Ever since the first day of military training, when Andrew was taken away by Scarlett in front of everyone, he had become a hot topic in the school's gossip circles.
The jealous faction guessed that Andrew was called away because he had committed some kind of mistake.
The shippers claimed that the relationship between the two was unusual.
Some members of the Retard Bar even speculated that they were mother and son.
---
Amidst the spreading rumors, neither Andrew nor Scarlett responded.
Sure enough, after five or six days of intense discussion, the heat died down. Except for the occasional mention in Ethan's dormitory, almost no one talked about it anymore.
Military training continued into Friday. No one knew which freshman had prayed so hard for rain, but somehow, even Poseidon must have heard them.
Just as the afternoon's military training was about to begin, a sudden torrential downpour started, and the training was temporarily canceled.
Since Andrew didn't have an umbrella, he followed Ethan and the others back to the dorm.
The moment he stepped inside, under the glorious sign labeled "Retard Club" hanging on the door, six pairs of eyes locked onto him, making him tense up.
Stark pulled up a chair and directly ordered Andrew to sit down, starting the interrogation.
"Spill it. What's your relationship with our English teacher, Scarlett?"
"Just a teacher-student relationship. What else could it be?"
Andrew looked innocent.
"Bullshit!"
Tony grabbed a clothes hanger, pointed it at Andrew's neck like a weapon, "Then why did she know you skipped breakfast, and personally take you to eat?"
"That was just a coincidence."
"A coincidence?"
Andrew clicked his tongue, pushed the hanger away, and spoke with complete confidence.
"She just happened to be at the training field. She just happened to notice I was about to pass out from not eating. And she just happened to be heading to grab food herself—so she brought me along."
He finished and looked around.
The six exchanged glances, "Do you believe him?"
Then they said in unison, "No."
Tony continued to press, "Do you even believe yourself when you say that!"
"What's not to believe?"
Andrew stood up, casually stepping out of their circle. He walked to the other side of the room, turned around, and began speaking like he was giving a lecture.
"I said it was a coincidence. And coincidences, by definition, are unexpected. Of course it sounds unlikely, but unlikely doesn't mean impossible. You can't just dismiss it because it feels wrong."
"…Huh. That actually makes sense."
Hearing Andrew's words, the six of them fell into thought.
Striking while the iron was hot, Andrew continued. The interrogation of him had turned directly into his speech, "As long as you believe something is true, then it is true. So, you have to believe what I'm saying."
"…It still sounds kind of ridiculous."
While they were still hesitating, Andrew casually grabbed the instant noodles Ethan had left on his desk and started eating.
"What's ridiculous about it?" he said between bites. "If I told you I lived with Scarlett, that would be ridiculous."
"I guess that's true."
All six of them nodded in unison, completely fooled by Andrew.
Ethan suddenly realized his instant noodles were gone from the table, "Holy crap! You're eating my noodles!"
"Huh? Are these yours? I didn't know. I thought one of you made them for me because you saw how tired I was from my speech."
"Motherfucker! Give them back!"
"Wait, let me take one more bite!"
"Eat my ass!"
Ethan fought desperately to snatch his noodles back from Andrew, but only half was left.
Soon, the dormitory returned to its usual state, the sound of keyboards and various "greetings" to others' parents rose and fell.
Stark had already started shouting into his microphone,"Fuck! This dumbass picked a cancerous hero right away and gave away first blood at the start!"
Just then, a girl in the game with a sweet voice turned on her mic to mediate, "Stop fighting, everyone. Just play the game well, we can win."
Hearing a girl, Tony got excited and even advised Stark, "Starry, there's a girl. Be civilized."
Stark fell silent for a moment. Andrew thought this guy was also charmed by the girl.
Who knew Stark's hesitation was to check the scoreboard? Afterward, he flamed the girl just the same, "You're 2-10! You get the fuck out too!"
"666."
Andrew expressed his heartfelt admiration.
After a match, even the usually talkative Ethan seemed particularly quiet. Stark was already parched from shouting.
Meanwhile, Tony added the girl as a friend and started a private chat, "Hey girl, want to queue together?"
"Sure, but don't call me 'girl'. Call me 'Mommy'."
"Mommy."
Andrew, who was drinking water nearby, spat it all out, "Holy cow, where's your dignity?"
Stark looked disgusted, "How embarrassing. Truly embarrassing. You're calling a noob that even a random passerby would despise 'Mommy' like she's some treasure. You've lost all face for us Valorant underclassmen!"
"What do you know? Maybe I've found my true love."
Andrew couldn't help but burst out laughing, "You don't even know what she looks like. She might be some middle-aged guy picking his feet."
"Then I'll just delete and block her. Besides, if I want to see beauty, can't I just look at Scarlett during English class?"
At those words, Ethan shuddered and warned, "I suggest you look less."
"Why?"
"No reason. Anyway, I suggest you don't keep staring at her. Terrible things will happen."
"Huh???"
While Tony was still confused, Bruce, who was always immersed in the 2D world, turned around and said something.
"I feel that although Scarlett is beautiful, she's too cold and aloof, and her gaze is a bit sharp. Just a glance is fine, but it's not polite to keep staring."
Stark agreed, "I ran into Scarlett on the road the day before yesterday. She really is too cold. I didn't even dare to go up and say hello."
While everyone was discussing how Scarlett was too aloof and difficult to approach, Tony had a different opinion.
"Professor Scarlet's style is called charm. Being glared at by her means you've been noticed. It's an honor."
Andrew, "Are you even human?"
Bruce, "6."
Ethan, "Ass licker."
Stark: "Dumbass!"
---
Andrew stayed in Ethan's dormitory all afternoon. He even snatched Tony's computer to play, but the system flagged him for Smurfing and banned the account for a day.
By evening, the rain stopped, and Andrew received a message from Scarlett.
"It's almost dark. Do you want me to come pick you up?"
Scarlett asked because she was the one who drove Andrew to school this morning.
"No thanks, I'll just head back myself."
"Be safe on the road. If it rains, find a place to take shelter, and I'll come pick you up."
"Oh! Thanks, Teacher Scarlett."
"You don't have to keep thanking me. You say it too much."
Looking at the reply, Andrew didn't know how to respond for a moment: "Then what should I say?"
"Whatever."
"..."