When he arrives in class, there are only two other people seated at different corners of the lecture hall. The professor is still setting up her lecture, so she doesn’t mind any of the students present.

Aloe goes to his usual seat in this class—second row from the back, right where the AC hits the hardest. Unless it’s blistering hot outside, these types of areas in classrooms tend to be the least crowded, hence, Aloe’s preference for it. He can just wear a sweater to make it more bearable.

As the clock ticks on, more people begin to enter the room, all crowding in areas furthest away from the coldest region of the lecture hall. Glancing at the time on his laptop, Aloe hums when he sees there’s only a minute left before the professor starts roll call.

He looks to the seat on his left, sighing at the lack of a familiar person next to him.

Before he could think of anything else, the back doors opened loudly, catching everyone’s attention. Aloe doesn’t have to look, because he already knows who’s shuffling his way to his seat while furiously apologizing.

A blonde-haired boy sits next to him, and when he turns his attention to Aloe, his blue eyes light up like the morning sky. With a grin, he greets Aloe.

“It’s rare you get here before roll call,” Aloe says as he pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket.

The other man laughs sheepishly, letting Aloe dab away the sweat on his forehead.

This carefree-looking man is Basil Wickham, his closest, his only friend since high school. Despite being the opposite of each other, they wound up being inseparable buddies in one way or another.

Even now, when they’re in university taking different majors—Aloe in psychology and Basil in business—they try to line up some of their electives so they could take some classes together.

Basil grins. “I promised I’d show up early, didn't I?”

Aloe raises a brow. “This is early for you?”

“It is,” Once Aloe finishes wiping his sweat, he begins pulling out his tablet for note-taking. “The promise was you’d treat me to milk tea if I wasn’t late. You never said how early I should be.”

“Cheeky.”

“You like that about me.”

Hearing those words, Aloe turns his head away to face the front of the room. Heat begins pooling at his cheeks, and he tries to hide the redness with a hand. 

Did he notice?

Glancing to the side, he sees Basil is now distracted by scrolling through documents to find his notes for this class. His head is hunched down, ignorant of Aloe’s attention on him.

Aloe breathes a sigh of relief.

However, when Basil shifts his position, something concerning catches Aloe’s eye. But just as easily as it appeared in his sight, it gets hidden by the collar of Basil’s jacket. 

Did I see it wrong?

Basil nudges his arm, snapping him out of his shock.

“Hey, it’s you.”

“Huh?”

“Aloe Alvarez,” His professor angrily calls out to him. “How many times should I call you before you answer, hm?”

Aloe looks up to see so many eyes directed at him. With his mind in a panic, it’s almost as if the people in the room merge into one large mass of eyes towering over him, watching every single little movement he makes. 

He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his mind, and avoids looking at anyone directly. 

Keep yourself together.

“Sorry. I was just a little distracted.”

The professor huffs. “Pay more attention. You’re not normally like this.”

When she moves on, Basil bumps his shoulder with his, but Aloe doesn’t dare to look at him directly. Something else is occupying his mind right now, and he isn’t sure if he can hide it well from his friend.

“You okay?”

Aloe makes a strained smile. “Yeah, just feeling a little down.”

“Tell me if you need anything, yeah?”

He just nods in response, unable to say much else.

When Basil’s attention is back on the lecture, Aloe tries to take a glance at his neck one more time. He feels creepy doing this, but he just needs to confirm something.

Because there’s just no way he saw what he thought he saw.

Right?

There’s no way that was a hickey, right?