Ch. 1 - Me, Who Was Suddenly Confessed to Right at the Beginning
My Fake Girlfriend is Going All Out to Defend Against Their AttacksThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
I had been feeling anxious all day today.
"Vice President, is there anything I can help you with?" The disciplinary committee member finished the last patrol of the day and returned to the student council room. He took off his armband, hung it by the storage locker, and called out to me.
"No need, there's no work. It's getting late, so go home first." I looked up, pretending to be reviewing documents, and responded.
"Alright, I'll be going then. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
The orange-red sunset rode on the cool breeze unique to summer evenings and streamed into the student council room, dyeing it with a thin layer of color. The faint cicada chirping came from somewhere in the distance, representing the deep summer mixed with the taste of barley tea and black tea.
The disciplinary committee member closed the door and left. After confirming that no one else would come in, I rustled around and pulled an envelope out of the drawer.
This letter was something I had discovered in my own drawer in the classroom. There were many eyes and ears in both the classroom and the student council room, so I hadn't been able to find a suitable time to open it and look.
This was also the reason I had been feeling anxious all day.
The envelope gave off a faint fragrance and was a girly pink color. The neat, clean-cut edges indicated that the envelope wasn't bought from a gift shop, but rather that its owner had put in quite a bit of effort and carefully cut it out.
Looking at the envelope, I was a bit dazed.
This, without a doubt, was that thing...
A love letter.
Thinking of these two words, I took a deep breath.
I felt around on the desk for a paper knife and cut along the sealed edge. I gently took out the folded letter paper inside. The letter paper was half the size of an A4 sheet, also pink.
I set the envelope aside. Exhaling, I confirmed once more that no one was around, then slowly unfolded the letter paper. This sense of ritual was like a shrine maiden about to perform a forbidden sacrificial rite.
"Bai Qiao:
Could you spare me a bit of time after school? If possible, please come to the banyan tree behind the tennis court. There's something I want to say to you.
Someone who likes you."
That was all the words written on the letter paper.
I examined it carefully and repeatedly several times. But every delicate character on it, every stroke and dash was written with exceptional care, without any trace of error. The grammar and punctuation marks had no ambiguity whatsoever.
And Bai Qiao was my name.
...
I had heard from people chatting in class that the tree behind the tennis court was the school's confession sacred ground. When I was handling business for the tennis club, I had the privilege of going there. At that place, you could casually walk around and see two people in the middle of a confession. The words "confession sacred ground" truly lived up to their reputation.
I walked cautiously toward that location all the way. After all, I was the student council vice president. If I were discovered, the gossip from the crowd would be terrifying.
There were hardly any people left on the school path. The tennis club members had long since finished their club activities at this time and gone home. So when I arrived at the tennis court, it was already completely quiet all around.
A person was standing quietly in front of the banyan tree.
The orange-red sunset illuminated the grass yellow, making it difficult to see clearly from a distance. But I vaguely saw a girl wearing a school uniform with twin tails, head lowered looking at her feet, lightly kicking them, as if listless from having waited a long time.
I took a deep breath, calmed myself down, and slowly walked toward her.
A few steps away from her, I stopped.
"You came." She became aware of me, looked toward me, and the joy on her face overflowed.
"Wu Yaoyao... Why is it you?" I was a bit surprised. No wonder the silhouette looked so familiar.
Thinking about it carefully, the appearance of the envelope did match her style.
"Yes, it's me." Wu Yaoyao's face flushed red. She lowered her head, her feet together, shifting slightly in anxiety.
Her fingers twisted together. I could see she was very nervous inside.
Her watery eyes looked at the envelope I held in my hand, then looked up, her clear eyes gazing at me. Her fair, translucent face showed a glimmer of sweat from nervousness. Below her delicate nose, her cherry-like mouth was tightly bitten. She was probably about half a head shorter than me. Her slender figure suited her black twin tails very well.
"Uh, does the archery club have some business?" I scratched my head, not daring to look into her eyes.
This girl who looked quite artistic and somewhat slender was the captain of the archery club.
Although I was nominally the student council vice president, in reality I was a jack-of-all-trades involved in various matters.
For example, when the disciplinary committee was short-handed, I, as student council vice president, would also help out; there were also various requests from clubs and so on.
The archery club, being a club with relatively large funding needs and many competitions and activities, often needed the student council's help. So back and forth, the two of us became familiar with each other.
Seeing me play dumb, she stamped her foot. The shyness on her face gradually gave way to resentment. "Don't you know what kind of place this is?"
"The…the banyan tree at the tennis court?" I didn't quite dare to look into her eyes.
As soon as my words came out, the resentment on her face intensified a bit more.
"You read the letter I put in your drawer, right? You know what I called you here to do." Her voice became much softer. Her eyes stared intently at me as she stamped her little steps and pressed closer to me.
Half a head shorter than me, usually smiling sweetly and very cute, Wu Yaoyao at this moment was giving me such oppressive pressure that I actually began to have difficulty breathing.
My eyes darted around everywhere, putting on a thoughtful expression. "Uh, to hand in an activity report?"
"Do you believe I'll bite you to death?" When she said this, her expression was terrifyingly calm. And she was already only half a step away from me.
The campus in the evening was a bit quiet, and this sentence of hers made my whole body tremble.
"Uh... if there's nothing..." I was a bit flustered and instinctively began walking backward.
Escaping is shameful but useful. This phrase appeared in my mind right now like the truth itself.
"Bai Qiao, I like you!"
This sudden straight pitch, one I could no longer dodge, interrupted my steps and nailed me in place like a pillar.
Wu Yaoyao, who was only half a step away from me, was already completely red-faced. Her fingers were tightly clenched, staring intently at me, not daring to move. She was like a criminal waiting to be judged.
The two of us faced each other like this. The air suddenly froze. The banyan tree served as background, hidden in the solemn atmosphere. In the entire space, only the languid sunset was emitting today's last afterglow.
The flickering sincerity in her eyes made me sigh.
Romance was not a good thing, absolutely not.
I had already figured this out three years ago.
So...
"I'm sorry..." I exhaled. These heavy words slowly came out from my mouth. But my mood was like a weight slowly pressing from my throat down toward my heart.
So this was how it felt to reject someone—it was unpleasant too.