Your Hoodie still smells like me - Fine. Two Can Be Stubborn.

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Episode 19 — Your Hoodie Still Smells Like Me

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“Fine. Two Can Be Stubborn.”

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Maya's advice should have helped.

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It didn't.

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Because Eli and Kai were both idiots.

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Emotionally intelligent in theory.

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Absolutely useless in practice.

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So instead of talking about their feelings—

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they doubled down.

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—

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The next morning, Kai made a mistake.

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A deliberate mistake.

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The worst kind.

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He arrived at the architecture building carrying coffee.

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Two coffees.

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One for himself.

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One for Maya.

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Eli saw it immediately.

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Of course he did.

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Because apparently his eyes could locate Kai anywhere on campus now.

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Even against his will.

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Maya accepted the drink with a smile.

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Kai smiled back.

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And from across the courtyard—

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Eli nearly crushed the water bottle in his hand.

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"Easy there."

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Asher looked concerned.

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"That bottle didn't do anything."

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Eli looked away immediately.

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"I don't care."

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Asher followed his gaze toward Kai.

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Then toward Maya.

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Then back to Eli.

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"Oh."

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"No."

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"Oh."

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"No."

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Asher laughed.

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"Eli, you're jealous."

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Eli looked personally attacked.

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—

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Meanwhile, Kai wasn't exactly thriving either.

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Because ten minutes later, Asher appeared beside Eli.

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And did something very unfortunate.

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He fixed Eli's collar.

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That's it.

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Tiny gesture.

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Completely harmless.

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Yet somehow Kai stared like he'd witnessed a crime.

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Rowan nearly choked on his coffee.

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"Dude."

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"What?"

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"You look insane."

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Kai looked offended.

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"I'm literally sitting here."

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"Yeah, staring like you're planning a murder."

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Kai immediately looked away.

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Which only confirmed it.

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—

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For the next week, the competition became secondary.

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The real competition was apparently:

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Who could make the other more jealous?

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Current score:

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Nobody wins.

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Everyone suffers.

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—

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Tuesday afternoon.

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Film team presentation rehearsal.

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Eli was reviewing footage when Kai entered the room with Damien.

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The moment Kai noticed Eli—

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he immediately started talking to Maya.

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Again.

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Eli narrowed his eyes.

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Across the room, Damien noticed.

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Then noticed Eli.

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Then noticed Kai.

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Then sighed dramatically.

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"I'm surrounded by children."

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Nobody disagreed.

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—

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Things reached peak stupidity during Friday's campus mixer.

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A joint event for all Winter Creative Challenge teams.

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Music. Food. Too many students.

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And one very bad idea.

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Eli was standing with Asher near the drinks table when a slow song started playing.

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Before Eli could react—

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Asher offered his hand.

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"Dance with me."

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Eli blinked.

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"What?"

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"Purely for scientific research."

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"That's not a thing."

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"It is today."

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Normally Eli would've refused.

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Unfortunately—

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Kai happened to be watching.

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So Eli made the mature decision.

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The terrible decision.

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He accepted.

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Across the room, Kai froze.

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Completely.

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Maya looked at him.

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Then at Eli.

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Then back at Kai.

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"Oh no."

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Kai looked away immediately.

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Too late.

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Damage done.

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Eli and Asher moved onto the dance floor.

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Nothing romantic.

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Nothing dramatic.

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Just dancing.

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Still enough.

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Kai hated every second.

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Every single second.

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And unfortunately—

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Eli noticed.

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The problem?

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Watching Kai get jealous felt good for about thirty seconds.

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Then it felt awful.

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Because beneath the jealousy, Kai just looked hurt.

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Again.

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Always hurt.

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—

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The song ended.

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Eli immediately stepped away.

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Done.

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Finished.

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Over it.

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Unfortunately, Kai chose that exact moment to make his own bad decision.

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Maya was still standing nearby.

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Kai held out his hand.

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The room suddenly felt very quiet.

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Maya stared.

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"...Are you serious?"

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"No."

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"Then why are you asking?"

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Kai sighed.

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"Good point."

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Maya smacked his shoulder lightly.

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"Go fix your life."

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Across the room, Eli saw the interaction.

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And completely misunderstood it.

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Of course.

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Because communication remained illegal apparently.

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By the end of the night, both of them were annoyed.

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Both of them were jealous.

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And neither had accomplished anything.

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As everyone started leaving, Rowan looked between Eli and Kai one final time.

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Then groaned dramatically.

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"You know what's funny?"

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Nobody answered.

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"You both keep trying to make each other jealous."

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Silence.

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Rowan pointed at Kai.

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"He's miserable."

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Then pointed at Eli.

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"You're miserable."

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Then spread his arms dramatically.

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"And somehow you're both shocked by this."

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For once—

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nobody argued with him.

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Because unfortunately...

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he was right.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6adKWMSbyC

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