Chapter 64: Jealousy

"Kyaa! It's him!" 

"So cool!"

"So handsome!"

"Even the way he walks beats the other boys by a whole round around the planet!! I wouldn't mind staring at him all day long!"

"I heard he beat the second place student by a whole twenty points on the entrance exam! You know that beating the top students in the ranking by even a point or two is an extreme challenge! In all the previous years, the highest point difference between first and second was only six points! He beat the highest record by fourteen points! Just how much of a genius is he?!"

"Both brains and appearance~ if only he wasn't from a poor family I would totally marry him!"

"In your dreams!"

"I could afford to keep him…"

"Ahh!! I love coming to school!"

"Kyaaa!"

Excited whispers echoed down the hallway, trailing like the breeze behind the back of a young teen in the official school uniform of S High School. Wrapped around his arm was a purple band etched with the logo of the school that symbolized his special and unique status as the student representative of the freshmen. 

"Hey, Ian, want to play basketball with us at lunch?" One of the male students from normal classes came up to Ian with a smile and asked.

"Sure, game on," Ian replied with a gentle and easygoing smile.

"Awesome! See you there!" The boy exclaimed with a fist pump and left. Excited, he brought the great news to his friends who laughed with him—with Ian on their team, they're sure to win against that arrogant Class Three!

"Hey, Ian!"

"Hi, Ian!"

"Ah! Hello, I-Ian…"

Girls and boys alike greeted Ian as he walked past them with a gentle smile and expression that never left his face, and he greeted them back with a light, graceful nod.

Ian walked upstairs to the junior grade floor for a meeting that was being held for the student representatives. 

S High School had a total of three floors. With elevators, the spoiled princes and princesses of high-class families did not have to overwork their delicate hands and feet to climb up the staircase.

Each floor from one to three respectively belonged to freshmen and sophomores, juniors, then seniors.

And since the teachers' office as well as the office of student affairs, office of the principal, etc. are all on the first floor, many upperclassmen frequently came down and mixed among the group of new students.

Due to all the mixing of grades, Ian's popularity continued to grow and multiply until his name spread to every corner of the school. No teacher or student did not know of him by the third day of school. Not to forget his special identity as the freshman year student representative.

Not only was Ian attractive and smart, his personality made it hard for others to dislike him. He always treated both teachers and students politely and with respect, showing nothing but gentleness and an elegance the rich kids thought were unbefitting of his commoner background. 

Guaranteed with a bright future after successfully entering this school, not to mention his extraordinary looks and grades, how could the girls not fantasize about getting together with him and marrying well. Although they would be marrying below their station for some of them, Ian was worth it in their minds. 

Regardless of his family background, many girls wanted to become his girlfriend, especially the rich girls who were not struggling for money.

Ian alone could attract everyone's attention and heart in earnest.

In contrast to the excited squealing and voices of the female students of various grades, a group of male upperclassmen stood in a corner, gritting their teeth.

Although Ian's reactions during the first day's entrance ceremony had convinced the majority of his year's male students, some of the upperclassmen do not view him in a good light, especially when he became the center of the upperclassmen female students' attention and topic of conversation in just a few days of coming to school, leaving all the other guys in the dirt.

Because of him, none of their fellow female classmates even spared them a glance these days. No matter how hard the male students tried, the girls wouldn't give them the time of day, and if they pushed too hard, the girls would just start comparing them to Ian who was so "gentle" and "polite" and knows "how to treat women" while they were "rude scoundrels" who only knows "how to draw hatred".

Some of them even lost their chances with the girls they liked who they almost succeeded with!

Additionally, a few of the upperclassmen even lost their girlfriends. Their girlfriends had broken up with them in futile hope that the future bigshot might be interested in them, so they cannot be tied down in a relationship in that case.

—Actually, they broke up because the girlfriends grew annoyed with their boyfriends' incessant complaints and paranoia that they will leave them for Ian, and they also grew a strong interest in this junior who is so talented in the mouths of their boyfriends. 

—Though the ex-boyfriends don't know that.

No wonder they held a grudge and were displeased with Ian. 

"So what if he's good-looking? So what if he's first among the freshmen?! So what if his character is desirable?! That doesn't allow him to get all the girls to treat us like cow dung and ignore us!!"

"He thinks he's somebody just because he's in the same nest as the rest of those nerdy kids. He's just a nobody from an impecunious household!"

"I heard that his house is just cardboard!"

"I heard that he washes his hair with the leftover water of a greasy restaurant!"

"My sources tell me that he's an orphan! He has no backing whatsoever!"

"We can easily take him down in that case. What do you think, Manl?"

Wordless, Manl remained motionless with a solemn expression, as if deep in thought.

"Manl, you have to be the judge for me! I lost my girlfriend because of him!"

"…Hey, your girlfriend was just a gold-digger. She was bound to leave you sooner or later for someone richer than you, man."

"Shut up! What do you know! It's all this Ian punk's fault! What are you going to do about this menace, Manl?!"

"Let's teach him a lesson so that he'll regret being born!"

"Yeah, I agree, we'll teach him a lesson so that he'll stay clear of all female living things for the rest of his life!"

Finally, Manl, the de facto leader of their small group, spoke up, "Alright. Since we are all in agreement, let's corner him at the back of the school building during lunch today."

Everyone nodded at the satisfying decision.

"I knew you would make the right call!" One of Manl's friends slung his arm around Manl's shoulder. Manl gave a roguish smile, completely unlike the serious expression he had on just prior. He fist-pumped with his friends while their lackeys watched on with flattering expressions.

Suddenly, Manl recalled something and yelled to one of his lackeys, "Hey, call that wanna-be gangster from your class here and get him to make up a reason or whatever and get our school's famous freshman year student representative to come. I doubt someone as smart as him would walk into our trap willingly. Make sure that wanna-be understands that he has to do it flawlessly!"

"Leave it to me, boss!" The junior grade lackey replied in a loud voice as he patted his chest to show how reliable he was.

"Great…" The rest of the group smirked evilly. 

They couldn't wait for lunch break to arrive.

*****

Clunk.

Ian opened up his metal locker and found countless pink envelopes that shouldn't have been there, inside.

As the locker door swung open gently, a few envelopes fell out.

Reaching down, he picked up a random envelope and opened it. 

[Please meet me behind the school cherry blossom tree at lunch.]

No name or purpose. Only a message, a request for a meeting with Ian.

Ian's face remained calm and unperturbed, no trace of confusion or surprise could be seen in his eyes at this sudden and mysterious request, for this wasn't the first time he had gotten such a letter since he entered high school. 

In fact, this would've been a common occurrence in his middle school as well if only his crazy, unstable outbursts hadn't happened.

—Love letters.

It has only been a few days in and his locker nearly burst open with the amount of love letters he received everyday.

Today seemed to be one of the slow and peaceful ones, however, as his locker was only half full of them.

Uncaring, Ian usually discarded all of the love letters while choosing to open only one lucky one and meeting them at their arranged place. He did it more out of curiosity and amusement than anything. 

It was a source of entertainment for him, to say, watching those girls cry when he rejected them. 

Truly, so particular. What are they crying for? Isn't it just a rejection? It's not like the world was ending or their loved ones dying. Ian thought darkly with coldness and incomprehension in his eyes.

Because that pain is incomparable, even if you don't want to cry, crystal drops would still involuntarily drip down your skin as your heart hollows out.

Ian crumpled up the love letter and threw it accurately into the trashcan on his way out of the school building. It seems the basketball match would have to wait.

The cherry blossom tree of which the pink and cutely written love letter spoke of was the only cherry tree planted on the school grounds.

Apparently, the wife of the first S High School principal loved eating cherries and the principal thought that cherry trees bore cherries. However, he was much mistaken with the breed of cherry tree seeds he had bought. The seed ended up sprouting and grew into a thick, tall cherry blossom tree that bore no fruit—much to the principal's disappointment—and which to this day still stands after generations of new principals. 

It was upon this land where the lone cherry blossom tree stood amongst countless evergreen trees that the S High School was first built out of the goodness of the first principal's and his wife's heart.

Since the cherry blossom tree was the first principal's token of love to his wife, over time, a legend slowly began to form that couples granted union and love under that cherry blossom tree would be in love forever just like the first principal and his wife. 

Thus, the cherry blossom tree out back of the school became a famous confession spot among the youthful and innocent students who believed in the legend.

"I like you! Please go out with me!" The girl took out all her courage that she had stored up since birth and shouted out her confession with a bright red face, her eyes squeezed shut in fear and anticipation. 

"I appreciate your feelings, but I'm afraid I'll have to refuse your good intentions."

Shocked, the girl almost couldn't react to the instantaneous yet polite and mannerly rejection. "W…Why?" Subconsciously slipped out from her mouth reflexively in her shock. 

Then suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes as if her brain had finally processed the meaning of his words.

Although she never expected him to accept her confession, being actually rejected still shocked her and crushed her fragile young maiden heart.

She was rejected. Boo-hoo! Sob! Sob!

The girl started crying uncontrollably as her tear ducts weakened in their control over her salty liquid. 

"Jerk!"

Out from the bushes, a curvy figure suddenly jumped out like a ball of fire.

Rather than scaring the male party, it startled the girl instead causing her to stop crying from the scare.

"How dare you make my friend cry?!"

"Gracie! What are you doing?!" The girl who was just crying exclaimed anxiously, nervously looking at the party of her confession before blushing and looking away. 

With dark-to-light purple hair gleaming in the rays of the warm afternoon sun, Ian did not care at all for the secretive movements of the girl who had just professed her love for him. He was starting to get annoyed, however, habitually, he did not allow his feelings to show on his face.

"Not everything can be prevented in this world just because I want them to be prevented," Ian casually yet patiently said with a distant yet gentle smile upon his lips. 

It couldn't be far from the truth, if Ian wanted, he could make it so that no one in the whole wide world can ever cry again. However, why would he use his powers on such an insignificant and worthless matter? Isn't it just the tears of some girl? What's so special about them? It's not like they're mermaid tears that can turn into pearls.

Ian thought contemptuously and indifferently, his heart as cold and indifferent as stone.

"She's so sincere with her love! How can you cruelly reject her like that?! At least do it gently so that she won't cry over a heartless scum like you!" Gracie hollered fiercely, her eyes bursting out in flames as her wavy hair fluttered in the air like firecrackers from her aggressive bodily movements. 

"Gracie!" Gracie's friend pulled the enraged Gracie's sleeves in order to stop the other from going crazy. She was so embarrassed!

"Nothing I could ever say can make her not cry when they are words of rejection."

Gracie choked. Unable to refute. 

Logically, Gracie understood that Ian was right, but subjectively, her friend's feelings were more important to her.

Just as Gracie was racking her brains trying to come up with a good comeback, an unexpected voice cooled down the heated atmosphere…

"Ah! There you are! I've been looking all over the school for you, Ian!"