29 Handsome

Initially, the moment I come into contact with him, I found him both noisy and ignorant in my opinion; bigger yes, but foolish.

Perhaps the term 'meathead' suited him more but in these weeks he had somehow matured, become an intense and relatively silent type, talking less and practising more.

Cehn, my meat shield.

It absolutely was a respite that the foolish boy from before no longer existed, even though I craved to just be alone right now so that I could carefully process everything that had occurred up to this point, but I felt that I should inform them what was on my mind.

I mean killing them because I lost it and or they slipped up wouldn't be right, even though as meat shields they had failed and I had been eaten, I still felt that these meat shields just needed some harder training so they can become useful the next time around.

"I wanted to kill you that first time, yet I saved you; for Wincu, I wished when I had left she had been eaten so I no longer had to endure her pathetic weeping, but she unfortunately survived. I want to now say that I am not your friend or companion but a potential classmate, and even then, it is a mere word. I wish to survive, I wish to learn in this world and understand it. The both of you know my secret, you have seen how ruthless I can be multiple times over, so keep it!"

I walked away, not even bothering to fully explain myself.

No need, yes, there was no need.

The memories struggled to drown me, but I fought it, feeling my heart squeeze.

*

*

Two months passed.

While inside the house, we forewent the helmets, leaving each of us with our face bare. We have used the suits that had been assigned to us, leaving none from that batch. Now we had to settle for bone and scale armour and the suits I had made protect us to from the cold; hopefully we survive, it would be utterly tragic after all my effort if we froze to death.

The automatic feeder had finished a month ago and feeding ourselves every day had to be done to keep our energy at a standard level in order to continually function. That was not a problem. During the battle between the alphas we had collected enough edible carcasses to use as food.

"It seems like Cehn had a fondness for the blood oils Wu Jie made. His hair has grown out so much!" 

Wincu spoke from the side. Piqued by this I looked at the boy in question who in truth looked different. What Wincu had stated was indeed correct.

His light coloured hair had now turned to a darker shade, his once passable strands were now thicker and lustrous, the once short hair had grown during the two months plus on the island, falling past his shoulders. Truly he looked like an entirely different person; even his aura seemed to be different, which made me curious.

I made a face and thought that I'd have to take note and prepare more of this stuff to take away. Cehn Sie has motivated me to put more effort in hair care.

If I used it sparingly it would last an extremely long time, perhaps, but my hair is about four times thicker than his, so I'd have to try my hardest to be stingy when using it in my hair.

"It makes me want to run my hand through it. The length has him much more handsome," I said offhandedly, missing how his face turned red for a moment.

"Ah, he seems that way." Wincu said from beside me. She had become extremely clingy this past week. The urge to kick her across the room was rising, but the result might be unnecessary damage to the house.

Right now, she sat directly opposite me, eying me with her big eyes. Do I look like a steak in her eyes? Because this is the vibe she is giving off.

Cehn, on the other hand, seems to have grown up a lot; not only outward, body wise, but in his mind as well. Look at him sitting there like the celestial-type male: straight posture, noble air, handsome features enough to make angels sigh … ah, handsomeeeee!

This change was drastic, yet, if one had to look at our surroundings it can be understood. If one didn't change, quickly adjusting, they would surely die.

"Since both of you like my hair, perhaps it will be kept." he said suddenly, with a straight face.

Wincu laughed while I chuckled.

"We will probably be leaving the island shortly after the last winter month." 

"Mmm.."

"Wu Jie, what are your plans?" 

"Plans? Study."

I answered her question. What else is there to do?

"With your skills you can be the top scorer. As your companions we will score high as well, but with that, we will be constantly watched." 

"Wincu, we will not be hunting for the winter months since we are safe,  and have no need to leave. The school will not see our score rise, which will help us score lower," Cehn said softly.

"That's what we are aware of, "I said after a moment. "It doesn't matter what we have done on the island – even if recorded in detail – will not be disclosed, even those who have killed fellow students for fear of retaliation when they exit."

"Mmm…"

He was right, but I have thought of all this; both of my meatshields can become prized students, and I can just blend in the background.