Claude could only be so quiet that Sunday. He woke up on Len's bed again, and they almost got to the best part last night. He didn't know if Len was just steering him away from the truth. Whenever Claude closed his eyes, he didn't see six horrified faces in the dark. What he saw were the eyes of a man who knew what he wanted.
Him… Len wanted him.
A shiver crawled up and down Claude's spine. His body couldn't help but react to his thoughts. The note he made even shifted, disrupting the music.
"Is everything okay, Lavallee?" one of their guests asked. He glanced at Eugene, who accepted them inside the room. "He's been playing his violin mindlessly. He finally missed a note."
"Why shouldn't they be alarmed?" The dorm leader lifted a brow and stared at Eugene, who scratched his head. "Eugene, didn't I tell you guys to be careful? You really thought pretty girls like them don't have boyfriends? Look at what you have done."
Eugene stopped frowning at his cards and glanced at the dorm leader. "I heard you, Tommy. Who are we to decide if they're happy with their boyfriends?"
Tommy, the dorm leader, sighed and watched Eugene throw a card. He picked it up and laid down all his cards. Everyone groaned as he won the game again. However, Tommy couldn't even smile. His frown was as deep as everyone's. He said, "It doesn't matter what they said about their men. Those guys won't take your words over their girlfriends'."
Another student took all the cards and shuffled the deck. "Yeah, you better watch your backs at school tomorrow. The other boys are tolerable… but that girl, Gracie? No. Her boyfriend is a big Psi Saint Alpha member. Who knew what those guys could do?"
Everyone else nodded, but Eugene only scoffed. The three other players knew Eugene had a group date with other students from the dorm. Gracie even pressed herself against him a lot.
"…why? What's happening?" Claude didn't play again after his mistake. He just stored the expensive gift and sat on his bed to watch their card game. His eyes didn't even stray into Eugene's messy side of the room. "Are the boys calling us out?"
"Not really." The grumpiest among the card players huffed. He even crossed his arms on his chest. "Someone just leaked photos they took during the group date. Everyone faulted you guys for going out with girls who had boyfriends. It was like they were asking for those guys to clobber Eugene the most. Gracie sounded like a sacred thing to those people."
Claude's eyes darkened, keeping his shaking hands from showing. "Is she? How so? She doesn't strike me as the kindest."
Tommy glanced at Claude. "She isn't… but everyone knows Psi Saint Alpha is made up of gods. You shouldn't be caught messing with one of them. I heard that those who agitate some members vanish without a trace. The school said they transferred, but some students knew that was a fat lie."
The card dealer scoffed. "I could only imagine what happens inside the walls of that General's dorm. Only the Psi Saint Alpha were allowed to dorm there. Strange enough, they could preselect members."
"Why does it sound like they would shelter someone who… uh, thought of torturing someone else?" Eugene phrased his question carefully. Claude might not react to the question outright, but Eugene knew he would hurt his friend if he said 'criminals'. He added, "Like… since I fooled around with that bitch, the Psi Saint Alpha will back up her boyfriend."
"I don't know, bruv." The card dealer chuckled. He started the game. "If someone told me those monsters would even hide the body for a brother, I won't doubt it."
Claude flicked his gaze at that student. Even Tommy and his other friend looked in his direction. When he noticed no one went next, he looked at their faces.
Tommy massaged his forehead. The others would even copy him, but Eugene couldn't even glare. The dorm leader just said, "Have you forgotten that Claude is a member of Psi Saint Alpha? Don't generalize them in front of him. Curse them out somewhere else."
Instead of backing down, the card dealer glanced at Claude. "He should know what he joined."
"This is unfair." Eugene frowned and took his turn. "When we came here, the news of Psi Saint's Alpha hosting a recruitment sounded like the best thing ever. Why do you guys sound like they are the worst group of people to exist in the school? Did you trick us?"
"…sorry. That was my fault." Tommy sighed and massaged his forehead. "Psi Saint Alpha isn't actually full of scum. Their connections and powerful people are a good resource for most. It was just that… those leaders often keep to themselves. The ones making the most noise from their brotherhood are the disgusting ones.
"The brotherhood kept saying they screen their members, but the most disgruntling ones do get inside their supposedly prestigious group. Those people would even go against their faction's rules." Tommy glanced at Claude. "They don't even say much if their members mess up. Their magic hands can clean up scenes and make troubles go away."
Eugene frowned at his cards despite their niceness. He rearranged them in his hand. "Are we talking about bribery here?"
Tommy nodded. "Not just that. They would even promise things like application success and grant approval. Their brotherhood is powerful… All other clubs had to sin against the freshmen and recommend Psi Saint Alpha despite their real reputation. Some good freshies might get lucky, they said. Who knew which one of them could be the next big thing?"
Everyone stayed quiet after that. Only when Eugene took his next turn did he take the last thrown card and throw another. He placed all his cards down, winning the round. However, his face didn't look happy.
The winner glanced at his best friend at the bed before turning to Tommy. Eugene took a deep breath and grinned. "Hey, hey, we should take advantage of Psi Saint Alpha trying to bribe me."
…
[Len: Tell your friend not to overdo it (smiling face) Once is negligible.]
Claude woke up to his alarm getting disrupted by a message. He groaned and slowly sat up, stretching into his yawn. When he checked his phone, he saw a message from Len. He frowned and glanced at Eugene's direction.
Just like what they discussed yesterday, Eugene layered his thick face with more mud and asked for a material bribe from Psi Saint Alpha. He knew what happened in that alley. Len and his friends wouldn't want him blabbing about it. However, Claude figured Len just laughed at the threat and gave in. The bribe Eugene asked for could be used by the whole dorm, anyway.