Lyra and Angelo skipped ahead hand in hand as if they were couples.

They were just coming back from the school theatre and Angelo was sweating so hard.

"My poor boy, you wanna take a shower?" she asked and Angelo nodded.

"I share my room with someone," he replied, taking her towards their dorm.

He unlocked it with his own key and was greeted with the fresh smell of smoke, like burning incense.

It was faint though.

Lyra squeaked and immediately stepped into the room, but the smell also hit her nose.

"Does your roommate... smoke?"

"No he doesn't... or maybe... I dunno."

"You look so unsure. What's his name?"

" Oh-he's Adrien Cruz?" Lyra gasped.

"That's my sister's ex! He's a bad person. He used her and broke her heart."

Angelo watched helplessly.

"Scarlett? The same one who insulted me 'cause I was holding a teddy? Your sister is mean," he muttered and Lyra choked on her throat.

"I'm sorry... maybe you met her in a bad mood. But stay away from Adrien, okay?"

She warned and Angelo just nodded, already heading to his bed.

"I think... I should go," she quickly said when he was about to take off his pants.

That was when Angelo looked up with a smile.

"Shy huh? I wasn't even gonna take it off. Will see you later," he waved at her and she blushed and waved in return, quickly rushing out of the room.

Angelo undressed and threw the damped cloth into the dirty clothes basket.

Then he entered the shower and let the water flow freely on his body.

The steam filled the small bathroom like a blanket. For once, he let his thoughts stay quiet.

At the same time, he heard the door of the room open. Instincts immediately told him to lock the bathroom door.

Then Adrien's voice came. "Angelo?"

"Huh? Yeah. Welcome."

He didn't hear any reply and he quickly turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and stepped out.

Thank his stars that the scars were now faint.

He skipped into the closet as Adrien faced the window, smoke curling faintly in the air.

"I thought we're men?" Adrien's taunting voice came and Angelo chuckled shyly.

He dressed up and came out of the closet, and that was when he saw what Adrien was burning.

Something that looked like a photo. It was on a ceramic plate, and the window was now open to let the smoke out.

"Senior, is this one of your old photos?" he asked, and Adrien nodded.

"Oh. My question is... why burn it in a room?"

"'Cause I love the smoke. And I was doing that before leaving the room earlier. Had to open the window now cos of you."

Angelo jumped up happily.

"That's so considerate of you. And this is like the longest conversation we ever had," he squeaked like a kid, jumping on his bed.

"Stop doing that," Adrien cut him off with a frown, and he immediately stopped.

"I noticed something... you don't attend your classes regularly."

"We're having a basket challenge with Gateway College. So I just go for rehearsal when we're not having much subjects," he explained and took out his phone.

"I still have nightmares," Angelo said quietly.

Adrien spared him a glance. Without saying anything, he went to his wardrobe and threw a shirt and diamond bracelet at Angelo.

Angelo blinked and caught them.

"What's this?" he asked, sniffing the fabric, catching that familiar smoky, almost metallic scent again.

"You smell like burnt sugar and mystery" As usual, Adrien didn't reply.

"Woah... this must cost a fortune. Thanks, Senior. I guess I can imagine them as you."

Adrien plugged in his headphones and started watching something on his phone.

Angelo peeped at what he was watching and froze.

It was a video of him, strip dancing, days ago.

It wasn't live anymore... but it was definitely him.

His face paled as the beat thudded from Adrien's phone.

Adrien smiled-a real one.

A smile Angelo barely ever saw on his face.

"He looks cute. Wait..." Adrien turned in surprise to see Angelo watching the stuff with him. "Same hair and same eyes. The guy..."

But Angelo quickly cut him off.

"How on earth do you think I'll do that?" he half-yelled, his heartbeat thumping wildly.

Adrien gave him a look. He has never yelled at him before

"I was going to say the guy might be your twin, not you in particular... but... you just gave me a reason to be suspicious."

He removed his headphones and started comparing the video to Angelo in real life, eyes scanning him slowly.

Angelo's breathing became sharp.

The panic crawled up his throat. His hand trembled.

And then

His eyes rolled back, and he dropped to the ground.

Adrien's headphones fell off his neck with a thud.

"Sh*t-Angelo?!