Emma stepped closer to Austin, then took a wet tissue from her jacket pocket and directed it to the collar of the lecturer's white shirt, where there was a clear lipstick mark printed there, and slowly cleaned it with her hand. Her sweet treatment of Austin clearly attracted a lot of attention from the other students there. Including Jason, who was starting to get jealous.

"When did you dirty my shirt? We haven't met since this morning," Austin growled when Emma's face was close to him.

"If you don't grant my request, I'll tell them all that we did something inappropriate this morning," Emma whispered right next to Austin's ear.

"Are you crazy?" Austin widened his eyes so wide. He didn't expect the thoughts of the young girl who was near him right now.

Emma focused on cleaning the lipstick mark on Austin's shirt collar and ignored the man's scolding. After making sure her shirt collar was clean, Emma stepped back and sat down while her eyes were still focused on staring at the lecturer's face, who looked confused and was holding back anger. She now looked around. All eyes were on her. “Wow, it looks like we’re the center of attention, Mr. Austin,” she said softly while squinting her eyes, teasingly on purpose.

“Get to the point. What do you want from me?” Austin said impatiently.

“I want you to lighten my load, or if necessary, just cancel it.” Emma was reluctant to make small talk. She stared at Austin with full courage.

Austin smiled. He leaned back in his chair. Then, he leaned forward, both hands resting on the table and his face approaching. “Answer my question. When did you stain my shirt with your damn lipstick?”

“I don’t know,” Emma answered quickly.

“Don’t lie!” Austin growled.

Emma bit her lower lip, holding back the nervousness that hit her. “I don’t know who stained your shirt with that damn lipstick. Didn’t you see the color of my lipstick and the one on your shirt earlier were different? I was using pink lipstick while on your shirt earlier. The color was deep red.” Emma was also annoyed when she imagined which woman dared to tease Austin, because when she met the man, she had seen the lipstick marks on his shirt collar.

"How should I know? I was surprised by your statement earlier. If you weren't the one who stained my shirt, why did you lie and embarrass yourself in front of so many students?" Austin stared closely at Emma's face.

"Because I think this is the only way that can make you change your mind." Emma was not afraid and still dared to look at Austin's face.

"Oh, so this is your goal for being rude to me? Aren't you afraid that I will hold a grudge against you?" He whispered right in front of Emma's face.

"Yeah, that's right. And I'm not afraid of you. Why?" Emma didn't care about Austin's words. She just wanted to be free from the torturing task, even though it was in a pretty extreme way. Their eyes met.

Austin smiled and stepped back again. "Okay. I will cancel all the tasks I gave you," he said quite loudly, which immediately made Emma smile widely. "And I also accept your offer to be your boyfriend."

“What?!” Emma shouted very loudly.

All the students, including several lecturers who were there, were also surprised to hear Austin’s words. Jason immediately stood up from his seat and approached Emma and Austin.

“What do you mean by what you said?” Jason asked when he was beside Austin. His facial expression looked so serious, and he asked for an explanation. Austin stared at Jason. The two of them were like rivals fighting over a girl.

Emma, who saw the situation starting to get tense, immediately stood up from her seat and approached Jason. She was afraid that Jason would reveal their secret. “Jason, please. Go back to your place,” she whispered while looking at Jason.

“What did he mean by what he said? Do you have a special relationship with him?” Jason asked softly with a sad face.

“No. I don’t have any relationship with him. I’ll explain it to you later. Now go back to your place first. I beg you. There’s something I have to finish with him,” Emma whispered to convince Jason. She didn’t want the situation to get more complicated.

“Okay.” Jason sighed, then looked at Austin. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Austin.” His facial expression looked cold, unlike usual when he greeted Austin who was considered like his brother. He then left, returning to his place.

Seeing Jason leave, Emma felt relieved. However, when her eyes looked at Austin, irritation struck again. If she weren’t on campus right now, she might have cursed the man out.

“We should get out of here. Your words are getting out of control,” Emma said while glaring at Austin.

“Okay. No problem,” Austin replied casually.

Emma then took her bag and left the canteen. All the students were talking about her. However, Emma didn't care and chose to keep walking away. Austin also followed Emma wherever she went.

Now Emma was in the parking lot, right in front of Austin’s car. “What do you want to tell me?” asked Austin, who was behind Emma.

“Open the car door first,” Emma said, while pointing towards Austin’s car.

Without thinking, Austin followed Emma’s words. “Get in!” He got into the car first, while Emma was still standing in her place.

“Oh my God!” Austin honked the car horn, making Emma wake up from her daydream.

“Oh, God! Looks like I won’t survive this time,” she grumbled softly, then stepped into Austin’s car.

When the two of them were in the car, the atmosphere turned awkward. No one took the initiative to speak first. Austin started the car engine, then stepped on the gas pedal.

“Where are you taking me?” Emma looked panicked.

“Put on your seatbelt!” Austin said while focusing on driving.

“God, protect me from bad people and danger,” Emma grumbled while putting on her seatbelt.

Austin smiled. “You started it, you’re the one who panicked too.” Suddenly, his veins tensed, his fingers gripped the steering wheel very tightly. Emma’s scent made it difficult for him to control himself.

Emma glanced to her side while muttering incoherently. Her feelings were mixed at the moment, between wanting to be angry, confused, anxious, scared, happy, making it difficult for her to conclude her feelings. “What’s wrong with me? I should have rebelled and not gotten into his car. But, why did I just feel like I was giving myself up for free to him?” she said to herself while both of her hands tightly gripped the seat belt.