Ugh, that name first thing in the morning.
Timothy is Juno’s older brother and the main character of season 1. And one of the people I get along with least.
I barely hid my sour expression as I turned around.
“No. We don’t keep in touch much. Why do you ask?”
“He’s been so busy with school that I can’t get a hold of him at all. With everything so unsettled these days… I’m worried he might have gotten into some kind of trouble.”
“Is that so?”
Timothy Huntington, Juno’s older brother and the male lead of the drama, was accepted to Harvard as soon as season 1 of the drama ended.
And he’s now living together in Boston with his girlfriend and female lead, Jessica, who enrolled in the same school.
Having seen in the drama how he got into Harvard effortlessly with just a few lines of essay and some sports activities, Timothy naturally appeared unlikeable to me.
But since I couldn’t openly show my dislike, I decided to just go along with it.
“If I get in touch with him, I’ll tell him not to go anywhere too dangerous. We have to be careful since we don’t know when a gate might open in Boston too.”
At that, my parents turned to look at me as if to say “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not too worried about the gates. I just wish he’d keep in touch better! By the way, would gates really be a threat to Timothy?”
“I don’t know, I’m a non-awakened after all. But if it’s dangerous for Timothy, wouldn’t it be dangerous for all Americans?”
“What do you mean by that?”
The two of them continued talking but I couldn’t understand a word of it.
As I was checking my wristwatch while drinking milk, a long honk was heard from outside the house.
Baaaaaang―.
“What’s that?”
I turned my head to look out the long horizontal window in the kitchen.
Outside the window, I could see the lush green garden, the stone wall covered in thick foliage, and glimpses of a blue car beyond the wall.
“…What car is that?”
Something feels unsettling. Suddenly such a sleek and expensive-looking car in front of our house.
With my gaze fixed on the car outside the window, I hurriedly said.
“I’m heading off to school now. You two come out slowly. As slowly as possible!”
“Alright. Have a good day. Love you, sweetie!”
I gulped down the milk, wiped my mouth roughly with the back of my hand, and dashed out of the house.
As I crossed the garden and flung open both sides of the main gate, I saw a blue two-seater sports car parked there.
And a familiar face too.
“Hello, squirrel.”
It’s Victor McQueen.
My face hardened as I saw Victor sitting in the driver’s seat, waving his hand. I strode over and stood in front of him.
“Why are you here? How did you know where I live?”
“I asked Teacher Gina. When I said I wanted to strengthen our teamwork as teammates, she told me.”
Victor put particular emphasis on the words ‘teammates’. Then he rested his arm on the car window, propped his chin on his hand, and let out a long sigh.
“While we’re at it, let’s exchange numbers too. How about I give you a ride to school from now on, glasses?”
“Why would you?”
“Why, you ask.”
He languidly stroked his chin with his finger like a well-fed lion, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Because we’re on the same team now, right? Of course, it’s not like we became a team voluntarily. Someone went and told Teacher Gina I was a high-level awakened.”
“…”
“So, are you getting in? I’m not the type to volunteer as someone’s chauffeur just anywhere. But I thought we could use some more conversation, seeing as we’re on the same team. I came here personally to talk.”
“Talk? I don’t really…”
As I tried to refuse, Victor smiled brightly.
“You’re not saying you don’t want to talk to me after forcing us onto the same team, are you? Right, naive glasses?”
“Uurgh…”
I clenched my fists and stomped my feet as I looked at this pretty boy who had volunteered to be my driver.
He was still hung up on me pushing him into the dungeon team.
But well, I brought this on myself, so what could I do?
Realizing there was no way out, I finally went around the car to the passenger seat without a word.
Since this damned Ford convertible was a two-seater, I had no choice but to sit next to Victor.
As I sat down in the passenger seat and closed the door, Victor smiled even more deeply, as if satisfied. Dimples appeared on his nicely tanned skin.
I didn’t like that, so I raised an eyebrow.
“Shall we go, naive glasses?”
Alright, let’s see how far this goes.
Looking at his perfectly sculpted side profile, I leaned back in the seat and said:
“Sure, Queen.”
“…?”
“Let’s go, to school. Drive.”
Victor, who was about to start the engine, turned to look at me with a puzzled expression.
I looked at him leisurely, resting my arm on the car window just as he had done.
“What, you don’t like being called Queen?”
“…”
“You call me naive glasses or squirrel too. Though it seems most people call you Big. I can call you whatever I want, right? As you said, we’re. team. mates.”
As I grinned, Victor let out an exasperated laugh.
Everyone calls Victor ‘Big’, but I wanted to call him ‘Queen’, derived from McQueen.
Of course, I’m only calling him that to tease him, just like how he calls me naive.
“Oh? So Queen is my pet name from you, is that it?”
It’s not a pet name. I’m just calling you that to annoy you.
However, contrary to my expectation that he would frown and shudder at the unpleasant nickname, Victor just narrowed his eyes and smiled at me.
“I like that. A nickname only you use for me.”
“…”
“Keep calling me that from now on, glasses?”
Then, as if something was so funny, he even started humming as he started the engine and drove off.
To which I couldn’t even break even.
‘What a weird guy, seriously.’
[This is the timeline separator]But no matter how I thought about it, going to school with Victor wasn’t a good thing.
Rather, it made me extremely tired.
Even while driving, Victor persistently bombarded me with questions.
“I was having this trouble where I couldn’t use my skill right away, but then you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, clung to me like a squirrel, and my trouble disappeared! I can’t explain in detail, but you intervened in my life. At Thompson’s house party!”
“I’m telling you, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Victor talked about how I unlocked his skill the entire way to school. And then he went on about my sudden appearance in his life. To an annoying degree.
‘No matter what, I can’t tell you anything about that.’
How could I confess that I directly intervened with that skill, not knowing how things would turn out?
I turned my gaze away from Victor and out of the car. I could see the school building getting closer by the second.
“Queen, instead of the main gate over there, park at the walking path by the back entrance.”
“Why there specifically?”
“Because it’ll be too noticeable if I go in with you. You said you’d be my driver, so you’ll do as I say without complaint, right Queen? Surely a driver wouldn’t refuse their passenger’s request?”
When I said this with a smile, Victor grumbled but obediently turned the steering wheel towards the secluded walking path near the school.
Victor’s Ford car stopped on the narrow trail by the hillside. I immediately got out of the passenger seat, grabbed my bag, and dashed towards the school before Victor could say anything.
“Hey, glasses! Let’s go together!”
Ignoring Victor’s voice, I quickly entered the building.
Ah, so this is why we train basic physical fitness.
Fortunately, I was able to avoid entering the school building together with Victor.
I went straight to my locker and shoved my things in. Then I slammed the door shut with a bang and screamed in surprise.
“Ah! What the-!”
As soon as I closed the bright blue locker door, I saw a couple right next to me, embracing each other and engaging in public displays of affection.
“My sweetie pie, handsome. Good job coming to school today too.”
“I have to come early in the morning to see my gorgeous. You’re my sun, after all.”
The two clung to each other, leaning against the locker, and mumbled weird pet names to each other.
Do these shameless ones have no awareness that this is a sacred school?
It’s all fine, but why do this next to my locker?
‘Ah, no, this is what makes it America.’
Seeing these guys causing nuisance without regard for place just makes me feel sick inside.
And it’s not just this. Kissing as a greeting is commonplace, and it’s frequent to see people frowning at passionate displays of affection just walking down the street.
I thought I had somewhat adapted to high school life over the past year, but there are still two things that are too unfamiliar to me.
Adults kissing anywhere and everywhere, and getting on the bed with shoes on.
“Juno? What are you doing here?”
As I was trying to calm my upset stomach with my brows furrowed deeply, a familiar voice called out to me.
I turned around to find Adrian looking down at me with a bright smile, having approached without me noticing.
“Oh, Adrian. Did you call me?”
“Yeah. I’ve been calling you for a while, what were you thinking about so intently?”
As Adrian appeared with his cheerful smile, the gloomy sky that had been overcast until just now suddenly cleared up.
Whether it was the male lead effect or what, I squinted my eyes for a moment at the dark clouds that had mysteriously dissipated and the sunlight that was now pouring through.
What was I thinking about, he asks?
As I looked at the sunlight falling on Adrian’s blonde hair, I recalled the unsavory scene I had just witnessed in my mind.
I thought of some crazy couple who had snuck into our garage to date a few days ago, and another couple who were passionately kissing while sitting on our garden wall last night.
And I unconsciously muttered.
“Ah, just thinking about kissing…”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
