'Where am I?" Rudy wondered.
He felt someone's presence around him, so he activated his see-through ability and saw Rize enter the room.
"Rize?" he called out to her.
"Rudy?!" Rize rushed to the bed and moved the curtains.
"What's going on? What is this place, and why am I here?"
"It's a school infirmary."
"Oh, no wonder it felt familiar…" he muttered.
"You passed out!"
"What?"
"I told you not to force yourself too much. You gave your all in the race to win. It's because I asked you to participate. It's all my fault!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean I passed out? I fell to the ground?"
"No, but you weren't opening your eyes or responding to my voice."
'What's going on? Did I fall asleep again? But I only closed my eyes for a few seconds,' Rudy uttered inwardly.
"How long was I out?"
"Like… five minutes? I went to get a juice can for you for some energy, but the vending machine is yet to be refilled."
SIGH!
Rudy sighed in relief and muttered, "I am glad it hasn't been hours."
"Are you okay?" Rize asked with teary eyes.
"Yes. I am okay. Everything is perfectly fine, so don't worry, and don't blame yourself."
"..." Rize continued staring at Rudy with teary eyes and suddenly jumped on the bed.
"What are you—"
Before Rudy could even finish what he was saying, Rize pulled him close and kissed him on the lips. She pinned him down on the bed and continued kissing him aggressively.
After a few kisses, she started to unbutton his shirt, which surprised Rudy.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Don't be embarrassed now. I am sure you want the same thing."
"I do, but…" Rudy grabbed Rize's hands to stop her from taking his shirt off, "But not like this."
"Why are you stopping me? I bet you have fantasized about having sex with me in school. I am fulfilling your dream."
Rudy sat up and cuffed Rize's hand behind her waist.
"You are not wrong, but I don't want it to be like this. I don't want a relationship without a name. And you are just feeling guilty, aren't you? That's why you want to make up to me by doing this," he stated with a knowing look on his face.
"So what? It doesn't make a difference. You will get what I want, so why don't you let me—"
Rudy sharpened his gaze and uttered, "I don't want your body, I want your heart and love. If I wanted your body and simply wanted to have sex with you, believe me, I would have done that a long time ago. I had many chances to do that."
Rize stopped resisting and lowered her gaze.
"Then why do you care so much about my answer? It's not like we will really go out and have a relationship. You say you love me, but you also love Alice. Do you think a relationship like that can exist or stay the same for long?
You will end up hurting all three of us. I am fine with continuing our fling, but I don't want to be in a serious relationship with you. We have no future together," she said with a gloomy face.
"What if I tell you Alice is aware of our fling, and she is okay with it?"
"Even if that's true, a relationship like that cannot last long. It's unhealthy. How long would you continue such a relationship? At one point, you will have to leave everything behind and think of a future.
Even if you are happy with such a relationship, it's purely based on pleasure. You will never be satisfied with it. I am sure, after some time, you want to have a fling with a third girl. You will keep chasing and chasing after the girls. You will never be truly happy."
Everything Rize said had a valid point, but that wasn't applicable to Rudy as he could satisfy the girls in every aspect.
"If that's the case, then shouldn't you stop me from having such a relationship instead? Here you are encouraging it instead and asking me to have sex with you. I want us to have a real relationship, but you want to keep it a fling instead," Rudy remarked with a judging look on his face.
"That's… well…" Rize's face flushed a little as she muttered, "Because I want… to… do it with you…"
"Oh? So you are doing it for yourself and not me?"
"I am doing this for both of us! It's a mutual pleasure. We both will get what we want."
"And what after that? We will continue having sex here and there whenever we are in the mood? After that, what? We will do it until I graduate?"
"..."
"Rize…" Rudy let go of Rize's cuffed hands and calmly said, "Please… be honest with your feelings. Don't force yourself to do all this. You are hurting yourself."
"But…" Rize bit her lips and continued speaking with a painful expression on her face:
"We can't have a relationship. We can't have a future. Even if I start dating you, we will eventually have to break up. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to get attached to me like that."
Rize was surely being selfish, but for Rudy's sake. She knew that she had no future, and she didn't want to drag Rudy's future down. She knew that her parents wouldn't let her marry the man she loved.
Even after that, she was more worried about Rudy than herself. She was afraid that Rudy would suffer the same fate her older sister— Emma's lover suffered. She was scared that her parents would use their connection and frame Rudy for a crime he didn't commit.
Of course, Rudy was well aware of what was going through Rize's mind and why she wasn't giving her answer— even though she loved him dearly. Undoubtedly, Rudy could save Rize from her fate, but what could he do if Rize herself didn't want to be saved?
