That's the plan?!

The next day, Malakai went looking for Hao Sheng.

He told himself it wasn't because him not texting him bothered him or anything, he just wanted to check up on him as an old friend and see how he was doing...

For some reason, though, he didn't even see his shadow.

They didn't have English that day, so it wasn't like he could plan to corner him after class.

Where the fuck was he?!

He didn't notice it yesterday, but it looks like he didn't eat in the cafeteria or on the big lawn most students used.

The school day ended and he still had not seen even a hair of Hao Sheng.

That evening, he didn't get even so much as a text from him, and that frustrated him to no end.

He went to bed as sour as the previous night.

The next morning, he woke up resolved to not even bother with Hao Sheng anymore.

He didn't care. If the prick didn't even have the decency to text him, then he wouldn't bother with him. He decided he would just completely ignore Hao Sheng's existence and continue living like he had never met him again.

Except that was harder than he thought it would be.

It had been a while since anything interesting happened at their school, and what did high school kids, especially rich and influential ones, like to do best but gossip?

So suddenly, having a new student arrive a week into the school year was a big thing.

It seemed like everywhere he went, he heard whispers of the new kid.

He sat down at his usual table with his friends for lunch, and tried to distract himself from all the gossip around him.

Ling Xing, a popular girl who hung around with his friends, and her friends sat down and immediately began talking.

"Did you guys see the new student yet?", she asked the table, picking up her chopsticks.

Oh, you've got to be kidding.

Yeah, I saw him, and he seems pretty cool," one of the guys at his table, Zhong, or something like that, responded.

Freaking fantastic.

The last thing he wanted to be brought up was to be brought up.

"He's also pretty hot~", another girl said, and the whole lot of them started giggling.

Of course, they would think that.

"What do you think about him, Malakai? I heard you were the one who gave him a tour, so you should know best. ", Ling Xing asked, turning the attention to him.

Normally he would relish the attention, but today, for some unknown reason, he just wasn't feeling it.

"He seems pretty obnoxious to me", he said dryly.

Before anyone could ask him anything further, he got up.

He said, "I'm going to the bathroom real quick. I'll be back", and then just left.

From behind him, he heard some extra ask, "Jeez, what's up with him today?"

He really couldn't be bothered with them. Although he called them friends, he really did not consider them so.

They were just people he used and they used him. He enjoyed the attention they offered, and he offered them a reputation for being friends with the son of that person.

He went to the bathroom and splashed his face with some cold water and stared at himself in the mirror.

He could tell he was clearly in a bad mood, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason.

He knew exactly what it was that was bothering him, but he refused to acknowledge it.

But he couldn't go on like this for the rest of the day.

So, change of plans. It looked like he was going to confront Hao Sheng about this, and this time he knew exactly when he would catch him.

They had English together last period, so he would just have to corner him either before or after class.

Okay! That seemed like a good plan.

As he left the bathroom, he felt his mood lift a bit.

Yeah, that's right, he would get that stupid Hao Sheng to apologise to him and have him grovelling at his feet for playing with him.

He was going to teach him that he wasn't some toy he could play with!

As he rounded the corner, from afar, he saw him.

He sucked in a breath.

He was standing by his locker, changing his books, presumably. The sun from a nearby window hit him just right, making him look really good.

It had just been a little over a day since they had last seen each other, but Malakai felt like it had been ages.

Nothing much had changed, but Malakai felt his heart speed up a bit when he saw him, before he calmed himself again.

Fuck after English, I'll just talk to him now!

He took a steps towards him, and that's when he finally noticed that he wasn't alone.

He was with a girl. A pretty girl with purple highlights.

They were joking and laughing together and looked so comfortable around each other.

For some reason, it makes him feel uncomfortable.

Who was she?!

Is this who he's been with these past few days?

He stopped his approach and turned back.

He checked the time and it was almost time for class, so he decided to go to class early.

The sour feeling he'd been feeling all day returned with a vengeance.

To say the teacher was surprised to see him there so early was an understatement. He didn't even bother himself with what she must be thinking and just opted to lie on his arms as he waited for class to begin.

5 Minutes Earlier.

While Hao Sheng was at his locker with Luxua, he heard the sound of a notification in his head.

[DING!]

[Love Scale +5%]

He cracked a small smile, which was noticed by Luxia.

"Hey, what're you smiling about like that?", she asked, eyebrow cocked.

Hao Sheng smiled mysteriously at her.

"Oh, I was just thinking about something I found interesting.", he says vaguely.

"Something or someone?", she asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Hao Sheng just laughs and playfully shoves her.

"Come on. Lunch is almost over. Let's start making our way to class. ", he says as he guides her towards their class.

"Being secretive, I see. Don't worry, I'll get it out of you at some point.", she says, bumping her shoulder into his.

He laughs, and they continue on their way to class.

333 was startled by the sudden system notification and wanted to ask Hao Sheng about it, but he was still mad at him. He debated it, but in the end, his curiosity won out.

Just how did this stinky host do it?! He clearly made no attempt to even approach the target, but the love gauge wouldn't lie...

The only way to get answers was to ask the host, so that's what he did, albeit begrudgingly.

[Are you going to tell me, host?]

Hao Sheng smiled.

'Tell you what?', he asked innocently.

This vile host! He knew exactly what he was asking but just didn't want to tell him.

But 333 was curious, so he put his pride aside.

[How did you get the target's love gauge to go up despite you having almost no contact with him.]

'Oh, I already told you! It's all part of the plan~', he said plainly, but 333 could see the mirth in his eyes.

This fucking-!!! 333 tried to calm down. He drill needed to get the information out of the host.

[Then what is the plan host?]

'Oh, I thought you'd never ask! So from our little interaction and the information you gave me, I was able to deduce that Malakai is essentially, excuse my language, an attention whore. So I came up with a plan to make him feel good in my presence and give him the attention he wanted, and then I simply took it away', he said lightly.

[I still don't understand how that would get him to like you more, host. Wouldn't that just make him hate you for ignoring him?]

Hao Sheng sighed.

Okay, I'll explain it in an easier manner for my slow little system", he said, smiling teasingly.

"Basically, it's like drugs. Malakai's drug is attention. He thrives off of it and craves it. So what I did was give him the sweetest drug he had ever tasted, and then I took it away. Naturally, like any drug addict, he would want more of it. At first he will tell himself he can live without it, but like any drug addict, at some point he's going to crave it again, but since he can't have it, he's going to be cranky, almost like he's going through withdrawals. Now what do you think is going to happen when he gets his hands on this drug again? He's going to want it even more and never let go since he's experienced the pain of living without it. So when I intentionally let him come across me just now, it was like giving him a puff, a little teaser of that drug again, and he, of course, would want more. Leading to his feelings for me growing.'

333 was dumbfounded. So that's how it was. Was it actually that easy?

[Wait, wait, but what made your attention any different from the attention he could get elsewhere?]

'Well my attention comes with no strings attached. Everyone is just using him for something the same way he uses them to get his attention. With me, though, I'm an old friend and someone who genuinely cares about him. To him, the attention I give him is genuine attention that I gave him because I wanted to, not because I needed to, and that's what makes it so special and desirable.'

333 was dumbfounded for the second time that day.

The host was so scary! He planned this whole thing out from a little information and a brief conversation with the target!?

Not to mention, things seem to be going his way!

Too scary! Are all humans this scary nowadays, or was the host he picked just a special case? Either way, it was too much!

'And from the way things are going, he should be confronting me very soon... maybe after English, if my hunch is correct. Then we can move on to the second stage of the plan...', Hao Sheng commented, almosttas if himself.

There was a second stage?! 333 didn't even want to know! He was scared that he would be scarred for life if he asked.

He returned back to his little space inside the system and got back to work, organising data.

He should just stay here, the world is too scary for him!