Dean Morton : The Paupers' Guardian Angel

004 - The Taboo

The campus itself is about an hour away from the house. That’s what it takes to get there with a car. If Monica leaves without him, there’s no way he can make it by himself by pedaling a bike.

  

“Monica, wait!” he calls as he halts the car at the front.

  

It makes the car stop, and the driver immediately scolds him with an annoying face.

  

“You stupid! I almost hit you!”

  

“I’m sorry, Sir!” says Dean as he gets into the car.

  

“Never do that again.”

  

Monica glances coldly at him a bit. But then she immediately looks away by raising her chin high.

  

Dean doesn’t like this kind of cold treatment. This is simply not the Monica he used to know.

  

In the past, when they were still living in the orphanage, Monica would always cling to Dean, so afraid of losing him. Even more than that, when her parents came to take her home three years ago, Monica insisted on giving conditions to also adopt Dean if they wanted to take her back home.

  

But as time went by, as she became more accustomed to living with a wealthy family, her attitude toward Dean has also slowly changed.

  

Dean has tried to ignore all the changes, but the incident last night has opened his eyes. It seems like his existence is considered just a nuisance in Monica’s new life.

  

He takes a glance secretly at Monica’s left hand. And indeed, there’s no longer the tattoo of his name on it. He only notices the scar it left behind, proving that Monica had erased it on purpose.

  

“So, you did erase it, huh? That tattoo,” utters Dean with disappointment.

  

“That’s just the work of naïve kids. We don’t need to keep it anymore.”

  

“Well, they peeled off my skin last night to take away that tattoo, with a knife.”

  

Immediately, Monica turns her face to him showing so much concern and worry. And Dean notices it clearly, which only makes him even more confused by her reaction.

  

“It’s okay! The wound has already been healed,” says Dean as he hides his hand, and turns his face away.

  

“Heh, did you put on another lie just to gain my sympathy?”

  

“I didn’t lie. After all, I wouldn’t expect you’d show any sympathy after how you treated me last night. If that’s how you are going to treat me, you shouldn’t have brought me into your family. I never asked it in the first place.”

  

“Fine! Just go back to that orphanage! You think I care?!”

  

“Easy said than done! I’m already 19 years old. Your family has adopted me. There’s no way that orphanage would accept me anymore. But it’s not like I have any intention to stay with your family much longer. I'm not like you, who’s always clinging and depending on other people for life.”

  

Dean even goes so far, mimicking Monica’s naivety during her childhood when she forced to create  the tattoos in their hands.

  

“No, Dean! I don’t want to lose you. With this tattoo, we will always find a way to look for each other in case some parents adopt and separate us.”

  

Monica looks so pissed off to hear his joke, and can only hold her annoyance. As soon as that car stops in the campus parking area, she immediately goes out and closes the door with a huge slam.

  

Dean also gets out, and follows her from behind. But unlike the previous days, he takes some distance from her.

  

In the hall way, he notices some evil eyes gazing upon him. And they are clearly gossiping about him at the moment. They are his classmates, who always judge him badly, taking him as a leech who lives as a freeloader in someone else's house.

  

Dean has long known about this situation. For this reason, he never approaches anyone in his college life.

  

He is afraid that some of them would say a bad thing about him near Monica, and it would hurt her feelings. So he always distances himself away, and has never made any friends so far.

  

It’s not the kind of life he wants. But it was Monica herself who insisted for them to take the same major so that they could stay together. For some point in his life, he believed that Monica saw him as a lover. But he has been doubting that thought recently.

  

The class hasn’t started yet. And due to the situation between him and Monica has become so sour, he deliberately delays going to class, and spends time sitting in the cafeteria.

  

His stomach starts singing. He hasn’t eaten anything this morning. And unfortunately, he doesn’t have anything in his pocket at the moment.

  

“Aw shiit! How am I going to survive this hellish life?”

  

He gets into the class, and finds all the chairs have been occupied, except one chair next to Monica. He is a bit confused, why no one is sitting next to her this morning. It’s as if the others deliberately leave her alone for some reason.

  

Dean even notices some evil glances directed toward Monica in secret from the other girls. It’s the same treatment he just had before getting into this class.

  

“What is it now?” Dean whines.

  

As he walks toward that empty chair, he hears some murmurs and whisperings. It’s quite weird for him to be able to hear them so clearly.

  

“You see! They deliberately come to class one by one, not together as usual.”

  

“Something must have happened between them.”

  

“What do you think? Could it be a fight? Sibling quarrels?”

  

“Stop it guys. It seems like he notices us!”

  

As soon as Dean takes a seat, the teacher also enters the room and immediately greets all the students before starting the class.

  

Even while the teacher explains his subjects, Dean is still able to notice the whispering around him. And their gossip is getting even wilder.

  

“Don’t you see how messy his hair is? I bet he didn’t get the time to take a shower this morning. They must have done something taboo last night,” speculates a girl with a silly giggle.

  

“What are you talking about?” replies the other girl.

  

“Well, it’s the life every pervert teenager would dream of.”

  

“What is it now?”

  

“What else! It’s the dream life of incest!”

  

“Wut?!”

  

“They are not siblings by blood to begin with, and they’ve been together during their lives in the orphanage. That guy followed her, which only means, there must be something between them. They couldn’t endure it, the rainstorm appeared, and so, they committed the taboo.”

  

“That’s wild!”

  

“Oooh, Dean! That’s it! There, there! Yeah, there! Harder, please!”

  

The two girls giggle. Even the few students near them also burst out their laughter.

  

“Hey, you guys! Knock it off!” The teacher scolds them.

  

The classroom turns silent. Dean looks so furious, holding his mounting anger as best as he can. And Monica, it seems like she also heard everything, and immediately walks out by hiding her tears.

  

The teacher calls for her. But Monica only fastens her step to go outside. Dean gets up. But he immediately gets scolded by the teacher, forcing him to sit down.

  

All the other students laugh at him. Some of them even whistle, making fun of him for his reaction to see Monica leave.

  

“Look at that! The hero is angry!”

  

“Professor! Why did you stop that Moron? I mean, Morton! Let him leave and save the princess.”

  

“You shouldn't meddle in this skinny frog's love story. That's racist, Professor?”

  

“Shut up! I'm telling you. That's girl's father is a 1-star general in the army. You better apologize to her after this,” the Professor reprimands them.

  

But those students just keep laughing. Even the previous girl, who made fun of Dean and Monica with her made up incest story, still continues with her giggle by restraining her voice.

  

“Just as I told you guys. They are lovers, and there’s no way they haven’t done anything when they’ve been living under the same roof for years.”