Outside the window, the Manhattan skyline shed its neon, taking on the gray-blue of dawn.
Enfi awoke in a state of exhaustion, a mix of soreness and strange satisfaction.
Hawk was no longer beside her; the other side of the bed was cold.
Fragments of last night's stormy memories flooded her mind, instantly flushing her cheeks, and her heart began to race uncontrollably again.
She pulled the sheet tighter and sat up, looking around the cold, luxurious bedroom, permeated with Hawk's strong scent. A sense of unreality lingered.
Carefully getting up, the soreness in private places reminded her of last night's intensity.
She put on her wrinkled blouse and skirt, and walked barefoot on the soft, cool carpet, pushing open the bedroom door.
In the living room, Hawk was sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee, wearing only pajama bottoms. The morning light outlined the powerful lines of his muscular upper body.
Enfi was hesitating, unsure how to speak, when the "beep-beep" sound of a fingerprint unlock and deliberately hushed voices came from the entryway.
"Ugh, finally home. I need to catch up on sleep…"
"Hey, Enfi?"
"Mr. Hawk!… Uh, Enfi, you're here too?"
Goo Ja-yoon and Shin Shi-ah walked in, looking tired.
Goo Ja-yoon saw Hawk in the living room and Enfi, who had clearly come from the direction of the bedroom. Her eyes flickered, and she quickly averted her gaze, trying to hide Shin Shi-ah behind her.
Shin Shi-ah, however, was completely oblivious. She yawned widely, looking at the two with innocent curiosity.
Hawk turned around, took a sip of coffee, and calmly scanned the two: "Out late? Just getting home now?"
Goo Ja-yoon immediately reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, stammering: "No… didn't go anywhere… just… wandered around…" Her eyes darted, afraid to look at Hawk.
Shin Shi-ah, however, was honest. Under Hawk's gaze, she truthfully added: "Sister Ja-yoon went to a nightclub! The lights were so flashy, and the music was so loud! Sister Ja-yoon didn't get drunk at all!"
She paused, as if remembering something, and looked at Goo Ja-yoon with a hint of confusion, "But Sister, you seem to have forgotten to pay? The manager uncle said to put it on the bill…"
Goo Ja-yoon's face instantly turned crimson; she wished she could disappear into the floor: "Shin Shi-ah! Shut up!"
Hawk's eyebrow didn't even twitch, as if he had expected it. He put down his coffee cup, his tone flat: "Send the bill to my house?"
Goo Ja-yoon shrank her neck, muttering softly: "Send it to Columbia University…"
Hawk's eyes widened, and he stood up with a "clunk," almost tipping over the sofa, his eye twitching: "Go pay the bill immediately. If my professors and classmates find out I'm drinking at a nightclub and not paying, how will I ever hold my head up?"
Goo Ja-yoon gave an awkward laugh and nodded repeatedly.
Hawk glanced at Goo Ja-yoon; there seemed to be some splashed blood on her clothes.
"What's that?"
Goo Ja-yoon looked at her clothes and waved her hand dismissively.
Shin Shi-ah spoke first: "While drinking, a few men tried to get handsy, so Sister Ja-yoon taught them a lesson."
Hawk's gaze turned to Goo Ja-yoon, who gave a "simple-minded" smile: "Don't worry, no one died."
Only then did Hawk let Goo Ja-yoon off the hook and look at Shin Shi-ah, who was still bewildered and recalling details: "From now on, follow Enfi." He pointed to the still somewhat awkward Enfi. "Let her teach you some rules, especially basic common sense like 'paying the bill.'"
Shin Shi-ah immediately nodded happily: "Okay, okay! Hello, Sister Enfi!"
She greeted her with a smile.
Immediately after, her clear, big eyes darted between Enfi and Hawk a few times, finally settling on Enfi's noticeably disheveled hair, slightly swollen lips, and faint red marks on her neck, and she innocently asked:
"Ah! So Sister Enfi and Mr. Hawk were also playing together last night? Why did you come out of the same room? Sister Enfi looks a little tired?"
She pointed at Enfi, then at Hawk in his pajamas, her face full of pure curiosity.
The air instantly solidified.
Goo Ja-yoon rolled her eyes and covered her face.
Enfi's cheeks instantly turned crimson, as if bleeding, her eyes darting around frantically, wishing she could disappear on the spot.
Hawk paused, looking at Shin Shi-ah expressionlessly.
"Watching a movie," Hawk broke the silence first.
"Yes! Watching a movie! A horror movie! It scared us so much we couldn't sleep well!" Enfi immediately reacted, quickly chiming in, trying to salvage the awkward situation, "A very long movie…"
Shin Shi-ah tilted her head, looking at one, then the other, her eyes filled with a "really? I don't believe it" kind of doubt.
The three's obviously unnatural reactions made her feel that things were definitely not that simple, but seeing Mr. Hawk's undeniable demeanor, she temporarily swallowed her belly full of questions, only muttering softly: "What kind of movie is so scary… that it can make people tired…"
Hawk ignored Shin Shi-ah's mumbling, put down his coffee cup, and walked straight to his master bedroom, as if the awkward moment had never happened.
"Wash up, change clothes. You have class today."
Columbia University.
Economics department lecture hall.
On the podium, the old professor was passionately lecturing on the "law of diminishing marginal utility."
"So, who can tell me why diamonds are more expensive than water, but the total utility of water is far greater than that of diamonds?" The professor pushed up his glasses.
Silence.
"Because of scarcity and marginal value," a low, pleasant voice answered.
Swish! All eyes focused on the window seat in the back row of the classroom.
Hawk Lane rested his chin on one hand, his posture relaxed.
"Bingo!" The professor's eyes lit up. "Student Lane, elaborate?"
Hawk spoke eloquently, his logic clear, his words precise, making the dry theory sound like Wall Street insider information.
Only his voice and the suppressed gasps of the female students filled the classroom.
"Wow… Senior Hawk is really handsome… and his voice is so nice…"
"Right, right, I only came to this class to see Hawk!"
"I heard he and Professor Emilia…"
"Shh! Don't spread rumors! He and Emily from the cheerleading squad are a couple, right? Someone saw him pick her up in a sports car last time!"
"The art department's campus belle, Jenny, who's a great dancer, also came looking for Hawk!"
"And Olivia from the student council, her eyes when she looks at him are definitely not normal! She's the mayor's daughter, she must have the best chance! Is this man toxic? A harvester? When will he harvest me too!"
"I heard several new girls in the economics department transferred here for Hawk; they're all campus belles!"
Among them, two new S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, disguised as the Asian academic prodigy Kobayashi Miwa and the athletic sweetheart Katherine Miller, were also in the classroom, their gazes occasionally sweeping over Hawk, trying to discover something.