"What did Eric do?" Rize asked with a curious yet calm look on her face.
"First of all, let me tell you that the money Eric uses is his own."
"Uhh… like pocket money?"
"No. His mother owns many franchises, and he helps her with that. So he gets paid. Also, he is the one who comes up with ideas to increase popularity. He comes up with the marketing schemes and everything.
He is basically the manager. He also invests in stocks and makes some money from them. So when Andrew taunted him for his money, Eric wasn't really offended. However, Andrew then crossed the limit and spoke against his parents.
Eric snapped and punched him in the face in the middle of the classroom."
Rudy uttered nonchalantly.
"What?!" Rize exclaimed in shock. "Just like that?"
"Yeah. And Andrew didn't come to school for a week after that."
"He didn't do anything to Eric?" Rize asked curiously.
Rudy shook his head and said, "There was nothing he could do. Eric's mother is the top contributor to this school. She can have Andrew kicked out of the school if she tries to. But apparently, that poor shit didn't know that."
Rudy scoffed and continued, "Then, he changed his target from Eric to me, the poorest student in the school. He started to insult me and told me how tough adult life is. He thought I was some trash until he saw my results. That was enough to shut him up.
You would expect that shit to treat those— who are the same as him— with sympathy or even empathize with them, but no. He shits on people like or worse than him, and he shits on people better than him.
I am telling you, he is bad news."
"Why is someone like him still teaching in this school…." Rize muttered quietly.
"While he may be absolute shit, he has a brain and knowledge. We live in a town, and there aren't many educated people like him. They can kick him out if there was a good replacement for him," Rudy shrugged.
"I used to think education brings maturity…"
"That's not entirely true. It depends, honestly. And I don't want to get into this topic."
"Oh, by the way. I have never seen or met Eric's parents. Now I know what his mother does, but what about this father?"
"Uhh… I am not sure if I should tell you this. It's kind of a personal matter for Eric, and he…"
"Oh, it's okay." Rize shook her hands violently and said, "I was just curious. You don't have to tell me if it's something sensitive."
"It's not like that. I can tell you if you promise to not tell anyone…" He brought his face close to her ears and whispered, "It will be our little secret."
"If you are fine with sharing it…" she uttered in a low voice with a flushed face.
Rudy whispered everything into Rize's ears and then said, "There you have it."
"So it's like that?"
"Yeah."
"I can see why that's a triggering topic for Eric."
"Yeah. Eric is a cool and nice dude. He is friendly with everyone and very open-minded. Everyone in the school likes him. Even earlier today, when he reminded you of the homework, no one did anything except that one guy who had forgotten his homework book at home.
He never even curses. And personally speaking, he answers my every message and call. Even if I call him at 3 AM and ask him something, he would help me out. He gets angry on my behalf, or actually, he would get angry at anyone's behalf as long as they are innocent."
Rize smiled at Rudy and said, "I can see you care for him."
"Well, he is like a brother to me, so I got to have his back."
"Eric is your childhood friend, and he is like a brother to you, so shouldn't Alice also be like a sister to you?" Rize asked with a judging look on her face.
"Putting all that aside, you better be careful of Andrew and make sure he doesn't pull any weird stunts on you."
Rize chuckled and said, "You don't have to worry about me. I go to the gym every day, and I am very fit. I also know self-defense, so I can fight too!"
"Oh?" Rudy raised his brow and asked with a judging look on his face, "Then where was this fighting spirit when I pushed you against the wall and stole your kiss that day?"
"Err…" Rize averted her gaze and said, "What are you doing? You are here to do homework. Get working on it! I want it done by today!"
"Wow. Changing the topic when being cornered, huh?"
"Shut up!" she hissed.
Rudy opened his bag and took out his homework book that he had completed a day before. He handed it to Rize and said, "It's already completed, my darling."
Rize ignored what Rudy said and flipped the pages on his homework book.
"It's really finished…" she looked at Rudy in confusion and asked, "What's this? If you already had everything finished, why did you…"
Rize stopped when she noticed a familiar smirk on Rudy's face.
"So I could have some alone time with you, my darling~"
"Stop calling me that! I am your teacher!"
"Oh? Weren't you going to kiss me before that badly interrupted us?" he asked with a knowing look on his face.
"You are mistaken!"
"Oh, am I? Well, that doesn't matter much." Rudy licked his lips and got closer to Rize's face.
Rize retreated far back to the edge of the couch and placed Rudy's homework book on her face.
Rudy gently pulled it from her and said, "Why are you so shy?"
"Stay away, or I will scream!"
"Go ahead. And what happened to that self-defense? You can kick me in the guts and scream and run away and report me and get me expelled," he said in one breath.
"Sto…p. You have a girlfriend. You can't cheat on her…"
Even though Rize said that, she closed her eyes and waited for the kiss.
