Chapter 3
Back in school, everyone called me Alex's official simp.
I never paid it any mind, and Alex didn't care either.
But things really started to shift between us during the summer right before sophomore year.
Our parents both went off traveling, leaving just me and Alex at home.
They hired a lady to cook for us, so every day she'd come over to my place and make lunch.
Alex would swing by and eat with me.
So every day at lunchtime, we'd meet up, and I'd keep grinding his affection score.
But one day, Alex didn't show up, and I couldn't get through to him. His phone was off.
Worried something might've happened, I rushed over to his place. Luckily, I had a spare key, so I unlocked the door and walked right in.
The place was spotless, but Alex was nowhere to be found.
I called his name a couple of times.
No response.
It wasn't until I stepped into his bedroom that I finally spotted him—he was lying in bed, burning up and totally out of it.
I called the family doctor, who gave him a shot, and then I just stayed by his side the whole time.
I was so tired that I passed out beside him without even realizing it.
When I woke up, I found our hands still clasped together, and someone had draped a blanket over me.
I looked at Alex, still sleeping peacefully.
The sunset painted his face with a thin layer of gold, like he was dusted in sunlight.
His lashes trembled in the light, casting tiny shadows across his cheeks.
The glow slid down his nose, half of it shining clear as glass, the other half sinking into shadow.
Alex was seriously good-looking, and honestly, that was half the reason I kept at it. I was a total sucker for a pretty face.
I reached out with my other hand, gently touching his eyes, his nose, and finally his lips.
The room was so quiet I could hear my heart pounding, or maybe it was his.
After that summer, Alex never got annoyed with me at school again.
He started trying to be nice to me, even if he was a little clumsy about it—buying me breakfast, eating lunch with me, and walking around the track with me after dinner.
He even put up with my occasional mood swings.
People started saying I'd finally made it from simp to girlfriend.
I still didn't care, but this time, Alex did. He started showing off his feelings for me, not caring who saw.
He even beat up the guy who was talking trash about me, and made a bold statement afterward.
"I like Nina Carter. Today, tomorrow, and from now on, I'm the one who's going to be simping for her," he declared.
The day Alex came begging me to help Grace, we ended up having a fight and splitting up on a sour note.
I just couldn't figure it out. Why was he getting upset with me over someone he'd barely even met?
Was it really just because she was the heroine?
"Host, I've detected a bug. Turns out Alex and Grace actually met when they were kids," the System announced in its usual robotic tone.
"What?"
"Apologies. This was an oversight. Alex spent two months living with his grandparents in the countryside as a child, and that's when he first met Grace," the System replied.
"So all this time, I was just a complete joke?" I muttered, feeling a mix of anger and disbelief.
The System had been with me for years, and it could totally pick up on the anger boiling under my calm exterior.
"I... I'll go talk to the Overseer and see if I can switch your mission target," it stammered.
"Yeah, make it quick," I shot back.
My phone rang.
It was Alex, who'd just left.
I hesitated for a second, but picked up anyway.
"Nina, how could you be so cruel? Grace just accidentally spilled her drink on you, and now she's lost her job—and you even sent someone to rough her up? Guess I was too nice to you all these years, thinking you were actually a good person," Alex snapped.
Before I could even say anything, he hung up. But right before the call ended, I could hear Grace quietly crying in the background.
All I felt now was anger and sadness.
So much for ten years—turns out they couldn't even hold a candle to those two months they had together.
What a joke. A guy so desperate to wallow in misery didn't need me to save him.
Another call came in. It was my agent, Talia.
"Hey, Nina, did you see the hot search?" she yelled.
I thought back to Evan's social media post.
"Yeah, I saw it," I replied.
"So, I just got an offer for a drama. You'd be playing the second female lead—the classic 'chasing after the guy at the crematorium' trope. The male lead is Evan. Are you interested? I know you've got your principles, but you can't stick to them forever..." she rambled.
"I'll take it," I replied.
Talia, who'd been gearing up to convince me, was so thrown off by my quick answer she almost forgot how to react.
"Wait, you're actually saying yes?" she blurted out, totally stunned.
"Yeah," I said.
After a moment of silence, Talia started howling like a banshee on the other end.
"Oh my god! My princess finally gets it! Seriously, I owe the heavens for this! I'll send you the script later, gotta run, bye!" she shrieked.
Was she really that over the top?