Chapter Text
“Holy shit.”
Holy fucking shit.
Rejoice was fucked beyond imaginable.
He was completely, utterly ruined.
He messed up big time.
He had crossed a line, making a mistake so catastrophic that divine intervention couldn't even save him now. He dragged his palms down his face, fighting the urge to shred the textbooks scattered across his desk. He internally berated himself, berating his own mind for being so reckless and impulsive and so fucking dumb to make a mistake as big as the one he just did.
There was absolutely no logical reason for the stunt he’d just pulled. He had only wanted to help—to offer a hand to their department’s newest student.
But fuck.
The guy was just too pretty and too bratty, a literal mix of intoxicating physical manifestation of divinity and trouble, that Rejoice didn’t know, or couldn’t even decide, whether to kiss him senseless of shut him up by cupping those adorable cheeks of his and just—yep, Nevermind. There were no “didn’t know” or “couldn’t even decide”. Rejoice just wanted to connect both of their lips, kiss him like the end was coming, and swallow him whole.
Fuckkkkkk…
Another groan that could’ve honestly been a whine. Oh, Rejoice really was fucked. Shit, he didn’t even know the guy personally, for crying out loud.
Taking in a deep breath, he tried stabilizing his pounding heart, oh his achy breaky heart. He tried doing it for a few seconds before ultimately giving up the moment he closed his eyes as a very vivid, very specific image flashed behind his eyelids. Fuck, his heart kept beating so hard and so fast it might as well just run away from him.
Frustrated, he ran a hand over his hair, slicking them back while trying to regain his bearings. Who would’ve thought that someone—a stranger no less, could make his heart—him—be like this.
Rejoice genuinely thinks he’s going to lose his goddamn mind. A breathy sigh escaped his lips, followed by a helpless chuckle. He adjusted his position, leaning back further against the backrest of his chair, he stared at the ceiling above. A few seconds later, he closed his eyes and began tracking his heartbeat, focusing only on that.
Somehow, it actually worked. The erratic hammering beneath his palm began to ease, the frantic organ gradually settling back into its normal, safer rhythm.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
He murmured the question aloud, speaking to no one. Lost in his own damning thoughts, he was holed up on the third floor of their university's library. Nobody ever came up to this floor, or at least, hardly anybody ever visited this particular corner of the library.
He was alone, completely alone. And honestly, he didn't mind it one bit. He needed a quiet place, he needed his own solitude.
Which was why, imagine his own shock when a voice actually answered his aimless question.
"Supposed to what?"
Rejoice flinched so violently his knees slammed against the underside of the desk, nearly sending him toppling out of his chair. He whipped his head around, ready to face the idiot who had ruined his peaceful sanctuary.
But his voice completely failed him. His jaw dropped as his eyes locked onto one of the last people on earth he wanted to see. "You," he sneered, not bothering to hide his distaste.
“Me?” The figure only smiled, tilting his head to the side innocently, making Rejoice scrunch up his own expression in utter disgust. Rejoice then glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Jaden.” The name left a bitter taste on his tongue.
“Yes?” The figure, Jaden, asked, still looking at him all innocent and shit as if Rejoice couldn’t see that palpable mirth dancing in the man’s eyes, already conveying an entirely different thing.
Jaden.
One of the very few people that genuinely makes Rejoice’s bones and skin tingle with an annoying itch that he couldn’t seem to get rid of no matter how hard he tried to scratch it. It was just the kind of itch that made him terribly have that fucking urge to beat the shit out of the guy—make him so miserable that no one, not even Wemmbu, would want him.
But of course.
Rejoice wasn’t a fucking monster.
Those were just urges he’d rather keep to himself rather than announce them to the whole wide world—he wasn’t that stupid.
Furthermore, Rejoice was generally a really nice guy—his own and others’ words—generally a decent, likable character despite his tendencies to show signs of genuine mental instability, not that the people around him were that normal anyway.
He has many, many friends, acquaintances, and companions who genuinely enjoy his company. Rarely does anyone even actually dislike him in a way that it could turn into hatred, no. And the same goes for his own cognitive awareness. Rejoice doesn’t hate; he forgives. He doesn’t bite; he licks.
He prioritises peace over arguments, happiness over sadness, the good—the bright side of life rather than the disdainful part of it. He had never, a hundred percent never, hated anyone to the bone.
Until a certain bastard named Jaden fucking decided to wreck Rejoice’s relatively peaceful life years ago, that is. The nutjob had intentionally sabotaged Rejoice’s History project, causing him to almost repeat the entire shit just because he needed those credits.
If that purple blob hadn’t talked the shit out of that fucking pirate, Jaden would’ve never admitted his fault involving Rejoice’s project.
But fuck did Rejoice felt so humiliated and so fucking pathetic for being one-uped by someone from the fucking business department.
So sue him if he was being petty; personally, he didn’t think he was even being petty at all. His resentment and hostility towards the guy was well-justified and understandable enough.
“Come on, that was ages ago,” Jaden deadpanned. “You seriously cannot still be hung up on that.”
Rejoice saw the pirate roll his eyes before fixing the black mask covering the lower half of his face.
“Try being on my end, let me fucking sabotage your whole future just for the fucking funzies, you shithead.”
Jaden’s eyes narrowed in amusement. Restating his stance, he dropped a hand to his right hip and tilted his weight to one side. "I saw what you did earlier, by the way."
“...”
There was a very much, very stagnant silence around them, much like dead air waiting to engulf them.
Rejoice refused to breathe. He fucking refused to make a sound, afraid that he might let out a squeak, a groan, or anything at all.
No fucking way he actually saw me… right?
Right??
Like, absolutely no fucking chance.
No fucking—holy shit.
The bastard must’ve just been messing with him. Fucking getting his revenge, already tired of Rejoice’s continued open resentment towards him.
Rejoice wasn’t dumb. He wasn’t naive enough to fall for such a poorly delivered bluff. It was obviously a trap, created to lure him into something he can’t take back later on. No way.
Just no fucking way.
Rejoice inwardly scoffed despite his growing unease. He stared intently at Jaden’s now cocky demeanour—Rejoice may be unable to see Jaden’s lower face, but he knew damn well how victorious the guy felt.
“What?” Jaden started again, giving the other a challenging look. “Don’t believe me?”
Rejoice opted to keep his mouth shut, purposely meeting that challenging look with a challenging silence of his own.
“Aren’t you curious?” Unbothered, Jaden continued probing. “Aren’t you gonna ask me anything?” He questioned as he shifted his weight to his other leg.
Rejoice still acted as if he hadn’t heard anything.
Shithead can talk all he wants; no way Rejoice was going to entertain his bullshit.
“Hey.”
“...”
“I’m talking to you.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...seriously?”
“...”
Rejoice saw the corner of Jaden’s right eye twitch ever so imperceptibly, yet his resolve at staying silent didn’t waver; if anything, it only grew. Let Jaden lose all his patience, let him suffer through silence, and let him be stuck in a one-sided conversation Rejoice had no intention of participating in.
“Fine,” then came the response Rejoice had been waiting for. “You wanna know what I saw?”
Rejoice only raised an eyebrow without saying anything.
“I saw how you look at the guy, Rejoice.”
…
…..
…No…fucking…way…
…no…
…fucking…
…way…
Jaden watched in utter enjoyment as Rejoice’s mouth kept opening and closing as if he were a fish fished out of the water. He saw the way the guy instantly tensed without even realizing it, the almost unnoticeable change in the air surrounding him.
His composure was visibly faltering in real time. Jaden knew it. Rejoice knew that Jaden knew it. They both knew that the other knew it.
With a flick of his fingers, Jaden finally stood up properly. “Checkmate.”
Rejoice’s heartbeat skipped a beat. He felt a nasty bile rising up his throat, threatening a round of puking from his body. He swallowed hard, forcing the sour, burning taste back down. His hands were now clenched into fists, cold sweat prickling the back of his neck.
“And I…” Jaden let the words settle in Rejoice’s whole being, “...also saw you steal a—”
There was a gap of only milliseconds before that certain word left Jaden’s mouth, and Rejoice took the opportunity to cut him off right then and there. “Stop.” He said, biting his lips until he tasted that tangy flavour of iron roll in his tongue. His heart was beating sporadically, beating so fast and hard that he might as well just have a heart attack right then and there.
Fortunately, Jaden actually did stop, only shrugging before seizing the chance to sit down in the chair settled across Rejoice’s own.
“...You…y-you…” Rejoice stuttered, his whole right arm shaking as he pointed his index finger right at Jaden’s face. “How did you…”