After finishing the short test administered by Arcane in class 2A, the bell for the next class finally rang, and he asked them to hand in their papers again.
"All right, I'll hand out the results in the next class, and these scores will be the measure of how well you understand the lessons I've taught," he said before leaving the classroom.
As he walked out of the classroom, Freya followed him. She stood right next to him and looked curious.
Acting normal, he spoke again. "What's up, Freya? You should have stayed in class for the next lesson."
"There's something I want to ask you, Mr. Romano. I heard that you have a husband. Is he cute?" she asked boldly.
"What's wrong with that?" asked the man to one of his students who looked curious, but unfortunately, she was a problem student.
One wrong answer could get him into trouble too.
"I'm just curious! During the exam, you kept focusing on your phone and smiling to yourself. Were you receiving messages from your husband?" she asked again, this time sounding like someone holding back jealousy.
Arcane paused for a moment to think about his response, but he admitted that he was indeed exchanging messages with Julian. He just didn't realize that he had been smiling all this time simply because he was replying to messages from that man.
Knowing this, Freya felt even more jealous and curious about what he had written. But she also knew she couldn't cross the line and ask him about it because Arcane would definitely not answer.
"I'm curious, when and how did you two meet? He must be very lucky to have someone as handsome as you."
The school hallway, which had been filled with the sound of their conversation, was now filled with only the sound of footsteps. Arcane seemed to be trying to come up with a scenario in his head to answer that question.
He could have just not answered and asked Freya not to ask that question. But he was sure that the girl would not give up asking the same question until she was completely satisfied.
'She is the daughter of a major donor to this school. I have to be careful in answering her or I will be expelled from this school before I can get the information I need,' he thought at that moment.
Luckily, before he could answer the question, Kyle, the language teacher, passed by them and looked at Freya.
"Ms. Morgan? Why are you in the school hallway with Mr. Romano? You should have stayed in class because it's my lesson now," he said softly, informing her.
Not wanting her reputation as a good student to be ruined in front of Arcane, Freya nodded and went back to her class.
Arcane breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he had gotten away with it, but he knew that next time might not be as lucky.
"Are you okay, Mr. Romano? I saw you looking confused when you were talking to her. That's why I tried to change the subject you were talking about so she would leave," he said.
"Yes, that was very helpful. Thank you, Kyle. Well, I have to get back to the staff room before my next class," said Arcane as he walked away.
Kyle stood still, staring at Arcane's back as he walked away. A smile appeared on the man's face before he finally turned and walked away towards class 2A.
*****
A few days later, when school was out, Arcane intended to go home early because he was feeling very tired.
"There are still two hours until dinner time. I can still rest for a while before making dinner," he muttered, looking at his watch.
As he was tidying up his things on his desk in the teachers' room, one of the physical education teachers came up to him and patted his on the back.
"Hey Romano! Are you going home now? Why are you in such a hurry?" asked the physical education teacher.
"Oh hey, I want to go home and see my husband. I can't leave him alone for too long because sometimes he feels lonely when he's home by himself," he replied, looking for an excuse.
"Come on, just tonight. The teachers are going out for drinks and to have some fun until maybe 8:00 p.m. You want to come, right? You haven't been to a party with us since you started working here seven months ago!"
Actually, Arcane wasn't the type of person who enjoyed drinking outside with other people, except for Marshal and his college friends. He was about to refuse the offer, but that would surely be seen as a teacher who kept him distance from his colleagues.
Especially when he found out that the principal, Donald Stamford, was also attending the drinking party. That immediately piqued Arcane's interest, and he considered accepting the gym teacher's invitation.
"I think I can make it this time. I'll call my husband to let him know," he replied.
"Alright! We'll wait because some of the other teachers haven't arrived at the staff room yet." The man left him to talk to the other teachers.
Arcane finally decided to send Julian a message saying that he would be home late tonight. He explained that there would be a party for the teachers and that this was his chance to gain their trust.
[ARCANE]
I'll send you money to buy dinner. Don't you dare try to cook again.
On the other hand, Julian, who received the message, couldn't do anything about it. Moreover, this was one of Arcane's plans. As someone whose only job was to be a contract husband, he certainly couldn't protest if Arcane chose to come home late that night.
He finally replied to the message and put down his phone.
[JULIAN]
Alright then. Be careful out there, if you need help just call me.
The green haired man lay on the sofa watching television. He looked at his phone again, wondering what food he wanted to order for dinner.
As he was scrolling through his phone looking at the food available online, he suddenly heard someone ringing his doorbell.
Not just once, but several times, and it made Julian feel surprised, annoyed, and scared at the same time.
"Who's ringing the bell like that? Like a crazy person who can't wait!" he muttered angrily.
But he was also afraid that it might be a crazy person with bad intentions toward him.
Finally, he decided to look outside to see who was ringing the doorbell. Just in case, he grabbed the umbrella near the door and hid it behind his back so that if it was someone bad, he could hit them right away.
CLACK
He tightened his grip on the umbrella, hoping he could handle this alone. However, what he saw behind the door left him utterly shocked.
"No one's there?"