Saving the Villain

"Are you alright, Luke?"

Luke knitted his brows, blinking twice to see better. His eyes weren't deceiving him. Cosette looked upset, but the concern in her eyes was dominant. However, he bit his tongue and cleared his throat, ignoring the worry in her eyes.

"Of course. I was having fun." He shoved his hands inside his pockets, sporting a nonchalant front. "Why did you drag me here? Are you really hungry?"

"No. I'm not."

"I knew it." He scoffed and laughed in ridicule. "Then, why? What do you need?"

"Answers."

Luke smacked his lips as he rocked his head in understanding. "Are you going to ask why I am skipping classes? Cozie, I already know the subjects of each class. They were already taught in middle school. I don't need to waste my time on it."

"Waste your time?" Cosette chuckled at his word choices. "Then why are you going to school if it's a waste of time? Why not drop out and hang out?"

"Because the society said I need a diploma."

"You can afford to graduate and return to the academy." Cosette raised her chin up, looking at him sharply. "Drop out now."

"What? Why would I do that?"

"You transferred school because of me. One way or another, you are my responsibility. If you want to ruin your life or get in trouble by hanging out with the delinquents, do it elsewhere." Luke laughed in disbelief while Cosette kept her unfazed front. "I won't let your family make me shoulder the responsibility if you were harmed."

Luke scoffed in disbelief, questioning his ear if he heard her correctly.

"Oy, Cosette. What the hell are you saying?" he pointed at her. "You're being too much. That's low. How can you make our Quinn family sounds like a bunch of con artists, eh?"

"I didn't say that. But you and I know if something bad happened, your father and grandparents will surely push the blame on me and my father," Cosette argued in a matter-of-fact tone. "I don't want to strain this friendship with such issues."

Luke opened and closed his mouth, rendered speechless by everything she had spewed. He looked at her in disbelief, wondering where the hell did his sweet Cosette go. Was this how she get angry? She would speak cruelly?

"You sound like my brother." He laughed sarcastically, scratching his temple. "Really. You really sound like him. It's amazing."

Luke then cocked his head to the side, forgetting why he was doing this. Everything Cosette said hit every nerve it could hit, upsetting him more and more until he was just furious.

"Wow… I heard you were my brother's female version of the academy. It seemed they're not baseless after all." He shoved his hand inside his pocket. "Oy, Cosette. Aren't you being biased? You said I'm your friend, but when Maxen was skipping class, you will follow and skip class too. But now, you are asking me to drop out? That's funny."

Cosette remained silent, keeping her poker face. She exchanged eye contact with him before Luke shook his head and turned on his heel in disappointment. But as soon as his back faced her, a deep exhale slipped past her lips.

"Don't…" she whispered, eyes glinting sharply. "... do anything for me, Luke."

Luke halted on his third step, furrowing his brows. When he looked back, Cosette's expression was still sharp, but the luster in her eyes made his breath hitch.

"Don't hang out with them just because you don't want them bugging Maxen," Cosette continued, balling her hand into a tight fist. "Are you wondering how did I know? It's simple. You already ran a background check on Maxen, and for sure, you knew about the bullies in this school."

"Once they target Maxen, they will also target me. Hanging out with them and diverting their attention sounds good to protect us," she added, taking a step closer to him. "Don't do anything for me, Luke. I appreciate it, but don't ruin your life for someone else."

His pupils went huge as he listen. Luke held his breath when Cosette was standing a step in front of him, biting his inner lower lip to keep himself together.

"You're wrong," he breathed out after a minute of silence. "You're wrong, Cosette. I'm not diverting their attention to protect you."

"Then what is?" she urged. "Don't tell me you're doing everyone a favor? If not for me, why are you doing this?"

"You don't have to know." Luke took a step back only for Cosette to sprawl her arms to grab his collar.

"Why can't I know?" she hissed, pulling him down until they were staring at each other eye to eye. "Why are you doing this?"

Cosette clutched his collar tightly, studying how his face turned cold. The longer she looked into his eyes, another idea came across her head.

"You…" she trailed off, trying to put the right words correctly. "What are you planning?"

"I hate bullies. I may be a bully myself, but I hate it when people take it too far. I don't like Max, but they were the sole reason he was so pitiful and he managed to use it to get through you." Luke held her hand that was clutching his collar, keeping his sharp gaze on her. "I am a Quinn and I will teach them all a lesson for making me miserable. You'll hate me if I vent my anger to your beloved Maxen, right? But someone had to take the blame."

Luke carefully took her hand from his collar. He let her hand go, straightening his back, and looking back at her coldly.

"Don't skip class." He turned on his heel. This time, he sauntered off without looking back.

Meanwhile, Cosette could only stare at this back and sighed. She stayed in the same spot for minutes, scratching her temple while her other hand rested on her hips.

"That crazy… he's giving me a headache." Cosette pinched the bridge of her nose, but not surprised at the cruel response she got from Luke.

Just as the second young master of the Quinn said, someone had to take the blame. Luke probably guessed the score between Cosette and Maxen, and since he didn't want to hurt Maxen, he needed other people to blame. Apparently, Luke chose those delinquents.

This had always been the rotten system and norm in high society. It wasn't any less unreasonable than those in the underground. The only difference was that those in the upper echelon hide their unreasonable and rotten reasoning under their refined facade.

Cosette gazed in the direction where Luke disappeared, sighing. If she knew about this before retrieving her memories, she wouldn't understand Luke. However, Cosette was an heiress and was once the chairperson of their BLK Corporation. Therefore, for someone who once had the world at her feet, Cosette couldn't claim innocence.

"He will destroy them," she whispered, knowing Luke planned total destruction. He may act dumb most of the time, but Cosette was aware of what Luke was capable of. "Goodness…"

Cosette ran her finger through her hair. "I wanted to keep my dainty persona, but he'll definitely get hurt if he continues. He's really troublesome."

*****

When Luke walked out on Cosette, he planned to return to the back of the school where she dragged him from. However, his feet took him somewhere and before he knew it, he was already on the school's rooftop.

He held the door open, looking around at the rooftop. Another deep breath slipped past his lips, closing the door behind him.

Luke walked ahead and stopped in the middle. His hands were still shoved inside his pants, looking heavenward with eyes closed.

"She didn't have to be that cruel," he mumbled, opening his eyes ever so tenderly. "She didn't have to rub how she favors him over me. Sometimes she can be very frustrating. It's not like she didn't have any idea of the outcome of her words."

The frown on his face deepened, dragging his feet on the corner. He then plopped his butt down on the corner where there was a shade, leaning his back against the dirty wall. He rested his arm over his knees, staring at the dirty floor in silence.

"Drop out now."

"You transferred school because of me…"

"... I don't want to strain this friendship with such issues."

"Don't… do anything for me, Luke."

Luke let out a dry laugh as Cosette's words repeated in his head. His eyes glinted, smirking bitterly at how cruel she was to him.

"She should've at least lied," he murmured, understanding the reason Cosette chose to be cruel. "It's not like I will misunderstand her action. I never did."

Luke was torn. He should be glad that Cosette wasn't giving him mixed signals from the beginning until now. However, it would've been nice if she acted a bit more… understanding.

"After all, she is the reason why this hurts." He clutched his chest and laughed mockingly. "I thought I just liked her. I didn't know it'll be this painful."