Chapter 340 Back To School

"Well, I gotta go." Sara held Lee Seng's hands. The two new lovebirds looked into each other's eyes as they stood off to the side near the exit of the Academic building. "Have a good day, okay? Don't push yourself too hard."

"Mmm, have a good day, Sara." Lee Seng gave her a.

"Bye." Sara turned picking up speed and moving into the crowd. Lee Seng smiled, turning to move towards Ritsuka, who was waiting and making small talk with some classmates.

"Oh, he's here." A student pointed. Ritsuka turned and acknowledged him with a nod.

"All good now?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yeah." Lee Seng nodded.

"Well, we're gonna head out now. See y'all in fourth period!"

"See y'all later." Lee Seng waved.

"See ya!" The small group of students waved. The two started off to their classes together.

"How long have you two been together?" Ritsuka asked once they had made their way into the cafeteria.

"This is the second week." Lee Seng answered. Ritsuka gave him a cheeky smile.

"You bagged a girlfriend while you were on extended break? How interesting." Ritsuka raised his eyebrows. Lee Seng chuckled and elbowed Ritsuka, playfully.

"I guess that's one way to say that." Lee Seng shook his head. "I thought I was over her, but I guess not. I guess she didn't hurt me as bad as I thought she did…"

"She hurt you?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng began to nod in agreement when he slowly stopped.

"Yeah, she did…" Lee Seng quietly spoke. Ritsuka moved a couple steps ahead, realizing Lee Seng wasn't with him and turned to check for him.

"What? You okay?" Ritsuka came back and moved his face closer to Lee Seng's. He could tell Lee Seng had a puzzling face. "Is everything alright? Not feeling well now?"

"N-nothing. I-I'm fine." Lee Seng brushed it off. "I think it's the first full day back that's getting to me. Might need some tea"

"Well, take it easy alright. If you need any help, just let me know. We're together all day today." Ritsuka patted his back and motioned them to continue.

Lee Seng was the talk of the Academy. Loads of people watched him and whispered about the rumors as to why he was out so long. The Academy had heard about what had happened in November during the Field test and wondered what really happened.

Lee Seng had heard from Scarlet that he and his teammates went to aid Penumbra. He scouted ahead and they were attacked by Goblins and Shifters. When he asked for more information, she told him he fell into their trap and was found in the deep parts of the caverns. He had suffered heavy injuries and the power block caused a lot of problems for him.

Lee Seng ignored the whispers. They whispered about the huge mishap and some had even tried to confront the group about it, but they all told them the same thing — They had to pull back the techs and let another group find Lee Seng.

Ritsuka and Lee Seng climbed up the steps of the classroom and sat in their usual spot. Lee Seng sighed as he rested the backpack onto the table and pulled his coat off.

"Chang, could I talk to you for a second?" His first period teacher motioned for him. Lee Seng moved down the steps, avoiding the other students who were climbing the steps. They all noticed him and gave him small nods. He gave them a wave before standing near the white board.

"Yeah?" Lee Seng asked. The teacher grabbed their tablet and moved to stand next to them.

"I just wanted to ask if you went over the materials I emailed you about over your extended break."

"Oh," Lee Seng began to nod. "Yeah, I looked at them and did the homework, too."

"You did?" The teacher raised an eyebrow. "I was told you wouldn't have too much time in between physical therapy and the medical attention you needed, so I wanted to double check. Could you send me your homework? I'll grade those and put them into the system."

"Sure. I'll send it now." Lee Seng began to turn when the teacher raised a finger. Lee Seng turned back.

"I've been notified you're still recovering. If you need to step out anytime, just go ahead, alright?" The teacher told him. He nodded and gave a small bow before returning to his seat.

"Man, it's weird to come back after a long break." Ritsuka commented. He looked over at his friend as he sat down. "It's a new year. We're moving into that 'haunted house' at the end of the week. I wonder what else we're gonna do this year."

"Hopefully everything goes well with my check-ups and I'm cleared for Field Group quests. I really want to go with you guys." Lee Seng told Ritsuka.

"You'll be able to go in no time." Ritsuka nodded at him. Lee Seng nodded as he fished for his stuff. The bell rang and the teacher began to clap to gather everyone's attention.

"Alright, welcome back everyone. Hope your breaks were as wonderful as mine. Much needed rest to boost those brains of yours, yeah?" The teacher greeted everyone. "We'll be continuing where we left off before break…"

The classes went by with no problems. Lee Seng grew a bit sore but for the most part, but he was alright. Ritsuka carefully watched his friend like a hawk as they finished paying for their food in the cafeteria. They had met up with Olivia and Evan for lunch and were now walking back to their spots.

"Ey, we need to really talk about the move as a team." Olivia told them as they sat down.

"What about it?" Ritsuka asked. "We don't have much stuff between the two cars we have. Lee Seng and Liz have offered to allow people to put their stuff into that so we can move faster."

"Not that! I'm talking about supplies for the house. I know they finalized everything but we still need to go check out the house later today right? We can figure out what we need for the home."

"I forgot we were doing that today." Evan truthfully spoke.

"You were so excited about the move." Lee Seng pointed out.

"Excited doesn't mean I'll remember everything pertaining to the house. I'm just excited we're moving out of the dorms."

"Moving in the middle of winter, too." Ritsuka frowned. "It snowed pretty bad when we got here, so I'm hoping they'll make it easy for us to move."

"The roads and sidewalks seemed pretty cleaned when we were walking today." Lee Seng told them.

"You had time to focus on that and your new girlfriend?" Ritsuka raised an eyebrow. He was trying to make Lee Seng crack, but Lee Seng simply nodded.

"Just an observation I made. What? I can't pay attention to Sara talking to me while I look around, casually?"

"You just seem like the type that would devote their whole attention to your partner." Olivia commented.

"What? Do I really look like that?" Lee Seng looked around. His friends all looked at each other, nodding. He cracked a smile and let out a small snort. "Wowwwww, even my friends think I'll be those 'focus on her' people, too?!?"

"What, your siblings say the same thing?" Evan asked. Lee Seng's smile faded and he looked down at his food. The mood instantly shifted. Lee Seng sighed and shook his head.

"Nah. They've been… busy ever since… November happened."

"Oh, I'm, uh—" Evan began to say when Lee Seng looked up and gave him a smile.

"It's fine. Really." Lee Seng shook his head. He looked down at his food, again and sighed. Ritsuka, Evan and Olivia all looked at each other, conversing through their eyes.

"Why's he so sad about that?" Evan's stare asked. Ritsuka and Olivia shrugged.

"Let's drop it." Olivia quietly motioned. The boys nodded and continued to dig into their food.

Fifteen minutes were left of lunch as Lee Seng leaned back in his chair. His phone buzzed and he fished it out and looked at it. His mood shifted and he immediately smiled.

Sara: How's lunch? Everything okay so far?

Lee Seng: I'm fine. Just finished lunch.

Lee Seng: I forgot to tell you. We got the house so we're going to look at it one more time today.

Sara: Awh, you won't get to hangout with me today then?

Lee Seng: We can hangout after I'm done looking at the house. Your place isn't too far, right? I'll just stop by and come see you.

Sara: Ah, I don't want to make you walk so far.

Lee Seng: (T_T) I wanna see you tho!!

Lee Seng: I'm coming either way!

Sara has liked your comment!

Sara: Well, I'm doing some Field Group training with my team today anyways. We'll just have to see each other some other time.

Lee Seng put a crying gif into their chat.

Lee Seng: What day works for you then? Tomorrow?

Sara: I can do Thursday. I'm busy most of this week.

Lee Seng put a sad emoji on Sara's comment!

Lee Seng: Alright, I guess Thursday then. Let's walk together tomorrow?

Sara: Yeah, I can come to you since you're on the way, still.

Lee Seng: I could come for you T_T

Sara: You're such a cutie, babe. Fine, you can come to me tomorrow, then.

Lee Seng: Alright <3