Would I consider him my friend?

Sigh... Haaa..."

I slowly opened my eyes as the alarm echoed through my room. It was early in the morning, but I had no choice—there was a scheduled training session today.

I went through my usual routine. I washed my face, fixed my bed, took a shower, and cooked breakfast. I kept myself busy, trying to push yesterday's events out of my mind. I had too many responsibilities to let something like that distract me. My studies and training came first.

As I stepped out of my room, I froze.

A man was standing right outside my dorm door.

For a second, I thought he was the man from yesterday. Thankfully, he wasn't. Why would that man even be here?

The stranger smiled and introduced himself.

"Hi! I'm Josh, your roommate. I just arrived today. I wasn't able to attend classes because I had something important to take care of. Nice to meet you."

"Umm... hi. I'm Jessie. Nice to meet you too."

He was incredibly talkative. I had a feeling we wouldn't get along very well. I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up with someone who talked this much.

"Your name sounds like a girl's name, don't you think?"

His comment annoyed me a little.

He wasn't wrong, though.

"It's actually my father's name," I replied. "I was named after him."

"Oh, that's pretty cool."

Despite how much he talked, he seemed like a nice person. It was surprising how friendly he was to someone he had just met.

"I have to head out," I said. "I need to get to the field."

The moment I mentioned the field, his expression lit up with excitement.

I wanted to ask why, but before I could say anything, he practically shouted,

"Wait... are you an athlete too? Do you run? Are you a sprinter?"

I stared at him for a moment.

He's so talkative... it's honestly annoying.

...Yet somehow, I was already getting used to it.

"Can you wait for me?" he asked. "We're going to the same place anyway."

I nodded.

"Sure."

For some reason, I had a feeling we'd be seeing a lot of each other from now on.

A few minutes later, he walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel.

I couldn't help but notice the large wolf tattoo on his chest.

It was detailed and surprisingly beautiful.

"Is that... real?" I asked.

"Oh, you mean this?" he said, pointing at his chest.

"Yeah. It looks really cool. My parents would never let me get a tattoo."

He chuckled.

"Well, it's pretty normal in my family."

Then he leaned closer with a grin.

"Want to hear a secret?"

"What?"

"My family's full of bad guys."

I blinked.

"My parents do... illegal things."

"Heh... funny."

"Hey, I'm serious."

His smile didn't disappear.

"But don't worry. As my friend, you'll be safe. I promise. As long as you stick with me."

"We're getting late," I said, grabbing my bag. "Stop talking nonsense and get dressed."

"Okay, okay."

Although I laughed it off, I knew he wasn't joking.

The way he said it...

He meant every word.

I could only hope he was lying.

Because I wanted nothing to do with people like that ever again.

Not again.

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