2. STUDENTS WHO SHIPPED THE VILLAIN WITH THE PROTAGONIST

"Chen Miao. Besides studying, don't you have any other hobbies?" You tilted your head, snatching the chemistry book away from his hands.

He turned to glare at you, looking rather similar to a kitten giving you a hiss.

「The dangerous classmate is asking you a question. In what way should you answer?」

√「Input your hobby; "_____"」

•「Rude; "None of your business."」

•「Polite; "I don't have one."」

"It's playing games," he answered reluctantly. "Now please give me my book back."

It felt strange to know that the honour student's hobby is gaming considering he did not seem to be that kind of type, but thinking carefully, all the choices were chosen by the player who controlled the protagonist, so of course his hobby would be playing gamesーthat person is literally playing right now! At that realization, you cannot help but frown.

You have no interest in knowing that player. What you wanted to know is Chen Miao's true self, but considering that he is not like you who was able to gain control of your actions, naturally, that would be impossible.

"Whaー What are you looking at?" The honour student squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

You did not answer, merely smiling as you handed back his chemistry book.

A few minutes later, you decided to distract him again.

"Chen Miao, has anything been interesting in your life before?"

This time, you did not bother to see the options on his head, choosing to focus on his face instead. As a result, he managed to surprise you with his answer.

"You," he answered. "You suddenly went ahead and forced yourself into my life without asking for my opinion. You're interesting, but not in a good way."

You smiled in amusement. "That's brutally honest of you."

Surprisingly, the protagonist didn't seem like he wanted to drop this topic.

"Why is that?" He asked all of a sudden, putting his mechanical pencil down. "You have always been sitting quietly in the classroom without a care in the world. What changed? Why would you suddenly want to be friends with me?"

You thought for a while, wondering what kind of answer should you give. In the end, you decided to be honestーjust like how you had done before.

"I'm just tired of ○○○ the ○ ○ again and again," you answered honestly. "That's why I decided to ○○ you. I won't let you ○."

He looked at you blankly. "What...? I didn't catch that, what did you say...?"

You chuckled. "I said; I adore you."

Blood rushed to his face at your confession. "Youー!"

Unfortunately, he was interrupted by the librarian who has been glaring at the both of you since a while ago. "You two. This is a library. If you can't keep quiet, then you might as well have your study date at home."

His face went redder at the words "study date." It did not help that a few students who were also studying there were trying to hold back their laughter at the sight of their honour student behaving like a maiden experiencing his first love. He quickly packed up his things and glared at you with tears of shame pooling in his eyes.

"Don't follow me!" He then ran away.

The librarian looked at you with a complicated expression. "Shit, I didn't mean that. Was I too strict? The two of you won't break up because of me, right?"

"No, you were just doing your job. I'm sorry for being loud," you smiled to reassure her and packed up your things too.

Of course, you did not even bother to clarify that the two of you are not a couple even though you knew that had you been honest now, the rumour that has been circulating the school surely would have stopped judging by the students that prickling their ears to listen to your conversation with the librarian.

As you were putting your pencil box in your bag, you noticed the librarian was watching you with a hesitant gaze before pulling you out of the library, deciding to give you a piece of advice as a fellow student.

You tilted your head at her strange behaviour, wondering if she was a fan of Chen Miao or something. Is she going to beat me up for bothering him? Unlikely.

"Iー Look, you might think that I'm too nosy but every student in this school, like, knows how you suddenly started to change because of love, and that's good and all! I'm not criticizing, but I'm afraid if the teachers were to know, whatever you had with Chen Miao won't have a good end."

"Why are you telling me this?" This girl is neither your friend nor foe, why would she suddenly act so caring? You do not understand.

She blushed. "I, um, don't know if you realized this but you're very eye-catching. Before, you were so gloomy and had this unapproachable aura that made people afraid of you. I have always thought that you were kinda creepy but then your aura seems to become brighter after pursuing Chen Miao. I understand how you feel because I also have a boyfriend, but he's in a different school just so you know, so I don't want you to revert to being a hermit if something were to happen to your relationship with Chen Miao."

Is she praising you or insulting you? You cannot decide. Anyway, what she was saying is that she does not want you to become gloomy again after experiencing a break-up with Chen Miao because you were creepy, right? Okay, you think you got the gist of it.

"Okay," you nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Huh?" She seemed surprised that you would take her advice with such an open mind. "No, I'm sorry for taking your time."

You nodded, about to take your leave until you suddenly remembered how fragile the protagonist's life was in this game. In the previous timelines, if he didn't die by your hands, then he would die by another people's hands. Anxiously, you cursed yourself for forgetting and quickly ran to catch up to him, leaving the librarian to look at you in confusion.

She shouted after remembering something. "Don't run in the hallway! The disciplinary teacher will get mad!"