Blue stopped reading about the flying rumors and turned off his phone. The attention of three people was pinned on him. Blue noticed this and let out a sigh.
"Guess I'm really popular these days." He simply said, then took a sip of his coffee.
The atmosphere on the table was deathly suffocating. Even if Adam wanted to change the topic and talk about something lighthearted, what would erase the things they had just read about Blue from their minds?
Adam was well aware that Blue wasn't really in the wrong and most of the things that were said about him were lies to damage his reputation, but they were still hurtful.
And people talked about Blue in this manner every day and all the time. It was hard, Adam thought. If he was Blue, he wouldn't let himself get falsely accused of so many things.
He would try to clarify things and defend himself. But Blue wasn't like that. Blue believed in going with the flow of things. He would never stress himself over people's negative opinions about him.
He was nonchalant like that.
"So…"
As Adam was busy thinking about what to do about the tension that was pressing down on them, Logan had already begun acting oblivious and stupid.
"You can tell me what really happened and I'll post the story on my personal profile to clear your name." Logan kindly offered to Blue.
Blue turned into the ice king that people knew him as after Logan said those words. Blue's eyes were incredibly cold and his face looked deathly intimidating as he stared at Logan.
Logan felt years of his life slip away under Blue's intense gaze. He had offered to clear Blue's name with good intention. But since he was an Alpha, his offer sounded like mockery.
"He didn't mean it like that, Blue." Adam quickly rose to the occasion to save the tactless fool. "Clarifying things is your choice. If people keep tainting your name, it could become a serious problem later on. He was just concerned about you. That's all."
Winter picked up on what was going on. To tell the truth, he didn't completely believe that Blue was as innocent as Adam was making him out to be. In fact, Winter believed the things he had seen online.
Not about ghostwriting 'How to be a Perfect Omega'. But about bullying juniors in his department. Maybe he was bullying them and he wasn't even aware of it. Blue's manner of expressing himself was very oppressive.
It wouldn't be far-fetched for Winter to believe that Blue was trying to induce his views into their heads in the wrong way just like he did in other situations.
"Yes, that's what I'm trying to do. Since you're innocent-"
"Who told you I was innocent?" Blue cut Logan off before he was able to complete his sentence.
Logan almost bit his tongue in shock. Blue was busy circling the rim of his cup meanwhile Adam and Logan were about to explode.
"What do you mean? Was the O. P telling the truth?" Adam couldn't even believe he was asking that question out loud, but Blue nodded regardless.
"I didn't tell her she wasn't cut out to be a writer. I told her to never write in her entire life again and that she was an embarrassment to all creators of fiction." Blue said, lifting his head to look at Adam's and Logan's stunned faces.
"B-B-But why would you do that!?" Logan yelled, calling attention to himself in the café.
He bowed in apology to the people he had offended when he realized that he had spoken too loud, then leaned forward and whispered to Blue, "Why would you do that?"
"Ugh. Because she was a fucking thief and a shameless plagiarizer. She must've thought I was dumb or something and wouldn't recognize the work since it's not so popular. And she isn't even a smart plagiarizer.
"She still kept the original names of the characters and was sloppy with the punctuation work. Why wouldn't I cancel out the nonsense with a red pen? I even wanted to use a red marker but I didn't have one." Blue spoke with a disgusted and annoyed tone.
Adam and Logan hit the back of their seats as they pondered on Blue's words.
"You could have reported her." A deep masculine voice spoke up.
Blue looked at Winter well since the first time that he had arrived in the café.
"Pardon?"
"You could have reported her for plagiarism when you realized that was what she did. But you didn't. That's why you're in this situation." Winter said with a monotonous voice.
He wasn't sounding polite, there wasn't a smile on his face, and his words were definitely not for comfort.
Adam was surprised to see this kind of Winter. However, Blue was even more surprised that his lips had parted with shock.
It took him a little while to compose himself and close his mouth. Without looking at Winter, Blue said, "You're right. I should've reported her."
But Blue hadn't reported her because he gave her the benefit of the doubt. She had promised him that she was sorry for plagiarizing and was just stumped on what to write but got inspiration from the unknown story and decided to write it herself.
Another reason why Blue didn't report her was because he didn't want to ruin her college life by tagging her as a plagiarizer now that she was just a freshman. That was a stigma that a writer could never get rid of.
Yet, because of that small act of kindness that he performed, there were now people accusing him of cheating his way with 'How to be a Perfect Omega'.
Life was really an unpredictable thing.
Just then, a group of people walked into Dot's Café and they called Winter and Logan over to them. Since the atmosphere was already destroyed, Winter and Logan leaving the table was not regrettable to both parties.
Blue's eyes were set on his cup as Winter stood up from beside him. But before completely leaving, Winter said to Blue:
"My offer still stands by the way."
Author has something to say: So, I want to clarify something. Ghostwriting is not necessarily bad per say. But there are like different kinds of ghostwriting. There's the type where if you have a story idea of your own but just don't have the time or energy to write it, you can hire someone to help you.
But since it's based on your idea, you get a strong say on how the plot is written.
Then there's the type of ghostwriting where the ghostwriter comes up with the plot on their own, writes the book and the client takes all profit made by the book and stamps their name as the original creator.
This is the kind of ghostwriting that Blue is being accused of. People believe that he just bought How to be a Perfect Omega from someone else and claimed to be the sole owner.
As a writer, this is one of the worst things to be accused of. Blue is really hurt, but he can't express himself because of his personality and some personal reasons. So sad. ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ