Chapter 3 — The Fierce Honor Student Is Waiting for You Downstairs

His hot breath fanned against my face, and the oppressive weight of his proximity left me no room to look away. I was so tense that my palms were drenched in sweat, my mind racing at maximum capacity as I desperately searched for a plausible excuse.

"Well... you see..." I stammered, "Everyone... everyone is saying it..."

"Is that so?" Huo Nhan asked in a flat tone, utterly devoid of any discernible emotion. "Everyone is saying it?"

"Mm... yes!" I hurriedly nodded like a pecking chick.

He stared at me in silence for a few seconds. Then, abruptly, he raised his injured hand and slammed it heavily against the wooden door right beside my ear!

Bang!

The violent crash made me jump with a fright, sending a shudder straight down my spine. Blood began to seep between his knuckles, trickling down toward the floor right next to my feet. One drop, two drops... The sight was utterly terrifying.

"Huo Nhan! Your hand!" I screamed, entirely forgetting my fear as I instinctively reached out to grab his wrist.

Yet, he abruptly jerked his arm back, hiding it behind his back.

"Stop meddling in what doesn't concern you, dammit!" he snarled through clenched teeth, his voice hoarse and laden with suppressed fury. "Su Youyun, I am going to ask you one last time: that thing you said just now, does it count?"

That thing I said just now? You mean marry me? Even at a time like this, he still remembered that? Had he completely lost his mind?!

"It doesn't count!" I shouted back at him, suddenly finding a wellspring of courage I never knew I had. "Huo Nhan, stop acting insane! You like Shen Qian, and even if my brother stole her away from you, you have no right to use me as a replacement, as a tool for your revenge! Is that fair to me?!"

Huo Nhan snapped his head up to glare at me, his eyes as sharp as blades coated in poison.

"A replacement? A tool for revenge?" He ground his teeth, forcing out each syllable as if chewing on glass. "Su Youyun, what the hell are you babbling about?"

His gaze blazed with such intense wrath, it was as if I had just uttered the most blasphemous words imaginable.

"Isn't it true?" I threw caution to the wind as tears streamed down my face. "You don't like me at all. You just want to exact revenge on my brother and piss Shen Qian off! You are an absolute bastard!"

Huo Nhan stared daggers at me, his broad chest heaving violently. A few moments passed before he managed to force a few words through his clenched teeth:

"Su Youyun, you goddamn..."

The rest of the sentence died in his throat, choked off by something unseen. He looked at me, his gaze as tangled as a mess of hemp threads—fury, stubborn refusal, bitter mockery, and a fleeting trace of... hurt that I had never witnessed before? Hurt? Surely I was just seeing things. Huo Nhan, the notorious school delinquent, how could he possibly look hurt? He took a deep breath, as if struggling mightily to rein in his tumultuous emotions. Then, suddenly, he broke into a laugh. A chilling laughter that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Fine," he said. "You're right."

"I am indeed treating you as a tool for revenge."

"I do indeed want to irritate Su Yu and Shen Qian."

"Therefore," he stepped forward, pinning me flat against the door once more. His fathomless black eyes locked onto mine with a reckless, do-or-die madness, "Su Youyun, are you going to play this role as my tool, or not?"

3. The Forced Choice Will I play it or not? What kind of question was this? Was he backing me into a corner? Was this forced extortion? Huo Nhan's gaze enveloped me like a tightening net, leaving me utterly immobilized. The blood from his hand continued to drip, and the metallic scent of iron grew heavier in the air. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs like a frenzied drum, half out of terror, and half out of... a stinging, nameless sorrow. So in his heart, I truly was nothing more than a tool. How laughable that just moments ago, I had foolishly imagined seeing a flicker of vulnerability in his eyes. How pathetic.

"Huo Nhan," I sniffled, struggling to keep my voice as steady as possible, "do you find this amusing?"

"Whether it's amusing or not is not for you to decide," he replied coldly. "Just give me your answer: will you do it, or not?"

"And what if I refuse?" I jutted my chin out defiantly.

Huo Nhan narrowed his eyes, radiating an aura of palpable danger.

"Refuse?" He let out a low chuckle, raised a hand, and gently stroked my cheek with the tip of his finger—an ambiguous gesture contrasting sharply with his freezing gaze. "Su Youyun, do you really think you have a choice?"

"Don't forget how your precious brother treated me."

"I am the kind of person who always collects his debts."

"If you don't cooperate, I honestly don't know what I might end up doing."

A blatant, unadulterated threat. I trembled with rage from head to toe. On what grounds? Just because my brother had offended him, he had the right to act this unreasonably and bully me?

"Huo Nhan, you jerk!" I couldn't help cursing out loud.

"Yeah, I'm a jerk," he calmly admitted, the corners of his lips curving upward into a wicked smirk. "So, will you heed a jerk's words, or not?"

I stared at the face inches from mine—strikingly handsome, certainly, but undeniably wretched. Whatever lingering romantic fondness I had secretly harbored for him was, at that exact moment, pulverized into fine dust by his shameless tyranny. No, perhaps it wasn't pulverized, but rather buried beneath a more complex brew of emotions: anger, grievance, bitter defiance, and a streak of reckless rebellion. Why should I allow myself to be threatened like this? Why should I bear the consequences of my brother's mistakes? Fine, if he wanted a tool, a tool I would be! Who was afraid of whom anyway?!

"Alright!" I abruptly raised my head, meeting his gaze head-on, and spoke through gritted teeth, "I'll do it!"

Huo Nhan seemed utterly unprepared for my swift capitulation, freezing in place for a second. The very next instant, a glint of mockery flickered across the depths of his eyes.

"Ched up your mind?"

"Ched it up!" I answered coldly, "But I have conditions!"

"Oh?" Huo Nhan raised an eyebrow, looking immensely amused. "You actually dare to negotiate conditions with me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I had already thrown caution to the wind. "Since I'm going to be a tool anyway, the least you can do is let me be a 'willing' tool!"

Huo Nhan remained silent, simply studying me as if appraising merchandise.

"Let's hear them," he drawled after a moment.

"First," I held up a single finger, "no physical contact unless it's strictly necessary for our little act. Otherwise, maintain a safe distance."

Huo Nhan's gaze swept slowly over my body, a cryptic smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "A safe distance? How far constitutes safe?"

"One meter! No, half a meter!" I quickly corrected myself.

He let out a dry scoff. "Granted."

"Second," I raised a second finger, "you are not allowed to interfere with my studies and daily life. I retain my personal freedom."

"Granted." He agreed almost too readily.

"Third," I took a deep breath, uttering the most crucial condition of all, "whenever I feel like you've had your revenge, or if I simply don't want to play along anymore, we stop immediately. You are not allowed to pester me afterward!"

As soon as those words left my mouth, Huo Nhan fell completely silent. He stared at me with fathomless eyes, as though trying to bore straight through my soul. A chilly night breeze swept past, rustling the drawstring of his hoodie and revealing his smooth forehead and stern, sharp brows.