Chapter 11

That night, he picked up the sketch pencil that David Morgan had left on the table and wrote this line of letters in the lower right corner of the drawing, telling him, "Tattoo this on me."

Henry Clark neurotically believed that was his own stellar moment.

The instant he was captured by a pair of mysterious pupils.

Chapter 4 Boiling Lightning

In the morning, Edith Parker left the exam room early, slung on his backpack, and headed to his part-time job.

Time was tight. After his shift, he had to go straight to rehearsal and didn’t have time to return to campus. He grabbed his instrument from the dorm and went directly to 029.

When he opened the locker in the staff changing room, a pink envelope fluttered to the ground, with a heart-shaped sticker on the front. Edith Parker picked it up, didn’t open it, and put it right back in the locker as if he’d never seen it.

He put away his instrument, put in eye drops, changed clothes, and put on his glasses, then headed to the archery area where he worked.

This was the largest party venue in the area, with many activities: billiards, bowling, VR games... and archery. Edith Parker had applied specifically for this job—after all, he could practice archery for free here and even earn some extra cash.

The boss, Emma White, hadn’t wanted to hire a freshman at first—too much trouble, too delicate—but after Edith Parker shot ten arrows, she immediately decided to keep him.

Who wouldn’t want to hire a junior coach for the price of a regular part-timer?

Compared to the other activities, archery was pretty niche. Edith Parker expected there wouldn’t be many customers, so he could have time to practice on his own. But to his surprise, way more people showed up than he’d imagined—almost all of them beginners, lining up for lessons.

“This only started after you came,” a coworker said. “Before, we’d be lucky to get four or five people a day.”

“Really?”

He didn’t actually mean to ask; it was just a habitual way to end a conversation.

During breaks between teaching archery, Edith Parker would observe every customer who came to the party venue, especially those who went straight to the boss.

“Coach, are you waiting for someone?”

A girl in line teased him on purpose.

Edith Parker didn’t answer, just curled his lips into a slight smile. Behind his glasses, his eyes remained emotionless.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, he caught sight of a familiar figure in the billiards area. Although it wasn’t his target, it was still a pleasant surprise.

It was Henry Clark, who seemed to have been dragged here by David Morgan. As soon as he arrived, he slumped into the sofa, so tired his eyelids kept drooping. He wore a mask, but Edith Parker recognized him instantly.

Henry Clark had loved playing billiards since high school and was very good at it, always winning effortlessly. He liked doing things he was good at, but right now he didn’t move at all, clearly in a terrible mood.

Noisy electronic music was playing here, making it hard for Henry Clark to sleep. He forced himself to sit up, elbows on his knees, hands cupping his face, his messy brown curls swaying back and forth, looking even more like a high schooler than an actual high schooler.

David Morgan’s billiards skills were really not great.

Henry Clark couldn’t bear to watch, so he looked around aimlessly. His gaze landed on the archery area and stayed there, eyes narrowing.

Even though it was just a back view, he was sure it was Edith Parker.

Was he being followed again?

How could he always be found so precisely?

He was practically a social outcast by now.

Henry Clark felt like he was developing a stress response from being tailed. But he quickly dismissed the thought—compared to those obsessive fans from before, Edith Parker was calm and kept his distance, so it didn’t really count as “stalking.”

But soon, he noticed Edith Parker’s full set of white archery work clothes and realized he’d misjudged—he was just working part-time here.

What a coincidence.

With glasses on, he really did look like a college student.

But his hair covered too much of his face, and he always wore a hat before, so even after several encounters, Henry Clark still hadn’t seen what he really looked like.

Feeling less sleepy, he kept glancing over in that direction, and was surprised to find that Edith Parker was actually very good at archery. The students around him, though, weren’t very focused—their eyes were only on him.

No wonder they couldn’t hit the target.

Everyone, including Henry Clark himself, was distracted—only Edith Parker was focused. He didn’t even glance this way, as if he hadn’t noticed Henry Clark was there at all, as if the person who’d set up an ambush at the school gate last night wasn’t him.

If he couldn’t get him to come, he’d find a way to lure him over. Truly persistent.

“Hey.” David Morgan tried for the third time to talk to Henry Clark.

This time, he finally turned around. “What?”

“What’s got you so absorbed?” David Morgan looked over too, spotting Edith Parker’s back from afar. “Oh, it’s that tall, handsome guy again! His hairstyle’s pretty cool—I want to try it too. Is that a wolf cut?”

“You should get a dog tail instead. Wouldn’t even cost you anything, just let it grow out.”

“You’re so mean!”

Henry Clark dodged David Morgan’s cue attack. “I told you I didn’t want to come, but you dragged me here anyway. And now we run into him again. Are you cursed for me or something?”

“How was I supposed to know? I just didn’t want you staying home and drinking again. If you end up in the hospital from drinking too much, no one’s going to care if you live or die.”

After scolding him, David Morgan shook his head, put down his cue, and walked off.

“Where are you going?”

“Thirsty. Getting some water.”

After seeing off a customer whose time was up, Edith Parker collected the arrows one by one, and when he turned around, he happened to see Henry Clark sitting on the sofa, taking a Sprite from David Morgan.