"Hi, Jason. What are you doing here?"

Austin smiled when he saw Jason's arrival. A smile that was very rare, almost never seen in front of other people. He had known Jason for a long time. About three years. Jason was the younger brother of his only best friend in Los Angeles. However, it was very unfortunate that his best friend died in an accident two years ago.

"What the hell? Why did they both know each other? What a coincidence that was very detrimental to me. It was a wrong decision to choose to sit next to this killer lecturer," Emma thought. She pressed the book closer to her face so that Jason would not realize her presence.

"Of course I want to find a book to do my assignment. What about you?" Jason sat down facing Austin.

"Don't you see what I'm doing?" Austin replied. His warm smile that had just radiated on his face, immediately disappeared, replaced by his cold attitude and only focused his gaze on the book he was holding.

"Hey bro, you're taking my question too seriously. Even though it's just a formality," Jason replied with a teasing smile. However, it seemed that Austin ignored him, making him only scratch the back of his neck that wasn't itchy. The atmosphere felt awkward.

"Why are you making small talk with me? It's not important!" Austin said with a cold expression on his face without wanting to look at the young man in front of him.

"Okay. Sorry," Jason replied with a sour face because he had to deal with a rude guy like Austin. "Luckily, you are my brother's best friend. If not, I would definitely ..." He didn't dare to continue his words when Austin's sharp eyes stared at him. He immediately turned his gaze elsewhere and found a girl covering her entire face with a book.

"Oh damn! How can I escape from here? If I stand up, Jason might recognize me. Hopefully he doesn't remember my posture or the clothes I'm wearing." Emma was getting more and more restless. Her legs moved trying to reduce her nervousness. She didn't want her matchmaking plans with Jason to be known by the students on campus.

"Eh, by the way, who are you?" Jason's attention was diverted to a girl who looked quite familiar to him.

“She is the most ill-mannered student,” Austin said enthusiastically answering Jason’s question.

“What the hell? How could he call me that? He is indeed the most cruel, shameless killer lecturer!” Emma said to herself while glancing sharply to her right. Looking at Austin's face made her even more annoyed. She looked down again and pressed the book closer to her face.

Jason, who was curious and wanted to confirm his suspicions, immediately stood up from his seat, then he stretched out his hand in front of Emma. “May I know you? My name is Jason,” he said with a meaningful smile.

Emma was getting more and more restless. She glanced to her side and saw Austin just sitting there indifferently reading a book. “He is so annoying,” she growled then her right foot stepped on her lecturer’s left foot.

“Auuu!” Austin groaned feeling the pain in his foot that was suddenly stepped on by Emma.

Jason’s attention turned to Austin. “What’s wrong?”

Austin immediately turned to his side with a sharp gaze holding back anger. “What did you do to me?” Austin growled in a low voice that only he and Emma could hear.

Emma showed her face to Austin. “Help me, please,” she said with a pleading expression.

“How dare you do this to me?” he growled again in a stifled voice.

“Please. I promise I’ll do whatever you tell me to do if you help me get Jason out of here,” Emma whispered while staring closely at Austin’s face.

Jason felt curious and started walking closer to Austin’s right side. “Do you need help?”

Austin sighed and immediately stood up from his seat, then looked at Jason. “Follow me!” he ordered, then grabbed Jason’s arm and pulled him away from the library.

“Finally. I’ve escaped a disaster.” Emma breathed a sigh of relief, then pushed the book away from her face. The atmosphere in the library suddenly turned quiet and calm.

"Thanks God." She chose to stay in the library for a while. In addition to calming her mind, she also didn’t want to meet Jason again.

Before she knew it, it was already evening. Emma was driving her car. The evening streets were quite crowded. Many people were passing by with their own interests. She sighed several times. Suddenly, her mind thought again about the matchmaking offered by her mother.

"Can I be selfish this time?" Those words were repeated in her heart. However, she thought again. Was this wish good for her and her mother? The desire to live freely without any intervention from anything.

"Is that appropriate when my condition is full of shortcomings and there is no chance to choose?" The traffic light was already green. Emma drove her car again. She put her thoughts aside and chose to focus on the road.

Not long after, Emma arrived at her house. The smell of cooking could be smelt from the yard. She then went inside. Her stomach immediately growled because she didn't eat this afternoon.

Emma's eyes sparkled seeing the amount of food. She immediately took a plate. She couldn't wait to eat the food that looked so tempting.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Regina stopped Emma's hand.

"Of course I want to eat," Emma answered.

"No way! You look dirty like that. Go take a shower first!" Regina snatched the plate from Emma's hand.

"I'm really hungry, Regina." Emma sulked in annoyance and was about to take another plate. However, her mother stopped her again.

"Take a shower first. Dress up nicely too. Your guest is coming over. Go take a shower quickly!" Regina told her daughter to quickly go into the room and get ready.

"Huh? My guest? Why didn't you tell me? Whose guest?" Emma couldn't bear to leave the delicious food in front of her.

"Don't ask too many questions!" Regina immediately dragged Emma into the bathroom. "Take a shower. Dress up nicely too so you don't embarrass yourself." Emma gave in and finally obeyed her mother's words.

A few minutes later, the guest arrived. Regina invited the guest into her house. She looked so happy. "Sorry, my house is messy and small," she said humbly. "Come on, sit down!" She invited the guest to sit in the living room near the dining room.

"Finally, we can meet in person. Sorry, I suddenly announced. If it wasn't for him who suddenly wanted to come here, maybe Marcel and I would still be waiting for the weekend to come to your house," replied Mona, a beautiful woman who was not much older than Regina. Her gaze was fixed on the young man beside her.

"Hello, how are you?" A handsome young man shook hands with Regina.

At that moment, Emma's bedroom door opened. All eyes were immediately on the girl who was standing in the doorway wearing a knee-length dress with long sleeves in turquoise blue and made of t-shirt material. Not to forget her long hair that was left in the stall, which showed an aura of elegance that radiated.

Emma began to look in front of her where the guest her mother had said was. Instantly her eyes widened when she knew who she was seeing now. "Jason? What are you doing here?”