My brother Alex hit a girl with a basketball and made me deliver his apology note. Curiosity got me—I tore it open, and glowing comments flashed before my eyes: 【LMAO, he hit his crush out of everyone? So obvious.】 【These siblings are a mess. One’s assaulting people, the other’s chasing the main guy. Villains much?】 【So annoying. Can’t they just disappear?】 【It’s fine. They’re both pathetic simps. The brother’s a coward with a secret crush. Free entertainment lol.】 Excuse me? I could handle being called a simp. But Alex? Six-two, abs, killer jump shot, warm voice, sunny personality—a simp? A secret admirer? I burst out laughing. That night, I rewrote his note into a full love letter and delivered it myself. 1 I’d been waiting in the hallway for nearly ten minutes when Lena finally came back from the guidance counselor's office. The hot summer sun caught the ends of her hair. Her school uniform, faded from countless washes, was buttoned neatly to the very top. Her skin was pale, her eyes were rimmed with red, and she had the unmistakable air of an easy target. Which, to be fair, she was. She was clutching an exam paper from the Math Olympiad qualifiers. Every question was covered in perfect checkmarks, yet next to each one, she’d meticulously written out a more elegant solution in red ink. It wasn't hard to guess what had happened. Someone’s cold words had clearly gotten to her. I narrowed my eyes and pushed myself off the wall. My friends fell in line behind me, completely blocking her path. "You're Lena, right?" I asked, crossing my arms and fixing my gaze on her. Heads turned in the hallway. Whispers erupted around us. "What's going on? How did Lena get on Scarlett’s bad side?" Someone else yawned. "Who knows? She’s been spending all her time with Julian for the math competition. Guess the princess isn't happy about it." "Makes sense. Looks like she's about to get a warning." The gossip was a low buzz in the air. Lena’s hand tightened on the corner of her uniform. When she looked up, her wide, doe-like eyes were trembling. She was terrified, but she forced her voice to remain steady. "Can I help you?" Just then, the comment feed exploded. 【After chasing the main guy, now she’s bullying the main girl? I'm so mad! Does she really think this will make him like her?】 【Is she starting trouble again? I’m scared. I hope our girl doesn’t get bullied!】 【It’s okay. If she touches a single hair on her head, Julian will be here in a second to put her in her place!】 【But I don't think the main characters have even fallen for each other yet.】 【It’ll be instinct. They’re soulmates, after all.】 Out of all those comments, one word jumped out at me. Bullying? Did I really look like I was here to bully her? Lena kept her expression neutral, her eyes cautiously fixed on us. Her fingers tightened, feeling every crease in the exam paper in her hand, as if to remind herself—reaching for things that don't belong to you will only lead to trouble. Just as she was bracing herself for whatever cruel words I was about to say, the sweet scent of flowers filled the air. A love letter appeared right in front of her face. "So, here's the thing," I said, my voice breezy. "My brother has a massive crush on you." "But he's a coward, so he asked me to give you this." The pink envelope was perfectly square, stamped with a wax seal and adorned with delicate dried flowers. Lena stared at it, completely stunned. A letter this exquisite seemed to belong to another world, one that had nothing to do with her own simple, threadbare existence. But there, written in elegant script, was her name. She poured every ounce of her energy into winning scholarships just to claw her way out of poverty. A moment like this had never even crossed her mind. She had no idea how to react. A beat later, her heart started hammering against her ribs like a drum, a frantic rhythm that matched the excited murmurs of the students around us. Her eyes were red, the tips of her ears were red, and her cheeks were a deep, burning crimson. She was adorable. The perfect match for a guy as handsome as my brother. I grinned and pressed the envelope into her palm. The letter, warm from the sun, was so hot it made her fingers curl. The chatter around us grew louder. Her blush deepened, spreading all the way to her ears. "Is this… is this from the guy at the basketball court the other day?" she stammered, barely daring to believe it. "Yep. The one who accidentally hit you with the ball." Suddenly, a vivid slash of red broke through the gray monotony of her memories. The boy in the red jersey. His features were sharp, almost fierce, but the moment he knelt beside her, his apology was shy, his voice gentle as he asked if she was okay. He was nothing like Julian, with his cold, detached aura. This boy smelled of the hot afternoon sun. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on the lean muscles of his arms. He radiated a vibrant, youthful energy that was almost overwhelming. But in that moment, all she could focus on were his shoes. Expensive, limited-edition sneakers that silently screamed of the class divide between them. He was from Julian's world, and yet… he was different. Even with the game on the line, he’d had a friend take her to the nurse’s office and pressed his own card into her hand to cover any costs. As he turned to run back to the court, she saw the name printed on the back of his jersey. Alex Vance. A name that sounded as bright and full of life as he was. "Remember now? My brother, Alex. He’s a senior in class 3-8," I said, giving her a little wink. She clutched the letter, her voice barely a whisper, trembling with nerves. "Yes." "He really, really likes you," I added. "But he’s a total coward." The morning sun was bright and warm. Her eyelashes fluttered. She couldn't help but wonder. A boy so dazzling you could barely look at him directly. Could he really be a coward? 2 The comment feed cursed me out for days after that. 【She just HAS to mess with the main couple's storyline, doesn't she? So disgusting!】 【Does she honestly think the main girl would fall for her brother? A little overconfident, much?】 【LMAO, her brother is the definition of a second male lead. Sure, the main guy is cold, but that's exactly what the main girl is into. She loves the 'cold on the outside, warm on the inside' type.】 【Totally. A girl as insecure and sensitive as her needs quiet companionship. Someone with a personality that different would just make her uncomfortable. She only accepted the letter to avoid an awkward scene. There’s no way she actually likes him.】 Was that really true? I walked into the exam hall, supplies in hand, and saw Lena right away. Her face was flushed, and she seemed completely distracted. Her gaze kept drifting to the boy sitting in the row ahead of her and to the left. That was my brother, Alex. My eyes followed hers, and then I froze. My gaze locked onto the chocolate bar sitting, untouched, in Alex's hand. Wait. He hadn't given it to her? …Or had she rejected him? 3 I had checked the seating chart for the monthly exams beforehand. As soon as I found out Lena was in our testing room, I told Alex. He just gave a casual "Mm," but the tips of his ears turned pink. I saw right through him. "You already knew, didn't you?" "A friend told me." "They know you have a crush on Lena, too?! No way, since when are you so obvious about it?" Alex shot me a dark look. Right. It was probably because I'd been so loud about delivering the letter. He’d found out that same day from his friends that I’d swapped his apology for a confession. But he hadn’t denied it, saying it would have embarrassed her. I knew the real reason: he was secretly thrilled. So, I’d given him a fancy chocolate bar a friend brought me from Europe and told him to give it to her the next day. For the first time, the usually composed and confident Alex showed a rare flash of boyish uncertainty. "Isn't it a bit... sudden?" he'd hesitated. "You don't give a girl gifts when you're trying to win her over?" I'd asked, baffled. "Flowers, presents, chocolate—that's how it works. If you're all talk and no action, that's not called courting, it's called harassment." I was dead serious. And Alex had agreed. I just never thought his very first attempt at giving a girl a gift would end in such a brutal rejection. I couldn't help but stare at him now. He was resting his head on his hand, his eyes half-closed. His fair skin was tinged with a faint blush. He looked lost in thought, or maybe just zoned out. And the chocolate bar in his hand was mangled beyond recognition. The comment feed was having a field day. 【LOL, I told you she wouldn't fall for a side character. Look at him, rejected hard!】 【The clown is him! Hahahahaha.】 【They're just simps for the main characters. Might as well be watching a circus.】 Simps. Hah. I almost felt sorry for us. 4 My face was a mask of stone. As I walked past Julian, I didn't even slow down. I kept going, right past his desk. The boy, whose expression was usually a mask of cool indifference, actually flinched. That's right. It wasn't just Lena and Alex in this exam hall. Julian was here, too. Of course he was. The side characters only exist to decorate the main couple’s love story. My brother had already been humiliated. I couldn't afford to lose face, too. The seating for the monthly exams wasn't strictly enforced. I easily convinced the guy in front of me to switch seats, and sat down right next to Lena. She snapped back to reality, a stray strand of hair falling to hide the panic in her eyes. Her elbow knocked the fountain pen on her desk, and it rolled to a stop by my foot. The logo on the cap was faded, but I could make out a single letter: L. The pen itself was so worn that the metal plating had rubbed off in places. I bent down to pick it up for her, but she was faster. She shot out of her seat, snatched the pen, and clutched it tightly in her hand. "Thank you," she whispered quickly, noticing my intention. For once, I dropped my usual princessy demeanor and gave her a friendly smile. "No problem." Could a pen like that even write properly? I glanced at it again. When the exam papers were handed out, she took a normal ballpoint from her pencil case and neatly wrote her name. The battered old fountain pen sat quietly on the corner of her desk. It seemed more like a companion than a tool. My mind started wandering. Maybe she just didn't like chocolate. That's why she'd turned Alex down. Next time, I'd have him give her school supplies. She couldn't reject that, right?
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