Same Old World

"I'm leaving!" Lin Chen waved his family goodbye as he left for school. Sky City High School was only a few meters away from Lin Chen's home, which meant that he didn't really need to use any form of transport in order to get to his school.

"Hey, Lin Chen!" As he was walking, Lin Chen heard someone calling his name, and he turned around after recognizing the familiar voice. "Fang Meng!" Lin Chen waved his arms at the red haired, overweight young man who was crossing the street while yelling his name out loud.

Fang Meng was a loyal friend of Lin Chen who continued to lend his support to him even after the results of the final test were announced. He was the only one of his 'friends' who had stood by his side after the announcement of the results, and thus, Lin Chen felt like he owed the big guy a lot.

"You punk! What're you doing, being so late?" Fang Meng laughed loudly as he put his arms around Lin Chen's shoulders and shook him slightly. "You always reach the school extremely early, so what's with the sudden change?"

"Well, nothing much.." Lin spoke with a faint smile on his face. He scratched his chin before continuing, "We only have a week remaining as high schoolers, right? So figured being a bit late wouldn't be that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things."

"Oh? Look at you, trying to become a bad boy during the last week of school!" Fang Meng patted Lin Chen on the back as he laughed loudly. Although they were supposed to be pats, to Lin Chen, they felt like powerful slaps.

'Goddamn, that hurt like hell! Hold back a bit, would you? Damn gorilla!' Of course, Lin Chen didn't say that out loud, and instead, held in the pain and laughed alongside Fang Meng.

"By the way, Lin Chen…" Fang Meng's laughter died down as he spoke, which made Lin Chen glance at him for a split second. The big guy's carefree expression was now replaced with a serious one. "What is it?" Lin Chen asked, and Fang Meng answered, "The final test is this week, isn't it? Are you still holding onto the belief that you'll get accepted into Grand Central University?"

'This fatty…' Lin Chen let out a long sigh as a smile formed across his face. 'He's worried about me, isn't he?'

Although he doesn't like to show it, Fang Meng did care about his friends quite a lot, especially Lin Chen, whom he considered to be his best friend. Fang Meng knew of Lin Chen's obsession with getting into Grand Central University, which would be considered an impossible feat for any average person.

"You know what? I've actually thought about it a lot these past few days…" Lin Chen rubbed his chin as he spoke with a soft voice, and Fang Meng nodded his head. "Yeah?"

"And although I still wish to get accepted into the Grand Central University, I wouldn't be heartbroken if I didn't get accepted." Lin Chen spoke with a gentle smile on his face.

"Ah, that's a good mindset to have.." Fang Meng nodded his head in agreement. Although that wasn the answer that Fang Meng wanted to hear, it was good enough. After all, it's not so simple to let go of your dreams, is it?

All of a sudden..

Ring! Ring!

Lin Chen's phone started to ring, and he pulled it out from his pocket. He glanced at the screen to see who was calling him, and his expression turned unsightly within an instant.

"Jia Sterling…" He whispered the name of the caller with a disgusted face.

"Oh, it's your girlfriend.." Fang Meng took a peek at the screen and yelled out loud, and Lin Chen let out a helpless sigh in response before nodding his head. "Yup, it's my girlfriend."

".... Are you not going to attend the call?" Fang Meng asked with a nervous and awkward expression on his face. Lin Chen could tell that Fang Meng didn't like his girlfriend all that much. No, he hated her. And if Lin Chen of the past wasn't so madly in love with the woman at that time, then perhaps he might've understood the reason for his hate.

But unfortunately, Lin Chen was blinded by love in the past, and ignored all the red flags that would've made any sane person break up with her. In fact, in his previous life, Lin Chen and Fang Meng even had a falling out because of Fang Meng voicing his opinion about her.

'Oh, Lin Chen.. You really were an idiot in the past.' Lin Chen shook his head as he let out a chuckle. He then looked at the phone once again, and he squinted his eyes.

Maybe this time, Jia might actually be a good person. After all, he couldn't be certain that this was the same world as his original one, right?

'Well, there's only one way to find out.'

Click!

"Hello?" He answered the call and pressed the phone close to his ear as he let out a short breath.

'Calm down, Lin Chen,' He said to himself. 'It wasn't time. Not yet. You need to make sure. So be patient.'

"What took you so long to pick up, babe?" The sweet and silky voice of Jia Sterling was heard through the phone. "And why aren't you at the school yet? Don't tell me that you're sick?"

"Yeah, nothing's wrong babe.." Lin Chen responded in his usual happy tone. "It's just that it took me a while to get ready, that's all."

"Oh really?" The voice on the other side seemed disinterested in listening to his reasoning, and Lin Chen scratched his cheeks.

'Hold it in, Lin Chen,' He reminded himself once again. Be patient. It's still not certain whether it's the same Jia. If it really is her…

"Oh, by the way, babe.." Jia's voice was heard once again, and Lin Chen's eyes widened.

If it really is her..

"Since you're already on the way to school…"

Three.

"Can you do something for me? Pretty please?"

Two.

"It won't take that much time, and I promise you that you'll get a good 'reward' from me, if you know what I mean.."

One.

"Can you buy this new handbag for me? It's not really that expensive, so I'm pretty sure you can buy it. It's just that Mei and everyone else seems to have one, and I don't have my allowance with me since my parents took it away as punishment for going on that date with you without telling them, so I guess you kinda owe me lol. I'm just kidding, but I'll send a photo on WhatsMessage. You can buy it from that G&G store on Faraday Street."

There it is.

Lin let out a sigh as a bitter smile formed on his face. "I'm sorry, but I can't babe." He replied, which must've caught her off guard, as there was no response for about ten seconds, after which she responded with a "H-Huh?"

"I've got to go now, babe." Without giving her anymore time to reply, he immediately ended the conversation and hung up the call.

Lin Chen then pulled up his PayFriend account and looked at his payment history.

"Hah, you've got to be fucking kidding me…" He sneered as he went through the countless purchases he made just last month. From rings, necklaces and earrings to funding entire dates and booking expensive restaurants..

Lin Chen then pulled up his WhatsMessage and went through his contacts that were blocked. Almost all of them were girls whom he was friends with. Even the ones with whom he had little to no contact were on the blocked list.

Letting out another sigh, Lin Chen turned his attention to the chat history between him and Jia.

"Ohoho.. would you look at that!" A sinister smile formed on Lin Chen's face as his hand that was holding his phone shook with anger.

The chats contained mostly Jia asking about Lin Chen's location, who he was with, and what gifts he planned on buying for her.

'I thought that this world would be a bit different than the original one…' He switched on airplane mode on his phone and placed it in his pocket. '.. But I guess she is still the same old Jia!'