his bubble tea.

"You guys are really good friends."

He smiled and complimented her only to receive a sneer from the others.

"Ugh, good friends? She's a f*****g pain in the ass. It would be better if her mother aborted her just when she found out that she was pregnant with that b***h!"

"Haha you're so mean, don't say that!"

Ethan also laughed and handed him a sandwich.

"It's true though. Here's one for you, Kevin."

Kevin thanked him and took a bite.

"This one is from your boyfriend?"

Ethan hummed. He looked at him while chewing his food.

The take out that they're eating now was sent by his boyfriend online. They started dating last summer vacation right after he and his friends participated in the volunteer program.

It was when Ethan was resting on the bench that he accidentally saw a written phone number on the tree and decided to text it. And after that, was the beginning of their bitter-sweet relationship.

"How about you? Are you dating anyone?"

Kevin stood up and nodded his head. He bent down and lifted a box of ping-pong balls.

"Yeah."

"Woah really? Are you dating that guy with eyeglasses?"

Kevin paused and looked at him with disbelief.

"Are you insane?"

"What? I saw you guys acting lovey-dovey with each other yesterday."

Kevin burst into laughter and patted his shoulder.

"We're just fooling around! Don't ever mention anything like that again or else Lee will surely get mad!"

"Lee? His name is Lee? You're both Chinese."

Kevin chuckled and nodded at him.

"Yo, Margaux. My new friend told me that that bastard's name was Lee."

Ethan said while hooking his arms around Kevin.

Margaux smirked internally and thought to herself. 'This b***h really hadn't changed at all. Pretending to be kind and lying without batting an eye, just to let the other party lower their guard and get information from her. What a devil.'

"Haha don't call him a bastard. Lee only looks cold and hard to approach, but he is a softhearted guy. Hmm, how do I say this.. He is a gentle and patient person and very understanding."

"Are you f*****g kidding me?"

Margaux suddenly exclaimed and interrupted their conversation, arching her eyebrow at him. What nonsense are you talking about? What kind of bastard would raise a hand to a woman!

Kevin chuckled and took a sip of his bubble tea.

"You'll know what I mean if you spend more time with him. Really. He's not that bad."

"Who the f**k wants to be involved with that i***t?"

Margaux said annoyingly. She flipped her hair and walked away from him while stomping her feet.

Kevin didn't mind her actions and just smiled. Ethan, on the other hand, touched his chin and squinted his eyes.

"Maybe...maybe he likes Margaux?", he whispered.

Margaux, who had tripped over her heels, almost fell down on the floor after hearing what he said. Her jaw dropped at her friend's remarks.

'The heck. He likes me? Is that why he was always looking so proud and annoying me just to get my attention? What the f**k! I even got on top of him earlier!'

Margaux eyed the guy disgustedly who was quietly arranging the books on the shelf in the corner.

"Ew. No matter what you do, I would never like you." , Margaux whispered with affirmation.

Kevin quickly shook his head and answered Ethan, his voice a bit higher.

"That's not possible!"

Because of his shout, Lee turned his head and threw a look at him. Kevin waved his hands and smiled at him awkwardly.

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him shrug his shoulders and continued on with what he was doing. He faced the girls and stepped closer and whispered to them.

"That is not possible."

Ethan and Margaux looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"What do you mean?", Ethan asked.

Margaux also almost blurted out 'why' just now. Fortunately, Ethan saved her on time and asked the question she wanted to ask instead.

Margaux looked at Kevin eagerly.

"I just know that he won't. You're not his type."

Margaux snorted and rolled her eyes while Ethan laughed out loud. He put his arms around her shoulder and yanked her down.

"What? Why? Hahaha My friend here is so beautiful and sexy. See these cheap piercings? Just take them off and remove those thick eyeliners, she won't look hideous anymore and you'll find her pleasing to the eye! Don't worry, she doesn't look that lousy. HAHAHA"

"..."

Margaux didn't know if she was going to cry or laugh. She didn't know if this b***h was complimenting or insulting her.

"Thanks b***h, but I don't need your suggestion and I'm not interested."

She said and slapped his hands away with disgust.

Kevin also laughed for a while and gestured at Ethan to move closer to him. Ethan did what he said and curiously moved his ear towards him.

"I really don't think so. I think Lee is asexual."

"What? Really?"

Ethan shockingly looked at Margaux and raised his eyes to Kevin. Margaux also furrowed her eyebrows and subconsciously took a step closer to them.

"Yes. Lee was confessed to by numerous girls countless times before but he never accepted dating anyone. He even rejected our school flower twice. I tried persuading him for a while but he really was not interested."

"Maybe he's gay?"

Suddenly, the words of Cindy, who was quiet the whole time, echoed throughout the room. She was now in front of them, sitting at the table in a relaxed manner.

"...."

Since when did this girl get her?!

"What?"

"Ahem.. I asked him once if he was into men but I got beaten up by him instead."

The two girls laughed and changed the subject. And randomly asked him something related to studying.

Margaux silently looked at Lee who was entering the room. He walked past her and was looking at his phone but the tiredness in his eyes didn't escape from Margaux's eyesight.

Margaux frowned. Her eyes followed him, staring at his lonely and gloomy back. Something strange was forming inside of her.

Margaux kept staring at him for a while, her thoughts unknown.

_____________