Mr. Wang dismissed our class, and it was lunchtime already. I went to the cafeteria as usual, and the four girls followed.
"Hey, you know you don't have to eat in the cafeteria with me, right?" I said as I walked down the (mostly) empty hallway leading to my destination.
"It's okay, we don't mind," Feng Mian replied.
"But still...this is going to attract a lot of unnecessary attention for me..." I muttered inaudibly.
Qing Yue heard it, however, and pulled on my right ear.
"Ow! Q-Qing Yue!" I cried, begging her to let go.
"Heheh...you are secretly happy that we are together with you, aren't you, Big Brother Xuan Kai?" she asked, having completely seen through my farce.
Okay...fine. I admit that I was a little happy deep down they were coming with me, but hey - who wouldn't be? These four were all goddess-level beauties, each having their own aura and attractive characteristics. I'm a boy, can you blame me for being slightly excited?
"U-Uh...f-fine, I am," I reluctantly responded, in order to make Qing Yue let go of my ear, which was really starting to hurt.
With a decisive "hmph", she let go and I sighed in relief.
*****
- Inside the Cafeteria -
All five of us had just gotten our foods, and after searching for a good place to eat for a while, I settled on a table in the top left corner of the cafeteria.
Once we sat down, Yu An Xue began the conversation. "Xuan Kai, what is with you and corners...?"
Her sister, Yu An Yan, also joined in. "Right? It's like he can't sit anywhere else."
However, just as I opened my mouth to respond, Qing Yue interrupted. "That's because he feels more secure in corners."
Feng Mian raised an eyebrow as she put a chunk of meat into her mouth. "Secure?
"Yep!" Qing Yue responded excitedly. "You see, when he's sitting in a corner, he doesn't have to worry about someone coming up behind him."
That caused the three other girls to all laugh. "That sounds like him alright," Yu An Yan said, covering her cute laugh with her hand in a ladylike manner.
"Always the careful one..." Feng Mian murmured, sighing exasperatedly.
Even Yu An Xue was trying her best to hide a smile. I figured she would relate to me since she didn't have much interaction with others either, but...
I just liked corners. I also liked having my hood up, since it gave me a sense of protection. Was this really that weird?
But my thoughts were quickly interrupted by a bunch of boys in our class, now all of a sudden crowded around our table. The girls seemed to notice this as well, and blinked in surprise.
"Uh...do you guys need something from us?" Feng Mian prompted.
Then, all of the boys bowed down towards us suddenly, which caught all of us off guard.
"E-Eh?" Feng Mian was taken aback.
"Please join my team for the Advancement Exams, Goddess Feng Mian!" the boy in front said.
"G-Goddess?!" Feng Mian echoed, even more shocked than before.
"No, join mine!" another male voice shouted.
"Mine! I promise to bring you victory!"
...Ah. I see what this was. The boys all saw the advancement exams this year as an opportunity to impress the girls, and so obviously every one of them would want one of the top beauties of Shenzhen join their team. Feng Mian wasn't the only one receiving requests either, many of the boys were trying their luck with every single one of the girls - Qing Yue, Feng Mian, Yu An Xue, and even the newly transferred Yu An Yan.
Seeing as how there was nothing to do with me here and it was getting really loud (which I hated when I was eating), I attempted to discretely leave the scene, when suddenly-
"Okay, that's enough!" Qing Yue jumped atop the table, her bright voice yelled above all the boys' commotion. "Stop, and listen to me."
The boys obediently turned silent to glance up at the angelic white-haired beauty. Was this the power of love and admiration? Or perhaps - worship would be a better word, at this point. In fact, I also stopped to see how she was going to deal with this.
Qing Yue cleared her throat, and began her declaration.
"The truth is, the four of us have already formed a team!"
"You mean all four of you are together in one team?" Li Yi Fei asked. He was among the group of boys to get the beauties to join their team as well.
"That is correct!" Qing Yue answered.
"Then...there's one spot remaining! I see! You will only accept one boy into your team!" a boy in the crowd shouted, which caused all the other boys to erupt in excitement once more.
"Woah!! One of us will be able to be in a team with all four of these beauties?! It's a damn harem!"
"Kekeke....I am the strongest boy in this class by magic power, and also the smartest by intelligence," Li Yi Fei boasted, which caused all the other boys to look at him in disdain. But he paid them no mind and continued. "My goddesses, I will surely lead us to victory. Now then - let us begin discussing our strate-"
"Hey! Why are you talking like we are already in the same team?!" Feng Mian interrupted.
"Huh? But there's no other boy better than me here," Li Yi Fei replied, narrowing his eyes.
"There sure is," Yu An Yan refuted.
The entire crowd went dizzy with confusion, and all asked in sync, "Who?"
The four girls all smiled devilishly, and pointed their fingers at me, who was already half-way successful in my escape from the scene.
All of a sudden, 14 pairs of eyes turned to stare at me with killing intent, and I couldn't do anything except mutter under my breath.
"Ah, shit."
*****
- Later That Day -
I managed to escape from the other boys by a hair's breadth, dashing through the hallways and staircases, and at last stalled until the afternoon lessons. I currently sat in the classroom of Class 2-D, while waiting for Mr. Wang to come in. The boys still eyed me with venom from time to time, but they wouldn't do anything since our teacher could enter the room at any time now. But even then, there was another problem...
"Hey...what did you mean by that?" I asked, reaching over Feng Mian to lightly tap Qing Yue on the head.
"Whatever do you mean, Big Brother Xuan Kai?" Qing Yue responded innocently, getting out of her chair and walking around to come up behind me and threw her arms around my neck gently.
"I mean, what you said earlier in the cafeteria," I clarified. "Are you four sure you want to form a team with me...?"
"Of course." It was Feng Mian that responded instead. "There are no other boys we can trust in this class."
"Couldn't you just choose a girl to be your final member then...?" I muttered.
"What's done is done," Yu An Yan joined in the conversation. She also got out of her seat and came closer to me. Then, to my surprise, she leaned in to my ear and whispered softly, which caused my heart to begin pounding rapidly against my chest. "These three girls say they're only forming a team with you because there are no other boys they can trust in this class...but the truth is, they just want to be together with you. Especially my sister. Teehee~!"
I blushed slightly and looked away. There was no way that was true...was it?
Yu An Xue, seeing my reaction, stood up immediately, and narrowed her eyes at her sister. "H-Hold on! What did you tell Xuan Kai, sis?!"
"Nothing~" Yu An Yan replied, then turned her head slightly to give me a wink before returning to her own seat.
Meanwhile, Feng Mian was staring down at her lap, face flustered.
"Uh...Feng Mian, y-you alright?"
"W-What she s-said just now, t-that isn't true, okay?!" she replied, pointing at Yu An Yan, now back in her own seat calmly reading a book while her sister, blushing similarly to how Feng Mian was, was yelling at her about something.
"You...heard that?" I asked.
"I-I did! So what?!"
"I heard it too, Big Brother Xuan Kai," Qing Yue added, arms still around my neck gently. "And everything she said was true. But she left one part out - she actually wants to be together with you too, just doesn't want to admit it."
Uh...so many bombs are getting dropped at once that I didn't know how to handle this situation. I decided to just accept reality and figure out my next steps.
To be honest, I didn't want to compete in this exam at all. But the principal, Song Qian Long, must've had some reason to suddenly change the system this year - that was the type of man he was, always calculating and planning ahead. We had a lot alike in that sense.
Thus, I decided I would have to pay him a visit, and figure out his true intentions.
...But for now, I would work just work on managing my relationships with the girls properly, and not getting chased by an angry mob again.