"I am Wu Shen. Is there something you need from me?" Wu Shen scratched his head, feeling very surprised.
His high school life was almost completely devoid of girls. When did he get to know such a beautiful one?
"You… you are Wu Shen?" The girl raised an eyebrow, suddenly frozen. After a moment, she came back to her senses and scrutinized Wu Shen from head to toe.
Her expression and gaze were just like a female guest on a blind date show evaluating the male lead.
Wu Shen half-expected her next words to be: Do you have a house and a car? How much savings? What's your salary? Can you cook?
Feeling a bit creeped out from being stared at, he quickly asked, "Student, is there something you need from me?"
"Tall and mighty, handsome and brave, gentle and considerate, understanding… I feel like none of these descriptions match him?" The girl muttered under her breath, voice faint as a mosquito. But Wu Shen's ears caught every word clearly.
"Hey, hey, what's that supposed to mean? If you want to pick a fight, just say so, okay?" Wu Shen's mouth twitched slightly.
Were all beautiful girls this sharp-tongued these days? First Kasumigaoka Utaha's slyness, and now another cold, cutting beauty?!
"My apologies, I was rude. It's indeed impolite to say such things to someone you're meeting for the first time. And judging a person solely on a first impression is foolish."
She clearly realized she'd said too much and offered a sincere apology.
"It's nothing," Wu Shen replied with a shake of his head. He wasn't petty enough to hold a grudge over that.
Still… her apology indirectly confirmed her first impression of him was far from those lofty adjectives. And, honestly, he couldn't argue — he was just an ordinary guy you could find anywhere. If anything set him apart, it was his identity as an international student.
"So, what exactly do you want from me?" Wu Shen asked again.
"Nothing in particular. I was just asked by someone to come see the person she mentioned. My first impression of you is ordinary, and you seem to have a good temper, so you barely pass…" A rare hint of a smile touched her usually cool face.
Then, without looking back, she turned and walked away. Once she reached a corner out of sight, her footsteps quickened into a run.
"Darn it, I forgot to ask her name. And I still don't know what she wanted from me." By the time Wu Shen thought to call after her, she was long gone.
"Wu Shen, did you fall for that girl?"
The voice from behind made Wu Shen instinctively jump a step back.
"I won't eat you, so why are you so scared?" Utaha cast him a resentful look.
Eat me? Actually, I'd rather you did, Wu Shen muttered inwardly.
Seeing Utaha leaning out of her seat by the classroom door, he realized she'd probably heard the whole exchange.
"Scared isn't the right word — you just startled me. But I really don't know that girl."
"That's surprising. Is there still a boy in school who doesn't know her?" Utaha's tone showed genuine surprise.
"I don't pay much attention to school gossip. Speaking of which, don't you also not care much? How do you know her?"
Utaha, after all, was more out of touch with social circles than he was.
"Because she's often competing with me for the top spot in the grade. Over time, we became familiar."
"First in the grade, huh…"
Damn it, why do academic elites talk about that so casually? Wu Shen thought bitterly. He could barely crack the top three hundred, thanks in part to his Japanese still being clumsy — though even in China, his grades had been average.
"Anyway, that girl is Yukino Yukinoshita. She's quite famous."
"How famous?"
"Top scores, always. When we entered as freshmen, she and I were like sisters in misfortune."
"Shouldn't it be more like academic rivals in misfortune?" Wu Shen recalled what Nishimura Hideki told him yesterday and could picture their first year.
"She's even colder than me, though," Utaha continued. "Always keeps people at arm's length, and her words are blunt. So the confessions stopped for her earlier than for me. Wu Shen, are you into cold beauties?"
"Do you have a special fetish? Masochist, maybe?"
A masochist? Your whole family's masochists! Wu Shen wanted to snap back. But if Wu Yi was right about their future… that would make himself one, too.
"Weren't you the one who insisted on giving me a rundown?" Wu Shen sighed.
"I'm just curious why Yukino, who avoids people, would suddenly approach you. What about you drew her in?"
"How would I know? Ask her yourself."
"Maybe she has a crush on you?"
"I doubt it."
"That's not necessarily true. Based on my experience, Wu Shen isn't bad — aside from being a severe stocking fetishist, a stalker, and a masochist."
"You're saying I still have good points?"
"Maybe she's attracted to your flaws."
"A girl like that would be terrifying enough already!"
"Anyway, that's your business. People are starting to gather, so let's end our pleasant conversation. Don't forget to read my friend's novel."
"Don't worry, it's on me." Wu Shen shook the document bag in his hand, returned to his seat, and waited for class to start.