3: 3

Merlin's eyes slid over to me, and there was nothing left of the old warmth or friendliness in them.

Only the taunt of a winner.

I couldn't watch anymore. I turned and stumbled out of the hotel.

But the moment I got past the front doors, my stomach only hurt worse, and my head spun harder.

Everything went black, and I passed out.

When I opened my eyes again, some kind stranger had already gotten me to the hospital.

A nurse was hooking up my IV, scolding me without much patience.

"What is wrong with you, young man? Working yourself that hard on an empty stomach?"

"It's this hot out. Don't you know you can still get heatstroke and dehydrated at night? You threw up all over your pants. The male nurse already took them off you, so hurry up and get someone from your family to bring you a new pair."

Maybe it was the IV, but my bladder felt tight and full.

The trouble was, under the blanket I had nothing on but a pair of underwear, so there was no way I could get to the bathroom on my own.

I thought about it. The restaurant where Maureen and the others were was the closest place to me.

I called Maureen.

The first several calls got cut off. It wasn't until the tenth try that she finally picked up.

Embarrassed, I kept my voice low.

"Maureen, I got heatstroke and passed out. I'm at the hospital right now. Could you buy me a pair of pants and bring them over?"

"Something really cheap is fine..."

Maureen cut me off, irritated.

"Harrison, are you ever going to stop with the act?"

"Merlin's in a good mood right now. Can you really not stand to see him happy? Enough. I don't have the time or the patience for your drama."

The line went dead without mercy, leaving only the cold beep in my ear.

In the end it was my academic advisor who got my message for help. He grabbed his own sweatpants, rushed over, and looked after me all night.

The next day, as I was being discharged, he asked me one more time to be sure.

"Harry, are you certain you want to file for withdrawal?"

I opened my phone. Maureen hadn't called back. She hadn't even sent a single text.

There was only a post from that same classmate who'd egged her on to give the gift last night.

【Let's congratulate the happy couple. Wedding night tonight~】

The photo was Maureen holding up a slightly tipsy Merlin as they walked into the hotel.

Underneath, Merlin had left a laughing-crying face and a bashful one.

Maureen had replied:

【Stop it, delete that for me right now. Don't you know Merlin's shy?】

But she never denied the caption.

I stared at that reply for a long time.

Then I put my phone away and pulled my mouth into something like a smile for my advisor.

"Yeah. I'm certain."

I followed him to the office and filled out the withdrawal paperwork.

When I got back to the dorm, though, I found all my personal things dumped outside the door.

Even my blanket was soaked, reeking of disinfectant.

I frowned at my three roommates. "What's this supposed to mean?"

The dorm leader kicked a chair over and jabbed a finger at my face.

"You've still got the nerve to ask? Your good buddy Merlin told us everything you've been up to. You sleep around, and you only got out of the hospital this morning because you caught some filthy disease. How do you have the face to keep living in this dorm? You trying to get the rest of us sick?"

"We're not living with something dirty like you. Grab your stuff and get out, fast, or I'm reporting you to the school!"

I froze for a second, unable to make sense of it.

In the end it was Ken Finch, the roommate I usually got along with best, who pulled me out into the hallway and warned me under his breath.

"Harry, this morning Merlin suddenly posted some... um, pretty revealing photos of you in our whole department group chat."

"He deleted them fast, but a lot of people still saw. Everyone got worked up and threw a bunch of questions at him. Anyway, just look for yourself and you'll get it."

Confused, I tapped into the thousand-person group I'd always kept on mute.

When I saw what was in there, my mind went off with a roar.

【Whoa, who knew Harrison had a body like that? Bet he's got plenty of clients.】

【Heard someone saw the advisor pick him up from the hospital this morning, and he wasn't even wearing last night's pants. Don't tell me he got busted in a vice raid? That rough, played himself all the way into the hospital?】

【Ew, so dirty, so gross. Think he's got something contagious?... Three seconds of pity for his roommates.】

To all of it, Merlin posted a shushing face.

【Aw, it really was just a slip of the finger. Just pretend you didn't see, everyone.】

【Harry's got no parents. It's not easy for him, trying to earn a little money. As for whether he actually caught something... I really shouldn't be spilling someone's private business. Anyway, I hope nobody discriminates against him, and please protect yourselves. Always be careful about disinfecting.】

I didn't need to look to know what those few messages Merlin had deleted from the top were.

They had to be the photos Maureen put up on the big screen last night.

I couldn't read the messages after that anymore.

My whole body was shaking hard, and there was only one thing left in my head.

Maureen forwarded those photos to Merlin.

This was what she'd meant when she said no one would ever pass them around.

4: 4

When I found Merlin on duty in the student council office, another student was still there, gossiping with him, more than happy to keep it going.

"Merlin, is that thing about Harrison for real? And you're still friends with him? Doesn't it disgust you?"

Merlin spread his hands, helpless.

"There are pictures. It's the truth. Lying's really not my thing."

"What can I do, I feel sorry for him. I mean, I heard his mom was a whore who caught some filthy disease and died, that's why his dad dumped him at the orphanage. Guess you get the son you'd expect from a mother like that."

Rage shot straight to the top of my skull. I kicked the door open.

"You're lying. My mother was nothing like that. I won't let you insult her!"

I rushed at Merlin and threw my arm up high.

But the next second, someone shoved me to the floor.

Maureen glared at me, her eyes full of fury.

"Harrison, what the hell has gotten into you?!"

My forehead struck the corner of the desk, and a hot stream poured out at once.

The blood on my face startled Maureen. She reached for me, anxious.

"...Harry, are you okay? I didn't mean to—"

But Merlin grabbed her arm, his eyes reddening as if he'd been wronged.

"Maureen, I was afraid Harry was still angry, so I went to his dorm this morning to say sorry."

"I was worried people would spread rumors about last night, so I even went out of my way to explain things for him in our own department group chat. And instead of appreciating it, he stole the cuff links you gave me."

"I didn't want to blow it up and make things worse for him, so I called him aside on his own. We're all friends. I figured he could just give them back and that'd be the end of it. But he actually tried to hit me..."

As he said it, he threw a glance at the other student.

The guy was his friend, and he nodded right away. "Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes. Harrison's the one who stole the cuff links!"

He snatched my bag without a word and turned it upside down.

And there, mixed in with everything, were the diamond cuff links.

I looked at Maureen in a panic, trying to explain. "I didn't. He was the one who first—"

"Enough!"

Maureen cut me off, her eyes full of disappointment.

"Harrison, Merlin looks out for you every step of the way, and you just can't leave him alone. You'd even steal your own friend's things? Do you really hate seeing him do well that much?"

"You really are a fatherless, motherless nobody, no upbringing at all. Apologize to Merlin right now!"

I stared at her, unable to believe it.

Back before I found my mother, when people called me a bastard, I felt small too. I envied everyone who had family that loved them.

It was Maureen who had held me close, aching for me, who said,

"Harry, you're the most wonderful boy I've ever known. In my heart, you're better than any of the people who have parents."

"From now on I'm your family. I'll love you double, enough for the parents you never had too."

So it's true. The person who knows you best.

Is the one who knows exactly where to sink the knife for the most pain.

I looked at her without any expression. "And if I won't?"

Maureen held my gaze for a long moment, then turned to the others who had come running.

"Call the police now."

"And put it on the broadcast. Announce it to the whole school. Harrison Harding, design department, is a thief."

Someone tried to reason with her. "Maureen, are you sure? If you do this, Harrison won't just get a major disciplinary mark and forced leave."

"He'll have a record too. It could hurt his job prospects down the road. The things have already been found anyway, so maybe..."

Maureen's face was cold.

"No. If he dares steal from Merlin now, who knows what he might do to hurt him later."

"He needs to be taught a lesson. Only then will he learn."

Before long, the whole school knew I was a thief.

Amid a chorus of curses, the police put me in the car.

But Maureen chased after me and said in a low voice,

"Harry, Merlin has a good heart. He's willing to settle this with you. But because those cuff links are fairly valuable, you'll have to stay inside for a month before you can be released on bail."

"Use these days to really reflect. I'm doing this for your own good. A record's nothing to be afraid of. Worst case, I'll take care of you in the future."

Watching her choose to believe Merlin without a moment's hesitation, without a single thought for my future.

I let out a soft laugh.

"Maureen, let's break up."

Maureen froze. Before she could get anything out, the car door had already closed in front of her.

Watching the car pull away, something in her went hollow for no reason she could name.

As if she were about to lose something in that moment.

Inside the car, I turned to the young officer beside me.

"Hello. I have solid proof that I'm innocent."

...

An hour later, I was released, cleared of all charges.

I called my academic advisor and asked him, once my withdrawal application went through, to mail the papers to me overseas.

I boarded a flight to a foreign country alone.

This place, I didn't want to stay in it a moment longer.

Three days later, Maureen had no classes that morning and thought she'd go visit me at the station, only to run into my academic advisor in the hallway.

When he heard what she was planning, he frowned.

"You don't need to go. The police already figured it out. Harry was innocent."

"He left to study abroad that same day."