Chapter 1 I Liked You First

At the opening ceremony of the affiliated high school, the sun was blazing, and the leaves on the forest path were so hot they seemed to be convulsing, with the cicadas'' cries deafening. The students under the podium were in a state of despair.

The vice principal was still passionately delivering his speech on the podium, completely ignoring the students'' plight below.

"The leadership speech segment of the opening ceremony has concluded. Next, let''s welcome the representative of the junior class, Leonard Spencer, to come up and receive his award and share his study experience."

Alex Cavendish was still daydreaming, mentally counting down how much longer it would last, almost ready to pull out his phone and play a game of Tetris on the spot.

Suddenly, his left shoulder was bumped, not too lightly, and a figure stopped beside him, accompanied by a cold voice: "Sorry."

He looked over.

Ha, Leonard.

This person, also known as the pride of the affiliated high school, always won competitions and consistently ranked first in the grade—but he was also the person Alex hated the most in this school.

His mouth twitched a few times: "Did you do that on purpose?"

Leonard only paused for a moment before striding towards the podium, his brisk steps bringing a cool breeze.

Alex rubbed his bumped shoulder, looking displeased: "Damn it, just because you''re good at studying, you think you''re something special? Arrogant, conceited, brainless."

The moment Leonard stepped onto the stage, the girls below erupted in deafening screams. The tall, slender, fair-skinned boy stood on the stage, expressionless.

He had sharp features, an unapproachable demeanor, and was annoyingly handsome, looking at everyone with a kind of reckless arrogance.

Alex snorted coldly from below, pretending to be something you''re not, can''t you go a day without putting on an act... The main thing was, Leonard had just made him very unhappy.

But why was that guy on stage staring at him the whole time? He had already physically attacked him earlier, did he need to attack him with his eyes too?

He straightened up and glared back.

But his resentment towards Leonard was far more than just this. From middle school to high school, every girl he had a crush on had secretly admired Leonard. He was left heartbroken while Leonard remained unscathed, and they were always in the same class.

Moreover, Leonard had repeatedly provoked him. Over the past four years, he had either been caught staring at him or deliberately bumped into him to get his attention.

But who was Alex? From elementary school to high school, his notorious deeds were well-known. He appeared on the criticism list every three days and got into fights every five days, known by everyone in the school.

Teachers were exasperated by him, and students avoided him. Yet, he had connections, and even the school leaders didn''t dare to do much about him.

Although he hadn''t gone as far as bullying, fighting and skipping classes were routine, making him one of the most troublesome students for the teachers.

On the stage, Leonard cleared his throat, his cold voice echoing across the entire playground: "Regarding studying, there are three methods to improve your grades. First..."

To Alex, his voice was particularly grating, the kind that no matter how pleasant the tone, no matter how agreeable the words, it couldn''t alleviate Alex''s irritation.

Someone patted him on the shoulder. His best friend, Zayne Smith, standing behind him, asked, "Alex, you didn''t follow through on the last dare. Are you going to make up for it this time?"

Alex frowned: "Spit it out."

"I heard the class president is homophobic. You should go up there and..."

He listened to Zayne whispering a lot in his ear, and finally twitched his mouth, feeling that if he really did it, he would be digging his own grave.

Alex refused, "No way."

"Don''t you dislike the class president? This is a plan we came up with overnight, tailor-made for you. If you don''t go, you''re not a brother," Zayne pushed him from behind, "Besides, you''re so tough, are you scared?"

Scared?

The word "scared" wasn''t in his dictionary. Faced with Zayne''s provocation, he compromised without hesitation, "Fine, I''ll go."

Alex turned back and slapped Zayne''s hand away, striding towards the podium.

A short path, but he walked it with an imposing aura. The homeroom teacher, Dana Johnson, quickly called out to him, "Alex! What are you doing? Get back in line!"

He ignored the teacher and marched forward.

Just as he reached the stage, Leonard''s speech came to an abrupt end, perfectly timed.

Noticing someone suddenly standing beside him, Leonard stared at him, speechless.

The students, who had been listless, immediately perked up at the prospect of some excitement, and a buzz of chatter filled the air.

Alex grabbed the microphone and shouted, "Listen up! I have something to announce!"

The students, who had been restless, instantly froze, craning their necks to see what he was up to.

Seeing he had their attention, Alex took a deep breath and shouted into the microphone, "Leonard, I like you!"

A commotion erupted below, like ants in a boiling pot, with exclamations of "Oh my God" and "No way" echoing. The principal was so shocked his glasses fell off, and several leaders rushed up to pull him away.

Leonard stood there, stunned, forgetting to breathe.

Then he collapsed straight onto the stage.

The microphone hit the ground with a deafening electric noise.

"Holy shit..." Alex exclaimed.

"Alex!!" Homeroom teacher Dana couldn''t sit still any longer, rushing onto the stage like she was racing to her death, and dragged Alex off by his ear.

The entire school witnessed this historic moment.

The love-hate relationship between the top student and the bottom student.

And Alex was dragged all the way to the disciplinary office.

"You have seriously violated school rules! Disrupted public order! Damaged school property! And even scared Leonard into the infirmary. What on earth are you trying to do?" The bald director, Victor, yelled at him.

Alex leaned nonchalantly against the wall, "Fainting is his problem for having weak stress tolerance, not mine."

"Shut up! Stand up straight!"

Less than half an hour after the incident, the award ceremony was canceled, their homeroom teacher Dana became a laughingstock, and rumors about Alex changed from "Is he in a gang?" to "Is he actually gay?"

The door to the disciplinary office was pushed open a crack, and Leonard''s voice suddenly came through, "Director, can you not punish him?"

Having fainted on the podium earlier, Leonard had been unconscious for nearly half an hour. Now his lips were bloodless, looking like a terminally ill patient.

He was already pale, and his face looked pitiful, like a little white mouse that had been beaten up, but his appearance didn''t match the image of a weak little mouse at all.

Seeing Leonard''s weak appearance, Alex inexplicably felt a bit guilty and unconsciously straightened his body. It was all Zayne''s fault... He didn''t want to do such a despicable thing, disgusting others while also disgusting himself.

Before going on stage, he hadn''t expected Leonard to be so fragile... When Leonard collapsed, he looked as helpless as a court physician waiting to be buried alive in a Qing dynasty drama.

Leonard''s voice was hoarse, "Director, can I talk to you alone?"

The director waved Alex out, "Go stand outside and wait for me to call you back in."

Alex walked out nonchalantly, brushing past Leonard.

He waited outside for a full five minutes, his hands still in his pockets, maintaining his usual nonchalant demeanor.

"The director said I should take you back to class."

Leonard came out of the room, his cold hand grabbing Alex''s arm. Alex was startled by the chill, wondering how someone could be so cold in the scorching heat, as if they had been locked in a refrigerator all night.

Alex discreetly pulled Leonard''s hand off and, in a rare moment of kindness, asked, "What happened to you on stage just now?"

Leonard pressed his lips together, looking at the hand that had been pushed away, his expression a bit forlorn, "I was suffering from heatstroke earlier. Don''t overthink it; it had nothing to do with you."

Alex had felt a bit guilty, but since it wasn''t his fault, he felt relieved and even found Leonard a bit more agreeable.

He rubbed his nose and changed the subject, "What did you tell the bald director?"

Leonard was momentarily stunned before realizing who Alex was referring to, "I explained everything to him, and he said he wouldn''t pursue it further."

Alex was a bit surprised. Is he helping me?

"What did you explain?"

"I said I liked you first."

"?" Alex doubted his ears.

"I like you."

Leonard repeated, almost word for word, with utmost seriousness, looking at Alex with eyes as determined as someone joining a political party.

Alex looked Leonard up and down, not expecting someone who seemed so innocent to be so cunning.

Is this a case of the devil being outdone by a higher power?

Earlier, he had confessed on stage to disgust Leonard, and now Leonard was using the same method to disgust him.

And he said it so sincerely, acting so convincingly.

Alex shook his head in disbelief. No wonder he''s a top student; his level is so high that Alex had to admit defeat.

But if he couldn''t avoid it, he could still run, right?

Almost instantly, Alex panicked and ran away, disappearing from Leonard''s sight in a more literal sense.

Even though he wasn''t sure if the confession was real, running was the best option!!

—

"That''s how it happened." Alex sulked, drawing circles on the ground, having plucked all the nearby foxtail grass, leaving a large patch flattened.

Zayne stroked his chin, indignant, "Leonard can''t possibly be gay! There was a guy who gave him a love letter before, and he looked like he had stepped in dog shit. There''s only one possibility: he''s definitely messing with you!"

Back when they had just started high school, Joseph Williams, who was tied with Leonard for second place on the honor roll, gave Leonard a love letter. The whole grade was buzzing with gossip, everyone waiting to see the drama unfold. Leonard''s frown was so deep it could crush a fly, and he crumpled the love letter and threw it away on the spot.

Later, rumors spread that Leonard was extremely homophobic, and everyone believed it without a doubt.

Alex felt a bit deflated, "So, running away just now was really embarrassing?"

Zayne grabbed his shoulders and shook him a few times, looking more anxious than Alex, "Yeah, you need to confront him! Show him who the real boss is!"

"…"

"How do I confront him?"

Zayne grinned wickedly, "Invite him for a drink tonight. When he gets drunk, do something to show him your power."

Alex asked, puzzled, "What can I do?"

"Like kiss him? Or whatever you think would disgust him. The class president is such a good student, he probably doesn''t smoke or drink, and his alcohol tolerance is likely low."

Alex felt his scalp tingle and finally couldn''t help but retort, "Are you out of your mind? Why would I kiss him!"

There''s no way he would kiss a guy!

Zayne was very excited, "Use your brain! Once you get him drunk, doing something to him would be a piece of cake. You don''t have to kiss him; you could even beat him up!"

Alex was stunned. Although it sounded unreliable, he felt a thrill and licked his lips excitedly.

He wouldn''t actually beat Leonard, just play a small prank, but he hadn''t decided exactly how yet.

He wanted to see Leonard''s helpless, angry eyes, and that expression of humiliation, unable to do anything about it.

—

The fan in the classroom kept blowing hot air, and in the nearly 40-degree weather, even his eyelashes were sweaty.

Alex sat by the trash can, furiously writing a self-reflection. After filling an entire page with "I was wrong," he tore a piece of paper from his textbook and wrote a line.

"Hey, pass this to Leonard." Alex handed the note to the person in front of him.

The person immediately gave an OK sign, with a knowing look.

The note passed through at least six or seven hands before finally reaching Leonard. The once smooth paper was now a bit crumpled.

Leonard looked closely and saw a few blue words in the corner of the note—"Entering Life and Science."

It was clearly from a biology textbook.

He opened the note and looked surprised.

At 430 PM, students swarmed out, filling the entire school building with noisy crowds. The students in their white uniforms occupied the whole corridor.

At the entrance of Class 4, Grade 11, Alex stood with his backpack, waiting at the door. Leonard, sitting in the first row, remained motionless.

Unable to bear it any longer, Alex walked over to his desk, his tone a bit stiff, "Leonard, did you read my note?"

Leonard looked up from his book, "I did. You said to wait for you in the classroom."

"?" After a moment of awkward silence, Alex realized there might have been a mix-up with the note. His mouth twitched a few times, "Where''s the note? Give it to me."

Leonard pulled the note from between the pages of his book.

[Leonard~ Meet me in the classroom after school, don''t leave early, mwah. —Alex]

"…" Another moment of awkward silence.