Chapter 7: Chapter 7 The class president and the lazy guy, a fake couple — Rebellious Symphony

The trouble started with a blurry photo.

On the first Monday of the week, as soon as Linh entered the classroom, she felt a different atmosphere. Several groups of students huddled together, whispering, then looked up at her with curious and meaningful eyes. Bảo Châu ran over immediately and pulled her to the corner of the hallway, his face clearly showing concern.

"Linh, you have to see this," Châu said, holding out her phone. On the screen was an anonymous post on the school's confession page, accompanied by a hastily, blurry photo, taken through the small window of storage room No. 4: silhouettes of two people sitting close together in front of a computer system, the screen light shining on their faces.

The caption reads: "Does anyone know that class leader 11A1 often sneaks into the abandoned warehouse at night? Going with someone who looks familiar is a student in the school. It's true that 'most important, most disrespectful', normally it seems very serious."

Linh's heart fell to the bottom of the abyss. She tried to keep her expression calm, but her hand holding the phone was shaking a bit. "Who took this picture?"

"I don't know," Bảo Châu shook his head, his voice lowered. "The post was two hours ago, it already has more than five hundred likes. Linh, I'm not going to question you, but... are you dating someone? If it's true, then there's nothing to hide, you know, I will always support you."

"It's not what you think," Linh quickly replied, trying to suppress the rising panic. "It was just... a study project."

Bảo Châu looked at her, his eyes not completely believing, but did not ask further. "Okay. But you should be careful. This photo is blurry, no one has recognized the specific face, but if someone is more curious and tries to take a clearer photo..." Linh nodded, feeling confused. She knew exactly what would happen if someone saw Minh's face clearly in the storage room, next to the electronic music production machine: the biggest secret of his life would disappear in an instant.

***

During recess, Linh tried to text Minh, but he had read the post before and was waiting for her in the corner of the backyard of the gymnasium, where few students passed by.

"Did you see that post?" Linh asked as soon as she saw him, her voice urgent.

"I see." Minh nodded, a rare tense expression on his face. "Whoever secretly took the photo must have been standing in the hallway outside, through the small window on the side. I checked, I never thought anyone could see that slit."

"What should we do now?" Linh asked, worry evident in her voice. "If someone investigates further, discovers that the person sitting next to me is you, and then tracks down the music production system..."

"I know," Minh interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck, a habit he only did when he was really worried. "We need a cover story. A plausible reason for the two of you to be together in the storage room at night without anyone getting suspicious."

"What do you mean..."

"Pretending to be on a date," Minh said bluntly, even though he himself seemed embarrassed when he said it. "If someone asks, we just need to say it's a private date, we don't want anyone to bother us. No one will be curious about the computer system or anything else. Students at our school are naturally more interested in emotional drama than finding the truth behind it."

Linh was stunned. "You... you're going to let the whole school think we're dating?"

"Is there a better way?" Minh shrugged, trying to appear calm even though his ears were slightly red. "If you have any better ideas, I'm ready to hear them."

Linh remained silent, trying to think of another plan, but truly, there was no safer way. A school romance story will quickly overwhelm any curiosity about what really happens in storeroom number 4.

"Okay," she sighed, her voice reluctant. "But it's just an act. Nothing more."

"Of course," Minh nodded, although his eyes flashed with something hard to name.

***

The plan was implemented that afternoon. After school, instead of separating as usual, Minh deliberately waited for Linh at the school gate and greeted her in front of several students standing nearby.

"Class rep," he called, trying to sound as natural as possible. "Are you going on the same road?"

Several curious eyes immediately turned towards them. Linh stiffened for a moment, then nodded, trying to keep a calm expression. "Okay."

They walked side by side, keeping a polite distance but close enough that no one would suspect. Behind them, whispers arose immediately.

"Oh my god, those two are really..."

"I told you, that confession post was definitely about them."

Minh glanced at Linh and winked slightly. "See, the effect was immediate."

"Don't be complacent," Linh mumbled, her face turning slightly red even though she tried to suppress it.

That evening, when they met in storage room number 4 as usual, the atmosphere was a bit more strange than usual. Both of them were more clearly aware of the distance between them, of every small gesture, as if the cover of "fake dating" had accidentally made the real feelings that were silently blooming become clearer, making it difficult to deny.

"Do you think," Linh asked as they took a break from practice, her voice trying to sound casual, "that this cover will make things more complicated?"

"Maybe," Minh replied, his eyes never leaving the laptop screen, but his voice was a bit unusually hesitant. "But maybe, sometimes a lie helps people be more honest with themselves."

Linh didn't answer, but those words kept echoing in her head all the way home that night.

***

The next day, rumors about the "mysterious couple" spread quickly throughout the school, but as Minh predicted, the students' curiosity quickly changed from "what are they doing in the storage room" to "when have they been dating, who pursued who first". No one mentioned the computer system or any sign related to electronic music.

Even Mr. Hoàng, when he overheard the rumor in the staff room, only smiled mysteriously when he met Linh in the hallway. "I heard you're in a new relationship. I hope that's not the reason your contest demo was delayed."

"Not at all," Linh replied, trying to keep her voice calm. "On the contrary, the demo is going very well."

"Good," Mr. Hoàng nodded, his eyes searching but not questioning further. "I hope to hear soon."

Only Bảo Châu was the only one who still kept a suspicious look, occasionally glancing at Linh and Minh with a subtle look of scrutiny, as if she sensed that something didn't quite match the "dating" story that the whole school was talking about. But she didn't say anything, she just silently observed, waiting for the right moment to ask her best friend the truth.

As for Linh, amidst the rumors and the cover she and Minh built, she gradually realized a truth more terrifying than the risk of revealing Z's identity: perhaps, that part of the "fake date" act was no longer completely fake, at least to a part of her heart.

***

The rumors even spread to the interschool chat group of excellent students, where Ngô Vĩnh Phong was an active member. That evening, Linh received a surprising text message from him.

"I heard you're dating a special student in school?" the message read, accompanied by a sarcastic smirking emoji. "It's hard to believe. I thought Phương Linh only spent time on things 'worthy' of her class." Linh read the message and felt a surge of anger, but she held it back and simply replied: "My personal matter has nothing to do with you, Vĩnh Phong."

"I'm just worried about you," Phong texted back immediately, his tone still full of familiar superiority. "A love scandal at such a sensitive time could affect your image before the judges. They evaluate the contestant's seriousness and concentration, not just the music."

"Thank you for worrying so much," Linh texted back, decisively turning off the phone screen, not wanting to read any more messages from him.

But those words still kept her awake all night. Is the cover that she and Minh set up, even though it helps hide a bigger secret, unintentionally creating a new weakness for people like Ngô Vĩnh Phong to take advantage of to attack her?

The next morning, when he recounted that message to Minh during recess, he just frowned, his expression thoughtful, different from his usual joking attitude.

"He's unusually interested in your love life," Minh commented, his voice a bit wary. "For someone who claims to only focus on music, he spends a lot of time spying on his opponent's private life."

"Maybe he just wanted to distract me," Linh said, although a vague sense of insecurity flashed through her heart.

"Maybe," Minh nodded, but his eyes still held some doubt. "Anyway, we should be more careful. Not only with identity Z, but also with the people who are keeping an eye on your every move." Linh nodded, put the phone in her bag, tried to get rid of the bad feeling that had just arisen in her heart, to focus on the most important thing right now: completing the demo before the deadline that was approaching every day.