Chapter 1The Year I Stopped Feeling Inferior

In the year when I was most sensitive and insecure, I rejected the confession of our high school’s most popular guy, Arthur Vance.

The boy, wearing his school uniform, leaned against the wall, raised an eyebrow, and asked: "Are you really rejecting me?"

I nodded, my hands anxiously twisting my sleeves. "I really hate you."

"Fine."

He gave a single nod, hooked his backpack off the floor with one hand, slung it over his shoulder, and said: "Then here's to us never seeing each other again."

Later, by a twist of fate during my graduate studies, he and I were admitted to the same prestigious university.

As soon as Arthur entered the school, he became the hottest topic on the campus confession wall.

Everyone was curious about what kind of girl the campus god liked. Some guessed he liked good figures, others said he preferred innocent faces, and some even thought he liked high GPAs.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the campus god made an appearance and coolly typed a few words.

[Someone who isn't insecure.]

That night, downstairs at the bustling men's dormitory, I blocked Arthur's path.

In the cold wind, he tapped his toe on the ground and sneered: "Didn't you say you hated me?"

I tugged at the corner of his shirt and shook it: "I'm not insecure anymore. Can you like me again?"

* * *

When Arthur and Mia made it onto the confession wall together, I had just finished pulling an all-nighter in the lab, looking covered in dust and grime.

As I took my water bottle and sat down in a chair to rest for a bit, I scrolled past this confession post.

Someone had secretly taken a photo of Arthur again and submitted it.

Arthur became famous on the day of school registration.

In the candid photo taken by a passerby, he was wearing thin glasses, leaning over to sign the registration roster with a pen. Half of his side profile was visible—the lines were refined and smooth, with a high nose bridge and thin lips, dark hair against pale skin, and a distinct, cool little mole at the corner of his eye.

This photo was specifically featured on our university's official Facebook page by the school's promotional department. With the boost of short videos, it went viral across the entire university overnight, and even showed a slight trend of breaking out of our school's bubble.

Later, people dug up his phenomenal SAT score of 1580, discovered he had studied at a top-tier Ivy League university with straight A's, and found his graduate entrance exam score, ranking him first in his major.

The hashtag #ArthurVanceCampusGod hit the trending searches.

Since then, Arthur has been famous throughout our entire university.

It was totally normal for someone like him to be on the confession wall. Ever since school started, he was "randomly encountered" an average of two or three times a day. It would actually be weird if there was a day he wasn't spotted on the confession wall.

But most of the posts were asking for his contact info or begging for his details.

This was the first time he was photographed walking together with a girl.

The background of the photo was the main dining hall of our university, taken from behind and to the side.

Arthur held a dining tray in one hand, his black backpack slung over one shoulder, while his other hand was raised, hovering protectively behind a girl's lower back.

The moment the guy looked down, the girl happened to look up. The two locked eyes, their gazes so tender you could practically pull strings of sugar from them.

I quietly finished reading this confession post and scrolled down to the comments section.

The comments section was bustling with activity. There were people wailing about their broken hearts, people curious about the girl's identity, people feeling it was a pity for the campus god...

But mostly, it was passersby offering genuine blessings.

[Handsome guy and beautiful girl, they look like a perfect match.]

[This is what I come online to see. Stop recommending ugly people to me.]

[Wishing them a long and happy life together.]

With the explosive popularity of this post, the girl's identity was also dug up. She was in the same college as us, named Mia.

[Isn't she the one who hosted the freshman welcome gala this year? I saw her at the venue then and thought she was so pretty!]

[I was the one who guided her during the freshman orientation, she's a really outgoing junior.]

[Mia, oh my god, she's in our college. She's in the same college as the campus god, the College of Electronic and Information Engineering. It's true that the early bird gets the worm.]

Mia was admitted as a recommended graduate student. As soon as she arrived, she became the head of the publicity department for the graduate student union. She was very famous in our college. Since enrolling, she had been seen hosting galas big and small.

It made perfect sense that Arthur would like a radiant girl like her.

I turned off my phone and stood back in front of the lab bench.