Chapter 15

The next day, Jhin woke up early in the morning to do a mild work out before jogging outside. The sun had yet to shine, so he was able to enjoy the cool morning breeze.

After running several laps around their district, Jhin returned home and took a quick bath. Then, he wore casual clothes; Black shirt hidden underneath a grey baggy sweater, Blue tight jeans and black sneakers.

He had short black hair with a faded haircut that went well with devilishly handsome face.

He pulled back the sleeves of his sweater before finally deciding that it was time to go.

'First day of college huh... I've forgotten it so much that I can't recall anyone or anything about it except the university itself.'

As he walked on the cold morning sidewalk, he was then greeted by warm shining rays from the sun that was rising from the horizon. Buildings obscured most of its rays but Jhin was walking down from an uphill road so the sun reached him as he had a taller view of the city.

After roughly walking for about thirty minutes or so, he eventually arrived at a long brick fence that connected to a grand entrance towards a large building that had an extremely wide cartilage. The cartilage had a wide open field of grasses, trees, and articulated pavements made of smooth stones.

There were also decorations such as benches and a fountain in the middle of the said field.

College students frequented around the area as Jhin entered through the entrance gates along with a dozen other college students. While some freshmen were looking around in amazement, Jhin only walked forward as if nothing about the place was interesting.

He had seen places and architectures much more magnificent and intricate than this place, so it wasn't any wonder that Jhin reacted this way.

To others though, he only seemed like a senior who had been to this place countless times.

While there were some freshmen that acted like tourists or country bumpkins that had been to the city for the first time, there were also other freshmen who were like Jhin that didn't show much reaction to the large facilities of the university.

And just like Jhin, they were students who had seen or attended places that were much more extravagant or impressive than the place where they were currently at.

But this doesn't mean that this university was lacking. Quite the contrary, it was one of the best universities in the state.

[Elite Oakwood University].

It was prestigious university that was known to raise numerous famous and successful alumni that became renowned throughout the world. Many esteemed and prominent families also enrolled their children here. Some even transfered from abroad just so they could study here.

Naturally, this meant that there were students who came from affluent families or in other words, upper-class families.

Dismissing his own thoughts about the university, Jhin eventually arrived at the reception lobby and approached a wide board that had the list of the freshmen's name and their classrooms. Jhin slightly struggled to get through the sea of freshmen who were also searching for the room of their respective department.

Spending a good minute or so, he eventually found his designated room and proceeded to walk towards the third floor of the building, towards the west wing of the main building.

Eventually, he stood in front of a door and Jhin glanced at the placard above the door to make sure he got the right place before entering it.

[ENG-302]

Confirming his thoughts, he opened the door and went in.

He arrived at a large theatrical-style room where there were three long seats in a cascading formation. The front row was in the bottom and the middle row was elevated while the back row was the highest.

There were already several students inside the room and a small minority of them had already formed small groups while others kept to themselves and busily scrolling throigh their mobile phones.

Jhin's entrance garnered some of the students' attention and the mild noise that some of the groups were making, quieted down as they saw Jhin walking inside the room.

Ignoring the stares that stuck to him, Jhin went towards the furthest corner of the room which was beside the window in the back row. He chose this seat so that no one would come and bother him.

And though he will always be at the corner of the professor's eyes, He didn't really mind it as he knew he wouldn't be noticed so long as he doesn't do anything that will draw the professor's attention to himself.

"..."

There was still half an hour left before the professor arrived so Jhin took out his earphones and closed his eyes.

He wasn't really bothered by the noises the other students made. He only did this to listen to calming music that would help him focus in recalling his memories as well as planning for his sister's growth.

Even at this moment, he was also formulating the best path for his little sister to take.

As Jhin continued to keep to himself, the other students in the room couldn't stop themselves from glancing at him whereas others blatantly stared at his face.

It couldn't be helped. Jhin's devilishly handsome face was on par if not- even better than the actors around the world.

In addition to his superior appearance was his noble and serene demeanor.

It was as if they were looking at a real life aristocrat or a charming prince from fairy tales.

If not that then, others thought Jhin was a celebrity or a popstar.

...Well, not really. The students simply tend to exaggerate their thoughts and impression especially when they see an unnaturally charming face like Jhin's.

In actuality, Jhin was doing nothing out of the norm and simply sat down while closing his eyes to focus on his memories.

But apparently, this attitude of him made him even more attractive in the eyes of the onlookers.

Well to be fair, if they were to have a face like Jhin's, any action from them would look attractive.

Many of them wanted to approach and talk to Jhin but seeing as how he kept to himself, they knew how to take a hint and didn't try to bother him.

Besides, no one was bold enough to casually walk up to Jhin when it was just the first day of college.

And while they kept away from Jhin, some couldn't stop themselves from sneakily taking a picture of Zed.

A small majority of the students were acquaintances while the rest were all strangers.

Since [Elite Oakwood University] was a prestigious university, many students came from different parts of the country while some came from outside the country. It was even rumored that the dorms were always full due to how many students wanted to attend this university.

Getting into the [Elite Oakwood University] was the dream and goal of every ambitious youths. This included youths from powerful backgrounds.

That was how much Jhin's current university was highly regarded in the world and Jhin was fortunate enough to get in through a recommendation and scholarship from his senior high-school.

Roughly fifteen minutes passed and more students entered the room. The atmosphere was quiet while small murmurs could be heard from the acquainted groups.

All of the students occupied the other rows of seats but no one wanted to sit near Jhin.

It wasn't as if they were avoiding him like a plague but simply because they weren't confident enough to handle the attention they'll get if they sat beside an attractive yet unapproachable person like Jhin.

That was, except for one person.

As Jhin was exploring his memories, he felt someone tap him on his shoulder.

"Hm?"

He opened his eyes and looked beside him.

There, he found a slender man with a fair skin and feminine face. He had sharp eyes and long eyelashes while his nose and mouth were perfectly thin that they resembled a woman's.

He had a wolf hair cut style which matched well with his appearance, making him look like a male idol from Korea.

Unfortunately however, the man had a neutral expressionless face and eyes that seemed no different from a dead fish.

His hair was unkempt and he wore a simple blue hoodie and comfortable jogging pants, making it seem like he had just gotten out of bed.

Jhin took off his earphones.

"Yes?"

The man stared at him and asked in a toneless voice, "Is this seat taken?"

Jhin shook his head.

"By all means."

The man nodded and sat beside Jhin.

Seeing that the other person had nothing else to say, Jhin wore his earphones again and listened to a calming music that helped him maintain his focus.

Time passed and eventually, the professor came.

He introduced himself before immediately beginning the lecture. Many students took out notebooks and began taking notes.

Jhin also paid half of his attention to the professor while the other half was contemplating about the future he would do in Ascended Order.

The lecture continued for four hours before they finally had lunch break.

Many of the students had their heads slumped to the desks as they felt overwhelmed by the long lecture and the vast amount of information that was forced onto them.

Eventually, groups began to form as they invited each other to have lunch in the cafeteria.

Jhin thought about getting lunch but then he noticed that the person beside him was sleeping with his head rested on the back rest.

Everyone else was going out to get lunch and others seemed to wait while discreetly glancing towards Jhin's direction.

Jhin on the otherhand, was pondering whether to wake up the man or should he just mind his own business.

He really had nothing to lose by waking the other person up and so he did.

He tapped the sleeping man on his shoulder.

The man's closed eyes fluttered and that seemed to be enough for him to wake up.

"It's lunch time." Jhin said to his sleeping deskmate.

"Huh?" The man woke up and looked around with groggy eyes before making a deep yawn.

The man then narrowed his eyes at Jhin.

"...? What is it?" Noticing his gaze, Jhin asked if something was wrong.

The man shook his head and spoke as if in daze, "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I was just surprised to meet a person whose charm stats have been maxed out."

One would have normally been weirded out by his response but Jhin didn't show any reaction.

Instead, he was mildly amused that the person beside him was talking to him using gaming terms. He thought that the man's shabby appearance matched well with his nature.

"Thanks for the compliment. Though, you aren't too bad yourself."

The man returned a mild snicker after hearing Jhin's response.

He then yawned once more before rubbing his teary eyes.

"So? What did you need from me?"

"Like I stated earlier, its lunch time."

The man looked at him weirdly. "And?"

"And I only informed you as such." Jhin blankly replied.

"Is that so..." The man nodded to himself before turning to Jhin. "Thanks, but I wasn't planning on eating."

"Ho... Is that so..." Jhin didn't speak any longer and returned to his own business.

Silence ensued as neither one of them continued the conversation.

'He seems to be in some special circumstances but, It's not my business.' Jhin thought inwardly.

"If that's all, I'll return to my sleep." The man said after some time. He yawned once more before slumping over the desk.

Jhin responded with a nonchalant nod as he put on his earphones and listened to calming music that helped him focus again.

He wasn't planning on eating lunch either since, like he previously told his father earlier, their home was in a walking distance and so he could simply eat late lunch there.

And as he immersed himself in the calm and serene melody of the music, he slowly fell into his sea of memories once again.

.

.

.

.

.

"Make sure to finish Activity numbers one, two, and three. I will be collecting them by next week." said the Professor as he began to fix his teaching materials.

Not minding the fact that none of his students answered, he walked off the podium and exited the room.

"Eugh..."

"I wanna die..."

"This is way too brutal..."

Most of the students had haggard faces as their heads fell down to the desk as soon as the professor left. They all let out a tired groan that sounded very similar to zombies.

They were simply too tired.

They sat in the same position for hours and were forced to take notes and receive large amount of information.

Not one of them even had the energy to stand up and cheer for the day was finally over.

That was until a young man with short blonde hair stood in front of the podium and called everyone's attention.

"Good evening to you all."

He spoke with a strong British accent which instantly made everyone guess which country he came from.

He had tall and physically fit figure along with peachy white skin. He was a handsome man with mesmerizing green eyes.

"I would like to take this chance to invite everyone to a drinking party this evening in celebration of-"

"Too stiff!"

He was then interrupted by another male student who had an energetic and friendly aura. The energetic student looked at the blonde man and continued with a light hearted tone.

"I get what you're trying to say and I'll speak for everyone here and say," He turned to the entire class and continued with a big wide smile, "We're in!"

"Right?!"

Everyone was met with his enthusiastic gaze and the mood grew lighter and warmer. Causing the others to begin feeling a little bit motivated as well. They picked up their heads and talked among themselves.

"Well, if you insist."

"We might as well go, right?"

"Yeah. You'll pay for my drinks though. I'm broke as f*ck."

Some of the women groups also began to show some motivation while murmuring among themselves.

"Let's use this chance to get to know each other!" One of them said while discreetly glancing towards Jhin's direction.

"Yeah... I agree with you..." Another one spoke bashfully, also discreetly looking at Jhin.

They weren't the only ones that were glancing at Jhin's direction, anticipating whether he would announce his intention to join or not.

What's funny about this situation was that none of them knew of his name and were solely interested in him for his looks and attitude.

It was at this moment that the friendly and energetic student took charge and stood in front of Jhin.

"Hi! The name's James McDowell."

With a friendly and amiable smile, he offered Jhin a handshake.

Jhin stared at him for a moment before shaking the latter's outstretched hand.

"Jhin."

"Jhin was it?" James didn't mind the Jhin's short introduction and smiled, "Nice to meet you."

Jhin nodded and replied, "Unfortunately, I won't be able to join the drinking party since I have something important to so...

...Do enjoy yourselves."

With that, he stood up and gave everyone a brief nod before leaving the room. His polite refusal caused the mood to be slightly gloomy since everyone looked forward to getting to know him.

"Well, that's unfortunate." James said with a regretful tone.

But then his face grew bright again as he continued, "Maybe we'll get him to join next time."

The group of students then began to spoke among themselves. Some of the students approaching the blonde haired man standing in the podium while making plans for which venue they would use.

Most of the students who decided to join, took this chance to get to know the others and become friends.

And as the mood inside the room slowly grew livelier, most of the conversations turned towards Jhin as a subject.

Remembering James and Jhin's interaction earlier, everyone saw that Jhin wasn't completely indifferent, aloof, nor snobbish, which incited all of their curiosity and urge to get closer to him.

Of course, not everyone in the class was all over Jhin as there were also a few majority that couldn't care less about the class nor their classmates.

And one of these students was the person that sat beside Jhin. Even now, this person was still sleeping.

James noticed this as well, and decided to be a good samaritan and wake this person up.

"Hey buddy.... wakey wakey." James shook the man by his shoulder.

".....huh...?" The man wearing shabby comfortable clothes slowly picked himself up and let out a loud yawn as he stretched arms and back.

"Haa..... What's up?" The man asked with a dry voice.

Not minding his attitude, James smiled.

"Had a good sleep?"

The man nodded dazedly, still looking quite sleepy.

"Haha... I can't believe you actually slept through the entire first day of college." James said with a fascinated tone.

"Can't tell if you have balls of steel or you just literally don't give a crap."

The man looked at James for a moment and the latter returned his gaze

"..."

"..."

This awkward silence lasted for a few seconds before James decided to speak again.

"Anyway, the day's over and everyone is planning on going to a drinking party. Wanna come?"

"...Nah, I'm good." The man shook his head.

James nodded in understanding. "Oh well, suit yourself."

With that, he began to walk away.

"My name's James by the way!" He said while looking behind him.

The man gave him a slightly confused look for a moment, not used to having a friendly extrovert talk to him. Nevertheless, he answered back.

"Axel."

James nodded with a smile. "See ya."

He then went back to his group of friends as Axel stared at his back. Axel then took a moment and scanned the room that was oozing with youth energy.

Most of the students were looking forward to the drinking party and were already beginning to get to know each other.

Axel looked at this atmosphere with a blank stare and eventually, he stood up and left the room.

As he walked through the corridor, Axel thought to himself, 'I have better things to do.'

And with that, he was able to get rid of all his regret about not being able to join the party.

'Huh... come to think of it, Max Charm dude also isn't joining.'

Unbeknownst to Jhin, he had gained a weird nickname from one of his classmates.