As the evening rolled on, Koharu High was filled with noise as students left their classes, chatting and playing with their friends and classmates.
Ren and his friends were no exception.
Every day after school, students would swarm around the basketball court to watch the members of T&D and C&S engage in a fire-crackling match. Much to their disappointment, the basketball court was unusually empty today.
Because no one other than Hari knew that the famous rivals had postponed their fight to the weekend.
But Hari was also out of luck today. Her homeroom teacher had swiftly called her parents and informed them that their daughter, a new transfer student, already had a black mark on the third day of school for arriving late to class.
Dejectedly, she packed her things and went home with slumped shoulders.
Sitting on top of the high school building, a certain omniscient woman munched on her chips and looked at the sad girl below.
"Tch tch tch… the life of side characters really isn't easy," she said, adjusting her glasses and shaking her head before stuffing more chips into her mouth.
.....
Ren, the leader of Tea and Drama, unlocked his bicycle and looked back at his friends.
"Jamie, it's your turn next. Be prepared," he said, his face completely serious.
"Aye aye, Captain!"
Jamie saluted and took his seat on the rear carrier of Kai's bicycle.
Though he and his twin brother, Jason, had a chauffeur who usually picked them up from school, Jamie still preferred traveling by bicycle with his friends. Kai's family owned a shop down in the market, and his home was on the way.
So it was usually Kai who picked him up in the morning for school and dropped him off on the way back.
"Good. No matter what, I'll make that Blakey call me Master this time," Ren said, clenching his teeth in determination.
Jamie nodded, agreeing with his captain. After all, just a week before, their team Tea&Drama had suffered a drastic defeat at the hands of Coffee&Saccharine.
All because…the fight theme had been reciting a love poem.
It truly wasn't their fault.
The boys of Tea & Drama have the affinity of oil and water with the opposite gender. Ren, their leader, was infamous for his looks and had quite a number of fangirls almost on par with Blake, the leader of Coffee & Saccharine.
But his temperament was far worse and scarier than Blake's.
That Blakey would reject a girl without uttering a single word.
All he would do was stand like a statue, while the girl who had raised her hand to give him a love letter would stand there too, frozen like a statue until her arms and legs grew sore under the blazing sun.
And that stone-faced General Blake would still be looking at the girl with narrowed eyes till the sun sets.
But their leader Ren… he is a menace—a true big bully.
There was this time when a school beauty confessed to him, saying that she had fallen for his charm and easygoing nature.
Seriously, Jamie doubted that the school beauty's definition of "easygoing" was different from Oxford Dictionary's.
He still remembered the epic rejection their leader Ren gave to the school beauty's confession.
The brave school beauty stepped forward, blushing furiously, holding out a pink greeting card and a single red rose in her hand for Ren.
"Ren… I… I like you," she stammered cutely, eliciting a wave of aww's and gushing from the surrounding students.
And their leader… How did he reply to that confession?
He waved off her heartfelt confession with a single sentence: "I like Blake."
The crowd was stunned, and the rose slipped from the school beauty's hand slowly, like a withered flower left unwatered for years.
For the following two weeks, both the members of Tea & Drama and Coffee & Saccharine couldn't even lift their heads in the presence of other people.
The shame!
Not to mention the murderous gaze of General Blake, which seemed to pierce everywhere in the school.
Jamie even dreamed he was on a guillotine, and Ace, that love virus of Coffee & Saccharine, was lynching him along with the other gang members for offending their general.
As for Kai, he would rather date dumbbells than spare a single glance at girls. He himself had never dated anyone.
He didn't even have enough time to sleep and often wondered about borrowing the next twenty-four hours from another day to spend in leisure, eating and sleeping.
And as for the only girl in their group, Nina… forget it. We're talking about reciting a love poem, not chanting at a funeral.
Sigh!
That's how Tea & Drama, the enigmatic gang of Koharu High, ended up calling the members of Coffee & Saccharine 'Big daddies' for an entire week.