The green-haired boy paused for a moment, a shadow crossing his expression, then smiled slightly.

  “I don’t know… shouldn’t you know?”

  Before Zhanye could press further, the student beside him nudged his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  They walked away.

  Zhanye didn’t chase them this time.

  He watched the green hair disappear into the crowd.

  That wasn’t a normal answer.

  That was avoidance.

  Leon crossed his arms. “Well?”

  Jayson swallowed his spaghetti quickly. “I’m pretty sure he’s an NPC who won’t give us much,” he said under his breath. “But with that hair? He definitely looks like someone important.”

  “He knows something,” Zhanye said quietly. “And he thinks we’re supposed to know it too.”

  Vincent leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing. “No… that’s not it.”

  They looked at him.

  “The way he looked at you,” Vincent said. “Like he knew you.”

  Zhanye frowned. “What?”

  Vincent shrugged, almost casual. “I’m just saying. That didn’t feel like strangers meeting for the first time.” He held Zhanye’s gaze. “You sure you’ve never seen him before?”

  Zhanye blinked. “No, I haven’t.” A small, uneasy smile touched his lips. “Why would I know him?”

  Vincent leaned back in his chair, still studying him. “Relax. I’m just saying… we don’t know each other that well.”

  Zhanye held his gaze, his expression unreadable.

  Leon nudged Vincent’s chair back slightly. “Not the time.”

  His eyes shifted to Zhanye , who didn’t say anything more.

  Silence fell over the table.

  Rafael finally returned, looking pale but composed. He sat down without speaking.

  Leon glanced at him. “You good?”

  Rafael nodded once. “I’m fine.”

  “What did she say?” Vincent asked.

  “She said invites are limited,” Rafael replied. “Only students chosen by the student council can attend the full event.”

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  “The full event?” Zhanye repeated.

  Rafael reached into his pocket and pulled out several envelopes, placing them on the table.

  “There are five,” he said. “These are regular invites. They’re for the party only.”

  He tapped one of the envelopes lightly.

  “The chosen students are different. They attend both the show and the party.”

  His eyes lifted to meet theirs.

  “And the show… is what matters.”

  The kid stared at the envelopes.

  “So we’re not chosen,” Jayson said quietly.

  “Not yet,” Rafael corrected.

  Zhanye leaned back slightly. “Then we need to find out how they choose.”

  He glanced at the kid.

  “So what do you think?”

  The kid didn’t answer.

  He was staring at something past them.

  The kid was staring at a group of students standing together in the middle of the cafeteria, laughing loudly.

  They wore long-sleeved uniforms with red bands wrapped around their arms. On each band, the letter C was stitched in bold white.

  He grabbed Zhanye’s shirt lightly and tugged.

  Zhanye followed his gaze, then gestured for the others to look as well.

  “Looks like the student council,” Rafael said casually, taking Jayson’s unopened juice and drinking from it.

  Jayson, already done with his food, leaned forward. “Should we go ask them?”

  “No,” Leon said immediately, motioning for him to sit.

  Vincent tilted his head slightly. “Let him try.”

  Jayson stood up before anyone could stop him and walked toward the group.

  “Excuse me,” he said.

  No one answered.

  Their laughter drowned out his voice.

  He tried again, louder this time. “Excuse me!”

  Still nothing.

  The chatter only grew louder.

  Jayson hesitated, then tapped one of the students on the shoulder.

  The student turned slowly, irritation clear on his face. “What?”

  “Hi, I’m Jayson.”

  “Alright… and?” the student replied, gesturing for him to hurry up.

  “I just wanted to ask how to get chosen to watch the circus. I’m a big fan.”

  The student looked him up and down.

  “If I had to choose someone,” he said flatly, “it definitely wouldn’t be you.”

  Then he turned back to the group and continued chatting as if Jayson didn’t exist.

  Jayson stood there for a second, confused. He tried speaking again, but the student ignored him completely.

  With a sigh, he walked back to the table.

  “I got a clue…” he muttered.

  Everyone looked at him.

  “He said they definitely wouldn’t choose people like me.”

  They all sighed in disappointment.

  “Maybe it’s grades,” Jayson added weakly. “Mine aren’t that great…”

  “Jayson, just stop,” Rafael said.

  The bell rang, signaling the end of the break.

  As they passed by the student council, Leon and Zhanye couldn’t take their eyes off them.

  While other students hurried to class, the council members stayed behind, laughing. Some of them were trying on jackets that another student was offering, clearly expensive.

  Eventually, the halls emptied.

  Zhanye and the others wandered for a moment before deciding to enter Grade 3–3.

  The classroom was half empty.

  They sat together near the back while the teacher wrote on the board, explaining something no one was listening to.

  “What I’m sure of,” Zhanye whispered, gesturing subtly toward the girls sitting in front of them , the same ones from the cafeteria , “is that it’s not about being a model student.”

  The girls were chatting loudly, completely ignoring the teacher.

  Rafael ran a hand through his hair as he spoke. “Maybe they act differently in front of teachers,” he suggested.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” Jayson muttered.

  Leon had been silent the entire time, his eyes distant, as if piecing something together.

  Then he spoke.

  “It’s wealth.”

  They turned to him.

  He nodded toward the blonde girl in front of them. Her voice was loud enough for the entire classroom to hear as she bragged about how her father had just replaced her car and bought her a new bag that looked ridiculously expensive.

  “I don’t think so,” the kid said quietly. All of them were staring at the board, pretending to pay attention.

  They kept arguing in low voices until Vincent suddenly sat up straighter.

  “I have an idea,” he said — a little too loudly.

  Several students turned their heads.

  And the teacher stopped writing.

  Sneak Peek – Next Chapter

  Zhanye adjusted his suit jacket with a smooth tug, sipping his tea, his eyes glinting with quiet arrogance.

  A girl in a massive pink dress, her eyeshadow almost sparkling under the lights, leaned closer. “So… will you be attending the show tonight?”