During a post-SAT interview, the school genius confessed his love to me in front of everyone. The reporter asked, "How are you sure she likes you back?" His ears turned pink as he said softly, "Her Instagram background is the ocean, so I posted a picture of a bald cartoon character drowning in the sea." "It was only visible to her, and she liked it." Reporter: "..." That night, the video went viral. Netizens commented: "Bro, quit the crush, join the CIA." 1 I had just finished my last SAT and was about to sleep for a week straight when my childhood bestie woke me up with a barrage of calls. "Aurora, wake up! You're trending!" I clicked on the video she sent. It was an interview outside the exam center. The reporter held a microphone: "Any thoughts on the exam?" Other students: "Buff Yasuo." "Buff Lux." Then it was Liam’s turn. The reporter asked, "Anything you want buffed?" Liam looked cool and indifferent: "Nothing needs buffing. just cancel the $9 delivery fee on DoorDash, thanks." He was about to leave but turned back. "Can I use this interview to confess?" The reporter agreed immediately: "Of course!" Liam looked straight into the camera, a shy smile playing on his lips. "Aurora Vance, I've liked you for three whole years." "See you at MIT." The reporter’s gossip radar pinged: "Does she like you back?" Liam blushed furiously, the red spreading to his ears. "I think so." Reporter: "How are you sure?" Liam’s voice turned incredibly gentle: "Her Instagram background is the ocean, so I posted a picture of a bald cartoon character drowning in the sea." "It was only visible to her, and she liked it." "I think it's mutual." Reporter: "..." The reporter was speechless. Watching the video, so was I. 2 Mutual crush my ass. Liam and I are rivals, okay? Liam was the transfer student who stole my spot as number one in the grade the moment he arrived. To beat him, I studied until 3 AM every night, only to be triggered by that stupid picture of a drowning bald cartoon character. I thought he was mocking me, saying the new wave pushes the old wave onto the beach to die, drowning me in the sea with no chance of recovery. In a fit of rage, I liked his post, then furiously did two extra sets of physics problems at dawn with tears in my eyes. 3 Liam's interview video on TikTok got millions of likes and dominated the trending topics. Comments: [Bro, quit the crush, join the CIA.] [LMAO, drowning in the sea means drowning in you? Genius logic is built different.] [Haha, thought it was a mutual crush between geniuses, turns out it's a one-sided delusional love.] [Stop laughing, even if they don't date, they'll see each other at MIT for four years.] [It's funny but kinda cute. 'My rival of three years has a crush on me.' Anyone else shipping this chaotic couple?] [Sister, I ship it. Hard.] TikTok even pinned Liam's account. He only had a few videos, all about me—our report cards where he was first and I was second, blurry photos of my back. The dates spanned from freshman to senior year, never missing a beat. His comment section was flooded. Liam: [I've been so obvious for three years, she must know I like her, right?] Remembering how he crushed me academically year after year, I replied coldly: [I didn't know. Also, Aurora doesn't like you.] But Liam recognized my account. Liam: [Then can you try liking me a little bit in the future?] Me: [No.] Liam: [Just try.] Me: [No.] Liam: [Just try it.] ... He was stubborn, repeating it dozens of times until I snapped: [Liam, are you a bot?] The comments went wild: [Hahahaha, Mr. Try and Ms. No, they are hilarious.] [Dead. The genius stopped replying, probably crying under his blanket.] [Liam: She called me a bot.] [Bot Liam is currently shutting down.] [Both are persistent, no wonder they're geniuses. Hehe, shipping harder.] 4 Meanwhile, my dad saw the video too. He kept pestering me about my relationship with Liam. Annoyed, I fled to my mom's bubble tea shop to help out. "Aurora, what a coincidence!" A familiar voice from above. No way. Even here? I looked up. Liam wore a white shirt, standing tall. His messy black bangs couldn't hide those beautiful eyes. I pretended not to know him: "What do you want?" His voice was shy, ears pink: "Peach smoothie, please." Just then, my mom came back. She was thrilled to see him: "You're Liam, right? Just as handsome as in the video." Liam scratched his head shyly: "Are you Aurora's sister? Sorry for the confusion." "I'm over forty, I'm her mom." Liam looked shocked: "Auntie, you look so young, not like forty at all." Seeing my mom grinning ear to ear, I knew she was bought. I handed Liam his smoothie, praying he'd leave. When paying, my mom and I spoke at the same time. Mom: "No need to pay, it's on the house." Me: "That'll be thirteen dollars." Mom slapped my shoulder: "Classmates don't pay for a drink." Liam paid anyway. Don't know what Mom told him outside, but she left afterward. Liam walked up to me shyly: "Auntie said there's something at home, asked me to help out here." Seeing I didn't refuse, he happily went to the back to help. I have to say, Liam really works. Carrying water, moving tea buckets, cleaning the ice cream machine—he did all the dirty, tiring work. The shop closed at 5 PM. I prepared to lock up. Liam finished wiping the tables: "It's getting dark, I'll walk you home." I looked at the blazing sun outside and stayed silent. 5 On the way home, Liam stopped at a convenience store. He bought two yogurts, one for him, one for me. I stared at the peach yogurt in my hand, stunned. "How did you know I like this flavor?" Liam's eyes crinkled with a smile: "I've been giving you yogurt for three years, how could I not know?" My brain short-circuited. I looked at him in disbelief. "You mean you gave me all those yogurts?" Liam looked confused: "Yeah, why?" Help. I thought my homeroom teacher gave them to encourage me. Thinking it was her, I studied like crazy to make her proud, aiming to be the city's top student. Now you tell me it was Liam? What were those hundreds of extra test papers for?! I was baffled: "But didn't the teacher give me the first one?" Liam explained: "I saw her give you peach yogurt and you liked it. After that, I put notes under the yogurt I gave you, and you didn't refuse." Notes? I thought they were trash and threw them away. I realized: "So you thought I knew you liked me?" Liam nodded. LOL. I thought he was being delusional in the interview, turns out it was a misunderstanding. And I drank his yogurt for three years. Embarrassing. Seeing my懊恼 (annoyed/regretful) face, Liam tried to hold back laughter. I glared: "Are you laughing at me?" He coughed: "No, just think you're cute." My heart skipped a beat. I stood on tiptoes, waving my fist at him awkwardly: "You're the cute one." Liam suddenly leaned in, our lips inches apart. The air turned electric. "Okay, I'm cute." He looked down at me, eyes full of affection, voice husky and alluring: "So Aurora, can you try liking me a little bit?" For some reason, my heart raced. "Let me think about it." I dropped the sentence and practically fled.
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