Chapter Text
Phainon of Aedes Elysiae, Mister Perfect, Mister Do-No-Wrong, sat right across the aisle from him in class when Mydei was eleven. After so many years, he can finally admit that he was jealous.
Stelle, often picked on for her grey hair, managed to place her full attention, like the Moon orbiting the Earth, on Phainon as he makes exaggerated gestures while charming everyone with stories from his hometown. Cipher, who was supposed to be sitting next to Mydei, switched seats with a boy that was nearly always absent just to sit next to Phainon.
The boy had grey hair and pale skin, bright blue eyes as bright as the sky at noon. He was slim like Mydei was back then, but also taller than everyone else, and sported that smile - the one that got him befriending even the toughest kids in the school.
And Castorice… Mydei swore they were dating.
The socially awkward girl and the ray of sunshine boy, the exchange student and the social reject - it’s a romance lifted directly from a Clockie Studios cartoon. Those two were inseparable for that year. Cas would ruffle Phainon’s natural fluffy hair, while Phainon would give her a big hug, fixing her hair, laughing together.
No, it was not just that natural gravity Phainon had.
It was Math class, and in Year 5, the class got the scariest teacher of the school. Mydei knew him even before he experienced that class, from seniors terrified of that dark blue hair to the one incident when he threw a marker to a student.
There was a quiz related to Pythagoras theorem and some geometry. Dr. Ratio had been calling up everyone to pick up their test papers, from the highest-scoring to the lowest (the last three? Thrown out of the classroom).
When their math teacher read with his deep, exasperated voice, Phainon, Mydei’s jaw almost dropped, and he could only stare daggers while the boy with glacier-white hair strolled up to Dr. Ratio, who sat at his wooden desk with the widest smile Mydei had ever seen, even as he faced Ratio’s eternal scowl.
He returned to his seat, grasping the paper like it was a sacred tome, at a height where everyone around him could see, making the whole crowd around him cheer.
Fifteen out of fifteen - Mydei was able to take a brief glance. He didn’t know where this boy came from, but he swore to punch that self-satisfying face off the map. Though since he was not actually that violent, he resigned to smirking to himself when Dr. Ratio told them to shut up.
His own marks? Well, fourteen out of fifteen.
When Dr. Ratio left the moment the bell rang, Phainon took off to ask everyone what they got. And by everyone, Mydei really meant everyone.
Phainon had just made the girl behind him laugh when that boy ran up to his table – “Mydei! What’d you get?”
Mydei almost jumped in his seat. “I– why do you want to know?”
“Come on, I’m just curious,” Phainon said, a grin blossoming across his face, where he just has that little bit of baby fat left to be irresistible to adults - as the English teacher, Caenis, could attest to.
Mydei muttered out the truth. “Fourteen. But you were just lucky.” He did not know why he said that, but something inside his heart was raging and had its flaming lance pointed towards this damned golden boy and his large blue eyes.
Said golden boy made that unbearable noise, “Ha! Well, better luck next time,” and he stuck out his tongue. To Mydeimos.
“Screw you, HKS.”
“HKS? What’s that?”
“Hyena. You’re a hyena,” Mydei said, before he shoved Phainon away from his desk. The boy giggled before running to the girl in front.
Mydei found out that he was an exchange student. His dumb eleven-year-old brain had to be told by his friends four times that Phainon would leave by the end of the school year. Maybe he should have known then…
History - Mydei aced it and rushed up to Phainon, proudly displaying his 100%, even as Mr. Anaxa pulled him back to his seat.
Arts - Phainon perfected that stupid clay assignment in the middle of the year. Mydei pouted for the rest of the school semester.
Kremnoan - Mydei had the home advantage. Phainon barely passed the first few tests. Mydei stuck a tongue out in their midterms, and they got into trouble for brawling. Mom made him clean up the house for a whole month.
Their little rivalry lasted the whole year. Trouble was sparse, mostly noise complaints. After a few months, Mydei was invited by Castorice and Stelle to join the four in those study sessions.
The setup was him and Phainon next to each other. Cas and Stelle were also close, the former loved to braid the latter’s gray hair, since Stelle was often distracted from work. Phainon, on the other hand, was a mutterer.
“I can’t get it into my head without reading it out!” He said, when Mydei shushed him.
“Maybe that’s why you’re so bad at Kremnoan. It’s not something you pick up by talking to yourself.”
Phainon gave him a grin in response, “Maybe you can teach me, then!”
“Like I’d ever.”
Then, Castorice would be forced to become a host of a flash card game, deadpanning her whole way while Phainon and Mydei slapped their thighs to answer. It was always history - Phainon’s strange fascination with the Chrysos War.
“How long did Imperator Cerydra rule Amphoreus?”
They hit their laps in tandem, Mydei swore he answered a second before Phainon. “87–” Mydei said.
“89!” Phainon answered instead.
The purple haired girl rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t really matter, but Mydei is right.”
“Aww, come on! 89’s close enough!”
“Mr. Anaxa’s not looking for ‘close enough’!” Mydei quipped.
“Please shut up.” Stelle muttered. They continued to bicker until the librarian kicked them out. A young white haired Chinese man – Jing Yuan from the floating city of Luofu.
After the library sessions, they would always see who could reach the school gates faster. The library was situated further in the school grounds, next to the ball courts at the rear of the campus. They ran across several hallways before reaching the open square in front of the gates.
Phainon always won that, thanks to his height advantage and long legs. They waited for Mydei’s mom to come fetch him before Phainon walked to the bus stop to get back to his host home.
“Hello, Mrs. Gorgo!”
“It’s just Gorgo!”
…
“I won. I got more A’s than you.”
Phainon stated as if it was already fact. He raised his arm, holding the little hardcover booklet that was his report card as if it was a case of medals, a giddy smile on his face as one of his knees bounced nonstop. They were in the library after everyone’s report cards were given back to them by Ms. Aglaea, their home room teacher.
Mydei rolled his eyes, quietly presenting his own 5A* and 2A - the exact same as Phainon’s, but with different subjects. For one, Phainon had a C for his Kremnoan, while Mydei got a B for English.
“A draw.” Cipher said, peeking from the back of her chair like a cat, as she straddled the backrest. “Interesting. Well, the lion’s got A* in Math. That’s harder than Kremnoan.”
“No– what?” Phainon exclaims, “Kremnoan is way harder! All that stuff about actions and tones and stuff, you know? There’s far more thinking in it. Mydei’s just good at memorizing things.”
Mydei glared at him, feeling unamused.
Phainon giggled, “Okay, fine… but… uhm,” he said, before the smile plastered on that boy’s face began to falter, his wide blue eyes looking at Mydei. “There’s no next time, is there?”
He could only stare at Phainon as the thought crossed his mind once again. After this little session together, Mydei would never see that unruly snow-white hair ever again. No more contests. No more easy smiles. No more bright blue eyes.
And Mydei remembers that feeling back then. His eyes burned a little, he took a small shaking breath and grumbled something he didn’t remember.
“I’ll be first place again next year!”
“Nuh uh. Cas– you’re good at Kremnoan, right?”
Phainon was about to return to his home - Elysia, some American state halfway across the world, so far away from Amphoreus that Mydei had no clue where it was until Phainon furiously pointed at it on an atlas.
It wasn’t schadenfreude or an unfinished competition… it was something that pierced into his chest, making his eyes feel a little uncomfortable. Time flew, and they got up and away from the library, strolling towards the gates.
“This isn’t over,” that dumb him then said with his teeth clenched. “I’m gonna grow taller than you. You watch me.”
The Elysian scoffed, “In your dreams! And I’ll learn all the Kremnoan I need to beat even you.”
Mydei made a small, petulant laugh. It barely hid his tears. “Like you could ever learn it over there. I bet nobody even knows what Kremnoan is in Eliza!”
“It’s Elysia, dummy!” Phainon shouted into his face with the all-too familiar furrow of his eyebrows - although it did not give Mydei the satisfaction of him losing his temper. “And fine! I’ll come back here just to learn it! We’ll quiz each other. Don’t chicken out!”
Mydei shouted louder, as if even that was a competition between them, “There is no word for ‘chickening out’ in Kremnoan! New Kremnos Public Library! Cipher, you keep score!”
The girl had already disappeared, likely having run away without saying goodbye, while Castorice seemed to be shrinking away from view.
They didn’t exchange phone numbers or any sort of information. Mydei remembered that it was a warm, sunny afternoon. There were flowers littering the streets, people complaining about the heat. They walked to the gate, waiting for Mydei’s mom to come pick him up.
Phainon was flushed from the previous argument, looking at the floor and suddenly timid, “If we… ever meet again…”
“I’m gonna find you when I get taller.” Mydei blurted out. He isn’t sure if he was just hiding the fact that he was going to cry.
Phainon laughed in his face, “Shorty.”
“HKS.”
“Manehead.”
A familiar Paxtra Qlipoth honked, startling him.
“Mrs. Gorgo!” Phainon greeted with a blinding smile, while Mom rolled down the passenger window.
“It’s just Gorgo!” Mydei’s mother shouted. “And I heard you’re leaving soon. Did my De give you a parting gift?”
Phainon huffed loudly, “Like he’d ever!”
“Mydei, get the box from the back, will you? It’s something I bought for Phainon.”
She was always sentimental like that. Kremnoans did always value actions more than words.
After handing the box of snacks to Phainon, Mydei gave the snowy haired boy a little smile. “Well, I gotta go,” he said, almost expecting a hug. It never came.
Phainon’s smile was the weakest he’d ever seen. “Yeah, see ya.”
Mydei got in the front passenger seat. They waved at Phainon.
“Have a safe journey!”
He looked away, already back on his teleslate, burying that feeling of hurt. When she began to drive away from the school, Gorgo muttered out: “He’s such a nice boy. I bet you miss him already?”
No. It’s a good thing for him. No more Mister Perfect. He can live his life normally again. Don’t have to worry about being compared to him again–
Mydei never answered that question.
Eight Years Later
Mydei is not a person who likes surprises.
With the virtual tour function on the university website, he had checked the gym for all the equipment he needed, the communal kitchen, the location of the dorms from his Maps app, and the same for every other facility before he finally made his decision. Therefore, when he found out that the dorm registry was in fact, anonymous...
He mumbled an insult to the administration.
The dorm room itself has no problems. Two fairly spacious beds are arranged symmetrically, facing the window. They seem large enough for Mydei’s height. His mind goes through the checklist: closets on the foot of the bed look fine enough, two desks arranged in front of the window - it’s distracting with the view outside, but there are blinds… which he has to share.
As an only child, he is well aware of his own problems - the anxiety and lack of experience of sharing a room with someone else. He doesn’t even know much about folding his clothes - his mother always took care of that. All he knows is cooking and cleaning, and at that point, he begins to feel inadequate as a roommate himself.
Mydei squeezes the thoughts out of his head, preferring to focus on the tasks ahead. He grabs a band from his wrist and wraps it around his hair into a high ponytail - a ritual before every chore.
The sheets, blanket and pillow were bought from a nearby IPC mall. Mydei at least knows how to make sure it doesn’t come out when he’s sleeping. He can handle the clothes he brought with the hangars in the closet. He stares at the wooden drawers below nervously.
The desk has a socket - and Mydei plugs in the extension cord he got from a hardware store. He hangs the string of lights he got on the way inside the closet, and tosses his running shoes into the lowest drawer, still ignoring the middle drawer supposedly made for clothes.
The last pieces of his corner are a stack of books he brought from Amphoreus to be placed on top of the desk, and finally, his pile of notebooks from high school, every cover with his own addition of chimera stickers and little doodles.
The right side of Room 3-36 of Landau Accommodations, of Belobog University. His new little cozy corner of the world.
Mydei’s lips curl into a triumphant smile, and he lets himself crash onto the bed with a long-awaited ‘aah’ of relief.
Now, to wait for his roommate…