He stopped in front of me. He fixed his glasses. And with a big smile, he said, "As expected, you'll come this early as well."

…

My body froze up immediately in front of Mason. He maintained the big smile on his face that made him looked both cute and very handsome at the same time. If I was one of his fangirls, then I would faint almost immediately, knowing how privileged this kind of moment was.

But for now, what I felt was just… chill.

I had a chill down to my spine, thinking there was already a witness here. I completely forgot that Mason always came so early every day for his training.

I cast my eyes down to avoid his gaze and subconsciously touched my face mask to make sure that I was still wearing it, then a question popped on my head. A question that shouldn't be possible in the first place.

How the heck could Mason identify me with all of these guises? I was literally wearing a black hoodie covering my head and face mask!

He couldn't even see my eyes from the distance when he called me before, so it was impossible for him to identify me so easily.

"Em?" He called my familiar name again, and I looked up to stare at the beautiful blue eyes behind the glasses. Mason tilted his head slightly and leaned closer, so our eyes were around the same level. "Em, what are you doing this early?"

I dodged his gaze as I answered, "Just a small task in the club building, nothing much."

"Ah, I see," Mason hummed for a moment as if he was trying to guess on something. "You're in pottery club, right?"

…

How did he know?

Mason raised his brows and chuckled lightly, "No, no, don't overthink about it. I saw you sitting on the pottery club booth during the club fair. But I don't have time to approach because I also have to attend my booth."

Or was it because your fangirls will hound at me if they found out that their worshipped idol had a talk with another girl.

"What small task will you do in the club building? Do you want me to help? I still have enough time before school starts."

No way in hell I would request for your help, you Mr. Goody-two-shoes. That was the equivalent of suicide.

"I don't need your help. Now, if you'll excuse me—" I turned around, trying to rush to the Club building. There was a witness right now, and I didn't want to add even more witnesses. I didn't even know if Mason had entered the school building or not.

"Wait!" Mason suddenly grabbed my wrist, clenching it tightly as if he wanted to stall for more time. "It's about my jacket. I wonder if you still have it or not…."

Ah.

That jacket.

I nodded and pulled my hand to release myself. I unzipped my bag and gave him the white jacket that I had washed yesterday.

Mason's face cheered up for some reason. He looked delighted when I gave his jacket back. I guess he didn't really put a tracking or listening device inside because he wouldn't ask for the jacket if he wanted to stalk me.

Yeah, it was all just part of my paranoia and anxiety, it seemed.

"Thank you…" I said in a low voice. I had to admit that his jacket gave me a sense of security when I ran away from the club fair before.

I felt too exposed, even though I didn't do anything wrong.

Mason accepted the jacket happily, but when he touched it, his smile faltered a bit.

"Did you wash the jacket?" he asked. He rubbed the jacket, feeling the soft fabric, and also smelled it a bit. "And spray it with perfume as well?"

"It's just perfuming spray. I ironed it myself. Because I'm the one who borrowed it, so I have to return it in good condition…."

"Ah, you're doing this much for me? That makes me happy… and special," Mason's lips perked up again. But I was still suspicious of his reaction when he first realized that I had washed his jacket. So I confronted him;

"Is there any problem? You don't look too happy after knowing that I had washed your jacket."

"Ah, it's nothing," Mason shook his head. "I just think that you don't need to wash my jacket."

"Why not? I'm the one who wears it. Obviously, I have to return it in good condition," I tried to push him into this. I just found that his reaction was too suspicious.

Mason scratched his head and then shrugged, "It's still clean, and I'm sure that you're not dirty as well. It's too much hassle to wash my jacket."

"I'm fine washing your jacket," I said.

Mason stared at me and smiled, "Good."

…

For some reason, his answer was too perfunctory for me to be satisfied. Because my gut feeling said, there was something more than just 'not wanting to give me the hassle.'

But I couldn't press him for more because his last words were like a knife that cut all the possible conversation regarding the jacket.

Mason suddenly turned his head and mentioned, "Oh, the old school guard is preparing to check the school building for his morning shift."

My eyes widened instantly. He shouldn't be active this early, not when the students weren't coming yet. If he saw the printouts across the main corridor, he would definitely call the janitor to clean everything before students came, and all my effort would be in vain.

Mason turned his head. He smiled at me again, "Hmm… I will talk to the school guard for a while. You should go and do your small task in the Club building as soon as possible. Talk to you later, Em."

"Oh, thank you for washing my jacket. I'll definitely treat you a cake or ice cream later!"

Mason dashed to catch up with the school guard, his action somehow delayed the school guard, leaving me to do my small task and giving me enough window time to execute my mission.