Henry Carter hurried toward the school cafeteria. There weren’t many students heading there; most brought their own lunch from home—after all, he was now studying far from home on his own and didn’t have that option. The school cafeteria offered subsidized meals; though the taste was mediocre, the price was cheap and the portions generous, more than enough to fill his stomach.

He no longer cared about how Megan Clark felt after he rejected her, nor did he mind if she, out of anger, would spread rumors about him—he wasn’t a lolicon, much less a pervert, but he actually wished Megan Clark would tell everyone, so that all the girls would dislike him and no one would bother him anymore.

Dating in high school—how foolish must one be to do such a thing? Wasting time on a relationship that’s doomed from the start, what a joke! Life is so short, only about twenty thousand days, there’s no room for reckless squandering!

But in this situation… he couldn’t hit these little girls, nor was it appropriate to curse at them, so all he could do was sully his own reputation for self-preservation.

Hopefully, no one would bother him again—please, just leave him alone!

These girls’ behavior was simply baffling! What was the point of all this?

The early April midday sun was bright and gentle. His reflection appeared in the glass windows along the corridor. He glanced sideways, looking at this still somewhat unfamiliar face, his head still aching—the boy in the window was thin, but extremely handsome, with classic sword-like brows and starry eyes, a perfectly high nose bridge, and slightly wavy hair that gave him a mixed-race look. He was the type that, the moment he appeared in a TV drama, the audience would know he was the main protagonist.

Aside from looking a bit pale, even as a guy, he had to admit this was a truly handsome young man!

But in less than ten days since the start of school, he’d already found four love letters in his shoe locker, and today someone had even “ambushed” him to confess directly. Was it this face causing trouble, or was his [Charm Value] just too high?

High school was like locking a bunch of rabbits in heat together—utterly headache-inducing! What was he supposed to do with all these sudden troubles? He couldn’t exactly wash his face with acid, could he? Or maybe redistribute his points to lower his [Charm Value] below 10? But even getting a respec potion was a problem…

Lost in thought, he made his way to the cafeteria, and immediately spotted two more sources of trouble at the entrance—this time, two boys: the two guys who, for some reason, had declared themselves his friends on the very first day of the seventh intake at the private Daifuku Academy.

“Kitahara, what took you so long!”

One of them, a small, skinny boy with a buzz cut, greeted him first. Henry Carter glanced at him—this guy was James Walker. Though he looked a bit sleazy, in reality… he really was pretty sleazy, a waste of that face—at best, his looks could be described as shifty-eyed, at worst, as sinister and despicable, like a scheming villain, the kind who gives the evil boss bad advice.

His hobby was watching girls, with the kind of look a scavenger gives a corpse—wanting to eat, but afraid it’s not quite dead yet. It had been less than ten days since school started, and rumor had it his reputation among the girls was already terrible—Henry Carter had overheard some girls chatting, all saying that being stared at by James Walker made them feel sick and uncomfortable, like being trapped in a nightmare.

As for the boy next to James Walker, that was his childhood friend Ryan Smith. Supposedly, the two had been in the same class from kindergarten and elementary school all the way to high school—a miracle. If one of them were a girl, it would be the classic childhood-friends-who-will-definitely-marry template, but since they were both boys, they could only be best buddies.

Unlike James Walker, Ryan Smith gave Henry Carter a much more positive impression. He was gentle by nature, usually quiet, and except for being a bit irritable with his childhood friend James Walker, he was polite and considerate to everyone else, clearly well-mannered and thoughtful—a pretty easy person to get along with.

Henry Carter gave a perfunctory nod to James Walker, who immediately leaned in with a gossipy grin and whispered, “Kitahara, what did Clark want with you? Heh, did she confess to you?” Earlier, the three of them had been heading to the cafeteria when Megan Clark caught up with them. James Walker had wanted to eavesdrop on what she had to say, but Ryan Smith had forcibly dragged him away. Now, waiting at the cafeteria door, he was itching with curiosity—he was extremely nosy, especially about matters between boys and girls.

Henry Carter dodged the question and headed straight into the cafeteria, smiling, “Sorry to keep you waiting, let’s hurry up and eat!”

With that, he walked in first. James Walker had only meant to tease Henry Carter, but seeing him avoid the question made him even more suspicious. “She really confessed to you?” he asked in surprise.

Henry Carter didn’t want to admit it, but he also didn’t want to lie about such a trivial matter and ruin his credibility, so he nodded vaguely. James Walker was stunned for a moment, then quickly caught up to Henry Carter, asking repeatedly, “Did you say yes? Come on, you must have said yes!” He pounded his chest in frustration. “Clark is great—pretty and with a nice figure. I’ve had my eye on her for a while, was just about to make my move, and you beat me to it!”

Henry Carter looked at him helplessly. “I didn’t say yes!”