Chapter 16

Rei frowned deeply. Adrian started scrambling to explain. He didn't want Rei to cause a bigger scene. "Do you know how drunk you were yesterday?!."

"I was only drunk because you dragged me into that drinking game!" Rei whispered sharply. At least he had the sense not to draw attention now.

Adrian shot him a look. "Did I? You could have said no! Nobody was forcing you!"

Rei held his ground. "You can't just invite me to a party and kick me out because I don't like to drink. It's not my fault I felt pressured!"

Adrian rubbed his jaw. He didn't even know why he was friends with this fool."Rei." He said, breathing in to maintain some composure. There was a moment of silence before Rei huffed, slamming his lock

er shut with unnecessary force. "Fine. Let's say, hypothetically, you didn't take them. Then who the hell did?"

"I already told you." Adrian gave him a pointed look. "I was tipsy, but I know I wasn't the one snapping pictures. I think it was those girls in the backseat."

Rei bristled. "Do you even know their names?"

"…No."

Rei threw his hands in the air. "Oh, perfect! Fantastic detective work, Adrian. So I've been publicly humiliated, and our only lead is 'some girls in the back' who could literally be anyone! Maybe I should just give up and accept my new role as the school's number one public enemy!"

Adrian sighed. "Rei—"

"No! It's fine. It's totally fine." Rei leaned dramatically against the lockers, one hand over his heart like a tragic nobleman. "I'll just live out my days in disgrace, shunned by society, forever remembered as the rich idiot who—"

Adrian grabbed him by the shoulders. "Rei."

Rei blinked.

Adrian's voice softened, steady. "Look, I know this sucks. But we'll figure it out, okay? I'm still your best friend, even if you did deck me in the face for no reason."

Rei's lips twitched, but he quickly smoothed out his expression. "That was a test."

Adrian raised a brow. "A test?"

"Yes." Rei sniffed. "And you passed, I suppose."

"Gee, thanks."

Another pause. Rei, no longer the center of attention now that the hallway had moved on from the spectacle, finally exhaled. "You really didn't post them?"

"I really didn't."

Rei clicked his tongue, looking away. "Okay. Fine. I guess you might not be a traitor."

Adrian rolled his eyes. "How generous." Then he nudged Rei's arm. "C'mon. Let's get to class before you cause another scandal."

Rei reluctantly followed, but his mind was already plotting. He might not know who was behind this, but he was sure of one thing—whoever it was, they were going to pay.

As soon as the bell rang, Rei was gone. Not in a dramatic storm-out—he'd already given them enough entertainment for the day—but a smooth, calculated retreat. A sharp turn down the hallway, his posture stiff, jaw clenched, eyes locked ahead.

Adrian exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. He had one more thing to take care of before catching up.

He found Sanae by the lockers.

She was standing there, scrolling through her phone, expression unreadable. But the moment she saw him approaching, she stiffened.

Adrian slowed, narrowing his eyes. Weird. Usually, Sanae was all smirks and witty remarks.

"You got a second?" he asked.

Her fingers tightened around her phone. "…If it's about Rei, then no."

Adrian's lips pressed into a thin line. "Why won't you take down the video?"

Sanae looked at him then, really looked at him, before giving a small, humorless laugh. "Oh, Adrian." She shook her head. "You're acting like it's still just me."

A sinking feeling settled in his gut.

"What do you mean?"

Sanae glanced around, as if debating whether she even wanted to say it. Then she leaned in slightly, voice lower. "It's everywhere now. Even if I delete it, people have already saved copies. Different accounts are reposting it, remixing it, making memes out of it. It's—" she hesitated, finally looking guilty. "It's out of my hands."

Adrian's stomach twisted. He knew she wasn't lying.

Rei had been doomed from the moment the video hit the internet.

He exhaled sharply. "You still started it."

Sanae flinched, just a little. "Yeah," she admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "But it wasn't personal."

Adrian gave her a flat look. "Tell that to Rei."

Sanae didn't answer.

Adrian scoffed, shaking his head. "You know what? Forget it." He turned on his heel. "Just don't pretend you didn't know what would happen."

Sanae didn't stop him.

When Adrian finally caught up to Rei, he found him leaning against a vending machine, arms crossed, expression blank.

"Do you think my life is over, Adrian?" Rei asked before Adrian could even speak.

Adrian hesitated. "No. I've never seen a bit of unpopularity knock you down."

Rei let out a soft laugh. It wasn't his usual I'm-better-than-you laugh."Well," he sighed, pushing off the vending machine, "that's that, then."

Adrian frowned. "Rei— You know we have to get to class, right?"

"I'm done," Rei's grandeur vanished. "Ah, ok!" Now that his purpose for coming to school had been fulfilled, he suddenly didn't like the idea of class so much. He forced a smirk. "You know I've been feeling sick. I'm just gonna…" He held his head, feigning illness. "Go to the nurse's office..."

Adrian studied him. There was no way he was sick. He resorted to dragging Rei by his collar. "We both know you aren't sick. Plus, you're a straight A student. Why do you hate classes so much?" Rei didn't say anything and allowed himself to be dragged. It wasn't that he loved studying, but Adrian would kill him if they didn't get the same college and made him study hard. Plus it was nice to be good at something.

The library was quiet—just the way Nagi liked it. This was his eternal hanging spot since he entered this school. Placing his hands behind his head, he balanced on two legs of his chair. He had done this so much the sharp cornered chair was gaining bevels. Heh – Proof of his dedication to this seating spot. Plus, because he was considered such a creep, he had all this lovely spot all to himself too! 

His table was alone in the farthest corner, always covered by thick, intimidating books filled with university-level mathematics. Equations and theorems sprawled across the pages in neat, orderly print. He flipped through them with ease, eyes scanning over integrals and complex proofs like they were light reading.

Solving maths gave him solace from his deranged mind. In the hushed stillness, the sound of approaching footsteps barely registered.

A few students walked past, chatting in low voices. One of them, a boy from his class— Arin, or maybe Rin?—lingered for a second. He always tried to bother Nagi. He had some weird concept that high scoring students should always stay together. Nagi quickly shut that opinion down.

"Hey, Nagi," the boy said, his tone friendly but cautious. "What are you reading?"

Nagi didn't answer. He turned the page. Undeterred, the boy leaned in slightly, eyeing the book. "Whoa. Is that—uh, isn't that way above our level? You're always doing incredible stuff, Nagi! Would you teach me–" Without a word, Nagi reached into his bag. The boy tensed as Nagi pulled out something long, sleek, and very sharp.

The boy took a wary step back. "W-W-What is.." The boy was obviously trembling. Nagi raised an eyebrow as he pulled out an apple. Nagi sliced it and, without looking up, held out a piece of apple with the knife. "…You want one?" Nagi asked flatly, finally acknowledging the boy.

The guy stared at him. Then, with barely concealed unease, he muttered, "Dude, you're such a creep," before quickly walking away.

Nagi shrugged and popped an apple slice into his mouth. He was the weird one, clinging around him like that. Nagi was sure the boy wouldn't do that if he saw Nagi practising his throwing by hunting birds with stones. Speaking of practising, the family training was the next day. Nagi smiled, chewing on the piece of apple. He couldn't wait.

His phone rung. Nagi wiped his fingers on a napkin, then pulled out his phone. With a few taps, he opened his anonymous Rei meme account. The numbers loaded.

His cold, disinterested expression didn't change, but inwardly, he was pleased.

Views: 2.3 million

Shares: 487k

Comments: 19.6k

The trending drama surrounding Rei was an absolute goldmine. It was almost too easy—clipping and remixing viral moments, adding the perfect text overlay, and watching idiots eat it up. Half the people laughing at Rei didn't even hate him. They just liked the entertainment.

Nagi scrolled through the comments.

— "Bro, this edit is insane 💀💀" — "LMFAO I CAN'T BREATHE"

— "Why is this highkey making me like Rei??"

— "THE MUSIC CHOICE LMAOOO"

— "WHOEVER'S RUNNING THIS ACCOUNT IS A GENIUS"

Obviously. But he wasn't doing this for fun. He scrolled to his notifications and checked his follower count. It had tripled since last week. He switched to his analytics tab. The numbers were promising. "…Yeah." He tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully. "It's time."

With the precision of a businessman, he navigated to the monetization settings. The moment he toggled the switch, a new world of revenue streams unlocked before him. Ads, partnerships, premium content—so many ways to squeeze money out of this mess.

Nagi popped another apple slice into his mouth–or so he thought. Turns out he was just chewing on the blade. He sighed and placed his knife back.