Seth saw some of his classmates walking down the stairs when he went outside the classroom. Seth heard them talking about going back to the classroom. He approached them to buy some time.
“H-hi!” Seth smiled at his classmates. “Where have you, guys, been?”
It was Seth’s seat mate, Paul, who answered: “Chuck told us that the teacher wanted us to study in the library. So, we went there.”
Seth was smiling on the outside but he was cursing Chuck Mallory in his mind repeatedly. So, it was really Chuck’s plan. If Seth was alone just like in his previous life, his reputation could really be in jeopardy. Good thing, there was someone like Gilbert Hugo who had the heart to help someone like him.
“Ah…ahm…r-really?” Seth didn’t know what else to say. Fuck social anxiety!
His classmates began to walk towards the classroom. Seth tried to catch up to them. However, they were too many for Seth to handle by himself. He just prayed that Gilbert had finished doing what he intended to do.
Seth braced himself when his classmates entered the classroom one by one. He was expecting someone would react upon seeing Gilbert doing God knows what. However, Seth saw his classmates acting like usual. They were happily joking with each other and walked to their respective seats without any trouble.
Seth sighed in relief when he entered the classroom and saw Gilbert ‘sleeping’ on his desk. Seth didn’t have any idea what Gilbert had in mind when he told Seth that he would help him. Seth wanted to talk to Gilbert, but that would just complicate things. In front of their classmates, Seth and Gilbert were nothing but classmates. It would be unusual for them to just straight up talk to each other. Their classmate would think something was up. Seth didn’t want to be a major burden to Gilbert.
Feeling powerless, Seth went back to his desk. He looked calm on the outside, but his heart was in turmoil. Then, he saw Chuck with his two minions entered the classroom. Chuck looked at Seth’s direction. Their eyes met.
Seth could see the hint of arrogance in Chuck’s facial expression. It was as if the idiot was telling Seth that the scumbag had already won over him. Chuck gave Seth a condescending look and his lips arched in mockery.
Can I just punch this guy in the face? Seth thought to himself. He took a deep breath. No. Seth wouldn’t resort to violence just to get even.
Mr. Davy—their homeroom teacher—arrived a couple of minutes later. The students listened to the teacher’s rumbling about the meeting. Seth was only half listening. His attention was focused on Chuck. Seth was observing his classmate’s every move.
Seth saw Chuck put his own bag on the desk, opened it, and started to look for something inside. As if on cue, just when the teacher was about to announce the start of the class, Chuck raised his hand to catch the teacher’s attention.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Yes, Chuck, do you have anything you want to say?”
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“Let? Zjsyf la’r lc sbeg qbmxfa.”
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“That’s a heavy accusation, Chuck Mallory. I hope you have a strong evidence to back up your claims.” A serious voice interrupted Chuck’s whining.
Everybody looked at the direction where the voice came from. Yes, it was Gilbert Hugo. His eyes looked scary. Everyone gasped in fear.
Seth’s hands were shaking. He looked at Gilbert hoping their gazes would meet. But Gilbert didn’t look at Seth’s direction at all.
“If… If you’re not guilty, then you won’t have any problem if the teacher would check your bag, right?” Chuck was not talking to anyone in particular. But it was obvious he was pertaining to the whole class.
“Theft is a punishable offense.” Mr. Davy said. “I believe no one in this classroom is a thief. However, to prove it, I have to inspect your bags one by one. Everyone, form a horizontal line at the back of the classroom. Turn your backs and close your eyes.”
Everybody got up and obeyed the teacher’s instruction. Seth wanted to stand beside Gilbert, but Chuck and his friends hindered him to do what he wanted. Chuck hooked his arm with Seth’s. The two stood beside each other.
“Are you scared?” Chuck whispered in his ear.
Seth didn’t respond. At that point, Seth was not worried about himself. He didn’t even give two shits about what the idiot Chuck was whispering in his ear. Seth was worried about Gilbert. Where did Gilbert hide Chuck’s phone? What if Gil hid it inside his bag? The teacher would definitely see it! Then, Gil would be branded as a thief. Fuck you, Chuck Mallory! Fuck you!
“You’re starting to look pale, Wiley. Are you afraid that the teacher will find anything interesting inside your school bag?”
Seth’s left foot moved and ‘accidentally’ stepped on Chuck’s right foot. The latter squealed and in a high-pitch voice blurted out the word ‘ouch.’
Most of their classmates peeked at their direction curiously. They also caught the teacher’s attention.
“What seems to be the problem there, Chuck and Seth?” asked Mr. Davy from behind.
“There’s nothing wrong, sir.” Seth replied. “Classmate Chuck is standing too close to me, I ACCIDENTALLY stepped on his foot. I already apologized, he accepted it. All is well.”
“Fuck you…” Chuck said to him in a hush tone. Seth could feel Chuck’s arm hooked on him tightened. “Let’s see if you could smile like an idiot after this. You’re going down, Wiley. You won’t even have an ounce of courage to show your face ever again.”
Seth felt scared by Chuck’s words…but the fear only lasted for a moment. He decided to fight back to his bully at the very end. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chuck. I don’t know why you’re so hung up on me. I’ve always wanted to know the reason why you are so fond of bullying me. Do you hate me? Or you saw something in me that made you feel inferior towards me? I don’t know anything about you, Chuck. But, please, don’t take your anger and insecurities on me.”
Chuck put his mouth closer in Seth’s ear. Chuck’s laugh rang all throughout his ear. “Fuck you—”
However, before Chuck could finish his sentence, a big hand covered Chuck’s mouth and forcefully dragged his face away from Seth’s. A few surprised gasp could be heard through the classroom. Aside from Seth, some of his classmates also witnessed what happened to Chuck. When Seth looked at the owner of the hand, a gush of relief flooded his heart. It was Gilbert Hugo. It was Gil…
“I’ve already warned you, Mallory. I’ve fucking warned you. But you still pulled this shit.” Gil said in a firm voice. Seth didn’t notice the moment when Gil approached them. He just miraculously appeared in the right moment.
An indescribable fear showed in Chuck’s face. It was enough proof that Gilbert Hugo was the one on the top of the food chain. Everybody was afraid of him. However, Seth didn’t want for Gil’s reputation to get worse more than it already was. Seth wanted everyone to know that Gilbert Hugo was not the bad person everyone thought he was. How could Gil be a bad person if he was always there to help Seth?
“You can let go of Chuck, Gil…” Seth told him. “I’m fine.”
Instead of saying anything, Gilbert Hugo looked at Seth intently. Seth nodded at him. Not a second later, Gil did let go of Chuck. The latter immediately ran away from Gilbert Hugo.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Gilbert asked him.
Seth smiled at him. “I can handle Chuck just fine…” But Seth’s smile faded when he remembered the situation. “Gilbert, what did you—“
“Gil.”
“Huh?” Seth was confused for a moment when he was interrupted by Gilbert Hugo.
“You have my permission to call me ‘Gil’. Why are you still calling me Gilbert?”
“Oh…” Seth couldn’t help but smile. “Okay. Sorry.” He cleared his throat. It was not the time to be happy. “Well, I just want to ask about…you know what.”
“I’ve taken care of it and I think I did a good job.” A sinister smile formed on Gil’s lips.
Seth felt nervous. “Gil, did you sacrifice yourself for me?”
Gil put his arm around Seth’s shoulders. Then he whispered in his ear: “Just wait and see. The show’s just about to start.”
As if on cue, after Gil said those words to Seth, Mr. Davy announced that he had finished searching their bags. Everybody went back to their seats and waited for what was to come.
“I must say, I am fairly disappointed.” The teacher’s face was so red in anger. “The students involved in this incident will be notified after class.” Mr. Davy shook his head. Then, he uttered the words: “This is going to be a huge problem…”
Seth’s heart was beating so loud it made him feel like vomiting. He looked at Gil’s direction, his head was already slumped on his desk sleeping. Seth heaved a deep sigh. If Gil was acting like there was nothing wrong, maybe Seth should do the same.
After class, Seth was waiting for the teacher to call on him. But, it didn’t happen. Instead, the ones who were summoned in the principal’s office were none other done Chuck and his two minions. Everyone was surprised.
Seth searched for Gil. However, Gil only gave him an OK sign. Then, Gil stood up, walked out of the classroom, and disappeared without any word.
And that everyone is how you play the player
Chuck does not seem to learn
I hope our timid Seth, won’t get nervous around people too much😔
Thank you so much for the update💜💜
Beautifully done. Thanks for the chapter.
Ahh!! Mini cliffhanger!!
Why is it complicated? He probably put the phone into one of the cronies’ bags. Which Seth should have been able to do by himself, or at least drop it back into Chuck’s bag. It’s not like there are people waiting to burst into the room next second, isn’t there quite a generous timeframe?