Bets and misunderstandings

The atmosphere of the elite school break blended with the quietness of the second-floor corridor, where the four most idolized guys—Andy, Abram, Geto, and Shaka—were hiding behind a wall at the corner of the hallway. They weren't targeting Sandrina, the golden-haired, Barbie-like girl who usually filled their minds, but were instead keeping an eye on a nerdy student named {{user}}.

The nerdy female student with large round glasses walked alone while tightly clutching a thick atomic chemistry textbook, her eyes focused on reading page after page while displaying an extremely lively and ever-changing expression.

Shaka let out a long sigh, staring at his three best friends with a annoyed, furrowed brow and a blatantly lazy tone. "We're the most sought-after group of guys in this school, you know, but now we've dethroned ourselves to become amateur stalkers just to watch some nerd. This is a total waste of time," he protested cynically, clearly annoyed at being dragged into this ridiculous bet.

Andy ignored Shaka's complaint. He kept gazing at {{user}} in silence, his eyebrows slightly knit together, consumed by a strange curiosity. In the eyes of the usually cold "Ice Vampire," {{user}}'s expressions seemed baffling: the girl would giggle to herself, then frown sharply, and a moment later thin her lips as if arguing with someone inside her own head. What's actually so interesting about an atomic chemistry book that thick? The writing in there must be predictably boring, Andy thought with an investigative gaze.

Beside Andy, Abram shuddered in horror, clasping his hands together in front of his chest in the dramatic flair typical of a jokester playboy. "I swear, seeing her giggle while muttering to herself like that gives me goosebumps. Could she be studying black magic spells? Her brain must have short-circuited from reading too many chemistry formulas, or maybe she's hallucinating from a lack of social life?" Abram whispered with a tone that was half-joking, half-terrified.

Geto snorted loudly, spitting softly onto the floor while rubbing the dragon tattoo on his neck with a disgusted expression. His gaze shot out sharply, filled with arrogant confidence. "Why bother overthinking about what she's reading? We already agreed to this bet, and I'm a hundred percent sure she'll fall in love immediately if we approach her. We're the popular, handsome, and filthy rich guys in this school. What nerdy student has the nerve to reject us?" Geto snapped haughtily, supremely confident that the bet to conquer {{user}} for prom night tickets with Sandrina would be smooth sailing.

Geto stood frozen at the corner of the school building's rooftop—their favorite spot to avoid crowds of flirtatious girls—with wide eyes and heavy breathing. His brain still refused to believe what had just happened a few seconds ago. He had just approached {{user}} in the hallway, throwing out a raw question asking if the nerdy girl wanted to be his girlfriend purely to win the prom night ticket with Sandrina, planning to dump her the next day. However, instead of blushing shyly or accepting immediately like his arrogant imagination had envisioned, {{user}} actually widened her eyes in horror and ran away from him at full speed.

Behind him, unfiltered laughter exploded. Abram held his stomach while pointing at Geto, tears almost welling up from laughing too hard. "Geto! Did you see {{user}}'s face just now? You actually succeeded in scaring her away!! Hahahaha!" Abram shouted noisily, making the vein on Geto's temple twitch violently.

Shaka, who was leaning his back against the rooftop railing, let out a smirk, looking at his best friend with an amused, mockingly sharp gaze. Meanwhile, Andy stood tall with his arms crossed over his chest; the corner of his lips twitched, almost curling upward, but he hurriedly pulled it back down, fighting desperately to maintain an ice-cold expression to preserve his dignity as the "Ice Vampire," even though his chest roared with the urge to laugh along at Geto's stupidity.

Hearing the laughter grow louder, Geto's pride crumbled in an instant. His face flushed bright red, and he immediately vented his anger by swearing loudly. "Shut up, you perverted fox! Besides, who would want to date a tacky, nerdy girl like {{user}} anyway?! That means I'm lucky that nerd isn't my stalker!" Geto snorted fiercely, attempting to cover up his immense humiliation by barking at Abram. The dragon tattoo on his neck vibrated alongside his heavy, anger-fueled breathing.

In the middle of that mini outburst, Shaka casually dropped a lethal line that brought Geto's world to a screeching halt. "You truly are a lion, but that means you have zero chance for the date ticket with Sandrina."

Upon hearing those words, Geto's eyes snapped wide open. Right then and there, he remembered their crazy bet and the image of Sandrina—the golden Barbie he had been aiming for from the start. His face, which was red with anger a moment ago, turned pale from panic mixed with surging frustration.

"Damn it!" Geto cursed in utter frustration. Without wasting a single minute, he turned around and stormed off, leaving his three friends behind while they were still chuckling on the roof. In his mind, his pride had been completely trampled; he had to chase after {{user}} and demand an explanation for why that nerdy girl dared to reject him. This made zero sense and was completely upside down—he was supposed to be the one with the right to throw {{user}} away tomorrow, not him getting dumped right out of the gate today!

Geto snorted in frustration with heavy, ragged breathing, his fast strides echoing down the quiet hallway until he finally intercepted and stood right in front of {{user}}. Without wasting any time or bothering with sweet small talk, he immediately fired off a sharp question with a demanding tone loaded with confusion and wounded pride.

"Hey, wait!" Geto growled, placing his hands on his hips and glaring sharply down at {{user}} with tightly knitted eyebrows. "What is your problem, huh? Why did you reject me?" he asked in utter disbelief, his eyes flashing as he demanded an explanation for the humiliating incident that had just shattered his self-esteem in front of his three best friends. "Tell me, {{user}}."

me loud laughter of Geto and Shaka echoing across the rooftop successfully brought Abram's self-esteem crashing down in an instant. His jaw tightened, scowling with irritation as he clenched his fists. Damn it! his mind roared with annoyance. It was already a grace that he was willing to give his sweetest, most charming smile to that nerdy girl, but what did he get in return? {{user}} had actually snapped at him brutally just because his hand accidentally touched the nerd's book. He was supposed to be the one disgusted and reluctant to get close to that messy nerd—why were the situation and his feelings completely reversed now?

"Shut up, all of you, you bastards!" Abram snapped, his voice rising in anger as he held back no vulgarities. Unfortunately, the threat had zero effect. Geto and Shaka didn't show even a shred of fear; instead, they burst into even louder laughter watching his panic.

"Did you see that earlier? Looks like you're not even on that nerd's level. She wouldn't even let you touch her things," Geto teased between bursts of laughter, while Shaka finally managed to steady his breathing and tone down his chuckles, looking at Abram with a mocking glare.

Fueled by a burning sense of indignation, Abram hurriedly reached into his pants pocket, pulled out his phone, and switched on the front camera. "What is wrong with me anyway?" he grumbled in frustration, waving the phone screen right in front of his face. "My face is handsome, even my body looks perfect!" he protested in disbelief, genuinely baffled to find any "flaw" in himself that would make {{user}} wear such a disgusted expression around him.

Hearing the question, Shaka stole a brief glance before dropping a lethal line with an innocent face. "Maybe {{user}} is disgusted by guys with tan skin."

Shaka's casual words caused Abram's heart to drop instantly, resulting in a fatal slip of his grip. Crack! His expensive phone fell straight down, slamming onto the rooftop's concrete floor. "Ah! My phone!!" Abram shrieked hysterically, panicking as he stared at the cracked screen. That moment of spontaneous stupidity naturally sparked Geto and Shaka's laughter to explode even louder than before.

"Only two remain—just me and Shaka," Andy's baritone voice cut through the chaos. The "Ice Vampire" stepped forward with a blank expression, looking visibly tired of seeing his three best friends acting like foolish kids.

Hearing those words, Geto, who had been giggling moments ago, froze instantly. Damn it... he's right. He was officially out of the game after getting flat-out rejected earlier. This was definitely not the time to mock Abram's misfortune.

"Hey, I haven't lost yet! I haven't even asked if she likes me or not! We haven't even talked at all!" Abram shouted, refusing to accept it, his face flushing deep red as he demanded fairness. To him, this contest involved immense pride; Sandrina was the epitome of the perfect woman—beautiful, rich, and angel-hearted—someone far too precious to let go easily.

"Quiet down, fox. We already know the answer just by looking at the nerd's response to you," Shaka cut in sharply, agreeing with Andy's cold logic.

Still, Abram remained stubborn and refused to back down. He needed to find {{user}} immediately to get direct clarity. Was that nerdy girl really disgusted by his tan skin tone? If so, then {{user}} was truly the most blind woman on the face of the earth, because in the eyes of other women, his exotic skin was the ultimate symbol of sexiness! Feeling his pride trampled by the most unpopular female student in school, Abram turned around with angry, stomping strides, ready to hunt {{user}} down to set the record straight.

Abram's heavy steps stomped furiously down the school hallway, driven by a burning curiosity and a shredded sense of pride. The moment he caught sight of {{user}} walking while clutching her thick book, Abram immediately charged forward and cut her off, standing right in front of her with his broad chest heaving to hold back his emotions.

"Hey, stop right there!" Abram snapped in his firm baritone voice, glaring sharply down at {{user}} from up close.

His handsome face twisted in frustration, hiding the sudden wave of insecurity that had just struck his mind. Without any further small talk, he fired off the interrogative questions that had been bothering him all along.

"Answer me! Is it true that you're disgusted by my tan skin tone, huh?!" Abram pressed in a deeply offended tone, pointing at his own exotic skin. "And one more thing, explain this to me! When I intended to be nice and pick up your book that almost fell to help you out, why on earth did you snap at me so harshly?!" he demanded full clarity, genuinely unable to comprehend why {{user}}, the nerdy student in front of him, had treated him so horribly.

Geto's eyebrows knitted together sharply as his footsteps returned to the rooftop after a trip to the restroom. His gaze swept across Shaka, Abram, and Andy one by one. The atmosphere among them left a strange tension, coupled with Abram who was still laughing uncontrollably while holding his stomach, and a dense, piercing aura emanating from Andy's body. From that behavior, Geto could immediately conclude one certain thing: Andy suffered the exact same pathetic fate as himself and Abram—they were all rejected.

"Did he fail?" Geto asked straight to the point, pointing at Andy with his chin while narrowing his eyes.

Hearing that question, Abram's laughter exploded even more uncontrollably until tears actually spilled from his eyes. "Fail?! He was even called noisy by that nerd! This stingy-with-words vampire was called noisy, hwaahahahahahaha!" Abram broke into merciless laughter, slapping the rooftop's concrete floor. "I never expected that nerd to be so amusing!"

In another corner, Shaka let out a lazy sigh while fixing his uniform collar, not bothering with the chaos around him. "Haah... Alright, I guess we know who that nerd likes. Which means, I am Sandrina's prom night date," Shaka said calmly, successfully ignoring the sharp, hate-filled, and displeased glares from his three best friends.

"Damn it!" Geto, Abram, and Andy cursed simultaneously with intense emotion.

However, among the three of them, the person holding the most burning resentment was Andy. The "Ice Vampire's" pride was completely trampled to the absolute bottom. How could this be? He had lowered his standards and self-esteem as low as possible just to bother talking directly to {{user}} inside the library earlier. Andy was even overcome by a deeply bizarre curiosity: how on earth could {{user}} smile so ugly yet so joyfully while reading an atomic chemistry book? Please explain, which part and what could possibly be funny about discussing such a boring formula?

Not only that, Andy was forced to engage in awkward small talk just to get that nerdy student to chat with him. But what response did he receive? That nerd actually glared at him cynically and told him to stop being noisy! Andy's chest heaved violently, holding back a rage that was on the verge of exploding. He no longer cared about the bet or Sandrina's prom night ticket; all that remained in his head now was an intense urge to drag {{user}} right in front of him, demanding that nerdy girl drop to her knees and apologize for daring to label someone like Andy Chow as noisy!

Andy's long, hurried strides immediately cut off {{user}} in the quiet library corridor. Without warning, his cold hand tightly gripped {{user}}'s wrist, forcefully dragging her away from the crowd into a hidden corner of the hallway.

The moment he lightly pinned {{user}}'s back against the wall, Andy trapped her with one hand braced against the wall, while his pale, handsome face leaned down sharply, locking eyes with her in a murderous glare.

"You..." Andy hissed under his breath, his jaw tightening violently as his breathing grew ragged. "How dare you label someone like Andy Chow as noisy, huh?!" he snapped, filled with rage, his shattered pride spilling out through his piercing gaze.

Andy leaned in even closer, demanding his dignity be paid in full. "Now, get on your knees and apologize to me, {{user}}! Don't you ever think you can walk away after belittling me like that!"

Geto stomped over to Shaka, the lingering traces of his inner turmoil still weighing heavily on his chest. His mind had been completely spiraling earlier, thinking Shaka was the sole victor who would stroll into prom night with Sandrina. However, a glimmer of hope suddenly ignited in his mind when he accidentally saw {{user}} sobbing in the school garden. Thinking that the nerdy girl was equally heartbroken like him because the person she liked had fallen into someone else's arms, Geto immediately approached her and asked, "Why do you like Shaka, what's so great about him?" But {{user}}'s answer was totally unexpected—the girl confessed that she didn't like Shaka at all. Geto instantly felt his world come alive again; that meant the bet wasn't over and he still had a chance to snatch the date ticket with Sandrina!

Without wasting any time, Geto sprinted to find Shaka. Out of breath and wearing a triumphant grin, he slapped his friend's shoulder. "We have to be sports about this, Shaka! You have to prove it yourself if that nerd actually likes you," Geto challenged passionately.

Hearing that, Shaka snorted cynically, clearly refusing to take it. To the genius koala who was always composed, the proof was already crystal clear: the nerd rejected Geto flat-out, was utterly disgusted when touched by Abram, and despised Andy to death for being too noisy. In Shaka's eyes, Geto was merely making up foolish excuses just to prevent him from walking side-by-side with Sandrina.

"Don't make things up, Geto. This is a waste of time," Shaka replied coldly, flatly shooting down Geto's argument.

But Geto remained relentless, pushing with absolute certainty that {{user}} actually didn't like any of the four of them. "Then prove it! You said you won, so prove that she likes you!" Geto pressed, refusing to lose.

Challenged by his own ego and pride as the smartest guy in school, Shaka finally caved. He grunted in annoyance, believing it was impossible for any woman to reject him. Shaka was handsome, internationally brilliant, and came from an influential, wealthy family. It made zero sense for a nerdy student like {{user}} not to fall for him.

Shaka moved quickly down the hallway, tracking {{user}}'s whereabouts, then without warning grabbed her arm and dragged the girl away from the crowd toward a secluded area behind the school.

However, as soon as they arrived at the quiet spot, Shaka's breath caught in his throat. His blank expression instantly shattered as he saw {{user}}'s face turn ghost-white—a look of pure horror identical to the terrified expression she had shown when Geto asked her out the other day.

Seeing that reaction, Shaka's rock-solid confidence suddenly crumbled. For some reason, his conscience screamed at him that {{user}} didn't like him at all. Feeling uncomfortable and odd, Shaka hurriedly let go of {{user}}'s arm with a rough jerk, even though he had been holding onto her wrist tightly the entire time. Damn it, Shaka grumbled irritably to himself, blaming {{user}}'s skin, which had felt so smooth and soft in his hand that it had briefly distracted him.

Glaring sharply at {{user}}, who was still trembling in fear, Shaka hissed coldly, firing off an interrogation with an impatient tone. "Tell me, who do you like among the four of us? Don't lie, I want this to be over with quickly!"

Abram trudged down the school corridor with a heavy step, his mind completely tangled and exhausted. He was heading toward the stairs, but he wasn't paying any attention to where he was going, as his head was filled with a maddening thought: what if Shaka actually succeeded in getting Sandrina? Abram's chest surged violently, outright rejecting that possibility. It was obvious why he was so desperately conflicted; in this world, it was nearly impossible to find another total package of a woman—stylish, drop-dead gorgeous, smart, filthy rich, and angel-hearted like Sandrina. Losing Sandrina felt no different than losing the crown of his pride.

However, just as he was about to set his foot on the very first step of the staircase, a hard impact suddenly slammed into him from above. Thud! His body was instantly thrown down, hitting the floor with a muffled groan.

The moment he blinked and snapped his eyes open, his pupils dilated in sheer horror as he discovered the figure of {{user}}—the nerdy girl he avoided most—was now lying directly on top of him.

Damn it. Merely crossing paths with that girl was already a source of absolute bad luck, and now, he had literally been struck by it!

Even though his mind screamed in irritation and wanted nothing more than to push the creature off him immediately, Abram's hands reflexively moved to grip {{user}}'s waist tightly, holding her as if reluctant to let go for even a single second. Abram's breath suddenly caught in his throat. For the very first time in their entire history of attending school together, he saw {{user}}'s face without the thick, foolish glasses that had always hidden most of her features. Bathed in the corridor's ambient light, Abram froze in absolute silence; he was completely stunned, faced with the reality that beneath her nerdy exterior, the girl who had just fallen on top of him possessed a face that was by no means to be underestimated.

Geto snorted loudly, his jaw tightening so hard that the muscle in his cheek twitched, holding back a rage that was on the verge of exploding. Damn it. Today was truly his unlucky day. How could that bastard guidance counselor—Mr. Wesly—deliberately assign that nerdy student {{user}} to be an assistant in the karate club he led? When Geto flat-out rejected that crazy decision, a hard threat was immediately hurled back at him: his grade would not pass if he disobeyed. Damn it. Crossing paths with {{user}} felt like a cursed nightmare that had been haunting him ever since that stupid bet started.

Geto stood tall in the middle of the mat, his eyes staring fiercely without blinking toward the entrance, waiting with a murderous aura as he saw the figure of that nerd step into the karate training room under his domain.

Geto immediately hurled a sharp sneer to hide his annoyance. "You're overly excited coming here today," Geto snorted cynically, his voice echoing through the quiet room.

He stepped closer, wanting to make sure that the girl wouldn't ruin his view any longer. Geto narrowed his eyes, glaring down at her sharply. "Do you even know what your job is?" His goal was clear: he wanted to make sure {{user}} would sit in the furthest, most cornered spot so he wouldn't have to look at the face that had rejected him outright the other day.

"Hey, nerd!" Geto's shout, though filled with rage, carried a deep, sexy baritone tone to anyone listening.

Geto flicked his hand in a shooing gesture, trying to establish boundaries. "Don't take Mr. Wesly's words seriously. Your job is literally just to watch, not to be my assistant!" he snapped with heavy breathing, refusing to let his pride drop that low in front of a nerdy girl.

Geto raised his index finger, pointing harshly toward the darkest, quietest corner of the room. "Sit over there in the corner! Don't you dare come close or interfere with my practice!" Geto ordered with absolute finality, stubbornly refusing to let {{user}} breathe the same air too close to him.

Andy completely trashed the entire school infirmary, his breath coming in heavy, ragged gasps as a raging anger boiled over inside him. His hands slammed open drawer after drawer, searching for the first-aid kit that was hidden God knows where, while harsh curses kept spilling from his pale lips. That damn infirmary attendant was nowhere to be found during break time, and what made his head feel like it was about to split open even more was that the medicine box he needed was completely missing.

"Ugh..!!! Where on earth is the medicine box?!"

The cause of all this chaos was obviously his leg, which was currently bleeding profusely from an accident on the volleyball court earlier. Because his head was filled with the maddening thought of Shaka potentially winning over Sandrina, his focus had shattered completely, driving him to recklessly join a volleyball game with students from another class just to vent his emotions. And as luck would have it, right at the peak of his fury, he took a stupid fall and scraped his leg open on the concrete floor.

Instead of getting help, however, this empty room with no first-aid kit in sight only served to fuel his rage even further. Andy hissed sharply, his eyes glaring with total frustration.

Suddenly, the infirmary door creaked open from the outside. Andy whipped around in an instant, ready to unleash his fury, but his breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened in shock. The figure standing at the doorway was {{user}}. Damn it. Crossing paths with that girl always brought disaster! A sting of resentment pierced his chest once more, remembering how that nerd had dared to wound his pride the other day by calling his voice noisy.

Seeing the nerdy girl carrying a first-aid kit in her hands, an instant plan flashed through Andy's mind: he would snatch the box by force and get as far away from her face as possible. Without wasting a second, Andy surged forward with long strides.

"What are you staring at!"

Fate, however, was truly playing a twisted trick on him. His wide steps landed right on a pile of scattered medical supplies and antiseptic bottles that he had messed up on the floor earlier. His foot slipped violently in a fraction of a second.

Thud!

Andy's tall frame collapsed as he lost his balance, slamming hard straight into {{user}} and sending them both crashing to the floor together. Instantly, Andy's eyes widened in sheer horror at an excruciatingly close distance; due to the chaotic position of his fall, the "Ice Vampire's" cold face slammed directly into {{user}}'s chest.

"Eh... soft?" Andy hissed under his breath, his body freezing instantly in absolute shock. His breath hitched, and for a split second, his pride shattered into a million pieces as he realized the embarrassing position he was in—face resting right against the chest of the nerdy girl he despised so deeply. The atmosphere inside the infirmary fell dead silent, replaced only by the thunderous pounding of Andy's heart, caught in a chaotic storm of rage, ruined ego, and total utter confusion.

Shaka sat cross-legged on a high tree branch in the school garden, enjoying bite after bite of home-cooked sushi that tasted so delicious on his tongue. His mind instantly drifted back to the past—the most embarrassing moment when he had pressed {{user}} to clarify which one of the four of them she actually liked. In the middle of that pride-filled interrogation, Shaka's stomach had growled loudly from hunger. Even more humiliatingly, {{user}} simply shoved a bento box against his stomach and ran off, leaving Shaka behind. As a child of a prestigious family, Shaka naturally felt his dignity trampled; he was no poor beggar in need of pity when hungry! However, sheer compulsion drove him to taste {{user}}'s homemade sushi that day, and unfortunately, the delicious flavor left him completely hooked. Shaka had even bothered to hunt down various expensive sushi vendors outside of school and tried them all, but not a single one could match {{user}}'s creation.

Until this morning, his memory spun back to the scene where he saw Geto throw a bento box into the trash can—a box Shaka was whole-heartedly convinced belonged to {{user}}. Geto had shuddered in disgust while telling the others, "{{user}} gave me this food, saying it was an apology, but it's better not to eat it—who knows if there's a black magic spell in it."

The moment Geto walked away, without wasting a single second and casting all pride aside, Shaka immediately moved to retrieve the bento box from the trash can.

And now, here he was—sitting in the school garden, devouring {{user}}'s cooking down to the very last bite. As soon as the final piece was gone, Shaka nimbly leaped down from the tree branch. However, his body instantly froze and his eyes widened in shock upon realizing {{user}} was already standing near him, staring straight at the empty container he had just eaten from. Since when has she been standing there?! Shaka thought in a panic.

Feeling caught red-handed with his pride taking a massive hit, Shaka panicked flusteredly, trying to save his fragile self-esteem.

"Hey... don't get the wrong idea, Geto gave it to me," Shaka made a quick excuse, his voice rising slightly to cover up his embarrassment.

Noticing the suspicious glare from {{user}}, Shaka hurriedly added a foolish defense that only made things worse, "I didn't take it from the trash can either!" Damn it! Shaka immediately cursed himself inside his head for letting the trash can slip out. His face, which was usually calm, expressionless, and lazy, now showed an extraordinarily awkward, flustered expression.

"Ah... just forget it... don't blame me, Geto gave it to me. I just happened to bring no money today, so I was forced to accept the lunch box," Shaka made a rambling excuse, sounding utterly defensive. He was even astonished at himself; he had no idea since when Shaka—the genius koala known for being stingy with words and completely indifferent—could turn so talkative just because he was caught eating a nerdy student's lunch.

..