Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 44: This Is Our Room

Stopping by the side of the bed, Leon spun around, his eyes sweeping the room for the black hoodie he discarded that evening.

At that same moment, the bathroom door clicked open. A cloud of steam billowed out, carrying the same sharp floral scent.

A thudding sound erupted as two soft feet slammed on the pink mat at the front of the door.

A low hum erupted as a lady wrapped in a standard-issue white towel appeared. The low hum intensified in a tuneless note while she patted her neck with a corner of the towel.

The hum died the moment she looked up.

Saliva snaked down Leon’s throat when he saw the half-smiling and half-still expression of Zoe Qing in front of him.

The steam from the bathroom formed a fragrant veil that hung in the air between them.

Leon stood frozen, but his eyes remained in a loop of blinking.

The steam from the bathroom hung in the air between them like a fragrant veil.

A single droplet of water traced a path from Zoe’s damp hair, down the slope of her neck.

It disappeared into the shadowed valley between her breasts, which were partially exposed where the towel’s fold had loosened.

Leon’s reflexive gaze flicked downward for a split second before he wrenched it away, fixing it on a point on the wall just past her shoulder.

"I thought you would never wake up," Zoe said, her voice echoing in a conversational tone.

Laughter burst out of her when she watched Leon’s frantic movement, whenever his gaze fell on her and moved away from her as if she was a curse to look at.

Her right arm carried the corner of the towel as she resumed patting her neck.

"Or," her eyes widened. "Were you awake this entire time?!" Her voice tensed while her mouth remained open, as if she had forgotten how to close it.

"Did you see me undress?" She squinted mid-frown.

Leon tilted his gaze slightly toward her and shook his head. "Naa... I just woke up," he clarified.

There, the confused and shy expression that had appeared on Zoe’s face hovered for a while, then vanished.

A soft thudding sound erupted as she moved closer to Leon.

"The room number..." Leon paused when he saw how frantic the load on Zoe’s chest dangled sideways.

"You think you’re lost?" Zoe said and tapped on Leon’s left shoulder as she moved past him.

"This is our room." A wide smile shimmered on her face for a while, then tensed into a grim grin. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"OUR ROOM?!" Leon’s voice boomed, letting the curtains on the windows flail sideways.

Zoe stared at him with a silent stare, then clicked her tongue. "OOOoh yeah." A soft voice echoed, calming the loud one that had shaken the curtain.

She yawned slightly, then stretched herself. There, the towel shifted downward a bit, letting the center of her back show.

Instinctively, Leon turned to face the window’s direction and brushed his hands over his face.

"What on earth is this?" he whispered, but heard a giggling smile echoing from behind him.

"This is the academy’s directive. Synergy pairing," Zoe said, pausing her giggling. "I requested you."

Leon’s face reddened with a mixture of confusion and anger. His heart heaved heavily, as if he wanted to fight with the moving wind that kept raising the curtain his gaze was fixed on.

His head snapped back quickly. "You... what? Why?"

Although seriousness was etched heavily in his voice and on his face, the reaction he received vaporized it.

Zoe’s lips curved into a slight, unreadable smile. "You’re a variable item, Leon Storm."

’Variable item? WTF does she take me for? An ITEM?’ Thunderous thoughts reeled in his head as he stared at the smiling face of the lady.

"First, you saved me from the wolves at the Shattered Land," Zoe said, raising her index finger.

"Although you lost a valuable item at the monstrous cave, you showed great power even after the creature nearly killed you." Her middle finger followed.

"Last but not least," Zoe paused and screamed, "Why didn’t you tell me the towel is not covering my breasts?!"

She turned in a fast movement, pulled the towel upward, and dashed to the table where the cosmetics were.

"I should have taken the advice they gave me before I concluded on choosing you," she whispered.

From behind her, a silent smile, still mixed with confusion, tore at Leon’s lips as he stared at the frantic movement the lady’s body tingled with.

After two minutes, Zoe tilted her head, her damp hair swaying sideways. "Don’t be mad, I prefer to keep interesting items close."

The giggling sound erupted from her once again.

Before Leon could process the anger building in him after hearing himself being referred to as an item, a firm, rapid knocking echoed from the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

With the confusion taking form on his face, Leon lunged for the door and yanked it open.

The confused expression vanished when his eyes caught sight of the only person he knew could answer his questions regarding the synergy pairing.

In the hallway, Mr. Lee stood firm, his face etched with its unusual grave concern, but his eyes held a flicker of relief upon seeing Leon.

"Leon. Good," Mr. Lee said and stepped inside without waiting for an invitation.

Stopping by the side of the bed, his gaze briefly acknowledged Zoe with a curt nod after her head popped out from the curtain she stood behind.

When Mr. Lee’s attention returned to Leon, he pulled a sleek, black datapad from inside his jacket.

"Your reinstatement is conditional." He thrust the pad into Leon’s hands. "These are your preliminary clearance tasks."

’Preliminary clearance tasks?’ Leon’s face tightened.

A smile tore at Mr. Lee’s face as he saw the sudden change in the boy’s expression.

"The tasks must be completed immediately, before you can be permitted back into the tournament arena," he said, and turned his head slightly to the moving curtain.

An electric wave shoved through the datapad and into Leon’s palms as he placed his left palm at the back.

From two meters away from them, Zoe dashed forward and grabbed the datapad mid-fall after Leon’s hand leapt from it.

"Leon, why?" Zoe’s face tensed as she handed the datapad back to Leon.

A soft breeze gushed and moved between them the moment Mr. Lee exhaled sharply.

"The system is synced to your biometrics. Don’t lose the datapad." He paused as his eyes blinked unintentionally.

"Do not underestimate the tasks. They are designed to filter out the weakened. Complete them, then report to the Proctor’s Office at 1500 hours precisely. Do not be late."

With a final, weighted look that seemed to carry an unspoken warning, Mr. Lee turned and exited. The door sighed shut behind him like a blast.

A soft giggle from Zoe drew Leon’s attention back into the room and to the dark screen of the datapad, now held tightly in his left palm.