It seems Richard came alone — strikingly, uncharacteristically taking the initiative to sit opposite her.
Richard calmly sizes her up, a fire smoldering in his chest.
When he speaks, his tone is far from pleasant:
"Why can't I be here? Do you own this library?" What the heck? Is he always this grumpy? Maureen is puzzled,
"Why so abrasive? Did you eat gunpowder or something? Did I offend you?"
Richard's gaze falls and latches onto a stack of test papers, placed by her side.
On the left side of the paper, "Liam" was written with elegant strokes. Following his gaze, Maureen asks,
"What?" Richard could feel throbbing at his temples:
"Why are you writing his homework?" "It's my pleasure."
Maureen was all too willing to help Liam with his homework these days.
On the one hand, it contributed to accumulating good karma. At the same time, it acted as a form of revision, the repetition enhancing her memory.
But she saw no reason to explain this to Richard.
"Richard choked on his words as his anger flared, burning even more fiercely.
Suddenly, it seemed like Richard had captured the truth, realizing why he had been increasingly irritable hearing the names of Maureen and Liam together these past few days.
Richard's voice deepened,
"Have you had enough — "
Maureen looks up.
Filled with lingering questions such as,
"Why do you have to get involved with someone like Liam?
Why can't you stay out of my sight now that everything is perfectly fine?" got stuck on
Richard's tongue — words he couldn't voice out due to his teenage pride. Without thinking, the words slipped out,
"Living on campus isn't a solution."
Maureen originally wanted to greet him, but she was engrossed in her homework and was inexplicably reprimanded by him.
In addition, he was lobbying for the Smith family.
Even though Maureen was known for her good temper, she was gradually losing her patience.
"Richard, we've only known each other for two years.
You once said that we're not even friends, so you have no position to advise me."
Holding the key scope of the 'Hundred School League' that he had yet to distribute, Richard almost forgot what he came for.
He looked at Maureen, grinding his teeth, and asked,"Only known for two years?"
What about her confession of liking him for those two years?
"Yes." Maureen quickly glanced to her left and right and seeing no one paying attention, she immediately stood up and started to pack her things.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you before. I was overreaching.
But it won't happen again, so please don't interfere with my matters."
Unable to believe Maureen's words, Richard could feel his knuckles turning white.
His face turned play, staring as she turned to leave.
After packing her bag, Maureen found a spot as far away from Richard as possible in the library study room.
She realized that Richard was acting unusual. For the first time in two years, he had actively sought her out.
From Maureen's perspective, maybe the proud Richard just couldn't get used to the one who had always been chasing him suddenly stopped chasing.
Perhaps it was just discomfort, or perhaps his youthful pride had taken a hit.
After all, things would soon return to their usual quiet calmness.
In the end, he didn't like her, and would probably be glad to get rid of such a nuisance sooner or later.
==========
Niel was starving, he had dinner outside before arriving with his luggage in tow.
Just as he reached the floor-to-ceiling window, he saw the transfer student and Richard, the lead of the Gold Medal Competition Class, sitting face-to-face.
Judging by Richard's icy expression, it seemed like they were arguing—but it was clear that they knew each other very well, just as he'd heard, with an incredibly rich history between them.
Mother of God. What was he supposed to do?
Call the transfer student out and avoid a meeting between Liam and Richard?
Niel's heart was pounding as he was about to walk in and figure something out when suddenly, someone slapped his shoulder.
"Why are you still here?"
His breath almost stopped.
Turning his head, he saw Liam in a sports jacket, his short hair tousled, standing behind him. He carried the chill from the night air, and held a big box of takeaway.
He had clearly just come from home, and his face still bore a mixture of icy indifference, a far cry from his usual blustering arrogance. However, this lingering expression soon disappeared from his face.
"Liam, what happened to your hand?"
Niel noticed that the back of Liam's hand, which was carrying the jacket, had been scratched by something unknown.
It wasn't a big deal, but there were still some faint traces of blood seeping out.
Liam didn't care and rubbed his hand lightly, "It was cut by a piece of glass."
Niel hesitated, unsure of whether or not to ask further.
"You're too slow." Liam changed the subject, furrowed his eyebrows, and took long strides to leave. Niel quickly grabbed him,
"Liam, eat your takeaway out here, don't eat it inside!".
"Crazy, it's freezing outside."
Liam was increasingly suspicious that Niel was hiding something from him.
He glared at him and entered the study room without hesitation. ...
Niel's heart almost stopped, he could only brace himself and pushed his suitcase, following Liam into the room.
Who knew that Liam would take several turns, heading not towards where Richard and Maureen were sitting together.
Niel was taken aback and quickly looked at their previous location.
However, only Richard remained seated there with a stern expression.
There was no trace of Maureen.
When he was pulling Liam, the transfer student seems to have changed her seat. Only then did Niel breathe a sigh of relief.
He quickly sped up his pace, seeking to make amends by getting to the transfer student before Liam.
He was sweating profusely as he placed the suitcase and two down comforters on a nearby chair.
"Transfer student, Liam and I went to the internet cafe after school to play some games and won some prizes!
They seem to be things for girls, which we don't need, so we thought we'd just give them to you."
Right at the doorway, Maureen had spotted the two people.
It was mainly because Liam's red short hair was too conspicuous and flashy, coupled with his towering height which made him stand out in a crowd.
She looked over at Liam, "Is this for me?"
"Mm-hmm." Liam attempted not to show his smug satisfaction through his expression.
He walked over, pulled out a chair located one seat apart from Maureen, flopped himself onto it lazily, with one leg propped up on the other.
He began toying with the pen cap on Maureen's desk, flicking it open with a 'pop', and shutting it with another, embodying the demeanour of 'I may have gifted you something, but don't you dare get greedy with me' kind of coolness.
Seeing that Maureen was still watching him, he shifted his gaze towards her, "
Don't overthink it, transfer student.
We're classmates.
We're supposed to help each other."