Shiver Through Burn

Chapter 5

As I watched her walk away with a dramatic flair, my heart couldn’t help but feel lighter. Vida had this way of making everything feel less heavy, even when the weight of my own life threatened to crush me. But as the hallway grew quieter, my smile faded, and the familiar ache returned to my ribs. I had learned to carry it with grace—at least, I hoped I did—but some days, it was just hard.

As we neared the campus hallway by the student council office, we spotted Bien pacing back and forth, while Hellion casually lounged on the bench, utterly unfazed by her mini-meltdown.

"Bien!" I called out, making my presence known.

"Don’t talk to me!" she snapped, not at me, but at Hellion.

"Why? What’s up, baby?" Hellion asked, getting up and trailing after her. "I told you she was the one who suddenly approached me."

"Well, then you should’ve run! You’re an athlete, right?" Bien shot back, raising an eyebrow, looking like she was about to blow up the entire building.

Vida leaned over to me and whispered, "Are all relationships like this? It’s kinda scary."

"You're asking the wrong person," I replied.

"Stop it. You look so cute when you're mad, but be careful, it might fade away," Hellion teased, trying and failing to be charming.

Bien scoffed. "Don’t test me. I have options."

"Awww, don’t. Okay, okay, let me make it up to you. Coffee later? It’s on me," Hellion pleaded, trying to make peace.

Bien pulled her hand away at first, then glanced at me. "So, Soreia, got any free time later? Join us. I can’t trust him."

"I can’t, I’ve got tons of documents to finish," I laughed. "Take Navida instead."

Vida raised her hand with a grin. "I’m in. But there had better be cake. You know my heartbreak is still in progress."

"You’re not even in a relationship, and you’re already heartbroken?" Bien shot back, deadpan.

"That’s what happens when there’s no label. Still hurts, though," Vida replied, and we all just rolled our eyes at her drama.

"Speaking of which, how did the blood drive your department organize, Bien? I heard someone passed out," Vida suddenly switched topics, and I couldn’t help but smirked, knowing exactly who she was referring to.

"Excuse me," Hellion cut in dramatically, "I made a huge sacrifice, donating blood even though I was terrified of needles. I’m the reason they hit their blood donor target! I even tricked the whole engineering department into joining!" He was practically glowing with pride.

I raised an eyebrow. "Is ‘sacrificial blood donation’ your love language?"

"Exactly," Hellion grinned. "That’s how I express my love."

Vida gagged. "Please. Just stop. That’s wrong on so many levels."

We all burst out laughing. The hallway was filling up with students, but we were still there, standing like the cast of our own sitcom. For a moment, it felt light—like the weight of my bruised ribs wasn’t even there.

Then Bien suddenly turned serious, hands on her hips. "Soreia, are you okay? You’ve got a ton of work to do. Can you handle it? I’ll ditch this guy and help you if you want."

"Of course, I can handle it. This isn’t the first time," I answered sweetly, trying to brush off the worry.

"You're so strong," Bien whispered, her voice filled with genuine concern. "But if you need someone to make your coffee, buy you some medicine, or even give you a hug—count us in."

"Even me," Hellion added, raising his hand like he was offering a tribute. "Though the hugging part… might be limited by Bien."

"Shut up," Bien said, smacking his arm. "Go deal with your own problems."

"Too late," he winked.

We all made faces at him—he was gross, honestly.

"Stop doing that, you look like a creep," Vida commented.

"It’d be fine if you looked like Kim Seon-ho," Bien added, completely crushing Hellion’s ego. He pouted and stomped off, as usual, with Bien chasing after him.

Vida leaned into me, clinging to my arm like a child, still whining about her time at the Songkran Festival.

"I slipped while trying to splash my friends, and my slippers got stuck on my ankles. I cried from embarrassment and pain, and they had to cut my Hermes sandals!" she said, sounding like a little kid telling a sob story.

"At least they didn’t cut your ankle just to save your Hermes sandals," I replied, trying to be philosophical.

"Soreiaaaaa, you’re so rude!" she whined, repeating it over and over.

"Oh! Before I forget, here, take thissss." She stopped whining for a second and handed me a small paper bag. I raised an eyebrow, silently asking what it was.

"Pain relief meds and patches," she replied. I tilted my head, still confused, but then a wave of unease washed over me. Did she know about my injuries?

"Well, I handed a ton of budget allocation paperwork to your office, right? That might’ve given you a stiff neck or scoliosis," she said, giving me a smug grin. "I’m just being a concerned accounting manager."

"Thanks," I said simply, relieved. She didn’t know—at least, not fully.

"Awww," Bien cooed, clapping her hands. "Look at Vida! Such an affectionate leader."

"I am!" Vida added proudly. "I even offered Hellion pain relief when he went to the gym for the first time."

"You didn’t give me anything. You attacked me with a massage gun!" Hellion complained, looking scandalized.

"Because you said it didn’t hurt!" she shot back.

"You turned it to LEVEL TEN!"

"Well, you survived, didn’t you?" she said sweetly, like she was the hero in the story.

"Too bad you didn’t finish him off," Bien added with a smirk.

We all laughed again. This is how it’s always been—since freshmen years, when it was just me, Vida, and Bien as student leaders. They were my joy and the relief from my pain. Even though they didn’t know everything about me, there was still this part of me that felt truly seen. We were always like this, walking to the office together, sometimes running. And, of course, Hellion always acts like the sidekick.

Just then, Navida tripped on her heels, shouting, "s**t! Something’s stuck on my toes—oh wait, it’s my sandals!" We all burst into laughter as we rushed to help her. She was one slip away from becoming a human waterfall, but fortunately, no one else was around to witness her clumsy disaster.

That’s when I noticed Octavino standing there, casually watching us like he was on some kind of reality TV show.

"Vida, Octavino's here," I whispered, trying to warn her.

"Huh?!" Navida gasped, her eyes widening like she'd seen a ghost—or maybe just her worst nightmare.

I glanced over and saw him leaning against the wall like he was auditioning for a soap opera, looking mildly entertained. He wasn’t saying anything, but his smirk was practically a full-blown conversation. Navida’s face went from pale to tomato-red in about two seconds.

She froze for a moment, then shot me a look that screamed "Why me?" "Oh no, he saw me!" she hissed.

I grinned wickedly. "If he didn’t know you before, he definitely does now."

Navida suddenly snapped into action. "No! No way!" She gasped like she had just realized she was the star of a blooper reel, straightened up, and tried to act like everything was fine. "I need to leave. Now."

And just like that, she spun around and bolted down the hallway, leaving us standing there like a group of confused statues, processing her dramatic exit like we were the ones who had tripped and fallen. I mean, we were all just standing there, blinking at each other, trying to figure out if we had just witnessed a meltdown or an Olympic sprint.

We watched her run off in what could only be described as a mix of a panic-stricken marathoner and a cat on a hot tin roof. It was like one of those slow-motion chase scenes in action movies, where everything else around you fades into a blur, except Navida’s face—bright red, eyes wide, and her arms flailing like she was trying to outrun an angry swarm of bees. It was almost majestic... in a completely uncoordinated way.

And I couldn’t help but think, If this was a movie, there’d definitely be a sad trombone sound right about now. You know, the kind you hear when someone slips on a banana peel or trips over their own feet in the most dramatic way possible. Like a wah-wah-wahhhh, followed by the camera zooming in on her as she disappears into the horizon, leaving us standing there, utterly confused and mildly concerned for her pride.