28 Conjuncture

"Beep, beep, beep."

"Ugh, I'm awake," Luna rose sluggishly, her eyes were still half-closed. The slight rattle of the train still acted like a lullaby.

'Why does my head hurt?' She held her head and massaged her temples. The headaches were not serious but faint pulses still tapped in her head. Another alarm startled her and Leo quickly woke up.

"Wuahhh! Why are you here?!" Luna shrieked as she noticed Leo beside her. The surprise quickly knocked her awake from her drowsiness.

The scream from Luna also startled him. Upon noticing his position and proximity to her, he realised the situation and became flustered.

"Uh, I can explain…" Leo rummaged through his mind for some explanation.

"What happened... yesterday?" Luna asked, her voice sounded hesitant and worried. She looked around and noticed the paper wrapping on the table top.

"Oh," that's all she muttered as she remembered everything from last night and exploded in embarrassment before burying her head under the pillow.

Leo looked at her amusingly. 'I guess she remembered it herself. I don't have to explain this.' Then he remembered, 'Oh no, Sylvia is going to bash my head in and feed me to the fishes if she finds out about this.'

"I'm… going to go wash up first," Leo squirmed away, fearing consequences from Sylvia although it would not change anything anyway.

Right after leaving his room, he bumped into Daniel. He was about to return to his quarters, holding his toiletries.

"Ah, great timing," Daniel brought him to the side and whispered to him. "I heard that you had a great time yesterday night but maybe tone it down a little, will ya?"

"It's not what you think it is!" Leo quickly denied it. He knew that Daniel likes to tease him but he did not want to include Luna into it.

"Well anyways, I'm just here to remind you. Be glad it's me and not someone else living beside you. Cheers then," he nodded and retired to his room.

Leo frowned. ��He's the one that created this scenario in the first place and now we have this awkwardness now.' He gave a sigh. 'I hope this would not ruin our relationship.'

He smiled thinking about what happened last night. At least he discovered more about her and her true feelings. 'I'm going to make this the best year of her life. It's the least I can do.'

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Leo wiped his face after washing and looked at the mirror. Being in the shower isolated from everything gave him a lot to think of. He still dreaded meeting Luna in case their friendship deteriorated.

"Ah, damn. It's just sooner or later anyway. Just act normal," he talked to himself and gathered his belongings before exiting.

He slid open the door and Luna was standing outside, surprised. Both of them stood speechless, avoiding each other's gazes before Luna broke the silence.

"I would like to apologise about yesterday. I have caused much trouble for you," she bowed in remorse.

Leo noticed a tinge of pinkness on her cheeks. It was apparent that the event still made things awkward between them.

"It's alright. It's nice to see more about yourself," Leo laughed to try to brush it off.

Luna covered her face with a towel. "But it's my embarrassing side!" She quickly rushed into the washroom and slammed the door close.

"..." Leo was speechless. 'I should give her some space for now. Gotta make my rounds now.'

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Leo was about to start his daily patrol when he saw a commotion going on.

"Come over to Room 27! Something is happening there!" He overheard some students talking among themselves and rushing over to the other carriage.

'Isn't that the female carriage?' He thought.

When he arrived many students were already congregating around the entrance to Room 27. The narrow corridor and the mass of people made it almost impossible to traverse. Male students were not supposed to be in the female students' carriage anyways.

"Excuse me." "Make way please." He squeezed through the crowd before managing to arrive at the source of the commotion; a room with a locked door.

"May I know what happened?" he knocked on the door and asked but was met with silence. The door was locked from the inside and if the occupants locked the master lock, even spare keys would not be able to open it.

He sensed that whoever inside would be awkward in a crowd and he ordered everyone else to return to their respective rooms.

Once the crowd dispersed and the carriage was once again in peace, the door was unlocked, uncovering a male and female student hiding inside.

"Alright, I think I would need some explanations," Leo sat opposite them with patience. Despite that, he was glad that nothing serious happened.

Both of them were dating in secret and longed for each other, they met in secret. During their meeting, some of her roommates came back earlier than expected. Panicked, they holed themselves inside the room thus causing the commotion after her roommates thought something had happened.

'Right, there wasn't anywhere to hide inside,' Leo reckoned. Males and females were not supposed to mingle thus they were separated into two carriages. They had broken a rule. Despite that, he did not want to escalate the issue.

"I'll keep this a secret and forgive this once. Please do not do it again," Leo sighed and waved it off. "I'll give the signal when there's nobody around, alright?"

Both of them thanked him rigorously.

'At least they showed some repentance. Wait, does this make me a hypocrite?'

Leo recalled last night with Luna and discovered a major problem. 'It will be bad if anyone else finds out.'

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Leo was once again exhausted and rested on his bed. It was tiring having to watch over dozens of other students.

He suddenly felt a cold sensation on his cheek.

"Good work for today!" It was Luna with a can of ice-cold apple juice. He was so occupied by his thoughts that he did not realise her presence.

"Thanks," Leo took it and drank it in large gulps. Luna smiled in reply.

'It's back to normal now, huh,' Leo was delighted that they got over it.

Luna rested on her bunk, looking similarly drained and closed her eyes.

Out of the blue, an abrupt knock came on their door.

"I think it's time for dinner. I'll get it for us," Leo gestured to Luna to not wake up. Meals were delivered by the train stewards as the train did not have space for a canteen.

Leo slid the door open halfway when he saw the same couple earlier in the morning and quickly shut the door again.

"Uh, apologies for coming without notice. We would like to say thanks for earlier," the male's voice could be heard through the thin door.

"Who's that?" Luna asked, rising from her rest.

"Oh, you have someone in company right now?" He asked, this time with skepticism.

'Oh no, did he hear Luna's voice?'