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It was February 14th, a rather special day all over the world—and the same was true for Wyndham Institute. Appel had prepared some sweets to give to his friends and to the people who had helped him since he entered the institute. The atmosphere already felt different from the moment he walked in—sweeter, almost syrupy—and excited murmurs could be heard all around.
As he walked down the hallway, he noticed a few girls standing in front of the locker of one of the most popular boys in the academy—the student council president. It was to be expected. Glyde had always been the center of attention at the institute, and his beauty was quite remarkable. Even Appel had felt like he forgot to breathe for a few seconds when he first met him.
The girls opened the locker and, to their surprise, it was filled with stacked chocolates that looked as if they were about to spill out from the sheer amount. Appel, more out of instinct than anything else, saw one of the chocolates about to fall. He quickly stepped forward, caught it before it hit the ground, and placed it back inside. The girls looked at him in mild astonishment but immediately thanked him. Appel stiffened, let out a small laugh, and hurried away.
When he arrived at the classroom, he sat in his assigned seat, took out a notebook and pen, and then hung his backpack. After a while, his friend Yen arrived.
“Good morning, Appel. I saw you helping those girls earlier… How brave of you!” Yen gave him a small friendly shove on the shoulder. “Or were you planning to leave chocolates too? Just kidding!”
“Good morning, Yen. About that—It was just a coincidence! I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
“Sure, sure. I’m kidding, dummy. The president’s always been popular since middle school… or was it elementary? Whatever, he’s always been.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! Though I never understood it because he’s just someone who doesn’t listen to other people’s suggestions.” A fake tear slid down her cheek. “Like my proposal to change the uniform style!”
“You’re always sending him proposals… Oh! I almost forgot.” He grabbed his backpack and pulled out a gold coin-shaped chocolate.
“For me?” Yen took the chocolate and held it up to look at it better. “It’s shaped like a coin, I like it. Oh! But I didn’t bring anything for you, Appel!”
“You don’t have to, really.”
Nothing particularly important happened after that. A rumor or two that Yen told him—about someone in their class finally confessing to a boy they liked and now they were dating. Classes went by normally, and soon it was break time, so he left with his friends to go eat. He kept the small bag filled with coin-shaped chocolates in his pocket in case he ran into any other friends on the way to the cafeteria.
He was walking down the hallway with Yen when suddenly his shoulder bumped into someone.
“Sorry!” Appel quickly turned to see who he had collided with.
“It’s alright. I wasn’t paying attention.” Glyde smiled at him—a slight, confident curve that conveyed politeness.
His face had fine, harmonious features: a defined jaw, soft yet pronounced cheekbones, and a serene gaze that seemed to observe everything carefully. His hair, neatly gathered at the lower part of his head, revealed the elegance of his features and gave him a refined air. He was definitely the student council president.
Appel might have analyzed the president’s appearance a bit too much, but Glyde wasn’t moving, and that was starting to make him nervous. What was happening now?
“It’s the chocolates!” Yen announced, pointing at the bag that was supposed to be in Appel’s pocket but was now in Glyde’s hands as he returned it to him.
“When did they fall?” Appel wondered aloud.
“Chocolate?” Glyde looked at the little bag curiously and decided to take one out. “So they’re chocolates…”
For an instant—so brief anyone might have thought they imagined it—something changed in his gaze. The usual serenity was tinted with a special glint. It wasn’t anger or cruelty. It was something else… A shadow that crossed his pupils silently, intense and carefully contained.
But he blinked. And he was once again the impeccable, polite, perfectly composed president.
“Yes! I’m giving them to my friends and people who’ve helped me. Actually, I was hoping to run into you so I could give you one…” His expression grew more nervous. “But if you don’t want it, you don’t have to accept it. I know you’re very popular and a simple chocolate coin isn’t exactly the best gift, but I still wanted to thank you somehow!”
He held the small chocolate coin delicately between his fingers, almost as if it were made of glass. Glyde observed it a second longer than necessary, turning it slightly, as if evaluating something beyond its simple coin shape.
“For me?” he asked with that soft smile that always disarmed people.
But that dark glint returned to his eyes.
He removed the wrapper and brought the chocolate to his lips without looking away from Appel. He didn’t bite it immediately… First he held it between his teeth, barely pressing down, as if trying to demonstrate something. Then, slowly, he broke it.
There was nothing special about the gesture itself—he just took a bit longer to bite it. And yet there was something deliberate in the way he did it. Something that felt like a message: What you give me… belongs to me.
When he finished, he lightly licked the sweet trace left at the corner of his lips.
“Thank you,” he murmured, smiling before turning and walking in the opposite direction.
A strange knot formed in Appel’s stomach, something almost hungry after that interaction.
After break, they returned to the classroom. Appel took his backpack to store the remaining chocolates. As he placed them inside, above his things, he noticed something unusual. There was a small brown box with an elegant look and a perfectly tied ribbon. Attached to it was a small heart-shaped note.
“What is this? Chocolate? No, no, no… It can’t be… Or can it?”
“Appel, is something wrong?” Yen noticed the confused expression on his face.
Appel quickly shoved the box to the bottom of his bag and sat properly at his desk.
“N-Nothing…”
When class ended, he hurried home with the excuse that he had homework to finish and notes to review. The moment he opened his bedroom door, he tossed his backpack onto the bed and flopped down face-first, inhaling the scent of his sheets in an attempt to calm his racing mind. With anxious hands, he looked into his bag again and pulled out the box. He examined it carefully, checking the note first.
Written on it was:
“Appel B.”
The person who gave it to him had either not wanted their handwriting recognized… or why else would they use printed letters? Appel couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed, but he still found it sweet. He lay on his stomach, holding the note with both hands, smiling at it. Maybe he was exaggerating his happiness—but it was the first time he had ever received chocolates.
…
I mean…
Were they romantic chocolates?
Appel wasn’t very experienced, but the box looked expensive and clearly had dedication behind it. So he could conclude they were romantic chocolates, right?
Right?
He sat cross-legged on his bed and opened the box. Inside were three beautifully decorated chocolates, their scent pleasant and tempting. He felt the urge to try one. To savor them properly, he nibbled slowly while checking if there was anything else inside. He couldn’t help smiling when he saw that one of the chocolates had his initials written in icing. The dedication and effort were obvious.
If they gave him these chocolates, it meant they had feelings for him… Appel let his mind drift into a fantasy where this person would invite him out one of these days to ask how the chocolates were—and maybe he would return that confession. I mean, if it were a prank, it would be a very well-made one and he had completely fallen for it—but it didn’t seem like that was the case. He felt bad eating them, but it would be ungrateful not to enjoy something made especially for him, so he ate them with as much appreciation as possible.
Yes, eventually this person would contact him…
Right?
But they didn’t.
A week passed and that person never appeared. Maybe they were too shy? Appel’s heart squeezed as he stared at the classroom clock. He had gotten his hopes up. It even crossed his mind that if the person had left at least one clue, he would have searched for them himself. He knew he wasn’t very brave, but his desire to meet them was stronger than his cowardice. He sighed for the eighth time that day and tried to focus on class again.
Another week passed with no sign of them. He even wondered if it had been a trick of his own mind and had to check the box on his desk when he returned to his room just to reassure himself it hadn’t been a dream.
White Day was approaching, and Appel wanted to thank them by giving chocolates in return for all the trouble they must have gone through to make them. He wasn’t very skilled in the kitchen, but he had some savings and could buy something.
He bounced one leg anxiously under his desk. The background noise of class accompanied his frustration; he could barely pay attention. But from that frustration, something emerged.
He was tired of waiting for a miracle…
He would find them himself. He didn’t know how, but if he analyzed everything, maybe he would discover something.
He took out a notebook and began writing down what little he knew. After about twenty-five minutes, he dropped his head in defeat. He literally had only one clue: the note with his printed name. He would have been lost if it had been a standard font—but the one used was particular and had to be installed manually. How did he know? He had checked all the pre-installed fonts on his laptop one by one. Eventually he found it and realized it wasn’t a default font.
That meant he had to start searching from there—but he couldn’t exactly go around checking people’s laptops. He’d probably get expelled just for trying. He sighed again, feeling cornered.
“Hey, Appel!” Yen knocked on his desk, trying to snap him out of his bubble.
“Huh?!”
“Class is over. I was talking to you, but you looked like you were in the clouds. Are you okay?” Yen leaned forward, one eyebrow raised and arms crossed.
“I’m fine, I’m fine… I just haven’t been sleeping well.”
“Hmm… Is that so?” She studied him a moment before relaxing and smiling, holding up a sheet of paper. “Anyway, I was telling you about this new proposal and wanted to know if you could help me deliver it.”
“Again? I don’t want the student council scolding me again.”
“Please! I’d go myself, but I have to help Floyd.”
“I don’t know…”
“Please! I’ll buy you lunch for a day! No—for two!”
Appel sighed and nodded.
“You’re the best!”
Dragging his feet, he headed to the student council room. He had only gone a couple of times, and it made him nervous speaking to them—especially about Yen’s proposals. They weren’t bad people, just… imposing. Standing in front of the door, he tried not to crumple the paper in his hands.
“Excuse me…”
He stepped into the always pristine and orderly room. In the silence, he noticed the president seated at his usual desk, typing on his laptop. Appel approached slowly and sat down.
Glyde lifted his gaze. A dark spark appeared and vanished in the same blink. The corner of his lips lifted slightly.
“Appel,” he greeted in that firm, polite public voice.
He stopped typing when their eyes met. The gesture seemed casual, but the way his attention focused entirely on him—like everything else had ceased to matter—betrayed something deeper.
“President, sorry to bother you. I wanted to give you this…”
“Let me review it.” He took the paper and skimmed it quickly.
Appel fidgeted with his fingers in the silence.
“I’m afraid I can’t accept this proposal, Appel.” He set the paper aside and resumed typing. A slightly louder keystroke echoed, followed by the printer starting up. “Though I assume you already knew that.”
“Yes… Well… She asked me as a favor.”
“Could you hand me the printouts, please?”
Appel stood and walked to the printer. It finished with a soft click, and he picked up the warm pages.
At first, he was going to hand them over without looking—but something caught his eye.
He blinked.
Looked again.
The font.
Not a default one. Not Arial, not Times—none of the common ones. It was slightly elegant, with particular curves. The same one.
The same one printed beneath his name on that Valentine’s note.
His throat went dry—not from fear, but something else. Surprise, nerves, a sudden rush that made his heart beat faster.
For weeks, this person had lingered in his mind, and he had given up trying to find them because his only clue was nearly impossible.
And now it was there.
Printed in front of him.
His fingers tightened around the paper as he slowly looked up. Glyde was rummaging through his desk drawers. When he found what he was looking for—a stapler—he pulled it out.
Then he turned his head.
Appel studied him: the strands of hair, the serene curve of his nose, the neatly tied hair, and finally, his blue eyes.
And he looked back at him.
Something shifted inside Appel.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen him—but in that moment, with the light outlining his features and that calm, almost inscrutable expression, Glyde seemed unreal.
Fine features that made him look cold—and yet warmth in the way his gaze rested on him. As if he were being observed with attention meant only for him.
That dark glint appeared again. A subtle flash that could be mistaken for light from the window—if it hadn’t been directed solely at him.
“Is something wrong?” Glyde asked softly.
Appel took too long to remember how to speak.
“Ah… Y-Yes.”
He steadied himself, gathered courage, and stepped closer, handing over the pages. Glyde stapled them quickly.
“About… about the content.”
“This? It’s something like a personal project.”
That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
Appel reached into his pocket, hesitated, then pulled out the small note from the chocolate box and held it out. His face grew redder by the second.
“It m-might be improper of me, but I wanted to know if—”
“Did you like it?”
“Huh?”
“The chocolate.”
Appel held his breath.
“Were you the one who gave me the chocolates?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you give them to me in person? You don’t seem like someone who would do that.”
“I planned to reveal myself afterward.”
“Why wait so long?!” Appel quickly covered his mouth. “Ah, sorry.”
“It’s fine.” A small smile appeared. “Did you really want to know that badly?”
Appel covered his eyes.
“You wouldn’t understand someone like me! It was my first chocolate!”
“I’m glad you valued it so much, but…”
“But?”
“There’s something still bothering me.”
“What?”
“You don’t seem as surprised as I expected.”
“I am!” he hurried to say. “I just haven’t processed it yet, President. I mean, the chocolates… were they romantic?”
“Aren’t you surprised it was a man who gave them to you?”
“I am surprised… Like I said, I’m confused. Maybe I’m not reacting the way you expect, but I need answers first… Please don’t make me ask again.”
“Yes. They were romantic.”
“That can’t be! What did you see in someone like m—”
Glyde stood up. His eyes fixed on Appel as he approached, gently taking Appel’s hands from his face and lowering them. Appel stiffened at the sudden action but remained curious. His heart was still racing, though more bearable now.
Glyde leaned closer. Appel instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
But what he expected didn’t happen.
Instead of kissing his lips, Glyde brought one of Appel’s hands up and pressed a kiss to his palm.
His soft lips pressed against his skin. Warm breath brushed his fingers, making them tremble. It was strangely intimate.
Then he looked up.
His lips still inches from his hand. His dark eyes shining with something no longer easy to hide. No embarrassment in his expression.
“I’m serious,” he said.
And perhaps in that moment… that was when Appel let himself be caught.