The Sours, Sweets and Sorrows of High School

"We'll be discussing the possible layout for the documentary now. Does anyone have any bright ideas?" Ma Jianyu asked the club.

Nobody answered, still having a winter break hangover.

"No? Earth to the people and all that is not? Shall I repeat: Do you have any ideas?"

Still no answer, a couple of yawning.

"Hmm. Well, I'll be calling at random then. Those who cannot answer will have a low score on my evaluation for them in club participation." Ma Jianyu crossed his arms haughtily.

He suddenly pointed. "Thou, handsome lad. Dost thou thinketh any clever ideas?"

He was pointing at Mo Aini, who was still staring blankly at his camera.

He looked up slowly and dumbly. "Oh.... Uh.... What kind of ideas do you want?"

"The fantabulous kind! Something only the Theater Club can think of!" Ma Jianyu said. "Any club can make the same boring old documentary, but we are actors! We need drama! Emotion! Mystique!"

"Then, um....." Mo Aini lazily came up with anything that his tired brain can give him. "How about we make the documentary show different aspects of Nushen High, instead of just showing one, boring story? Then we'll have interviews with people who would serve as a representative of those aspects or something..... I don't know..... yeah....."

Ma Jianyu considered this, pacing back and forth. "Yes, yes.... That could be it...."

Mo Aini looked at the window, not caring what Ma Jianyu thinks of his suggestions and just thinking:

(Hu Chuntian still isn't back at school yet. His aspect of the school will never see the light of day in that documentary, but it could have had enough 'drama' and 'mystique' that Ma Jianyu is looking for. That man had brought enough emotion in my life to cause a whirlwind.)

Ma Jianyu had stopped pacing and his eyes lit up like he was a scientist that just found a great discovery. "Eureka! That was it! A continuous narrative of the different sours, sweets, and sorrows of high school! That shall be the underlying theme of our project, both the joy and misery that we have as students!"

He rushed to Mo Aini like a wild pony jumping obstacles. "Thank you, Sir What's-Your-Name!"

"Just Taime. Just call me Taime, nothing else included."

"Thank you, Sir Taime!" Ma Jianyu didn't listen. "You really are as honorable as a knight, a true trustworthy fellow! You just saved our project from ruins! When no one is up to give ideas in order to secure it, you have come to my rescue, and for that, I am most grateful!"

And all of sudden, Ma Jianyu kissed Mo Aini on both cheeks!

"Uhh..... You're welcome?" Mo Aini blinked and so did all the other club members.

"Alright, now let's form an outline for this documentary!" The club president clapped his hand and went to the board like nothing happened, writing down his own thoughts at incredible speed.

Mo Aini didn't think too much about the kiss. Ma Jianyu is an eccentric after all. He copies the Medieval European sensibilities where it's normal to kiss your bros every once in a while from so much happiness.

Besides, isn't it common in some countries to greet people by kissing them on the cheek? There's really no meaning to it at all.

But the fujoshis in the room did not think the same way.

One of them happened to be secretly taking photos out of boredom, and manage to catch that 'bro kiss' scene....

----------------

"Ma Jianyu.... I mean, Club President. Do I really have to be the one taking videos of the interview today?"

Mo Aini followed behind Ma Jianyu who's long ponytail swished as he walked. The school had been asking him to cut it since last years, but the delusional chuunibyou never listened because he said it would lower his powers gifted by faeries.

"You're the only one who's free at the moment with a steady hand and a keen eye." Ma Jianyu said. "Besides, isn't it your bright idea to interview people from different aspects of our prestigious university? So it might as well be your undertaking too!"

"Shouldn't the journalism club's photographer and professionals be better suited for this?"

"Er, they excused themselves because of the call of nature." Ma Jianyu scratched his head.

Mo Aini knitted his eyebrow. "All of them? At the same time?"

"Yes. Even I was perplexed by it." Ma Jianyu sighed. "They might take me for a fool to believe them. I know they are merely uninterested in the project and have no sense of duty nor discipline. Most people are, I am barely keeping myself as an upstanding leader to the others, but a hero still has his limits!"

He gave Mo Aini an apologetic look. "So I apologize to pass the burden onto you, Sir Taime. I lament the thought that you may be the only constituent I can trust."

Even if he uses a ridiculous amount of fancy words, it's easy to understand Ma Jianyu through his expressions and tone. The task of being a club president that no one listens to nor respect is draining him. He needed as much help as he can, but no one likes to help him because he is so..... himself.

And because Mo Aini actually listened to what he's saying and helped him out once, he thinks Mo Aini may be his only ally.

Mo Aini pities this guy, he doesn't really deserve this kind of treatment even if he has an odd personality. "I understand, Sir John Hue. Who shall we speak to first?"

Ma Jianyu's eyes lit up again now that he was called by his fictional alias, and the fact Mo Aini was willing to help. He pointed to the steps up ahead. "Who better than the illustrious student council president himself?"

As they entered the student council room, they saw that girl with a high ponytail was taking with She Haoran inside.

"Oh, Ms. Mo is also here! The queen and his king, perfect!" Ma Jianyu gestured Mo Aini to come closer with the camera. "Is it rolling?"

Mo Aini gave a lazy thumbs up.

He cleared his throat and held up his mic. "Love is also an important part of high school life after all, as if had always been throughout our lives. How are you two lovers holding up after such a long period of separation? The winter had taken you from each other's embrace, so it's understandable for you to seek each other immediately at spring!"

She Haoran just smiled at Ma Jianyu's nonsense babble. "Oh, Ms. Mo is not here because she missed me or anything like that. We had kept in touch even during the holidays through phone calls."

Mo Aini still finds it strange that She Haoran refers to Mo Jiagei as 'Ms. Mo' even though she's already his girlfriend.

"Ah, then you must be calling each other every day on this magical device! How great our times have been, to have our own little piece of magic where we can communicate even across the farthest lands and seas!"

Ma Jianyu moved to his next question, aiming the mic at Mo Jiagei. "Tell us, what has been your sweetest experience in high school? Ths delights of your teenage years? The cherry on top?"

Mo Jiagei was put to a spot. "Oh, it's uh..."

A hologram screen showed in front of her.

[ > Finding love with my perfect boyfriend over here

> Learning new things about myself ]

Mo Aini feigned a yawn, then placed two fingers over his face discreetly, but also kind of obviously depending on the person who's receiving the signal. He just hopes his sister is that type of person. (C'mon, pick the second option already!)

Mo Jiagei hesitated for a while. Is the side character with a blurred, censored face really putting out a 'number two' on her, or is it just her imagination? Should she follow it?

It may just be a coincidence. Or maybe the game just put it as an easter egg or something. Anyway, she was pretty compelled to pick two because of this and so she decided to just go for it.

Both brother and sister Mo are really impulsive people that don't care about the choices they make. It runs in the family.

[+5 Cupid Points!]

"I came to learn new things about myself, particularly this year." Mo Jiagei's MC character spoke the dialogue. "I learned that I am a person that likes making people happy. And I manage to do that when performing. So performing becomes a part of my life, that sometimes, there's no difference on-stage and off-stage anymore."

"Everything is a performance. I learned that I was someone who would want to do everything to fulfill that dream of making people happy through performance. And so, I wouldn't mind to keep on putting acts to entertain them, even if those acts take on forever and ever."

She gave a sad smile at the end, totally uncharacteristic to the real Mo Jiagei. This is the pre-determined script of her MC character, made by Shuaige to deliver some foreshadowing and nuance to the plot.

Mo Aini took time to analyze this. (That doesn't really sound like a sweet thing, always being a 'performer'.)

But then again, who was he to judge his sister's answer. He too, was a performer in all this.

And those acts he put up, those lies, brought both the happiest moments and the most painful moments he had in this game.

Ma Jianyu also seems to be thinking the same thing, and chuckled awkwardly. "Oh.... Well said. The idea of a person always performing like some puppet on a string does sound concerning, but it is an understandable answer for an outstanding member of the Theater Club."

(He's quite observant even when he comes off as an oddball.) Mo Aini noticed.

There was a beat of pure silence as Mo Jiagei said nothing.

"Well then..... Ahem. The world is a stage, as the great Shakespeare once said. The spotlight also moves from person to person, so let's allow it to shine over Mr. President for now! "Ma Jianyu also seems to know what to do to avoid an awkward atmosphere, so he passed the mic to She Haoran.

"Sir Haoran, we know that you have accomplished much victories at school, and lead a joyous life with not much worries, or at least, not any were known publicly. So we do wonder if you have ever encountered a sour part of high school? Something discomforting? Or perhaps unsatisfactory, something that bothers you before you sleep at night?"

"In truth, I actually have quite a lot, good sir." She Haoran matched Ma Jianyu's tempo, using his own grandiose tone to lighten the mood.

"You have seen my victories, but the life of a student council head is never easy. There are many things that pester my mind every night, I cannot address them all for it will take the whole week."

"My, that does sound troubling!"

"Indeed, indeed."

"But I can relate as a leader myself." Ma Jianyu nodded, and motioned Mo Aini to turn of the cam a bit so the two can speak more off the record.

The ostentatious theater club leader sighed. "I wish I could be doing a fine job as you do, Mr. President. You handle the entire school while I handle a single club, yet it feels like I'll fall off my horses soon while you're steadily manning the reins."

"I could teach you how to 'keep the reins steady' then, good sir. But this is between us, alright? One president to the other. "

"But of course! I swear it on my mother's grave, no word from you shall leak from this mouth!"

Mo Aini thought that the two conversed like really good friends.

(She Haoran is really good at this socialization thing, he managed to make Ma Jianyu open up to him just like that! And he matches his speaking style too, though it's quite easy since they both speak formally. Wonder how long he could keep up with his theatrics though.)

It's already been 14 minutes and they're still talking.

Meanwhile, Mo Jiagei was left on the sidelines, and he can barely control himself from laughing at his sister's dumb face.

(Meimei..... Your boyfriend might get stolen from you by a chuunibiyou. Hahahaha!)

(But in all seriousness, if only they are less busy with being leaders, they may really be good friends way before this.) Mo Aini thought. (That would be nice for Ma Jianyu, that guy seriously needs some friends.)

He remembered Wang Jing who flashes her cutter like a bodyguard would unsheath her sword. (Oh yeah, that reminds me that we have another chuunibiyou in the equation. Yep, he and the two student council heads would really get along.)

They finally finished comparing notes on proper leadership and management, and so She Haoran said, "Is there anything more that you would like to converse with?"

"Oh! There's still another question left for the both of you!" Ma Jianyu motioned Mo Aini to turn on the camera again.

"What is the most sorrowful part of your high school?"

At the mention of the word sorrowful, only one person came to Mo Aini's mind.

And it did not help that both answered at the same time with:

"To not be loved back."

"For your love to be treated as a joke."

Both of these hit Mo Aini like an arrow to the heart, straight up 100 damage! Seriously is this divine intervention or something!?

But..... Why the hell would they answer that!? Aren't they a couple!?

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~BRIBE ME, PLEASE~

Ok, I'm getting desperate and pathetic so now I'm willing to accept bribes. I get jealous easily of other books that have a huge following and get sad everytime, thinking what's the point of writing if I feel like no one's reading/appreciate it.

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100 comments in a week (only those with TEXT count) - 1 extra chapter

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100+ votes in a week in any of my books - 1 extra chapter for all of them

Magic Castle and up - Burst update

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