POSSESSION: The Hidden Omega In All Alphas' Academy [BL]-Chapter 148: How Do You Know That?

Since growing up Aiden had formed a habit of eating alone at a secluded place, and he had always stuck to following his habit by having his breakfast or dinner separately alone within the Academy premises. Since he knew Zenith had a personal Chef and a kitchen as per his father Dolemort’s request to the Principal, so he never bothered asking anyone else to join him to eat as it would always make him feel uncomfortable instead.

But his desires and intentions started to flow in a different direction since the day he was acquainted with Kylian. After bringing him to his secret comfort spot, Aiden had unknowingly hoped to ask Kylian to join him for breakfast the next day as it was the weekend off, after failing to ask him for a night walk yesterday.

But unexpectedly when he dialed him, getting Kylian’s phone busy turned him a bit gloomy once again. Thus, he chose to go to the most secluded yard at the west of the vast academy arena instead of going to his comfort place since he knew, going there would make him miss that bliss he had felt with Kylian, having him seated next to him and watch the beautiful waterfall and mountain view over that rooftop.

Bringing a small sandwich along with him, Aiden exhaled a heavy sigh while he was seated alone on a big bench at the corner of the greenery yard. But before he was about to take a bite, he winced to hear the sound steps and a dim ray of hope ignited inside him, making him turn around.

But his handsome face turned a little pale from shock when he realized instead of his anticipated person, Barnes stood there a few steps away from the bench, waving his hand at him, "Good morning, Sir! Would that one small sandwich be enough for your breakfast?" freēwēbηovel.c૦m

"Hey? How did you find me here!?" Flinched at his arrival, Aiden was almost about to jolt up from his seat but before he could, Barnes moved closer to him and sat next to him quietly. As much as he stared at him with a surprised wide gaze, Barnes seemed very calm while smiling at him.

"Didn’t you hear my question? What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Well, I am sure we weren’t playing hide and seek, so, it’s no need for you to be so startled." Barnes calmly shrugged his broad shoulders, sounding quite mature from his tone. Leaning his back against the bench, he added, "I happened to see you when you were coming over here, so I got a little curious to see where would be off to at this early morning, all alone."

A little baffled by his calmness, Aiden gritted his jaws, grumbling back at him, "I am uncomfortable with you being here. So, please leave and let me eat in peace."

’I am sorry Master Aiden...but you looked so lonely to me from behind that I couldn’t bear to watch you silently from afar.’ With that thought running in his mind, Barnes tossed a serene smile at Aiden when he answered, "I am just quietly seated on the same bench as you. I don’t think I am disturbing your meal—"

"Instead of following me around, shouldn’t you be with your Young Master, now? What kind of employee are you if you can’t even look after Zenith properly?" Before he could finish his sentence, Aiden’s cold growl paused him for a brief moment, making him realize he deliberately wanted to chase him away from there.

But after a long wait of over a decade, Barnes had mustered himself for all kinds of situations when he would be finally reunited with Aiden this time. Thus, showing no effect from his grumble, he answered diligently, "Well, Young Master doesn’t seem to need me around him now, so...with the off time I had in my hands, I thought of greeting you in the morning. It’s a lovely day today, right?"

Even though Barnes tried to initiate a cordial conversation, Aiden was quick to catch the hint through his words. His face turned a bit surly and narrowing his hazel orbs, he muttered in a displeased tone, "That means...Zenith is still with Kylian now, right? Is that why he doesn’t need you around?"

Once again watching him get disappointed at his mention, it didn’t take Barnes much time to realize Aiden strongly detested the thought of having Kylian and Zenith spending time together.

Confused and unable to console the difficult emotions Aiden must be processing inside his heart, Barnes scratched the back of his head before persuading him with a soft smile, "Well, right now, I am here to give you some company, so you’re not all alone, right?"

Though Aiden was unable to control the unfamiliar uneasy emotions scattering inside his heart, Barnes’s words and attempt to comfort him curved a small smirk on his lips. He rather taunted him in a rigid tone, "No thanks. I don’t want to spend my morning time with an old coot like you."

"Old coot?" Baffled at his mention, Barnes made a surly expression while complaining to him, "Who are you calling an old coot? I am about to be only 28 in a few months, so I am pretty younger than you have assumed. Besides, I am the kind of person to take proper care of my appearance to make sure I won’t look much aged."

"But you’re older than me, for almost 7 years. And no matter how much you try to deny that you’re old, or maybe we did have a brief past together which I don’t remember at the present, it doesn’t change my preference that I don’t want to hang out with oldies like you."

Aiden intently sounded curt from his tone, to make sure Barnes would leave the bench now definitely feeling humiliated.

But his determination was something Aiden had underestimated quite a lot. Instead of leaving, Barnes even slacked his broad shoulders against the bench to sit more comfortably next to him, greeting him back with a big smile, "Alright, fine. I am sorry for being an old coot, but...you won’t dislike it too much if you hang out with me, sometimes at least?"

’He’s a odd guy. Why does he persistently tries to keep running into me when I clearly mention I don’t like his interferences?’ Pondering in his mind after hearing his answer, Aiden heard the sound of his stomach rumbling which made him tear off the sandwich packet to take a bite.

But before he could do so, Barnes took out a small bottle of lemon soda from deep inside his inner suit pocket, and handed it cordially to Aiden, "Here, you would need a drink to swallow the bread, and that’s why I brought this drink for you."

Aiden widened his brown orbs at his words, holding a stunned look on his face as if he had seen a ghost there! A sweat drop trickled from the side of his forehead while his words stuttered, "H-Hey...H-How did y-you know...t-that I like to d-drink lemon soda with bread? I always had a weird hunch a-about you, but be h-honest with me now...Are you my s-stalker?"

’Oh no! I messed up! Why did I have to accurately remember his eating habits even after 14 years has passed by? How am I supposed to persuade him now?’

The anxious thoughts baffled him from inside and lifting the bottle down on the bench, Barnes tried to fake a confident smile to hide his anxiety, "What? Stalker? Haha... Didn’t I tell you...I am employed by Mr. Clark to keep a watch over Young Master Zenith here. So, why would I be your stalker?

"Besides, it’s just a pure coincidence that I thought you might need a drink and I picked it up randomly after I saw you buying this sandwich from the cafeteria."

"You were even watching me at the cafeteria?" However, quickly catching onto his point, Aiden unknowingly slid backward from him on the bench, sounding perplexed, "Don’t you realize your odd behavior towards me has a similarity with what is called stalking?

"And... I can’t believe it was purely coincidence that you picked up lime soda for me as this is one particular drink that I regularly like to drink!"

’I knew he has grown too sharp now...He won’t just buy it if I try to impose these lies...’ Realizing it sooner, Barnes came up with another excuse to make sure he won’t catch too much of his suspicion which might make it difficult for him to stay by Aiden’s side from now onwards.

"You’re right, it wasn’t purely random. Actually, yesterday when I was buying a soft drink for Young master Zenith, I chose a lima soda for him to which he told me...that it was your preferred drink. And somehow, I remembered that when I brought this drink for you. I just brought it with pure intention...I am sorry if you are getting too uncomfortable around me. I would better leave—"

"What did you say?" But before Barnes was about to stand up and leave the bench, Aiden grabbed onto his fair white hand from behind, asking him curiously, "Zenith...remembered my favorite drink? Are you serious?"

’I am sorry young master for dragging you in these lies...but I didn’t have a choice apart from that. I can’t catch Master Aiden’s suspicion now...and the more I think about it, the more I feel it’s even better if he never remembers about me...’

With the words pondering inside his mind, Barnes tossed a small smile when he resorted to lying again, "Yes, it was him who told me about it. Otherwise, how would I know about your preference? Can you believe me...now?"