Markus Hess

Notwithstanding the bomb incident and a person named Teodore, Elia had a peaceful and leisurely life just like he had hoped for. However, there was an ominous feeling creeping inside him. He was a person who had sharp senses and instinct, he was rarely wrong so he couldn't help but feel jittery. Yet, he couldn't do much about it but wait for it to come.

Not only had he time travelled back to when he was sixteen after his death, but he had also changed the course completely from escaping the underground. Every event that had to do with him in his past life wouldn't be the same in this life, knowing them wouldn't let him predict the future. He had utterly destroyed his chance to change things he didn't want to happen, but he didn't regret his choice.

Wouldn't it be more exciting that way?

"Why are you smiling?" Teodore asked.

They were taking a stroll in the city after eating and Teodore saw Elia smiling out of the blue.

Elia stopped smiling and nonchalantly said, "Nothing much, just remembering how much you lost in poker."

Upon hearing this, Teodore's expression turned ugly. "You cheated for sure. Otherwise, how could you win every time?"

When he discovered that he couldn't defeat Elia in poker, he became determined to win and kept challenging him one after another. In result, he had lost an amount of money to Elia a normal university student would drown in jealousy.

"Teo, you're wrong," Elia stated.

"What?"

"You are just lacking."

"You cheeky little shit!"

At the same time, a girl with brown short hair saw their figures and recognised them. She called them out, "Isu, Teodore!"

Both of them looked at the girl puzzled as she waved to them with a cheerful smile.

"What a coincidence to see you two! I haven't seen you a lot so I was a little worried."

The girl waited for them to speak but they only stared at her and soon, she realised that they didn't recognise her. "Seriously? I'm your fellow student, Chloe Garner. Most of our classes are the same."

Teodore wasn't interested in starting a conversation so he stayed quiet, making her feel embarrassed. Elia, on the other hand, smiled at her and apologised.

"Sorry, I'm not good at names and faces. Chloe, is it? Are you going somewhere?"

She was taken aback for a second, she didn't know that Elia could smile like that. "Ah, no, it's fine! I just finished my errand and was about to go home. What about you guys?"

"Nothing much, just hanging around."

"Oh, I see…" Chloe didn't want to end the conversation so she continued to talk, "By the way, did you know there's going to be a new teacher coming tomorrow? There's a rumour that they're very good looking and come from a big family, but I'm not sure about their gender."

Elia saw through her but didn't expose her. He asked, "A new teacher, you say? Are you looking forward to seeing them?"

Chloe was happy to know that Elia was a friendly and kind person, unlike Teodore who looked a kind of scary. She regretted she didn't come up to him earlier.

She said excitedly, "Yes! I love meeting new people and knowing that there's a new teacher, I can't wait to find out who they are."

Elia chuckled. "That's cute. Are you always so enthusiastic?"

Chloe blushed at his words and said, "Yes, I've been told that many times. But how did you know, Isu? This is the first time we had a conversation and we have just started."

"It's not a big deal, I'm just good at reading people."

"That's amazing!" Her eyes twinkled.

Teodore, who quietly stood at the side, frowned at the girl. He found her bothersome; she didn't stop talking to Elia and that idiot replied her each time without a fail so happily. What was he up to? When did he talk so friendly?

"If you don't mind, let's exchange our numbers!"

With his hands in his jean pockets, Teodore gave her a look of contempt. 'Stupid, that guy doesn't even have a phone.'

Elia let out an apologetic smile and said, "I wish we could but I don't have a phone, unfortunately."

Chloe was surprised and blurted out, "How is that possible?!"

She flinched at how she sounded too harsh, she didn't mean it in that way.

Teodore knitted his eyebrows and interjected. "What's with that? There's nothing wrong with not owning a phone. The guy is richer than you can ever be."

Chloe immediately flustered and shame ran across her face. "You're misunderstanding! I didn't mean it like that… I was just surprised that Isu doesn't have a phone because I didn't expect it."

Sighing, Elia patted her head reassuringly. "Don't mind him. Don't worry about it. Even though we can't exchange our numbers, we can always talk at the university. Most of our classes are the same, are they not?"

Once again, Elia had made her blush; his head pat felt gentle and good. However, she was still embarrassed at her rude action and wanted to run away.

"Yes, you're right! Let's talk again tomorrow. I still got things to do so I'll go ahead. See you guys!"

"Alright. See you, Chloe." Elia waved his hand, which Chloe waved back.

Once she was out of their sight, Elia looked at Teodore; a smile played at his lips.

"I didn't know I am rich."

"Of course you're rich, you got me."

"You want me to think of you as my ATM?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, ice cream." Teodore stopped before adding, "There's a budget."

If Teodore knew that Elia was equally as rich as him, or perhaps even more, he would regret his words and spit out blood. But until the fact came to light, he would think Elia as a poor, nerdy student.

Elia hummed. "To be honest, I think you scared her away, Teo."

"What? Who cares. Who told her to be rude?"

"But she didn't mean it. She's a good girl, you know."

Teodore was annoyed. "Whatever."

On the next day, Elia was at the university and sat at the back of the classroom, supporting his head with a hand as he lazily doodled ice cream in his notebook. Next to him sat Teodore, sprawled quietly over his desk; it was unclear whether he was sleeping or awake.

Chloe saw them and was happy to find them in the classroom, specifically Elia. She didn't have high hope for them to come at first, as both of them tended to skip regularly. She had wondered why they even enrolled in a university when they didn't plan to attend the classes. Did they even do their homework? If not, how have they survived so far? Chloe was doubtful but she shook her head to clear her head.

"Good morning, Isu and Teodore."

Elia looked up to see the same girl from the previous day and nodded his head. "Morning, Chloe."

There was no response from Teodore as she expected, but she didn't mind. Besides, he was probably asleep.

She took a seat next to them, looked at Teodore and said to Elia, "Teodore must be really tired to sleep here."

To which Elia only shrugged in response.

Soon, someone opened the door and entered the classroom. It was a tall man in a casual suit with his dark hair neatly combed. He placed his briefcase on the teacher desk before he took a step forward, looking at the students. The students immediately quieted down, their attention was all on the man. The female students became excited and wanted to squeal but they held in. This must be the new teacher everyone had been talking about! The rumours were true, he was truly good-looking.

The man smiled and introduced himself. "Hello, students. I am Markus Hess and today onwards, I will be your teacher for this class. If anyone has questions, don't be shy and just raise your hand."

Instantly, most of the students raised their hands and the man chuckled at the sight. "Alright, it seems like everyone got something to ask. How about we start from the first row?" He looked at the girl, gesturing for her to speak.

The girl asked, "How old are you, Teacher? You look very young!"

"Thank you. I'm thirty-one."

Everyone was surprised at how young their teacher was. The person next in line asked him, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, I don't."

The classroom got loud and the students kept asking the teacher until he had to stop them so he could start the class.

Elia who was doodling had stopped and looked at the teacher with confusion. He recognized this man. He was one of his older brother's people. They hadn't met each other in this life yet, but they knew each other in his past life.

'This man… Why is he here? Did he come for me? Have I already been found out? That's too quick…'

However, as he kept observing, he realized that the man didn't recognize him. Then, who or what was he for? Elia didn't believe the man was being a teacher for fun. He was clearly going undercover and since he was working under his older brother, this must have been done under his older brother's order. But for him to be here out of all universities… what a big coincidence.

'This ex-older brother of mine, I wonder what he is plotting?'

Elia was curious but at the end of the day, he didn't plan to get himself involved.