“What?!?”

My emotions burst forth at Ivan's sudden resistance. Just when I thought everything was falling into place, he shut down my entire plan! 

Regardless of how skilled a mage Ivan was, it made far more sense to minimize all unknown variables. Even if we were prepared for their attack, not knowing when it would happen still made it a dangerous event! So why did he disagree?

Frustrated, I stood up from the floor and glared down at Ivan, who observed me with stern eyes. 

“It’s too dangerous for you. I won’t let you put yourself at risk like that.” His words played on my mind, but I had to stay resolute if I wanted the best future for him and Dragan.

“You can just put your barrier on me like last time. This should be enough, right?” I focused on sounding determined, trying to avoid any hint of pleading. “I’ll just be inside the guild for a few minutes, collect some information, and then get out.”

Ivan calmly stood up, and now we were face to face, with me looking down a bit,realizing I was slightly taller than him. In all of our conversations, I had never noticed that Ivan was a bit smaller in height. He always stood tall, proud and scheming. 

His gaze softened slightly, but he shook his head firmly. “No, it’s still too dangerous. Please Rêve, just stay put and let me handle this.”

His gaze fixated on me with a heat that I couldn’t take, and I sheepishly averted my eyes. My head felt like cotton; nothing could've prepared me for the intensity of Ivan's next words.

“I’ll make sure no one gets hurt. Not Dragan, and not you either.”

Without hesitation, Ivan carefully ghosted his left hand over my pale cheek, avoiding the sensation I hated so much. Instead, it was a feather light touch that tickled my skin. My heart pounded against my ribcage, and the emotional imbalance that affected me so heavily resurfaced, worsening my current state.

If he talked like this, I couldn’t help, but…

…

…this had to be the suspension bridge effect, right?

After a prolonged silence between us, I finally gave in.

“Ok, you convinced me,” I stuttered in a low voice, blinking nervously. My composure from before had completely crumpled.

When he heard these words, Ivan's lips curved into a relieved smile, making him look as handsome as ever. I couldn’t avert my eyes and kept watching him in silence, while my heart continued to hammer in my chest.

"Good." Ivan cleared his throat, and for a moment, it looked like he had a light blush on his cheeks, but when I blinked, he appeared normal. “Thank you for trusting me with this, Rêve.” 

To my surprise, Ivan backed off after this and flopped down on his bed, burying his face into the soft-looking blanket. The prior tension in the room evaporated in a split second, and the room returned to being a normal bedroom again, no longer a place for scheming or matters of the heart. 

After a few seconds, Ivan addressed me again. “You can stay and sleep here if you want,” he mumbled into the bedsheets with a strange tone, as if he was shy. 

“Thanks,” I replied awkwardly and turned around, so I wasn’t facing him anymore. I sat down on the ground again and tried to process all that had happened in the past few minutes. 

No matter what I did, my damn heart just didn’t stop hammering…

***

When I woke up on the next day, Ivan had already left the bedroom, leaving me alone there.

The yearning for my normal body grew stronger with each passing day. I missed the simple pleasures of bathing and eating, things I once took for granted. Coupled with the fact that I had to sleep on the floor, was unable to get touched and this emotional instability, my mental health was wearing down faster than expected.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer if everything dragged on,but I knew my health wasn’t the most important concern right now. Saving Dragan had become both my and Ivan's top priority. Even if it pained me, I had to persevere for now, and keep my struggles to myself.

After enough deliberation, I stood up and left the room to see if Ivan was still at home or not. I found him sitting at the kitchen table, munching on some flakes and jotting something down on a notepad. There was no sight of Dragan or his shoes, which made me assume he was already off to school.

At first, Ivan didn't notice me, but when I stood beside him to take a look at what he was writing so meticulously, he quickly blocked the contents with his hand and winked at me. 

“If you want to stare at something, I’d rather you pick my face.” He nonchalantly flipped the notepad, while he spoke.

Ignoring his flirty attempt to divert my attention, I focused on what was more important to me. “Did you talk to Dragan before he went to school?”

Ivan nodded and stirred his flakes with his free hands. "I told Dragan that I heard some rumors about a pervert attacking people to provide a reason for the barrier. He seemed skeptical at first but eventually let me cast the barrier without any issues."

I thought about asking whether that was the best idea, but I understood Ivan’s reasoning. He probably thought it would put Dragan under unnecessary stress. Knowing that there was nothing that I could do at this point, I felt a certain restlessness awaken inside me.

There had to be something I would be able to do! Despite my restlessness and anxiety, I tried to put my everything into sounding enthusiastic as I explained my plan. 

“I think I’ll keep shadowing Dragan for the time being. Maybe we’ll get ‘lucky’ and I catch a glimpse of the attackers,” I said, hoping to paint over my true emotions. But I had a distinct feeling that Ivan could see right through me.

“I don’t like your idea, but I won’t stop you this time. Just let me refresh that barrier for you, okay?” Ivan's expression remained flat as he stood up. He walked in front of me and snapped his fingers, enveloping my whole body in a comforting warmth. 

“Stay safe.”

He walked back to the table and picked up the notepad, before addressing me once more. “In the meantime, I’ll try to work out some things. Yesterday wasn’t as productive as I wished it was.”

What was he talking about? I looked back to Ivan with a raised eyebrow, challenging him to explain himself. He simply chuckled at my expression and put a finger on his lips, remaining silent.

? 

His secretive nature made me wonder whether I should stick with him for the day, but I knew shadowing Dragan was more important than my curiosity. 

"If you need to find me, I'll be at the pharmacy again," Ivan explained with a dramatic sigh. "And I wouldn't mind if you came to visit me just because you want to see me, you know."

Dumbfounded, I found myself unable to answer, so I simply nodded my head in approval, even though I wasn't sure whether I'd have the time to visit him later. Part of me was definitely curious what the scribblings meant. Did it have to do with Ivan’s trap or was it something in relation to me? 

A hand was waved in front of my face and I noticed that Ivan was still here. He stood in front of me, ready to leave for work.

“Try not to space out too much when you’re on the road. I’ll be going now.” Ivan waved smoothly with two fingers and left the flat. I stood alone in the hallway and took a deep breath to steel myself before going out. The next few days would be rather long, but it was of utmost importance to stay focused!

With that, I left Ivan's place and started my day of keeping a close eye on Dragan, hoping that today would bring some useful information about the attackers.

As I arrived at Dragan’s school, the schoolyard lay deathly silent, which made sense considering it was time for the second period. No honor student would walk around during this time, and the place was similarly deserted. I scanned the area, looking for any suspicious individuals (aside from me in my pajamas), but there was no one around. So, I made my way to Dragan’s classroom.

When I peeked through the wall, I noticed Dragan looking out the window with an unfocused expression. Even without knowing him well, it was apparent that he seemed conflicted about what Ivan had told him. I made a mental note to talk to Ivan later about this, but for now, we had to get through the day. A headache was building up inside me and I knew today would not be kind to me.