Chapter 7: Best Friend?

"Hey Nam, can you do me a favor?"

A cute-looking girl, most likely from Class 11A, ambushed Nam as he was standing in line at the cafeteria.

"Can you help me with something?"

Her cheeks flushed pink as she shoved a small rectangular box into Nam's hands. The bottom of the box was warm, and it smelled amazing—freshly cooked food.

"I worked really hard to make this bento lunch for Vuong. Can you give it to him for me?"

Nam frowned.

"Why me? You should give it to him yourself."

"But you're Vuong's best friend! If I don't ask you, who else would I ask?"

"Whatever. It's none of my business."

Nam immediately shoved the bento box back into her hands. Ever since Vuong had started sticking to Nam, girls had repeatedly forced gifts onto him, hoping he would deliver them to Vuong. 

But Vuong never accepted any of them. Which meant Nam had to return them, and more often than not, the gift-givers refused to take them back. Worse, they reacted dramatically, leaving Nam to waste his time calming them down.

So now, Nam had decided to reject them upfront, avoiding unnecessary trouble.

"Hmph! You're awful, Nam! No wonder you'll be single forever!"

The girl from 11A shrieked, startling Nam. Then, she stormed off, leaving a cafeteria full of students staring at him with curiosity. At first, Nam used to get nervous when girls overreacted like this—especially when it made it seem like he was the bad guy.

But now? He was used to it.

Nam took his lunch tray from the cafeteria staff and picked a seat by the window. He placed his food down and started counting in his head.

One, two, three…

Before he even reached ten, Vuong appeared at his table. 

After the two finished eating, Vuong suddenly asked:

"Tifa or Aerith?"

"Huh?"

"From Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Who would you pick, bro?"

"Tifa."

Vuong grinned.

"Knew it. You like girls with… great personality."

Nam nodded.

"Aerith's eyes are pretty, but I prefer Tifa's wine-colored eyes."

Vuong chuckled knowingly.

"No, bro. I wasn't talking about her eyes. I meant her personality."

Nam blinked in confusion.

"Wait… if personality isn't about her character, then what is it?"

Vuong winked mischievously, flashing a smug smirk.

"Ha… you're still so naive, bro."

Even when acting like a complete flirt, Vuong still looked annoyingly handsome. Other guys could try their best to be charming, but they still wouldn't come close to Vuong's natural charisma.

"I'd pick all of them—Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Jessie. They're all hot."

Nam started suspecting that the school's most popular heartthrob actually preferred 2D and 3D girls over real ones.

During their lunchtime chats, Vuong would go on long tangents about games. But instead of talking about gameplay or storylines, he mostly focused on graphics—especially the design of female characters.

"Hey, Vuong! You've got a pool match tonight against a senior from 12th grade. We're betting on you!"

A group of rowdy-looking guys passed by, interrupting Vuong's one-sided discussion about video game girls. 

Vuong cheerfully turned to Nam and asked:

"Bro, you coming to watch me play tonight?"

"No, I have to study."

"Study for what?"

"The start-of-term assessment."

"Ohhh! That's news to me."

The school and teachers had reminded them about the test all week, yet it seemed like Vuong hadn't registered any of it.

Nam sighed.

"Do you even know what subjects we're being tested on and when?"

"Not a clue. Tell me, bro."

"Tomorrow morning. Math and Literature."

"Oh."

Nam narrowed his eyes.

"Have you studied anything?"

"Nope, no time for that."

Vuong casually listed off his schedule:

"4 PM, Kickboxing practice.

7 PM, pool match with the 12th graders.

9 PM, online game match with the 10th graders.

11 PM, night out…"

Nam felt a headache coming on.

"A night out? At 11 PM? Are you going out with ghosts or something?"

"Take a guess, bro."

"So… you're really not going to study at all?"

"I never study for tests."

Vuong said this with complete confidence.

The next morning, Vuong strolled into class yawning, clearly exhausted from his wild night.

It looked like he hadn't skipped a single activity from his packed schedule.

Meanwhile, Nam was tense, nerves on edge as he prepared for the test.

But Vuong?

He looked completely relaxed.

Not only that—he was also the first one to finish the test and turn in his paper before anyone else.