Zorvath stared at her, half-angry, half-offended.
"Are you making fun of me?" he asked sharply.
Aria was still laughing, holding her stomach.
"I—I couldn't help it… it was too funny," she managed between breaths.
That was all the warning she got.
In one smooth, explosive move, Aria found herself lifted clean off the floor.
"Ayyo—Zorvath! Put me down!" she yelped, kicking the air.
But Zorvath didn't even pretend to be embarrassed.
He carried her straight through the café, ignoring every pair of eyes staring at them in shock, amusement, or horror.
Aria hid her face with both hands as he marched toward his car like she weighed nothing.
He opened the passenger door, set her inside—not gently—and shut the door with a dramatic thunk.
The joke died in Aria's throat.
Suddenly she was sitting inside his silent car, heart thumping, mind blank.
She watched him walk around to the driver's side, her pulse racing for all the wrong reasons.
Zorvath slid into the seat, closed the door, and leaned forward slowly.
Aria froze.
Her eyes squeezed shut.
She could feel his breath near her face.
And then—
A sound.
A loud, uncontrollable snort-laugh.
Her eyes snapped open.
Zorvath was leaning back in his seat, laughing so hard his shoulders shook.
"So hurry for what?" he asked, still laughing. "You thought I was going to attack you or what?"
Aria covered her face with both palms, her cheeks burning.
"I—I wasn't looking for anything! I was just scared! You're like a monster sometimes!" she sputtered.
She wanted to disappear into the seat.
Zorvath finally calmed down, wiped his face, and started the engine.
A moment later, he leaned closer again—this time casually, not threatening.
Aria didn't flinch this time; she only stared.
But Unexpectedly he kissed her soft and gentle.....
And Then He simply reached over, pulled her seat belt into place, clicked it, and adjusted the mirror like nothing happened.
"As you wished," he said coolly.
Aria's jaw dropped.
She looked one breath away from throwing something at him.
That's when Ashwin suddenly opened the back door, placed the gift boxes inside, and blinked at the tension.
Zorvath flicked a hand, signaling him to leave.
Ashwin closed the door slowly, like he didn't want to get involved in whatever this was.
And then Zorvath drove away like it was just another normal day.
As the car rolled through the quiet streets, Aria finally asked, softly but suspiciously,
"Where… are we going?"
Zorvath didn't even look at her.
"Dropping you home. What did you expect?"
He raised a brow.
"A midnight date?"
Aria rolled her eyes and turned toward the window.
"I didn't ask for that," she muttered under her breath.
He heard it.
Of course he heard it.
And the small, knowing smile on his face proved it.
After a few minutes of silence, Zorvath suddenly asked,
"Why are girls like this?"
Aria snapped her head toward him.
"Like what?"
"You all expect a lot from us," he said dramatically.
"And when we make the first move, you act like— 'oh no, please don't.' "
He even put on a fake high-pitched voice to mock her.
Aria stared at him.
"I don't know about other girls," she said firmly,
"But I don't expect anything."
Zorvath gave her a slow side glance.
A very sarcastic one.
"I don't believe that. Not even one percent."
Aria knew exactly what he meant.
He was pointing at the earlier moment—
the look she gave him, the reaction, everything.
"That was an accident," she said quickly.
"Okay? Don't take it seriously."
Zorvath chuckled.
"Nowadays you're having a lot of these 'accidents,' huh?"
He teased, turning the steering wheel.
Aria glared at him.
Before she could reply, the car stopped in front of her house.
She opened the door immediately, stepping out with the speed of a lightning bolt.
Through the half-open window she said,
"I don't know about other men,
but I know one thing about you—
you're such an idiot."
Then she slammed the door and walked toward her gate.
Zorvath watched her until she disappeared inside.
And even after she was gone…
He was still smiling.
____________...
Aria sat in her classroom, tapping her pen lightly on the desk.
"One week since Café Corner opened… and it's going better than I ever imagined."
She smiled to herself.
"Now half the school wants to help manage it. Perfect. Time to plan the next step."
She pulled a folded paper from her bag and began studying it carefully.
Suddenly—
"What are you doing?!"
Sona's voice exploded behind her.
Aria literally jumped in her seat.
"Sona! What do you WANT?! I almost died!"
Sona just grinned, leaning over dramatically.
"So… what are you doing?" she asked, eyeing the paper.
Aria immediately covered it.
"None of your business."
Sona placed a hand on her heart.
"None of my business? Wow. So now I'm a stranger? I didn't expect Aria to be so FAKE."
Aria smirked. Here we go again.
Sona continued her performance,
"Ohhh now I understand. You're trying to abandon me so you can go with Ruby, right?"
Aria decided to play along.
"Oh Sona… you found out."
She sighed dramatically.
"Yes. Ruby and I… we're in love."
Sona's eyes widened.
"WAIT. Are you guys… Lebanese...?"
Aria tried so hard not to laugh, biting her hand to hold it in, and just nodded.
Right then, like destiny bringing extra chaos, Leo appeared out of nowhere.
"Lebanese? Who? What? What happened?" he asked.
Sona pointed at Aria like she just exposed a national crime.
Leo stared at Aria for two seconds and sighed,
"Wow. Who knew this girl would break THIS many hearts in KHSS?"
Aria rolled her eyes, grabbed her paper, and escaped to the rooftop to meet Zorvath.
But the disaster did not end there.
Just as she left, Riswan, and lolan walked in.
They also heard the sacred word.
Lolan asked ,
"Isn't that supposed to be… lesbian??"
Sona nodded confidently like a professor,
"Yes, exactly. Same-same."
Riswan's eyes widened.
"WHO is lesbian?"
Leo replied proudly,
"Who else? OUR QUEEN."
Sona did not waste a millisecond — she sprinted out to spread the news.
Leo turned toward the other side to spread it in their class group.
He typed aggressively like he was breaking news for a newspaper.
That's when he heard a noise behind him.
CRACK.
Like a plate breaking.
He turned.
It was lolan and Riswan… holding their chests dramatically, as if their hearts had shattered into pieces.
Leo typed one last message into the class group:
"Update: two hearts broken."
Send.
Rooftop______
Aria pushed open the rooftop door, the cool wind brushing her hair.
As expected, Zorvath was already there — sitting on the boundary wall, head down, scrolling through his phone with a tense expression.
The moment he saw her, he stood up and walked straight toward her.
Before she could even say hi, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to one side.
"Is that true?" he asked sharply.
Aria blinked. "What?"
Zorvath turned his phone around. On the screen was the KHSS class group — filled with one wild rumor:
> BREAKING NEWS: Our Queen is Lebanese 🫢💔
Aria froze for a second… and then burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"I—I just joked with Sona!" she said between laughs. "I didn't expect her to actually spread it!"
Zorvath ran a hand through his hair, half stressed, half exhausted.
"Do you think this is funny?" he asked, sounding like a teacher on the edge of quitting his job.
Aria, still laughing, said, "Well… yeah! Don't you?"
Zorvath just stared at her — long, confused, half-amused, half-done.
He finally muttered, "What kind of creature are you?"