Chapter 3 : A Bit Interesting

After school, Patrick walked through a small alley. It was usually deserted, but it was a shortcut he had grown accustomed to.

But today was different.

Patrick was blocked at the alley entrance by a group of students wearing the same school uniform.

There were about five or six of them.

Patrick recognized two of them as the ones who had been smoking and fighting in the restroom yesterday. There was also a tall, handsome boy leaning against the wall opposite Patrick. He had slightly narrow, almond-shaped eyes, slightly raised eyebrows, thin lips, and a smirk that made him look more like a seasoned adult than a student. He even had a lit cigarette between his fingers. When he saw Patrick, he raised an eyebrow with a mocking expression.

Patrick''s heart skipped a beat, and he awkwardly turned his face away.

One of the boys with a buzz cut walked up to Patrick. He was tall, so he looked down at Patrick with a condescending expression. He laughed twice, then asked with a fake smile, "Hey, does your stomach still hurt?"

Patrick pressed his lips together and said nothing.

The buzz-cut boy casually patted his face. "You seem to have a lot of free time, always meddling in other people''s business."

Then he suddenly smiled at the others. "Looks like we need to show him what we''re made of."

"What''s your name?"

Samue suddenly spoke up, causing the buzz-cut guy to pause for a moment. Patrick turned to look at him.

Samue squinted and exhaled a puff of smoke, repeating his question. "What''s your name?"

No answer.

The buzz-cut guy snapped out of it and slapped Patrick''s face impatiently. "Are you deaf? He asked you a question."

"Patrick."

"Patrick, huh? Sounds like a name for a hundred-year-old corpse."

The buzz-cut guy grinned. "You look girly, and your name''s girly too. Are you a guy or a girl?"

Patrick clenched his fists and then looked up at the guy. "What do you think?"

Patrick wasn''t particularly handsome, but he had delicate features. His skin was fair, but not sickly pale. He had almond-shaped eyes, well-defined brows, and attractive lips. When he looked at you with that serious yet slightly defiant gaze, you might actually find him stunning.

So the buzz-cut guy stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smirked with malice and mockery. "Why don''t we just pull down your pants and find out?"

"Yeah, let''s see if he''s even grown any hair down there."

"Ha, look at him. Bet he hasn''t."

The guys behind him laughed in agreement.

The buzz-cut guy took a couple of steps back. "I really want to see if you''ve got any hair down there."

He signaled to the guys behind him, and two of them lunged at Patrick.

Patrick acted quickly. He threw his backpack at one of the guys and then spun around, delivering a sidekick to the other guy''s arm.

The guy winced in pain.

"Not bad."

Patrick had taken Taekwondo lessons for a while, originally to protect Amara from bullies. He never thought it would come in handy today.

Patrick clenched his fist and delivered a swift roundhouse kick, knocking one of the guys to the ground. He stepped on the guy''s hand and looked at the buzz-cut guy with an unprecedentedly cold gaze. "I know whether I''ve grown hair or not."

He picked up his backpack from the ground, pausing for a moment.

"Don''t mess with me," he said.

Then he turned and walked away.

It wasn''t until Patrick was out of sight that Samue, leaning against the wall, tilted his head back and exhaled a puff of smoke, a smirk of interest playing on his lips. He dropped the cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it under his foot.

"Interesting," he murmured.