Clark's sudden outburst revealed emotions he had been suppressing for years, and the Kent parents found themselves at a loss for words. For a moment, neither Jonathan nor Martha knew how to respond.
"Son…"
The issue had existed in their family for a long time. They wanted Clark to live a safe life, hidden from the eyes of people who might fear or exploit his abilities. The thought of government agents suddenly appearing one day and taking their son away had always haunted them.
But they also understood something else.
Teenagers wanted to belong.
High school students craved recognition from their peers, especially during those turbulent years when identity and confidence were still forming. Jonathan and Martha had both been through that stage themselves.
The silence at the table stretched uncomfortably.
Victor glanced toward the window, his sharp hearing catching distant sounds drifting through the quiet morning air.
"I'm done eating," he said casually. "I'll head out first."
Without waiting for a response, he stood up from the table, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and walked toward the door as if nothing unusual had happened.
"Excitement from Clark +9… frustration +7…"
Victor stepped outside the farmhouse, the System notifications flickering briefly through his mind.
Even Clark's emotional turmoil was valuable.
His "dear brother" continued to be a remarkably productive source of emotion points.
Victor couldn't help but smile faintly.
The morning air outside the farm was crisp and cool. Wheat fields stretched across the horizon, glowing softly under the early sunlight.
Just as Victor reached the road, the school bus rolled into view.
The yellow vehicle slowed and stopped directly in front of him with perfect timing.
"Hi, David!"
Victor stepped onto the bus as several students greeted him. The interior was filled with laughter and casual chatter, the natural energy of teenagers heading toward another day of school.
He nodded politely in response.
Then he walked toward the back and slid into an empty seat.
Resting his arm against the window, Victor gazed outside as the bus started moving again.
The sky above Smallville was brilliantly blue, dotted with soft white clouds drifting lazily through the open air. Endless grass fields rolled across the countryside until they met a line of dark forest in the distance.
It was peaceful.
That was one of the few advantages of living in a remote rural town like Smallville, Kansas.
Because the place was isolated and underdeveloped, most of its natural scenery remained untouched. The air stayed clean, and the quiet rhythm of farmland life continued much as it always had.
The bus slowed briefly at another stop before continuing down the road.
"Where's Clark today, David?"
A bright and energetic voice spoke from across the aisle.
Victor didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
"Probably still back there," he replied casually.
Chloe Sullivan leaned over the seat slightly, curiosity written all over her face.
With her short blonde hair and fair complexion, Chloe had a lively expression that made her stand out easily. Whenever she smiled, her eyes narrowed slightly and her small fangs showed, giving her a mischievous charm.
She was endlessly curious about strange events and unusual stories.
As the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, the Torch, she spent most of her time digging into mysteries around town.
Right now, she glanced out the window toward the distant Kent farm.
"What happened this morning?" she asked.
Victor shrugged.
"Teenagers arguing with their parents," he said lazily. "Pretty normal stuff. I doubt you'd find it interesting."
"There you go again," Pete Ross said with a grin.
The shorter boy sat beside Chloe, his expression amused.
"Don't act like you're forty years old, David. It makes you look unsociable."
He leaned closer and lowered his voice slightly.
"And girls don't usually like that."
The Kent brothers had developed a certain reputation at school.
Clark was known as the tall, shy farm boy who struggled with conversations and rarely joined school activities. To most people he looked like a quiet but hardworking guy.
Victor, on the other hand, had a completely different image.
He kept to himself most of the time, rarely joining events or clubs. Many students saw him as quiet and mysterious, almost withdrawn.
"Looks like Clark's going to miss the bus today," Chloe joked.
She tilted her head and studied Victor thoughtfully.
"If you hadn't grown up on a farm, people would probably believe those rumors about you being some vampire from the Renaissance who hides in a castle."
Victor simply looked out the window again.
Chloe and Pete were among Clark's few close friends, which meant Victor interacted with them occasionally as well.
Even after being reborn, Victor still carried fragments of teenage instincts inside him thanks to the influence of hormones.
But mentally, he remained very different from the impulsive students around him.
Especially compared to Clark.
"Kryptonians apparently have puberty too," Victor thought with faint amusement.
His eyes drifted toward the front seats of the bus.
There sat a young couple chatting and laughing together.
The girl had smooth black hair and delicate features, with a small nose that tilted upward slightly. Her name was Lana Lang, captain of the school cheerleading squad.
Though she wasn't the loud, flamboyant type, she possessed a quiet charm that made her incredibly popular among the boys at school.
Sitting beside her was her boyfriend.
Whitney Fordman.
The captain of the football team.
"Honestly," Victor thought, "it's not surprising at all."
The star quarterback dating the cheerleading captain.
It was practically a high school cliché.
"Imagine if Clark somehow stole Lana away from Whitney," Chloe whispered suddenly.
She followed Victor's gaze and grinned mischievously.
"That would be the front-page headline of the next Torch issue."
She snorted softly.
"But we all know that's impossible."
Clark's crush on Lana was painfully obvious.
Pete and Chloe had both noticed it long ago.
Whenever Lana appeared, Clark would sneak glances at her constantly. If she spoke directly to him, he became nervous and awkward almost instantly.
It was impossible to hide.
As someone who had grown up beside Clark for seventeen years, Victor understood his brother's feelings perfectly.
"If Clark actually loved football," Victor thought, "I'd support him."
Unfortunately, that wasn't the real reason.
Clark wanted to join the team mainly because Whitney was the captain.
The plan was simple.
Perform well on the field.
Show off his athletic ability.
Win the admiration of the girl he liked.
"It's painfully obvious," Victor thought, shaking his head slightly.
"Young Superman defeated by hormones."
Pete glanced around cautiously before leaning toward Victor.
"So Clark's plan to join the football team is probably dead now, right?"
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, Pete lowered his voice even further.
"What about you?"
"I told you already," Victor replied calmly. "I'm not joining the football team."
He had absolutely no interest in carefully restraining his strength while playing rough games with a group of overly aggressive high school athletes.
"But that's the only safe option," Pete muttered nervously.
Chloe blinked in confusion.
"Safe from what?"
Pete looked around again like a paranoid spy.
"You're a girl, Chloe," he whispered urgently. "You wouldn't understand."
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
Pete swallowed hard.
"We're trying not to become the scarecrow."
"Scarecrow?"
"It's a football team tradition," Victor explained calmly.
Before an important game, the team would grab some unlucky student, paint the letter S from Smallville on his chest, and hang him up somewhere like a scarecrow.
It was supposed to be a pre-game ritual.
A way for the players to build morale before a big match.
"Wow," Chloe muttered.
Her expression twisted with disgust.
"I underestimated how barbaric football players could be."
"That's why Clark and I want to join the team," Pete admitted.
"Even if we're just carrying equipment or handing out water, they won't target us."
He turned to Victor seriously.
"You can still laugh about this, David. But if Clark doesn't make the team…"
Pete hesitated.
"…one of you brothers could easily become the target."
This wasn't an exaggeration.
In American high schools, athletic students often dominated the social hierarchy. Academic success meant far less in comparison.
A pair of farm boys with excellent grades and quiet personalities made convenient targets.
"Especially," Pete added cautiously, "Clark's situation might make Whitney come after you."
Victor rolled his eyes internally.
Clark believed he had hidden his crush on Lana well.
In reality, anyone who spent time around them could see it.
Including Lana's boyfriend.
Despite Clark's shy and awkward personality, he was still tall, strong, and handsome.
That alone made him a potential threat.
"And Lana treats Clark slightly differently than everyone else," Victor thought.
For someone like Whitney—who enjoyed being the center of attention on campus—that kind of situation could easily trigger jealousy.
While Pete continued trying to convince Victor to join the football team, something else happened at the front of the bus.
Whitney, who had been chatting with Lana, suddenly glanced backward.
His eyes landed briefly on Victor.
The look was cold.
Then Whitney turned away again.
Victor raised an eyebrow slightly.
"So you're really planning to target me?"
For a brief moment, he considered the situation seriously.
Then he almost laughed.
"Seventeen years old," Victor thought calmly.
"Eighty-one percent Thanos Template."
"And I'm supposed to be afraid of high school bullies?"