CHAPTER 1.1

A day before...

“Come on, Ciel. Let’s go together. I’m sure it’ll be fun!”

Ciel rolled his eyes for the third time when he heard his closest friend, Raffy, pleading.

From the moment Ciel arrived at their class, Raffy has already been pestering him about going to Andrew, their alpha classmate’s, birthday party.

Ciel had already told Raffy that he has no plans to go because, first of all, he’s not close with Andrew, and second, he was not invited by the birthday celebrant, and he’s not that bold enough to crash a birthday party of someone he barely even interacted with. But Raffy continued to be persistent, acting like he didn’t hear all the reasons he had told him why he did not want to go.

“We’re in our third year now, and we’ve never been to a single party or even gatherings with our classmates or with anyone. Are you not even a bit curious about how it feels to hang out with them?”

“No,” Ciel immediately replied.

“But I am,” Raffy said while pouting.

“Then go to that party. It’s not like I am stopping you from going.”

“But I don’t want to go without you.”

“Then don’t go.”

“Ciel!”

Ciel finally stopped from walking and faced Raffy, who was still pouting beside him, then said in a stern voice, “I don’t want to go, Raffy, and this will be the last time that we’ll talk about this, alright? Drop this topic about that birthday party because no matter what you say, you will not be able to convince me to go.”

“But what if it’s me who convinces you? Will you come?”

Ciel immediately frowned upon hearing that sudden question from an unfamiliar voice behind him.

He turned to see who it was that interrupted his conversation with Raffy, and he was surprised to see who it was.

It was the birthday celebrant himself: Andrew Martinez.

“Hi, Ciel,” Andrew greeted cheerfully the still surprised Ciel.

Ciel stared at Andrew with a frown on his face as he started wondering why the most popular person in the Department of Business Administration, Andrew Martinez, whom he never had an interaction with and treated him as someone that is non-existent even though they've crossed paths too many times already because they're classmates in a lot of subjects, was suddenly talking to him and was even greeting him with a friendly smile on his face.

“Come to my party, Ciel. I’d love you to be there,” Andrew said after a few minutes passed and Ciel still remained quiet.

And why would I go? We’re not that close enough for me to attend your birthday party. We never even talked until now, was what Ciel wanted to say, but chose to keep it instead.

“Thanks for the invitation, but I can’t. I still have a report to finish,” Ciel finally replied in an indifferent tone.

“Is it for marketing research? Isn't the deadline for that still next week?” Andrew asked with a frown on his face.

“I prefer to do things right away and be done with it early.”

“But even if you don't do it right now, you still have plenty of time, so why don't you put it off at least for tonight and have some fun with us? I guarantee you won't be bored. My party has everything! Food, drinks, music, and most importantly, the chance to socialize with our classmates and schoolmates. That sounds like a good time, right?”

“I agree!” Raffy finally found the time to interject, making Andrew look at him.

But unlike Andrew, Ciel did not even look at Raffy anymore and just said, “I am sorry, but I will still have to decline. Thanks for the invitation again, and happy birthday.” And with that, he left as he’s not interested anymore to lengthen their conversation.

Ciel heard Raffy calling him, but he paid his friend no attention, acting like he didn’t hear him. He just continued walking without a care about how the other students were staring at him because of his name being called by Raffy over and over again.

He’s sure that a rumor about him being approached by Andrew would circulate the next morning, making him feel shitty.

The last thing he wanted was to get associated with alphas, especially the powerful and well-known alphas like Andrew Martinez and his friends. It would just ruin his peaceful school life that he was able to maintain for three years.

‘And that person surely wouldn't like that to happen either,’ Ciel thought with a sigh.

But he immediately shook his head to erase such thoughts, as fear and worry were starting to overtake his emotions.

It’s too early for him to be filled with such negativity.

And so, with his heart and emotions settling down, he quietly made his way towards the exit of their school while glancing at his wristwatch.

It’s still two in the afternoon, which means he has enough time to finish the report he was talking about to Andrew without staying up late at night.

As Andrew said, the deadline for their report on the marketing research subject is next week, but he was wrong when he said that Ciel still had enough time to finish the report.

Because Ciel has classes in the morning and works part-time in the evenings and on weekends, he barely had enough free time to do what needed to be done, whether it was writing reports, cleaning his rented room, or hanging out with anyone; not that he has anyone close to hang out with, except Raffy, of course. Which was why he cannot afford to waste even a single minute of his free time. Besides, what good will it bring him in attending Andrew's party? He's not a good drinker and is not good at socializing. But if he were to be honest, he was a bit tempted when Andrew mentioned food. After all, food is something that he always wanted to have but could not afford to indulge himself with it. He barely could even pay his rent, so he always ends up settling with affordable instant noodles most of the time. He couldn't even remember when was the last time he ate meat, or even fish. Which was why he almost gave in, although it was not shown on his face—if there's one thing Ciel was excellent at doing, it's hiding his own expression to not let other people know what he was truly feeling—but remembering that going to Andrew's party would mean meeting several alphas burned down that temptation right in an instant.

There's no way he would let himself be surrounded by alphas, even if it's for food. He'll just stick to his cup noodles!