Tristan Chase, the campus heartthrob with a chiseled six-pack, confessed his love to me. Just as I was about to nod, a stream of text scrolled across my vision, like comments on a livestream: 【Don't tell me she's actually falling for it.】 【He's just using a random girl to make Bea jealous.】 【This girl is such a clown! She's so plain, there's no way a guy like Tristan would ever be into her!】 I cocked my head. "So, you're single right now?" Tristan nodded without a moment's hesitation. The next second, I pulled him down by the collar and kissed him. ... Tristan froze, his entire body rigid. I, however, was just getting started. I grinned and bit his lower lip, just for fun. The comments exploded: 【What the hell! He hasn't even kissed Bea yet! How dare this nobody get his first kiss!】 【Does this girl have no shame?】 If you're going to use me as a prop, I might as well get paid for it, right? You play with my feelings, I’ll play with your body. Seems fair to me. Tristan's face was flushed crimson. With rage. Ignoring his look of utter disbelief, I chirped, "Well, boyfriend, it's a pleasure to meet you." He shoved me away, his face contorted in disgust. "Haven, you're way too easy. Let's just forget about this—" He didn't get to finish. A girl in a short skirt was walking toward us from a distance. Tristan’s words died in his throat. The comments cheered: 【Bea's finally here!】 【He lost sleep all night just because Bea was seen walking with a freshman. He spent hours just staring at her photo, poor baby!】 【My babies need to get together right now!】 Tristan’s eyes were locked on the approaching girl, but his words were directed at me. "My dear girlfriend," he said through gritted teeth, "let me walk you home." I scratched my head. "Didn't you just say we should forget about it?" Tristan hissed, "You. Heard. Wrong." "Oh, okay," I said casually, grabbing his long-fingered hand. "Why go home? Let's go to a hotel." He was clearly taken aback. "A hotel? What for?" I leaned against his chest, taking the opportunity to give a firm pec a squeeze and trace the outline of his six-pack. "Oh, stop it, darling," I purred. "What do you think?" Tristan went completely still. Seeing him hesitate, I raised my voice. "You're not just playing me, are you? Are you using me to make someone else angry? You don't actually want to be my boyfriend at all!" He frantically clamped a hand over my mouth. "Shut up!" "Fine! Fine! We'll go!" 【Aaaah, what is this random girl doing! Who gave her permission to date him!】 【Bea looks like she's about to cry!】 【This is disgusting! She's nothing but a homewrecker!】 【To be fair, I'm grossed out too, but he did say he was single...】 【Homewreckers should die!】 Heh. I'm not going to die. I'm going to get a room. I immediately hailed a cab and gave the driver the name of the nearest hotel. Soon enough, we were standing in front of a king-sized bed in a "romance suite." Tristan still looked dazed, as if he had no idea how he’d ended up here. I didn't give him a chance to back out. I shoved him onto the bed. Click. The handcuffs were on. Tristan's model-perfect face went blank for a second, then twisted into a mask of anger and regret. Definitely no sign of pleasure or excitement. But I didn't care. I traced the line of his strong nose, then slid a finger into his mouth, playing with his tongue for a moment. The handcuffs rattled against the metal bed frame. As I pulled my finger away, trailing a silvery thread of saliva, tears welled in Tristan’s eyes. I wiped my hand on his chest, tilted my head, and smiled. "By the way, my name is Autumn. Not Haven." "Don't get it wrong later." Yes. I knew. Even without the scrolling comments, I knew the truth. Tristan Chase didn't like me. He'd never even noticed me. He'd just picked a familiar-looking name off an elective class sign-in sheet and hadn't even read it correctly. But I had been watching him for a long time. Son of a movie star and a billionaire CEO. The guy who showed up to class in a Bentley. The guy whose shirt would ride up when he played basketball, revealing a perfectly sculpted six-pack. A prime specimen delivered right to my door. The comments telling me not to touch were just jealous haters. Skrrt~ And I happened to be under a lot of stress lately. So, I wasn't angry at all. In fact, I was grateful. After all, a normal college girl like me would never cross paths with a rich, handsome guy like him. When I was a kid watching shows like Boys Over Flowers, I always imagined I could be the tenacious, ordinary girl who wins the heart of the rich bad boy. Growing up, I realized that doesn't happen in real life. The only girls in the F4's world are the beautiful, elite upperclassmen. From the first day of school, everyone knew Tristan and Beatrice "Bea" Wu were a thing. They claimed they just grew up together. Bea even helped other girls pass love letters to him. Tristan threw every single one in the trash. We weren't blind. Before today, I was just another face in the background of their love story. But after today? Who knows. I lit an afterglow cigarette and glanced at the beautiful body sprawled on the bed. Tristan’s eyes met mine. He flinched, his fingers tightening on the sheets. "If you get back on this bed, I-I-I'll kill you!" The comments, which had been silent all night, finally reappeared, flooding my vision. 【?】 【??????】 【My heart, once full of hope, is now dead. He's no longer pure.】 【He must be really furious to sacrifice his own body just to make Bea jealous!】 【He's just practicing on this random girl so he can be better for Bea later!】 【Does he look like he got any practice? He looks like he's been completely drained...】 I looked with satisfaction at the marks covering his body. "Tough talk," I purred. "But you seemed to enjoy it." Tristan bit his lip, humiliated. "No, I didn't!" "Stay away from me!" "Don't worry," I soothed, "I have to meet my advisor soon. No time for another round." I was already dressed. As I reached the door, Tristan's voice, laced with frustration, called out. "You're just leaving? Aren't you forgetting something?" I walked back to the bed and leaned down to give him a quick peck on the lips. "There, there. No pouting. I have important things to do." Tristan's eyes went wide. He started trembling with rage, which, I had to admit, was quite adorable. "I meant the handcuffs!" he roared. "Oh, right," I said, as if just remembering. I pulled the key from my pocket and tossed it to the foot of the bed. A little hard to reach. But not impossible. Worst case, he could always make a phone call. And with that, I left without a backward glance. … In the days that followed, I didn't contact Tristan. I heard he took two days off. When he reappeared, he was wearing a turtleneck in the middle of summer. When a girl accidentally bumped into him on the path, he leaped a foot in the air like a startled deer. We met again in gym class. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. The battle was intense. Tristan was playing tennis. I was practicing Tai Chi. When I finished my routine, I went to admire his form for a bit. The strong lines of his arm muscles, the power in his legs, and the way his shirt would lift with each swing, revealing the abs that haunted my dreams. He was too focused to notice me. His opponent was another rich kid. After Tristan missed several shots in a row, the guy teased him. "What happened, man? You were on fire a minute ago. Suddenly choking?" "Your girl Bea isn't even here. Wait, no, she is here. You should be playing even harder." "Or did you see someone who scares you?" Tristan told him to shut up. Just then, Bea appeared, holding a water bottle. "Tristan, I brought you some water. I added lemon and amino acids." Tristan didn't reach for it. Bea’s expression turned awkward. I picked up my own water bottle and walked over. Tristan didn’t reach for mine either. His face clearly said: Who the hell do you think you are, offering me water? I asked sweetly, "Boyfriend, do you need me to feed it to you?" His expression froze. He snatched the bottle from my hand. Bea’s eyes instantly turned red. "But… you only ever drink the water I bring you…" The comments arrived right on cue: 【My poor Bea. My heart hurts for her.】 【He's just being petty again. He was so happy the second he saw her.】 【The more smug this random girl is now, the bigger a clown she'll look when the truth comes out!】 【Am I crazy, or does he look less like he's trying to make her jealous and more like... he's terrified?】 After my good deed for the day, I turned and left. My advisor had asked me to attend a dinner tonight. I had no time for these comments, and I left Tristan and Bea far behind me. The private room was full of old men I didn’t know. After several glasses of wine, my advisor smiled benevolently. "Autumn, that paper of yours is quite good. Old Mr. Clark's son is working in the same field, and he's in need of a first-author publication..." I didn't say anything. My advisor's face darkened. "Do you want to graduate or not?" I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. This wasn't the first time he'd made a request like this. The crushing pressure of my dead-end days, with no release in sight. It felt like being held underwater, my throat constricted. Someone else, pretending to be a peacemaker, said, "Autumn, hurry up and pour a glass for your professor! Apologize!" I was already unsteady on my feet, but a glass was shoved into my hand anyway. Just then, the door to the room was kicked open. Tristan Chase appeared in the doorway like a hero descending from the heavens. … The night air cleared my head a little. Standing on the curb, I casually stopped the audio recording on my phone. "Thank you," I said to Tristan. He raised an eyebrow, looking a little smug. "Don't get any ideas. I was just returning your water bottle." He muttered under his breath, "Who makes someone go all the way to a place like this just to return a stupid water bottle..." Yes, I had sent him the address of the dinner. I knew he had a hero complex. "Still, thank you," I said gratefully. "Let me buy you dinner." "Not necessary." "Then... let me get you a room?" Tristan’s face froze. His lips moved. I think he mouthed the word "pervert." He was about to leave, but as he took the first step, I leaned over a trash can and threw up. Afterward, I closed my eyes and passed out. In the end, Tristan resignedly dragged me to a hotel. In my semi-conscious state, I clung to his abs, murmuring "thank you" over and over again. He blushed. This time, from shyness. The comments were a unified chorus, calling me shameless for taking advantage of the situation. There were also a few well-rounded individuals who shipped everything. … The next morning, I woke up to see Tristan still asleep in the adjacent bed. In the soft morning light, I took a moment to appreciate his beauty. Before I left, I couldn't resist leaning over and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. Tristan didn't open his eyes, but his eyelashes fluttered rapidly, like the wings of a broken butterfly. For the next few days, we went back to having no contact. Until one morning, he was waiting for me outside my dorm. He demanded to know why I hadn't been in touch. "Autumn, don't tell me you forgot we're boyfriend and girlfriend." I answered honestly. "I don't have your number." We hadn't even added each other on any social media. Tristan was speechless. Then he took my phone, added himself as a contact, and handed it back. The contact name was already saved: 【Boyfriend】. I felt a little dazed. The comments appeared, right on schedule: 【Don't flatter yourself, prop girl. He only did this because he saw Bea going to class with that freshman today.】 【He's going to parade her around to get back at Bea!】 【The second Bea apologizes, he'll drop this girl like a hot potato!】 【And to make Bea happy, he'll probably even give her the girl's PhD spot.】 That last part was a bit too absurd. I didn't buy it. Sure enough, Tristan asked me to go to class with him. I glanced at my own schedule and shook my head. "I have my own class." He looked annoyed but left anyway. At noon, he texted me, asking me to lunch. I went. A Michelin-star restaurant. That evening, he invited me to a barbecue with his friends. I went. In a Bugatti Veyron. We watched fireworks on a private beach at a five-star hotel. Life was too good. Tristan introduced me to a world I'd never known. One night, drunk and happy, I found myself telling him everything. From the time I blew up a septic tank at age eight to leaving home for college at eighteen. Tristan watched me, his eyes never leaving my face. He told me he wanted to spend his upcoming birthday with me. We pinky-promised. Then, one day, he was looking at me, his head tilted. "You seem… happier now," he said. In that moment, I could hear my own heart beating. I had never cared about the comments before. But now, they were starting to get on my nerves. Especially when they announced that today was the day Tristan and Bea would finally get together. … I was walking through a small grove of trees, wearing flip-flops and carrying four takeout boxes for my roommates. The sound of a girl crying made me look over. A tall boy and a petite girl were standing face-to-face. Bea was sobbing uncontrollably. "Tristan, I-I-I was wrong," she stammered. "Please don't punish me like this anymore. I'll never talk to another guy again… Please, Tristan, forgive me." I saw the man who was just sharing his gaming victories with me yesterday now looking at the girl before him with a mix of helplessness and heartache. 【Angsty hero vs. damsel in distress, they're so perfect for each other, I'm literally deceased!】 【Finally, I don't have to look at that random girl's plain face anymore! Hooray!】 As the comments cheered, Bea threw herself into Tristan's arms. "Tristan, let's be together…" I sighed. I had a thesis to finish; no time for melodrama. I turned to leave. But in that instant, as if sensing something, Tristan looked up. Our eyes met. His lips parted, as if he wanted to say something. The next second, the delicate, pretty girl stood on her toes. A kiss landed on his chin. Tristan froze. It was a beautiful picture. And there I was, in my faded t-shirt and flip-flops, shuffling further and further away. I wasn't interested in Tristan’s answer. It was obvious. The comments erupted in celebration: 【The random girl is finally offline!】 【Look at her, scurrying away like a stray dog with its tail between its legs.】 【Don't insult dogs, they're cute. You can't compare them to her!】 【I don't know… I suddenly feel a little bad for her...】 No. Don't feel bad for me. I have an education, a loving mother, and a bright future. Back in my dorm, I got a message from Tristan. 【?】 【You just left?】 【Don't you have anything to say?】 I didn't reply. The screen showed that he was typing for a long time. Finally, a new message came through: 【I'm sorry for what happened before. Is there anything you want as compensation?】 I typed back: 【I hate it when people ask me so many questions.】 Then, I blocked him.
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