The Partner I Absolutely Refuse
Owen’s sharp retort cut through the air as he spun on his heel and strode away down the corridor, his waiting entourage falling in behind him.
“Someone you know?”
The question came from Quinton, who was watching her with that steady, unblinking gaze. Evey felt a twitch run down her spine, but she forced a bright smile anyway.
“H-how could I possibly know one of the headmaster’s guests? What on earth makes you think that?”
“The way you spoke to him sounded familiar.”
“N-not at all!”
Evey waved both hands in frantic denial and tried to head in the direction Owen had disappeared. She needed to give that man a stern warning.
Talking to Quinton? Has he lost his mind?
“So you’re staying at school after all?”
But Quinton spoke again before she could move, leaving her frozen mid-step in an awkward half-turn.
“Yeah, that’s how it turned out. If you have something to say, can you make it quick? I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“It’s about our partnership. We’re supposed to do it together. You and me.”
Partnership?
The word sounded like something you’d hear at a formal banquet.
So Cyrus Quinton was asking her to pair up with him?
She had no interest in school events, so she genuinely didn’t know—did the New Year’s Resolution Week program require partners for something?
“Why on earth would I have to be your partner? I refuse!”
“Asking me won’t change anything. The teacher decided it.”
“What?”
Were teachers really sticking their noses into assigning partners for school events these days? That sounded like something students would hate.
“You just do whatever the teachers tell you?”
“Only when there’s no particular reason to refuse.”
“Why wouldn’t there be a reason? Do you actually want to be partners with me?”
“No.”
“……”
“But I don’t particularly dislike the idea either.”
What a touching answer. Evey wanted to scream.
She’d rather film some cringeworthy dance video with that obnoxious “Angel” Tiffany Vance than spend a school event with a guy like him.
“It’s just writing experiments and reports together for one semester.”
Experiment. Report. Partner.
Apparently this wasn’t the kind of “partner” Evey had been imagining at all.
“Are you talking about the Experimental Chemistry class?”
“What other school activity requires partners?”
Plenty, actually.
But since none of them could ever apply to the two of them, saying “none” was technically the absolute truth.
“Was this what you were going to tell me this morning?”
Cyrus had shown her the printed documents but had acted like he still had more to say. He’d stopped when she mentioned dropping out of school.
“Yeah.”
“And asking Joy about me?”
“Joy?”
“My roommate.”
“I see. In any case, if you can’t be my partner, I’ll have to tell Mr. Chen as well.”
“I thought you’d be doing the experiment with your roommate Logan.”
“He can’t. So are you staying at school?”
He pressed for an answer. The moment she said yes, he looked ready to drag her off right then to start drafting their experiment plan.
“Yes, I’m staying at school.”
“Then……”
“No! I would rather die than be your partner—even if every other student in this school vanished and you were the only one left, I still wouldn’t do it!”
His eyebrows twitched slightly. He seemed a little surprised by her intensity.
“Never. Got it?”
After hammering the point home, Evey didn’t wait for his reply. She whirled around and stomped off noisily in the direction Owen had gone.
At the end of the corridor, she paused and glanced back at where he had been standing.
Cyrus Quinton was no longer there.
Once she left the building and crossed the school garden, Evey witnessed a truly remarkable sight.
Tiffany Vance was actually avenging her.
“You’ve heard of Tiffany Vance, right? I mean, if you’re someone who keeps up with current trends.”
Tiffany blinked her large eyes, flaunting her cuteness at the person opposite her—who happened to be Owen. He wore the expression of a man who wanted to disappear on the spot.
Evey had quite a few critical thoughts about Tiffany, but she decided to generously overlook about 0.1 percent of them.
After all, the girl was delivering divine punishment for having a bizarre conversation with Quinton without Evey’s permission.
“Are you here to support the school? If you’re from a corporate PR team, there’s no way you wouldn’t know me. Right? Which company are you from?”
From the looks of it, Tiffany had taken quite a liking to Owen.
Well, that made sense. Aside from the way he obsessively hovered over Evey, Owen was simply a perfectly respectable, attractive adult man.
The kind who radiated wealth and effortless leisure. (Because he actually did.)
“I’m sorry, miss, but I really must be going right now……”
“You came by helicopter, didn’t you? Could you show me the inside?”
“That’s a bit……”
“Oh my gosh, you’re not thinking I’m asking so I can film it, are you? Of course I have my own personal helicopter too.”
Tiffany closed the distance aggressively while Owen recoiled in horror.
Evey held back her laughter as she approached them. Tiffany shot her a wary glare, but Evey paid it no mind.
“Excuse me. The headmaster is looking for his guest, so I think you should go see him right away.”
Owen turned to her with visible relief.
“That’s quite urgent, then. Thank you for letting me know.”
With a face that practically screamed I love you, Princess, he beat a hasty retreat.
“Angel, don’t you have any sense of timing?”
The moment he was gone, Tiffany dropped her adorable expression and glared at Evey fiercely.
“Huh?”
“I was having an important conversation with him. Can’t you tell?”
“Well, I was just running an errand.”
“Oh my god, Angel. Are you seriously this clueless about your position? Don’t you know you need to stay on my good side?”
“Me? To you? Why?”
When Evey asked with genuine confusion, Tiffany frowned for a moment, then leaned in close to her ear with a sly smile.
The moment she breathed in, a heavy wave of perfume assaulted her nose. Evey instinctively held her breath.
“You blackmailed Joy Carter, didn’t you?”
It was complete nonsense. But Evey was too busy holding her breath to respond.
“You used the hint I gave you, right? Otherwise there’s no way that proud Carter girl would have withdrawn her statement. Am I wrong?”
Tiffany wore a confident smile.
“I’m curious. What would happen if everyone found out that the top student and class president is actually a coward who resorts to blackmail? How much fun do you think they’d have gossiping about it?”
“Tiffany.”
“Now do you understand? It’s time we started a new kind of relationship.”
“So this new relationship you’re talking about……”
“It’s simple. You like doing assignments, don’t you? And I like protecting my little Angel. Don’t worry. I swear I’ll keep your dirty secret forever.”
“You want me to do all your assignments for you?”
“We’d just be doing what we each enjoy. Honestly, I’ve started to like you. I never expected you to actually make Carter behave.”
“Uh……”
“How was it? Watching a girl who was born with everything and always looked bored finally get her first taste of blackmail?”
A girl born with everything.
On the surface, that was probably how Joy looked.
Even Evey, her roommate, had thought so at first. So it was no surprise other students saw her the same way.
But Joy was actually……
A girl who had her mother—the one person who loved her from the moment she was born—taken away from her.
The kind of love that should have been given to her as a matter of course, she had only just managed to claim for herself.
“Thanks to you, Joy learned a lesson too. That fame gained without any effort doesn’t work everywhere.”
In truth, Evey wanted to turn around and head straight back to the dorm. But she was worried that if she didn’t settle this clearly, Tiffany might use other kids to harass Joy again.
She seemed obsessed with dragging Joy down, even though the girl was treated like a celebrity no matter where she went.
“Anyway, I’ll organize the assignments you need to submit and their deadlines and let you know.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Evey nodded obediently for now. Tiffany twisted a lock of her long hair around her finger, smiling with pure triumph.
“Good. Honestly, checking the edited footage isn’t exactly easy. The upload schedule is so tight.”
“I bet. You have to show off new products before anyone else, after all.”
Evey shrugged and glanced at Tiffany’s headband. It was a design with a white ribbon attached to a metal brand logo.
“By the way, Tiffany, you should be careful not to be misunderstood.”
Evey looked around, then stepped closer. She didn’t forget to lift her head and smile sweetly.
“That design doesn’t come in white.”