Crowns and a Rose 2: Judas Kiss

"What is she trying to insinuate? That she really dislikes me? That she likes Mon more than me? Of all people~ my brother?! Hesh! Whatever! So what~ if she hates me? Why do I even care?" Leo rants while walking back and forth in his room.

Knock.

"What?!" he snarls as he's utterly not in the mood to talk to anyone this time.

"It's Mon~"

"Get lost!"

Mon enters his brother's room with a big smile on his face.

"What?!" Leo grunts while lying on his stomach, pretending to be asleep.

"You're not jealous, are you?" Mon teases.

"Fuck off!" Leo says, sounding uninterested. He takes another pillow and covers his head with it.

Mon suddenly dives on his brother's bed and pins him down by putting his arms around his neck and chokes him. Leo screams.

"Jesus Christ! What do you want?" Leo huffs while trying to get off from his brother's triangle choke.

"Your honesty, brother!" he answers, grinning and panting.

Leo suddenly grabs the collar of Mon's shirt and pulls it with his might, flipping him on the floor.

Then, he goes on top of him and throws punches on his face to which Mon impulsively guards with his arms.

As both of them play Mix Martial Arts, the wrestle goes on until both of them are panting and exhausted.

"Do you like Primrose?" Leo asks while they both lie on the carpeted floor~ both bleeding from the wounds they have inflicted on each other.

"What if I say yes?" Mon replies with his eyes closed.

Leo is quiet for a moment as he weighs his brother's sincerity. He sighs and gets up. Then, he extends his arm to help his brother stand.

He goes to his bathroom to wash his wounds. Mon follows.

"Honestly, I am lost. I am not certain about my feelings towards her~ too soon to judge I guess," Mon says as he cleans his wounds.

"Are you sure she's not like one of those women you hooked up with?" Leo asks while putting some disinfecting cream and band-aids on his and Mon's cuts.

"Hmmm... I think she's different," Mon answers.

"How would you know that? You barely even know her," Leo says, looking at his younger brother's eyes.

Mon smiles wickedly as he says, "Know what? Basing on how look and sound right now, I seriously think that you like her~"

"Nonsense!"

"But she's the first woman whom you are so worried about~"

"I am a Medical student and so as you, helping her doesn't have any meaning~ she's my patient that's all."

Mon looks at his brother for a while.

"What?"

"Nothing~ I really hope that you are honest because I won't easily give up on her even if it means crossing you," Mon utters.

Leo nods.

"You have nothing to worry about," he replies and smiles at him, but sadness is so apparent in his eyes.

_______________________

At the Khal Gibson University...

Beep.

Sophia looks at her phone. A new message from an unregistered number.

'Who could this be?' she thinks.

She opens the message and reads.

'Meet me at the rooftop after your class.'

'Who is this?' she sends.

No answer. She just ignores it, thinking that it might be a spam message.

"Alright, class for your homework~ talk to someone and ask this question: What would you do in this situation? You are clinging on a rope with five others. Four are above you and one is below you. As you are all ascending, the rope begins to loosen up from where it was securely tied. Turns out that only you have a knife. If you cut the rope below you, five of you will survive, if not, all of you will die. What will you do?" I instruct.

"That's savage! You want us to decide who's gonna die and who's not?" one student exclaims.

Students chatter about the topic.

"I will make it easier for you. You are holding a grudge on one of the people above you because that person stole someone that you cherish the most. And that person, whom you hold dear, is clinging for dear life below you," I state.

Students gasp. They seem to be faced with the greatest dilemma in their lives.

"The situation is so tricky. It's like choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea," Sophia utters and her classmate agrees.

"No wonder. Students call professor Khaeli, "The Killer"! She definitely murders us with wicked situations," Peter complains.

"She yells and humiliates students who can't give her the answer that she wants," Kyle adds.

I clear my throat when I walk passed them. They all keep quiet and deliciously terrified. I smile sardonically in my mind.

"If it were you, what would you do?" Kyle asks.

"What will I do?" Sophia whispers.

Beep.

Sophia reads the new message on her phone.

'Where are you? I am already here.'

"Who could it be?" Sophia thinks as she fixes her things.

"Who is that?" Peter asks.

"I am going to find out!" Sophia answers.

"Are you crazy? What if that person is a psycho?" Kyle exclaims.

"Hmmm... that's impossible. Do you think the university will allow lunatics in this school?" she replies as she leaves.

"Why not? This school is run by them?" Kyle whispers.

"Shut it!" Sophia hisses before leaving them.

Curiosity is eating her, so she decides to go even though she doesn't have the slightest idea who sent her the message.

There are students at the rooftop when she arrives. Some are chatting. Some are playing nearby the artificial stream. She looks around.

'Where are you?' she texts.

'I am under a tree.'

She goes around and checks every single tree. And she begins to get annoyed.

'I have no time for this!' she sends another message.

She curses when she realizes that she's nearly late for her next class. Therefore, she quickly runs down to her classroom. She feels relieved when she gets in just in time that the class starts.

'Who is that weirdo?' she thinks while staring blankly at her phone.

"Lopez~ Ms. Lopez!" her professor calls.

"Yes?"

"I see. If my class doesn't interest you at all, get out!" she shouts.

"I am sorry, professor," she apologizes.

"This is your last warning! If I catch you using your phone during lectures, I will confiscate it. Are we clear?"

"Yes~"

"Good!"

"So... as I was asking, what makes a person bad? Is it forged by our environment or is it inherent to humans?" the professor asks.